Chapter 7

Usually packing to go somewhere would take days to pack but at the moment, it wasn't like I had a lot of stuff to pack. The only thing I had at Lucas’s place was the few stuff he had brought to me from my old apartment and even then most of them weren't even unpacked from the duffel bag in the first place –which it made it easier for me.

I couldn't stop thinking about what I had learnt after meeting with Lucas' boss- Mr. Giovanni Cavelli. Of all the things I was expecting to happen or to hear, never in a million years was I expecting to hear what I had. I was told that Mr. Cavelli was actually the boss of an Italian mafia, Lucas was his second in command and the other guys up in that VIP lounge were all members of the mafia. I've also learnt that Lexi was Giovanni's wife and that they had just returned from their honeymoon. That explains why Lexi openly dissed Lucas and he didn't respond. I guess he must've respect his boss and so he chose not to disrespect his wife. I was surprised to know they were married; I would have thought that Lexi was just the girlfriend or a fling at first. But everything that happened was just pure surprises. Like seriously? I knew that these guys were dangerous but a mafia? That was definitely a surprise for me.

After Mr. Cavelli started to let me know why he had asked to see me, I sure did receive a whole lot of death threats that I was positive that they were going to stay in my mind for a long time- especially the visual descriptions of the ways I'd die. The only exception to those were if I kept my mouth shut about what I had learnt. Since Lucas was apparently keeping me confined to his apartment until his boss determined my fate, I was now allowed to leave. Could you believe it? I was getting off my prison sentence for good behavior—I guess.

Since I was not home or paying rent for over a month, I lost my apartment. Therefore, I was going to stay with Katie until I could get back on my feet again. When I had called Katie to let her know that I was indeed alive and well, she was so excited and freaking out over the phone about how she was scared something horrible had happened to me. She and Nora wanted to report it to the police but said they were threatened to keep their mouths shut. And I knew exactly by whom. When she asked when she was going to see me again and I told her as soon as I had a place to stay. Katie was glad to ask me to come stay with her.

After the whole Alfredo thing, Katie was lucky enough to get a job as a bartender and she took Nora in as well until she too got a job. So today I was moving out of Lucas's apartment to go stay with Katie until I could afford to pay for my own apartment once again. I was surprised that Lucas was letting me go after how much he had pretty much chained me there before. After I had finished gathering the few things I had, I decided that I was ready to go. Upon reaching the living room, all I saw was Greta and a new guy waiting there.

"Hi," I greeted as I saw them there.

"Are you ready to go now?" The guy asked me with a serious expression.

"Yeah, but uhm...where is Lucas? I thought he was going to take me." I said confused.

"Lucas is busy. He asked me to drop you off." the guy said to me.

"Oh, okay." I said a bit disappointed though I tried not to let them see that.

I didn't know why but I was feeling a bit disappointed as I was hoping I could at least see Lucas before I go. I wanted to at least get the chance to say goodbye. For the past month, I had wanted nothing more than to leave and not be anywhere near him but I was somehow hoping that he would be the one to take me to Katie's.

"So, who are you?" I asked the guy.

"Carter." he responded. "So are you ready to go or not?"

"Yeah, yeah I am. I just need to..." I trailed off as I turned to Greta. "Greta, I'm going to miss you."

She had really grown on me as I had gotten to know her and she was one of the nicest person ever. I was really going to miss her.

"Oh, I'm going to miss you too sweetie." Greta said as she gave me a hug.

"Thanks for everything that you have done for me." I told her as I wrapped my arms around her.

"You’re welcome. It wasn't any problem." she smiled at me before adding "Alright, maybe you were a lot of problem at first."

"Sorry about that." I laughed remembering the amount of trouble I gave her when Lucas brought me here at first. "Uhm...when Lucas gets back, could you tell him...you know what, never mind. "

"See you dear." Greta smiled at me.

"Yeah, bye Greta." I waved before leaving behind Carter.

The ride with Carter to Katie's apartment was silent except for the sound of navigation. After Carter had led me to his car, he had asked the address and ever since I had told him we didn't speak after that. It wasn't like I had expected us to have a conversation or anything since we didn't know each other and neither were we friends, but comparing to Jay -who Lucas had asked to watch me before -this guy was more serious and didn't seem to like small talks.

Once I reached Katie apartment complex, I grabbed my bag as I got ready to get out of the car. The silence and everything was just creeping me out. I so wanted to get away from Carter as his seriousness was just eerie. Didn't any of these guys know to smile or something?

"Thank you for the ride." I said to Carter as I went to open the door.

"Yeah sure." Carter nodded. "Before you go, Lucas wanted me to pass on a message."

"He did?" I asked surprised.

"He said to let you know that you better stay clean. Don't even think about getting hook again or involve with any drugs or drug dealers." Carter said to me.

"Of course." I said as I went to get out.

"Seriously, stay away from drugs and the temptations. You get even 1% involve or mixed up with that thing again and you automatically become a blabbering risk once again. If you get involve with drugs again, Lucas will know and he is going to come for you." Carter replied.

"Okay, I won't." I said before stepping out the car.

"You'd better not. This isn't a joke Amy; it is a warning." Carter said before speeding off.

Okay...so that was probably the most words he had said to me since we met this morning. And he knew my name? Should I say a big surprise there?

As I made my way up to Katie's apartment, I couldn't help but feeling glad at the freedom. The first thing I was going to do after I put down my bag and settled in was go visit my mom. I reached Katie's door, raised my first and started knocking. A few seconds later I heard her shouting that she was coming. The minute Katie opened the door and found me there, she dragged me inside and practically attacked me.

"Oh my god Amy!" Katie yelled as he jumped on me. "I was so worried, I thought something happened. I..."

"Katie I'm okay." I chuckled. "Though I won't be for much longer if you don't get off me."

"Oh sorry hun. I'm just so glad and excited to know that you're okay and you're here." she said as she let me go. "What happened? That guy that took you ...is he..."

"I'll answer all your questions soon Katie, just give me a minute to catch my breath." I said to her chuckling.

"Right," Katie smiled before pulling me in another hug. "I'm just so glad nothing bad happened to you."

"I know." I said to her.

"Well I'm here attacking you before I invite you in." Katie said as she took my bag from me. "Come on."

As I walked in the living room, I started to wonder if I had made the right choice coming to stay with Katie, once I saw what was on the coffee table. Carter's warning immediately started replaying in my head. These are the kinds of temptation Lucas meant.

"Uh... Katie were you doing drugs?"

After having arrived at Katie's apartment and seeing the drugs, I just couldn't relax after that. I felt really uncomfortable staying there. Even worst, when I had asked her if she was doing drugs before I got there, she had confirmed it and even offered to me. I had to fight the temptation and told her that I was now clean. She was definitely surprised to hear that coming from me. She was also curious to know what the hell they had done to me when they took me. Most of us that worked at Alfredo's club were hooked on drugs- that I know for sure. So seeing that Katie was still able to get her fix even after Alfredo was gone, that didn't surprise me. It however scared the hell out of me to think what if Lucas found out that I was staying in the heart of the drugs? He had told Carter to warn me to stay away from such things. What would happen if he found out that I'm staying in an apartment with another drug addict who is doing drugs right there?

I loved Katie; she was a great friend and I would love to help her get clean but I wasn’t sure that is something that she wanted. Katie maybe a druggie but she was what you could call a conscious drug doer. She was never far gone like I was. She could still go for a period of time without getting another fix and still be functional. While for me, I had to get a fix almost every day. I really wanted to ask Katie how the hell she was still able to find a dealer and such but I just thought it would be best if I didn't know anything or much information about it.  Sure I was now clean, sure I had gotten rid of my withdrawal symptoms and cravings but that didn't mean that I won't still get tempted. It didn't mean that I may not have a momentary relapse at some point.

A couple minutes after Katie had brought me to my room and I'd settled in, I decided to leave and go look for my mom. That was something that I have been waiting to do for a long time since I first got taken by Lucas. Now that I had the opportunity to do so and I was going to jump at it immediately. After informing Katie that I was leaving, I got a cab and that drove me straight to the nursing home where my mom was residing.

Mom was an emotional wreck when she saw me. She was crying tears of joy to think of how she was so scared that I may have been hurt when she didn't hear from me in so long. And when she was visited by this guy that told her I was with him now and that she wasn't going to see me for a while but I'd be fine as long as I did what I was told—she couldn't rest easy for weeks. She had been so worried for me and freaking out that the nurses and doctors had to keep monitoring her and trying to keep her calm in case she triggered a heart attack. She thought that I had been sold to another set of guys into another sex trafficking like before. I told her that I got freed from the drug dealer boss that my stepfather had sold me to and that was the best news mom could've gotten in years. I believe that she was happier than if she were to be told she had a proper working heart again.

Mom always apologized for what has happened to me and felt guilty about the life I had to live all because of her poor excuse of ex-husband. I had to constantly let her know that it wasn't her fault; she couldn't have known that he would have turned out like that. I told her not to worry about it anymore since it was now in the past. I planned and trying to get a job as soon as possible and I'd get her out of the homes and we get an apartment together. I spent nearly six hours there with mom until I had to leave. I was dreading going back to the apartment so I tried stalling as much as possible walking through the stores and eye shopping as well as seeing if there were any job vacancies anywhere. After a while, I took a cab back to the apartment.

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Next Day

Today I was out again seeking a job. The sooner I got a job, the sooner I could move out of Katie's apartment before more problems arise. I had fixed my hair in curls falling down my shoulders, gotten dressed in a decent jeans and a grey long sleeve shirt. I did a soft and natural makeup and added a necklace and some stud earrings. I believe that this was the best that I've looked in weeks. And I needed to look good and decent if I were to go job hunting.

I had already been to three fast food restaurants and still I couldn't be sure I would get a job. Every one of them had the same thing to say 'we aren't looking for workers at the moment sorry' or 'You don't have any experience in working at a restaurant'.

Katie worked at a 24 hours’ bar so she had gone to work this morning. She had told me to let her know if I had any luck but so far, I had none. I wasn't done job hunting for the day though, I was still going to go other places to see if any help was needed anywhere. I didn't miss working at Lollipop Tease any at all - being there made me felt cheap, disgusting and dirty- but at least then I was sure of a small paycheck as well as other provisions made by Alfredo-like paying for the apartment I lived in.

I went to at least four stores and three more restaurants but still nothing was confirmed. I had two persons told me that they would get back to me if anything. Since I didn't have a phone at the moment, I had given them Katie's number to contact. I was going to need to get myself a cellphone.

When it was four fifty-five pm, I decided to head back to the apartment. I was exhausted and hungry and downright fed up with this whole job hunting. I spent almost the entire day out. I went to several establishments and still no luck. The fact that I didn't have any qualifications or fancy degrees makes this thing a whole lot harder. Even my work experience was a bit low, I couldn't exactly write that I worked at a strip/sex club as a work experience. After taking cab back home, I went straight up to the apartment and collapsed on the couch.

"Hey, how did it go sweetie?" I heard Katie's voice which frightened me.

"Ahh!!' I screamed as I jumped with my hand over me heart. " Katie you scared me, I didn't expect you to be home."

"Sorry, I got off early today. Let Ashley took the rest of my shift. She owes me a favor anyway." Katie said as she came in with a plate with pizza and a glass of coke. "How did the job hunting go?"

"Didn't have much luck." I sighed. "I guess I'll have to go out and try again tomorrow."

"I have an idea," Katie said as she came and sat beside me. "I know you don't particular like the club scene and all after everything but how would you feel about working at the club where I work? I could talk to my boss and see what he could do for you. Maybe you could be one of the waitresses or something?"

"Uhm... I guess I'd appreciate that." I said to her.

A club would've been the last place I would think to want to work again but right now I was desperately in need of a job.

"Thanks Katie, I guess I'd go for it if I got the chance."

"I'll called George later." Katie smiled. "I'm sure he could work something out for you."

"Well, I'd be appreciative if he could." I said before snatching the slice of pizza from her plate.

"Hey! That's mine!" Katie protested.

"Sorry hun, not anymore I'm starving." I said as I took a bite from the pizza.

"You know I may really reconsider talking to George for you." Katie said glaring at me playfully before getting up. "I'm going to get another slice."

"Just bring the box and another coke!" I yelled after her.

"I'm not your maid you know Ames!" Katie yelled back causing me to chuckle.

Moments like this just makes me think that maybe living with Katie won't be so bad. As long as I keep strong and stay away from the drugs. And as long as Lucas didn't find out about this, then everything should be fine.