The Red Lounge

Prologue

I sighed in annoyance as I scraped the filet mignon into the trash can.

I'm underpaid and struggling to pay my tuition and these obnoxious millionaires roll up here in their fancy BMW's and Audi's, order half of the damn menu, and throw it all away. I get it, they aren't here to eat, they're here for the view and I dont blame them, but they could at least not waste the food.

"I'm tired of this girl," Ronny yelled as he stormed into the kitchen. "This is the third time she has cancelled this month."

Paulina strutted behind him. She was model material and I envied her confidence. She always seemed like she was ready to walk down the runway.

"I mean, she has food poisoning. You can't really blame her for that," she said as she shrugged.

Chanel opened the kitchen door and peeked her head in. "I don't see Natalia. She's on in 10 minutes."

"She's not coming," Ronny growled.

Chanel's eyes widened with panick. "There's no one else that can take her place and I can't stick around, I have a date."

Ronny waved her off and shook his head.

"I'll take another shift," Paulina offered.

"Its fine, you're always working your ass." He chuckled at his pun for a second and then his face morphed back to anger.

The room was filled with tension and it made me a bit anxious. I carefully stacked the white plates on top of each other, trying not to make much noise since Ronny was already pissed off.

Unfortunately, I turned around too quickly and accidentally knocked a plate down causing it to shatter and snap Ronny back to reality.

"You!" He glared.

I placed my hands up. "I'm sorry!" I yelped.

"Carissa, you're going to dance tonight. I have no option and you have no choice," he stated.

A wave emotion came over me. What was this man thinking? He would be breaking the law and making me look like a fool out there. I couldn't compete with his girls. I didn't posses the 'oompf' they had. "I'm not even 18 yet and I told you several times, it's Morena!"

He took a key out of his back pocket that had a red leather tag on it. "Well, tonight you're Carissa. Its showtime."