Stripped

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Stripped Page 3

by A. G. Khaliq


  Why the hell was he helping somebody like me?

  “Wow, your house is beautiful…” I murmured, and Sophia clapped her hands in delight, unable to believe her eyes.

  “Thank you,” Lazarus replied, chuckling appreciatively.

  “Is it all right if I go to bed now?” Sophia asked. “I’m shattered.”

  “Yeah, just take your stuff up to the spare bedroom, first on the left,” Lazarus explained.

  “Thank you,” Sophia said gratefully.

  Before I knew it, me and Lazarus were alone. I swallowed a lump in my throat, feeling my eyes well with tears. Being in this apartment just reminded me of a life I could never have.

  A life I could only dream of living.

  After all, women like me were never destined for anything good in life…right?

  “Come and sit down.” Lazarus smiled, beckoning me towards the sofa.

  I nodded, and sat down next to him.

  “Thank you for all this.” I swallowed, and then thought I might as well ask, because the curiosity was killing me. “Ahm…why are you helping me?”

  Lazarus let out a deep sigh.

  “You looked like you were in trouble. I saw you running out of the club,” he admitted.

  “Yeah, the client was being really sexual and tried to sleep with me. I had to find a way out of there,” I muttered, not wanting to remember the shit-show that happened earlier. “When Boss finds me, he’s going to kill me.”

  “He won’t find you here. I’m sorry for the way you’ve been treated at the club,” Lazarus sighed. He paused. “But what is a girl like you even doing working there? You didn’t look like you fit in at all. You looked like an outsider…like you hated it.”

  “Trust me, I don’t want to,” I exhaled. “I don’t have a choice.”

  “Why not?”

  “I work at a coffee shop in the daytime, but the money isn’t enough for me to pay all the bills. I have the responsibility to take care of my little sister too. She relies on me.” I shook my head. “I tried so hard to find another job to do at night…but I had no luck. So I started at that club, out of desperation.”

  Lazarus folded his arms uneasily, furrowing his eyebrows in concern.

  “I hate it so much. I hate having to get naked and stripping myself of my dignity. I hate that dirty men think me doing this job is equivalent to me giving consent for them to touch me sexually, when it isn’t.” I rattled my fists, suddenly seething. Needing to vent. Needing to let out my frustration and hurt, because I’d never had anyone to speak to about how I felt before, and this man seemed willing to listen, whether or not he cared. “And the worst thing is, my boss keeps most of the money I make there. I tried to leave so many times, but my boss wouldn’t let me. He would come to my house and force me to come back. He said that without me, there would be no business or clients. I tried not to go…but he started hitting me.”

  “That bastard laid his hands on you?” Lazarus seethed, his blood boiling, murder written all over his face.

  His veins pulsated their way to the surface of his skin, but he grabbed hold of his wrist, doing his best to calm down for my sake. He probably didn’t want to scare me. He wanted to protect me…

  “I wish I’d come there sooner…” he trailed off.

  “It’s okay, you weren’t to know,” I whispered. “You didn’t even know who I was before tonight.” My eyes found his, and my eyes brimmed with tears. “I don’t want to burden you with my problems. I’m so sorry. You didn’t have to do all of this.”

  “I want to help you,” Lazarus breathed. “I don’t want you working at that place again. I can get you a job elsewhere. You can stay here until you find a new place to stay in.”

  And there it was again. His gorgeous pale eyes staring at me. I was getting distracted, but it was hard for me to stay focused around this man. I felt goosebumps, and my heart beat faster.

  He was so beautiful, with a broad, muscular build, and a face that looked like it had been carved by Greek gods.

  And he was staring at me.

  As if he cared about me.

  Nobody had ever cared about me before…

  “Hey…” Lazarus said suddenly, causing me to snap out of my thoughts. His eyes darted from my face to my body, and fell, as if he’d just seen a ghost.

  As if somebody had just walked over his grave.

  What was wrong with him? What had I done wrong?

  “What are all those scars on your chest?” he asked.

  I gasped, dismayed. Dismayed because the realization hit me that he’d seen my scars…

  I clutched the area where my scars were, doing my best to hide them, even though the damage was already done. It was no use.

  And now he’d pointed them out, I was reminded of all of my painful memories. The stories behind the scars, which I tried so hard to forget. Tried so hard to bury beneath the surface. Tried so hard to move on from.

  “Who did this to you?” Lazarus demanded angrily, seething. “If it was your boss, I swear to God…”

  “No, it wasn’t my boss!” I cried out, and before I knew it, I broke down into sobs. Rocking myself backwards and forwards as every terrible thing replayed itself over and over in my head, repetitively, like a form of torture.

  I couldn’t breathe.

  I couldn’t fucking breathe.

  “These are scars from my past…”

  I trailed off my sentence, my chest heaving as blood continued to roar throughout my body.

  “It all started eighteen years ago…”

  boss

  I made my way into the coffee shop where the man I’d met outside the club told me to go. I rubbed my chin in thought as I immersed myself in my surroundings, trying to locate her and pinpoint where she was.

  “Weird, I can’t see her anywhere,” I murmured to myself.

  I noticed the manager collecting some cash from the till, so I looked up and beckoned him.

  “Hey, have you seen a pretty brunette girl in the shop in the past hour?” I called out.

  “Nope, not had one brunette girl walk in since the morning. Sorry,” he replied flatly.

  I shook my fists angrily, suddenly seething.

  That guy lied to me.

  He was probably her boyfriend.

  I would make sure he paid for this.

  Paid for wasting my damn motherfucking time.

  raven

  My heart pounded against my chest, and heat roared in my ears as I slowly allowed my walls to break down as I spoke to Lazarus about my past. I knew me and him were practically strangers, and I was trusting him far too quickly, but what other choice did I have? I had to stay with him or I would be subject to abuse from my boss.

  And I knew which option I would rather choose.

  Lazarus listened to me without judgement. He didn’t make me feel stupid for feeling the way I did. He was understanding and caring, so I found myself becoming more comfortable around him. I had a brutal, terrifying past which I hated being reminded of.

  But talking about things always helped to ease the weight off your shoulders…

  “My parents used to hurt and hit me a lot. I’d never done anything wrong. My adopted sister Sophia used to be up in her room, listening to the noise,” I began, breathing heavily.

  I sobbed as Mum slapped me across the face, and Dad screamed bloody murder angrily, letting out one blood-curdling scream after the other.

  I was terrified.

  I could feel tears slide down my cheeks, pit-pattering on the ground in tiny little droplets.

  Drip.

  Drop.

  Drip.

  Drop.

  “Go to your room and stay there. No food for two days,” Mum snarled.

  I let out a deep breath, my lungs constricting for air. I felt like I was suffocating, and I couldn’t breathe.

  I shakily made my way out of the room, my whole body trembling. I stopped at the door, doing my best to recollect myself and calm down before I had a panic a
ttack.

  And that was when I heard Mum say the next words to Dad.

  “I’ll see you upstairs in bed, babe.” She smiled before pulling him in for a kiss.

  If only she knew…

  If only she really knew what my father was like, then she wouldn’t be so loving towards him…

  I lay in bed, still trembling. Staring at the ceiling, doing my best to count sheep and drift off to sleep before the monster would come into my room.

  I couldn’t let him come in here.

  I couldn’t…

  “I’m sorry your mum snapped at you, babe,” a deep, low voice said quietly. I jolted up.

  This couldn’t be happening…

  The monster was here.

  “Now,” Dad said, leaning over my bed. “A man has needs from his beautiful daughter.”

  I screamed as tears fought their way down my cheeks.

  It felt like I was trapped.

  Trapped in an endless cycle of pain with no way out.

  I couldn’t bear it anymore.

  I couldn’t bear it…

  When was I ever going to escape this nightmare?

  “My dad would come into my room and rape me.” I wept, feeling my head sear with the painful memories.

  Reliving every terrible nightmare.

  “The day I couldn’t take it anymore, I tried to talk to my mum about it…” I murmured hollowly. “She called me a lunatic and beat the daylights out of me for accusing her husband of doing such a thing. She left me and my sister locked in a shed for weeks.” I let my hair drape down to hide my face.

  “One day, she left it unlocked, and that’s when I ran away with my sister. We ran as far away as possible from the city, we didn’t care where the trains took us. We just wanted to get away.” I swallowed hard.

  “We were dirty and hungry. One day we sat down begging for change on the streets. A man gave us a strange look, so we quickly made to run, thinking he was going to contact social services.” I peeked out at him through my hair.

  “He ran after us, and said he didn’t mean any harm. He said he wanted to help us and take us to a shelter that caters to the homeless, where we would have food to eat and a mattress to sleep on.” A small smile appeared on my face.

  “We were happy the man wanted to help us, and we agreed. We went with him and he took us to his house. This was confusing because we thought he was taking us to a homeless shelter.” I sunk back behind my hair.

  “A man came to the doorstep and took my sister away from me. He took her to the homeless shelter just like we agreed. They told me to wait at the house, because there wasn’t enough room for one more in the car, and said they’d take me to the homeless shelter next. I was thrilled, thinking that finally me and my sister were going to escape from our nightmare parents.” I wiped my eyes.

  “When the man came back, he didn’t take me to the homeless shelter. The truth is, he’d only taken her because she was the younger one out of us both and he said that I was old enough to ‘go into work.’”

  I broke off, shivering. Shivering as I recounted the full extent of what going into work meant. Lazarus stared at me with sorrow.

  Like he was reliving my nightmares with me.

  “He forced me to become a drug mule, and I was sexually assaulted by the men in the house.” I trembled shakily. “I was only a teenager. I was terrified.” I sniffed.

  “They forced me to swallow drugs and then cough them out at a different place. I was lucky I didn’t die. One day, they left the car door open while they were collecting a drug shipment. I sought this opportunity to escape and ran away. I collected my sister from the shelter, and the woman in charge told us she would offer us a lift to wherever we needed to go, it was the least she could do. I asked her to send us to London. We were thrown into the care system, and then let out as soon as we turned sixteen. I was the first one to get out.” I huddled into the corner of my seat.

  “This was when I got my own place and started working at a coffee shop to make a living. But the coffee shop didn’t bring me enough money, and soon, I started working at the strip club.” I peeked at Lazarus again.

  “When my sister left the care system at sixteen, she moved in with me. I told her that I work at a pub, because I was so ashamed of how I was making my living…and now this is where I am today.”

  I found myself taking deep breaths in and out, my chest heaving before I broke into fresh sobs, and I couldn’t hold them back. Lazarus took my hand into his, squeezing it, trying to give me the reassurance that it was okay, and he was here for me. That the past remained in the past, even though my demons kept battling with me in my mind.

  I guessed we all had skeletons in the closet.

  “I wish that things didn’t have to be like this,” I murmured. “For years, I’ve been praying that this will all come to an end. To this day, I still don’t know why I haven’t taken my own life. It gets so hard for me sometimes, and I feel weak. Like nothing will make me feel better. I feel like I have nothing left to live for. Like I’m trapped in an endless spiral that I can’t get out of.”

  “I’m so sorry that this happened to you,” Lazarus breathed, cupping my face in his hands, drying my tears with his thumbs. “I’ll do everything within my power to help you.” He broke off, letting out a deep sigh.

  “You have everything to live for. I’m here for you now. You’re strong, and you’ve made it this far. I know it can sometimes feel like the world’s against you, and that everything that happens to you is bad…but it’s your past that shapes you into a stronger individual. Everything happens for a reason. Suicide isn’t the answer, baby. You’re loved. What would your sister do if you left her all alone to fend for herself? She’d be heartbroken.”

  I could feel my eyes glimmer with tears, because deep down I knew he was right.

  “I’m going to make sure you don’t live another day in your life without a smile on your face. I’ll protect you with my dying breath.”

  Before I knew it, the room went eerily quiet. Neither of us said a word, but his eyes continued to burn into mine.

  And then Lazarus brought his mouth down onto mine.

  I didn’t know if I was rushing things. Here I was, kissing a man I’d just met.

  But he made me feel safe.

  He made me feel complete.

  He made me feel like I could trust him.

  I’d never spoken to anybody about my past.

  But in the moment…I didn’t care if I was rushing things. I just wanted to enjoy his embrace.

  I felt at home.

  He was my knight in shining armor.

  He just saved me from a life of slaving away at a strip club.

  boss

  I entered Raven’s apartment, hoping she was here.

  “Doesn’t sound like there’s anyone at home…” I murmured to myself.

  I rolled my eyes sarcastically before making my way deeper inside her apartment. She must be in her bedroom sleeping, or something.

  I entered her bedroom to see the wardrobe doors wide open, and hangers tossed about on the floor. There were no clothes remaining.

  I darted my eyes to her bed, which was also empty.

  Panic-stricken, I bolted out of the room, heading to her sister Sophia’s room.

  Only to be greeted by the very same things…

  I found myself screaming bloody murder, unable to believe my eyes. What the fuck was going on?

  “All of her clothes are gone! Where has she fucking ran off to?” I bellowed.

  I could feel my blood rush to my cheeks as my whole body set on fire with anger.

  I was in a state of rage. Nobody crossed me and got away with it.

  Nobody.

  “This isn’t over, Raven Emmerdale!” I roared.

  raven

  Me and Lazarus got intimate pretty fast. Everything was going perfectly.

  He took me and my sister to parties. We took long night strolls talking about our plans for the future. He worked in
an office, and he had a great income.

  My sister was happy at last. I was happy.

  He treated me so well. He bought me things I wanted, he took me to fancy restaurants, he admired my body and respected and loved me.

  I was already so attached. He was already so important to me.

  I loved him, and he loved me. He was my hero. My saving grace.

  I never thought I was going to get my lucky break, and here it was.

  I was content.

  Then why, why did I have to stick my nose into something I shouldn’t have and ruin everything?

  Why did I follow him that night?

  Why didn’t I just stay at home and mind my own business?

  You see, Lazarus was my first love. He made me feel special, he made me feel wanted. He didn’t treat me like I was worthless.

  But happily ever afters didn’t exist in my world. I was a woman who carried so much baggage, and had so many skeletons in the closet. So many demons from my past haunting my mind.

  I should have known better than to put my trust in a man I hardly knew. He may have been sweet on the surface, but the fact of the matter was that I didn’t really know him at all. He knew so much about me, but it seemed like he was just putting up a façade. Putting up a sweet exterior, when really, he was battling demons of his own.

  Meeting Lazarus turned my life upside down, and not in a good way. Because the more time went on, the more the cracks on the surface began to appear. There were so many things that I learnt about him which I never would have expected. I was too blinded by love to realise what was staring me right in the face. The red flags had been waving around me, but I ignored them, so desperate was I for my own happily ever after.

  Everything I went through with him ‘happened for a reason,’ just like he’d told me when he took me to his penthouse.

  I’ve told you the story of how I met Lazarus.

  Now I’m going to tell you the story of how Lazarus turned my life upside down.

 

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