Worth Saving(63)

I can’t watch anything else. It feels like Mike Tyson is in my chest using my heart as a punching bag, and all I can think is to get the f*ck out of here. So, I stand up and I start towards the stairs. Jason and Jordan get up right behind me, too confused to say anything to me.

As I reach the stairs, I hear the sound of Layla’s voice.

“Austin?” she says, her voice filled with fear and anxiety. “Oh my god. Austin, wait!”

I hear her, but I don’t give a f*ck. I don’t even turn around as I reach the steps and take them two at a time. I’m done. I’m f*cking finished—and I can’t believe it.





Layla

“Austin?” I yell, unsure if I’m trying to get his attention or if I’m asking myself if it’s really him. When I realize it really is him, my heart bursts into a panic and I lose all control of my emotions. “Oh my god. Austin, wait!”

His pace doesn’t slow down even a little bit as he makes his way to the stairs and climbs them two at a time. Jordan follows him, but Jason stops for a second, not to say anything, but to shake his head in disappointment. Then, he turns around and stomps up the stairs too.

“God dammit! Austin, wait, please!” I get up and start running for the stairs, but I feel a tug on my arm that stops me.

“Hey, what the hell is the matter with you?” Damien says when I turn around. He’s towering over me, his frame as wide as a house. “Where do you think you’re going, Layla? You’re here, you’re on the clock, and we have customers who are watching your little temper tantrum. So, get your shit together.”

I look around the room and see everyone is staring at me. The girls in the room all have the same expression on their faces. They look scared for me. They want me to conform to whatever Damien says because they hate watching him make an example of someone. I know they just want me to be careful so I don’t get hurt. But, this is different, and I’m too emotional to care.

Damien turns around and starts to walk back over to the booth, but I stop him.

“No!” I scream at the top of my lungs, so loud my throat hurts afterwards. Damien turns around and he looks pissed. Too late to go back now.

“What the f*ck did you just say to me?” he snaps, tilting his head.

“Layla, don’t,” I hear one of the girls say under her breath, but I ignore her.

“I said no,” I continue. My heart is pounding and I already feel tears starting to form. It’s not Damien I’m worried about, it’s Austin. “I’m f*cking done with this shit. I’ve been here long enough, and I may have just lost one of the best things that’s ever happened to me, and it’s all because of this place. It’s because I couldn’t tell him I worked here and did this. I was ashamed of myself because of this shit we have to do here, and I’m f*cking done.”

Damien takes a step towards me, but for the first time ever, I don’t feel any fear. I don’t care anymore.

“You think I’m gonna let you embarrass me like this, and get away with it?” he snips as he glares at me. “Who the f*ck do you think you’re talking to, bitch? This is my world you’re living in, and you’ll do whatever the f*ck I tell you to do, or I’ll be sure to make an example out of your ass. I don’t give a shit that you took time off and tried to find a dumb guy to love you—some f*cking idiot who’s too stupid to recognize that you’re a used up whore. I don’t give a f*ck. You work for me. Now, get your ass up on that stage and shake your ass like a good little girl, until I tell you to come down—until I tell you a customer has paid for you.”

“I’m not f*cking doing it, Damien!” I scream. I feel tears staring to fall down my cheeks as I stand there with every eye in the room focused on the two of us. “I said I’m done with this. I’m done.”

Everyone in the room is frozen in place. I don’t hear anything but the sound of my own pounding heart and the music blaring from upstairs. The music down here has been shut off for some reason.

“You just don’t f*cking learn, do you?” Damien says as he comes towards me. When I see his hand reach back, I don’t flinch. I don’t cower away. I close my eyes and wait for the impact of his palm, which rocks me with a resounding thud and sends me flying backwards. I land on my back and hit my head on the floor. Two girls immediately rush to my side.

“Hey man, what the f*ck?” I hear one of the customers say. “That shit’s not cool.”

“Shut the f*ck up, *. You want a f*cking problem with me, huh?” Damien barks at the guy, who responds by grabbing his partner and running towards the stairs.

Damien turns his attention back to me.

“Now, you got anything else you want to say? Or are you gonna get your ass on that stage?”

My head is throbbing, and my ears are ringing like I’m receiving a phone call in my mind, but I’m not afraid. I’m not defeated. I’m done being defeated.

I push the girl’s hands away from me, and then look up at Damien. He looks menacing, scowling and scrunching his forehead with so much effort. I can see it in him, he’s trying to scare me into submission. He wants to use fear to control me. He wants me to beg him for mercy so the other girls see it. But, I won’t give him what he wants, because I’m not the same little girl I was before. Something inside me has changed, and I’m not going to let him control me.