Page 77 of Ruined
CHAPTER 21
Haley
I pulled the blankets over my head, trying to drown out the sound of my phone rattling on the dresser. Most of the servers were already on the floor, but it was my day off. Every day since ending things with Lucas, I had considered pretending to be sick. It was just one more day’s worth of work piled on top of my debt. Did it really matter? Soon, I’d be cleaning the bathrooms and dressing rooms, working for less than minimum wage. That must have been why Dahlia wouldn’t let me see my account.
The first day, it had pissed me off that Lucas hadn’t called me. I had stared at my phone for an hour at one point, willing it to ring. He knew he was the traitor; how could he not face the situation? I was hurt. Furious at the asshole. How could he be so indifferent?
The second day, when he finally did call me, my entire body sagged with relief. Maybe there was something there, even if it was insignificant. But I didn’t answer. Knowing that he wanted to talk was enough.
On the third day, he called twice. Not once had he left a message.
Seeing him at Sage and Ivy had was like a huge bag of bricks slamming into my chest. It was cliché; he wanted to throw money at the problem to make it go away. When Tina told me what had happened, I played along. And reluctantly, I was grateful. It was one less thing to worry about when it came to my debts. I had questions about how he had worked out the funds, but as long as they were made with my money on an account Dahlia didn’t know about, I was fine with not knowing the details. But it didn’t make the friction between us smooth, nor did it absolve him of what he had done.
I thought he wouldn’t call anymore. Maybe seeing me at the academy was enough closure.
And then he started calling incessantly: five or so seconds between each attempt for the last hour. He left one message; the notification blinked on my phone. I didn’t check it.
Part of me hoped a little more with every rattling phone call, that it meant that maybe this was all a mistake. Some screwed up dream in which Lucas using me to gain another man’s company was the nightmare, not our reality. Or even thatthatwas what had happened all along, but that he did feel sorry, deeper than he could explain. Maybe his feelings weren’t just a trick. He did care about me. At least a little.
An eruption of laughter sounded from the dressing room, trickling down the hallway to my bedroom. It reminded me of the Theater’s dressing room. A group of women having a good time before going to work. It was a gift to realize that there were people in the world who weren’t ashamed of themselves. That I didn’t have to be ashamed anymore either.
It was a gift Lucas had given me.
“Hi Dahlia,” a voice shouted. The volume was on purpose; saying her name loudly to alert the rest of us in the Greenhouse that the boss was in the building.
“Aren’t you supposed to be on the floor?” Dahlia’s raspy voice answered.
“Came back here to fix our hair real quick.” Most likely that was a lie, but it was plausible enough. “We’re out now.”
The door slammed behind them, and Dahlia’s heels clacked down the hallway. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Dahlia gave me the five-year penaltyandadded more to my debt for the money I had cost her, by severing ties with a lucrative customer.
This was it.
I braced myself for what this conversation meant: an end to doing aerial dance as an entertainment server. A cut to my rate of pay, down to less minimum wage. Five years of working the kitchen, the bar, maintenance issues, anything out of the limelight, to teach me a lesson about breaking the rules. And when I was done at twenty-eight years old, I would only have two more years of serving in entertainment before I returned to those jobs once again. The debt would be incredibly hard to pay. Even more so now.
How could I have been so stupid as to have sex with Lucas?
Because you love him, my heart argued. You love him. You know you do. And you know, deep down, that he loves you too.
Dahlia knocked on the doorframe and took a seat at the dresser. I sat up in bed.
“You’re not working tonight?” she asked.
“It’s my night off,” I said.
“But don’t you usually work on your nights off?” I nodded. “No matter. I came to tell you that you’ve been moved to a case-by-case contract, which means one hundred percent of your fees will go directly to you. You may choose the members you work with and end your performances on stage and in the Terrariums whenever you see fit.”
I clutched the comforter in my palms. What was she talking about?
“A case by case contract?” I asked, blinking. “I’m not going on penalty?”
“Why would you be?”
I sunk into the bed. Could I risk telling her the truth? “Aldrich told the staff some rumors about me.” It was vague, but it would get the point across without outing myself. I had this feeling that Dahlia was kind enough to go around the truth, if you were willing to too.
She raised a brow. “Oh.That.” She shook her head. “I’m thinking of doing away with that rule.” My gut clenched. She was telling me this now? “It’s a little outdated. And it takes away valuable years of a server’s time.”
“You knew the rumors, then?”
