CHAPTER TWO:THEPROPOSAL
1460 Words
The following day, Maya tried her best to forget that Jackson Winters ever existed.
She failed miserably.
After cleaning the floor at the diner where she was working the day shift, it was still in her head how he looked at her …and not through her, nor around her, but at her as though she actually existed.
Maya discovered that she had been cleaning the same table for ten minutes when Mrs. Lena, the elderly owner, asked her whether she was alright.
"Just tired," she said, putting a smile on her face. You are working too much, sweetheart. Young ladies like you ought to be out partying and not working two jobs. Mrs. Lena did not know what exactly Maya's second job was.
Sitting in the dressing room of the Diamond Room and looking at her face, Maya was putting on her makeup before going on stage that evening. The other girls spoke all round her, about their regulars, about their weekend, about their hopes of marrying a rich man and getting out of the game.
Years ago, Maya had ceased believing in rescue.
Candy swung across into the chair beside her.
"I look like hell," she said. She was two years younger than Maya but was more experienced at dancing at twenty three.
Bad night last night? Something of that sort. Did you get a big spender in the platinum room?
Fifty thousand to dance at one time?
Spill it, girl.
Maya froze, holding her mascara wand. Nothing to spill.
Lies!Tony was smiling as though he had won the lottery.
He said the man would be back at night
He will not come back, maya said. Right then, Maya knew she was lying even as she said that. There was a promise in the voice of Jackson, in the eyes of him, but otherwise. Men of his type did not form idle threats nor idle promises.
Well, if he does not show up, send him my way "I have rent due tomorrow." Candy laughed.
Maya had completed her make up without talking. By the time she actually went on to perform her first set, she was looking up the VIP section. Empty. Good,she said. And she was not mistaken. Rich boys would play games, and they did not finish them.
Music came on, and Maya allowed herself to be absorbed in the routine. This was not risky. This has been a common place.
This was….
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to announce our star of the show, Jade. She was in the spotlight and Maya started dancing.
She saw him, however, halfway through her first song. Jackson was again in the same position as last night in another good suit, glowering at her with the same fervor.
They both looked across the busy room and Maya almost lost her footing.
He returned. As he had said. Her remaining work became blurred. Maya went into the motions, though she was concentrating on the man in the shadows. Her heart was racing when she walked off the stage after dancing to the music.
“Jade.”
Before she had gotten to the dressing room, Tony had met her.
Your boyfriend is back. Same offer. Same room.
He is not my boyfriend. He is going to be your biggest payday. Do not screw it up.
Maya donned a new robe and went to the platinum room. This time, she did not get a second thought about opening the door. Jackson was standing at the window gazing out at the city lights.
When she came in, he turned and Maya noticed that his face had worn a new aspect that evening.
A choice, maybe. Or a decision.
"You returned," she said. I said I would.
I told you this would be a mistake. “Probably.” He turned his back on the window, though he did not sit.
“Maya.”
It gave her a thrill to hear his voice say her own name. Well, what do you want, Jackson? I have a proposal to make to you. You have already made one.
Fifty thousand to dance. "It is not the same" he mused, putting his hand in his jacket and pulling out a folded piece of paper.
I have been reflecting on what you said the other day. About freedom. About choices. Maya remained motionless, picking up the paper.
What sort of offer? A business offer. One month. No strings attached. Complete discretion.
The words struck her as a blow. You would like to purchase me. I would like to purchase us a little time.
Time to do what?
The composure of Jackson showed a little. So that I can understand what to expect next. To choose something that will be mine at least once in my life. Maya gazed at him.
“Are you’re serious?.”
“Dead serious.”
And a month later? We walked out. You disappear. I return to my determined life. No interaction, no tensions.
“How much?”
The answer came out before she knew it. That much to pay off your mother's medical bills. Sufficient to begin life afresh where you please.
Maya stopped breathing. You do not know anything about my mother. I am well aware. I am aware that you are working two jobs to afford her payments. I am aware that you give every spare dollar to the hospital. I am well aware you are drowning.
God! How do you… I placed a couple of calls. The manner in which he said it was, of course, an invasion of her privacy, should have angered her. It only provoked her curiosity.
“Why?”
Because I wanted to know whether you were worth the risk.
“And?” Jackson moved nearer; his storm-gray eyes fastened on hers. You are worth it all. The heart of Maya was beating on her ribs.
This is crazy. This is risky.
"Two hundred thousand," Jackson said awkwardly. And a clean flat, a car, I don't know, everything you want. One month. The figure lay between them in the form of a promise. Or even a threat.
Maya said I am not a prostitute.
I am not asking you to be one. What are you saying, then? I am telling you to be real. To demonstrate to me what it is like to make a decision. In ways, I should remember what being human is about.
Maya stared at his face, trying to find the lie, the manipulation, the mean joke. What she got was desperate honesty.
what is my profit?
What other than money? You are doing the same thing. A choice. An escape to be somebody you do not need to be.
Maya went up to the window and looked out at the lights of the city. Somewhere, there was her apartment with a leaking faucet and a broken heater. Here there was a pile of medical bills that came in on a regular basis.
She had created a life somewhere which had been formed of need and desperation.
A month, she said without turning.
“One month.”
“No strings.”
“And after?” we both take off back to our lives. You will never see me again.
Maya turned round to him.
“You promise?”
“I promise.” Her answer should be no. All voices cried to her to walk away, to stay to dancing, to keep her walls up.
Two hundred thousand dollars would be enough to get her out of this life always.
And Jackson Winters The lost, bewildered, desperate Jackson was giving her something that she had never had before.
A choice.
"All right," she whispered. There was a change in the face of Jackson. Pain, anguish, a feeling of relief, yet somehow something perilously resembling hope.
“Okay?” “One month. I have terms though.”
“Name them.” This is how we do it our own way. My rules. When I say stop, we stop. We know that if I say no, then the response is no.
“Agreed.”
“And Jackson?” Maya stepped nearer and nearer, near enough to tell what had been in his gray eyes…slivers of gold. Hurt me, lie to me, say that you want to own me, and I will vanish. With, or without money.
Am I clear?
“Crystal.”
Maya stretched her hand. Then we are in business. Jackson put his hand in hers gently, and warm, and a little rough. It is a deal.
However, during the handshaking ceremony, Maya just could not help but feel that she had struck a bargain with the devil. Or was it that she was striking a deal with her soul?
Only time will tell which.
- Writer
