Room of Jars: Cassandra (Book One)

Present Day

I can't remember the exact day I had started working in the dark hole I called work. I know it was coming up on two years I had been working there though. I got out of my car, grabbed my bag full of makeup and small pieces of material they called outfits, and I walked in the front door with a sigh, it was almost like the entire building was sitting on my chest the moment I came in and stopped to allow my eyes to adjust to the different lighting. The music was on but low, an instant indication that there was no one there beyond the crimson colored velvet curtains. I looked at the door girl, dressed in the same crimson colored dress. Her eyes were as dark as her hair, but she was beautiful. It made me flinch sometimes, how the handful of women I worked with were so beautiful. Then there was the rest of us.

"Everybody likes a different flavor of ice cream," He had told me when I first had walked in for a job, that part I could remember.

I remembered walking in, nerves making me jittery, my dull copper hair pulled up on top of my head in a huge mess of tangles and sparkling green eyes taking in every detail of the entrance before this same door girl had smiled at me and asked if I could be helped.

Rhetorical question? Could I be helped? I didn't need it then as much as I would need it soon enough.

"Ready to take your clothes off today Cassie?" Her smile was genuine when she asked me and I couldn't help but laugh loudly.

"Could you be any more facieses? Who's ever ready to take their clothes off first thing in the morning?"

The girl laughed, shaking her head and looking back down at the book in front of her, hidden on her lap underneath the black counter.

"What are we reading today?" I tried to get a glimpse at the book but she placed a hand over the words, looking up at me once more, her dark eyes guarded now.

"Just something for school. Aren't you running a little late?"

I flinched at her instant change of mood, but said nothing and passed through the heavy curtains. Sitting at the empty bar, hunched over a Tupperware filled with green spinach and boiled eggs sat a large muscular, dark toned, man. His light brown eyes were transfixed on one of the two big screened TV's that sat above the rows of liquor bottles behind the bar. Even though the place felt like a huge weight on my chest every time I walked in, this man gave me a sense of hope and security. He turned at my entrance through the curtains, allowing the little bit of sunlight to enter the dark. His smiled glowed in the black and red lights as I walked further inside, giving my eyes a little time to adjust to the dramatic change of lighting.

"Hey girl, you're a little late today huh?"

I shrugged, "You know Rapha, some days it's just really hard to drag my ass out of my bed just to come to this dark hole."

He took the small bag I was carrying from me and followed me as I walked through the maze of chairs that surrounded the stage directly in the center of the large room. There was a narrow hallway hidden in the darkest corner of the entire building and I walked down it cautiously, pushing aside another heavy curtain revealing normal lighting and several other girls all sitting around a counter chatting and laughing. They turned to look at our entrance and I got a couple of smiles.

"Running late today Cassie?" The male voice startled me from my left and I visibly startled as I turned to look at the voice.

It was him. Our manger. My heart instantly skipped a beat, and I was sure it showed on my face. His dark eyes were warm behind the black hair that hung just over them as he watched my reaction, obviously satisfied with it. The bastard knew he was good looking and loved to watch the acknowledgment of it from unsuspecting victims like myself. He was leaning casually against the wall at the bottom of the stairway that led up to the DJ booth.