Fever
Disclaimer: I do not own rights to the song 'Fever', I am merely borrowing the lyrics for this story.
"You give me fever,"
The words came out in a low seductive whisper and I couldn't help the smirk that pulled the corner of my lips up. The lights that were directed on me were dimmed low and added on to the seductiveness that made our cabaret one of the most popular on Bourbon Street. We'd opened up about twelve years ago but it wasn't until about 4 months ago that we began to actually have a crowd come in and it was all because of him. I didn't know his name and I'd never had the honor of meeting this man but I had seen him occasionally and how all of the females that either worked at the cabaret or were what we called stragglers all flocked around him. Rumor had it that he was good looking and a master at card games but I had no evidence to back it up. I was mainly on the stage most of my work hours and when I wasn't on the stage I was backstage preparing myself for another go onstage.
When I'd come to work at this cabaret at the age of eighteen our boss had deemed me too precious to waste on socializing once she'd found out I could sing. Since then I'd been up on the stage and the only time I would be around our customers was when I was changing shifts or coming to collect my check on an off-day. That was about it and it was the way that I liked it -- despite the fact that I hadn't met the popular mystery man yet. And whilst usually a person would have gone out of their way to at least catch one glimpse of someone like him, I'd decided long ago that it was in my best interest for me to stay as far away from attractive men as possible. When I had first been hired I'd had a high wall built up in between my real life and my work life from the start. I already knew what would happen if someone found out who I really was -- what I was really capable of -- and I wasn't willing to take the chance of my secret being revealed.
I was a mutant. And, in our day and age it was best for me to keep that small little detail on the down low and away from potentially prying ears.
"Fever in the morning and fever when it's late at night." I ignored all the stares that were on me and continued to keep my gaze glued to the ground. I'd learned a little trick on the first night that I was performing and that was that our stage was propped up a hell of a lot taller than the ground. And because of that, even though I was technically looking almost directly at the ground and not a person in particular -- because of the height difference it made it look like I was. I'd never admit it aloud but I'd always found it uncomfortable when people to stared at me. It was almost a pet peeve if you will -- I didn't mind if it was a person or two but a whole crowd of people was almost unnerving. "You give me fever. Fever when you kiss me and fever when you hold me tight."
But this particular night I was staring harder at the ground more than usual. The same practiced and sensually sexy look was still on my face -- I could probably keep it maintained in my sleep I'd done it so many times -- but on the inside I was panicked and jumpy. There was this gaze on me, and it wasn't the normal gaze either. It was a look that felt scorching and familiar. And when you had a past like mine, familiar was never a good thing.
I'd had a feeling at the time that the night had only begun and that things were about to change.