The Beautiful People (4 page)

            “Wow, like
which ones?”

            “Independence
Place is one.”

My eyes widened in
shock. Independence Place was one of the tallest skyscrapers in the
Philadelphia skyline. The Grabanos had to be loaded and powerful. I thought
back to Grant’s warnings earlier and wondered if he wasn’t exaggerating. Dominic’s
disarming smile distracted me from this negative thought.  When he placed his
hand on my thigh, all thoughts of Grant were banished.

This was our first time
really alone together. There were the brief flirtations at the bar when I needed
my drink orders filled, the occasional close encounters and of course that
phenomenal kiss at Blue. But here it was just us and I liked it – and I was
really beginning to like Dominic. He was more than just a hot guy and my resolve
about not getting involved with him was quickly eroding.

We talked for what
seemed like only a few minutes, when the doorman started to usher people out. I
was surprised when we stepped outside and the sun was beginning to rise. We had
been there for close to three hours. Dominic held the car door open for me and
I dropped into the seat; which was freezing and the cold went right through my
skirt. Hearing my teeth chattering, Dominic took off his jacket and draped it
over my legs.

            “Thank you.”
 

He surprised me by
kissing me, silencing the chatter. He pulled away from me slowly and all I could
do was stare at him stunned.  The engine of the Mustang still had to warm up, so
I slid over closer to Dominic. He pulled me up on his lap to where I was
straddling him. We didn’t do anything more than kiss, but when we finally
separated the windows were fogged up. I was dizzy and had to rest my head
against Dominic’s shoulder.

            “Wow!” Dominic
whispered into my hair.

            “Yeah,
wow!” I sighed.

            “I better
get you home before, well, you know.” He winked and flashed his dimple, which
made crawling off of his lap a true test of my willpower, but I managed to make
my way back to the passenger seat. I was wobbly and it wasn’t the most graceful
of moves.

He held my hand as he
drove to my apartment building. When he turned onto my block I spotted a
familiar silver car.

            “What the
hell?”

            “What is
it?”

            “Grant,” I
answered and pointed at a silver Lexus.

There weren’t any
parking spaces so Dominic had to let me out in the street. We kissed again
before saying goodbye. I couldn’t wait to get to work later that night and had
given up any hope of resisting Dominic at this point. I shut the door to the
Mustang and watched it drive down the street. I turned and glared at Grant as
he got out of his car.

            “Spying on
me again?”

            “I wanted
to make sure you got home safe since you choose to keep dangerous company.”

            “Whatever!”
I rolled my eyes and turned to go up the three marble steps which led to the
front door of my building. Grant reached out and grabbed onto the sleeve of my
jacket. I shook his hand off and turned around to confront him. Even in my
heels I had to look up at him.

            “Knock it
off Grant! Stop acting like my father! I can spend time with whomever I want!”

Grant stood his ground
and didn’t even flinch at my tone. He was always better at arguing. Whenever I
got angry I wanted to cry and right now I was choking back the tears. This was
not the time to appear weak.

            “Natalie, I
normally don’t care who you spend your time with. But I know Dominic and I
don’t want to see you getting involved with him or anyone else at Crimson,” he
said rationally. “I think he’s playing you, plus he’s the owner’s nephew.”

I hadn’t thought about
it from that perspective. But then I remembered Miranda. “Oh really? What about
Miranda?” I threw back at him.

            “That’s
different,” he replied, but I knew I had a reaction when his stance loosened.

            “Grant,” I
said softly. “I know you’re head of security and all, but you don’t have to be
my personal bodyguard. If I am making a mistake, let me find out the hard way.
Otherwise, I won’t learn. But, I think you’re wrong about Dominic.” And boy did
I hope he was wrong.

 Grant’s shoulders
dropped and I knew he was ready to concede, “I wish there was a way I could
make you understand. I’ve done things I’m not proud of to get to where I am. I
just don’t want you to pay for my mistakes. “

            “Please,
what are you talking about? You are such a Boy Scout!” I teased.

            “Do Boy
Scouts drive Lexus’ and carry a gun?” Grant said as if trying to allude to
something more sinister.

            “I’m sure
some do when they grow up.”

            “Alright.
Well what about your first night working at Crimson - the gunshots, the
discreet transaction with the cop? What do you think that was about?”

            “A corrupt
cop in Philadelphia? Now there’s an anomaly!” I laughed. “Dominic told me how
many businesses the Grabanos own. It doesn’t surprise me if there are a few
city officials on the payroll.”

            “That
doesn’t bother you?”

            “No. Should
it?” I couldn’t believe it. My brother was seriously annoyed that this didn’t
bother me. It’s not like I was born yesterday, I knew how the world operated.
Did he really think he had sheltered me?

            “Never
mind!” he snapped. I was suddenly very tired. The high from spending the night
with Dominic was gone. Arguing with my brother as the day was just beginning
was not what I had in mind.

            “Grant can
we talk about this later? I really need to get some sleep and you do too. We
both have to work tonight,” I whined.

            “Fine,” he
sighed. “Just please be careful, okay?”  

            “Yeah,
sure…see you tonight.” I turned around and went inside.

Chelsea wasn’t waiting
up to ambush me, much to my relief, and I was able to collapse. I was so exhausted
that I didn’t bother taking off my uniform. I just fell across my double bed,
with my feet hanging off the edge. Gravity took the high heels off for me.
Hours later my cell phone woke me up out of a deep, dreamless sleep. It was my
mom wanting to know how the new job was going. Recalling the angry exchange with
Grant, I felt like I lied to her when I said everything was great.

I was too awake to go
back asleep after her call. So, I rolled over onto my back and thought about Dominic
– the way his thick, dark hair framed his face and accentuated his green eyes, the
taste of his lips, the spicy smell of his skin and how perfectly our bodies fit
together when I was on his lap. I knew I had it bad when I started counting
down the hours until I saw him again. Three hours. That didn’t give me much
time to get ready and I still had assignments to work on, which were due in the
morning.

The apartment was quiet
as I made my way into the kitchen, grabbed a diet coke and poured myself a bowl
of Captain Crunch. The caffeine and sugar had their desired effect and I
cruised through my paper on the Impressionists. I had just enough time to
shower and get dressed, which included getting in a fight with pantyhose,
before catching a cab down to the club.

Miranda was at the desk
by the front door chatting with the doorman when I arrived. She reminded me of a
World War II pin-up with her glossy, wavy black hair, natural curves and her
penchant for red lipstick. She wasn’t all hairspray and silicone like most of
the Crimson girls. She carried herself with professionalism and maturity. These
traits plus the fact that she had brains, was probably why Grant liked her.

She was all business
when I walked in. “Natalie. I’ve been waiting for you.”

I gulped, wondering
what I might have done. She smiled when she saw my deer in the headlights expression.

“Marco
requested you to work in the VIP section tonight.”

            “Oh,” I
said, relieved. “What do I have to do?”

            “Just keep
the drinks coming, don’t spill on anyone and try not to come off as too
intelligent.”

            “So, act
dumb, look pretty and keep them drunk?”

She laughed at this.
“You got it! Oh, and watch out for Brittany tonight.”

            “Why’s
that?”

            “She
usually has VIP and she is pretty pissed you bumped her – and that you were
requested.”

Then it really
registered about who had requested me. The image of Marco Grabano’s beady eyes
popped into my head. It was all I could do to control a shudder.

            “Brittany
may seem tiny, but she has a temper. You don’t have a car do you?”

            “No. Why?”

            “Good.
Brittany’s been known to take her anger out on cars – flat tires, broken
headlights, windshields, etc…”

I tried to picture the
petite girl terrorizing someone’s car and laughed.

            “Seriously,
Natalie, watch your back.”

This was the second
co-worker I’ve been warned about and I was seriously beginning to wonder just
how many drugs my brother and Miranda were doing together, because these
warnings were absurd.

            “Okay,” I
said to appease her.

I went into the
employee lounge to hang up my jacket and bag. Brittany was sitting on the sofa
reading a magazine. She glared at me when I walked in. I smiled at her and went
about my business. One of the shooter girls sitting next to Brittany was
hunched over the coffee table doing lines of cocaine – her pre-shift routine. 
Joey D., one of Grant’s bouncers, walked out of the shower area wearing only
black jeans, his muscles rippled with his every move. He sat down on the sofa
and did a line with the shooter girl. Not interested in that extracurricular
activity, I quickly applied some lipstick and left.

My heels clacked on the
dance floor when I crossed on my way to the VIP section. The club was cavernous
without all of the people and with the lights on, glaringly bright. I was
disappointed to see that Dominic wasn’t working the bar in the VIP area. It was
Sal, another dark haired bartender, not nearly as beautiful as Dominic. After
helping Sal set-up, I roamed around hoping to find Dominic. I found him in a separate
room enclosed in dark tinted glass that was reserved for private parties. He
was arguing with my brother- big surprise. They didn’t see me as I quietly
entered the room and stood in the shadows.

            “I can’t
believe you took her there,” Grant hissed at Dominic.

            “It was no
big deal, nothing happened,” Dominic defended himself.

            “You’re
lucky. If anything had happened to her, I swear to fucking Christ-”

            “Don’t
threaten me Grant!” Dominic was pointing his finger at Grant’s chest. Both men
were about the same height, well over six feet tall, but Grant was more
muscular. Dominic didn’t seem the least bit intimidated, “Nothing is going to
happen to Natalie. I’ll keep her safe.”

            “I’ll hold
you to that promise.” Grant stormed off and out the rear exit of the room.

I stood in the shadows,
not sure if I should make my presence known. I really wanted to run over to Dominic
and throw my arms around him. He must like me if he had defended me to my own
brother.

            “Dominic?”
I called out. He looked around, but couldn’t see me. My black clothes were like
camouflage so I stepped uncertainly out into the dim light. His face lit up with
a big grin full of straight white teeth. He strode over, pulled me to him and
placed his lips on mine.

            “How long
were you standing there?” 

            “Long
enough,” I answered. “I told you my brother was overprotective.”

            “Yeah, but
I guess he has good reason to be. You’re worth protecting.” I stared up at him,
amazed. He bent down and kissed me again before I could say anything else.

            “Well, I
have to go get my bar ready. Make sure you stop by frequently tonight.”

            “I can’t
tonight.”

            “Why not?”

            “Your uncle
requested me to work the VIP section.”

Anger flashed across
his face.  “He did.” It wasn’t a question. He exhaled deeply and reached for my
hand. “Do want to go out again after work?”

            “Yes!” I
must have said this with little too much enthusiasm because Dominic jumped a
bit, and then he grinned.

We walked out holding
hands just as Brittany was exiting the employee lounge. She stopped when she
saw us then glanced down at our joined hands. I could feel hate and jealousy
radiating off of her, giving me reason to take Miranda’s warning seriously and making
me grateful I didn’t own a car.

The VIP section filled
up quickly and I had to hustle to keep up with the demand. It was hard to
maintain my composure when I waited on one celebrity after another. The whole
section was like a Who’s Who of famous Philadelphians, mainly athletes. Fortunately
I was too busy to allow Marco to get to me. He managed to lean just a little too
close when I was taking his drink orders and his hand came in contact with my
ass one too many times, but at least he had stopped staring.

I tried to coordinate
my stops when Grant visited at the table. Uncle Marco seemed to behave himself
a little better in the presence of my brother.  It was hard to act
unintelligent and I found it easier to just keep my mouth shut. I may have been
playing dim, but I was still observant. The fact that Uncle Marco and all of
his friends were carrying guns did not escape me. I guess the owner and his
friends didn’t have to go through the metal detector and use the guncheck like
the other patrons.

Miranda stepped in to
give me a much needed bathroom break and on my way back I stopped at Dominic’s
bar. He was mobbed as usual, but he managed to sneak a few seconds in to visit.

            “How is it
going up there?” he asked. 

            “Pretty
good!”

            “Is my uncle
treating you okay?”

            “Yeah,” I
lied. He didn’t seem convinced, but didn’t say anything. His bar was packed and
I knew he needed to get back to work so I quickly left.

Soon after last call,
the VIP area started to clear out. Only Marco and his crew lingered. They were
smoking cigars and talking loudly. Marco waved me over to join them. Not really
in a position to say no, I set my tray down and eased into the booth, careful to
keep a substantial space between Marco and my legs.  They were busy talking
about the Sixers and other teams. Not a fan of sports I tuned them out to stare
at Dominic.

            “Natalie? 
Hello, Natalie?” Marco was trying to get my attention.

I quickly pulled my
focus back to the table. “I’m sorry, did you ask me something?”

            “Yeah. I
was wondering if you would like to continue this party elsewhere.” He looked at
me expectantly. I couldn’t believe this fifty-something man was asking me if I
wanted to go out with him, and I think he wanted to include his friends.

            “I,
uh…well, I can’t. I already have plans. Sorry.” It was true, I’m glad I did
have plans, because I would have had to lie to my boss – not a good habit to
get into – and I feared I might get stuck accompanying him.

Marco seemed very
disappointed, almost angry that he was being denied. His eyes turned an even
darker black. A sneer started to form on his doughy face. “Well, maybe next
time?”

            “Um, sure?”

Thank God Grant showed
up then. I went to leave, but Marco grabbed me by the wrist and anchored me to
my seat.  Grant saw and pursed his lips, but didn’t say anything.

            “Marco,
Stump and his boys didn’t pay their tab again,” Grant said.

            “That
arrogant, cheap son of a bitch! I warned him if he pulled this shit again it
was going to be the last time!” Marco slammed his other hand down on the table
and his face turned bright red. He released my wrist, but I was too afraid to
move. He studied Grant, his eyeballs seemed to twitch in their sockets and he
was suddenly eerily calm when he said, “You know what to do.” Grant tipped his
head in acknowledgement.

When Grant turned to
leave the table I jumped up to follow him. “Excuse me gentleman, I need to
close out.”

Marco smiled and
reminded me not to have plans the next time.

            “What was
that all about?” Grant asked as we walked across the dance floor towards Dominic’s
bar.

            “Mr. Grabano
asked me to ‘continue the party’ later. I think it was his creepy way of asking
me out.” I whispered.

Grant stopped
mid-stride. “What did you tell him?” I squirmed under his interrogative gaze.

            “I told him
I already had plans - because I do.”

            “What
plans?” he asked suspiciously as if he knew I going to tell him something he
didn’t want to hear and he was bracing himself for it.

            “Dominic
and I are hanging out again after work.” Grant rubbed his hands over his face
and shook his head, but he didn’t snap at me.

            “You’re not
going to the after hours place again are you?”

            “You mean
The Speak? How did you know about that?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

            “Word gets
around fast. I have a lot of eyes.”

            “Ugh! You
are so annoying!” I growled and stalked off to the bar. Dominic was just
finishing up, so I went to the employee lounge to get my things. As I was
taking my jacket off of the hanger I overheard Brittany in the bathroom area
talking to someone.

            “…and he
was holding her hand. Can you believe it? He never held my hand. You know
what’s funny? I think she really likes him. He’s such a player and she has no
idea.”

            “Yeah and
she’s Grant’s sister, now that takes some serious balls. Grant will kill him if
he burns her,” the other person commented.

I froze when I realized
who they were talking about. So Dominic was a player. That explained his
interest in me. It was too good to be true. My heart sunk into my stomach.
Grant was right and he tried to warn me. I could feel the lump forming in my
throat and I tried to swallow it down, but it wouldn’t budge. My eyes started
to tear up with bitter disappointment. I cleared my throat, put on my jacket
and with my head held high, marched out of the lounge. My guard was back up.

Dominic was waiting
right outside the doorway and I hesitated.

“What’s
wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing,”
I lied. I couldn’t meet his eyes, his beautiful eyes.

“Okay…
are you ready to go?”

“I,
uh, I just remembered I have to work on a project for school. It’s due
tomorrow,” I lied again and he saw right through me.