“I’m sorry everyone, but I have work very early in the morning and must be going. Thank you for the meal, Father. Good-bye, Mother.” She all but ran from the table to the door. Once outside in the fresh air, she took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She kindly refused the valet when he offered to get her a cab, and walked down the sidewalk a few feet when a hand landed on her shoulder. She spun around to see Anthony standing there, creepy smile and all.
Before she had a chance to say anything, let alone move away from him, he spoke. “Sarah, I wanted to thank you for the pleasure of your company tonight. I couldn’t help overhear that you enjoyed the theater while you were talking to your sister. I would be honored to take you there tomorrow evening,”
She felt her stomach churn and felt vomit rise up her throat into her mouth. She found him that revolting.
“I’m sorry but I have work tomorrow,” she replied, a little icy to give the hint that she wasn’t interested. She looked out onto the road and prayed for a cab to come by.
“How about Monday night?” he asked, coming to stand in front of her.
“I’m at work, I work most nights and don’t know when I’m off next. How about I call you when I’m free?” she asked, praying that her offer would work and he would back off. She had no intention of ever calling him.
“That would be great.” He smiled, but she wasn’t paying attention. Instead she practically threw herself into the middle of the road to wave down the passing cab. She opened the back door, put her first foot inside and turned around to smile her agreement. Just as she was closing the door, a hand grabbed hold of it and pulled it back open. Anthony was there, leaning so far in Sarah drew her head back as far as she could to try and get away. He brought the hand that wasn’t holding the door into view and Sarah thought he was going to touch her face. As panic was about to set in, he turned his hand and produced a business card.
“Here, you can’t call without my number. I look forward to hearing from you,” he said, but very aggressively. He pulled out of the cab after dropping the card into her hand and walked away. The way he had said the last part almost sounded like a threat. Sarah found herself a little afraid.
Once she got home and locked the door, she jumped into the shower, hoping to wash the evening and any thought of Anthony Delargo off her. She didn’t understand where all these feelings about him were coming from. For all she knew, he could be a very standup guy with not so much a scratch on his record, but an hour later, she couldn’t help herself and started up her laptop. She typed his name into Google. The results came in the thousands. After an hour of reading the various newspaper and online articles on him, she almost lost her meal down the toilet. Anthony Delargo was proclaimed by the papers as the leader of the Michigan mob. He had been arrested a number of times relating to numerous crimes. One of the most recent was his alleged involvement in the murder of a thirty-three-year-old known drug dealer. In all his arrests, however, there was never enough evidence to get him charged. The list of crimes he was thought to be involved in ranged from murder, drug dealing, arms dealing, and even human trafficking. There were also a large number of females claiming he had raped them. But again, all charges were dropped soon after his arrest. One article even suggested that he had connections in the police department, thus the reason for his never being brought in front of a judge.
Sarah slammed her laptop shut in disgust. That evil man had put his hands on her. Did her father know what kind of man he was doing business with? Who was she kidding, of course he would. He would know everything about him. What was going on and what did it have to do with her? She hoped her father wasn’t planning on the two dating. She almost vomited again at the thought. He was a cruel man but surely he didn’t want her having to do with such a man. Did he?
Sarah spent a restless night tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep. She was thinking about the dinner and the potential murderer sitting there staring at her and wondering what her father was up to doing business with him. Because of the sleepless night, she was cranky and agitated all day while cleaning up after rich snobs. She lost count of the amount of times she had to bite her tongue at someone who complained she hadn’t done a good enough job. As she finally clocked out, her cell started ringing. Looking at the screen, she saw it was Tom Malloy, her boss from the bar. “Hi, Tom, what’s up?” She had a feeling she knew what was coming and despite being tired and cranky, she wasn’t sure if she could refuse him.
“Hey, Sarah, you okay? I was wondering if I could ask a favor. Betty’s having a bad day and I can’t leave her alone for too long, but Lisa isn’t finished working for another two hours and I’m meant to be taking over for Brent behind the bar. Is there any way you could come in early for me? I’ll pay you time and a half.”
Sarah replied before she even had a chance to change her mind. “Of course I will, Tom, it’s no problem at all and forget about the time and half pay. I know what you are going through at the moment. If there is anything you need me to do, all you have to do is ask. I’ve just finished at the apartments so I’ll just go home and get changed and then make my way over to the bar. Tell Betty I said hi and give her a hug from me.”
Betty, Tom’s wife, was one of the nicest women Sarah had ever met. She was everything Sarah imagined a real mom would be. Everyone who knew the woman was upset four weeks ago when she fell down the stairs at home and broke her hip badly. Sarah tried to see her when she could, but between two jobs it was hard.
“Thanks so much, Sarah, I really appreciate it. I’ll make it up to you when I do the next work shift,” Tom said. He tried to laugh, said good-bye and then hung up.
Sarah rushed around her apartment trying to find a clean uniform for the bar, a red tank top with Malloy’s in white letters across the breast area and plain black trousers or shorts. Being as big chested as she was, the letters stretched a little, enough to draw the eye, and she believed this was the reason she received as many tips as she did. Just as she had stripped out of her cleaning uniform of an ugly brown dress with an attached apron, there was a knock at her door. Cursing at the interruption, she grabbed her robe and went to the door. When she opened it, she was greeted by the biggest bunch of flowers she had ever seen. The spectacular display was being held by a young man who looked like he was bored out of his mind.
“Miss Sarah Hadley?” he asked, looking at her.
When she nodded her head, he not-so-kindly pushed the flowers into her hand and walked off down the corridor. Who would be sending me flowers? She placed them on the kitchen counter and admired them. They were beautiful. A mixture of pink, white, and a deep red. Roses and lilies were her guess but she didn’t know for sure. She didn’t own a vase so decided to put them in the sink with water for now. Just as she was turning away to dress for work, she noticed a card hidden among them. Pulling it out, she looked at the name of the sender before the message. Her stomach dropped to the floor and ice ran through her veins as she read Anthony’s name.
My dearest Sarah,
I do hope you like the flowers, they remind me of you, bright and beautiful.
I will again thank you for dinner last night. I enjoyed your company indeed.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you to arrange our next date, which will be the start of many, I hope.
Anthony x
She dropped the card to the floor, frozen to the spot. How does he know where I live?
At first, she guessed her father, but then dismissed that from her mind. He was the leader of the mob. He could find anyone he wanted. And do anything he wanted if the stories she read about him were true, which she believed they were. Unsure what to do about the card, she left it where it lay on the floor and went back to her bedroom. She would think of something while at work.
At quarter to midnight, Sarah walked back into her apartment and switched on the light, double checking she had locked the door and the chain was in place. Too tired to get something to eat, she made her way to her bedroom, stripp
ing as she walked. Rummaging in her drawer she pulled out her favorite sleeping T-shirt she got years ago from a rock concert she and Mia went to. Just as she closed the drawer she stopped and re-opened it. She was sure there was less in there than this morning when she got her underwear out. Looking back through, she found her lace, lilac-colored panties that she placed there were gone. She noticed these were missing because they were her favorite pair. Being as tired as she was, she closed the drawer and guessed she hadn’t put them away. She put her T-shirt on and climbed into bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.
The next morning, after her shower, she opened her underwear drawer, remembering the missing panties. After a good look through all her drawers, she discovered three pairs missing. All her sexiest pairs. What the fuck! Now she was getting scared. Walking to her closet, she had a quick look. It wasn’t until she went to close the door that she noticed a pair of her heels were missing as well. They were her best “fuck me” shoes, black leather with a six-inch heel and two-inch platform under the toes. She turned from the closet and walked to the middle of her bedroom. She didn’t know what to do. Just as she was thinking of ringing Mia, hoping she would know what she should do, her cell rang. It was the manager of the cleaning staff of The Golden Tower, the apartment complex where she worked. Wondering why Margret would be ringing she walked over to her phone, noticing the time on the clock as she passed. “Shit I’m so late.” Grabbing her phone, she flicked it on to silent and ran out the room. She picked her purse up off the table and ran out the door, praying she wasn’t in too much trouble for being late. When she made it to work, she managed to avoid Margret but could barley concentrate on her work. All she could think about was Anthony knowing where she lived. Thankfully it was her night off from the bar. As Sarah made her way home, she thought about the missing underwear and shoes. She hoped Mia had borrowed the shoes and the panties were still in the hamper waiting to be washed. When she closed the door to her apartment, she again checked the lock and put the chain on. Looking around her small one-bedroom apartment, she told herself she would clean up tomorrow. She walked to the kitchen, which was separated from the living room by a half-wall. Sarah noticed the flowers. She didn’t think, just picked them up, walked over to her window, and threw them out. “Fuck him,” she said to herself, and slammed the window shut. As she turned around, she noticed something on the coffee table. Walking over, she started shaking in fear before she reached the box of chocolates sitting there, looking innocent. The little card on top had one line written in the same handwriting as the flowers and simply said,
Enjoy. I’m still looking forward to your call X
Getting angrier and more upset, Sarah sent the chocolates out the window after the flowers. That’s when it hit her that he had been in her apartment. Her home. She knew then that Mia hadn’t borrowed the shoes and her panties weren’t waiting to be cleaned. It had only been a few days since their dinner, and the man was taking things too far already. Does he really think doing this will get him a date? Enough was enough. This was getting out of hand. Didn’t he get the message that she wasn’t interested? She thought about calling him and telling him where to go, but didn’t have the guts. Besides, she knew ringing him would only encourage him. The only other thing she could think to do was talk to her father.
After trying his cell and getting voicemail, she tried his office, hoping he was still there. She was informed by a very rude secretary that Mr. Hadley was very busy and couldn’t be disturbed. He was in a meeting for most of the evening and it would be best to leave a message or call back tomorrow. “Stuck up cow,” Sarah muttered after she hung up. She couldn’t wait until tomorrow. She needed to talk to him now. Taking a risk, she grabbed her coat, purse, and keys and ran out the door, flagging down the first taxi she saw. As it pulled up in front of her father’s office building, a number of butterflies had taken up residence in her stomach and were doing a little dance that was getting on her nerves.
Thankfully she remembered the floor that housed her father’s private office and the conference room that held his meetings. Entering the elevator, she pushed the button for the twenty-first floor and thought about what to say. As she stepped off the elevator, she was greeted by a cold-faced woman in her fifties, With mostly gray hair pulled tight into a bun and makeup not matching the ugly mustard-colored suit jacket she was wearing. Making her way to the desk the woman was sitting behind, Sarah cleared her throat to get the woman’s attention. As she guessed, she was ignored until it suited the old bag to look up and raise a thinning eyebrow at her. “Hi, I’m Sarah Hadley, I’m here to see my father and it’s very important. Could you please let him know that I’m here?”
“You must be the woman who phoned not so long ago,” she said, the raspiness of the woman’s voice more evident than on the phone. It sounded like she smoked forty cigarettes a day. “As I told you on the phone, Miss Hadley, your father is very busy and is not to be disturbed.”
Sarah was starting to get really pissed off. The woman was looking at her like a piece of dirt on her shoe. Who the hell does she think she is! Sarah searched through her memories for the direction of the conference room. When she found it, she gave the most polite smile she could manage to the old bat and said, “Okay then, can you please tell me the next time he has an available appointment that I can have?”
The old bat looked at her again with a raised eyebrow but did as Sarah hoped, she lowered her head back down to her computer. Sarah moved quickly. She grabbed her purse off the counter and ran down the corridor to her left, ignoring the old bat’s shouts to stop. When she got to the door, she didn’t bother knocking, just opened it and barged in.
“Sarah?” her father asked, standing from the twenty-seat, cherry-wood table.
“I need to talk to you. Now!” Sarah said, looking at him with a face that made no mistake she was serious. His shock at seeing her turned to anger.
“Will,” he said, turning to address the only other person in the room, a balding man around sixty years old who seemed too large to fit in the leather chairs surrounding the tables. He seemed confused at what was going on, but still managed to give Sarah a look that said he would be happy to find her naked above him. “I’m so sorry about this. Seeing as we were just about to have a break, please help yourself to the refreshments at the back of the room. I’ll just pop into my office and deal with this. Please dial zero on the phone to get Doris if you need anything else. I will only be a few minutes.”
Her father walked over to her and grabbed her arm, almost dragging her from the room. As they made it to his office, the old bat from reception came running along, breathing heavily. Her father cut the woman off before she could speak. “It’s okay, Doris, I will deal with her. Please make sure Mr. Lampson has everything he needs.” Once he closed the door and they were alone, he turned to Sarah. “What the hell do you think you are doing? Barging in here interrupting my meeting like that?”
“I’m sorry, Dad, but this is really important. What business deal are you doing with Anthony Delargo and what the fuck has it got to do with me?”
“Do not take that tone with me, young lady. I am your father.”
“You haven’t been my father for five years. You would rather put me on the streets than see me happy, doing what I want. Look, we both know that we don’t have much to do with each other, but something is going on and I’m starting to get worried. Anthony followed me out of the restaurant after dinner and asked me out again. I told him I couldn’t and gave a hint that I wasn’t interested. But he gave me his number and basically ordered me to call him. I looked him up on the Internet that night and found he was connected to so many horrible crimes including murder. I was nearly sick.”
As she paused for breath, she noticed her father’s expression hadn’t changed. So he does know all about Anthony! He was about to say something but she cut him off quickly. “Somehow he found out where I live and sent flowers. Then I noticed some of my underwear had gone missing,
and a pair of shoes. The final straw was earlier today when I found a box of chocolates on my coffee table. He has been in my home, Dad, my home. You brought him into my life and now I want to know why.”
She expected her father to dismiss what she had said and send her on her way. She was ready to fight him, but instead he exhaled loudly and moved to sit down in the big leather chair behind his desk before talking.
“The company is in trouble, Sarah. We need big investments so we can get back on our feet. Anthony has the money to help. As for you?”
He paused for a moment. To Sarah, he looked like he was deciding what to say. What seemed like hours later, he exhaled loudly and continued.
“He saw a photo of you one night while having dinner with your mother and me. He took quite a fancy to you. A few days later, he called me and said he would invest all the money I needed under one condition. He wants you, Sarah.” He again paused. His expression changed after a moment, and he became the cold, hard man that she knew all too well. “And I agreed. You have spent long enough wasting your life in that filthy bar, serving people who are beneath you. I have let you do this for far too long. It is time to get your act together and do something useful toward this family. Anthony wants you, and you will go to him willingly. You’re lucky he even looked twice at you. He is a good man and will make an excellent husband. He could have any woman he wants and for some reason he picked you.”
Sarah’s mouth dropped open and she wondered how it hadn’t hit the floor.
“I hope I have made myself very clear. Your life of living and working like a commoner is over. It’s time to step up, Sarah.”
Sarah stood there, unable to process what her father was saying. Her shock quickly turned to anger and disbelief as his words sank in. “What the fuck!” she shouted. “You’re whoring your daughter off to a murderer? I don’t fucking think so, asshole. Who the hell do you think you are? You kicked me out of the family, and think I’m going to come back and open my legs for a mob boss so he invests in your company? I knew you were a cruel man, but this, this is sick. You can tell Anthony that there is no way in hell I would ever touch him let alone date him and I would rather die than sleep with him. I honestly cannot believe I’m hearing this. Do you even understand what you are saying? How could you even think that?”