1. The beginning

Cassandra Salvatore

~•~

"Hurry the fuck up, Cassie, we'll be late." I rolled my eyes, not bothering to answer her as I continued applying my mascara. I wanted to look like a different person today because I didn't want to be recognized.

People were nosy and if I managed to run into anyone I knew, they may report me to my father or my boyfriend.

"Cassie!" Juliet snapped, poking her head inside her room. I came to her place to get ready because I didn't want my father to get suspicious. It was crazy. I was an adult, but I still stayed at his place because someone needed to keep my siblings safe and I happened to be the oldest of us all.

"Chill, Jules." I rolled my eyes again. With how much I was rolling my eyes because of my best friend, I was certain I would be cross-eyed in a few years. "There's no time limit. You said it yourself, it goes on all night."

"That doesn't mean we should go late and miss out on all the fun."

I sighed subtly. I didn't know what interested her about it but she was hellbent on going to a BDSM club. She had been disturbing me for months, begging me to go with her, but I'd never been a fan of the idea.

Last week, we made a bet and she won, so she demanded I go with her.

She just didn't want to go alone because she wasn't sure what would happen when she got there. After all, there was strength in numbers and because I was a nice caring friend, I agreed even if I thought the whole idea of bondage and all those things was absurd.

I dropped the mascara on the dressing table and faced her. "Fine, I'm ready." Then, I splayed my hands in front of her. "How do I look?"

Jules' eyes roamed across my body once, twice, and then, she told me to spin. I did a little spin, blushing and she said, "Simply fantastic."

Jules' bright idea for our outfit was lingerie. I didn't concede to that despite her telling me that that was the dress code for the club. I ended up wearing a white bralette and matching shorts that showed part of my bum. I didn't have much anyway.

"You're so going to enchant the men there."

My blush stayed still on my cheeks. I hated that I blushed so easily and I hated that it was very visible. "I'm not going there for any man. I have Rafael, remember?"

It was her turn to roll her eyes. Jules disliked Rafael and she didn't have any qualms about showing it. He knew she hated him and he hated her as well. I'd tried to make peace between them because why the hell wouldn't my boyfriend and best friend be on the same page? But they were both stubborn as hell and had an insane amount of ego.

"Rafael is a dick, Cassie. I'm certain you know that."

A frown adorned my face. I didn't like talking about Rafael with her. It always ended up with her telling me to break up with him.

I wouldn't say I loved Rafael, but I cared deeply for him. We'd been together for six months now. Our relationship wasn't perfect — no relationship was — but we managed to make do and hearing Jules saying negative things about it wouldn't help at all. I knew the reason why she kept calling him a dick, but I and Rafael were already past that. She was the only one that held on to the past.

"Let's just go," I told her, effectively ending the conversation as I picked up my coat from the bed.

Jules sighed, picking up her coat as well. While my coat was red, Jules' was black. She was clad in a very sexy red lingerie that was more ropes than actual material, showing off her assets. She had a decent amount of those, sometimes, I was envious of her.

"Our uber is here by the way," she smiled tightly, starting to walk out of the room. I followed suit until we were out of the apartment and waited until she was done with locking it before we went downstairs.

We didn't say a word to each other as we spotted the Uber and deposited ourselves in it. I didn't like the fact that there was a weird mood between us at the moment when we were supposed to be having fun. Well, when she was supposed to be having fun. I was just going for moral support.

I wasn't a very outspoken person, but I couldn't keep stuff from Jules which was why I decided to address the matter at hand before we reached the club. "Why do you always have to make me feel bad about Rafael? You know how much he helps."

Jules also wasn't good with keeping stuff to herself, no matter how blunt it came out. "Which is exactly why you need to get a job. He'll hold it against you someday."

"I have a job interview on Monday, Jules." I reminded her, even if I wasn't sure if I was going to get the job or not.

Getting a job in New York was a very hard task, especially if one didn't have any connections; I didn't. The job interview I had was for the position of an assistant, but I planned to work my way to the top if I ever got the chance to work there at all. It was a huge ass company.

"Yeah, and pray you bag it." She said, lacking a filter. "I honestly can't wait for the day you'd drop Rafael's ass."

"Jules." I scolded.

"Sorry, sorry." She raised her hands in surrender. "I won't say anything else this night."

A small smile formed on my lips as the driver finally pulled up to our destination. Jules paid the driver and we got out, staring at the red sign at the top of the building that read 'Fantasia'. And that was the beginning.