Page 9 of Hollow House
I sat at the bar in the quaint little town center and researched until I had everything I needed. Her friend kept glancing my direction, but I didn’t mind. I would be gone before she noticed.
I finished my glass of whiskey in a single gulp and left the waitress a fifty dollar tip. It was the least I could do to give back to the small town that accepted my depravity. They craved it, coveted it.
Who was I to deny them?
Chapter 5
The black dresshugged my curves down to my mid-thigh. I debated wearing the black lace tights I recently bought, torn between it being too much or not. The note gave no indication of a dress code, but I knew what the rumors said.
I decided not to wear them.
The party was filled with the wealthiest, all pulled in by one man himself: the man who owned the large estate sitting just outside of town. No one knew his name or when he came to town, but most agreed he was some form of millionaire. An investor, maybe?
Mentally, I added it to the list of things I wished to gain from the party.I was going with a purpose. This article would pull me out of the small town I was stuck in and allow me the freedom I sought.
A knock at the door abruptly pulled me from the thought.
My heart nearly stopped, and I knocked over the glass of wine I poured myself earlier in the night for courage. A towel sat slung over on my vanity chair, and I grabbed it, tossing it over the spill. Thankfully, it was just white wine. Red would’ve been a bitch to clean up.
I hurried down my stairs to the front door, throwing it open. Felix didn’t wait for an invite, walking in right past me. He went straight for the steps, and I followed, shutting the door.
By the time we made it back to my room, I felt out of breath as the adrenaline finally settled. My nerves crept back in about the party, and one look to my friend told me he knew.
“You’re seriously doing this?” he asked, eyeing me. “Sloane, who never wants to grab drinks and works all day, every day, is going to Hollow House?”
I nodded.“Please don’t try to talk me out of it,” I started, sure that if he did, I would instantly cave.
“Oh, I won’t. I think you desperately need to get laid,” he said, shaking his head at me. “Wear the slutty heels.”He point to the corner, where my black heels I reserved for rare occasions sat.
“I do not—” I started, trying to think of the last time I’d brought someone home with me.
Not that my happiness relied on it, but it was nice to let loose sometimes.
“Fine,” I conceded and grabbed the black heels.
“You’re allowed to have a bit of fun on occasion,” he reminded me.
“I know. I just feel like I can’t stop to breathe until I make it out of here,” I admitted.
“You know, it’s not so bad here,” he said.
Ah, the conversation I avoided. The one I knew came with a world of hurt at the reality that someday, I would have to leave him.
“I know, and you know I love the people here.”
“But it’s not enough?” he asked.
“I have to see what else is out there, before I chicken out and get stuck here with only regrets and empty dreams.”
He nodded.
“Come with me,” I told him. “New York is the hub of publishing. You’d be right at home there too.”
“I wish I could,” he said. “But that’s your dream. I’m already living mine.”He smiled gently and put a hand on my shoulder. I pulled him in to a hug and realized I was trembling again.
Fear of not knowing what would happen had sunk its claws into me. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, my voice cracking.
“Never apologize for being true to yourself. I want you to get everything you’ve dreamed of, and if that’s New York, I will be the first one there, helping you unload your boxes when you move.”
