“Don’t you miss me?” Scarlett laughed on the other side. Her hair was wet, and she was wearing a champagne-colored nightgown. She looked as pretty as ever.
“Of course I miss you, but I can’t do anything about it, right? I can’t cry on daddy’s shoulder as Brittany did.” Francis said. He came to the balcony and lit up a cigarette and felt a little relaxed.
“Brittany cried?” Scarlett asked in surprise.
“Yep, she cried for over an hour,” he said as he breathed out a plume of thick smoke.
Upon hearing that, Scarlett felt kind of guilty. Was she selfish? Was she a bad mother, a bad wife?
“Francis, do you resent me?” Scarlett asked as she Skyped with
When Scarlett woke up, it was eight o’clock in the morning. She rolled around in bed for a few moments before sitting up. Her head felt heavy.“You’re awake!” Francis said as he walked into the bedroom from the balcony. He smiled at her. “I thought you’d be out for hours. Aren’t you jetlagged? How long was the flight from Lisbon to Irving anyway? And didn’t you have a stopover in Dallas?”Scarlett rested her head on Francis’s shoulder and said, “Well, I wanted to go to bed early last night. No thanks to you, we ended up staying up so late! I barely got enough sleep. You’re exhausting me, Francis!”“Oh? Am I? I’m so sorry, Scarlett.” Francis teased. He kissed her neck and tousled her hair.
Mystic Night Garden is the biggest entertainment venue in all of Irving City. When night falls, the glaring lights come alive, and you can practically smell sensuality in the air spreading through the bar and onto the dance floor. All the patrons, typically older white men, usually have a woman’s waist grabbed in one palm and whiskey glass on the other hand.That’s just how it goes. It can seem as if all the pains and troubles of the world simply have nothing to do with them. As you would expect, some patrons come to the swanky club with the desire to sow their wild oats. Others come to squander their fortunes on libations. For the majority, Mystic Night Garden offers them pure reverie– a sigh of relief, a break from everyday life, a tonic that makes succumbing to reality less painful once they get out.“Hey, you!” The manager wave
Scarlett and Joey were chatting in the break room. She felt excited and relieved by what Sir Fond had just told her, and it showed on her face.“So, what’s the good news?” Joey puffed at her cigarette, releasing smoke into the air. She looked at Scarlett. “Look at that face. Whatcha hiding, girl? Spit it out already.”“Aye, stop teasing me. So, actually, here’s the thing. I’m about to quit working at Mystic Night Garden.” As she finished her sentence, Scarlett reached out her finger and deftly flicked the ash away.Joey smiled, eyes twinkling, “Mmm nice, good for ya!”Scarlett took a drag of her cigarette and let out a plume of smoke. She turned to Joey, “How much longer are you gonna stay here, you
Mr. Clarkson snorted to show his consent. Scarlett immediately picked the bottle up and knocked back the contents of it. Mr. Clarkson looked at her, drinking the wine. Some of it dripped onto her chest, and Mr. Clarkson smiled in satisfaction at the sight of it.Everyone sitting in the room was amazed by her drinking capacity– only Scarlett knew this was nothing for her. It was a cakewalk, drinking all that wine in one long swig.Within minutes, she finished the wine and showed Mr. Clarkson the empty bottle. “Enjoy your time, Mr. Clarkson. My apologies for causing you trouble earlier; I do hope you have a pleasant stay here.”Scarlett felt a little dizzy from drinking all the wine and couldn’t stand up straight. The manager immediately grabbed onto Scarlett, seeing her grow nauseous, and said
The manager began trembling even harder. She thought, “God, I’m done! I’m done! How could I not have known that this bitch is Mr. Sandler’s little girlfriend? Mr. Sandler! Shit, I might as well be dead. I’m done.”Mr. Sandler scowled and hesitated to push this odd drunk girl away. The expression on his face remained blank, and his dark eyes, shining like pearls, revealed his deep feeling of annoyance and discontent.But it was a life or death type of situation for Scarlett. She was in trouble. She clenched his arms more tightly, and tears began streaming from her eyes.From this vantage point, Mr. Sandler finally saw the girl’s face clearly. Her ruined makeup and faded, cracking lipstick couldn’t conceal her yet unripe and tender beauty. Her eyes were watery with tears
Most of the year, Scarlett was not seen at school. A rumor spread that she was the mistress of a wealthy old man who lived in Irving City. The original tweet that exposed Scarlett had been retweeted more than 2,000 times! The girls at school would update the post every day to reflect so-called “new evidence” concerning the scandal.The latest tweets read:“Girls, S. is holding a LOUIS VUITTON LIMITED today. Do you guys believe that a college girl could afford that? I don’t. [picture]”“NE: Damn. Scarlett’s new sneaker is my FAVORITE. I tried to reserve one, but I failed because you know what, only FIFTY PERSONS IN THIS PLANET got it! God, that man must be wealthy. #ScarlettMorrisIsABitch”But these offensive tweets didn&rsq
She knew she wanted to study further, and now she was well-prepared to do so both academically and financially. She decided she didn’t want to just let go of this opportunity.Twenty minutes later, she got off the bus and walked towards the hotel. She tried to relax her face. She took a deep breath and muttered to herself, “Oof… I’d better get going now and earn some money for myself. I must seize the day.”Scarlett saw, from a distance, that Sophie was waiting for her at the front door of the hotel. “We gotta be quick. Let’s go change our clothes first.” Sophie said and took her to a locked room.Scarlett wasn’t shy in front of Sophie– they had been friends for so long, and they had both seen each other naked anyway. They were more like sisters at this po
Back from the BanquetAs Scarlett arrived at her dorm room, she jumped right into her bed. Five hours standing in high heels numbed her legs and exhausted her body all over.“You’ve finally come back. Hey, don’t go to sleep just yet. I’ve got something to ask you.” Bell, Scarlett’s roommate and best friend at school, came to her and patted her face softly. Bell Harper had been by her side through the years.“Shoot!” Scarlett felt like she had no strength left, not even to talk.“Did Mr. Howard talk to you?”“The thing about the letter of recommendation?”Bell nodded and then lowered her voice. “He said t