Chapter 5

 

 

Elena walked into the arena wearing a black and white pantsuit, her hair in a tight bun.

“Oh, hi!” Chelsea squealed.

“Get Chance.” She didn't want to hear that woman's voice any longer than she had to.

“Um,” she twisted her finger over her lips. “I think he's, in a meeting or something. There was a lot of heavy panting earlier.”

“Chance!” She knocked on his door and it cracked open immediately.

“Just a second!” He slammed the door shut again and muffled voices came from the other side.

“Are they hiring a new cheerleader?” she asked Chelsea.

“I think Chance is doing interviews for when Maricela gets her baby bump.”

“Is he?” Elena hated that man.

When he opened the door, he wasn't wearing any shoes and his shirt was buttoned up wrong. There was a young blond woman leaning up against the desk.

“I need you to bring Maricela into the office,” Elena said.

He walked back to the desk, and winked the girl. Then he picked up his tablet and started looking through it. “I can get her in tomorrow, but I'm booked today.”

“Just hurry up with him,” she told the girl. “I need Maricela in today. Chance,” she turned to him, “I'm going for coffee. Call me when she gets here.” Elena wasn't about to wait in the office while he screwed that girl and finally got around to Maricela.

“Fine,” he said, as he slammed the door on her and resumed his interview.

“Does he really screw all of the cheerleaders?” Elena asked.

“Yup. He made me do it too, but I make more here than I did dancing, so I don't mind.”

“How'd you find this job?”

“He picked me up one night at the club. Told me I had potential. Haven't gotten back on the pole since. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. I love it here.”

Elena had never heard anything so terrible in her entire life. She was disgusted with the place, so she walked around downtown for a while, picked up something to eat and sat down in a small cafe, where she did finally get a phone call from Chance.

“Is she there?” Elena asked.

“Yeah, and she's pissed. Apparently she had some sort of spa thing going on and we interrupted it.”
“ Good.”

“Are you screwing Diego?”

“Why?”

“She keeps going on about it, she seems to think that because she saw you sitting with him at the charity event that you're with him.”

“No, and she assaulted me at the event. The woman is psychotic. Have you seen the videos she sent Diego?”

“Oh yeah. That's some crazy shit, ain't it?”

“Don't take anything she says seriously, and get her in a room so I can talk to her.” She hung up the phone and walked out of the cafe carrying a white plastic bag.

When the elevator opened and Elena started to walk out into the reception area, she heard a shrill scream and was tackled to the ground, engulfed in a sea of frizzy black hair. “He's mine!” Maricela shrieked. She pulled Elena up by the hair and slammed her head to the ground. “Mine!” She did it again. “He loves me, we're having a baby and we're going to be together.”

The third time Elena's head slammed to the ground, she felt light. Maricela reared up and drew her fist back to punch Elena in the nose. Elena dodged to the right and threw Maricela off of her. The woman's head made a thud when it hit the concrete.

“Chance!” Elena rushed up to bang on his door.

“She wanted to wait for you,” he called from his office.

“Uh-huh, yeah.” Chelsea was on the phone. “She's the frumpy brunette with crazy hair fighting in the lobby. I need you down here right away.”

“Frumpy?” Maricela shrieked.

“Security will take care of her.” Chelsea whispered to Elena.

Two men ran out of the elevator, their hands hovering over their Tasers. “Is this her?” It was the blond that was always flirting with Chelsea.

“Yeah, baby! Get her!” she hopped up and down.

“Could you, like, tase her for me?” Elena asked.

Maricela spit in her direction.

“Sorry, we're not really allowed to use them unless we have to,” the blond said.

“Not even for me, Jeff?”

“Sorry, babe.” Looking to Elena, he asked, “What do you want me to do?”

“Bring her into this side room here.” Elena pointed to the door of a conference room on the other side of the reception desk, “Stay with me, please.” Elena walked up to Maricela who was staring at her like a snake ready to devour its victim. Then she crouched down to the woman's level. “I think we'll have a little chat, woman to woman.”

“I'm going to kill you.” Maricela stared at her dead on.

“Try it.” Elena stood up and turned back around to walk into the conference room.

“Let me go!” Elena heard from her spot at the head of the table. “Get off me! What are you doing? Please!” Maricela was hysterical when the men pulled her up to the door and threw her into the room. Her face made a satisfying smacking sound on the floor when it made contact. She shot up, shrieking, with her claws out in front of her and ran towards Elena. “You bi—

The blond security guard came up behind her, picked her up and sat her down in the chair on the other side of the table. “I have zip ties,” he yelled, struggling to be heard over Maricela's shrieking.

“Both of you just stand on either side of the chair.” She directed the security detail, appearing much more calm and in control than she felt.

“Now,” Elena turned her attention to Maricela. “I don't know you, but I know you're out of your mind. Those videos...”

“I love him, and that's something you know nothing about.” She was sobbing like a little girl now, a complete change from the shrieking witch of moments ago.

“Okay. Whatever. You're jealous and you're trying to destroy him, because he never wanted to be with you in the first place.”

“That's not true!” She struggled to get up, but the blond managed to sit her back down.

“Prove it then.” Elena set her phone down in her lap and pulled a box out of the plastic bag she'd been carrying. “Take a pregnancy test. He has reassured me and everyone else consistently that if you are pregnant he will make sure the baby is taken care of.”

She clicked her tongue. “What, you want me to just squat right here?”

“There's a bathroom down the hall. You can take all the time you want.”

Maricela went from indignant to quiet.

“If you're telling the truth, Maricela, you can have everything you want. You just have to take this test.” Elena walked over to her and crouched down with her phone in her hand. “You don't want to take the test, do you?”

“I don't have to do nothing for you.”

“Why won't you take the test?” Elena asked.

“I know about you. I saw you with him at the party, running out with him holding a bottle. I will never do anything you say.”

“Then you're not pregnant. If you were pregnant you would take the test.”

“I'm not taking it!” Elena set the pregnancy test on the table.

“Prove it, Maricela. If you wanna keep this up, you need evidence, because you better believe that in nine months when there's no baby, the entire country will be laughing at you.” Then she turned and walked out.