“Now, now Fabian. I’ve sent you Amber, so please remove the scowl from that handsome face of yours,” Madam Cecil teased, pushing Amber towards Fabian who remained seated on the sofa.
Amber felt like a piece of property and did not appreciate it.
“Madam Cecil, I’m only here for waitressing works,” she said exasperatedly, suddenly wondering if she should be wary of Fabian Williams. Did a sleazy beast lay beneath the facade of this handsome man? She could feel her heart beating faster.
Fabian waved his hand at Madam Cecil, “You may leave us now.”
Amber shot Cecil an anxious look and to which the older woman replied, “Amber my dear girl, Fabian is one of our most well-behaved customers here. You’re in good hands.”
With that, the head hostess turned around and strode out of the room – her hips swaying against her insanely tight pencil skirt and heels digging into the soft carpeted floor with every step before she finally closed the door behind her with a click.
Fabian looked at Amber with an amused look on his face, his mood had turned 180 degrees at the sight of her.
“You’re scared of me.”
“Am not,” Amber shot back defensively. She was lying and he knew it. He laughed and boy was his laughter deep and seductive. Funny how she hadn’t noticed it last night but Fabian Williams was a very attractive man. He had dimples too!
His eyes met hers and he smiled, “Come, sit with me.”
She should have felt frightened, but instead, her pulse began to race again and it definitely was not from fear. She cleared her throat and started to walk over in her impossibly high heels but tripped just before she reached the sofa, landing awkwardly in front of Fabian William’s extremely long legs.
Oof. That was graceful.
She looked up, their eyes locked and for a moment it seemed as if time stood still. Then as if on cue, they both grinned and broke into laughter. Amber had never laughed so much in her life.
When the laughter finally died down, Fabian extended his hand and Amber took it, allowing him to pull her up. The touch of his warm lean hands melted the fear within her and she realized that she had nothing to worry about. Fabian Williams would not harm her in any way.
“You’re not very good with heels are you?” he looked at her feet, bent over and lifted them, resting her feet on his leg. Gently, he slid the heels off her and placed them back on the floor.
He frowned when he saw the blisters at the back of her feet, “You shouldn’t be wearing them. They’re too tight for you.”
Amber shrugged, embarrassed that he saw them. “They didn’t have my size,” she mumbled.
She tried to put her feet back down but Fabian’s grip was firm. To her surprise, he started massaging her feet - her feet looked so tiny in his hands. His touch was deliciously electrifying and as he gently rubbed at her soles, the throbbing pain that she felt earlier began to fade away.
She closed her eyes, savouring the moment and without realizing it, she started to relax and lean back against the sofa. As the minutes ticked by, her breath evened out and she dozed off, exhausted from the lack of sleep. She had only an hour’s sleep that day.
***
Fabian had his back towards Amber as he massaged her feet and only realized that she had fallen into slumber when he was done with the massage. Her head was drooped slightly to one side and she did not stir when he called out her name.
She must be tired.
She looked beautiful, even in her sleep – her chest heaved up and down in a gentle rhythm and a few strands of hair had fallen over her face. He had to resist the urge to run his fingers through her hair.
Quietly, he placed her feet back onto the carpeted floor before taking off his light grey blazer. He remembered how uncomfortable she was in her uniform which they did nothing to hide her curves. The design team at La Fire had specifically created the uniforms to draw the lust in men and while he had enjoyed the ample delicious views the uniforms presented him in the past, he realized that Amber did not enjoy being stared at by men at all. So gently, he covered her with his jacket, before easing himself next to her.
In the quietness of the room, Fabian studied her face. Her features were well defined, she had neatly shaped eyebrows with long thick lashes - her eyelids fluttered a little. He wondered if she was dreaming. Her lips had a light rosy tint that looked so soft and inviting. Her skin was flawless even without makeup and she smelt heavenly. Was it her shampoo? A light and floral scent was coming from her hair, making him want her even more. Not to mention those long tanned limbs of hers which stuck out from under his jacket.
But Fabian Williams was a gentleman. He never took a woman against her will. Instead, he let her sleep, resting her head on his shoulders as he stared out of the massive window of his room to admire the twinkling of stars that shone like diamonds in the blackened sky.
Not far away, in a dark and hidden alleyway, the big burly man who assaulted Amber the night before fell crumpling onto the muddy pavement face down. His body jerked involuntarily in spasms as he gagged and choked in his own blood before finally breathing his last. Lying next to him was a young man, alive but unconscious. A black Bugatti Chiron which was parked nearby began to slowly roll away.
A street cleaner would come the next day to find a stiff and lifeless body of the man with a bloodied knife stabbed into the back of his chest.
Amber was dreaming, but like everyone else who dreamt, she did not realise that she had tumbled down the rabbit hole…. ‘She was standing alone in a semi-darkened room and mist surrounded her. A single window was positioned above her, allowing a little bit of light to stream down into the room. “Hello?” she called out nervously, trying to see what lay ahead of her. She took a few steps forward cautiously with her arms stretched out, not wanting to knock into anything when suddenly she bumped into something soft. She looked down and gasped. The mist that enveloped the room earlier on began to dissipate to reveal the body of a battered man lying at her feet. He was chained in shackles and curled up like a cat. Then to her horror, the man stirred. Amber tried to run but for some reason, her movements felt heavy, as if she was underwater. She could hardly move at all. Help! She wanted to call
The journey home for Amber was a daze. She had no idea how she managed to even make it back in one piece. What had Anson done? He normally couldn’t even hurt a fly! There must have been some kind of misunderstanding.Her hands trembled as she fumbled with the keys to the door. They jingled too much and she couldn’t fit the key into the lock.Damnit! Open!Frustrated, she kicked the door only to let out a little yelp.Calm down. I need to calm down.She took a deep breath and slowly inserted the key into the keyhole again, this time, it worked and the door creaked to an open.Although it was nearing dawn, the room was still quite dark and while the windows were left open, Anson had drawn the curtains to a close.“Anson?” Amber whispered, closing the door behind her. Then in the corner of their little room, right beneath the window sill, Amber saw her brother, huddled under the curtain that flap
The line sounded too cheesy to be a threat.“I know what your brother did.”“Excuse me?” Amber frowned into her phone. It sounded like a ripoff from the 1997 horror flick ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’. And because of that, Amber had trouble taking the call seriously at first.Until the caller said, “I can prove his innocence.”That sealed the deal for her. As much as she had tried to encourage Anson to turn himself in to the police, deep down, she had been filled with dread. The alleyway was a blindspot and all evidence pointed to Anson. There were witnesses from the first night when Anson had a heated verbal exchange with the man. And he had touched the knife with his bare hands for goodness sake!So when the mysterious caller dangled the key to freedom for her brother, of course she had to take it. But Amber was no fool, she knew there would be a catch.“Who is this?” she whis
A numbing icy wave washed over Amber upon hearing Liam’s words. They repulsed her. “What do you mean?” she asked, taking a cautious step back, bumping into the door from where they had entered earlier and shredding her palms with her clenched fingernails. Anson instinctively stepped in front of his sister, shielding her tiny frame with his own. His body language practically screamed, ‘Stay away from my sister!’. At this, Liam began to laugh as if Amber had just asked the funniest question. He laughed so hard he had to hold his sides and the siblings stood silently watching him rocking back and forth in his swivel chair, waiting for him to catch his breath. She took his laughter as a sign of him not lusting after her body; which in a way came as a huge relief. Even Anson started to relax a little. Perhaps Liam Smith wanted something menial, like a week of housekeeping perhaps? It was a naïve thought, but for a moment Amber truly thought all would be we
What have I gotten myself into? Amber wondered as she stared at her reflection. In the full-length mirror that hung from the crimson white walls of the dressing room stood a stranger. Is that me? She gaped, peering into the mirror and raised her right hand, waving it slightly. The redhead in the mirror waved back. She could not believe her eyes. Standing in front of her was a beautiful, elegant and sexy looking woman. She blinked, feeling a little like Cinderella. Except Cinderella had never been auctioned off dressed like this, she thought wryly before her reflection tugged at her attention once more. Her eyelashes had been curled up to bring focus to her emerald eyes and while her face had largely been kept to a bare minimum, it was clean and glowy with only a faint red tint to her lips. Her neck looked extra slender, and it was all due to the silken black kimono with gold butterflies that parted suggestively at her shoulde
Fabian Williams was furious. And rightly so. What the hell is she doing?! He had started the day with a blast - his company had successfully acquired the Silverware, a company from New York specializing in virtual reality systems. He even declined the offer to celebrate the victory with Elon Musk just so he could come to the La Fire Club to see her! Elon Musk! He had turned down the great Elon Musk just to find out that Amber Banks was auctioning herself off! Damn it! Has she gone mad?! Fabian stood in a darkened lounge lit with low lights on the first floor of the La Fire Club. The lounge was big as it was spacious, with plush armchairs sprawled around and scantily clad women serving drinks in sheer lacy kimonos. A few men were here, some of whom Fabian knew and some he did not bother to get to know. These men were here for one thing and one thing only. Sex. Fabian himself had been here before, he had even ‘purchased’ a few
Her fate was sealed. A man had offered six million for her body. Had it been a dream, she probably would have woken up laughing. Except that this was real. This was a living nightmare. Amber looked up from the maroon carpeted floor where she stood, shielding her emerald eyes from the glare of the spotlight with her hand only to see an enormous blackened mirror greeting her from the first floor. She quickly looked over at Cecil, biting her lips in anxiety. She could feel her heart beating furiously and it felt like it would burst from her chest at any given moment now. Please let it be Fabian Williams…she willed, ignoring the deafening cheers and applause that came from the all-around sound system. The room’s speaker system was connected to the lounge above and while she could not see any of the bidders, she could hear their every cheer and jeer. She did not like their voices, they all sounded like hyenas creeping in on their prey. Madam Cecil
Fabian Williams stood stoically in front of the door of the waiting room as Cecil chatted non stop. He was not listening to her, she could have been talking about the end times for all he knew, all he cared was taking Amber Banks away from the club. He had to make sure that she was safe.But will she be safe from me? he had to wonder. Two months was not a long time, neither was it a short one. He contemplated whether to put her up in a hotel room or to have her stay at his place.Or you could just send her home, his inner angel with a little halo on its head suggested, flapping its feathery wings. No one would know and you’d be doing her a favour.What?! And let that SIX MILLION go to waste? his little devil complete with horns a tail screamed, shaking its pitchfork in the air. She signed the bloody contract! She belongs to you now! Bring her home and shake her up in bed! Set her world on fire and *poof*, Fabian me