CHAPTER 2

Living in NYC wasn’t something she got used to. The tall buildings, the busy life, and the bright lights constantly failed to make her feel at home. The only thing that made her stay was the fact that she had a roof over her head and food in her stomach every night she went to sleep. When she first came to NYC a few months ago, she was almost 22 years old and struggled hard under the huge burden of college loans, her mother’s pending hospital bills even though she passed away two years ago, and her rent. Every month, a big portion of her measly salary; ironically went to the cancer hospital where her mom spent a couple of years and her college loan; whose degree was collecting dust somewhere under her bed. The amount left was divided into her rent and food. Luckily, she was living off of cheap food and the generosity of her landlord, whose wife was kind enough to send her some leftovers once a week.

The job she had was also the charitableness of her landlord who asked his friend to hire her in his coffee cafe after she lost her part-time job as a school cleaner. She was clumsy at first, breaking a few cups which, the owner luckily didn’t take away from her salary. Then, a couple of months into this job, she was approached by someone; a name from her past. A name she couldn’t put a face to, until that day. He was an older man in his forties, with leering eyes and a lecherous smile. When he introduced himself to her, she realized exactly who he was. She had heard about him; he was creepy but he never crossed the limits as far as she knew. He asked Iris if she wanted to work for him and she immediately said no. She wasn’t comfortable but he was persistent until one day, she got fired from the job and evicted from her apartment without notice. She knew it was his doing, he wanted her in his club and he was going to lengths to achieve that. Reluctantly, she accepted his offer after living on the streets for one night. He brought her an apartment; yes, bought an apartment, and paid her college tuition and her mother’s hospital bills. But he also drew a contract where she was bound to work for him for five years. The only money she got was tips from the customers in the bar.

So here she was, getting ready to take the drinks to yet another table of rowdy guys hollering at the dancer on stage. She plastered a fake flirty smile on my face and went to the table, awkwardly trying to swing her hips. She was cringing on the inside but it was part of her job, the facade. She reached the table and the guys immediately turned their attention to her, their hands itching to touch her. Even though Mr. Shaw, the bar owner was creepy but she was glad for his “no touching without permission” policy for the waitresses and the dancers. Though there were girls who had regular “customers” they were allowed to touch and maybe give a peek here and there to earn some extra cash, she was not into that life. She was fine with the dollars she was making every day; which brought enough food onto the table and she was even able to save some.

She had no idea why Shaw was so interested in keeping her. He even offered to hire her as a dancer but she refused for mainly two reasons. One, she was a horrible dancer, and two, she wasn’t confident enough to perform on stage. He still kept her as a waitress but she couldn’t understand his motive. Maybe he was feeling guilty about the past; of what happened. Nonetheless, she was surviving. After the shift, she went into the back room where she met Sasha, the most sought-after stripper in the club. She was beautiful but she admired her for something more than her beauty. It was her confidence in the way she moved on and off stage. She was one of the girls who had some special ‘clients’ but she also set her limits with them. If someone tried to cross those limits, it was usually that person’s face and her fist. She packed a powerful punch. She smiled at Iris and asked how today was. After the small talk, Iris was about to go home when Shaw called. She dreaded going to him as he made her uncomfortable.

“Yes, Mr. Shaw”, she stated upon entering his “office”.

She was about to say something when she realized that he wasn’t alone. A man was sitting in front of him, with his back turned towards me.

“Darling”, he called and she cringed, hard.

She saw the stranger stiffen upon hearing Shaw call her darling. Shaw gestured for her to further come into his office and she complied. She was standing when he told her to sit next to the stranger, on the chair. She sat without peeking to her right and kept her head low.

“This is Iris”, he told the stranger.

She felt him turn towards her but she kept looking at her lap. She wanted to look up but some kind of force was pinning her eyes down.

“Iris, this is Gray. Gray Valor. You might know him”, he told her.

Of course, she knew him, the most famous rapper in NYC, the model with a troubled past, which she didn’t know anything about except the fact that he was scarred, both physically and emotionally. People called him soulless or black-hearted because of how horrible he was to everyone around him, allegedly. She had only seen his face on TV or billboards around the city. She never had the “pleasure” of meeting him until today. She was getting uncomfortable under their stares so she looked up and saw Shaw’s disgusting smile showing his gold tooth, which he was so proud of for some reason. She immediately turned her face towards Gray and almost gasped, not at the scar on his face but because of the intense look in his eyes. His eyes looked at her almost like he was deprived of her and he couldn’t bear to look away from the fear that she might vanish.

She was so captivated by the look in his dark eyes that she didn’t realize that she had gasped out loud, and he quickly came out of the trance, looking away, almost embarrassed. She didn’t understand the reason for his “shame” until Shaw laughed.

“The first time I saw that ugly scar on his face, I almost threw up. It was nasty. I don’t understand how girls find it sexy”, he kept on babbling nonsense.

“I am not disgusted by the scar, Mr. Shaw, and I certainly don’t find it ugly”, she said, sternly; her tone immediately halting his mocking laugh.

She felt Grayson’s eyes on her but she ignored it, asking Mr. Shaw why he called her.

“Gray wanted to meet you, my darling”, he said in a way that she found revolting.

“I am not your darling”, she whispered mostly to herself but she knew both of them heard her.

“He wants to hire you Iris”, Mr. Shaw spoke after a moment of silence.

“What do you mean?”, she immediately tensed upon hearing it. Does he want to hire her as an escort or something? Why else would a famous rapper hire a bar waitress?

“He wants to hire you as a chef in his house”, Shaw spoke again.

“How does he even know that I can cook?”, she questioned, now looking right at Shaw ignoring Grayson’s intimidating presence.

“I have done my research, Iris”, Gray answered this time, sending shivers down her spine while staring into her soul.

They were staring at each other until Shaw cleared his throat, his face had a knowing but creepy smile that held secrets, to what? She had no idea. He looked as if he found some treasure. She ignored him and tried to speak up when he held his hand up, immediately stopping her.

“He has already paid me all the money I spent on you so I have no choice but to let you go. I am taking your apartment back as you will be staying under his roof from now on”, he exclaimed; this time he had a serious look on his face which held no room for discussion.

What the hell was happening? She was being sold from one owner to another. She hated Shaw but at least she knew he would never touch her or do anything inappropriate except the way he looked at every girl around him. But she had no idea how Gray Valor was. According to the media and rumors, his reputation as a playboy was widely known. He used girls every day and threw them away when he was done. Although, no girl ever complained about him being forceful, contrastingly, each of Gray’s one-night stands bragged about sleeping with him. But Iris was terrified, after losing her entire family in a span of months and struggling to make ends meet, she came to NYC with big hopes and bigger dreams which were all shattered by what she saw happening here. People like Shaw fed like leeches on poor girls like her. She admitted that he did help her but he also bound her to him until he decided to just give her away. She was still lost in her thoughts when she heard Shaw speaking to Gray, his words causing her heart to drop in her chest.

“You can have her Gray. She is yours now. I hope she’ll keep your interest and you will keep her, I mean at least for a few months." He laughed sickeningly.

With one last nod towards Shaw, Grayson stood up and stayed there waiting with a bored expression on his face. She looked at him, not knowing what to expect when he raised his eyebrows and spoke, “Do you want me to carry you?”

She immediately shook her head, standing up; having no other choice. Grayson already started walking towards the door. She took one last look at Shaw whose creepy smile held secrets and went after Grayson.

He was fast on his feet in the club like he knew every nook and corner by heart. It’s funny that Iris was working in the club for a few months and never saw him, not even once. Was he a regular before? She was lost in thought when she collided with a muscular back, Grayson’s. He had stopped suddenly and was standing there tensed. She tried to look over his shoulders and saw Luke, my only friend here, the only other person with a connection to her past. She smiled and was about to go hug him when she felt a tug on her wrist; which was now held tight by Grayson’s tattooed hand.

“We are in a hurry so excuse us”, he said to Luke and was fast on his feet while dragging her along with him and she had no choice but to go.