Chapter II: Good Mornings

Alexandria Forrester lay quietly in her bed. She could hear her father moving around just outside her door, but she didn't want to let him know that she was awake already. It was better to let him make his preparations undisturbed.

She knew exactly what he was doing. First, he was arranging the presents underneath the Christmas tree in the living room. Then, he was filling their Christmas stockings with tiny gifts. And finally she could hear him going out on the deck to make Santa's footprints (yes, footprints!) by the jacuzzi.

Of course, Alexandria had stopped believing in Santa Claus many years ago, and her father knew it. But it was a silent agreement between the two of them that he would keep making these little arrangements, and that she would keep acting amazed and thrilled every Christmas morning when she saw them. Maybe it was a bit silly - after all, Alexandria was not that little anymore, nearly a teenager in fact, but Thorne felt that there was no need for her to grow up faster than she had to. They had had enough of that in the family, he thought. All these kids, barely out of high school, getting married, getting pregnant… Thorne was determined to let his daughter stay a child for as long as she liked. She had already tragically missed out on what most children take for granted: a mother. He wanted to make sure that the rest of her childhood was not lost.

"Ally, honey, you are not going to believe what Santa brought this year!"

It was the call Alexandria had been waiting for. She jumped out of bed, opened the door and ran into the living room. Thorne was standing there with a silly grin on his face. There was a mountain of presents underneath the Christmas tree. Alexandria dived onto the floor to retrieve them.

"Good morning, father! Oh, good morning, my darling daughter! Merry Christmas, father! Well, a very Merry Christmas to you too, dear! I'm just going to stand right here while you open all those gifts, so let me know if you need anything…" Thorne teased, carrying on the imagined conversation with his ungrateful daughter.

"Dad, stop!" Alexandria giggled. "You know, a girl has got to have her priorities straight!"

"Of course, of course", Thorne agreed with mock resignation in his voice.

Alexandria laughed.

"I love you, Dad", she said. "Sorry I got a little carried away. Wow, is that really…?"

She had started unwrapping the biggest present. It was an electric keyboard.

"That is so cool!" Alexandria enthused. "Will you teach me how to play?"

"What makes you think I can play that thing?" Thorne said, smiling.

"Well, you're my father, aren't you? That means you're supposed to be a genius, a super hero and a rock star, all rolled into one!"

"Who told you that, Ally?"

"You did!"

Alexandria continued opening her presents, and Thorne watched her, now and then throwing in some humorous remark which his daughter answered in kind. All things considered, it was really a very pleasant Christmas morning.

Then the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Alexandria cried, jumping to her feet.

She opened the door and found Taylor standing there, carrying a bag of presents. Alexandria's demeanor underwent a sudden dramatic change.

"Dad, it's for you", she said coldly, returning to her room and closing the door behind her. Taylor was left standing in the doorway, disappointed and hurt. Thorne went up to her and embraced her warmly.

"Honey, it's all right", he said soothingly. "She'll come around. You'll see."

"Will she?" Taylor asked. "Will she really?"


Upon awakening on Christmas morning, Laura was surprised to find that she had actually slept. She had stayed up late the night before, thinking about the surprising and quite frightening turn her life had taken over the past 24 hours.

Yesterday, she had finally decided to leave her foster parents' home for good. After roaming the streets for a few hours, she had found this seedy looking night club, where she had subsequently found a job as a…

"Waitress", she told herself. "I am a waitress."

But it was not her qualifications as a waitress that Luigi had checked last night.

"I am still better off", she told herself, trying to shake the feeling of disgust. "I have a job. I have a roof over my head."

Because, finding out that she had nowhere to go, Luigi had kindly offered her a small room in a corridor directly above the nightclub. She had accepted, on the condition that the room had a door that could be locked from the inside. And somehow, after a few sleepless hours spent pacing the floor, she had gone to bed, exhausted.

What woke her up this morning (was it even morning? Judging by the sun shining brightly through the only window, it must be close to midday) was a timid knock on the door. When Laura didn't answer immediately, the knock was repeated, this time a little stronger.

"Who is it?" Laura replied.

"I'm Barbara" a tentative female voice answered from behind the door. "I live just across the corridor. With… with Luigi."

Laura hesitated. This woman was Luigi's…what? Roommate? Wife? Mistress? Did she have any idea what he had done last night? Would she be upset if she found out? Slowly, Laura rose and unlocked the door. A thin middle-aged woman with weary eyes was standing there carrying a breakfast tray.

"Oh", she said as her eyes met Laura's. "You are young."

There was a moment's awkward silence. Then Barbara continued:

"May I come in? I brought some breakfast. I thought we might talk."

Laura took a step back and let the woman enter. She was still in her nightgown, which she had covered with a dirty brown robe. Looking around for a chair but finding none, she sat down on the bed and put the tray beside her.

"Luigi told me you came yesterday looking for a job", Barbara said.

Laura simply nodded, not really knowing what to answer.

"I wish I had seen you then", Barbara continued. "I would have told you to leave. I'd have told you this is not a good place."

"The waitress said the same thing to me last night", Laura admitted.

"So why are you still here?" Barbara asked, sadly. "By now, you must know what kind of establishment this is. Who Luigi is and what he does."

Laura looked up, surprised. The other woman nodded. It was evident that she was not only aware of what had happened with Luigi the night before, but used to it.

"I have seen it happen many times", Barbara said. "Every time a new girl comes here, it's a tragedy. But I've learned not to get involved. Luigi doesn't like it when I interfere in his… his business."

She pronounced the last word with bitter irony. Then, after a short pause, she continued, looking firmly into Laura's eyes:

"But you are simply too young. I won't have it! I can't just sit back and let you ruin your life like this."

"How do you know my life isn't ruined already?" Laura scoffed. "Besides, if this place is so horrible, if Luigi is such a bad guy, why don't you leave yourself?"

"It's different", Barbara said quietly. "I have nowhere else to go. He is all I have. And this is the only life I know."

"So", Laura said nervously, "do you work as a… I mean, are you a…?"

Barbara shook her head.

"No", she replied. "There was never any question of that. I guess in a way Luigi thinks of me as his personal possession and doesn't like the idea of sharing me. No, I usually just perform with the band. Sometimes I help out in the bar as well. I only wish I had spotted you last night so I could have prevented…"

"Listen, Barbara", Laura interrupted, "I really don't have anywhere else to go. And whether you believe it or not, this is actually no worse than the life I had before I came here. So you really can't do anything to help me."

Thinking it over, Laura thought her words might have come across as a bit more brusque than she had intended. So she added:

"I appreciate your concern, though. So thanks for trying."

Barbara smiled.

"And I'm gonna keep trying", she said. "You deserve better than this. What's your name, by the way? Oh, never mind, don't answer that. Nobody here goes by their real name anyway."

"I told them to call me Laura", Laura said.

"Okay", Barbara nodded, rising from the bed. "Laura. It has been nice meeting you. I'd better get dressed, so I'll leave you alone for now. Let me know if you need anything."

"I will", Laura replied. "Thanks for the breakfast, by the way!"

But the woman had already left.