004 - Contracts and Binds

Leaning against the door of the hospital’s cubicle, Lola struggled to keep her tears at bay.

A down payment of three thousand dollars from her savings and the deposit check from Director Miller was still a far cry from the total amount needed to get her mother’s surgery booked.

A door creaked on the outside and Lola suddenly jolted when a rap sounded on her back.

“Hey, miss.” A timid voice soon followed from the other side of the door. “I’m sorry to disturb you, but I’m really pressed and the other cubicles are all occupied. Are you almost done?.”

Coming back to her senses, Lola rubbed her palms down her slightly wrinkled shirt. “A minute please.” She responded and wiped the streaks of tears on her face away. She opened the door and flashed an apologetic smile at the owner of the voice who turned out to be a heavily pregnant woman. She was slightly bent from waiting impatiently to use the loo.

As Lola slightly touched up her face in the mirror, a message notification popped in from Lydia, Miller’s secretary. Its content was brief and only contained an address, the time for the job which was exactly two hours from then, and the name of a man who Lola was to find on arrival to her location.

Lola stopped by her mother’s ward on her way out and sighed to find her still fast asleep. She adjusted the blanket on Maria’s body to her chest and gave her a light peck on the cheek.

Glancing at the message on her phone one final time, Lola drew a deep breath in and exhaled.

There was still hope. She could still get Maria’s surgery booked before noon tomorrow. All she needed to do was carry out the job perfectly and impress Brett Miller tonight.

~

“Did you take an extra shirt? or makeup? Pepper spray? Extra bucks? I wouldn’t want you crying to me 'cause your purse got stolen, again…”

Lola laughed as she paid the cab fare and got off the vehicle at the address the cab man confirmed to be her destination while holding her phone against her ear. “Yeah, I took extra fits in case I need a change. Pepper spray totally skipped my mind but would have been nice in case someone lunges for my purse again. But don’t worry babe, I’ll be fine, I promise.”

“You’d better be.” Aria’s voice rang out again from the phone’s mic and Lola chuckled.

“And If they give you a hard time, you know what to do…”

“Pick up the phone and call you right away. Yes mother hen, I will.”

Lola ended the call with a bright smile on her face. Aria always knew the right things to say to make her feel relaxed. Slowly, she took off her shades and observed her surroundings. With many shops still up and running, the street was busy with people. ,

Lola’s eyebrows arched slightly.

She clicked on Lydia’s message once again and did a double check on the address. It was the same with a turning on the right except, the address belonged to a clothing store. It was not exactly the sort of place she had expected to have a dancing job.

The evening breeze caressed her skin and Lola applied another layer of gloss to her full cherry blossom lips before advancing towards the open store.

The doorbell chimed as she walked in, announcing her arrival and calling the attention of the only people in the store, a young man who seemed to be somewhere between his early and late thirties and a younger lady who was stopped talking to the man the moment she realized they had company.

“Hi, I’m Lola Coker.”

“Lola, who?.” The man questioned as he left the lady behind to approach her.

“Lola Coker. The dancer from Fame Hall Entertainment?.” Lola repeated feeling slightly uncomfortable with the atmosphere in the clothing store. “Uhm... I think I have the wrong address, should probably check around the store. I’m…sorry for disturbing…”

“Oh, there you are!.” A voice suddenly exclaimed from behind as a man who Lola had not noticed from the start suddenly appeared from a corner of the large store.

“You are right on time.” The man who appeared to be a little older than the rest added as he whispered some words that Lola could barely hear to the others who glanced at her and returned to their initial positions with no further questions.

“Henry Gavin?.” Lola asked the man with slightly raised eyebrows.

“Right… and you must be Lola Coker from the dance agency.” He announced as he took in Lola’s overall appearance and smiled. “Not bad at all. You will do just fine. Walk with me, Lola.”

Watching the man walk away without another word to her, Lola hurriedly fell into step behind him. “Sorry uhm Gavin, or Mr. Gavin. Is that alright with you?.”

“Just Gavin, hon.”

“Oh. You see Gavin?, the thing is, this job was kinda urgent and I only got minimum information from the agency. Think you could fill me in on the rest?. Just to get myself ready, I mean.” Lola asked with a nervous chuckle.

Gavin let out a low laugh, but he did not stop walking as he responded. “Your job is quite easy, Lola. Our scheduled performer for tonight had some em… problems. You just have to fill in for the night. Think you can do that for me?.”

Gavin suddenly paused as they approached a door guarded by two well-built men.

Still unclear about her job descriptions, Lola wished to ask more questions but the words she wished to say suddenly got stuck in her throat as she stared at their surroundings warily. What exactly is this place and where is she being taken to?

She gave a tight smile to one of the guards who was watching her closely and slowly reached for her phone in her bag, but Gavin took it away from her with a shake of his head.

“I need my phone..”

“We can’t have you distracted honey. Not now.” He disagreed with a gentle smile as handed the bag over to the bodyguards.

Lola swallowed as the door opened and she was led into a dressing room where three people, two ladies, and a man seemed to be waiting for them.

“Fuck, if she’s the ace for tonight, then you have a knack for picking them hot, Gavin.” The man who spotted a spiky hair on his oddly full hair commented as he gaped at Lola, not taking his eyes off her body.

“Hands off, Iggy. You can’t afford the trouble.” Gavin warned.

Lola could only watch the people in the room awkwardly. She was not fond of Gavin but she was grateful at least for his effective comment which worked as Iggy backed out from staring at her and returned to what she assumed was his job by a clothing rack at one end of the large room.

Gavin’s cell phone started to vibrate loudly, breaking the awkward silence in the room.

“Excuse me.” He said and moved over to a corner of the room to pick up the still vibrating phone.

“Hello.” Lola greeted the two women who were staring at her in a way that made her feel uncomfortable.

“Are we going to waste another hour doing nothing or would we get to it right away?.” One of the women whose lips kept smacking loudly said without a bother to return Lola’s greeting while the other woman simply pulled out a chair and nodded in Lola’s direction.

“Sit down.” The woman instructed.

Lola complied and settled into the comfy leather chair in front of the only vanity table in sight.

The later woman, whose name Lola found out to be Chesa, was an artist. Chesa hurriedly got to work on Lola’s makeup while Lola gripped tightly to the arm of the chair and tried to remain as still as possible as Chesa dolled up her face with layers and layers of cosmetics.

From a corner of the mirror before her, she could see Gavin give a satisfactory nod in the other woman’s direction before walking out of the room. Leaving her to the fate of the three strangers in the room.

“There, all done,” Chesa responded gruffly. Despite the contrasting thickness of her voice, her tightly clamped lips bore the ghost of a smile as she stepped back to stare at her work in admiration.

“Wow.” Lola breathed out as she watched her reflection in the mirror. She was not much of a makeup person but she could barely recognize her own self under Chesa’s art. This woman was skilled!.

“Help her take off her clothes now, Chesa. Tick-tock!.” Iggy, who seemed to have gotten his voice back said as he reappeared with a hanger containing some sort of dress.

“Wait, what?. I can change my own dress.” Lola was quick to refuse as she glared at Iggy.

A chuckle sounded from behind as Camila, the second lady took the dress from Iggy and handed it to Lola with a whisper. “So you have a voice. I hope you don’t lose it when you get out there. You should be more careful, honey.”

Careful?. Lola’s eyes squinted as she swallowed the bile immediately formed in her throat. “Why do I need to be careful?...” She whispered back, waiting for an answer to her question but Camila was done.

“You have three minutes, get dressed. We’ll be back.” Camila said and turned to leave with Chesa and Iggy following suit.

Finally, alone, Lola let out the sigh she had been withholding and lifted the ox blood dress in the air. It was generously stoned with glittering gems and appeared to be worth a ton. She laid it out on the table and her mouth hung open completely stupefied.

As if on cue, the door opened and Chesa walked in. “Put on the dress, Lola,” she said. “We are behind schedule already.”

“Dress? What dress?.” Lola wondered aloud as her eyes remained glued to the cloth before her. “This isn't a dress Chesa. It's a fucking lingerie. Why should I put this on?.”

“Oh... Please..” Chesa said in mock pity as she lifted Lola’s chin. “You all are the same. Coming in here and acting all innocent when you know exactly what. you. are. here. for.”

A strange chill crept down Lola’s spine at Chesa’s words and the slightly older lady let her fingers slip down Lola’s chin as she tapped on the dress.

“You signed a contract Lola. Don’t be stupid when you go out there tonight. You knew what you

signed up for.”

Lola heard Chesa suddenly pause by the door. “Gavin wouldn't be so nice if he returns to see you still in... that.”

Left all alone in the room again, Lola’s shaky hands slowly reached for the fabric.