Mr Walters tapped impatiently on the wooden surface of his desk. He looked at his phone, expecting a call from someone who should have called him hours ago for a status report. It was now heading to the hour of 10 and the music in the club downstairs was now on full blast that you could hear the vibrations through the walls. Business was on as usual at this late hour and since it was a Friday, the place was probably packed by now. Well, hopefully, it was.
Mr Walters sighed when he realised that his phone wasn't going to ring anytime soon. He might as well just go downstairs and take the load off and enjoy. He had a rough time going with his business at the moment. But that shouldn't kill him, should it?
Just as he stood up from his chair behind his desk, a knock came at the door. He groaned. He was in no mood for visitors at the moment. But when he didn't reply, the knock came again, and this time, it was irritatingly loud.
"Come in," he grunted as he got his phone and placed it in the pocket of his jacket.
Miranda came into his office and closed the door. Mr Walters looked at her and rolled his eyes as he fell back in his chair.
"What do you want?" Mr Walters asked as Miranda found herself by his desk. "You know when you get straight back from college, you go change and get to work."
"I know that," she said as she took a seat by his desk, placing her backpack on her laps and facing him. "You know why I am here."
"No, I don't."
"Don't pretend with me. Any news on Carly?"
"Nothing. The man I hired to find out about her hasn't called me yet."
"How long does it take to find her? I mean, one thing's for sure, she hasn't left New York."
"And who are you to make assumptions? If there is anyone who is supposed to know more about her whereabouts, it's you."
Miranda was lost for words for a moment. "But.... you know she stopped talking to me ever since she lost her mother and her sister had an accident."
Mr Walters leaned back in his seat as he placed his index finger on his lips. "You know, that's just one thing I don't get. You and Carly were really close and then when something as tragic as losing someone special happens, you two fall apart."
Miranda gulped. Mr Walters was onto her now. She never told him that she was the one who had called Carly's sister that day to come over to the club and see what her sister was up to. She knew if she did, she might end up taking the blame for what had happened downstairs. If Angel hadn't come that day, there wouldn't have been a ruckus.
"What did you do, Miranda?" Mr Walters asked as he came to lean in closer on his desk, looking at her with intent. "It's weird that she isn't picking your calls anymore and she hasn't been to this club for a long time."
"I don't know where you're going with this," said Miranda as she leaned back on her chair trying to act calm.
"Did you by any chance upset her in anyway?"
"No, no, I didn't. I'm surprised with how she has been acting lately. She doesn't come for lectures anymore and she hasn't called me back in ages."
Mr Walters leaned back in his seat again. Miranda just hoped that he wasn't going to ask anymore questions. Who knows what she would say if he were to probe her any further.
"Have you been to her place?" Mr Walters asked.
"You know just like I do that the bank took away the house. I've been asking people in the neighbourhood and they haven't heard from the sisters since they left with that man in the fancy suit."
"I wonder who that man is. If we find him, we might find Carly."
"What will happen if you do? Will you bring her back here?"
"Of course I will. You know very well how our clients need her around. Some never stop asking me if she will ever come back or not."
Miranda furrowed her eyebrows a bit and tried her best not to curse. She hated the fact that Mr Walters and his clients wanted her back here more than anything. As much as she wanted Carly back, a big part of her didn't want that to happen.
She had to admit, Miranda was jealous of Carly. She was jealous that ever since Carly started to work at the bar, a lot of clients fell for her immediately and demanded more for her services than any of the other call girls. That got Miranda very upset because at first, she was the one getting all the attention.
She had had enough when Leo McDonell and his friends came here for the bachelor party. Some of the girls including Miranda and Carly were told to take care of them. She was completely furious when Leo was all focused on Carly and not on her no matter how much she tried to get his attention.
It had pained Miranda that night at how Carly got so much attention from the handsome bachelor. She didn't know why she felt that way. It was already evident that Carly was getting so much attention from the other clients, but with Leo, she felt hurt and betrayed. That was why the next day, she called Angel after knowing through her contacts that Leo had come to the club and asked for Carly. This is the last straw, she thought to herself when she decided to call Angel. She had her number when she got Carly's phone the other night in the changing room.
And Carly got in trouble with her sister and things followed suit after that.
"Are you listening to me?" Mr Walters asked as he snapped his fingers in front of her face.
"Huh?" Miranda looked up at her boss.
"Didn't you hear me? You need to get to work. Off you go."
Miranda had been reliving the past weeks and was lost in thought. She quickly got up from her chair with her backpack in her hands.
"Will you inform me when the man calls?" Miranda asked.
"I don't get why you're asking when finding Carly is my business," said Mr Walters as he raised an eyebrow.
"She's my friend. I have a right to know where she is."
"Judging by the looks of things, you two aren't friends anymore," Mr Walters with a smirk.
Miranda felt like hitting her boss with the lamp on his desk to wipe the smirk off his face. But it wouldn't be good considering that he was her employer and now that he was going through a rough time nowadays over the loss of Carly, he might as well just fire her.
Miranda left the office and quickly went downstairs. The bright disco and laser lights hit her face immediately she was in view of the dark and loud bar. The music was at its fullest right now and there were many people, mostly the youth, on the dance floor having a good time. The place smelt of liquor and the place was a little foggy due to the cigarettes being smoked by some customers in the club.
She went over by the bar and decided before she gets to work, she would try and get herself a drink to get her in the party mood even if all she was doing was working. She did that most of the time.
"You know, you will get into real trouble if the boss sees you here one day," came a voice behind the bar counter.
"You very much know that I don't care, Robin," said Miranda as she settled on the bar stool and placed her backpack on the polished wood counter.
The handsome grey eyed bartender gave her a smile as he fixed her a drink in a glass and passed it on to her.
"Thanks," she said giving him a smile and took a sip. Robin was the only other close friend she had around the club apart from Carly, whom Mr Walters was right to say, might not be her friend anymore.
"How was college?" he asked as he wiped the counter, pretending to be busy as usual.
"Stop asking me those questions. You know very well that school sucks."
Robin chuckled. "Any news from Carly?"
Miranda took a swing of her drink upon that question. She hated when Robin asked her the same question everyday.
"The same as usual," she replied.
Robin didn't say anything as he went over to serve a customer on Miranda's left. He got straight back to her when he was done.
"I miss her a lot, you know?" he said.
Miranda rolled her eyes. She was tired of talking about Carly when she was so concerned about her as well but at the same time, she wasn't. She wondered why she had such mixed feelings. She needed to know if what Carly had been through that fateful day had made her change her mind about coming back to work at the bar.
Or was it something else?
"Does Mr Walters have any news about her whereabouts?" Robin asked.
"No. He sent someone looking for her."
"I hope the man isn't dangerous."
Miranda shook her head. "Nah, probably just those guys who are good at tracking people down in a massive city like this one. Mr Walters has dangerous people alright, but he wouldn't let a dangerous one go after Carly. He needs her back, you know?"
"True. The place hasn't been running smoothly without her, especially with our 'important clients.'"
Miranda looked around to see if anyone was eavesdropping on the two of them. The working staff never really talked so openly about their "important clients." As much as this looked like a regular club from the outside, in the inside, it was a club alright, but other shady things happened too.
"Careful, Robin," Miranda warned him as she went straight back to looking at him. "You know we don't talk about that around here."
"I know. And you better go get changed," said Robin as he turned towards the staircase and saw Mr Walters coming down. "He's here and he won't like it when he sees you."
"So much for getting a free drink," said Miranda as she quickly finished her drink. She then quickly joined in the massive crowd behind her to get to the other side of the club hiding from Mr Walters. For a man like him, he had sharp eyes at times.
She bypassed the ladies' and mens' toilets, then she found herself in the changing room, close to the door that lead to the storage unit. Once she was inside, she found the place empty. It looked like most of the girls had already dressed up and had gone out to work. She liked the fact that she was alone. She needed some kind of solitude for a while. But it wouldn't be long until one of the rich clients called for her.
The changing room was more like the changing rooms found in sports centres with blue coloured lockers all around and wooden benches. She went to the corner of the room at the far end where her locker was. She unlocked the locker with her known combination and placed her backpack inside. Before she could change, she decided to make a call.
She removed the phone from her pocket of her black leather jacket, unlocked it and went straight to her call log list. The number that appeared first in the screen was the number she called.
She closed the locker as she placed the phone to her ear and leaned her back on to the locker. Upon the first ring, she thought for a moment whether it was a good idea calling this person over and over again. She soon cut the call realising that it wasn't worth it.
It was pretty evident. Carly was gone and she might never come back. That was a good thing, for Miranda. Though it might take time for people to accept that she wasn't going to come back, Miranda will be the top call girl just like before. She smiled at the thought. It was best for Carly not to come back after all.
So what if she doesn't answer Miranda's call? She did try her best to know about her whereabouts and they had all been in vain.
Miranda quickly opened her locker and put the phone inside as she prepared herself to change, thinking about the changes that would go on now that Carly wasn't around.
A thought clicked in her mind when she remembered the day when Carly came over to the club when Leo called for her. Miranda angered at the thought of the two of them together. Did Leo fall for her like most of the other clients did?
Miranda continued to boil. She had never felt anything like this before, especially over someone like Leo. He wasn't a regular client. He just came here for his bachelor party and that was it. But the fact that he came here specifically for Carly the next day, pained her to the core.
She removed her jacket and roughly put it away in the locker, angry. She couldn't understand how she felt like this over Leo. He was handsome, yes, but she had encountered many handsome men before. But there was something about him that made her feel like this. She couldn't figure out what it was that she felt for him that she seemed really confused.
She remembered his intense deep blue eyes that night and she couldn't help but wonder why she had been so attracted to them. She never had any feelings for anyone, not even for her own clients. But was she falling for him? This couldn't be possible.
She tried to brush off this weird feeling she had about Leo, but she couldn't. Was all this just mere infatuation? She would have forgotten him days ago after all the time that has passed. But why did he pop up in her mind every now and then?
Miranda scratched her head in confusion as she soon realised that she might have fallen for him a little. During the past few days, she would sometimes Google on him and look at pictures of him. He was such a wealthy man, helping run his father's company. And also, he was so good looking that any girl would fall for him in an instant. She read through the social media news two weeks ago about his wedding being called off due to an accident that occurred that day. The day he ran Angel over. But then he broke off the engagement afterwards.
Could it be that he broke up with his fiancée because of Carly? Miranda tried not to think about that, but why did he come here on that day of his wedding just to see her?
Could it be that he fell in love with her? A terrible thought soon came in Miranda's mind.
Could Carly be with Leo at this very moment?
"Damn it!" Miranda banged the door of her locker shut so loud, it looked like it would fall out of its hinges at any moment.
The rich man who was there at Carly's house the day the bank had evacuated the place, couldn't be Leo, but what if it was someone who was associated with him and was helping Carly pack up? Maybe to help her move away from that house to Leo's?
Miranda couldn't believe this. Why didn't she try and connect all of this sooner? Carly was a girl also struggling in life and she came here to work at the club to earn some good amount of dough. Now that she might be with Leo, she didn't have to work here because she was already living a luxurious life with Leo.
Miranda didn't want to believe it, but it somehow made perfect sense as to why Carly never answered her calls anymore. She might now be with Leo.
Miranda had to find out for herself. And she knew what she had to do remembering that she had Angel's phone number. She wasn't going to tell Mr Walters about her assumptions. This was personal.
And if Carly really was with Leo, Miranda didn't know what she would do.