Corrupted Values

Chapter Five - Moving

“What’s wrong?” He asks loudly as he gently grabs my arm and spins me to face him. I look up at him and see a flash of concern in his eyes which he quickly covers up.

“My name’s Marco. What's yours?” He asks, letting go of my arm and studying my face. He looks genuinely curious. I feel my fear fizzle away under his gaze.

“Azzy.” I answer quietly. While looking up into his dark eyes, I almost get lost in them. As we stand here, I lose track of time, not knowing how long we’ve been standing like this. I look away before looking back and giving him a soft smile. I need to get inside.

“Good night.” I say as I turn and start walking back to the motel.

“Good night.” he says as I look back and smile again. I slowly find my way back to the motel. I can't stop thinking about the tall handsome stranger. Who was he? I ask myself. After getting back to my room, I look at the clock which now reads "three o'clock." I change into pyjamas and lay down in bed, immediately falling asleep as my head hits the pillow.

I'm startled awake by the loud sounds of knocking and yelling coming from the door. I tiredly get up and look at the clock "Seven thirty…" I murmur to myself. Rolling my eyes, I lazily make my way to the door, stretching my arms above my head. I open the door as another knock rings through the room.

"Finally! I thought I'd be here forever." Remi says in a dramatically annoyed voice, crossing her arms and pouting her lip.

“What happened to you?” She asks as her pout drops to a frown and worry takes over. I lightly touch my face, forgetting about the mark I must now have.

“Oh I tripped on the stairs. It’s fine.” I say with a small smile, not wanting to think about last night.

“You fell?” She says in a flat tone while crossing her arms.

“Yeah.” I answer. She lets out a breath, seeming to let it go and understand I don’t want to talk about this topic any longer.

"Hey wait, how'd you know which room I was in?" I ask, realising I never told her the room number.

"Oh, the nice man at the front desk told me. I just described what you looked like." She says, making me feel a little uneasy about him telling people my room number, but at least I won't be here another night.

"So are you ready to come home with me?" She asks, looking at me keenly.

"Can I at least change before we go?" I ask, looking down at my green watermelon print pyjamas. Remi nods before coming in and sitting on the bed while I grab clean clothes and take them to the bathroom.

"Ugh. This place is a dump. I can't believe you stayed here at all. I mean seriously, the paint on the wall is chipping off and everything is covered in dust." Remi exclaims with distaste coating her words. I pull on a white v-neck shirt over my head while listening to her complain about the room. She continues on about the room while I button up some blue jeans before brushing my teeth and tying up my hair in a bun.

"Alright, I'm done, we can go." I say walking out of the bathroom.

"Damn girl. You're hot as s**t with all those curves. I mean, seriously, god couldn't have given me some of yours?" She sarcastically asks, making us both laugh.

"Alright, come on. My cars out front." She says as she grabs two bags of clothes I bought yesterday. While I take my backpack and another bag. I leave my room key on the bed before we walk out of the room and down the rickety stairs. I feel thankful I won't have to use these old things anymore. We walk over to an older-looking blue Carolla. We put my bags in the back before we both hop in.

"So how's your morning Azzy?" She asks looking over at me.

"It was great till some crazy girl came and banged on my door at seven thirty in the morning." I say looking annoyed at her before smiling and looking out my window. We pull out and start driving to Remi’s apartment. The car jolts to the left and my hands grip the door and the dashboard.

"Whoops." Remi says, making me look at her stunned.

"Are you trying to kill us?" I ask in a loud worried voice, eyes wide.

"What do you mean? I'm a great driver." She says, looking offended, which makes me roll my eyes. This girl is crazy, I think to myself.

"I'm so excited you're gonna be living with me. We're gonna have such a fun time together." She says excitedly, instantly forgetting she was offended.

"Yeah if you don't kill us before we get there." I say making us both laugh. After a while of us driving crazily and almost hitting a car because Remi forgot where the break was. We pull into an underground parking lot.

"You're a horrible driver. You almost killed us!" I exclaim as she puts the car in park.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic. I drive like that all the time and haven't died." She says playfully rolling her eyes while I make a mental note to not let her drive with me in the car again.

"Are you coming!" She asks as she turns the car off, taking off her seatbelt, and getting out. I nod before exiting the car. We grab my bags out of the back and she locks the car. We make our way to the elevator. Once we enter, she pushes the button to her floor. Soon the doors open to the sixth floor and we make our way to door six hundred two. She walks through the door into the kitchen before she comes back and closes the door behind me. Her apartment is small but cosy. I look around a bit from where I stand. The front door walks us straight into the kitchen, a few steps further is a small living room, and behind that is a small balcony.

“I’ll show you to your room.” she says as she starts walking down the short hallway to my right with me following close behind. We pass a door on our left but it’s closed. After a couple more steps, we pass another door to my right and I quickly see it’s a bathroom. We make our way to the second door on the left and make our way in.

“This is your room!’ She states as she enthusiastically puts her arms out with my bags still in her hands. Looking around the room, it’s nothing special. It has a bed, a night stand, and a nice sized dresser.

“You can decorate it however you want.” She says as she places my bags on the bed.

“Thank you. It’s perfect.” I say genuinely happy I now have a place to stay. Even more happy that it’s not that disgusting motel. Remi exits the room, leaving me to unpack, but because I don’t have much stuff, it doesn't take me long before I’m done. After lying down a few moments, I hear a noise come from down the hall and decide to check it out. I make my way towards the kitchen to find Remi rummaging through the fridge. Just before I can say anything, she turns around and gasps, bringing her hand to her chest.

“Jesus! You scared the crap out of me!” She says, now trying to catch her breath.

“Sorry.” I say with a slight giggle, making her glare at me.

“Anyways. I talked to my boss. She said she’s alright with you working at Arise and can come in with me for your training.” She says, smiling widely.

“Really? She’s okay with you just bringing someone in without meeting me?” I ask a little shocked.

“Well, she’s a friend of the family. I grew up knowing her and she knows if I think you will do well, she trusts me. I’ve been her manager for a while now because she likes to go on trips,” Remi replies.

“Oh so you're my boss, not just my co-worker?” I ask in an assuming tone.

“Yeah I guess you could say that, but we’re friends so I’ll go easy on you.” She says with a wink, making us both laugh. After we sit and talk for a while, Remi decides we should go to a club, ignoring my protests. I take a shower before getting ready. Remi’s letting me borrow one of her dresses. It’s a pretty, blue, body-con dress, it reaches my mid thigh, and has a lace-up back that ties. Once I’m ready, I walk into Remi’s room.

She's wearing a sparkly purple two-piece dress but it's shorter than mine. We do our make-up and Remi helps me cover up my bruised jaw. Once done, we stand in front of her standing mirror in the corner of her room doing our last looks. Remi soon gets a message saying the taxi has arrived and we make our way downstairs and out the front door where our taxi is waiting. We open the door and slide in. Remi gives the driver the location and he quickly starts driving. I watch out my window, completely mesmerised by the city. It’s beautiful at night. After fifteen minutes, we come to a stop.

“Alright, we’re here. Come on.” Remi says, nudging me before getting out of the car. I nervously make my way towards the bouncer with Remi. The bouncer looks us over before allowing us access.

“Come on, let's go!” Remi says, smiling at me, and taking my hand. We walk into a huge room filled with people and loud music.

“Wanna take some shots?” Remi yells in my ear so I can hear her. I nod smiling at her. She walks off toward the bar, leaving me standing here listening to the pounding music. I slowly make my way towards the bar, looking around when a familiar face catches my eye through the dancing crowd.