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Epilogue
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Blaze Within 1
“All my friends think you’re lame.” I stared at Ace, my supposed boyfriend. He stood towering in front of me, tall and muscular. His jet-black hair was gelled up and back. His brown, nearly black eyes, glared all the way to my core. “Good thing I don’t give a shit about your friends,” I shot back as I pulled my arm from his painful grip. “Shut the fuck up,” he bit out as he yanked open a bedroom door. He put his hands on my back and shoved me forcefully into the empty room. “Get your hands off me!” I demanded, my voice rising as I spun around toward him. I flinched as he slammed the door shut behind us, trapping me alone in the room with him. “Shut your damn mouth!” he roared as he advanced toward me with rage in his eyes. My heart pounded as I stumbled backwards. I knew that wild look. My stomach churned as I frantically searched for a way out of this room, away from the out-of-control hunter in front of me. “I’ve told you not to fuck with me in front of my friends,” he continu
Blaze Within 2
Green eyes flashed before me as, with a gasp, I opened my eyes. I looked side to side, frantically trying to figure out where the hell I was and what was going on. Sterile cleaners burned my nose, along with whatever was stuck up into it. I quickly grabbed at it, feeling tubing running into my nose and behind my ears. I looked around the drab, beige hospital room. An empty chair sat in the corner. No one was here to see me, no one concerned if I was dead or alive. It was a depressing realization that sunk down upon me as a nurse walked into the room. “Glad to see you awake, honey. How are you feeling?” I stared at her as I took a moment to process her words, my brain apparently still lost within the fog of the fire. She was an older woman with graying hair tied up into a bun. “Tired,” I finally responded. “Where am I?” “The hospital,” she replied as though I should know as she logged onto a nearby computer and began typing. “I’ll just need your name and I’ll get some vitals from yo
Blaze Within 3
I walked into the apartment and glanced around silently. I didn’t hear any noise inside so I gently closed the door behind me and locked it. I glanced around at the open floor plan apartment. To the right was a futon in front of a TV hanging on the wall. Beyond that were vertical blinds with a sliding glass door behind it leading out to the small, concrete patio. To the left was a small dining room with a circular table with two chairs. Behind that was a cozy, white and wood kitchen. I walked over to the table as my eyes studied the vase of red roses upon it. My fingers traced over the flowers before picking up the piece of paper on the table. It was a handwritten note in Ace messy handwriting. Stella- I’m sorry I blatantly failed you again. I have more remorse than I could ever write you about, baby. I know I hurt you, and the fact you were almost seriously injured killed me inside. I’m begging for your forgiveness. I screwed up, and I want to fix this. I have to work until six, b
Blaze Within 4
I applied my make-up heavy, as I always did when working at Blue Hades. It wasn’t my dream job. It’s not like I grew up thinking I hope one day I work in a brothel. No, this job was one of necessity. That’s all it was, a job. It didn’t define me, or make me any worse than anyone else on this earth. I stared into my brown eyes in the mirror as I applied mascara like a pro. I curled my long, brown hair and sprayed it into place before running my fingers through the curls to give it that sexy, messy look. I never wore it this way except for when I was working at Blue Hades. I blew out a breath as I examined myself in the mirror. I tugged down on my tiny mini skirt and adjusted my slinky red top. The guys always loved red. I put a swipe of bright, red lipstick across my lips. I ran my fingers through my hair once more, trying to get as much volume as I could. I strutted down to the main living space of the house where myself and the three other women working this Friday night gathered.
Blaze Within 5
I picked up a couple extra shifts at Kiki’s the next week, trying to make up for the loss of money on Saturday night. Alaric never text me any further and I had pushed him and his green eyes out of my mind. I rushed around, taking care of my tables in the middle of the week over the lunch hour when Ace came in. My smile at his appearance faded as I approached him and saw his dark shades on despite being indoors. “Why do you have sunglasses on indoors?” I jokingly asked him as I reached over to take them off. He swatted my hand away. “I came here to eat, not for fashion advice.” My stomach dropped as I took in the sight of him. His hair which he normally straightened and styled was curly and unkept. His jaw was set and his hands twitching slightly. He shifted on his feet as though he couldn’t stand still. His clothes were baggy and he was far from the nicely dressed appearance he normally gave out. He was on drugs again. “What do you want?” I asked him softly. He laughed at me as
Blaze Within 6
I slowly sauntered toward the firehouse, internally debating if this was a brilliant idea or a completely stupid one. I placed Alaric’s forgotten hat atop my head as I approached the firehouse and hoped he was actually here. As I got closer, I could see him standing outside the firehouse speaking with a couple other men. One of the men had been with him at the restaurant and slapped his arm and pointed toward me. Alaric turned around, a broad smile spreading across his face as his eyes looked me up and down. “That hat’s never looked so good,” he hollered at me in his delicious accent. “Like it?” I asked as I tipped the brim slightly. “It’s new.” He said his goodbyes to the men he had been talking to and walked over to me. He slid his hands across my stomach and onto my hips as he lowered his lips to my ear. “I’d like to see you in just that hat.” His warm breath tickled my ear as my insides tingled at his words, my skin aflame at his touch. A fire ignited deep within me, my entir
Blaze Within 7
I sat in our apartment alone on the futon the next day. Ace was who knows where. I had come home yesterday after my rendezvous with Alaric to an empty apartment. Ace had never called or text me to tell me his whereabouts, which wasn’t that unusual if he was high on drugs. I was worried about something much deeper than whether Ace was currently high on drugs or not. Had I cheated on him? I shook my head. The thought was ridiculous. I had a job which was a sexual position. I had sex with men for money. It was nothing more than a financial transaction, which was exactly what had happened between Alaric and me. He had paid me for sex, like any other man did. Why did I have this guilt than? Why did I feel as though I had done something wrong? Was it because of how badly I had desired him? Or how about how I had consented to the sex before ever knowing he was a paying customer? I had wanted him before I knew he was paying. I had wanted him on a personal level, not a professional level. I
Blaze Within 8
I took the bus across town to my friend, Catherine’s, apartment. I knocked at her door and she quickly opened it, a smile spreading across her face when she saw me. “Stella!” she squealed as she wrapped me into a tight hug. “Honey, it has been too long” she drew out in her southern accent. “Get in here girl!” She moved her petite frame to the side as she held the door open for me. I stepped into the apartment and out of the hot Florida heat. The cool air conditioning felt heavenly. She closed the door, trapping the heat out of her large apartment as she skipped happily next to me and led me over to the oversized, brown couch with bright white pillows. Her living room was at least twice the size of mine, and beautifully decorated. I never understood why she didn’t go into interior design with the natural talent she had. “So” she drew out as she sat down next to me. Her blonde hair fell in large waves around her tiny face. She looked like a real-life Tinkerbell and had the voice to m
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