Chapter One
Angel
I thought running away from home will be easy,been planning this for a year now hoping the money in my piggy bank will be enough to keep me alive for atleast a week before I get started in the far away city where it will be hard for them to find me , not even sure my family will bother to look for me but oh well… the first part of the plan worked.
Father and step mother went for some vacation, picked my bag pack filled with little yet important suppplies …my pad,toothbrush and 3 change of dresses and kickstart his old car and just like that …I was on my way.
That easy!
I’ve never really known the meaning of the term culture shock until now,half of the money with me was spent on gas and snacks on the road trip while the re got caught up between my hustle for a job immediately I landed… hopefully a job with
accommodation which some crazy secretary called me dumb for even suggesting that.
After driving for 11 hours with interval breaks, I am in my dream city with no money ,job or accommodation making me feel guilty and how bad and terrible this idea is.
Sighed and stretched in my car after taking my last bottle of soda as the darkness crept in when the billboard in front of me lit up with crazy neon works.
It was very big , with two big chested women cladly dressed holding trays…
“No,no … I did not come this far to be a prostitue “ I said to myself out loud not liking where my thoughts were drifting to but then … I could be a bartender or a cleaner…I thought already putting my car to gear and following the map which pointed out to a casino.
A very big Casino, probably bigger than the whole of my home town! Dragged my tired body out and headed in while I tried to not act new to blend in.
And it seems like the angels were smiling down at me because I overheard some ladies whispering how the casino will always need ladies for the cocktail waiter job.
I’m standing on the floor of The Palace, a casino in Las Vegas, and it’s like I’ve been transported to another planet. Beautiful women sparkle and laugh on their way past me, the décor is bright and cartoonish and enticing. Everything screams luxury. It’s loud—a cacophony of voices and dinging slot machines and energy. It all swells around me, nearly lifting me up off of the polished marble floor.
I’ve come to interview for the position of cocktail waitress and now that I’m here…I’m pretty darn positive that my cheap, coral-colored dress is not going to cut it. Fashion-wise, I’m not glamorous. I don’t have perfect makeup and hair like the girls I’m watching serve drinks to patrons playing blackjack and roulette. I’ve done my best with the meager amount of cash I was able to store away without my father finding out over the last few years.
This is my big chance. I’m finally free. I want to be more excited, but right this very second, all I feel is out of my league. Maybe I’m aiming too high by interviewing at one of the casinos? Maybe I should try for a position at a smaller shop off the Strip?
“You look lost,” someone says to my right. One of the cocktail waitresses. This one has bright red hair and iridescent blue eyeshadow applied nearly to her eyebrow.
Reflexively, I squeeze the set of car keys in my hand until the teeth bite into my palm. They comfort me, these keys. They remind me that I’m free. My keys got me away from the monster. No matter what happens tonight, at least the old green Nissan is waiting for me in the parking garage beneath the casino.
“I am lost. Sort of.” Do the interview. What’s the worst that could happen? “I’m here to meet with the boss…manager ?…errr about a cocktail waitress position. I’ve been looking for the elevator to bring me to the upstairs offices, but this place is a maze…”
“Yeah, no kidding,” she says above the noise. “They do that on purpose. Wouldn’t want people to find their way out, would we? We need them to stay put and lose their money.”
I laugh.
She doesn’t join me.
“I’m Angel,” I say, holding out my hand for a shake.
She looks at my hand for long seconds before finally taking it. Her eyes move to my body, traveling down the full length of me and back up, an emotion that appears to be irritation flickering in her expression. “There go my tips,” she mutters.
Confused, I shake my head. “Pardon?”
“Nothing.” Suddenly her smile is extra bright, but there’s something like calculation lurking behind it. No…no, I must be imagining that. “Follow me, I’ll bring you to the elevators and give you some advice on interviewing with Dante , the manager along the way.”
“Really?” Relief floods my limbs and I trail behind her gratefully. “That’s so kind of you, thank you. I never caught your name.”
“Jade .”
