Violet (Club Nymph Book 1)

by Abby Gale

  “I’m not sure I want to find out more connection,” I said through laughter. I was amused how talkative she was.

  “Oh, I will torture you with them later but for now I should show you some clothes for the stage. We’ll put some clothes in your closet, too. I should have done it yesterday but I couldn’t find you after I finished my rounds of serving drinks,” she said taking my hand to guide me toward the back rooms.

  “I left early yesterday. Right after my show. So you are a waitress here Harley?” I stated the obvious while following her.

  “Yep. And I organize closets for everyone. On that account, I’m so happy you came early. I was scared you would show up just before your show.”

  “Will didn’t tell me when exactly I should be here. So I thought if I came in early I could make some preparations before the show and meet my co-workers,” I explained.

  “He used to be a better boss when it comes to this club. That asshole could probably tell your bra size but he forgot to tell you the most important thing?” she sighed.

  “I think bra size is also important,” I said laughing. Harley looked at me ridiculously before she started to laugh with me.

  Almost two hours of trying out dozens of clothes later Harley and I finally stocked up my closet. I actually had a lot of fun hanging out with her. She was so sweet and easygoing. The name of Gothic pixie suited her as much as her real name did. My stomach hurt because of so much laughter as she kept telling me about her connection with the bike.

  “I cannot believe your mom gave birth to you on a Harley Davidson. Is that even possible?” I asked while patting under my eyes to erase the tears caused by laughing so hard.

  “I don’t want to think about it, but my dad told me the story in every disgusting detail. And I’m almost sure I was conceived on a Harley Davidson, too. I didn’t ask that cause I really couldn’t risk that my dad would also tell that story,” she said with a disgusted grimace on her face.

  “Stop it, Harley. My stomach hurts. You must be steering clear of the bikes. I think you wouldn’t wanna go near any bikes anymore, hmm?” I asked. I have never met anyone who was connected to something as much as Harley.

  “Umm…Actually, I ride a Harley, too.”

  “You’re kidding? Harley Davidson rides a Harley…” I giggled shaking my head.

  “I know…I am pathetic but no matter how much I find it silly I think I also like this unique situation,” she said, shrugging.

  “Okay, biker girl. Enough of the bike talk for today. Now, show me where I can do some rehearsal for tonight.”

  “Oh, right. Let’s go and find Mike to arrange your playlist,” she said and tugged my arm again.

  I couldn’t find the time to talk until we reached the stage. She was strong and fast for a petite girl. But thankfully I could easily keep up with her.

  “Mike is the DJ?” I asked after she let go of my arm.

  “Yeah, I am the DJ.” An unfamiliar voice responded my question. His voice was smokey with a Southern accent. I turned around to face the owner of the voice.

  “Michael Lane. Mike,” he extended his hand for me to shake. His hold was firm and gave me an uneasy feeling I couldn’t name. I pulled my hand from his hold nervously.

  He was wearing baggy jeans with a tight green t-shirt. I never thought that baggy jeans could look good on someone but he pulled it off very well. His hair was sandy-blonde with brown shades. His green eyes were guarded and calculative. They gave me chills and not the good kind, either. Maybe it was his eyes or maybe it was the scar he had on the right side of his face. On his right side, stretching from his thick eyebrows to his lips, it looked like a knife could have made it. The angry tissue was still pink, maybe because it was new or it was too deep to heal yet.

  I must have been caught staring because he said, “I had an accident two years ago. This scar won’t let me forget it.”

  His explanation made me sad. I knew how devastating an accident could be. I knew no matter how much you want to forget, the scars that remained would never let you do that. Physical or emotional scars…

  “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to stare.”

  “No worries, cupcake. I’m too tough to be offended by one look,” he said shrugging and walked toward the DJ area.

  I looked at Harley for some reasons but she seemed more quiet and strange around him. She just shook her head as an answer to my unasked question.

  “Anyway, cupcake. We didn’t meet yesterday. I wasn’t around but I see you’ve already made some fans here. Show me your moves and I’ll play a song for you,” Mike said.

  I frowned. “Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? You know, you’ll play a song and I’ll dance?”

  “No. Do not teach me my job, girl. Do not ever try it. Do as you’re told,” he snapped at me.

  “I know what I’m doing but since you’re new I’ll explain it once. Your moves shouldn’t be forced so I’ll watch your natural skill, natural movements and I’ll decide on a song according to your moves. Clear?” he continued sternly. He looked…dangerous.

  I reminded myself that I needed this job. I took a deep breath and bit my tongue before I could say something that would cause me trouble.

  For you Angel, for you…I chanted over and over again.

  Then with a brief nod, I answered. “Crystal clear.”

  “Good. Now, show me if you’re as good as everyone said,” he dismissed me.

  What the fuck was that? What the hell was his problem? Asshole!

  Angel. Angel. Angel.

  I blocked him and all my thoughts away. I started to move with the music inside my head. After a while, I forgot the time, got lost myself to my body’s need to move. I even forgot the megalomaniac asshole who was watching me.

  I don’t know how long I danced, I lost track of time. It could have been just a minute, or an hour. I wasn’t sure, and it didn’t matter. But thinking of the way my t-shirt stuck to my body like a second skin and my muscles were contracting because of lots of exertion, I knew I’d been dancing for quite some time. Breathing shallow, I stopped.

  A single applause brought my attention back to reality; I searched for the source of it. There was no one but Mike standing there on the stage. I wondered where Harley had gone.

  I straightened my back and turned to fully face him. The new look on his face was so much different than earlier.

  “I admit…you are so much better than I thought you would be.”

  Though his compliment made me content and proud, I still didn’t like the guy.

  “You aren’t here because this is your job,” he continued. I tried not to panic by his observation or at least tried not to show him how right he was. I waited for him to speak up while trying to stay calm and not give away any reaction to his words.

  “You love this. You enjoy this. It’s rare,” he said.

  I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of thinking he left me speechless. I swallowed my nerves by answering with a confident tone.

  “Thank you and yeah, I enjoy this. The money is a plus, too,” he eyed me carefully and then smirked. I didn’t think he was capable of smiling. Even though it wasn’t a genuine smile, the smirking transformed his cold-dangerous-bastard self to hot-cool-badass, left me dumbstruck.

  “Violet…I know we got off the wrong foot cause I thought you were just a good-looking chick with no talent. As you can tell, I take my job seriously. But now I see you aren’t just pretty on the outside; I can assure you that I won’t be a full-time asshole,” he told me while walking toward me.

  When he came to stop in front of me I cocked my eyebrow and asked. “You mean you’re sorry for the way you behaved?”

  He frowned. I could see he was trying to figure out if I was serious or not.

  Oh, man. I was dead serious.

  Then he did something that shocked me more than his smirk. He laughed…with a full belly-grabbing, eyes-watering laugh.

  “We’ll get along well, I can tell. And yes,
Violet, I apologize. So, truce?” he said as reaching out his hand for me to shake.

  “Truce, Mike. And nice to meet you, I guess.”

  He walked away laughing.

  “Get some rest. You burned some good calories there. The show will tire you enough,” he tossed the advice over his shoulder and winked at me before I lost the sight of him.

  We might not have started off well but I was smiling when he left me alone.

  Maybe, he wasn’t that bad after all.

  I have met other waitresses, as I got ready for the stage. There were just three of them. I wasn’t sure if three were enough to cover the whole for the club but I didn’t ask if there were more people around here.

  I had already met Harley and she couldn’t stay with us because she needed to take care of some errands. The other two were with me. Salem and… No matter how many times I asked I forgot her name in a matter of seconds. Katherine? Kate? I was having a problem with these Kat variations of the name. I knew it was rude but she wasn’t talkative much and most of the time I forgot she was in the room with us, I have just let it go.

  Most of my time I talked with Salem. I liked her a lot; she was like Harley—easy-going, talkative and fun. Salem was her nickname in the club, though. Her real name was Arianna Salem that I found it cool—it had a good ring. While everyone seemed like they were using nicknames in the club, I didn’t put so much thought to my fake name, either. I didn’t stress myself about their nicknames being real.

  Veronica Sage was the other dancer. She was exotic and slightly intimidating. I didn’t know how I felt about her but something in her posture demanded respect and I liked it. She was older than all of us…early thirties, maybe. She had an Italian accent and Spanish looks. I wondered if she considered me as her opponent. I didn’t watch her dance on stage but I felt in my gut that she was good. I was sure she could just stand on the stage and men would get on their knees in front of her. That was how her aura was.

  The door of the room opened and Harley poked her head inside.

  “Club is full tonight. Earlier than ever. I’ve never seen the club packed like this. Sage, it is almost time for your show. Be ready in ten. Salem, no more chatting, girl. Come to help, I cannot manage by myself out there. Katia, hurry up! Pax needs an extra hand to mix drinks,” she announced or more likely ordered and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

  Katia, I repeated her name a few times silently, walked out the door in a hurry. All of a sudden everyone started moving frantically around me, I couldn’t keep up with their rhythm. Walking back toward the wall, I waited.

  After a few minutes, Sage turned to face me.

  “How do I look?” she asked with confidence, I found her question rhetorical but I eyed her sexy Flamenco outfit and answered anyway.

  “Exotic and hot,” I said honestly. She looked at me as if she was shocked I even answered her. Finding it a little odd I straightened my back to her possible snarky comment but instead of a bitchy remark she smiled at me sweetly and winked at me before walking out the door.

  When I was left alone in the room I started to add some makeup on my face. There wasn’t any place to sit but the make-up bench anyway. The room was messy with clothes everywhere after everyone got ready in the room in a hurry. I shook my head and checked myself in the mirror. Today, I was wearing a wicked cowgirl outfit. I didn’t have much clothing on my body but my favorites were the cowboy boots. They looked hot.

  Almost thirty minutes later, when I heard the wolf whistles, I knew Sage’s show was about to finish. The whistles were supporting my theory of her being good. I was pacing in the room while waiting to be called from outside when the door swung open without a knock.

  “Violet, come to my room after your show, love.” Will said without saying hi.

  “Hi, boss. Okay, is everything alright?” I asked nervously.

  “Yeah, love. Just some paperworks for you to sign,” he answered and I sighed in relief.

  Before I got the chance to answer, someone announced my name; I quickly left the room and my boss behind.

  I came to the dark stage and turned my back to the crowded room. From the corner of my eye, I saw Mike give me the signal to start and I moved my full hips side to side. If tonight the club was packed to the fullest, I knew I had to do my very best.

  I closed my eyes and I did.

  The applause and whistles filled the room when I was on the stage, wearing only my boy shorts and cowboy boots while my head down. I was suspended on the pole like a bat, with my legs wrapped around the pole by my ankles. It was the hardest pose I’d learned and now all my muscles were screaming at me but I was sure that I got attention from everyone in the club.

  I waited until the stage darkened to move and then, jumped from the pole, quickly put my bra and shirt back on. As soon as I turned back to the backstage, my boss, Will Harrison, reminded me that he wanted to see me in his office. I was reluctant to go to his office or be alone with him, his arrogant way of talking made me uneasy but I knew he was my boss and I had to do whatever he told me to do.

  As I walked toward his office Harley came behind us, running.

  “Will, we need extra help in serving the drinks. VIP section needs more attention. The booths are full tonight,” she said frantically.

  Will looked from her to me several times but finally sighed.

  “Okay, take Violet with you. Show her the ropes,” he said to Harley and he looked at me again before he continued.

  “If your help is needed here, you’ll jump in to help. I know we didn’t talk about what your job includes other than dancing, but I hope you are okay with it,” he said. He didn’t ask, didn’t give me any other option actually but I didn’t mind.

  “I don’t mind helping. I was a waitress in a bar during my college years,” I answered and left the office with Harley.

  “I’ll give you the VIP section. They may be bastards but they are elite enough. They won’t be a problem for you and there are just five booths so you’ll have to deal with dozen people or so,” she explained while we were walking down the hall.

  “You’re very good at managing things in the club Harley,” I said and she laughed at me.

  “I studied business management. That means, doll, I can be a leader when I want to. Also, I’ve been working here longer than the other girls so, I know the perks of the job.” she answered.

  Harley kept telling me what I was supposed to do in the VIP section and all the other details until we came to the bar area.

  “Hi, Channing. I came to help.”

  “Violet! Hi!” He greeted me back but before saying anything else he got distracted by a new customer at the bar. I was bumping on my heels with the music around the room while waiting for them to get the drinks ready.

  Harley gave me the drink orders before leaving the bar to serve drinks. And Katie? Katherine? Uggh…K. Yeah, I would call her K.

  K gave me the tray full of drinks with a simple “These are for the first booth.” And I climbed the stairs to go to the VIP section, with a tray in my hands.

  The VIP section was like a balcony with five booths lined along it. At this height, the stage was in full view. I could also see the terrace of the club, it was usable by customers if they needed to get some fresh air or for make-out sessions in the open.

  The first three booths were easy to serve. They didn’t even talk to me but acknowledged me with a brief nod and kept talking or making out with their companions.

  The fourth booth was creepy. There were three men in the cubicle looking like gangsters. It wasn’t the tattoos or the biker outfits on them. Even though I was a sucker for those kinds of features, it was the way they looked at me that made me want to run for my life. I quickly gave them their drinks and left the booth without a second glance. At least they didn’t try anything.

  I was glad that I wore the cowboy boots tonight. They didn’t have heels as high as the other shoes in the closet. But even in these comfy and hot boots, my feet were achin
g because of climbing the stairs constantly.

  “Channing! First round is almost done. I need the fifth booth’s orders,” I yelled from a few feet away.

  “Wait a sec! I need to check!” He answered and looked through the papers pinned on the wall.

  “Katia! I cannot find the orders of booth five, do you have them?” he asked while I was sitting on the barstool. It helped me to get rest a little.

  “No one took their orders.” Katia answered after she checked the papers in front of her.

  “Violet-” Channing started to talk but I cut him off.

  “Okay. I got it. Give me a pen and a paper.”

  There was only one person in it when I reached the fifth booth. His phone was in his hand. He wasn’t talking, though. He was listening to the other side of the line with his back turned to me. It was a fine back, to be honest.

  “Send it to me,” he said and ended the call immediately. I wasn’t sure what I should do because he seemed tense. I wasn’t willing to deal with an angry bastard but his order wasn’t taken yet and I didn’t want anyone to get into trouble because of it, either.

  I cleared my throat to get noticed and he turned around.

  Oh boy, he turned around…

  My breath caught in my throat when I saw him in the dim light. He was…gorgeous. I was twenty-four years old and I lost my virginity when I was fourteen. The thing that I was saying is I was immune to men. I wasn’t a virgin to be dumbstruck by a man or his beauty. But this man’s look chained me to the floor.

  He was a head taller than me, wearing a black suit with a black shirt but even those layers couldn’t hide the toned muscles of his body. He was well built with broad shoulders and a defined abdomen outlined by the stretched shirt. I couldn’t help but wanting to see him naked but shook my head and turned my attention to his face. His chin was square with a small dimple that almost made him look cute; his jaw was strong and sharp. The kind of jaw that made you dream about licking the outline of it.