Siren's POV:
Dec 21, 2021
"Just five more minutes," Mason mumbled as he started falling asleep. It was currently 1 p.m. in the afternoon, in other words, nap time. I had come straight to the hospital after my morning run and a cold shower. I had made breakfast in the morning but it was getting late and the kids would annoy the hell out of me if they were hungry. Hungry kids are like demons, except much worse.
As soon as Mason's breaths deepened, I slipped out of the room. My afternoon was mostly insignificant, making lunch, wrapping and hiding everyone's christmas gifts. As I looked for a safe place for my gifts, I stumbled upon the Liam's gift. I decided not to open it, though it was the hardest thing in the world.
After an hour of mentally preparing myself to study, I finally decided it was time. Selena's call interrupted me, five minutes into my study session and I picked it up at lightening speed.
Woah! What a relief!
"Hey, spill the tea. What happened yesterday? Did he book you again?"
And just like that, my mood soured. I've been trying to avoid thinking about that rich asshole since this morning and I was successful.... mostly.
Okay, partly.
Okay, it was a failure.
Ughhh. I hate myself.
I kept my answers to all of Selena's questions short and to the point.
"It's fine. Don't think too much about it. It happens to the best of us," Selena was distracted, I could tell. She kept saying the same thing over and over.
"Ok, out with it." I finally snapped.
"What're you talking about?"
"Whatever it is that you want to say, just say it."
"How did you- Whatever, just listen, okay? Listen and then yell." She paused for a second.
This tone doesn't sound too good.
"So, there's this guy, he asked the agency for a escort and all of them are booked, you know with the holidays, loads of lonely people rushing to book. So we suggested you and he said he'll pay double the fees. So I kind of said yes on your behalf? I mean think about it-''
"You what?!" I cut her off with a yell.
"I told you, listen!! It's not sex, he strictly said no. He just wants you to accompany him to an event," She clarified and I felt a little calmer but still.
"You didn't think you should ask me first? That's not fair. You don't say stuff on behalf of other people!"
"Hey, I was just trying to help, I know you need money. I don't know why and I'm not asking you. If you say no, its fine." I knew she was bluffing, her voice was muffled by her chewing onto her nails.
But I still said yes. She was just trying to help, I knew her intentions weren't bad.
"Fine! What time?'' I asked, glancing at the clock.
It was currently 4 p.m.
"Six O'clock," She mumbled before rushing, "You can get ready at my house. I'll lend you a dress and you can take my car."
"That's too soon," I whined.
"I know. I'm sorryyyyy."
I stood in front of Selena's mansion, waiting for my date to show up. All I knew about my date was that he was a businessman who needed a date to attend a business event with him, urgently. I wonder what kind of business event. I've been to plenty of those, but never without my parents.
Ugh, I have no idea how to do this. And I didn't have the wits to ask Selena either. What am I supposed to do, how am I supposed to behave. I had zero clues. Do I just pretend I'm going on a blind date? Since sex wasn't a part of the equation, I might as well consider it one. Yeah, I'll do that. I'll just pretend this is a normal date that my friend forced me to go to. It's normal.
You could imagine my shock when not one but three not so normal cars pulled over. What the hell in going on? A Limo and two Rolls Royce.
Man, he's rich. A man with a huge scar on his face and tattoes covering literally every inch of his body walked out of the porsche's driver seat and opened the backseat door for me.
My breath stopped when I came face to face with a man who had the most beautiful blue-green eyes I've ever seen. He had short brown hair, slicked back and a slight cut on one of his eyebrows. He was wearing a coat that I'm sure cost more than my car. He gave me a small smile as I slipped in beside him.
The car was lavish, equipped with a long seat that looked more comfortable than my bed, a mini bar where the man placed the glass of wine he held. There was an LED screen in front of the seats, an episode from Euphoria playing. The interior gave a contemporary vibe.
I carefully sat in my white fur coat, keeping my distance, making sure my dress doesn't ride up. This is the only downside of wearing a dress. I had glam makeup on with my hair pulled up in a sleek sky high Ariana Grande ponytail.
"Adrik Mikhalov," He introduced himself, offering his hand. I took it and was surprised at how cold it felt, given the car was equipped with a heater
"Siren," I retracted my hand from his grip.
"You're drinking Richebourg?" I raised a brow.
"Your brand?" He asked me, balancing the wineglass between his index and middle finger.
"I prefer Domaine Leroy. One of my favourites," That was my mom's favourite wine, the first one I stole from our wine cabinet as a teenager. It was sweet like cherries, not at all bitter, exactly my taste. But it wasn't something I could afford anymore.
"You don't exactly look old enough to consume alcohol," he smirked after giving me a once over,"But you do have great taste and you make one hell of an arm candy."
He opened a bottle, pouring me a glass. I eyed my surroundings, my gaze coming to a stop at a book he kept beside him. It was J.J. McAvoy, Ruthless People.
"I'm not now, nor shall I ever be, any man's arm candy," I quoted from the book as I flipped through the pages, it was one of my favourite books.
He looked surprised as he handed me the glass before he gave me a smirk, "Okay then, a witty arm candy. It's not really a popular book. What made you read it?"
"The smut. Duh," I spewed before I could think.
Shit.
We talked about this before, my subconscious chided. This is why you think before you speak.
He paused, his drink halfway to his lips and chuckled, "It is pretty good, isn't it?"
We spent the rest of the time talking about the book, sharing our interests and we had quite a lot in common.
Peeking out of the windows, I saw the upscale part of the city. Expensive restaurants, lush resorts, opulent hotels littered the roads. When we reached the destination, I looked out the window to see a resort. It was huge, expanding left and right with no end in sight. The architecture was modern with flashing lights and water fountains adorning the place. This is why Vegas is such a funny place, so much glamour on one side of
The driver opened the door for us and Adrik helped me out. I smoothened out my coat. As I took a look around, Adrik offered me his arm and I took it.
We walked into the building and the air seemed to change, employees who were running around halted immediately, the receptionist stood up, the manager was in front of us in a flash, even the other guests seemed to notice the tension.
Continuing down a couple hallways, I saw Adrik's whole demeanor change. He went from sweet, nice guy on a date to...to an affluent guy who has everyone in the palm of his hand.
"This is an important event, just mingle with everyone, play a few games and everything should be fine," He gave me a small smile as an employee took his coat off.
I wore a rose gold satin skirt which reached just past my knees. It was ruched on the side, giving a small peak of the milky skin beneath. A matching backless crop top with the straps criss crossed on the back left my waist on display, making it look smaller. A pair of nude platform heels and a pair of earrings completed my attire. The outfit was the courtesy of Selena. She even said I could keep the outfit, since it didn't fit her after the breast enhancements.
Good for me.
Adrik wore a black suit with a white shirt. Pretty simple but damn, did he manage to look hotter than Hawaii. He swept a hand through his hair, giving me an appreciative glance.
Stepping in through the hallway was like entering a whole new world. I had never before seen a casino in my life but I'm pretty sure comparing this place to an ordinary casino would be highly inaccurate.
A huge chandelier hung from the ceiling, basking the room in a golden hue. What is it with rich people and their obsession with chandeliers? The room, if you could call it that, was huge and bright, filled with lightning. There were all sort of gaming machines and the stuff from movies on one side, there were pool and poker tables on another side.
Adrik led me to the front where there was a bar and a few tables. A couple of fancy people turned around and gave him nods of acknowledgement while others sat down, resuming drinking.
Sitting down, I could feel that weird tension again, this time stronger. A waiter served drinks, sweat dripping down his forehead and he looked almost, petrified. There was a long silence before the waiter left.
"This is when you introduce us before it starts getting awkward," A woman in her mid twenties who sat across from me gave me a cheeky smile. She was beautiful, with short mid length blonde hair and sharp brown eyes. She wore a white bodycon dress which flattered her figure and her tanned skin. In one word, she was mesmerising, demanding every person's attention.
"This is my date, Siren and Siren, this is Evelyn and Alessandro," He refered to the man beside her. The dude had eyes only for Evelyn even as he gave me a nod. He had the lightest brown hair and pale blue, almost gray eyes. His eyes were like hard steel but I could see an intense emotion, just beneath the surface as he glanced at the girl beside him.
Adrik introduced me to another couple whose names I don't recognise, an old man with graying hair called Matthew and so on. Most were people I knew who owned huge companies, others I had no idea about. But it was pretty clear this was a rich people hangout.
Light chatter ran through as more people filed in, but the tension felt elastic, like it could snap at anytime.
I noticed the people seated at this table seemed important as people repeatedly greeted them. There was definitely a hierarchy here but not the social kind. The social hierarchy I knew was full of people hating each other, being jealous and incredibly pity, trying to put each other down each chance they get. It was almost like there were people who had more power than others, no matter their social status. Plus, I could see people bowing to, short nods of acknowledgement. Subtle signs of respect that were not reciprocated.
I didn't have much to ponder as Evelyn moved beside me, her beau not.happy at her leaving his side.
"Psst," She called out to me but her voice was loud enough that every person here heard her. "This is getting boring, do you want to actually play?"
I shrugged, "Sure, why not?"
Evelyn linked her arms with me, pulling me away from the table.
"Ughh, I could slice all the tension with a fucking butter knife." She inhaled deeply as we moved towards a pool table, "Do you want to play pool, billiards, snooker?"
"I'm good with plain old pool," I looked up to the croupier who racked up the balls on the baize before we could tell him what to do. He held out two cues and some chalk.
I grabbed a cue, chalking the end of it. Holding it upright, I blew off the excess.
"I'll start," Evelyn held up the cue, lining it up before she hit the white ball in one smooth stroke, making the other balls scatter across the table. One solid went into the top left pocket.
"Solids it is," Evelyn muttered to herself as she to moved to the other side of the table.
"So, have you two known each other for long?" She asks after she sank two other balls.
"Not exactly," My replies were brief, not wanting to lie too much since I was no good at it. I decided to apply one of my favourite defense tactics. Duck and weave.
"What about you and Alessandro?" I asked, even though I noticed the huge rock on her finger. People love talking about themselves.
She missed the next one, rising up gracefully before giving me a genuine smile, "We're married."
She seemed sweet and caring, her eyes wandering over to her husband once again who was already staring at her. Her eyes lightened up when she saw him. This is the kind of love people wish they'd get to experience. Once and for all.
Ugh. It hurts to look at. I could've had a chance at something like that if I wasn't busy running away
I held the cue tightly, putting my index finger on top and my thumb at the bottom of the stick. Leaning over the table and hit the white ball in a clean stroke. Two balls sank simultaneously, one in the top right while the other in the top left corner.
Evelyn whistled in appreciation and my lips curled into a small smile. I had mastered these games as a teen, my extremely competitive nature driving me to learn and practice until I was satisfied.
After another couple of balls, I missed, stepping back to let Evelyn have her turn. Evelyn was easy to talk to, since she did most of the talking. But even though she seemed chatty, she was extremely sharp-witted, never revealing anything important, even when I tried to coax a few details out of her.
Sinking the last ball, I move to take aim at the eighth, "Top left corner."
Adjusting my stance, I stood with my legs apart and just as I was about to hit, my breath stops and I pause midway, feeling someone stand right behind me.
"Nice to see you again," An alluring deep voice caught me off-guard.