His Personal Dancer

9

      Tall structural buildings, lively energetic people, the hot sun beating down on the people of Boston. A smile was brought to my face as we drove over bridges, passed big billboards. Seeing the different kinds of landscapes and people was amazing. "It's like New York, but so different. It's beautiful.." I turned my eyes from the window and at Mr. Ace who simply nodded gently at my statement. The car was super tense, drowned in horrible silence. I reached for the radio wanting to cheer up the setting, also to avoid any attempt of a conversation. "Refrain yourself Ms. Dazzle-" I stopped my hand a few inches away from the radio and looked at Mr. Ace. He kept a straight face underneath the sunglasses. "I prefer the silence.." He said. I dropped my hand back down into my lap and began fidgeting with my fingers. A part of me wanted to apologize for spitting in his face, and also slapping him, but another part of me wanted to stand my ground. "An apology is an order-" I snapped my neck towards him after he finally broke the silence. A roll came to my eyes and I scoffed "I am not apologizing to you-" Mr. Ace slammed his palm against the steering wheel, I swallowed my words and looked at him with wide eyes "Dammit Ms. Dazzle! I can never get a word in with you-" Mr. Ace pulled over to the side of the lively street and turned in his seat to look at me "Do you ever just shut up and be obedient?!" I pressed my lips together as rage engulfed his eyes. My body grew tense as I stared into his eyes, I no longer felt safe and I was slightly offended. My eyes began to tear up, I looked away from him not wanting him to see me cry. I clicked off my seatbelt and opened the door "Ms. Dazzle-" he said in a soft tone as I stepped out of the car. 

      I slammed the door behind me and stepped onto the sidewalk. I looked up and down the street, people were coming from both directions having all sorts of conversations. The sun attacked my whole being, making me regret wearing a hoodie and sweatpants. "Ms. Dazzle-" I looked over my shoulder and Mr. Ace was stepping out of the car. He walked around it and stepped onto the sidewalk. I took a few steps away from him as he approached me. I wiped my tears from my cheeks, He opened his mouth attempting to speak over the loudness of the setting, but it was an attempt failed. "Sebastian darling, you're here!" arms of a woman, a blonde, wrapped themselves around his broad shoulders. Mr. Ace clenched his jaw and looked away from me. "Tara-" He untangled his body from her arms and turned to face her. She suddenly grabbed him by his collar and pulled him into a kiss. He didn't make an effort to pull away. He very much enjoyed the kiss with another tall, slim, blonde. She could be the long lost sister of Karlie Kloss. "Let's get you settled in," She said, pulling away from his lips and locking her arms with his. She didn't even acknowledge my existence and neither did Mr. Ace as he turned away from me. They walked towards a huge, tall building that hurt my neck just by looking at its height. 

      Mr. Ace's friend, or friends with benefits, sent someone to take care of his car and with a quick reminder from me to get my bags from his trunk. We walked up a few stairs from the sidewalk and once we were finally in the hotel, it took my breath away. "Oh wow.." I said. The halls were golden with red curtains draping from the windows, the floor was also carpeted with a bright blood red. The women within the hotel walked with designer bags and red bottoms, and the men, dashing suits with priceless watches on their wrists. As we walked into the lobby, everyone stopped at the sight of Mr. Ace. Was he some kind of VIP customer. "Mr. Ace, you didn't call.." A man in an emerald  suit with glasses and a hairless head carried a clipboard in his grasp as he walked up nervously to Mr. Ace. "This is my hotel, I shouldn't have to call in advance. Unless you have something to hide Phillip" 

      His voice was dark and filled with dominance. My jaw dropped as I learned that this was his hotel, this place was heaven and hell mixed to make a bitter sweet paradise. The man standing there, Philip stood there shaking slightly. He was sweating bullets at Mr. Ace's presence. I almost felt bad for him. I stepped out from behind Tara and Mr. Ace. "Hi, I like your suit.." Philip turned towards me and his apparent nervousness diminished. "Thank you.." I nodded at him and smiled. "Ms. Dazzle is a VIP guest-" Mr. Ace stepped up beside me and placed his hand on my upper back sending chills down my spine. I didn't know how to feel with his hand on my body, even though he wasn't touching my bare skin, it didn't feel right. I shifted uncomfortably, Mr. Ace looked away from Philip and down at me. He immediately removed his hand and shoved it into his pocket. "Ms. Dazzle and her friends will be staying in the guest suite" He cleared his throat after the awkward moment that fell upon us. Philip's smile dropped from his face, he sighed deeply and hesitated opening his mouth. "There was a bachelorette party in the guest suite, it's completely trashed-" Mr. Ace turned away from Philip tightening his jaw. Mr. Ace clenched his hand into fist causing Philip to back away. Mr. Ace turned back to Phillip opening his mouth, but I knew the look on his face and he had nothing good to say. I stepped in between Mr. Ace and Philip before things got heated. "That's quite alright. Knowing that you are a hard working man, you probably already have people cleaning the room. Until then, I'm sure that Mr. Ace won't have a problem with me staying in his room, just until the suite is presentable. Right Mr. Ace?" I looked over my shoulder up at Mr. Ace and he stared down into my eyes searching for them with his. I didn't know what he was looking for but as a grin began to creep onto his face I already regretted my actions from seconds before.

     "The room will only take a few hours to clean. Ms. Dazzle we will have your bags in Mr. Ace's penthouse in just a few moments" Tara, who was surprisingly really nice, led me and Mr. Ace to the elevator. She was the general manager of the hotel and Philip oversaw all the coming and going guests greeting them. Me and Mr. Ace stepped into the elevator, the tense silence crept up on us once again. Being in an enclosed space with him was horrid, this man has no people skills whatsoever. "You can't just treat people however you want. It wasn't Philip's fault the suite was trashed. He was doing his best" I turned to Mr. Ace who was leaning back against the elevator wall with his head up towards the ceiling, his eyes closed. He looked at peace and by the way he opened his eyes down to me, I ruined that peace. "Ms. Dazzle I advise you to not put your nose in business you know nothing about. If you get yourself involved in too many things eventually you'll anger the wrong man.." His words shook my heart. Mr. Ace looked away from me and at the elevator doors. I hated how he dismissed me without even saying a word. "Says the man who obviously is sticking his business into another woman. I would advise you not to go to bed with multiple women, eventually you'll piss off one" I retorted, it kind of felt awesome being able to snap back at this asshole. He was a pig. A sleazebag . Mr. Ace let out a small laugh, shaking his head and looking back at me. "Curious to know on why you're interested in my s*x life-" He turned to me licking his lips. Like I said before, I hated being in a tight space with him, there was no escape. There was no way in hell I was interested in that pervert's s*x life! I opened my mouth to defend myself but the elevator door opened at a bell and Mr. Ace turned away from "Like I said Ms. Dazzle, do not put your nose in business you know nothing about" and with that he swiftly walked out of the elevator leaving me angered and baffled.

      The penthouse was ginormous and gorgeous. High ceilings, floor to ceiling windows, beautiful living room set, marble floors, dashing chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, a clear staircase in the middle of the entryway leading up to a second level, a large pool on the balcony. I looked back at Mr. Ace who took a seat down in the living room. He truly lived like a king. Not wanting to stand anymore, I cleared my throat and followed Mr. Ace's steps, and down a few steps into the living room. The living room was filled with black furniture. Black couch, black rug, black coffee table. Jesus. I sat down on the leather loveseat  a few feet away from Mr. Ace who sat quietly in an armrest. "I'm going to rest, feel free to wander.." Mr. Ace leaned back against the armrest and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, once again he was bringing himself to peace with the silence. It wasn't a few seconds later his phone began to ring. He sighed as his eyes opened slowly, he got up from the armrest pulling out his phone to answer it. Now I could see why he was so tense. He hardly got any rest. On top of all the work he does, with traveling. I can tell his health was slowly declining.

      Three hours passed and I hadn't seen Mr. Ace since he had taken the phone call. Room service had my bags delivered to the penthouse. They sat at the entrance waiting to be touched. Zeke called me telling me that the flight has been delayed, he wouldn't be here for another few hours, but he'll definitely be in time to make preparations for opening night. At least this gave Philip more time to clean the guest suite but where does that leave me? I have been glued to the sofa for three hours now, I wanted to get up and explore but I didn't have the courage to. What if I find something that's supposed to be hidden? What if I anger Mr. Mr. Ace? I was in a whole new state with no one else but him. 

      As I began to create scenarios in my head Mr. Ace came dashing into the living room. "Zeke informed me about his plane" He sat back down in the armrest, I nodded slowly and sighed "Yes, but everything will be fine" I said not believing my words at all. I just wanted to be alone. I hated being in his presence. "I have some business to attend to, unfortunately I have to leave. But I did set up a trip around the city for you with Tara, so you won't sit here and create those infamous nonsensical scenarios in your head.." Mr. Ace joked, causing me to smirk lightly. At least he didn't leave me here with nothing to do. He got up from the chair and said one last thing to me "What I was going to say in the car before you rudely interrupted was, I apologize. I also apologize for losing my temper in the car. You're alone in a new place, It's my responsibility to make you feel safe and I haven't been doing a good job.." I didn't want to believe his apology was sincere, but his facial features went soft and he had a warm smile on his lips. Maybe underneath all that sadistic exterior lies a good heart. Maybe this Boston trip will change the tense relationship we have built so far. "Thank you Mr. Ace, I forgive your apology-" Before letting me finish Mr. Ace nodded at me and turned away soon exiting the penthouse. I was going to apologize for the ungodly things I have said and done to him, maybe the thought he didn't deserve an apology.

      Hanging out with Tara was more enjoyable than I anticipated. Her Bostonian accent made everything she said humorous. She didn't pronounce any of the 'r's'  in her words. She was energetic and enthusiastic, I loved it. After we had gotten ice cream we decided to go on foot to our next destination. The car did slowly linger behind us making sure we were safe. I wondered if it was Me. Ace's doing. "Ms. Dazzle really your name?" Tara slurped on her purple slushie. She had on a green off the shoulder dress that settled right on her mid thigh and strappy gold sandals. Her eyes hid behind her sunglasses but her facial expressions could still be analyzed. "No, it's just my alias. I use it to protect my identity, especially since I work at a strip club. '' I licked the vanilla ice cream off the cone, enjoying it's cool taste. "Understandable, I won't ask for your name then. I'll just call you Daz" I smirked up at her and she did the same. Tara was twenty three, majored in business when she went into college. In a lot of ways we were similar, but different in many ways.

      We walked into a high fashion clothing district. People wore expensive name brands, carried diamonds on their bodies, and had their workers trail behind them carrying their numerous shopping bags. I looked down at my sweatpants and hoodie, and my beat up sneakers made me feel inferior to their superiority. "Yes honey, I don't know who told you it would be okay to wear that trash bag of an outfit in this scorching heat" She crossed her arms over her chest, we stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. Tara eyed my body as she slurped on her slushie. I'll admit that I didn't make the best decision on my clothing choice, but this is still a cute outfit! "These are my comfy clothes!" I whined, Tara shook her head vigorously before grabbing my hand and tugged me down the street making me drop my ice cream in the process.

      "Tara, I left my wallet at the penthouse-" Tara ignored me and shoved another dress into my arms. I had at least 6 dresses in my grasps. "These dresses cost a fortune!" I hissed in a whisper as my eyes caught the price tag. Tara walked down the aisle of clothing scoffed "It's okay. You'll be my sugar baby for today.." Tara looked over her shoulder and winked at me and placed a skirt into the pile of clothes I had in my hands. I choked hearing her words. "W-What?!" I yelled, unintentionally I grabbed the attention of lingering customers who smirked at me, they rolled their eyes and continued shopping. Judgment was written all over their faces. I felt out of my element, I didn't belong here amongst these high class people. I was better off at thrift stores, Oh how much I love thrift stores. "Can I help you ladies?" A voice appeared form behind me. I turned and a man with a disgusted expression on his face eyed me up and down at my appearance. His suit was a crisp white, and his dress shoes must've been a white snake skin leather. His hair was slicked back and his face was clear from any blemishes. Tara turned around placing a red dress onto the pile of clothes I was barely carrying. "Yes, as you can see my friend here is in desperate need of a fashion cleanse" Tara put her hand on my shoulder, I narrowed my eyes at her irritably. "Yes, I can see that..-" The marshmallow man who stood in front of us nodded with wide eyes  he stepped beside me and placed a hand on my upper back "Come now  child.." I sighed deeply and the man and Tara led me to an unknown location.

      "We need something tight and sexy" I heard Tara say from the other side of the curtain. She was in the waiting room with a glass of champagne to keep her company. Mr. Sake was the marshmallow man who led me into the dressing room. He hung up all the clothes Tara picked out and decided to get more just to be safe. I stripped off my clothes and stood there in my bra and panties. I stared at my body in the reflection of the full length mirror. I was somewhat teased because of my body shape. My mother said that the girls were just jealous of my curves. My ex-boyfriend always said I had a nice bum, I didn't know if that was a compliment though or if he was just sexualizing me.

      "DAZZLE!" I turned around sharply and out my arms over my chest. Tara stood there with her jaw hanging low, she shut the curtain behind her. "You have curves! But granny panties, seriously?!" I groaned trying to shove her out of the dressing room but she wouldn't budge "Jesus Daz, do we need to make a trip to Victoria's Secret? Or any lingerie store because this is not it!" She pulled at the waistband of my panties, I slapped her hand away and rolled my eyes, whining gently "These are comfortable!" Tara scoffed with wide eyes shaking her head at me. At that moment a phone rang, and I assumed that it was hers by the way she turned around opening the curtain "No, those are a tragedy!" She stepped out of the dressing room and I forcibly pulled shut the curtain. 

      Tara spoke into the phone "Yes, we are out just shopping. I had to give your friend a bit of a makeover" I poked my head through the curtain curious on who she was speaking to. "Who is that?" I asked in a whisper. Tara waved her hand at me and turned her back to me "Sebastian she is fine, stop being so worried-" Tara giggled. Was he worried about me? I rolled my eyes at the thought of Mr. Ace being worried about anyone that wasn't him. "We'll be back in time, yes. See you, bye" Tara hung up the phone then tossed it onto a chair before turning around. "Alright! Make over time!" Tara said with a wide smile on her face, she ran into my dressing room "Noooo!" I whined. 

      After practically buying up the entire store, we shoved our shopping bags into a car that sat in front of the shop. Tara was serious about the trip to a lingerie store. I felt embarrassed, my mom never got the chance to teach me about undergarments. I imagined shopping with my mom for bras and panties, I honestly think we would've had so much fun. Tara did all the shopping for me and her. Everything she got me was in a sealed shopping bag, she ordered me not to open anything until I was alone.  Once done with shopping she took me out for one last meal before going back to the hotel, it was a fast food restaurant. Finally a place where I actually belong.

      I bit into my burger and watched Tara as she spoke "Me and Sebastian met while we studied business in college" I wondered how they met. I thought maybe he had proposed the same offer to her as he did to me. "So you two are..?" I asked, putting my burger down on the tray. Tara smirked and popped a fry into her mouth. "Friends. Best friends even, with occasional benefits. We did try being an official couple, but the distance was too much.." She slurped on her extra large soda and I nodded. The distance wouldn't have been a problem in my eyes, I don't think Mr. Ace would've been faithful. "Between New York and Massachusetts-" Tara pulled her lips away from the straw, and shook her head "Sebastian doesn't live in New York. He only comes to America for business. He was born in Italy but his parents sent him to America as a baby so he could have a good education. He stayed in America for a few weeks before traveling back-" It came as a shock to me. The way he was advertised in New York made me think he was a native. "Back to where?" I asked curious about where Mr. Ace actually lived. If this was the case I wouldn't have to worry about Mr. Ace for much longer. "Puerto Rico or Somewhere in Italy, I don't have an exact location.." Tara said. Mr. Ace could be gone and my life back to normal. I mentally celebrated at the thought.

      "We only have an hour to get ready!!" Tara said as she ran into the penthouse. She had our bags sent in before we arrived. Mr. Ace was nowhere in sight. I chased after Tara to run into a room where my bags had been settled. She already began going through bags scrambling on what she would put on me.

                                                                                                  Sebastian Ace

      "Mr. Zeke and his lady friends have settled comfortably in the guest suite. They left a few moments ago to go to the club" Philip said, I was sitting down in the lobby with my associates Pedro and Rossi. I dismissed Philip with the wave of my hand. Once gone Pedro continued our discreet conversation " 1.3 million dollars stolen from our accounts. Everything points to the Romano family, they have been getting extremely reckless stealing and killing. They shot up one of our clubs in San Juan, and we still haven't done anything" the irritability in his voice was astronomical. My head was filled with an abundance of things. I stayed silent trying to think of an effective solution, my eyes stared down at the ground. "Sebastiano-" Rossi addressed by my real name, I looked up into his eyes that were filled with worry. I rubbed my chin and let out a sigh "We don't know for sure that it was them. Your paranoia is blocking your rational thinking. We hit back at the wrong people then we have a war coming at us from both sides" I rubbed my face and stood up from the couch. I shoved my hands into my pockets and began walking around the lobby. So many scenarios, so many possibilities, so many outcomes. No solutions. No positive results. 

      "Why the hell are we going to some stupid club opening? We should be in Sicily, figuring things out" Rossi stormed up to me. His nagging voice irritated me more. Pedro soon got up from the sitting area and joined us at the bottom of the grand staircase. I just wanted some kind of peace, and f*****g five minutes of sleep without my phone interfering. "No, Sicily has been quiet for the last few months. Puerto Rico, all the action has been there. We need to be there and get to the bottom of things'' Pedro said to me. Rossi retorted to his input causing the two to fight like toddlers over the last cookie on the plate. I wanted to get away from  this, and find some kind of façade or illusion to distract from this gut wrenching reality. It was like the universe was listening to me, and granted me that one wish. The tapping of her heels first alerted me, and brought my associates to silence. Pedro and Rossi looked up and were bewitched from the sight, I turned around and I was too bewitched. Her hair was pulled back into a sleek high ponytail with no loose hairs. Her body was wrapped in a skin tight red dress that settled on her mid thigh and gold straps on her shoulders to hold the dress up. Her feet rested in high heels and golden straps wrapped around her ankles. The way her curves were illuminated in that dress was criminal. My eyes wandered up her legs which were radiating and looked silky smooth. Her lips were painted in a bright red lip, her cheeks had a hint of pink blush and shimmering highlight. She wasn't hidden underneath the makeup she wore  like last time. This time her features were enhanced and appreciated by the makeup. I was completely and utterly captivated by her beauty. Once her blue eyes met mine I felt like I was swimming in an ocean on a hot summer day, I didn't want to get out of the ocean. I wanted to drown over and over again. I pressed my lips together that were slightly parted from being stunned by her entrance. So stunned that I didn't pay any mind to Tara who stood next to her. Once she got to the bottom of the stairs I approached her. "It's nice to see you again Ms. Dazzle" She smiled at my greeting, she must not know how stunning she was. "It's nice to be back Mr. Ace" It was like she had a whole new persona. I already knew that tonight was probably going to be the last I was going to see her for a long time. My life was drowning in crime and business but tonight I wasn't going to let anyone or anything come in the way of enjoying my last time with her. Tonight she would be my distraction.