The hotel is a glittering palace of opulence, it’s towering height is visible form miles away.
Stepping through its grand crystal like doors, I’m greeted by a lobby of shimmering marble. A sparkling chandelier and plush velvet furnishing the place.
“Holy cow.” Gasping for air as excitement flares up.
"Good evening and welcome at the Four Queens, how may I be of assistance?" A friendly redhead woman greets me.
“Hi” I huff still a bit star struck, "Miss Anderson, Lilly-Ann Anderson." I gaze around taking it all in.
She starts typing. Not before long, she hands me my keys, smiles, and bids me farewell.
****
I found my room in just a few minutes, fishing the key out I unlock the door, “WOW” a luxurious suite awaits me, with a huge bed that draws me in covered with it’s fine linens and comfortable pillows. I rushed to bed and fall face-first. I take my phone out and hit the call button.
"Hey, girl, how's Vegas?" Shane asks
"Breath-taking." Overflowing with excitement, I kick off my shoes
"Do you like your room?"
"Yes, it has a huge bed and a beautiful view. Thanks a lot, I promise I'll pay you back."
"Girl don't worry about it."
"Thanks, how's Honey?"
"She's feisty, just like her mom."
I start to giggle. "Well, Thanks again, I need to go now."
"Don't just work, enjoy yourself a little."
"I will, bye."
I end the call and head for the bathroom. I will only visit his casino, maybe I can uncover something.
***
A short red dress and high open-toe heels will do the trick. Applying blood-red lipstick, highlighting my honey-brown eyes, and letting my jet black curls hang loose. I grabbed my bag and my phone as I exit the room.
Hunting down a story gives me a thrill. I cannot quite explain it, but it lights a fire in me like nothing else.
"Annie!!" A high-pitched voice calls behind me as I wait for a cab.
Glancing over my shoulder, a red hair woman jumps me from behind. "Rosemary." Her long fiery red hair complements her fair skin. Her icy blue eyes only adds to her beauty. She has a youthful vibrant energy about her and a confident infectious smile. With her captivating appearance and warm, charming personality, she radiates beauty from the inside out.
"Annie, Shane told me you'll be visiting Vegas and I was like, no way, our Annie in Vegas. I need to see it to believe it." she grins flipping her red hair back over her shoulder.
"Look at you!!" She gestured towards me, scrutinizing me. "Girl, you look drop-dead gorgeous. Where are you going?" She smiles.
"I'm going to the Eldorado casino." Rosemary is a mutual friend. She is more Shane's friend than mine, but she is cool and sweet. Just keep her away from alcohol. She cannot handle her liquor
"Sweet, mind if I tag along?" she hooks her arm into mine.
"Uh." I want to say no, but then she will just bug me with millions of questions. "Okay."
The cab pulls up next to us. “Eldorado casino please.” I slide in, Rosemary follows, smiling brightly at our poor driver, mesmerizing him with her charms. “Rose, please behave.” A soft chuckle escapes her.
“I’m just having fun.” She pouts giving me the puppy dog eyes.
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
"Anyway, how's Rayon?" She asks, trying to make small talk.
"Fine, I think, we broke up," I say, in a matter-of-fact kind of way.
"What!?" She looks at me shocked.
"Yeah." I shrug my shoulders.
"But why? You dated for what like ten years?" She frowns
"Five years and I really don't want to talk about it." I stare out the window. It’s hard dragging that kind of laundry with you, especially if you're trying to forget about it.
"I understand. Well, let's make you forget all about him tonight." She swings her arm around my neck. "Selfie" She smiles as she snaps a pic.
"Shane's going to be so jealous." She giggled hitting the send button.
****
Slot machines and poker tables spread wide and far across the hall; cigar smoke fills the air. Women dressed in short black lace dresses delivers the drinks to the people. Getting a slap on the ass from horny elderly men occasionally.
"Wow, why here?" Rosemary asks.
"Uh, Let's just look around, maybe it's a cool place." I smile and I start my investigation.
"If you say so." She crinkles her nose in disgust, as an old man winks at her. Rushing to my side she hooks in. "How long must we look?" She whispers in my ear.
"Not long."
"Good, cause grandpa over there is making a move on me." She makes a gag motion sticking her finger down her throat.
Chuckling softly at her. I walk to the bar. If I learned anything, it is that bartenders hear all and see all. "Whisky neat." I point two fingers in the air, she nods, pulls out a glass, and slides my drink my way.
"Can I get you anything else?" A brunette woman asks
"Yeah, is this an old man club or something?" I ask politely, cause this place is stack with elderly men as far as the eye can see.
"Nah, it's still early, when the old people go to bed the young ones take over. You'll see, just give it time." She smiles as she takes my money.
"Gross," Rosemary slides onto the chair next to me. "Remind me, why are we still here?" she asks, dusting off the table.
"Well, our friendly bartender over there, said this place gets hot when the grandpas go to bed," I smirk, knowing I have her now.
"Really!?" Little too excited. She shrieks and flip her hair.
"Yup" I gulp down my whisky.
A few seconds later the brunet strolls our way, “Another one?” I nod “And for you?”
Rosemary checks the bar searching for her poison. “Mmm, give me a Cosmopolitan” She nods and start mixing Rosemary’s drink. “So where is the boss man?” I ask jumping right in.
"No clue." A frown forms on her face as she hands Rose her drink.
"And these girls? Why is no one doing anything about the sexual harasment?"
Her eyes widen, her lips press together as her whole body tense as a sense of fear shows in her posture. She scans the room before answering me, leaning in closer. "Are you a reporter or a detective?"
"None, just weird that nobody is doing anything." I laugh it off shaking my head.
She smirks. "Good, to be honest, I don't know why nobody steps up for this poor girls. Last week we had an incident with one of our girl's. An old man got too handy with her, and later that night the manager calls her in. She is not working here anymore. No one knows what happened to her. A few weeks back the same story, but as one leaves, she gets replaced immediately." she swings her cloth over her shoulder. "You didn't hear it from me." She spun around and walks down the bar to the other customers.
Well, this is interesting, my eyes scans the room and lands on the police officer from the airport sitting at one of the tables. Shit, I grab my bag and pull Rosemary out of the chair. "We're leaving," I command
"Why?" She asks confused
"Because I'm bored, let's rather go dancing."
"Yeah!" She yelps as she sprints to the door.
This is not the only place own by Lenkov, he has a nightclub or two as well. Wonder, what the stories are there and if it is the same. The staff is being treated poorly and as I can tell from what I seen and heard his not doing anything about it. If you dare speak up you get fired.
With suspicion rising and my curiosity clawing at me like a fierce cat, we hit the nightclubs owned by Lenkov. There is only three that I know of, Dragonfly, Club Cabana and The Red Ruby. I found nothing at Dragonfly or Club Cabana, but The Red Ruby is different from the other two, it’s more ‘fancy’, it’s a true spectacle to behold. The blazing neon lights of the club draw a never-ending stream of revelers to its door. The grand entrance of the place has a red carpet leading to the door and velvet ropes cordoning off the line of people waiting to get in. The doormen, dressed in a crisp black suits, stood guard like sentinels, checking IDs and maintaining order with practiced ease."Let's call it a night I don't think we'll be able to get in tonight." I let out a long sigh. Knowing this is the place I need to get into.Rosemary lets out a long tiresome yawn, "Yeah, we should come back tomorrow.""Okay, I'll call you, see you tomorrow then.” I call for a cab,"Okay, bye." She waves as
Just a short back story of Lilly-Ann and Rayon. They say you never forget your first. In Lilly-Ann's case, she wishes she could forget about him.They met in college. She fell head over heels for the charming eye candy. He promised her the moon, just to get another mark on his wall of sex. He was kind and caring, everything a girl wants, but on the same night he proposed, he hopped into the bed with Clara, Lilly-Ann's younger sister. Saying it was the stress of work and the planning of their wedding. With a broken her heart and a shatterd soul, Lilly-Ann broke the engagement. Unfortunately, he won't just disappear seeing him at work hurts like hell, she acknowledge the feelings she still has feelings for Rayon. He ignites a fire in her, like no other man can, they have a history, that won't just go away.***With only two days left, and only one lead. I grab my phone and hit the call button. I need some inspiration or just some advice."Hey, Shane.""Lilly-Ann, enjoying Vegas?""Yeah
The tiny piece of material is spread out on my bed. I am sitting on the chair ogling it with only my bathrobe on. My phone buzzes, it is Rayon calling. "Hello.""Hey, are you done yet?" "I can't wear this," I exclaim, nervously biting my nails "Ann, if you want the story, that's the only way in." I can hear him smirking on the other end of the phone. “Do you need me to help you get dressed?" He asks flirtatiously."No!!" I yell and jump out of the chair. "Okay then, you have thirty minutes before I come up there and dress you myself." He ends the call. I pull off my bath rope and let it drop to the floor as I glare at my new stripper uniform just. It is a mission to get into my disguise but I manage to pull it on after plundering onto the bed and yanking it. I slip on the black pantyhose and the heels that came with the dress. I ruffle my hair a bit and put on some makeup. Well, if I am doing this I might as well go all in. I glance at the mirror, if my mom saw me now, she would m
As we walk into the dimly lit backstage area, the air is thick with the smell of hairspray and perfume. In the corner, a group of women huddle around a mirror, each applying their own makeup with deft strokes. Some are smudging on thick black eyeliner, while others focus on layering red lipstick.A woman in a glittering costume is bent over, lacing up her boots. Her fingers move quickly as she expertly looping and tying the strings. She looks up briefly, catching my eye with a knowing smile before returning her attention to the task at hand."My stage name is Candy. My real name is Florence." She smiles holding out a hand for me to take."Lilly-Ann, nice to meet you." I return her smile and add. “Tell me about Lorenzo?""Oh, well, his a mystery. All I know is that he owns this place." "No last name?" I ask, she just pulls her shoulders up. "Who cares about last names, his hot." She smirks elbowing me in my ribs.I cannot disagree with that, but why would Rayon think his auctioning wo
I can not sleep. My mind keeps on replaying the events of tonight. It was a night filled with excitement and plenty of firsts for me, but something just doesn’t add up. Why would Lorenzo own a place, Rayon thinks is use to sell girls? Well, by the looks of the place and all the women there I would have thought so too, but then there is something Candy said that tells me otherwise.It is 3 am and still no shuteye. "Jeez!" I throw the blanket to the floor and make my way to my laptop.Googling the one and only Lorenzo. There is not a lot about him, just that his a nightclub owner and CEO of Green Seed Agro, GSA for short. No siblings and no kids. There is tons of business photos of him, shaking hands with big CEO of very wealthy and well known companies. Photos of his latest project, save the planet, seem to pull a lot of attention.I grab my notepad and jot down all the clubs he owns, Maybe I should pay them a visit as well,for research purposes only.A nice long shower is all I need
I wish it was different between me and Rayon. My addiction, sad but true, I will never be able to tell him no and he knows it. This is why I am afraid of tonight. Stepping into new territories with him, the friend zone, or colleagues. I just need to play it safe and choose my outfit carefully.My small frame is accentuated by a pair of fitted jeans, which is hugging my curves in all the right places. To offset the casual look of my denim, I decide on a blouse that is as feminine as it is soft. The fabric flows around me, draping me in a gentle embrace, while the delicate lace accents the trimmed sleeves and neckline to add a touch of sophisticated charm. Happy with my choice, I stroll to the elevator, when my phone buzz."Hi, I'm on my way down."Okay, I'll wait for you then." Rayon ends the call.Checking myself in the elevator mirror before I exit. Get it together Lilly-Ann, this is NOT a date.Rayon stands at the door with his hands in his jean pocket, freshly shaved, and dressed i
Rosemary is waiting at the door for us as the car comes to a stop. I am frozen in my seat. "Rayon," I whisper shaking my head and trying to fathom what he just said. "I just wanted you to know, I'm not expecting an answer or anything from you, Ann." He smiles, leaning closer to me, and placing a kiss on my cheek. “I’m not giving up on us.” He whisper before sliding out of the car. "Now, let's go enjoy ourselves." Opening my door for me and holding his arm for me to take, I hook in, as we walk to the door like nothing happened. "Annie!" Rosemary yells, waving us over, but frowns when she notices that I am on the arm of my ex. She glares at me and shakes her head disapproving. "Hi, Rose." He grins, and she gives him a once-off look before spinning on her heels. "Follow me." She pouts, handing me a VIP pass. "I don't think she likes me." Rayon whispers in my ear. "Yeah, I got the same message." I give him an apologetic smile as we enter the club. The pulsing bass of the music thunder
I crawl onto my bed and kicking off my shoes. I pull myself in a small ball on the bed. My heart feels as empty as this apartment, surrounded by the remnants of my shattered heart. Tears streams down my cheeks, leaving behind a trail of heartache and despair. I grab my phone and dial Shane. I need him to shout at me."Hey, girl."I fight back the tears as Shane picks up. "Shane.""What happened? Did that mother fucker do something to hurt you. I'll kill him, I swear.""No, no. Well, he didn't hurt me.""Ann, what are you saying?""I don't know, Shane I'm so confuse.""When are you coming home?""Tomorrow, my flight is at 9am""Good, that's good, you need to stay away from him, Ann."I let out a soft giggle, Shane can be so overprotective. "I love you. Shane."I love you too, See you tomorrow.""Yeah, see you then." I end the call, staring at the ceiling as my phone drops to the floor. I know when I get home Shane will be ready with a long lecture, which I’m in need of.*****Packed an