One Night Only

LILLIE

It’s been two weeks since that incident, where that perverted guy abducted me against my will to take me to that hotel. Julie told me he was a well-known and extremely dangerous mobster, they call him the Devil, and it’s very difficult to escape from him. If I plan to run, he’ll find me. I’ve been living in fear for days. Nevertheless, I haven’t stopped going to university. I can’t afford to miss it, as we’re in the last semester of the second year. During this time, I’ve stopped going to the club. Julie sent people to look for me to come back to work, but I refused until they stopped insisting. My fear is too great, and I still don’t have the courage to return.

That’s what I thought until two days ago when my mother had a severe relapse. When I took her to the hospital, they admitted her because the doctors said it’s necessary to conduct tests to monitor any issues she may have. Right now, my sister and I are in the waiting room, waiting for my mother’s personal doctor to come out and give us all the information he has about her.

I go to get some coffee because we’ve been waiting for any news about my mother since early yesterday. We haven’t even been able to sleep. They will tell us what’s happening with her. I reach where my sister is. She’s talking to the doctor. I think he’s informing her about the situation. When I approach, she says goodbye to the gentleman, turns around, and hugs me suddenly.

“What did he tell you?” I ask quickly.

I feel her trembling. She rests her head on my shoulder and sobs. She pulls away from me a bit and wipes away a few tears that had fallen.

“Mom is very ill,” she stammers.

I shake my head, walk to the nearest chair, and slump into it.

“No, she was fine.”

“Lillie,” she approaches me, crouches down, and takes my face in her hands, “we need to be strong for her.”

“But what does that mean? She… she…” I can’t speak. “Is she going to die?” I can finally say it. I feel my eyes moistening and tears streaming down my cheeks one by one.

“If we don’t do anything, I’m afraid it might happen.”

“How? Are you telling me there’s still a chance she can be saved?” I ask hopefully.

“Yes, that’s what the doctor told me, that there’s still a way to keep her going. It’s through a surgery to remove her breast, but I don’t know if Mom will want to go through that procedure. Even if she agrees to have it done, I don’t think we can afford it. The treatment that comes after the operation for recovery is very expensive. It will be even harder to come up with the money now that you’ve just lost your job.”

She takes a seat beside me and sighs.

She’s right. I quit my job without thinking about the consequences it would bring to my family because I was only thinking about myself. It affected them a bit not having my income for these two weeks. That money was very helpful at home. Even so, as Alex said, it won’t be enough to pay for it if it’s too expensive because we can barely cover the medications, my university tuition, and the treatments with just my salary. My sister takes care of the household expenses. I think I have to go back to work. I’ll see if they can give me a loan or an advance. I hope Mika helps me, even though I ignored her these two weeks, and she might be upset with me. Still, I have nothing to lose by finding out.

“How much exactly is needed for the surgery and treatment?”

“$100, 000,” she replies.

It’s a lot of money. It will take me years to save up dancing at the club, but if I can make a deal with Julie, maybe I can get it.

I bid farewell to my sister. I told her I’ll go talk to my boss to see if I can get my job back and if I can also secure something extra. I let her know that if I’m available earlier, I’ll come back with some food and a change of clean clothes so she can change. I leave almost running to go straight to the club and arrive early. It’s not open yet. The only people in the place are the guards and, of course, Julie, because she arrives after noon to make sure everything is ready for the night. I reach the office and knock three times.

“Come in.”

I enter.

I had no problem getting through the guards. Apparently, they were still expecting me.

Julie is sitting at her desk, organizing some documents. I stop in my tracks when I notice she’s not alone. A man in a suit, very elegant and somewhat older, around sixty, slightly gray, robust, and very tall, accompanies her. He stands up when he sees me.

“Lillie!” Julie says when she sees me. “I knew you’d come back.”

I wrinkle my nose, as she got her way again.

“Can we talk, privately?”

I glance at the man who is still standing. He kept observing me.

She nods and approaches the guy to hug him and say goodbye.

“It was nice to see you again, Edgardo. I hope you come back soon to have that whiskey together that we have pending.” She winks at him and then gives him a delicate kiss on the lips.

He responds by hugging her.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

I look away to give them some privacy. Maybe he’s her lover. Well, many here talk about it, but since I don’t like gossip, I just ignore it. It’s none of my business.

After their affectionate farewell, the man leaves and bids me farewell as if he knew me.

“A pleasure, miss. Have an excellent day,” he says very politely and chivalrously and leaves the office.

I don’t understand. They didn’t introduce us.

“What a strange man.”

Without giving it more thought, I push aside my thoughts and approach the desk to take a seat. This is going to take a while.

“I want to go back to my job,” I tell her as soon as I sit down.

She does the same from the other side.

“And this sudden change?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t want me to come back.”

“Yes, I’m just asking because you seemed very determined when you told me you wouldn’t return.”

“Well, that was my decision before my mother got sick.”

Julie is aware of my mother’s illness. Mika told her something about it. After a while, she gave me a small loan, which I paid back in three months. It was when I started. I needed the money for my mother’s treatment.

“But wasn’t she supposed to be okay by now?” she asks, somewhat concerned.

“That’s right, but the treatment didn’t work, and she had a relapse. She’s been in the hospital for almost two days. The doctors recommend surgery to remove the entire tumor.”

She nods as if she understands what I told her.

“I can understand it very well. If you need help with anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Confused, I wrinkle my nose and forehead. I don’t understand, has she been through something like this too?

Everything that happens to my mother hurts me, because she suffers a lot. What I want most in this world is to take away that great pain. I am even capable of selling my soul to the devil.