Chapter 27
“You’re sure you don’t know where she is? How is that possible? You’re her only friend.” The blonde man half yelled, half asked. His very obvious frustration was laced in his voice, but she, Mel, did not care. The last person that needed to know of Jojo’s whereabouts was Harris. It did not matter if he wouldn’t stop asking questions.
She feigned a broad smile, obviously too broad to be real, before looking up at him.
“So, you really want to know where she is, don’t you?”
“Yes, Mel. Yes, I do.” He replied.
Mel watched as his eyes brightened with anticipation. It would be fun for her to play around his head, just a little bit.
“I thought so. Well, I’ll tell you.” She leaned into the counter and watched as his eyes brightened with anticipation. Mel fought back the scornful laughter that escaped her throat. The man was too gullible.
“After you serve tables 18 and 21 for me.” She pushed the notepad to his side of the table and watched it roll until it touched his elbow.
Harris’s shoulders dropped, his face contorted in a frown, one Mel ignored.
“This is the nineteenth time today, Mel! Come on.”
“Eighteen, to be precise.” She snapped back, to correct his assumption. Harris shrugged his lean shoulders in annoyance and picked the notepad from the counter. Mel watched as he moved away, heading towards the tables.
“I’ll tell you this time, promise.” She called out behind him, a wry smile on her face.
Lies.
Yes, perhaps he could walk to the ends of the world for a woman he liked, but Mel was capable of seeing beyond his act. The man was nothing but a Casanova, a chronic playboy. Maybe he did like Jojo now, but it was only a matter of time until he crept into her pants, then his attraction would disappear.
It was one of the reasons Mel was fairly glad her friend found it hard to fall in love. There was every guarantee Harris’s charm would have swept her off her feet. Nevertheless, Mel wished Jojo would find love. There would be extra points if it was with someone important where she worked.
Who knows? Maybe even the alpha? That was a far cry, but no one had ever condemned wishful thinking.
Jojo did not have a wolf, so she could not sense her mate when she turned eighteen, even now. Mel could remember how Jojo watched with eyes void of emotions as she gushed all the time about Shawn, her mate. Jojo had only muttered a soft “I’m happy for you.” And nothing else. Mel wondered if Jojo would ever meet someone who’ll cause her to forget her past, and focus on the future… with him.
The sound of the commotion, accompanied by the screams of an angry woman seeped through Mel’s thoughts. Her eyes rose from the calculator in front of her and stared out through the glass doors. The doors pushed open and a familiar female figure emerged from the light. Mel’s heart skipped three beats. Aunt Elowen’s fat frame occupied the doorway, while she panted heavily. Her ugly and haggard looks always had a way of disgusting Mel, even till now.
However, what Mel did not understand was why the woman was charging with a deadly stare in her eyes.
Elowen banged her fist on the table and Mel jerked backward.
“Where is she, Melody?! Where is Jojo?” The elderly lady raved on like a demon-possessed woman.
Mel raised an annoyed and determined brow. Now, she was going to school this woman on a thing or two about the manner of approach. She stepped out of the counter and seized hold of the woman’s right wrist. She dragged her out of the restaurant with all her adolescent strength.
Mel’s anger grew when she stared down at her newly manicured nails and noticed they were ruined. Bye-bye to 10 dollars, and all because of this woman.
Mel looked up at her with a distasteful glare.
“You had no rights coming in here and screaming like that. This is not your house!” She snapped and the woman eyed her with fury.
“You would not speak to me in such a manner, girl! Watch your tongue.”
Mel heard her wolf growl within her, but she had to keep her calm. This woman was not worth her job. Her wolf thought otherwise, she was always very protective of Jojo.
“You’re going to have to get your information on Jojo from somewhere else because you would not be getting anything from me.” Mel spat out. Elowen’s eyes turned red.
“Tell me right now! Or I’ll…”
“You’ll what?” Mel cut in, breaking off the woman’s statement. She took two steps closer to her, covering the distance between them.
“You must be very delusional to think that you can throw threats at me and I would cower at your feet. Look at me, and look closely. I am not Jojo or Valerie and I swear by the goddess that if you so much as raise your hands, you’ll lose them, now.”
Something like fear glittered in the woman’s eyes, and Mel scoffed in disdain.
“You. You are the bad influence on Jojo, you are the reason she almost killed my son! You are the animal that’s been influencing her!” She continued to throw words into the air.
Just when Mel thought of a befitting reply to her foolishness, Harris burst into the scene.
“Mel! Why didn’t you tell me JoJo was working for Rush Empire?” He asked, as soon as he stomped to where Mel stood.Text © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.
Mel’s eyes flew open, distraught. All her hard work and this… man, just had to ruin it all by giving Jojo’s whereabouts away! Just like that!
“Harris!” She cried out.
She quickly turned away from the man and focused her gaze on Elowen, but the woman was already on the other side of the road.
JOJO:
I woke up the next day with Ashley on my bed. She had insisted on sleeping over at my place and it did feel strange, foreign, the things we did for fun at the sleepover. I hardly enjoyed such a luxury with Mel.
Well, I never did.
When I slept over at her place, it was always because I was locked out of Aunt Elowen’s house. We’d just always fall asleep fatigue, and rise very early the next morning. With Ashley, we had time to play games and post goofy pictures on the social media account she had created for me. It did feel nice. But all the way, I wanted nothing more than to do this with Mel.
Mel.
I had seen her missed calls but was never free to return them. It was already mid-day before I was done unpacking and Ashley and I got ready to set out for work.
“I’m excited about work tonight! Money’s sure gonna be raining down on us!” She squealed while straightening her dress for the night.
“Yeah, about that. Is the audience going to be really huge?” I asked.
She dropped the costume in her hand on the bed, appearing thoughtful for a while.
“Well, seeing as this is a seven-star strip club, you could say more or less. The audience would be filled with rich…” She took one step towards me.
“Powerful…” Another step.
“And delicious alphas and betas. Business tycoons, billionaires, every fucking money mogul you can think of! And if you are requested by a VVIP…” She pressed my biceps softly, with both hands.
“That’s millions! Your life changes in the blink of an eye! I can’t wait to release all the tricks up my sleeves.”
She winked at me, but it did nothing to calm me down. So many men would have their eyes on me tonight and I had to entertain them, make them get the value of the huge amount of money they had paid here. I could remember how the alpha watched other girls in silence, but the stream of correction never seized to flow when it got to my turn. I was not going to do well tonight; I already knew it. I only prayed he would not be watching while I messed up everything. I didn’t want to feel his eyes bore through my skin in the most embarrassing moment of my life. “JoJo?” Ashley called out and I jerked out of my trance. My head tilted towards her.
“You said something?”
It was then I began to hear the continuous chime of the doorbell.
“Are you expecting anyone?”