Chapter 21 – Mariah
“Was there anything else, Mariah? You look like you’ve got something else on your mind.”
I did, but how was I going to say it out loud? After everything that he’d just told me, and after everything that he’d done for me, it seemed rather petty now. He’d taken a bullet for me and I wasn’t willing to do anything for him?
Whatever Sasha had given me was needed now as my anxiety went through the roof. I was in a place that I didn’t like to be in. What was I supposed to do?
“Yes, I… uh, I want to talk to you about the auction that I saw the flyer for?” You know, the one that has my half-naked body on it, begging for their money?
He smiled. Elie actually smiled, and I was feeling a little less sympathy for his pain. He knew that I wasn’t going to be happy with this and he’d gone through with it anyway.
“You don’t like that picture? I think you’re gorgeous in it.”
Elie was skirting around the problem. He knew exactly what I was upset about. It didn’t have anything to do with which picture he used, although it was true that I didn’t like him using my image for promotions like that. I’m sure it was part of the ten-page contract that he’d made me sign. It was too long to really read all the way through, and after a few minutes I’d just signed it.
“It’s not about the promotional material, Elie, it’s what you say is up for auction. My innocence?”
His smile widened, and I felt a little anger boiling up inside of me. How could he find any of this funny at all? I didn’t find it remotely entertaining.
“You were talking about it with Scott. I thought that was an indication that you were ready for it.”
“When I’m ready for it, I’ll give it to who I want. I’m not going to have some strangers bidding on that. It’s too intimate and too important to be sold away.”
“You’re going to do just that, Mariah.”
“What?” Did I just hear him right?
“You heard me. You’re going to sell it at the auction. I’ve put a lot of money into this promotion, and you’re what they’re coming for. If you want Scott to be the one that takes it, then you better make sure that he comes with his checkbook, because I’ve got a feeling that the bidding is going to get crazy. I’m also going to up the percentage on my end to forty percent since I had to put so much in the front end of this. All you have to do is show up, Mariah.”
I shook my head, not really believing what I was hearing. He was acting like I didn’t have a choice, like I couldn’t just refuse him.
“I’m not going to do it, Elie. I told you from the beginning that I’m not going to go there.”
“Things change, Mariah. That was before you were willing to give it away to a client and that was before I got shot because of you. You owe me. You know it and I know it. Are you the type of person that’s not going to honor her debts?”
It was the card that I was waiting for, but even though I knew it was coming, I wasn’t prepared for it. I still hadn’t gotten over the fact that it was my fault that Greg was gone. I should have just left. With Elie it was different. He was still alive and looking at me as if he might very well do the same thing to me.
“You ask too much of me, Elie.”
He pulled his shirt back so that I could see the bandage. “Really? Because I don’t actually think I am asking all that much, Mariah. You owe me, and this is how you’re going to repay me. You’re lucky that I’m being so generous and giving you any of the proceeds at all.”
I had a vile taste in my mouth as I left his office. It wasn’t like before where I worried about how everything was going to work out. Now that I knew, I was no better off. I shouldn’t have asked anything about it. Then I wouldn’t know the truth of where I stood. I liked it better when I didn’t know.
My body felt numb. I couldn’t even cry. I didn’t know if it was tears for myself or if it was tears for Greg. Either way, the salty liquid wasn’t going to do anything for me, and it was pointless to let it bother me more than it already had.
When I got home, Sasha could tell something was wrong with me. It was hard to talk to her about it because she was dating Elie. I don’t know what she saw in him, and then I had to wonder if she did see that side of him. Did he have something that he held over her head as well? I didn’t think that Elie was just like that for me. It showed me what he truly was, and I suddenly felt bad for my friend for having to deal with a man like him.
“Did you talk to Elie?”
I didn’t want to talk about it, so I tried to put it off. I had a feeling that she knew exactly who he was. She was nervous about what we’d talked about.
“Yeah, I talked to him, but it didn’t do me a whole lot of good.”
“He wouldn’t let you pull out?”
“What do you think?”
“I think you’ve finally seen the boss the way he really is. He plays nice well, but it doesn’t last long. I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did with you. You’re usually a lot more vocal about things.”
Was she telling me that she’d wanted me to do something about it? It felt like I should have, but Elie had me in a tight spot. How had he gotten Sasha to agree to the things that she now did for him? What did he have on her?
“I don’t know what to think anymore, Sasha. That man who came to his house was Greg. You remember me and Kimmie talking about him, don’t you?”
Sasha nodded and I continued. “So Greg shot Elie and now I owe him. When I found out Greg was in town, I panicked. Elie told me that he would help me, and now Greg is dead and Elie has a hole in his shoulder.”
My friend just shook her head and made a sound that told me that it was very familiar sounding. “Elie helped me out with the police when I first got down here. You know I was a mess, and when I started at the club, I was at rock bottom. I don’t know what I was doing, but I was doing a lot of drugs. I got into a bad patch and Elie bonded me out and made sure that I had a lawyer that got me off. I’ve owed him ever since.”
“When does the debt get repaid?”
She shrugged and said she would let me know when she found out. It made me wonder why I was even feeling guilty about any of it. He’d helped me just to get his claws into me deeper.
“I’m sorry I got you into this, Mariah. If I’d thought it would be like this, I never would have told you to apply. If I could go back far enough, I would make it so that I never met Elie. He seems to want to help, but nothing in this world is free.”
I was starting to realize how true her words were. It wasn’t just the fact that he’d done so much to help me out; it was the false sense of security that Elie had provided in the beginning that I missed the most. I missed when the worst thing I had to deal with was the clients. Now I had to deal with the politics of it all and I can’t say that I was really enjoying it that much.
“I don’t want to go to that auction, Sasha. What happens if I don’t?”
Sasha looked away. I could only imagine why that was, but she was going to have to tell me, for my own safety. I needed to know what I was up against, and what he was willing to do to get his way.
“You’ll wish you had. Elie has a way of knowing everything. I don’t know how he does it, but even when I leave with a client he knows everything that goes on. Whatever you’re thinking you can do to get away from him, you can’t. I hate to say it like that, but it’s the truth.”
“Why are you still with him Sasha? This isn’t like you.”
“I can’t really say why. I guess because I can handle him most of the time. Being out here by myself wasn’t near as fun as I thought it would be. When Elie gets his way, he’s rather pleasant. He’s not like that all the time, but most of it anyway.”
She was making excuses for him, so I took that as an indicator that I was going to have to watch what I said. I don’t know how deep she was into him and what she was willing to do to keep that man happy. I didn’t know if Sasha was still really my friend or if she was Elie’s girl first now.
“That sounds like a lot of ifs.”
“It is.”
“Have you ever thought about leaving here and just getting away from it all?”
“I have, Mariah, but I’m so close to having the money to start a place. It seems like such a waste to do all of this, go through all that I’ve gone through, for nothing. I want all of this to have counted for something. It makes it easier to keep my head down and do what needs to be done.”
I started to understand her a little better. She was brave and I didn’t have to worry about her. It was still Sasha; she had just accepted the reality of the situation. None of us had loving families to go back to, so it was sink or swim. There was no padding to cushion the fall that was just around the corner.
“I hope you get that, Sasha. You deserve it.”
“Thanks, Mariah. If the auction goes as well as Elie thinks it will, I’ll be ready to quit right after that.”
“Are you really going to do it, Sasha?”
She nodded her head so hard that a few tiny braids fell in her face. I could see that she was serious, and I knew that I was going to have to find some of the same kind of strength that she had. Maybe I could get enough from the auction to get away as well. If it went through, though, I was going to have to make sure that Scott was there to bid on me. I didn’t want to think about what would happen if someone like Travis won the privilege for the night.
I shuddered at the thought. I was going to have to make sure that Scott was there. He might not want to be seen at such an auction, but he was going to have to for me. I just wished I was a little surer about what he was going to do. I needed him, and I would know soon enough if he was going to be there for me or not. Soon enough I was going to know the truth.