City of Sin Read online

  “Really? How old are you?”

  “I’m only twenty four. Plenty of time to find ‘the one’?”

  “Why did you use air quotes then? Don’t you believe in the one?”

  I sigh loudly. “I don’t know. I don’t think I do anymore.”

  “Ah.” He leans on the desk. “So you did once but you got your heart broken?”

  I glance behind him. “There’s actually a big queue, sir, so I need to move on.”

  “You shouldn’t shy away from love just because you’ve been hurt. We all go through it. I didn’t think I would ever let anyone in again after my fist love, Tracey, broke up with me. I vowed to only fuck and chuck.” I blanche at his vulgar wording. “But then my sweet little Viv came along and changed everything. Now, I’m head over heels and about to get hitched to the most incredible woman alive.”

  “Well… that’s a real nice story, but I need to move on.”

  “Tell me about your heart break. Maybe I can help you to get over it.”

  “I don’t think that’s very professional. I am at work after all.”

  “Oh, these people don’t mind. We all want to help you.”

  My irritation grows by the second. I don’t like sharing personal details with the people I’m close to, it takes me very long time to feel comfortable. No way I’m going to start spilling my guts to people I don’t know. I’m not one for having the spot light on me at the best of times, never mind for this topic.

  “No, I really don’t think I should. My boss won’t be pleased…”

  “Wow, you are uptight, aren’t you?” He rolls his eyes. “Can I just have my money then?”

  This is one of the things I really don’t like about my job. Most of the time it’s dull, then when it’s interesting it isn’t ever interesting in a good way. It’s something like this… but I suppose this isn’t too bad when I consider it could be a shooting. We have to be trained for an armed robbery on day one which isn’t a good start.

  When I did my art course in college, I thought I was going to spend my entire life as a creative. I was young and naïve enough to believe that having a talent would get me far. Now, I know that’s truly naïve. The world doesn’t care what you can do, it just wants you to be another cog in the machine.

  I’m not an artist, traveling around Paris and other amazing cities, I’m working in a job that requires a solid knowledge of numbers in which I could be shot at any moment. Perfect.

  “I hate guys like that,” the next woman who comes to my desk commands. “So arrogant. Like you should have to tell him your life story just because he asked? I don’t think so somehow.”

  I laugh gratefully. “Yeah, I know. I can’t spill my guts while at work anyway…”

  The rest of the day rolls on in it’s normal boring way, but that guy has gotten under my skin. Or maybe it isn’t just him, perhaps it’s this whole marathon thing as well. During the process of purging the past a lot of it is coming up again, reminding me of what life used to be like.

  I met Wesley while in college and was immediately attracted to him. He was smooth then and very cool, which for an awkward girl like me was impossible to resist. His confidence drew me in and wouldn’t let me go. I was in awe of him, completely enraptured by him, which only intensified when he started showing affection back.

  He was charming. Too charming. Looking back with hindsight I can see it was all to trap me. He was overly romantic, buying me expensive gifts, taking me out on posh dates, always showing me off, making the rest of the world see him as the most perfect boyfriend in the whole world. I thought he was too.

  Then, the odd little confidence knocking comment would come, but disguised as help so I couldn’t see it for what it truly was. I was so much in love with him then that I would have forgiven whatever anyway.

  “I don’t really like that dress on you… it makes you look a bit round. I just don’t want you to look silly.”

  “You don’t need that red lipstick, it makes you look clown like. I just don’t want people to laugh.”

  “You shouldn’t be friends with that girl, she bitches about you behind your back. I just don’t want people being nasty to the woman that I love. I’m only trying to help.”

  I just don’t want… those famous words that I heard all the time, slowly convincing me that he was the only person in the world who had my best interests at heart. The only person he couldn’t ever tear me away from was Kayleigh, which I know annoyed him, but she was the only person I managed to cling onto.

  Then the comments got worse, and more regular. He helped me to lose confidence in my art which was only highlighted by the fact that no one wanted to buy my work, it was a nightmare. But I put up with it all. Even the time he shoved me and I hit my head on the dining room table. I took everything, even his lack of interest in my heart ache when my mother was dying. I might have even taken the cheating if it hadn’t been during such a hard time. In a sick way, it all turned out okay in the end.

  I’m over him, I haven’t wanted him back from the moment he left my life, I know that I’m a million times better off without him, but still I remain frozen.

  Or at least I did until Noah.

  Wow, Noah from the gym. Owner of the gym actually. He is something else. He reminds me that life can have excitement if I look for it. After everything that I’ve been through I think I need an injection of excitement. Not the marathon, something real. An exciting new job offer, a fun, fling, a nice holiday... just something.

  Actually, right now out of the three I’d like the fling. I want my body brought back to life again. It’s been dormant for far too long, on lock down. I want it back. Noah gave me butterflies, he stirred my organs, gave me a sneak peek… if only I could get more from him.

  But a gorgeous man like that wouldn’t be interested in someone like me. Not really. I’m a nobody. There isn’t anything special about me. I suppose it’s nice to think about though.

  “Are you okay, Mia?” my colleague, Vicki, asks. “You seem all day dreamy?”

  “Yeah, I’m okay.” I shake my head and bring myself into the present moment. “Just one of those days where I’d rather be anywhere else in the world but here.”

  “I have that every day. Thank goodness I’m moving soon and I can get away. Do you want to grab a drink?”

  The word ‘yes’ rolls on the tip of my tongue. Usually I love the after work drinks, it’s a good way to chill out after a long and shitty day, which today has definitely been, but there’s somewhere else I need to be tonight.

  “Actually, I’m marathon training,” I tell her with a grin. “And I don’t have long to get in shape so I need to hit the gym.”

  “Wow, that’s impressive. I’ve always wanted to run a marathon. Are you fundraising?”

  “Yes, for a Cancer charity.”

  “Oh, right, because of your mom. Well, since I’m nowhere near ready to run a marathon, I’ll sponsor yours.”

  “Thank you very much. I’ll bring in all the sponsorship stuff soon.”

  I actually feel kinda proud as she walks off. That took some strength from me then, but it’s all for a good cause. I really should lay off everything that’s bad for me if I want to succeed in this run, and I wouldn’t mind going to the gym again to see if Noah is there. Even if it’s just to add to the fantasy.

  I grab out my cell phone and call Kayleigh.

  “Hey, girl, how are you? I have just had the worst day at the salon. Honestly, the things these rich people think it’s okay to ask you to do is ridiculous. I want to quit some days.”

  “Yeah, I bet.” I know she won’t, she loves her job really. “You up to much?”

  “Nah, not really. How are you doing?”

  “I’m good thanks, Kayleigh, just wondered if you wanted to work out? I had a bit of a shitty day at work too, which I will tell you about when I see you… if I see you.”

  There’s a little pause while she drinks in this question. Clearly, she wasn’t expecting it from me.
I suppose I wasn’t exactly enthusiastic when she suggested the marathon. I try not to get sucked in to why that’s changed.

  “Oh wow, you really are getting into the swing of this. It’s nice to see you so passionate.”

  “Well, you were right. It is time to purge the past. I even got some new running gear.”

  Admittedly, I had Noah in mind when I purchased it, but only in a fantasy, wouldn’t it be cool if he fancied me, kind of way, not in a creepy obsessed way.

  “Now that I want to see. I can do an hour in the gym tonight?”

  An hour won’t be long enough for me, but as long as Kayleigh is there in the start that’s all I need.

  “An hour is awesome; shall we head over now?”

  “I just need to pop home and grab my stuff, but I’ll probably still beat you there.”

  I’ll make sure she does. “Fab, see you in a bit then.”

  All of a sudden, the bad day doesn’t feel quite so terrible after all. Even the guy who was pressuring me for information about my life this morning doesn’t weigh so heavily on me. None of that really matters when I can go and sweat out al my annoyance in the gym… while ogling over someone sexy as hell.

  I have that weird out of control sensation like when I had crushes back in school. I know I can’t do anything about how the other person feels but I just want to swim in the anticipation for a while. I’m pretty certain my bubble will burst, but I’m okay to just go along for the ride for a while.

  Maybe that’s why I like it so much. It’s a safe crush, I can’t get my heart broken, because I know nothing can happen. Not only am I nowhere near good enough for him, but he wouldn’t come near me anyway. I’m a customer of his now. It’s unethical. Taboo…

  Oh God, somehow that makes it even hotter. I can feel a heat creeping through me, threatening to implode.

  “I’m going to end up in trouble,” I mutter as a warning to myself. “There’s no way this can end well.”

  But the excited anticipation doesn’t go anywhere. As I grab my bag with my brand new work out outfit in it, all I can think about is his eyes lighting up when he sees me.

  5

  Noah

  Oh God… there she is again.

  My heart pounds violently in my chest as I see her, on the cycles this time, looking like she’s in a competition with her friend. Her head tosses back with laughter and the sweat covers her, she’s giving it everything and that ignites the deep fire inside of me again. I can’t run off to my office every time she’s here…

  “Oh wow,” Foster murmurs to me with a chuckle. “You really do get some hotties during the day shift too.”

  I watch as my night staff manager pushes past me to start working out. Instead of aiming for the weights like he does normally, he jumps on the bikes and begins flirting with Mia and her friend, killing me.

  What the hell is wrong with me? I shake my head. Who the hell cares?

  I know I could go out tonight and find some woman to hook up with. In fact, I might just do that to take my mind off everything, I know that Jenny will work the night shift for extra pay, she’s awesome like that. But who can I call? Who do I want to hang out with? I lost a lot of friends when Hayley left me, she spent a long time spinning lies that I’m a bad person to ensure she’s seen as the good one and I guess those people also think that I’m the one keeping her away from her son rather than her just not caring…

  But I still have Trent.

  Trent is someone I met years ago on a random night out. He spilled a drink all over my shoes by mistake then braced himself, preparing for a fight. I don’t think he was expecting me to laugh at the time, but I’ve never been the sort of person to get pissy about that sort of thing. We had a good chuckle about it and hung out all night.

  Surprisingly, that friendship progressed into something real and now we still hang out all the time. He was there with the rise of my business, through all of my successes, and he’s been there during my dark times too. He knew what Hayley was like. Apparently, he tried to warn me a lot in the beginning but I didn’t want to hear it, so he wasn’t one to hear all her lies.

  He was the shoulder I cried on, and because of that he’s always been my friend.

  I turn my back on the gym, Mia included, and I find a private spot to call him.

  “Hey, Noah, how’s it going?” Noise flooded from the background. “It’s been too long, my friend.”

  I scan my brain, trying to figure out where he might be right now. I know he has a crazy schedule, he’s always traveling the country, but right now I honestly cannot recall.

  “Good thanks, how are you? You in Vegas at the moment?”

  “New York at the moment.” My heart sinks. “But I’m back on Friday. You up for a night out?”

  I can wait until Friday. That’s only a couple of days away. “Yeah. Sounds awesome. I’ll sort out babysitting.”

  “Awesome. I have loads to tell you. How are things with… you know who?”

  “Urgh.” I roll my eyes. “You don’t want to know. She’s on my case for cash now.”

  “She really doesn’t have any shame, does she?”

  “Nope.” I laugh because I don’t want to get all worked up again. “Hopefully she’ll get the hint soon.”

  “Yeah, I don’t know about that. But you can tell me all about it Friday.”

  As I hang up the phone, another idea comes to mind. I know that originally I considered Jenny for babysitting duty, but now I have another idea that might work out even better.

  Noah: Hey, Mom, I have a favor to ask?

  Mom: Of course you can,

  Noah: When we come to dinner on Friday, would it be okay for Alex to sleep at yours? Trent is back in town and he wanted to hang out for the night.

  Mom: You know I would love nothing more. I’ll start getting his room ready now.

  Noah: Thanks, Mom. Love you.

  I smile to myself, glad this has all worked out. I need something else to look forward to. Trent is a play boy too, nowhere near ready to settle down, so we can go on the prowl together. It was last month I last bedded a woman so perhaps that’s why I’m going all gaga over Mia. It’s just because I want someone.

  But as I head back out to the gym again and I see her beautiful smile, my heart continues to flutter…

  * * *

  The afternoon rolls into evening and the crowd thins out. Dinner time is one of the quietest times of the day, in between the day time and night time crowd, so I always send my day staff home then when I’m working. I don’t mind doing it by myself. It usually gives me time to work out anyway.

  “…you aren’t coming?” I hear the blonde ask Mia. “You’re really staying?”

  “I am.” She nods determinedly. “I feel like I just need a little longer.”

  “It’s just so weird to see you taking this so seriously. I never thought this would happen.”

  “Yeah, well, you were right, I like it, okay?”

  The blonde, Kayleigh, I think her name might be. I can barely remember anything other than Mia’s face on that initial meeting, skips off to the changing room, leaving Mia by herself. She smiles to herself and heads straight for the treadmill, looking like sex on legs as she hops up onto the machine with ease.

  I gulp down, all of a sudden feeling a thickness to the air, but I don’t let that stop me acting like normal. I’ll be getting her out of my system soon enough anyway. I jump onto the Leg Press and focus on working my leg muscles hard. I slide my eyes closed and focus only on the physical sensations, losing myself…

  Or at least, I try to. But I can’t seem to shake her off. I can feel her thickly.

  With a deep sigh, I give up trying to distract myself and I climb off the machine. With my hands on my hips, I survey the place to see that it’s completely empty. There’s only me and her. Since I’m trying to keep away from the pure temptation that is her, this is an absolute nightmare of a situation.

  “Are you okay?” she asks me in a soft tone. “You loo
k… confused.”

  She uses her towel to wipe her face clean then sips from her water bottle. A droplet of sweat makes its way down from her throat to the neck line of her top, undoubtably heading towards those incredible breasts of hers…

  “Do you want a drink?” I ask abruptly, to chance the subject, even though I haven’t answered her.

  “Oh, I didn’t know you did drinks here aside from the vending machine…”

  “I have drinks. I have my own private stash if you want one?”

  Her face breaks into a beaming grin. “Sounds awesome. Thank you.”

  I head behind the reception desk and pull out the bottle of juice. As I pour us both a cup I can’t help but wonder why this feels far more inappropriate than it should? It’s just juice!

  “So, you own this place, huh?”

  I cringe, recalling the way I babbled desperately at her on our first meeting. I’m never like that, I’m usually so smooth and cool. I barely need to say anything at all. I don’t know why I crumbled so bad.

  “I do, yeah. I love fitness so it was the perfect business plan for me.”

  She sighs, a little sadly. “It’s nice to see that you’ve achieved your dream.”

  “You haven’t?”

  “No. But my dream is an impossible one. I love art.”

  “You do?” I cock an eyebrow in surprise. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

  “What did you think I would say?”

  “Someone as beautiful as you?” Uh oh, the flirting charm has turned on and I don’t know how to switch it off. “I would assume that you’d want to be a model.”

  She blushes all the way from her toes to her head, it’s adorable. “Oh no way, I hate photographs of myself. I also don’t like being the center of attention so I wouldn’t be any good at it.”

  “I would buy whatever you were selling… so, what do you do?”

  “I work in a bank.” Her face hardens. “I hate it. I wish I didn’t have to do it.”

  I glance around the gym, an idea coming to mind… and not just because I’m so freaking attracted to her. “You know, it’s quite dull in here. I would love some art pieces to fill the walls.”