Darkness

4. Autumn-Rose

Four

Autumn-Rose

The day has been non-stop. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about what happened at the ice rink this morning. Not so much the teaching part. More so the man who I haven’t stopped thinking about.

One word was all he said to me, and it made a shiver of excitement rush through my body.

Mr. Cain and his dark mysteries. I felt a cold energy around him. It should make me not want to see him again, but it does the opposite. How crazy is that? His cold mood, and not wanting to talk should make me run, but all I want to do is run towards him.

Throughout the day I kept asking myself one question, why can I not stop thinking about a man who has only said one word to me, and who I was in a room with for less than five minutes? I don’t have an answer for it.

I had three wedding consultations today, and while they were talking and telling me what they wanted for their special day, but all I could think about was his tattoos. I could only see some around his neck, and his whole hand, the one he shook my hand with. I can’t help wondering what do they mean? Why did he get them?

Walking into the shop, I see Katy’s with a customer so I go out the back and put my bag on the office chair and pull out the folders for the weddings. I love seeing the weddings look so pretty with my flowers. Seeing the guests at the wedding with a smile on their faces. It's priceless.

“The shop has been crazy today, not the best day to have all the consultations.” I look up at Katy walking into the office as she collapses on the chair. “Consultations will be in here from now on.” I laugh as she points at me.

“Deal. You will never guess what one of the themes is for one of the weddings?” I ask, swinging side to side on my chair. It might seem stupid, but when I first got an office, I always said I wanted a spinning chair. I don’t know why, but they always looked like so much fun. They are.

“I’m too scared to ask. I hate it when you ask this question. It’s always something crazy.” I have to laugh a little, because she’s not wrong at all.

“Goth. They want dark, and I mean dark colors, and have asked for some flowers to be black. I think it’s going to be so much fun-” I pull out the couple’s folder, and open it for Katy to see some of the things I’ve noted down for them already. “-We have two weeks to have something to show them-”

“You’re doing it. You seem excited about this.” Katy slides the folder back to me.

“You’re acting like you do them all the time. I’m the one who has all the ideas, you come in to help once I have the idea.” I always ask her what she thinks we should do, but she never tells me until I’ve decided which option, then once I’m ready to make them, she’s always there with an opinion.

“Well, it sucks to be the owner,” she jokes, and she pushes me a little, which makes her giggle.

I always have a vision for the shop, for weddings, for baby showers, anything. A customer comes in, they tell me what they want, and my brain works overtime to get their vision to work. I plan everything out, I know what things I can put together for their vision. Once I have an idea, Katy comes in and helps to finish them off.

“Don’t forget we are going out tonight-”

“I know, I know. You’ve sent me enough messages today.” Waving my cell at her. She’s sent me five messages already today.

“I’m finding you your Prince Charming, tonight.” Katy is always telling me that she’s going to find my Prince Charming. Why does that make me think of Mr. Cain. His whole demeanor tells me to stay away, but a part of me wants to know everything about him. What is going on? Who is Mr Cain?

“I don’t think there is a Prince Charming out there for me. Maybe I don’t want a Prince-” I stop when Katy laughs, placing my hand on my hip. “What’s so funny?”

“Since I’ve known you, you’ve talked about meeting this elusive Prince Charming, and how no matter what happens in life, it brings you and him closer.” Katy says hello to the customer who’s just walked through the door, as I give them a smile.

I wish I could tell her why I have to believe that. After everything that happened back home in England, I have to believe that everything happened so I can meet the man who will protect me no matter what.

“I know, and I still believe that. But maybe it’s not a Prince, and it’s a-” I stop because how can I already think of Mr. Cain as someone who would like me? “You know the universe will tell me when I find him.” I go and start bringing some flowers inside. A night out with the girls will be good for me. It’s not far from my apartment either, so if I want to go home or have too much to drink, I just have to cross the road.

“Meet us outside the club at seven. It’s supposed to be busy tonight.” Katy comes out to help me bring the flowers back into the shop for the night.

“It’s always busy. The line is usually around the corner. I’ve never been there, though.” Picking up the last basket of flowers, I turn to Katy. “Dress code for the night?” Now, I like my girly dresses with floral prints, and princess style shorts with a tank top, but I don’t think it will be very fitting for tonight.

“The club doesn’t have a dress code, it just says nice and smart, so you can rock up in anything. With those legs, I don’t even think they’ll care what you wear.” Katy points to my legs and shakes her head as if she’s disappointed in something. “You know how many men I could get with those? A lot of men love legs, and your legs are killer.”

“Thank you.” I take a little bow, as if I’m proud of myself for having good legs. I know they are sexy. It’s one of the reasons why I love wearing dresses. “You head off. I’ll close up and meet you there.” The shop doesn’t close for a few hours yet, but she’s been working solo while I was doing the consultations, so she deserves some time off before tonight.

“Don’t call me and cancel. I know where you live,” Katy shouts as she walks into the office to get her stuff. I can’t help but laugh at her.

“I’ll be there,” I shout as she walks out the door waving her hand at me. I continue to clean up the shop and work out in my head what I want to wear tonight.

Maybe by some luck I’ll meet a sexy man who will stop me from thinking about the mysterious sexy tattooed Mr Cain. I can hope.

***

“Did you put our name on the list?” I ask Katy as she grabs my hand and walks to the front of the line. I’ve seen this building from my window, and it always catches my sight at night. The different colors hitting the walls all the way around the building, the sign bold and tells you exactly where you are. Being this close to it, just standing outside, you know you’re about to enter a club that is so high class you’re going to feel you’ve entered paradise.

“Yes, I booked it three weeks ago, and even then, I had to fight for it.” Katy shouts as I walk behind her, the rest of her friends talking to each other. I don’t really know them. I’ve seen them a few times come to the shop when her shift is finished, but I’ve never been out with them before.

Katy talks to the bouncer at the door, who looks between us all and then moves to the side to let us in. This is the first time any of us have been here, and the moment I walk in my mouth opens as I take it all in.

This place is amazing. Looking up, I see cages up in the air with a girl in each of them. There are pole dancers on the floor where we are. I stop and take a good look at everything, from the different lights to the dance floor, and it makes me wonder what type of club this is. Is it a high class strip club? Or is it an r-rated club? The music is so loud, people are dancing in the middle of the vast room, and there are groups in booths with a pole in the middle. I’m guessing that’s for parties.

My body tenses up, and quickly looking behind me, the feeling of someone watching me hits me. A feeling I know all too well, unfortunately. I lived a long time with this feeling of being watched, and I never want it to happen again. Seeing no one behind me, I take a quick scan around the club, something I do out of habit; always check your surroundings. Nothing.

“Your drink!” Katy places it in my hand and I look down at it. “I have no idea what it is, but the picture looked nice. Cheers.” She taps her glass with mine, and I take a sip. Oh, this is nice, so I take another sip and another one.

“So, where are we going?” I ask her.

Looking around at the groups that are here, we have a mix of men and women, a group of men, a group of women all watching the pole dancers. It’s not the worst thing to watch. I mean, they really know how to move. I wish I had the courage to do that. I love my body. I’ve worked hard for it but the thought of stripping in front of someone excites me, and make me want to curl up into a ball.

“There is an empty booth,” one of Katy’s friends shouts. Katy takes my hand and we make our way over where the other girls are. Katy introduced all her friends to me so fast, I can’t remember what her name is. Hopefully, by the end of the night I will be able to put a name to the faces.

A man puts three pitchers of Long Island Iced Tea on the table, and Katy thanks him. I look over at her as she fills my glass again.

Oh god I’m so not going to be great tomorrow morning after these drinks “Okay girls, we are hunting for a man-” Katy shouts then points to me. “-a Prince Charming for my girl, Autumn-Rose.”

“I am not the only single person here.” I point to Katy who is single herself , and I’m sure she said two of the other girls are, too. “Plus, I doubt there’s no prince here. I have a feeling everyone here is only looking for a one-night stand.” I look around again trying to take everything in and make sure I know where the exit is. I still feel someone watching me and it’s making me doubt my choice of coming out tonight.

“Nothing wrong with a one-night stand.” Katy and another girl cheers their glasses, and I laugh as I finish my drink. Before I place the glass on the table, Katy fills it back up. “Claire?” I knew it started with a C. Claire puts her glass out for it to be filled.

“How many pitchers will we get through tonight?” I ask, seeing that between us all the three we had are now empty.

“We’re having fun tonight. We’re dancing, watching some strippers, and if we’re lucky, we’re gonna leave with someone sexy.”

Claire looks around the club, and I look up at the girls in the cages. From what I can see, there are six floors. Six floors, which all have different themes. Katy did say the sixth floor is VIP, and the fifth floor has more of a R-rated vibe in there. I didn’t ask what goes on, on that floor, I think that is beyond my limits.

Whoever thought of this place, has got to be smart. It’s full of people, dancing, kissing, drinking and laughing.

When I first moved in I thought this was an apartment building, because it looks to have eight floors just like my building. My mind goes straight to what’s on the top two floors? “Would you girls like to join our group?” I turn around and smile at two very handsome men. Katy looks at us and starts answering him but stops when a taller guy walks up to the table.

“Leave,” he tells the two men. They do. Immediately. This man clearly has some power.

“Mr. Cain would like to invite you to the third floor. If you want to party, that’s the floor to be on.” He moves a little and waits for us to get out of the booth, but I can’t move.

I don’t know what to say. What does Mr. Cain have to do with this place? Oh My God, does he own this club?

Without meaning to, I look around to see if I can see him. Do I want to see him again? My body gets excited at the thought of him being here. Was it him I was feeling watching me?

“This way ladies,” the guy’s voice pulls me away from looking around the club. “And your tab will be taken care of,” he tells us, and Katy grabs my hand as we follow him to the third floor.

“Here is your booth. This is Amber and she will look after your drinks order for tonight. Male or female stripper?” he says without flinching. We just stand there in silence. I’m not going to lie, I don’t think any one of us expected that question to come out of his mouth. I look around the floor, trying to see what is different about this floor to the one we were on only a few minutes ago. Leaning over the barrier, I can see down at the floors. The middle of it looks down to the second and ground floor. Everything is black on this floor: the booth, the pole, the table, and even our new drinking glasses. The only thing that isn’t black is there are different lights showcasing each booth. “I will send over both for you. Enjoy your evening. I’ll be back over later to check on you and make sure you are having a great night.”

I start walking after him, wanting to know if he is here, but stop when Katy stands in front of me and hands me a glass of wine. Where the hell did she get this from? She places a hand on her hip and tilts her head.

“Autumn-Rose, do you have something to tell me?” she asks.

“No,” I answer quickly.

“Now I know I don’t know a Mr.Cain. None of us do, which leaves you. Spill.” The tone of her voice and the drinks I’ve already had makes me giggle. I drink my wine all in one go. What do I have to tell her? Nothing happened with my one encounter with Mr. Cain. Or did it? I’ve not been able to get him out of my mind.

“This morning when I was with Poppy at the ice rink, he was there. Mr Cain. He barely said maybe two words to me, and looked at me for five seconds, if that.” Katy narrows her brows at me, and I smile because there is nothing else to tell her. “I swear, that’s it.”

“Crazy story, but I believe you. Is he hot?” Katy asks as we sit down in the booth, and I place my glass on the table, which gets filled immediately. How is my glass getting so filled up? This is crazy.

As I’m deep in thought about everything, a guy and woman step up onto the table and start dancing. A double strip show. What the hell? This is surreal and I don’t know how I feel right now. Watching the show in front of me as the music is playing around us, the only thing I can think about is; where is he?

Watching the strippers dancing together has turned me on. I never thought I would be turned on by the strippers, but looks like I’m learning a few things about myself lately. It is definitely a show worth watching again. It’s crazy, but even the woman turned me on, and as soon as I realized that I knew it was time to slow down on my drinking. I know I can’t stop drinking because Katy keeps filling my glass back up, even before I’m finished.

“Tonight, has been amazing.” I wrap my arms around Katy as we continue to dance, and I almost trip over her foot, but she catches me and we both start laughing.

“Hello ladies.” I turn around and see the man who brought us up to this floor.

“It’s Mr. Upgrade. Thank you for tonight. It’s been amazing.” I walk over to him and he quickly takes a step back. “I was only going to hug you.” His reaction is strange, why did he step back?

“If there is anything else you need for the night, please let the waiters know. I only came to see how you are.” He looks over at the rest of the group, who cheer loudly, saying how they’ve enjoyed the night.

He starts to walk away, but I quickly stand in front of him. “Hi, I was wondering, is he here?” I ask. I just need to know if he is here and that it was his gaze that felt watching me and not someone from my past.

“In his office.” He winks, then walks away.

Where the hell is his office? He said that, like I should know where that is. Oh my God, what am I doing? I can’t stop myself from walking towards the stairs. Sipping on my wine, as I stare at the stairs. Which direction should I? Up or down.

I feel someone push past me, forcing me to go up the stairs. So I do it. I don’t know what I’m going to do if I find him. Maybe it’s the alcohol making me reckless, but I just want to see him. I need to know if he feels this pull as much as I go.

I stop by the only door. I try the handle and knock as I open the door, slowly. “Yes!” I hear him shout. He’s sitting at his desk looking through some paperwork. It gives me a second to quickly glance around his office, which is dark and mysterious. Just like the man sitting behind his desk. It’s sexy .

The TV screens showing footage of the whole club are to the side of him. A large dark wood desk sits in the middle of the back wall, with a black chair. The rest of the office has windows which are all overlooking the club. There’s a couch to the side, which isn’t black, but a dark brown color, and there is a door leading to somewhere on the other side of the wall.

As I finish scanning his office, I stop in my tracks and jump a little as the door closes behind me, attracting his attention. Mr. Cain just stares at me. He doesn’t have a suit jacket on, his shirt sleeves are rolled up to his elbow showing off his tattoos. He’s so hot.

He doesn’t say anything, he just keeps staring at me. I was hoping he would say something, so I don’t feel like I’ve made a mistake coming here.

Finishing my glass of wine, I smile. “I only wanted to say thank you for upgrading us to the third floor. It’s amazing. Your club is… I have no words. It is something special, and I have to say your strippers are hot.” Shut up. I tell myself, but no, I continue to talk. That’s what happens when I drink too much, and I’m nervous at the same time, which makes it worse for me.

“This was my first time here, and if there isn’t a waiting list, or a line around the corner, I will one hundred percent come back. I wish you’d say something.” I see his eyes moving over my body, and in those few seconds I feel naked. “I bet if you smiled, you’d be so handsome.” What the hell am I saying?

He gets up from his black chair, and walks around the table and leans on it, his sexy tattooed arms crossed over his chest.

“I’ve been called a lot of things in my life, but ugly has never been one of them.” His voice sends a whole new electricity bolt through my core and hits right between my legs.

“No, that’s not what I was trying to say. You are so far from ugly. I mean have you seen yourself? You should be on the cover of a lot of magazines, because your eyes alone are gorgeous, and your whole-” I wave my hand gesturing to his whole body. “-well from the suit it fits like a glove and looks like you have a sexy body.” Why can't I shut up? Why is he not telling me to shut up? “I just thought you’d have a handsome smile.”

“The cages are so cool-” I continue talking about all the stuff I love about the club, waiting for him to tell me to shut up. I have no idea what is happening but as I talk to him, I’m moving closer to him.

Why does it feel like he controls my body right now? He hasn’t said anything to me. At all. I’m willing to do anything he asks me to do right now. But why?

Stop talking Autumn-Rose! I almost shout the words out loud to myself.

“Are you finished?” he asks me, with a hard loud roar, which makes me take a step back.

It makes me wonder how many times he just told me to shut up and I didn’t hear him. My eyes linger on his lips, which are nice and, he’s got a few days grown beard, which only makes him look hotter, and more dangerous at the same time.

Why do I want those lips to kiss me?

“I’m sorry, I talk when I’m nervous, or tipsy.” I wave the empty glass in front of me. “And you are-” I stop and quickly move to the side when the door opens up behind me, turning to see who it is. “Hi Mr. Upgrade.” Not replying, he talks to Mr. Cain.

“I’m leaving, what time are you getting there?”

“I’ll leave in an hour,” he replies and the guy walks out without another word.

I smile when I feel him watching me. “Again, thank you for the experience of the club.” I walk to the door quickly and leave, that has got to be the worst thing I have ever done in my life. I’m sure he’s going to think I’m a fucking crazy person.

Who knows I probably won’t even see him again. I’ve been training Poppy for almost two months and have never seen him. His club is over the road from where I live, and I’ve never seen him coming or going. The universe might keep us apart, because I hope it does. I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life.