“ID?” One of the bouncers asked, stepping between Ed and the door.

Ed rummaged through his internal pockets for his ID, but the other bouncer stepped in before he could take it out.

“You’re fine Ed, no need to show it.” He nudged the other bouncer to the side. “Got another job today?” He asked Ed.

“Yeah.” Ed relaxed, taking his hands out of his jacket. “But the listing’s very vague. I’ve got no clue what’s going on.”

“Then today’s your lucky day.” The bouncer patted him on the shoulder. “Man the door Jim, I’ll be right back.” The bouncer took Ed inside, leaving Jim to man the door alone in confusion.

“What are you talking about?” Ed asked while following him inside. The sound of frenetic techno music filled the air, causing him to have to shout to be heard. The energy in the club made him feel alive, even with so few people inside.

“You hit it rich this time kid! I overheard that the boss was putting up a job. I think you’ve got it!” The bouncer said, pushing through the crowd and dragging Ed with him.

“Why would he do that? Surely he’s got his own guys to do stuff for him.”

“I don’t know, maybe he didn’t want to lose any of his guys.” The bouncer joked. Dragging Ed to the bar, he noticed the concern in his eyes. “Look kid. This job isn’t gonna be easy, but I know you’ve got what it takes. You wouldn’t have been able to accept the task if you weren’t good enough for it.”

“But what if I’m not good enough?” Ed asked.

“Well, then you won’t have to worry about tomorrow at least.” He joked. “Just relax kid, you’ll do fine. Wait here and I’ll get someone to send you through.” The bouncer walked away and exited through a door in the back, leaving Ed alone at the bar.

It can’t be that bad, right? I mean, I knew it was going to be risky... Maybe I should just go. Worst case scenario I just won’t show up here again. Ed stopped to look at the time to notice that an entire hour had passed. No. I’ve got to do this. This may be my only chance to make the money I need. And dying is way better than losing my dignity.

Ed shuddered at the thought of what Mr Dimarco might do to him if he didn’t pay up. Having been around him multiple times over the past few years since he turned eighteen, he was now more than aware of the lecherous looks Dimarco gave him, and how similar they were to what he gave his servants.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Man, I need a drink. Sighing at his own misfortune, he turned to the bartender only to be stunned when he saw a familiar face. One that had frankly made quite the impression on him only earlier that very day.

What is she doing here? The two stared at each other in stunned silence as people continued to dance behind him.

“...HELLO!” A young woman yelled, finally snapping Zara out of her daze. “Finally. It shouldn’t be this difficult to get a drink around here.” The woman grumbled.

Zara walked off to sort out the situation with the woman, leaving Ed on his own.

Is she following me? Why else would she be here? Paranoid, he completely ignored how illogical it would be for her to find out he was coming here, and to get hired and start working, all within the hour it took for him to get here.

He felt a gnawing sense of familiarity when he looked at her, which only made him more paranoid. Has she been following me the entire time? He searched back through his memory of the entire day, searching for any trace of her.

Of course, this was completely unnecessary, as he found nothing. But it didn’t stop him from looking. And it didn’t dissuade his paranoia. He stared at Zara while she was serving the other woman.

~

Why is he staring at me? While Zara was serving the woman her drink, she couldn’t help but glance at Ed several times, only to see him staring at her. Did he follow me here? What a creep. Now a little scared and worried, she didn’t want to go back to serving him, just in case he did something. But she knew she didn’t have much choice.

She gave the woman her drink, and was once again left alone with Ed. The two continued to stand there in silence for a while, completely opposed to the frenetic loudness of the club. As if they were in their own little world.

Should I say something? This is way too awkward. Do I just pretend this is my first time seeing him? No, he wouldn’t buy that. This has been way too awkward. She looked around the room, finding solace in the nearby security guards. I’m safe here. I should just be honest and ask.

“Have you been following me?” Ed asked before Zara could, stunning her.

What? Zara tried to rack her brain around his question, but just couldn’t. She stared at him incredulously before finally spluttering out, “No.” She reigned her thoughts back in and calmed herself down before she continued talking. “What makes you think that?”

Ed remained alert, her answer not dispelling his worries in the slightest. “Because I’ve seen you twice today and you feel familiar. A rich person like you shouldn’t feel familiar to me, so you must be following me.”

Zara tensed up. She was no longer worried that this man was following her, but she was scared of what his paranoia could possibly make him do. “It’s just a coincidence that we’ve seen each other twice. That is not a good enough reason to think I’m following you. And maybe I feel familiar because our first meeting left quite an impression. I know I’m going to remember it for a while.” She reasoned, hoping to calm him down.

She could see the tension slightly leave his body, and so she continued to reason with him.