The shimmery outfit glistened in the colorful lights, almost blinding it's spectators. It would be an overstatement to call it an outfit. A red bejeweled two piece, fishnet stockings and a statement garter. The dark hair cascaded around her bare shoulders as she moved to the rythym of the music. A Cheshire smile and wink setting the crowd ablaze.
The club belonged to Qais so she practically had free reign there. Ever since he had returned she had retired instantly and didn't need to work a day in that wretched business anymore. But she occasionally put up a show there, it was her method of paying him back. Of course it didn't even amass to a fraction of his monetary favors but Qais didn't object because he knew how much she loved dancing. And he owed her every last wish of hers after abandoning her all those years.
Leaving behind a roar of cheers she finally dipped backstage, flushed from adrenaline. The staff brought her a drink to quench her parched throat as she rested in the private room.
Suddenly there were loud noises outside.
"What's wrong?" She asked after the guard who went out to check came back in.
"A fight has broken out."
She rolled her eyes in exasperation. It was a common occurance.
"Shut them up, I've already got a headache."
As the guards left to help the club security fix the commotion, she got up to change her clothes. A sulken scowl was fixated on her mouth while she looked at her phone. He hadn't come again. She had put in extra effort into getting ready specifically for him but he didn't show up.
She scoffed at her own audacity to sulk. He was Qais Waliyuddin. And she, she was Arzu. Someone without even a last name. Their class, their realities, their worlds it was all poles apart now.
Her reflection from the vanity mirror reflected the tears glistening in her kohled eyes. The high cheekbones and cherry lipstick. The curls tumbling down her back. She looked at her as if she was a completely different person. But it was all she knew to be.
Just then the door smacked open as three men stumbled in, evidently drunk off their asses.
"This doesn't look like a bathroom to me." One slurred to the other.
"What are you doing here? Get out." Arzu spoke pointedly, wondering where the guards were left behind.
"This is not a bathroom you idiots, look its the pretty from the stage."
She clenched her teeth, turning to grab a robe.
"Oh no no no, don't get shy, pretty." They smirked lewdly advancing towards her.
"I said get the fuck out before I call the guards." She could see from their eyes that they were high off their minds.
"But there's no one outside." One laughed.
Feeling something heavy bubble in the pit of her stomach she decided to leave herself. A lifetime in this business had taught more than enough to avoid being in the presence of a man alone, especially such drunk ones.
"Aha where you running to?"
All of a sudden the door was slammed close by one right as she reached it. That was it. Alarm bells blared in her mind as she went completely onto survival mode. But it was different this time. It had been so long since she had to face such a situation, after Qais's return, that now she had forgotten what to do.
YOU ARE READING
QAIS
Romance"She was his mirage, a dream he could only chase. He was her living hell, a nightmare she could not escape." Layla Mustafa is the only girl in her family allowed to go to university. Belonging to a strict patriarchal background, Layla, the shy and s...
