One Wild Night

Chapter 178 – Suitable Punishment

"So?" Brandy asked when she opened the door to the dressing room and saw Candy who was humming a tune as she sat in front of the mirror dressing up for the evening. 

Brandy was fond of starting conversations with such weird questions, so Candy wasn't surprised by it. Instead, she asked the only question she knew that Brandy expected from her, "So what?" Candy asked as she touched up the red lipstick on her lips and then adjusted the orange afro wig on her head. 

Brandy walked further into the room and sat down beside Candy. She had just finished her first performance for the evening and wanted to have a word with Candy who was alone in the dressing room, "Have you heard from him since Sunday?" Brandy asked as she eyed Candy with interest.

"Heard from who?" Candy asked even though she knew who her sister was referring to. The only guy they had seen on Sunday was Matt who had come to her house uninvited. 

Brandy smiled since she knew that Candy was trying to frustrate her with her pretense not to know who she was talking about so that she would get frustrated and give up questioning her, "It's not going to work, Candace. Have you heard from Matt since he left the house?" 

"Am I supposed to hear from him after I clearly asked him to stay away from me? I told him that I'm not interested in him and I don't want any sort of relationship with him, remember?" Candy asked with a stubborn lift of her brow as she fished inside her makeup bag for her false lashes and started to fix them on.

"So are you going to tell me that you don't miss him? You don't miss the chats and phone calls you used to exchange with him?" Brandy asked, and Candy turned to look at her in irritation, "Don't even deny it, I've caught you staring at your phone several times like you're expecting a call or text from him,"

"You still don't get it, do you? This has nothing to do with me missing him. I may like him as you believe, but I have to put Jamal's safety before my emotions. If any of you-know-who's men find out where we are…"

"It has been two years already since he went to jail. I'm sure his boys must have forgotten about us, and have stopped searching for you by now. How much longer do you intend to hide? You've put your life on hold long enough because of something we both know you needed to do for us to be free!" Brandy pointed out, and Candy shook her head. 

"We both know him. He takes betrayal to heart, and he never lets go of a grudge. He is never going to forgive me for testifying against him, and he is going to want to have his revenge and take Jamal away from me," Candy said with worried eyes, as she thought about the crazy man she had been involved with in the past.

It had taken all of her courage to approach the lawyer in charge of the case with evidence of most of the shady deals that could keep him in prison for the rest of his life. She hadn't wanted to kill him… Or maybe she had wanted to do so but she had been too scared to do it. Hence she had taken the only other option she knew how to get rid of him, and that was by sending him away to jail. 

"Did he honestly expect any of us to be loyal to him? After everything he did to you? After the way he treated us? After the verbal and emotional abuse we passed through in his hands? That bastard should have seen it coming from the start!" Brandy spat out angrily, as her blood boiled in anger when she remembered how Jero had constantly insulted and abused them. How he would sometimes force her to go out with his boss and other men while he kept the money. How he emptied hers and Candace's savings without their knowledge and used it for God knows what.

"Get a grip on yourself, Andy. That's not the point. I'm just saying I can't get involved with Matt, so quit asking me about him," Candy pleaded, lowering her voice when the door opened and a stripper walked in. 

"And I'm saying, who else to protect you rather than someone as wealthy as he is? Someone who has got the fame? Besides, I think Jamal is old enough to know what his mother and aunty do for a living. We are not whores. We are exotic dancers, and it is a legal profession! We need to explain what we do to him now that we can, that way he won't be confused or embarrassed when he hears about it elsewhere," Brandy insisted stubbornly, and Candy sighed. 

"Fine. I'm going to think about it," Candy said and Brandy shook her head. 

"There is nothing to think about…"

"What do you expect me to do? Call Matt and tell him that I've changed my mind?" Candy snapped at Brandy who wasn't willing to drop the subject.

"Well, for starters you don't have to call him. You could just walk over to VVIP room 5, and grant him an audience. He is waiting for you," Brandy said with a wink and grinned when Candace's eyes widened slightly.

"He is here?" She asked, glancing at the door in alarm. 

"Yep. So don't keep him waiting for too long. You can keep your relationship a secret all you want, but just don't push him away. You deserve to be happy," Brandy said, taking Candy's hand in her own and squeezing it softly.

Candy felt butterflies flutter in her stomach as she stood up, "Why didn't you just say he was here from the start?" She asked Brandy with a scowl.

"Because I was trying to get you mentally ready to meet him. I'm more like a forerunner," Brandy said with a wink as she picked up Candy's makeup bag and got busy with powdering up her face. 

"See you later," Candy said as she glanced at her appearance in the mirror once again before walking out of the room nervously while her heart kept beating very fast. 

Once she got to the door of the room where Matt was waiting for her, she adjusted the strap of the black lace teddy she was wearing, and then took in a deep breath before pushing the door open.

As it was the last time, the room was dark save for the spotlight which was on both the right and left sides of the room. She shut the door behind her and remained standing there while thinking about whether or not to follow Brandy's advice. If she was going to get involved with Matt as she wanted to, then she had to let him know who she was and what he was getting himself involved in. 

"Hi!" Matt greeted from where he was seated nursing a glass of wine. He had thought he was going to be able to stay away from her for a long period, but he had been in a foul mood for the past couple of days since he last saw her, and somehow he had found himself here once again waiting for her. He just wanted to see her. 

"I was told you asked for me," Candy asked cautiously as she didn't want to be ahead of herself.

"Yes, I did."

"Why? Are you here for my dance performance or do you want us to talk?" Candy asked in a less guarded tone this time.

"It depends on what you want. I'm fine with whichever you choose as long as I can see you," Matt said, and Candy gave him a nod as she walked over to where the music was and turned on the player. 

Matt sat up, expecting her to dance, but instead, she walked directly to where he was and straddled his thighs, "Let's talk."

               *********

Lucy lay on her bed thinking about Tom and everything both he and Sonia had said. She suddenly burst into a peal of uncontrollable laughter when she recalled that just earlier that morning she had lied to her parents that she was dating her boss. She laughed so hard that tears started falling from her eyes.

Who would have thought that she was actually saying the truth? Her subconscious had probably picked up on the resemblance between them while she was being too slow to make the connection. She should have known that something was up when she started feeling so comfortable in her boss's presence. 

Now she didn't know how she was supposed to feel. On one hand, she was thankful that he had opened up to her about the truth, while on the other hand, she felt sad that he had broken her trust. The most annoying and painful thing about her anger was the fact that she missed his presence despite her anger. 

Another thing she found annoying was that although she was angry, she understood him and why he had done what he did. It was annoying too because she knew that if he hadn't done it that way, they truly wouldn't have been as close as they were at the moment, yet she couldn't stop feeling mad that he had fooled her. 

Lucy sighed. Did it make sense that she was mad that he had broken her trust yet she also understood why he had done it and knew that she would probably have done the same in his shoes? 

Slowly her brain replayed every moment she had spent with Tom from the moment she met him and she tried to remember all they had talked about. She cringed when she remembered how she had asked that they change her driver, and how Tom had spoken to her over the phone and how she had stuttered like a fool.

She raised both hands to her face in embarrassment when she remembered all the time she had sat in the backseat of the car like the boss, and how she had confessed to Tom that she had asked the management to change her driver.

As annoying as the whole situation was, she had to admit to herself that it was also funny. Tom must have had a good laugh at her expense whether or not it was meant to be fun for him, Lucy thought with a sigh as she lay on her bed.

Maybe it was best she focused on the brightest side of the situation… It was better for her that he was a rich person pretending to be poor rather than a poor person pretending to be rich, right? That would definitely have been worse. 

She wasn't sure she was willing to let him off the hook so easily after he made her feel like an idiot. She was still mad at him, even though she also wanted to be seeing him while mad at him… That is if it even made any sense. 

She was just going to have to come up with a suitable punishment for him… But that would be after she wakes up from sleep. She was too tired right now to think about anything else.. All she wanted for now was to sleep.