After we escaped from Kurt, Sean led me through the city. "This way," he said as we navigated the downtown area, passing clubs of varying exclusivity. It was night time, and everybody was out, waiting for their shot to get into Diamonds in the hope that tonight was the night they finally made it inside. Or, if they didn't want to wait, they'd go to Fire and Rain, an enormous warehouse of a club which always had room for more.

I’d been to all of them at one time or another, but always returned to The Apple Tree. It felt like home to me. At first, it was just the place with the best drinks and best music, but as I got to know the people who worked there personally, they became my friends.

As I began frequenting their club, they gained in popularity. It was as if having the best club wasn't enough to attract people. It took a celebrity like me. More than good music, everybody wanted to be among royalty. I was happy to bring in the crowds. If I was going to bring business, it may as well be of benefit to my friends.

Bringing Kurt in there, the bull in the china shop, had been awkward not just because it was hard to make moves on someone with a bodyguard looking over your shoulder every step of the way, but because he was making my home away from the palace feel less like home.

That was no matter. I had Sean now and he had me. He pulled my hand and, in a graceful move, pushed me against a wall and kissed me. The harder he kissed me, with his body against mine, the harder I got. I didn't want to wait.

"Where do you live?" I asked him again.

"I'm close," he said.

"Take me there."

He nodded. "Come on," and pulled me past people as fast as we could go.

We passed an intersection. And then another. And another. "I thought you said you were close," I said.

"I am. It's just a few more blocks up ahead. Here, I know a shortcut."

"No more than three blocks, or I'm out of here," I said.

"This way," he said.

He pulled me into an alleyway and reached into his pocket, grabbing onto a large bulge. It looked like he couldn't wait, either.

"Oh, I like where this is going," I said.

Sean smiled. "I don't think you do," he said. He pulled his hand out of his pocket, revealing that the bulge was actually a switchblade.

"Fuck," I said.

My life flashed before my eyes. I should have listened to my mother. I didn't want to die. I was too young, too beautiful. Hundreds of faces popped into my head, all the men and women I'd slept with, but they all blended together, none of them standing out.

"I want you to come with me," he said. I considered this for a moment, then turned around and took off as fast as I could. The lifts I was wearing were slowing me down, so I kicked them off and felt my socks fall onto the damp, hard concrete of the alley. My heart had been racing when I thought he was taking me to his house, and now it picked up its pace even more.

I didn't dare look back. I just ran towards the street, where I'd be out in public. More and more faces went through my head. All people I'd either slept with, wanted to sleep with, or thought about sleeping with, flashed through my mind.

"Come back here!" he said, right behind me.

"Help!" I screamed, but the city streets with their traffic and music from the clubs drowned me out. I had no idea how close he was behind me. He could be right on my back. I needed every second I could get and didn't risk looking behind me to see where he was. I had one goal and one goal alone. Get to the street.

I was only a few feet away. I put whatever energy I had left into my legs to push me through the alley into the street. They propelled me through the entranceway onto the sidewalk, where the momentum pushed my legs across the street. I heard a large truck honking but couldn't even register where it was coming from. Then I heard a loud bang and several gasps from people on the street. I looked around, they were staring at me, and at the ground.

The truck had hit Sean. He lay in the street. The driver of the truck got out, leaned over his body, and started pushing on his chest.

I walked over and saw tears coming out of the driver's eyes.

"He's not breathing," the driver said. "Somebody call an ambulance."

I looked down at Sean's motionless body. He still had the knife in his hand, but I couldn't help but feel sad, too. I wanted to be safe, but that didn't mean I wanted him to die.

I looked at the crowd of people gathering around. "You heard the man," I said. "Somebody call for an ambulance. Is there a doctor here?"

There wasn't.