One Night Only

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After mentally debating whether to take the money or not, I accepted it. I know I’m treading dangerous ground, but I couldn’t let this opportunity slip by. He only asked in return that I quit working at the club, which is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but I’ve only stayed because I needed the money. I know I shouldn’t have trusted that guy, but in that moment, I took a risk. He can’t force me to do something I don’t want to. Besides, he told me he wouldn’t take me by force, and that gives me hope that he won’t harm me.

The well-dressed gentleman left. A minute later, Julie entered to confirm whether I had accepted the new deal. When I told her I had, she fell silent for a long moment, as if questioning something, but she didn’t tell me what it was. She only asked me to dance one last time as a farewell, and I agreed to dance out of gratitude because she had helped me a lot.

After finishing the dance, I waited for my friend to share the news and to leave together, as we always did when I came to work. I don’t know where she went. Normally, she’s always in the dressing room waiting for me, rarely keeping company with a customer. I decide to wait for her to show up. Another half-hour passes until the door opens fully, revealing Mika with a wide smile that almost stretches her face to its limits. As soon as she sees me reclining on the couch in the room, she rushes toward me and falls onto me, hugging me tightly.

“Friend!” she shouts in a shrill voice that nearly breaks my eardrums.

I cover my ears to avoid hearing her loud tone.

“Don’t shout,” I raise my voice. “You’ll make me deaf. You’re also going to suffocate me. You’re crushing me.”

She grumbles under her breath and sits at the other end of the couch to create some distance.

“Can I tell you now?” she pretends to be annoyed. She tugs on a strand of her hair and looks at it.

“Yes, I can breathe now,” I settle myself to sit on the other side of the seat. “Now you can tell me why you’re more excited than usual.”

“I think I’ve just met the man of my life,” she squeals in uncontrollable excitement. I manage to react and cover my ears. She removes my hands without taking her eyes off me. “He proposed that I be his exclusive companion. How exciting! Do you know what that means?”

I nod slowly. I know what it means to her; she believed that a man who would propose such a thing would eventually take her as his wife. I, on the other hand, felt she was dreaming too high. No man, especially those who frequent places like this, takes a woman seriously. I am an example of that. But not to burst her bubble, I don’t contradict her or lecture her.

“That’s great,” I reply with irony, “but…”

“But nothing. I’ve agreed to be his companion, and he’ll be mine. He invited me to dinner today.” She stands up and walks to the dressing table to fix her hair. “I hope it doesn’t bother you that I can’t accompany you home tonight. You can take the car without any problem. I’ll pick it up at your place tomorrow.”

“Okay, as you wish.”

I say no more, just watch her as she gets ready for her so-called date or whatever it means.

“You know,” she changes her clothes, “I always thought I’d land a Sugar Daddy.” She giggles. I furrow my brow. I don’t know what she means by that. “And you know I prefer a young man, I mean, someone who can perform in bed, of course, and with lots of money. Those are two very important points I always look for.” She puts on her high heels. “But if you could see him, oh my God, you’d be amazed. He’s incredibly handsome. I hit the jackpot.” She finishes what she was doing and comes over to me. “He’s very tall, well-built, with light brown hair, light green eyes, and a thin beard that gives him a bad boy look and is very, very sexy. Best of all, he’s young, not over thirty, and he’s wealthy.” She completes her description of the strange guy she’s going out with, bouncing like a child in the meantime.

“Do you even know his name?” I dare to ask.

She pouts her lips, well-defined by the blood-red lipstick she’s wearing.

“Yes, he told me,” she responds confidently. “His name is Ivan Ricci, and no, I still don’t know what he does and who he is,” she preempts the questions I knew I was going to ask her.

Just as she cares for me, I care for her, and even more so because her desire to find a millionaire could put her in danger. She’s seeking danger, while danger is seeking me. I know what she wants most is to escape poverty and the kind of work she’s been doing for several years, but this is not the way to do it. I always told her, but she would reply that the only way to aspire to be a millionaire is to find a rich husband, that a job or profession might give us that, but it would take too many years, and she wasn’t going to waste her youth and beauty on that. She preferred to find her “ideal man,” as she put it, rather than risk a life that no one guaranteed would be comfortable and wealthy, so she went for the safe option. We don’t share the same mindset, but as her best friend, I respect her absurd decisions.

After saying goodbye to me, she practically runs out of the room in her excitement to meet this Ivan. I hope he’s a good guy and takes her seriously. I don’t want to find myself in the position of having to look for him and kick him in the balls for being an idiot. Although I’m not confident about this, I have to try to trust for the sake of my friend.

Early Monday, I leave home after dropping my niece at school and going to university for a couple of classes. I have few classes today, so I don’t spend much time at the university. As soon as the day ends, I head to the hospital to spend the afternoon with my mother until Alex finishes work and taking care of Sandy. Then, we’ll switch places.