Maya's shift ended after a tiring three hours of serving the men in the gentlemen's club regular section. She managed to avoid passing out. Her dizzy spells subsided, but her migraines returned, forcing her to seek relief from her medications against her will. She wanted to put up with the throbbing migraines that were devouring her head without having to take painkillers. Her spirit was willing, but her body was frail. Maya walks to the parking lot where her bright red, beat-up pickup truck was parked. She has had it since she graduated from the culinary school.
"Hey," Maya waved to her friend, Natalia who was sitting in the passenger seat. They travel the same route home, so she frequently drops her off before heading home.
Maya opens the door to the driver's seat and sighs in relief as she notices her bag on the seat. She was too exhausted to go get it out of her locker. She was counting on Natalia to get it for her, and she did not let her down.
"Thanks for getting my bag," Maya says to Natalia before picking it up from her seat and placing it in the backseat.
Natalia did not acknowledge Maya because she was preoccupied with her phone.
Maya churned the car key and drove out of the parking lot into the quiet road.
Maya didn't like the silent atmosphere, so she turned on the radio, flipping through channels until she found a channel playing a country song she loved.
As she was grooving with the song, Natalia suddenly turned off the radio
Maya propels a deadly stare at her. "What the fuck?" She mouthed.
"Sorry, I hate this song," Natalia sniggers unapologetically.
Maya chuckled. "You hate everything, Nat. You are a certified hater."
Natalia huffs. "Because there's nothing worth living for in this shitty world."
Maya would have agreed with her if cooking and food did not exist in this world.
"There is always something worth living for. You got to find it. One day you will find it. There is hope," Maya smiled.
"Hope is for dreamers, Maya, and I am not one," Natalia coldly said.
Maya groans in defeat and concentrates on the road. She finds it difficult to talk to Natalia at times. Her pessimistic attitude is a happiness killer.
"So how was your first time serving those billionaires?" Natalia asked to keep the conversation going.
"It was okay," Maya nonchalantly replied.
Natalia snorts. "Don't fucking pretend everything went fine, Maya. I know those men at the billionaire section are horrible dumb pigs!"
Maya sigh. "Well, one of the guys harassed me," her voice cracked. Remembering that awful experience makes her want to cry.
Natalia scowled and angrily said " I Knew this could happen! That's why I was trying to stop you from taking over my orders. I knew those dirty men couldn't keep their hands to themselves! "
Maya kept her eyes straight on the road to avoid Natalia's gaze. She feels like she is being scolded like a child. She pouted. "He didn't go that far. He wasn't a dirty old man. He was one of those cocky guys. Aiden the jerk." She muttered Aiden's name but Natalia heard her.
"Did you say Aiden? He was with his brother, Dalton, right?" Natalia inquired.
Maya nodded twice to her questions. "Yes, You know them?" confusion etched on her face.
Natalia rolled her eyes. "Who doesn't know Aiden the sociopath and his brother Dalton Black? They have been members of this gentlemen's club for three years now." She folded her arms across her chest in a vexed manner. "Aiden was the guy that harassed you?"
Maya stirs the Car wheel to the right to turn a curve before answering. "Yes, but his brother Dalton intervened. He stopped Aiden."
Natalia smiled widely. A wicked excitement brewing in her eyes. "He was your knight in shining Armor, huh?" She teased.
Maya blushed. Shakes her head dismissively. "There was nothing romantic about that moment. It was scary for me. Aiden was acting crazy!"
Natalia huffed. "Typical of Aiden; you are not the only girl who has experienced his harassment; he did the same thing to me. Dalton wasn't there to stop him. Fortunately for him and me, he didn't do anything freaky that would have warranted a slap from me. He was doing that for the thrill of it. He was experiencing one of his manic episodes."
Maya suddenly recalled Aiden mentioned the need to take an antipsychotic drug. Goosebumps engulfed her skin as she asked fretfully. " Aiden is a sociopath, he is really crazy?"
Natalia laughed. "Yes, Maya. That dude is a nuts case. He is sick in the head. He needs medications to act normally. Or mostly, his brother, Dalton, has to keep a tight leash on him, or else he will go on a maniac spree."
And Dalton is doing a fine job keeping Aiden craziness subdued, Maya thought as she reminisced about the absolute control Dalton had over his brother. She thinks that was very cool of him.
"Why are you blushing?" Natalia's voice rang in Maya's head, pulling her out of her thoughts. Her shoulders heaved down in shock
"You startled me," Maya annoyingly glared at her and quickly fixed her eyes back on the road as she took another turn, leading straight towards Natalia's house.
Natalia smiled mischievously. "Tell me, Dalton is handsome right?" She wriggled her brows playfully at Maya.
"No, I think he's a gorgeous man," Maya blurted out. Her eyes widened when she realized what she just said. She clasped her hand over her mouth. Her face beaming reddish like a tomato about to explode.
Natalia laughed out loud. "You were fantasizing about him just now weren't you?"
May groans in frustration. "No, I wasn't. I was just being honest, okay. It is not bad to admit when someone is good looking" she shrugged defensively. "And that doesn't equal fantasizing about them. I also think his other brother is also very handsome."
Natalia frowned. "Aiden???"
"Nope, there was another brother…." Maya paused to recall his name. "Ah, yes his name was Oliver." Her face lit up. She was glad she could remember the name of the kind man who saved her from falling.
"He was very nice." Maya smiled. "And he has a twin brother"
Natalia mouthed a big O. "So four brothers? I didn't know there were two other brothers. Only Dalton and Aiden visit the club."
Maya's voice went low as she whispered. "Same mother different fathers," she gossips to her friend.
Natalia gasped. "OMG!!! This is juicy. How did you find out?"
"Oliver told me." Maya cringed hard. She felt bad for spilling this out.
"That explains why they don't look alike. They are very good-looking though. Their mother has good taste in men." Natalia said. She flashed a naughty smirk at Maya, making her crack with laughter.
"So they are billionaires?" Maya asked uncertainly. She knows she just served them at one of the VVIP room reserved for only billionaires, which means they are crazily rich, but she is still skeptical. She has always thought billionaires are old men. Dalton and Aiden look so young to be that rich!
"Yes, they are. Aiden sells fancy sports cars for a living and Dalton is a CEO. "Natalia equips.
"Oh, that explains it," Maya's doubts have been cleared.
Natalia suddenly chuckled and said. "Dalton Black is called the 'Company Eater', you know."
Maya was taken aback. A frown shaded her angelic face. "Company Eater? What is that?"
"He targets companies, buys them, destroys them, and rebuilds them to fit his taste. Then sells them to the highest bidder." Natalia explains. "Hence why everyone calls him the company eater. He targets all kinds of business. If the owners refuse to sell to him. He ruins their businesses until they give in and sell their companies to him. He is ruthless." Natalia emphasizes on the last word, inviting a shiver to run through Maya's spine.
She reminisced about the sheer intensity of the Powerful aura that was exudating from Dalton. It's not a surprise to her that he might be ruthless.
"Do you think Dalton is gunning for Venus City Gentlemen's Club?" Maya asked with hope. If her stepfather loses his gentlemen's club, that means she will escape from his clutches.
Natalia let out a defeated whine "God, I wish, but so far he hasn't made any moves. " She hates Frederick Hathaway as much as Maya does.
Suddenly, a satisfying smile girders on Natalia's face as she said. "But the devil, Fredrick Hathaway, is afraid of him, though. He is scared he is coming for his gentlemen's club. So he has been kissing Dalton's ass."
Maya frowned. She was skeptical. "There is someone who my Stepfather is Afraid of?" She can't force herself to believe that. Her Stepfather is so powerful that he got away with his attempted murder on her life.
Natalia scoffed. "Yes, your Stepfather holds power in this city but Dalton Black has unimaginable power over this country. He is feared by the whole country. "
This took half of Maya's fear away. "Maybe Dalton can save us," Her voice was half confident.
"Oh, Dalton Black save us! Be our Savior, handsome king! Save thee from the clutches of our oppressor," Natalia jested in a terrible accent.
Maya laughed till her eyes were filled with tears.
They stopped talking as soon as Maya drove into a decent-looking neighborhood.
Maya halted in front of Natalia's apartment building. "You are home," she announced.
"Alright, see you tomorrow," Natalia hops out of the car.
Maya waited until Natalia made it inside the building before driving away.
•••••
20 minutes later Maya was also home. She drove into her late mother's one-million-dollar Spanish colonial-style mansion with white stucco walls, red tile roofs, and a breathtaking landscape. Now this mansion is owned by her half-siblings and her stepfather. And she is just an unwanted guest living with them.
She drove straight into the garage. Her pickup truck felt out of place in the midst of the fancy cars in the garage.
She killed the engine and exited out of the car. She checked her phone as she made her way in. It was 2 am. That means her siblings are in bed at the moment so she need to walk quietly into the basement where she sleeps.
Maya took off her heels. She tip-toed quietly into the basement located at the east wing of the mansion.
She unlocked the small sealed door beneath the floor that leads to the basement she calls home. She climbed the staircase leading in.
Maya has called the basement her dwelling place since she was ten years old. Thirteen years ago, her stepfather woke her up in the middle of the night and thrust a suitcase full of her clothes into her hands. He dragged her into the basement and told her that's where she was going to sleep henceforth. According to him, she was unworthy to live in the main house with her half-siblings because she was a bastard, a disgrace he wanted to hide from the whole world.
The basement was empty and eerie; only a dirty, worn-out mattress was lying in the darkness and grubbiness. Ten-year-old Maya was so scared she cried, begging her Stepfather to take her back into her room, but he coldly refused. No one rescued her. She lay on the filthy mattress in the dark and cried until she fell asleep.
The basement had a bathroom, so she was only allowed into the main house to eat and then banished back immediately.
A maidservant felt sorry for her and helped her clean out the basement and gave her clean quilts and blankets to make the bed comfortable to sleep on. Maya will be forever grateful to that woman for her kindness. She helped her come to terms with her situation.
When Maya turned 16 she got a Job at a diner. She started saving up and began renovating the basement, and seven years later, with her hard work, she managed to turn the basement into a cozy apartment.
Maya switched on the light, And the basement came alive.
The dark, dirty basement that had only a worn-out mattress has turned into a nice apartment with beige-painted walls and a hardwood floor. She now has a closet to keep her clothes in and a dresser with a mirror to stare at her reflection whilst she dresses up. A queen-sized bed to sleep on. And cozy furniture creates a warm living room space with a big flat-screen TV and home theatre system where she can relax and watch reruns of her favorite TV series. The basement was big enough for her to have a small kitchen where she cooks and bakes.
She felt proud of herself. It took her years to make this basement a home but she did it. Her Stepfather intended for her to live and suffer in this dusky, sullied basement like a filthy animal but she turned this place into a sanctuary. If she can never escape this prison, the least she can do is to make it comfortable for her to live in.