Tristan was an investigative reporter, he could, too, find out who was stalking her. He too was a member of the Dark Alley. And he was on the pictures, unlike Jason. And still, when she had to choose the man to protect her it hadn’t been Tristan, it had been the man she wanted to stay clear from, her boss.
If she had called Tristan, she was sure that he would have picked her up instantly, and brought her home with him to protect her. He would have taken care of her, too. She didn’t know him less than Jason, she knew him even a bit better, especially after their date. And she still hadn’t called him.
Yet, Jason was untouchable for her. At least, when it came to her morals, or rather the ones that she had been taught. If she asked her family, or friends, even Bianca, she knew that every single one of them would advise her to stay away from the married man and take the single one.
No matter how much she tried to distract herself from her thoughts, they always came circling back like vultures to a rotting corpse.
Alice was just eating lunch at the table in her room, which gave her a perfect view over the city, trying not to think about everything too much and mused about how many rooms like that Jason already had stayed in, as her work mobile phone rang. Quickly, she got up and walked over, answering it: “Yes, this is Alice…”
“Alice, this is Henning speaking,” Jason’s driver was at the other end, and she realized that the German man was much more than just Jason’s driver.
“Hello,” she greeted him back, her heart beginning to race in anticipation.
“We’ve found him,” Henning explained and didn’t keep her waiting. “It’s your ex-boyfriend.”
“Gary?” Alice needed to sit down; how?
“Yes,” Jason’s confidant confirmed. “He has been a member of the Dark Alley a few months now, longer than you have been. He is still friends with your best friend’s fiancée and he has admitted that he got hold of your keys when visiting them. He let himself into your apartment and took your spare keys.”
“He admitted?” Alice repeated, not understanding what exactly that meant.
“We took the liberty of picking him up at his lunch break,” Henning said as if that wasn’t a huge thing.
Alice wasn’t sure if she wanted to know the details.
“Don’t worry, we just scared him a little to speed things up,” Jason’s driver interpreted her silence correctly. “He told that you had a meeting at the Dark Alley.”
“Core,” Alice spoke out aloud. “Oh, my God.”
“He was trying to woo you, and get back together.”
Alice was shocked first, but that emotion was quickly replaced with something entirely different: rage. She was furious.
“Where is he now?” She asked.
“We let him go, but told him to be at the Dark Alley tonight at 10 pm, as Jason requested,” Henning answered.
“Great, thank you so much,” Alice responded.
“It was my pleasure.” With that the call ended.
Alice had lost her appetite. She just sat there, staring, with her mind finally empty. At least for a few moments.
Gary. She couldn’t quite believe it. Their sex had been mediocre at best and now, knowing that he was Core from the Dark Alley, she realized that he was a submissive and that, probably, had been their problem in bed.
Alice knew that to people who didn’t know her, or simply didn’t have any clue, she came off as a confident woman, which many misinterpreted as dominant. But that wasn’t her. She just was someone who spoke her mind and that was it.
Thinking about what she had done with her ex at the Dark Alley made her shudder in disgust, but that was just something that actually, obviously, could happen at that place. It wasso ironic that she almost was able to laugh about it, but she still hadn’t recovered from that revelation. Plus, she was far too mad at him. What the hell had Gary been thinking?
Now, all she had to do was to kill time until 10 pm. She thought about texting Tristan and asking him for another date, but it felt wrong, as if she just used him for her own distraction.
Only an hour later, Alice received another call and the display showed her a name she knew: Jimmy.
“Hello Alice, you’re staying at the Hilton? Are you all right? What happened?” Jimmy was his cheerful self.
“I’m good, really,” she couldn’t help but laugh. “Just someone broke into my apartment and I… uh… kind of panic-called the boss.” Alice tried to stay as close to the truth as possible.
Jimmy burst into laughter.
“Well, you should save him as Big Boss and not J.J.,” he told her, assuming that she had meant to call him.
Such a cutie.
“Well, Mr. Grantham took over everything before I could stop him,” Alice admitted, which was the truth.
“That’s actually why I called,” Jimmy was still giggling. “I’m supposed to help you move. I rang your doorbell but no one answered and when I called your office, Tim answered.”
“Mr. Grantham’s assistant?” Alice was flabbergasted.
“Apparently, he’s in charge of your phone while you are spoiling yourself at the Hilton.” Jimmy teased. “Well, he told me to call you on your work phone. Apparently, the big boss himself got you a new apartment at my building.”
“Oh, wow,” Alice breathed out.
“Hold your horses, you don’t know which floor you are on yet,” Jimmy laughed again.
“I don’t think I want to,” Alice admitted.
“Well, can I pick you up? The moving company will be at your old apartment in about 30 minutes, you need to be there and instruct people,” Jimmy told her.
Once again, everything went so fast that Alice felt dizzy. First her promotion to an inexplicable important job, that such a high security level, and now a new apartment. It wasn’t as if she didn’t welcome any of it, the last thing she wanted was to stay in her old apartment in which her sanctity had been violated, but she had wanted to find herself a new apartment, especially since she had no idea if she could even afford the one she would now be moving into.
“Alice?” Jimmy asked, pulling her attention back to the present. “Can I pick you up?”
“Yes, I’m ready,” Alice confirmed.
“Good thing I’m already waiting out front,” Jimmy giggled again.
And like that, Alice was wondering if she could even make it to the Dark Alley on time. She hadn’t even told Jason or his driver that she wanted to be there, too. So, she simply texted to the number Henning had called her from.
The rest of the day was getting her belongings packed into boxes and watching them be carried off along with all her furniture. It took only a few hours until Alice found herself in her old, and empty apartment, saying goodbye to the place that had been her first own home, after living with her mom, then moving in with Bianca, and then moving in with the ex before Gary. She felt a little pang as she closed the door and locked it. Alice would have to get the keys back from her mom, Bianca, and Gary in order to have her tenancy terminated.
“Let’s get you to your new home,” Jimmy said cheerily.
Despite everything, Alice felt uneasy about moving into an apartment that she hadn’t seen before. She wasn’t even sure if her old furniture would fit, or be enough. Alice was beyond nervous, and yet felt like a little child, looking out of the passenger window, staring at the skyscrapers, asking herself which one was hers.
They were downtown, close to the business quarter, when Jimmy drove into an underground garage.
“This place has keycards, no keys,” he explained to her. “It used to be a business building, that’s why.”
All that Alice was carrying right now was her laptop and purse, which she clung to as she stepped into the elevator Jimmy had called.
“I have to admit that I am jealous,” he grinned at her widely as he pressed the button for the 21st floor and she tried to keep her eyeballs in her sockets, there were only three more floors in this building.
“How am I supposed
to pay for this?” She asked out loud, shaking her head.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Jimmy smiled. “Everyone only pays a bit more than a third of their salary for everything.”
“A third,” Alice repeated.
“Yes, you’re supposed to be able to save for retirement, and stuff,” Jimmy explained. “So, you’ll be fine.”
“Okay, I guess.”
When the doors opened on the 21st floor Alice’s knees became wobbly, but she followed Jimmy nonetheless, who was suddenly abnormally quiet.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, worried that he might have gotten something confused.
“There are only six apartments on this floor.” Jimmy answered and stopped in front of the first door on the right. “And you have this one. Apartment 21f.” That being said, he handed her over her keycard. “Here you go. Open Sesame.”
Alice’s hand was trembling as she swiped the card against the scanner. Nothing happened. Her heart stopped.
“You have to be kidding me!” Jimmy exclaimed. “Use your thumb.”
Alice did as he told her and placed her thumb against the scanner and instantly both of them could hear the door unlock.
“Damn,” was all Jimmy had to say to that and she wiped off the screen, as she was already used to from work.
Hesitantly, she opened the door to her new apartment and the lights instantly switched on, flooding the room in soft but bright light. It was an open apartment, with the bathroom to the left and open kitchen to the right. Alice was gaping as she walked into the place. She was certain that an interior designer had taken care of positioning her old furniture and added some new to them.
“I think my apartment fits in here three times,” Jimmy commented, but he didn’t sound jealous. “I would get lost here,” he joked.
Her bed was next to the bathroom, separated from the rest of the open space by a broad stone sideboard with an integrated bed on top of it. And it looked like she could flip a switch to have it rain on said bed.
“That’s dope,” Jimmy nodded and Alice agreed.
Even though there was furniture added the apartment didn’t look like it was entirely filled, but somehow, she liked that. Her new kitchen had a bar and next to it was her old couch and coffee table to which two comfortable seats had been added. The exterior wall was completely made of glass and she had a corner apartment.
“If I didn’t see my furniture I wouldn’t believe that this was mine,” Alice admitted.
“You get used to it, check out your bathroom,” Jimmy said. “I’m going to go and have dinner now.”
“Okay, and thank you,” Alice waved him goodbye and did as he suggested.
Her bathroom had no window as it was internal but when she switched on the lights she saw that the walls facing the windows were made of see through glass. Out of curiosity she pressed on both switches that were below the lights and suddenly the walls were white.
From what she had seen when she entered the place, she had expected the bathroom to have two doors, but she actually had a guest restroom.
Completely stunned, Alice dropped herself on her old couch and stared outside, but the lights were reflecting in the windows. She reached out to take the remote of her TV when she noticed a second one. All she could do was shake her head as she realized that it was the remote for the lights and sound. She pressed one button and the lights went out, giving her a perfect view of the city at night.
No one was going to believe that she could afford this place. She was sure that apartments like these were meant for the management. What would she tell everyone? Would they believe her truth? Or would the assume that she was lying and was the mistress of a rich man?
A part of her wanted them to believe that, because she knew that some of her ‘friends’ would be jealous and talk about this behind her back.
Her stomach churned and she hadn’t had the time to go grocery shopping. Alice knew that she couldn’t call Tristan, not when she wasn’t sure that everything with her ex, her boss, and the Dark Alley had been solved.
With a sigh, she got up and walked over to her giant kitchen and opened her new freezer. It was filled.
“I can’t fucking believe it,” she murmured to herself now facing the problem of not being able to choose.
♠ ♣ ♥ ♦
Alice had been picked up by Jason’s driver’s after she had finished dinner and got herself ready, since he had offered to do so as the reply to her message.
She had briefly texted with Tristan that she had a busy day and was preparing to move. Alice couldn’t bring herself to tell him the truth because she had no clue how to tell him who had helped her. She had the feeling that he wouldn’t take it very well. So, she avoided the topic.
Henning parked his car in front of Elm Street 8 and accompanied Alice as she walked towards the Dark Alley, but not further than the entrance. After that, she didn’t feel uncomfortable, especially not as she recognized the person standing next to Alfred Big Guy D’Arcy: Jason. Just a moment later she was confused about the fact that this was allowed. Before she could say anything, Alfred greeted in the usual manner and handed her mask to her.
“Isn’t that against the rules?” She spoke towards King of Diamonds, hushed.
“Not when I make the rules,” he simply stated, took her hand, placed it around his arm, walking her down the alley, completely ignoring the dress she was wearing.
It was when they passed the first of the side alleys that the information had sunken into Alice’s mind completely.
“You own this place?” She asked him, stunned.
“I thought you would have thought this as a possibility by now,” he answered, slightly amused.
“Well, you said your people would find out who is stalking me, but I didn’t really think that… forget it,” Alice shook her head.
King of Diamonds opened the door for her and she stepped into the club house first. Since it was a week day there weren’t too many tables taken. Just as yesterday, so she remembered.
“He’s waiting in room four,” the waitress approached them, giving the information and something small to King, who nodded and maneuvered her through the tables and towards the door that lead to the stairs and elevator.
“I had him cuff himself to a chair,” King told Belladonna and showed what the waitress had given to him: a set of keys that resembled those that unlocked handcuffs.
As room four was on the next level they took the stairs and with every step the anticipation in Belladonna rose.
King of Diamonds typed in the code and opened the door, allowing her to enter the room first. The chair Core had cuffed himself to was facing away from the door. All he heard was someone entering, but he couldn’t turn his head enough to see who it was.
Belladonna felt slightly disappointed to see that he was still wearing clothes, then again, she might be disgusted by the sight of him, thinking of what he had done. So, she gestured towards King to wait at the door while she walked around to meet Core – her ex, Gary – face to face.
Belladonna was wearing the dress he had given to her. She had thought about doing that for a long time, but with what she had in mind it was the perfect idea.
“Hello, Gary,” she greeted him and he flinched hearing his name.
On the way here, Alice had thought about what she exactly would tell and ask him. That he agreed to come back here, believing that she would meet up with him and talk was ridiculous. She had no idea what Henning actually had told him, but in the end, it didn’t matter.
Alice stepped towards Gary and slapped him across his face, hard.
“That’s the last time I will ever touch you,” she hissed at him. “You bastard.”
“Alice, I’m sorry,” he managed to say as he moved his face to meet her glare again. “I just–”
“Shut your fucking mouth,” she shouted at him, feeling tears burning in her eyes, and started to move up her dress. “You scared the living hell out of me. You don’t get to say you’re sorry.”
Both Gary and Jason watched her in surprise as she pulled off her panties, walked towards her ex and shoved the piece of clothing into his mouth.
“And it’s the last time I will wear this dress,” she told him, calming down a little. “When I’m finished here, I will cut it into pieces and use it to clean my toilet. Because that is as much as you mean to me now.”
Gary had tried to push her panties out of his mouth but stopped moving altogether as he realized how mad Alice was at him.
“What? Isn’t that what you wanted?” scoffed at him. “To be my doormat? Oh, no wait,” she tapped her index finger against her chin. “You didn’t want to be anything until I tried to have some fun, not knowing who you were. I wouldn’t have done what I did, if I had known it was you, even without you stalking me, trying to get me back,” she used quotation marks for the final three words. “You should have told me who you were and we could have talked, but then I would have already told you that we will never get back together. It wasn’t fun with you. Not then, and not here in the Dark Alley.”
Her ex just looked at her, obviously wanting to say something, but her panties prevented him from doing so.
“Do you know who is fun?” She asked him and Gary nodded, making her grin mischievously, lifting her arm to point at Jason: “He is.”
Gary still couldn’t turn around, but he didn’t have to, because Jason started walking to step to her side.
“You know that I can’t press charges, because it would reveal the Dark Alley,” she explained to him.
“But your membership has been revoked,” Jason said, calmly. “And the owners have notified any other club or institution about your actions. There will be no place accepting you.”
Dark Alley: The Complete First Season (Dark Alley Seasons Book 1) Page 29