She nods. “That’s exactly how I feel. I thought maybe it would pass.”
“Haha, maybe it does, but it hasn’t for me yet.”
We get chatting for a bit, and it’s only when a couple of other dancers wave goodbye as they leave that I realize we’re the last ones left.
Grabbing my hoodie, I carry it in my hand as I follow her out. “Do you need a ride anywhere?”
“Oh, no, that’s okay. I’ll order a cab.”
“You don’t?—”
“Riley,” Ben interrupts, my name a bark, yelled from the bowels of his office as we pass. “A word.”
Kelsey’s eyes widen as my body goes stock still, and I paint on a reassuring smile for her. “I’ll see you next weekend.”
“Y-yeah, okay.” Her gaze darts to the ajar office door then back to mine, giving me a wane smile before slowly steppingback. When I give her an encouraging nod, she takes another step, and I stand there until she eventually disappears out of sight.
After she’s gone, I take a moment to steady my breathing before slowly turning to face the doorway. Still, my feet remain rooted to the floor, and it takes another deep inhale for me to find the courage to step forward, wiping my palms on my leggings as I step inside and deliberately not shutting the door behind me.
Ben is sitting behind his desk, head bent over some paperwork, but when I clear my throat, he looks up, eyes raking over me with an emotion I can’t identify before he slowly pushes to his feet, rounding the desk until he’s standing in front of me.
“We need to discuss your attitude lately.”
“My attitude?” I parrot, nerves slicking along my skin and up my spine.
“The way you spoke to me the other week is unacceptable. I am your boss. If I ask you to do something, you do it. You don’t talk back to me or shirk your responsibilities. If I ask you to stay late, you stay late. If I ask you to keep your boyfriend out of here, you do it.”
He’s not here tonight, and yet, conveniently, tonight is when Ben chose to have this conversation.
“Now,” he says, flattening his cheap suit. “I want you to apologize to me.”
“Apologize?” I ask, dumbfounded.
His dark eyes flare at my defiance.
“I haven’t done anything wrong. I’ve stayed late when asked, and as for my boyfriend… I told you you needed to have this conversation with him. I’m not the one asking him to sit through every shift. Whatever happened between you two is why he sits out there every night. If you don’t want him to, thenyouneed to sort that out with him.”
His teeth grind, lips curling in a savage snarl as he glowers at me. In the space between blinks, he shoves at my shoulders, sending me backward into the wall with a thud.
“You don’t get to act all high and mighty because you managed to enchant some guy with your pussy. This is stillmyclub. You’re onmytime, which means you do asIsay, or you can find yourself another job.”
I’m so stunned that all I can do is stand there and listen to him spew his bullshit, only snapping out of it when he crowds me against the wall. His acrid breath slaps against my cheek and I turn my head to the side to avoid the stench.
Fingers dig into my cheek deep enough to leave crescent moon indents, and I cry out as my face is wrenched to his. “Don’t you fucking look away from me,” he hisses, spittle flying from his mouth and landing on my skin. “You’re nothing but a slutty little whore, happy to sell your body every night onmystage. Yet you think you’re too good for me?”
His laugh is unhinged, and I shove against him in a bid to get him to let go, to step back, to give me room to escape.
“I don’t sell my body,” I hiss, the words coming out garbled from his painful grip on my cheeks. “You’rethe one who took it upon himself to sell my body to whoever wanted to pay. You treat us like cattle. Selling us to the highest bidder all so you can line your own pockets.”
“Shut up!” Using his grip on my face, he pulls me forward before smashing my head against the wall. Stars dance across my vision as pain ricochets around my skull, and I groan, my knees going weak.
I scream as he fists the back of my head, pulling on my hair as a burning sensation races along my scalp. I claw and shove at his hand as he drags me across the room before throwing me on top of his desk, knocking the air from my lungs.
“You’re going to stay there and take what I give you. Maybe I can fuck that attitude out of you.”
Despite the pounding in my head, I buck against the feel of his crotch against my ass and the hard press of his hand digging into my back.
“Stop it!” I yell, unable to believe this is happening as he gropes at my leggings. “Help! HELP!”
