by Kelly Favor
She looked away. “I think I’m just tired, and a little drunk.”
“I’d like to meet with you again.”
Now she did look at him, because she couldn’t believe he’d said those words. Was Jake Novak asking her on an actual date? Or was he just fucking with her?
Was someone filming this for YouTube?
“You want to meet with me,” she said, as if by restating it, he might tell her she’d totally misheard him.
“I’m in town for a few days to kick off the new tour, and I’d like to get together with you while I’m here.”
Her heart soared. This was beyond belief, and yet, she had to admit it was real. Jake Novak was interested in her—her out of all the others. “Okay. Yeah, sure, why not?” she laughed. “I’ll give you my number.”
Jake’s expression changed at this suggestion. His eyes grew cold and serious. “That’s not typically how it’s done. We have to let the agency know about this first—I can’t just cut them out of their commission.”
“Agency?” she squinted at him. Did he think she worked as a model or something?
He laughed, but sounded slightly annoyed now. “The agency. The one that brought you here.” He looked at her like she was speaking gibberish, like she was the crazy one.
“Stop screwing with me,” she told him, getting nervous now. Really nervous.
“Did you or did you not sign a contract?” he said. He stared intently at her.
She swallowed. Her breathing felt stifled. “I…I just signed some kind of…what do you call it? I signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement.”
Jake wasn’t smiling anymore, not even a little. “You signed much more than that, Raven.”
“I don’t work for any agency,” she said, her voice urgent now. “I just came here with my friend as a favor, to hang out with her. All I signed was a non-disclosure thingy. That’s it.”
He sighed, as if she was being difficult. “The only way this is going to happen is if I pay you for your services.”
It was like a slap in the face. “Pay for my…my services? What does that even mean?”
“It means that this thing between you and I only happens if we do it my way.”
“And what exactly is your way?” she asked.
“There’s an easy way to find out. We go through the agency and take it from there.”
Whatever Jake Novak seemed to be believe she was—Raven thought it was quite clear that he’d gotten the wrong impression about her.
“I don’t think I’m the kind of girl you’re looking for.”
He looked at her with his brown eyes, and he reached out again and touched her arm with time, just above the elbow. “I think you’re exactly the kind of girl I’m looking for.”
Her nipples stiffened automatically when he made contact with her. “But I don’t understand,” she said. She felt faint, out of control, frightened—but worst of all, she felt her desire for Jake Novak was something that could undo everything good that she’d done for herself these last four years.
“Maybe someday soon you’ll start to understand more. And then I’ll come find you.” He turned around and walked back up the wide staircase, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. In that brief moment, she both hated him as much as she’d ever hated anyone, and she wanted to scream for him to come back down and kiss her.
But she did nothing of the sort.
Instead, she turned the door handle, opened the massive oak door, and walked out into the cool night air.
Leaving the mansion and getting in a cab to take her home, Raven could almost convince herself that none of it had even happened.
The next morning, Raven’s brain felt like it had been put through a meat grinder. Her head was pounding and her mouth tasted like cardboard. She sat up in her futon bed and groggily opened one eye, glancing at the time on her cell phone.
It was just after ten in the morning. That meant she’d have only a few minutes to shower and get dressed before heading to the restaurant for her lunch shift.
Why did I go out partying on a night when I had to work a lunch shift the very next day?
She glanced at the phone again, this time with both eyes open. That’s when she noticed that it said she had a missed call and voicemail.
Yawning, she got up and shuffled to the bathroom, phone in hand, starting to play the voicemail as she walked.
She expected to hear Skylar’s voice on the other end, or perhaps her stepmother asking her when she was coming home for a visit.
But no—the voice was decidedly male, and the tone was decidedly unfriendly.
“Hi, Raven, this is Max Mendez from Club Alpha. You need to call me as soon as you get this message.”
Raven got a cold chill up her spine as she re-listened to his brief message. At first she had no idea what he meant by Club Alpha, until she faintly recalled the title at the top of the contract page she’d signed last night.
Club Alpha was the name of that agency that Jake Novak had been talking about. Thinking back to the last conversation she’d had with Jake made her tremble inside. He’d said a lot of very confusing things, things that she wasn’t sure she wanted to think about.
But then she remembered the way he’d looked at her, the touch of his fingers grazing her skin as he’d brushed a lock of hair from her face.
The way her nipples had stiffened and the need had tightened her belly, a feeling she hadn’t ever imagined she could feel.
His words still echoed in her mind.
The only way this is going to happen is if I pay you for your services.
Raven tried to get the sound of his voice out of her head, knowing that in the cold light of day, one thing about Jake Novak was abundantly clear. He was no good. And there was absolutely no use thinking about what he’d said and done last night, because she would never see him again.
If she was going to forget about Jake Novak, she certainly was going to ignore that voicemail. Whoever was calling her, she wanted nothing to do with it.
Ignore them long enough and they’ll go away. You learned that the hard way a long time ago.
She set her phone on the bathroom sink, stripped off her undies and got into the shower. As she let the hot water run over her, she closed her eyes, and flashes of the night before ran like strobe lights through her mind.
Picturing Jake Novak’s face again, the way he’d looked at her, the sound of that low voice with just the perfect masculine rasp, she felt that same familiar quiver in her stomach.
Stop thinking about him! Just stop it!
You had a chance at Jake Novak and you blew it! She imagined Skylar saying. You blew your chance at the lottery—every girl would have loved to be in your shoes and you just tossed it all away.
Would Skylar still say that if she knew that Jake Novak wanted to pay Raven for services rendered?
Probably. Skylar was crazy enough not to care.
That made Raven smile a little, knowing that when she went to the restaurant, she’d see Skylar there and they’d both laugh about last night.
She turned the shower off but it continued to drip because her landlord absolutely refused to make repairs. That’s what you got when you lived in Watertown and paid $500 a month to live in a tiny basement apartment.
Raven wrapped a towel around her hair and then walked to the mirror.
That’s when she noticed her phone buzzing again. She glanced down and saw UNKNOWN CALLER and got a shiver.
“Dammit,” she whispered. Her heartbeat accelerated as she stared at her cell and contemplated what to do next.
She sent it to voicemail and started brushing her teeth, frustrated and nervous.
What if they’re calling you because Jake Novak was interested in you? Maybe he sent someone to track you down and ask you on a date on his behalf.
That didn’t sound like his style, but she’d heard of famous guys contacting publicists or agents to get a girl’s number.
Still, whatever the reason for the calls, Raven didn’t wan
t to deal with it this morning, still hung over, slightly regretful, and needing to get to work so she wouldn’t be late for her shift.
And then the cell phone was buzzing again. UNKNOWN CALLER.
Now she was pissed.
“Hello,” she said angrily, holding the cell phone to her ear while she spit toothpaste into the sink.
“Is this Raven Hartley?” the voice asked. She could tell instantly that it was the same guy as the voicemail she’d listened to a few minutes ago.
“Please stop calling me,” she told him.
“We have a big problem,” he replied, “so you better think very carefully about what you do next.”
Raven swallowed the rest of her toothpaste and stepped away from the sink. Her heart was racing again, and she was feeling vulnerable and queasy. “I don’t even know you,” she said, her voice less authoritative than she would’ve liked.
“My name is Max Mendez and I’m affiliated with Club Alpha.”
“That doesn’t mean anything to me.”
“Well it might not, but it will very soon, because you work for us now.”
Raven choked back a laugh of disbelief. “You must be kidding.”
“I’m dead serious,” he said. His voice didn’t have a trace of humor.
“Well, that’s pretty funny,” she said, “considering I’m about to leave for my job right now, and I don’t think I’ll be seeing you there.”
“You mean your job at Charlie’s Café in Watertown Square?” Max asked her.
She was stunned, and now the fear was icy, like an iron hand around her throat. This creep knew where she worked. He had her phone number. “This is harassment,” she told him. “I’m going to call the police if you don’t leave me alone.”
“I’ve given you the courtesy of a phone call, Miss Hartley, because we’ve had a client complain about you. A very important client. This is unacceptable to our organization, and we intend to make things right.”
“Was it Jake Novak?” she said, knowing he was the only person who would have had any reason to complain about her. She hadn’t even talked to anyone else.
He continued on as if she’d never spoken Jake’s name. “A client at the party last night expressed interest in your services, and you said that you weren’t going to participate in the requested arrangement.”
“That’s right. I won’t sleep with a guy for money because I’m not a hooker.”
“You don’t get to say what you will or won’t do, Miss Hartley. You work for us and you’ll do what the client tells you to do.”
His confidence had unnerved her, but she fought back. “I don’t work for you and prostitution’s illegal.”
“I have the contracts you signed in front of me right now,” Max stated, his voice calm and terrible and cold. “So although you might feel you don’t work for us, these very same contracts tell a different story. You do work for us, and we expect you to honor your contract.”
“Or what?” she said, laughing, almost wanting to upset him now. “I’m dead broke, buddy. Go ahead and sue me if you want, I really don’t care. But you better stop calling me, because I’m not afraid to let the police know what you’re doing, and I also have a lot of friends who won’t take very kindly to your threats either.”
There was a long pause and she thought maybe the creep had finally hung up, but then he breathed a low, soft sigh into the other end of the phone. “You will honor your contract, Miss Hartley.”
And then there was a click and he was gone.
Raven couldn’t stop thinking about Max Mendez and Club Alpha after she’d gotten off the phone with him.
On her way to work, she searched for both Max and Club Alpha on the Internet and came up with absolutely nothing. There were no forum posts, no Wiki entries, no websites registered to Club Alpha, nothing at all.
At first, she wanted to believe that meant this guy was just bullshitting her, trying to scam her or something. But deep down, in the pit of her stomach, Raven knew that there was something serious going on, and that it wasn’t over by any stretch.
After all, Jake had mentioned them last night—not by name, but he’d definitely been referring to them when he said they should book a meeting through her agency. And she’d seen the name Club Alpha on that contract she’d signed as well.
Why did you sign those papers without even looking at them? What were you thinking?
She was furious at herself for letting the moment get away from her and once again impulsively acting without thinking of the consequences. She’d been just as impulsive and thoughtless when she was seventeen and it had nearly cost her everything.
When Raven got to the restaurant, she saw Skylar was already sitting at a table and rolling silverware, getting ready to open for lunch.
“Hey,” Raven said, sitting down across from her.
Skylar looked up, eyes wide, smiling. “Hey, you! Crazy night, huh?”
“Too crazy,” Raven said. She grabbed a napkin, fork, knife and spoon. “When did you leave?”
“Not that long after you,” Skylar said. “Some old guy came up and started chatting to me about five-star restaurants and asking whether I liked Sushi, but he was like five feet tall and a little smelly. I made excuses and got the heck out of there.”
“Gross,” Raven agreed, wrinkling up her nose.
“Can you believe that Jake Novak talked to you?” Skylar asked. “I was, like, totally blown away. That was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Raven didn’t want to get into that, nor did she want to admit that he’d followed her downstairs and asked her on a date of sorts. That would have led to a lot of other revelations that she wasn’t quite ready to share just yet.
But she was curious. “Hey, did anyone call you last night or this morning? Anyone from the party?”
“The party?” Skylar asked, her brow furrowing. “I didn’t give anyone my number.”
“So some guy named Max didn’t call you or leave you any voicemails?”
Skylar stopped rolling silverware and looked at her suspiciously. “Are you still drunk, honey?”
“No, I’ve just gotten a couple of weird calls. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
“What did this weirdo say to you?” Skylar asked.
“Nothing, really. Probably a wrong number.”
“Okay, sweetie.” Skylar winked and nodded, as if it all made total sense.
They finished setting up for lunch and then the first customers were starting to be seated.
Max Mendez was starting to feel like a faint nightmare, and the events from the previous night nothing but fog that was clearing as the day wore on.
But then, not long after opening, Raven was taking a lunch order from a middle-aged couple, and she happened to notice a rather large man in a very nice, tailored blue suit come into the restaurant. He approached her manager and began talking to him just beside the host’s podium.
Something about the man’s demeanor struck Raven, and she kept watching him, even as the middle-aged couple were telling her their order.
Raven’s manager, Dick, stood and listened for a moment, his expression one of intent focus and grave concern. Dick looked around the restaurant until he saw Raven, and his mouth tightened. He looked back at the large man in the blue suit and listened again.
Raven had a terrible, awful feeling that the man in the suit was Max Mendez. He had thin black hair and a mustache, like some aging porn star. He was greasy and nasty and he looked as mean as a box of rattlesnakes.
“Excuse me, Miss?” the woman at her table asked. “Did you hear what I said about the dressing on the side for my Cobb salad?”
“Oh, yeah, sure,” Raven told her, and then started walking away from the table. Her heart was pounding all over again.
Dick nodded a few times in response to the man in the suit and then looked directly at Raven, before walking towards her. He met her in the middle of the restaurant by the bar.
“Who was that guy?” she said.
“Listen,” Dick said, his eyes shifting nervously, “you’ve got to go.”
“What do you mean? I just started my shift. You’re cutting me loose already?”
“I’ve got to fire you, Raven. I’m sorry.”
“Fire me? For what?” She looked past him and saw that the man in the suit was now waiting just outside the restaurant, smoking a cigarette.
“Listen, that guy who just came into the restaurant is somebody I can’t afford to mess around with. For some reason, he’s got a big problem with you and I don’t want any part of it, so you need to leave. I can’t have you bringing heat on us like this.”
“Dick, I haven’t done anything wrong. Let’s call the police,” she begged.
Dick had always been really nice to her, but now he looked angry and frantic. “Listen, Raven, you’ve always been a good kid and a good worker. But you better leave right now or I’ll call the cops on you—got it?” His eyes were practically bursting out of his head.
“Got it,” she said, and then took off her nametag and threw it on the ground, dropping her notepad and pen next to it. “Thanks a lot, Dick,” she muttered, and then left the restaurant, knowing who was waiting for her.
But she wasn’t going to run away from him. She was angry, and her anger was giving her fuel—Raven felt strong and fearless suddenly.
She burst through the exit and found her enemy smoking a cigarette, a little smile playing on his lips.
“Fine, you got me fired, asshole,” she said, getting right in his face. “But I don’t give a shit. You don’t fucking scare me.”
He towered over her, and he was probably at least a hundred pounds heavier. But he just grinned, blowing a plume of smoke towards her. “You might not be scared yet,” he told her, “but keep playing with fire, Raven Hartley, and see what happens next.”
His voice was just like the voice on the phone. So this was what Max looked like in person.
She made a face of disgust. “I don’t work for you guys. I will never work for you. So what do you want from me?”
He sniffed. “We want what I already explained. For you to fulfill your contractual obligations.”
“And what does that mean, exactly?”