5

 “Okay…” I breathed.

“Ready to go, sunshine?” came a voice.

I looked up to see the man who wanted the private dance. He was an old man in his sixties, and he was wearing an olive green sweater, paired with light olive-colored trousers. He had pleated grey hair and grey eyes, and a wrinkly face. Blood continued to pound through my body, sizzling to the point that it felt like I had no fight left.

“Y—Yes,” I managed timidly, shaking my head.

The creep nodded, making his way out of the bar to the private lounge, and I followed him, sick churning in my stomach.

From the corner of my eye, I could have sworn that the same mesmerizing man from the crowd was still watching me. Watching me follow this old, creepy man…

But I figured it was just my mind playing tricks on me.

***

“Okay, sexy…show me what you got.” The creep smiled, sitting down on the couch, bopping his head forward in anticipation. His predatory eyes smoldered with lust and darkened with desire as he drunk me in, staring at my body. Bile churned in my throat. I wasn’t looking forward to this at all.

I pleaded with my body to move and start dancing. To start putting on a show for this bastard so I could just take my money and leave. But I felt frozen to the spot, suddenly barely able to move. Not being able to shift my limbs a single bit, and I didn’t know why. My body was pounding with fear.

The creep stared at me agitatedly, getting tired of waiting. He folded his arms angrily, unimpressed.

“Come on, why aren’t you dancing?” he snapped, rattling his fists impatiently.

“I—” I stammered.

“What?” he barked, furrowing his eyebrows, getting up on his feet, and stepping closer to me. I backed away from him slowly, feeling my eyes well with tears.

“I can’t do this,” I croaked.

The corners of his mouth formed into a frown, and he was no longer smiling. He looked pissed off, angry…

Almost dangerous.

I didn’t know what was wrong with me today. I was doing nothing my boss was asking of me.

I’d reached breaking point, and I couldn’t do this anymore. I couldn’t keep living my life like this. Being treated as a lapdog, being treated as an animal.

Being treated as a slave for my motherfucking boss.

Not being able to have a say in anything. Not being able to be my own woman. To make my own choices. To break free from the chains of my life.

The only image I had in my head was of the man I had just seen in the club.

The way he was looking at me, with so much interest and curiosity.

The way his eyes were piercing mine.

“Come on, don’t be like this,” the creep encouraged, doing his best to egg me on. “It would be a shame for me to have come all this way for nothing. Your boss made me a lot of promises…and if those promises aren’t fulfilled, let’s just say, there’ll be trouble for both of you.”

“Sorry, sir, but I have the right to refuse anything I don’t want to do,” I mumbled in my own defence, swallowing. “If you have a problem, you can go somewhere else, or ask somebody else for a dance.”

He cracked up with laughter, looking amused, like he wasn’t taking me seriously. I stared back at him with an uneasy expression on my face, because I had no idea of what this man was capable of. I could feel my heart pound in fear. I’d never stood up for myself like this before…

I guessed that was why people treated me like trash.

“I can make it worth your while, babe. I can make you rich, you’ll never need money again.” He smirked, biting his finger in anticipation.

He still didn’t understand the fact that no meant no. No didn’t mean that he should carry on persuading me to agree.

“Sorry, sir, no,” I repeated firmly.

He folded his arms angrily, his veins suddenly pulsing their way to the surface of his skin. His pupils dilated, as if I were staring back at a monster. A fucking beast.