Escaping him (On Hold)

CHAPTER 1

Three years later

I ran from the bus stop to Club X late for my shift again. "Excuse me!" I shouted trying not to run into people in the street.

"Sorry." I bellowed when I knocked someone over. I was too late to stop and check if they were fine.

I wasn't usually late, however I had to take two buses to get to the fancy side of the city from my slum downtown.

The owner of the club was coming to see how things were going. Everyone had been eager to meet him and so was I. I had heard he was ruthless and arrogant. One mistake and I would be out of a job.

I finally reached the back entrance and changed as fast as I could once I reached my locker. I went to the bar and it was extremely quiet.

I saw a tall man with his back to me. As if sensing my presence he turned around. He had broad shoulders, a sculptured stern face and was clad in a slim fit suit that was clearly made for him. He was extremely handsome and I shamelessly ogled him.

He also looked weirdly familiar, I felt like I had seen him before when I was younger. "Get out." He simply said. I stumbled back a bit baffled by what he said but didn't walk away.

"I will not repeat myself." He said coldly. I still stood my ground ignoring him. Had I been anyone else I would've scampered away in fear.

"Excuse me sir but it is entirely not my fault that I have to take two buses to work which are not always available, just so I can make ends meet."

He sent a smirk my way but quickly covered it. "That is what I admire, restraining dismissal even when you know you will be kicked out." He said out loud.

I gasped at his words, flabbergasted and curious about him. He oozed confidence and dominance which made me more intrigued about who he really was. I had never heard of him before, only his brutish business ways.

My co-workers shook their heads at me as if it was the logical thing to do. I knew that if they were in my position, they wouldn't have stood up for themselves.

He walked over to me "I will give you a warning miss..." He left the words hanging in the air and looked at me expectantly.

"What?" I said in confusion. I thought he was going to call security for me.

He sighed in frustration as if I was a brainless subordinate before asking, "What is your name?"

"Lonicka." He stared at me wide eyed for a moment before he composed himself and turned back to the staff with a stoic expression.

I looked at him strangely even though he could not see me. Something was not right about him and I felt obligated to find out what it was.

"As I was saying, I fired your previous manager and I appointed a new one. I heard suspicious allegations about him and upon further investigation, it turned out that they were true. Don't be surprised if things change around here. I haven't been here in a long time and this place needs a sprinkle or two. Get to work. Lonicka I want you to clean the toilets." He said before walking to the managers office.

"Wait!" I called out to him before he reached his destination.

He turned around slowly, annoyance etched on his face.

"Will anyone lose their job?" I asked what I felt was the question everyone else was afraid to ask. I understood why no one had the audacity to question him or bring it up, he was intimidating.

"You will lose yours if you keep wasting time on petty questions." He calmly said, his grey eyes boring into me.

I walked to the bathroom with the urge to provoke him. Something was definitely going on with him.

I finished cleaning the toilets before the boss called for me. "Yes boss?" I said when I walked into his office.

"It's Mr Valenti." I looked at him nonchalantly and he took that as an indication to continue.

"Do you know why I called you in here?" He casually asked.

"Aren't you going to tell me?"

He ignored my snarky remark and simply stared at me. "Close the door." He ordered.

I hesitantly did what he said. "Come here." He tapped on his lap.

I slowly walked over to him and he roughly pulled me onto his lap. Sparks surged through me as he pulled me closer to him, his breath fanned my ear while he spoke, "I don't know who you think you are but I will not tolerate your attitude."

His voice was awfully familiar, gruff like I clearly remembered. I felt like I had no memory of him but I knew his voice all too well. His steel grey eyes intensely staring at me made me shudder but I made no move to look away.

As if something triggered in him, he roughly pushed me off him and I fell landing on my buttocks. "Get out" he growled between clenched teeth. I glared at him and wordlessly walked out. He made me speechless and pissed at the audacity to order me around like I was his bitch.

"So what did he want Nick?" My best friend Jay asked standing behind the bar. I met Jay a year prior when I started working at Club X and we instantly got along. He was my only friend and I was content with that because everyone else at the club was phony.

"Not now Jay." I said dejectedly. Mr Valenti had caught me by surprise, I had no idea how long I was going to tolerate his complicated moods.

"I heard he's a manwhore." He snickered disgustingly. I raised my eyebrows surprised that he judged our boss for being the same as him.

"And why are you telling me this?" I asked slowly getting annoyed with the topic of our infuriating boss.

"I don't want a repeat of last time okay?" He said with a concerned look on his face.

"You know I don't even know what happened 'last time' calm down." I said rolling my eyes. I knew he was trying to look out for me however it was unnecessary sometimes.

"I know-" he was cut off by loud screams coming from Valenti's office.

"Ugh not this one too." I murmured thinking about how our old manager used to fuck girls in his office and openly brag about how much of a hot commodity he was. It wasn't even like that, the girls were attracted to him because he was the manager.

"What do you think happened to Benson?" I asked Jay regarding the old manager that was unexpectedly replaced.

"I heard from the grapevine that he got fired for stealing money from the club." Jay said nonchalantly.

"I hope he spent it wisely. I could kill for a grand or two right now." I said before I got back to work.