CHAPTER 21 – RICHARD"What nonsense are you talking about? We saw each other a week ago. Why do you say it's been a long time?!" Father sputters, forcing out a few moisturized crumbs of food from his mouth.A bit of it lands on the side of my face and it fuels my rage. If you want to spill such disgusting stuff on me, at least be someone I give a fuck about. He certainly doesn't fall in that category.I wipe it off with a towel that's lying on the table. I flash him a deadly glare and he flinches from it. I'm an inch away from jamming my fist into his face."What's gotten into you?!" He asks with a bit of fright, dropping his cutlery. His yell arouses murmurings in the hall. I glance around at the spectators and everyone bows their heads, avoiding my gaze. I don't even recognize any of them. I haven't ever seen them in the other world. They're probably just factors of this world."Yo, man. What's up with you? You're acting really funny." Another voice seizes my attention. I look up

CHAPTER 23 - JANE (parallel universe)The finishing touch of my makeup has just been applied, and my long lashes are fixed too. I'm being attended to by three different makeup artists that work here in the nightclub and they've been over my face for almost an hour now. As much as this is my every night routine, this part still gets tiring. My butt is beginning to feel tingly from sitting for so long. It's only gonna be a matter of minutes before I snap at them. I hope they get done before then.A knock comes on the door and I turn my head in its direction. This is my private dressing room so whoever knocks has to be looking for me. My eyes lit up with excitement as my best friend, June walks in. As much as my dressing room is off-limits to most people, June isn't one of them.As a top-notch stripper in this nightclub, I have earned much respect and pampering over the one year I've worked here. June also has earned the freedom to come in here at will, even though she doesn't work here

CHAPTER 25 – RICHARD"One more bottle of tequila!" I yell out to the bartender, twirling the shot glass in my loose grip. My eyes are getting heavy from a couple of drinks I've had. But it doesn't matter. I plan on getting fucking wasted tonight. The bartender places the bottle in front of me and Ray reaches to grab it. I beat him to it, grabbing the bottle and turning the other way to pour myself a drink."That's enough, man. You drinking way too much." Ray sighs behind me. "Not as much as I plan on," I reply briskly, placing the bottle on the counter. I chug down my drink and it heats my throat, leaving me with a strong urge to pour myself another glass. You could say I'm a fucking addict, but tequila has always been it for me."Dude, what are you talking about? We both know you've never been a good drinker. Booze drives you insane. Makes you do the craziest things. Isn't that why you quit drinking? What the hell is going on with you tonight?!"Yeah, right. I scoffed at his lectur

CHAPTER 26 - RICHARD"I'm fine, dude. Told you already. I bumped my head into something hard and my memories are lagging a bit. But other than that, I'm fucking fine. Don't worry." I say in a firm voice, trying to convince him.He nods, sipping his drink in silence. I'm not dense. I can see on his face that he doesn't believe me a hundred percent. He's probably just tired of bugging me about it, and that's why he's pretending to believe me. But then, I don't honestly care if he believes me or not. I just hope he doesn't bother me anymore with his irritating questions about why I'm acting differently. I'm sick and tired of telling the same lies. He should just give it a rest.We sip our drinks in silence, and I, for once, turn to the crowd to see what's going on. The place is filled with naked, aroused human bodies, caressing each other and fighting to get some pleasure. There's an object of excitement at the podium, I assume, 'cause the men wouldn't quit whistling in that direction.

CHAPTER 29 - JANEI stare blankly at him as he gives a husky chuckle strolling to his chair. He pushes it back and slides into it, crossing his legs. I don't bother sitting, so I just remain standing and staring at him.His smirk is flirtatious as he boldly undresses me with his eyes. His eyes linger longer on my lips and he bites his lower lip."So tell me, what's it gonna be?" His husky, deep voice reverberates in the room. My skin flushes from the heat growing between us."Please, Sir. Why don't we talk about this again? Hear me out, please. I don't think·""You're not supposed to think, Jane!" He cuts in, impatiently. "I'm not making an impossible proposal here, so don't make things difficult.""More than you already did?" I ask calmly, but my nerves are ripping apart."I think you got the wrong conception about my proposal, Jane. I'm not making things difficult. On the contrary, I'm here to give you a smooth ride in life." He pushes open the drawer and takes out a checkbook.I wa