The nightclub did not have a defined repertoire, the songs were always the ones that most attracted people to the track, and that was all. However, that night we were with a different DJ and she seemed determined to remix all the best known songs regardless of the genre. I realized this when I heard Kurt Cobain's voice sounding faster than usual in an almost robotic version of Smells like a Teen Spirit. I didn't contain my fan instinct and started singing the song while dancing and spinning my vodka bottle over my fingers.
While the music followed its low and engaging tone and then started again with the strongest beat, I turned the bottle in my hands with an agility that seemed impossible to have looking from a distance.I ended up remembering my first days of work, when I was still in training and literally cut all my fingers trying to find a position between them that would support the bottle and allow me to rotate it and throw it into the air as many times as necessary. Everything would have become easier from the first month. When my clear eyes got used to the sensitivity caused by the flash of the colored lights, and my steps followed the movements made by my hands. It was like working in a circus, and I had fun with the thought that if one day the nightclub closed its doors, at least I would have a guaranteed job as a juggler on tightropes.“We need a double dose, Mila”, warned Henry gently, pushing my hair away from the heat to murmur in my ear. The loud music required physical contact or shouting, and, at the moment, I was happy that the tattoo boy chose the first option.“All Right.”Double dose was the code that meant only one thing: Climb on the counter and attract more customers using the minimum of nudity that will not cause embarrassment.Not that my friend wasn't good enough to stay focused on her curvy body, but some customers used to be too smart to just watch and go back to the dance floor, without consuming, without falling into the vicious cycle and contributing to the nightclub's monetary system. That's when I acted. Knowing how to dance or not, my function changed to agile with my fingers, to professional dancer in seconds. For this, I had the few steps that Kendall taught me, and my vague skill in Just Dance, the rest fell to the fertile and dirty imagination of men while my blouse was slowly opened.Still dancing, I turned the bottles in my hands and left them on the lowest counter, where the drinks were prepared. I needed the help of the tattooed boy to be able to climb the glass counter, and I did not fail to notice how his rigid muscles shaved deliciously against the outside of my thighs.Without knowing it, he was automatically already joining the list of guys who would one day get the privilege of fucking me. Maybe, if he wasn't gay and lived up to the bad boy pose, he would like to know the indecent storm that hovered over my head when he noticed the hoop piercing that adorned his appetizing lips.I turned and shook, taking care of the counter boundary, where few customers rested their glasses of drinks. I unbuttoned my silk vest, highlighting the white and tight cropped against my swollen breasts. I raised my arms, sliding my hands gently along the length of my torso. The looks didn't take long to find me, and that was the stimulus I needed to go down and climb against the metal support that supported the bar, like a slippery pole dance. I tilted one leg against the cold object, sliding vertically down. My hair slipped in cascade, touching lightly on the colored counter. I raised my hands in a suggestive way, casting a look at no one in particular.I felt the way my back burned, as if I was being stripped by male desire. I didn't look back, but I was sure of whoever owned that inspection, it wouldn't just be the house that would make a profit that night.I followed the remixed beat, jumping lightly so that my weight did not cause any cracks on the tempered glass. I turned and imitated Kendall's steps, without the drop of resemblance, but playing the role I was instructed to play. I was good at it. For someone who could fake several orgasms, pretending that he knew how to dance was as easy as breathing.“Hey!” Kendall approached, leaning one of her arms above my shoulders. “I found the guy with the five hundred silvers.”Maybe my eyes shone, because his expression had become even more malicious. Kendall looked away at my back, and turned me around, as if I was still dancing. I went back near the metal support, where I had felt the heat that rose in my spine and lodged inside my flesh.My eyes followed a crooked line until I reached a boy in a leather jacket, the eyes in a heterochromatic effect because of the flashing lights, the hair that camouflaged itself with the various colors in a stripped hairstyle, and able to attract the attention of any woman. I still felt the intensity of the look on my body, but somehow it didn't seem to come from it.I cast a dubious look at Kendall, trying to make sure that he was really the man of the night, but she was busy jumping shamelessly over the glass counter, excited about the music that started. With no other alternative, I rehearsed a smile and gave the right look to the unknown man.I was once told that I could conquer anyone by giving him what he was most looking for. Authoritarian men liked naivety, slow men liked strong women, men who did not care about any of these aspects and just wanted a body to satisfy the horniness, they just needed a malicious look, adorned with a singing smile and a slight rubbing of the tongue against the half-open lips. For me it made no difference which man was hooked by my natural cynicism, as long as he was good at what I needed.A few years later“Every night, while I was just a girl, my grandmother used to sit next to me in bed reciting for me the same story of the princess of the seas that I'm about to tell...”"Oh, no, mom," grumbled the little girl with red and thick hair, with the blanket partially covering her small body at that moment. "I don't want to hear stories of princesses again. And Ariel's story isn't even that cool."Laughing, his twin brother agreed:"It's true, Mom. The stories are repeated every night. In addition, it is practically impossible for a girl to give up her legs for a boy," he yawned and supported a hand below his chin, as if his argument did not leave gaps for refutation. "Tell me more about how you and Dad met."I couldn't help but smile. My story with Zachary had been full of ups and downs, tragedies and happiness, but he had also given me an invaluable gift. The love of two children who were not in our plans, but became the axis of our worlds.At that time, we had been togeth
In the summer, a television program decided to sponsor meetings between strangers, offering vacancies for women to apply in search of finding the love of their lives.The registrations took place through the site, anonymously and safely, until, if your file was interesting enough to draw attention, the production of the program would get in touch and make a dinner on its own. Generally, in closed places and with the entire technical team on the backs of couples, where mostly they passed from men and women between the ages of twenty and thirty.No one persuaded me to try the chance to find true love in a reality show. Not even Kendall, whose obsession with finding me a boyfriend was already going beyond the limits. She said that being stuck at home, just writing and crying, would not help me find the love that I said so much existed in my stories. But she ignored it when I said I wrote so I wouldn't have to look for someone for real. My friend didn't understand that literary disappoint
One year later"Do you mean that now you write real novels? "As asked one of the men in the circle of girls.I nodded, pushing my hair away to my shoulders." Some people like to live love, I prefer to write about it.His face changed from curiosity to admiration in a snap of fingers. I had trained that answer in front of the mirror several times before that one. First because my family didn't seem to understand what my profession required of me, and then because it was the easiest answer to give in an interview. Short, thick, and at the same time what they would like to hear. My agent would be proud."A toast to success! "Said the blonde next to me, raising the full cup."Do not mix alcohol with medicines," advised the man next to him, pulling the cup to his own lips.The blonde stretched out to take the cup back, but the man leaned back and ran away from his reach. When she got tired, she sat on the chair and blew the strands of hair that fell on her face. A single reddish strand sho
Kendall had plotted that date. I had no doubt."Severe," he hesitated.Containing the nervousness in my body, I asked:“How are your sisters?" Well," he replied, swallowing dry. "Doniya is still in rehabilitation, but Waliyha and Safaa are happy to return home. My cousins are fine, safe.My eyes easily wrinkled by the wide smile I threw at him.“I’m happy for you, Zee.He returned the smile, a little awkward. She looked around, into the empty room, at Kendall sneaking in with a box in hand, and watched as she helped me look for any object of sentimental value in the mess of shards and shards of glass."Are you definitely moving to your father's house? "His voice faltered a little.I shook my head, looking away."No, I'll be back to France next week.If a needle fell to the ground, we would all listen, so obscenely quiet that the environment became."Dd't you... make peace with your family? "He asked in a soft, soft tone.I shrugged."Eeven if I still hated them, I wouldn't have much
The doorman greeted me as soon as I passed the family concierge and let Kendall drag my chair. I had never thrown more than one look at the ramp passage that went up to the floors, always running through the steps of the main staircase, but now, it was that path I needed to take.I entered my destroyed apartment turning the wheels of the chair with my own hands, because despite smiling, Kendall was pale and sweaty for taking me through the steep path. I didn't like to think that she felt she had an obligation to help me, and she did her best not to have to ask. But life is very different from the pink world when you lose the ability to be free, and depending on others is the only way to live.We don't even need a key to open the door, it was propped up, torn from its hinges. A police containment strip surrounded the room and fixed itself on the corners of the walls, at that moment filled by the cardboard boxes with things stored. The windows no longer had glass, the pots formed a dang
Six months laterI was told that if it weren't for a miserable brain activity, I would have died the first time my heart stopped beating.Six months earlier, after twenty-eight hours of kidnapping, I was admitted to the emergency room with clinical death, and the doctors brought me back. Part of me was already dead, while the other fought for another breath of life. I didn't see the light, nor any relatives who died a long time ago. I just died. More than once.The shots that hit my body charged their price. The one in my chest lodged between two of my ribs attached to the sternum, but did not hit my heart. On the other hand, the one in my spine had the same impact as a hammering in my bones; dragging and compressing tissues and vertebrae into a cone effect.It was scary to regain consciousness with a complete medical team about me, and, even worse, outside finding out the diagnosis. My legs were heavy, asleep and uncomfortable, when I was told it was a spinal cord injury at T12 level.
The news didn't talk about anything else. The mistake was to believe that it was a terrorist attack. Mocking the news, Kendall stroked his burnt arm, feeling a sudden itching in him. There was proof that the intentions of that massacre involved more than political and religious interests.No one could ever say that she was not the kind of person who put his hand on the fire for a friend. She put her whole arm for Mila! And if he would throw himself completely into a fire for Tristan. Thinking about it brought him hilarious pleasure, and ended up having to fight against the hysterical laughter that floated in his throat. I was already more than crazy just for all that damn wait.He didn't realize he fell asleep until he heard someone calling her softly. He swore to have heard Tristan's voice, but when he raised his head from the hard and rough seats on which he leaned, he realized that another man stood on the door frame of the open.Stefan Turner seemed more dejected than usual. The h
Have you ever had the feeling of not being useful to the world?Did you ever feel that no matter how good your intentions to people were, nothing seemed like enough? Did you feel that you could disappear, even in front of a crowd, and no one would worry about finding you? Have you ever thought how wonderful it would be to live the world that exists only inside your head? That reality only served to overshadow the brightness of your dreams?Because Kendall Reedy would have an affirmative answer to all these questions.I couldn't complain about the friends I had, but if I were to take into account all the years I had taken to meet those people who received her as a family, I would die regretting the terrible family life I had.She was the youngest daughter among many brothers. The only one who cared about the vices and consequences acquired by the parents, both detached from the behaviors acceptable to society. I paid to keep them alive, away from debts with trafficking or loans with ma
I heard the sirens, the well-known friction of wheels moving over the floor, lights flashing red and blue. However, I wanted to be able to say that I didn't need care. That I didn't feel the pain anymore. But she returned, this time, straight into my heart, when the stretcher passed me and supported a large body carried by two police officers who wore black helmets. Zachary was raised, unconscious and bathed in blood, practically faint.I couldn't see where all that blood came from, especially because my attention was called to the police officers who were returning from the open door, pulling the injured mobsters in tight handcuffs. Among those who wore dark vests and helmets with the acronyms of the FBI, I recognized the robust figure of Dennis, Zachary's co-worker.The policeman pulled with unnecessary brutality a person smaller than him, covered by black robes and with an arrogant air in his footsteps. When the person raised his head and found me being immobilized by the team of f