The Stripper’s Protector

“Alina! Have you been on the school group recently?” my friend, Berle, blurted through the phone the moment I picked up her call.

“No. My WiFi’s off. I’ve been reading, remember?” I responded, closing the last book on the table.

“Well, you better switch it back on and check what’s going on, and then get back to me so we’d find a way to deal with it,” she said, the tone of her voice suddenly making me concerned.

“What do you mean deal with it?” I asked as I stood up from the chair.

“Find out yourself,” she stated and ended the call.

Her tone set me on the edge. I hurriedly switched on my WiFi and hurried to our campus’s main info group. What I saw next sent my heart lurching into the pits of my stomach.

Someone had posted a video of me performing at the club in the group. I was dressed in transparent lingerie, stripping, along with a few other women to entertain a group of old men. 

My knees began to tremble, but before I could crash to the floor, I managed to stumble backwards to sit on the chair. Tears stung my eyes as I read the comments people wrote about me.

‘Serves her right.’

‘And I thought she was a good girl.’

‘What did she expect when she messed with Ryan Seymore?’

The name Ryan Seymore singled itself out of the comments. He did this. All because I refused to be one of his numerous side chicks.

As I read the comments, my heart continued to clench painfully. Only Berle knew about my job at the club and the reason why I work there.

A few months back, my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer and my cousin, Chloe, was involved in a fire accident at our apartment a few days after. Both of them needed urgent treatment but we didn't have enough money to foot the bills and see me through college. This was because my aunt was among thousands of people that suffered from job cuts that took place nationally a few months prior to the diagnosis. 

Worse yet, she didn't have health insurance to her name. I watched as she exhausted every single penny she had on her till she had no more and then, I began looking for jobs to support. I tried working a lot of jobs, but they were all so hectic and earned me little.

It was then Berle introduced me to Madame Caryn, the owner of the club. She took care of all expenses my family had incurred with the condition I pay her back by serving as a dancer in her club for a certain period of time.

None of the people making those comments knew I had to go through this for the sake of my family but they were all very quick to judge. That thought was enough to make me stop crying and steel my emotions, anger began to course through me.

I decided to put it behind me. In a little while, some other news would take their attention away from me so all I had to do was live through it. The only thing I was worried about was what the school authority would say if this gets to them. I just hope it wouldn’t cost me my partial scholarship.

Distraught, angry, but determined, I wiped my tears and stood to go, I still needed to get to the club this evening.

Upon making my way out of the restroom, the stares began, but I ignored them all and hurried to get off campus grounds. Practically everyone kept on staring at me, some hitting their friends and pointing at me as I hurried past. I had become the center of attention all of a sudden.

Clutching my books a little tighter, I broke out into a run so I could leave campus grounds faster. 

When I had walked a good distance away from school premises and was about to cross over to the other side of the road from the pedestrian pavement, a car came to a stop right in front of me, almost hitting me in the process.

The door to the car opened and my blood got riled up when I saw who it was. Ryan Seymore. He's a player in school who asked me out publicly in my second year in college, which was almost five years ago.

He's every lady's on campus's dream man, but I made a decision not to delve into any relationship again after my first heartbreak so I turned him down and he promised to make me pay for embarrassing him.

Two of his boys stepped out of the car, walked over to where I was and blocked my path.

"Isn't this the virgin Mary turned stripper, you saw that little video I posted of you right?" he said with a disgusting grin on his face.

Even though I was trembling with rage, I managed to keep myself from pouncing on him and making a mess of his face. 

“Yeah, I did. I hope you’re happy now. Thank you for ruining my life,” I spat, but just as I turned to go, he grabbed my wrist and forced me to look at him again. He leaned into me until our faces were uncomfortably close. 

"Oh, this is just the beginning. When I’m done with you, you’d know never to trifle with me. You lowlife daughter of a—” He said but couldn't finish his statement. I landed a slap across his face in a spark of anger.

When the reality of what I had just done dawned on me, I broke out of his grip and ran for my dear life, barely escaping the grasps of his boys.

I could hear them shouting and running after me but I didn't stop, even when I dropped my books in the process. The path I was running through was familiar to me, I knew every corner and alley. Thanks to a friend of mine that lived around.

After crisscrossing several paths to confuse them, I came to hide behind a huge dumpster in one of the lonely alleys. I stayed there for a while, trying to catch my breath.

A while passed and the sun had almost disappeared from sight. I then began to notice shadows lurk around where I was. It took every bit of self resolve in me not to hyperventilate. I grew up with a phobia for the dark, staying alone in the dark threw me into paranoia.

My zeal to escape from Ryan's boys lead me into this, and losing my books as well. Gosh, I feel like killing them right now. I don't even know why I ran, I can defend myself, but I guess I just wasn't thinking straight after I slapped Ryan.

I still needed to head to work so I stood from where I crouched behind the dumpster so I could try to find my way out of the sparsely illuminated alley.

However, just as I stood, I saw the dark outline of two men moving into the alley. Their shadows bounced off the walls and they seemed to be struggling.

Groans and several other sounds followed and I hid behind the dumpster again, though I still stuck my head out to see what was going on. I know, that's not exactly the wise thing to do but I couldn’t contain my curiosity.

The men were both well built men so I had no idea who the attacker in the fight was. As they were struggling, a huge wave of light flashed into the alley and in that moment, I made eye contact with one of the men.

My heart skipped a beat, wondering if he saw me so I decided to stop watching the fight and stay put till when they were gone. I closed my eyes during the wait to calm myself.

Few minutes passed and I couldn't hear the punches and groans that echoed through the alley a while ago.

Immediately I raised my head to certify if they were indeed gone, I met the face of one of the men who was fighting. He had a flashlight in his hands and the light pierced into my eyes, dimming my sight for a while.

When I finally regained my sight, I noticed his clothes were torn and his nose was bleeding but all that didn't capture my attention, his face did. Particularly his eyes.

Those steel blue orbs reminded me of a certain man who made me flee Russia twelve years ago. The look on his face as I stared at him emulated surprise but the next second, it was gone. 

He shifted my hair from my neck and tilted my head up a bit. I didn't struggle when he touched me for fear he might attack me. Tensed, I watched as the coldness in his eyes was replaced by a sinister gleam. 

"I can't believe I found you, it took me twelve years, but I finally found you principessa", he breathed, a smirk snaking its way up his lips. 

Before I could process anything else, his hand captured my wrist like steel cuffs and what he said confirmed my fears, it really is him.