Page 4 of Surrender

I lie. I'm totally going to freak out, but I need this job. So, I'll hide my freakouts.

A wicked grin spreads across her face and I'm suddenly more nervous than when I walked in. This woman is fierce, stunning and cunning. She's a fox in a hen house. She stands and holds out her hand. "Alright, Serenity. Let's have you come tomorrow night. I'd like you to meet the owners and we'll give you a trial. We currently have an opening for a server, so if at the end of the night, we all agree you're a good fit, the job is yours."

I shake her hand eagerly. "Thank you. Thank you so much, Madame Kline. I won't disappoint you."

She smiles at me, but I'm not sure I trust it. It's a mixture of warmth and deviousness. And I've learned enough body language to know she has an ulterior motive that she's very happy about.

But that only makes me more nervous.

Chapter three

Serenity

The taxi driver keeps looking at me from the rearview mirror but doesn’t say anything. I’m probably not the first girl he’s driven who can’t stop crying. I wipe my eyes desperately, tears blurring my vision. And wince when my fingers drag over my swollen, bruised skin.

I spent my last dollar on this taxi, but I had absolutely nowhere left to go, except a sex club and a woman I’ve only met once.

I thought about Ella, but Gary knows where she lives. He'd dropped me off there one afternoon for a girl's night after he demanded he take me. I didn't want him to drive me anywhere, but he'd been so... insistent. Now I know why. I had nowhere else to go. Even her place wasn’t safe.

It's early afternoon. I had come home early from the café because we were surprisingly over-staffed, and Alex told me that with the summer season, she had to cut my hours. I could do half a shift in the mornings, but I wasn't needed for midday. I hadn't told my parents about The White Envelope yet because I didn't officially have the job, and I didn't want to get their hopes up.

But when my stepdad realized I’d be bringing in even less money, he shouted at me, threw things, and eventually backhanded me. I left with the tips from the Cafe in my pocket and nothing else. He had just been getting started, working himself into a frenzy, and if hitting me was just the beginning, I was terrified of what would have happened if I'd stayed.

As the cabby pulls up to the curb, I’m shot one last pitying look before I hand the driver my last dollar and rush to the front doors, only to find them locked. I bang on them, stunned, panicked tears still streaming down my face, mixing with the cold rain that’s begun to fall. It's summer, but the rain is cold, and I'm soaked to the bone and shaking, my muscles desperate to keep warm.

After what seems like hours, but I’m sure is really only minutes, I hear the lock mechanism unlock and the door creaks open. I wasn't supposed to start today. I was supposed to start tomorrow. But I literally have nowhere else to go. I didn't even grab my phone to look for a women's shelter.

Madame gives me one quick up-and-down glance before pulling me inside and wrapping me in a fierce hug. Shame and guilt and fear overwhelm me, and a fresh new batch of sobs shakes my entire body.

"I-I-I-I-I'm s-s-s-sorry. I-I-I d-didn't know where else to go," I choke out.

Madame takes it all in. Her elegant, feminine scent and soft, warm skin comfort me in a way I’ve never known. It's the way a mother should comfort her daughter. Something I haven't experienced in a long time. The contrast between this virtual stranger and my own mother stuns me. I had no idea I was so hungry for comfort, affection, love, until that moment.

When the tears slow down, I pull back, afraid I’ve ruined her outfit with my tears. She wipes away the tears from my cheeks before taking my hand in hers.

“Let’s go speak in my office.”

I nod and sniff, not knowing what else to do.

After she closes the door to her office and helps me sit on the couch, I tell her everything. She nods, listening intently, without judgment.

I ask her what I should do.

"I'll reserve one of the rooms for you here. It'll be yours until you can save up enough to get a place of your own. Our clients pay a sizeable yearly membership fee, so we pay our staff well. I'll make sure you're on every shift available." She places her hand over mine. "You're safe here. We have bouncers all over, even though we've never needed them. No one can get in without a membership, and I doubt they'd think to look for you here."

"What about..." I motion towards my black eye. She stands then, bringing my hand with her.

"Let's go to the ladies' changing room. I'm sure we can find some makeup to cover that up."

Sure enough, there's a basket of make-up samples and we easily find a concealer that matches my skin tone. As she leads me to one of the rooms, she chats amicably about what I can expect for my first shift, what she loves about managing a sex club, and how wonderful the owners are.

When she shows me to my room, I pause at the doorway for a second, overwhelmed. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but a large room with black walls and a large black bed wasn't it. It's not the walls or the bed that have me swallowing an uncomfortable sound. There's a large cross against one of the walls with shackles and an entire wall covered in different whips and paddles. I'm so far out of my comfort zone that I'm paralyzed at the entrance.

Madame must see my discomfort.

"There's a mirror and sink just over there if you want to freshen up. I'll find a club polo for you to wear and see aboutgetting some pants delivered." Her voice is embarrassingly soft. I nod, tears threatening to fall again. She turns to leave and flicks a switch enclosed with a red backer by the door, illuminating the red light above the door in the hallway.

"Do you need anything else, Serenity?"

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