Chapter 1
The young woman scrolled through her e-mail. Her high from earlier that day was fading with the light in the sky. Her motivation to focus on her next essay was beginning to slip, and she had already begun procrastinating. Erina huffed under her breath, tucking a strand of brown short, choppy hair behind her ear. She needed to get back to work, before she had to go to work. Her professor has commented positively on her previous paper. She picked up her essay and grinned at the wonderful, yet simple letters scribbled in the corner in bright red ink. "Has promise". The girl had skipped across campus once she had seen it. Her professor thought she had promise!
Unfortunately, her spirits were once again dampened when she noticed the pile of bills her roommate had left on her desk. Student loans. Book fees. Housing payments. Why did university have to be so expensive? Speaking of which, what time what it? Oh, no.
The nineteen-year-old jumped from her seat, knocking over her desk chair in her haste. Hopefully she hadn't alerted her roommate with her clumsiness. She spent a minute or two rummaging through her closet for the bright blue dress she had to wear to work that night. After she had slipped it on and thrown her black coat over it, she poked around under the bunk bed for a pair of heels. "Well, I'm heading off to work, Temari," she called into the sitting room, where the older girl was also studying.
"Heading to work?" Gaara questioned from his seat on the couch as he raised a nonexistent eyebrow. Erina felt herself jump when he spoke. She had been so immersed in her studies that she hadn't heard him come in. Or Gaara had just been his usual quiet self. In all honesty, she shouldn't have been surprised.
The red head spent more time in their dorm than in his. He said Kankuro's friends were far too noisy for his tastes, so he usually occupied the couch in her and Temari's dorm room. Erina didn't mind, though. Although some people found him to be a creepy, she rather enjoyed his company. He never tried to break the silence with useless small talk, and any conversation they had was interesting. (The conversation about the tattoo on his forehead was a particularly memorable one.) And he certainly never tried to drag her off to crazy, alcohol drenched parties like some of the other boys knew. She considered him to one of her closest friends.
His black make-up covered, sea foam eyes darted to the clock on his laptop in confusion, or at least what Erina recognized to be confusion. Gaara was so stone faced all the time he was hard to read. "It's almost seven," he stated.
Temari looked up at her from her desk to make eye contact with her before she shook her head. "I can't believe they make you work so late," the blond girl commented, highlighting another note in her textbook. Of course, Temari didn't know who "they" were, but that was fine with her. What Erina loved about Temari was that she was always concerned about her, but not enough to pry into her business. As a girl who had two brothers, Temari knew all about the need for privacy. "Do you need Gaara to walk you?"
Gaara didn't say anything, but Erina guessed he was annoyed that his sister had volunteered him for something. She shook her head as he started to grab his things. "It's okay, Gaara. I'll be fine," she stammered quickly, picking up her purse by the front door. "I'll be back later tonight," she called from the doorway. Temari gestured a goodbye wave, but was too focused on her studies to really notice her leaving. Her little brother made a similar gesture, his hands busy text from the cell phone he had pulled out of the pockets of his black jeans.
In all honesty, she hated walking down the city streets by herself, especially this late in the evening. Part of her wished she had taken Temari up on her offer to have Gaara walk her; no one would even think about bothering her if he was with her, she mused. But she'd just have to grit her teeth and bare it. She certainly didn't want any of her friends finding out where she worked. Finally, she reached her destination, gazing up at the sign that hung above the building. "Club Ainosu" glowed in red and white letters above her head. One of her co-workers glared at her when she burst through the back door.
"I know, I know," she sighed as she hung her coat on a hanger next to the door. Erina looked at the digital clock hanging on the wall. "But I'm not late!" The auburn haired woman flipped her girl dramatically over her shoulder and stomped off, her heels clacking against the tile floors. She was off to tell their manager.
But Erina didn't have time to dwell on that now. She had to hurry up and get ready. There was only five minutes left until the club opened. The brunette bolted for the dressing room, digging through the drawers of make-up at the station she shared with another girl. Finally she found a shade of blue eye shadow she thought would go well with her outfit.
"No! You shouldn't wear that color with that dress!" Her only friend at work, Rei, or at least that was the only name she knew her by, jerked the make-up brush from her hand. The black haired woman spun her around and proceeded to do her make up for her. "Honestly, Mika, do you want to look like a clown?"
"O-Of course not," Erina, or "Mika", mumbled. After all her time working there she still wasn't great with the whole make up thing. Rei always had to make sure her face looked perfect. She felt the chair spin again a few moments later, facing her toward the mirror. When Erina opened her eyes, she found her eyes dusted with a light gold, making the tiny gold flakes in her brown eyes really pop. Her pale pink lips were now a glossy nude. This was the one part she really hated about her job. She could never recognize herself.
Rei hugged her around the shoulders, grinning at their reflection. Rei was much prettier than Erina could ever be. With her "hime-cut" raven hair, and gorgeous dark eyes to match, she had what people could only describe as a natural beauty. She was one of the most popular girls at the club, and everyone who knew her knew her personality even outshone her outer-beauty. Erina considered herself lucky that Rei had taken her under her wing. "Now, give us a big smile, Mika! Be your bubbly self, and get some clients!"
Erina put on the best smile she could, and she swore it was only half-forced. She straightened herself up and made her way to greet the customers, blatantly ignoring Rei's suggestion to adjust her dress to show a little more cleavage.
Such was the difficult life of a hostess.
