Chapter 3: Interruptus

I made my way through the hallways of crescendo, towards my own room, with my head held high. Inside I felt like I was ready to burst out with a proclamation of joy, and although I didn’t, it must have seemed strange as I walked back as I could barely conceal the grin on my face. No longer did I feel nervous about meeting with Venetia – something I had felt previously, knowing she was a bit of a celebrity being the daughter of a man like Maxwell. Surely the heated dispute that had arisen between the not so good politician and my love would also have made things uncomfortable knowing I too may have to deal with him through association. But there was no tension. No fear. It was as if my brief time spent with Frankie had boosted me; helped me alleviate any fear I may have felt otherwise. I was on a high. I was untouchable. As a result, when Venetia did arrive, I exuded confidence. I did not feel nervous at all, and when I took her into my bed, it was in a manner befitting a man of experience, one who knew exactly what to do. One who clearly knew what his place and purpose was, and one who fulfilled her needs completely. At least that’s what I felt. As far as I was concerned I was in a state of bliss, and so everything else felt good and right too. I was on top of the world, and nothing could knock me down.

*****

A loud crash interrupted me and Venetia in the middle of some pretty sweaty action as a man burst in the door. “What the hell?” I exclaimed. Venetia screamed too, though I believe a part of that had to do with what I had just been doing and she hadn’t yet stopped and acknowledged the man’s entry.

The man in question was in his early forties, tall, stocky with shorn hair. He was no stranger, but that didn’t make the encounter any less shocking, especially considering in his two clasped hands he held a gun. Our intruder was a man named Cutter – not his real name, but one he was known by at least. The man was as intimidating as you could imagine, both in his grand appearance and his manner of speaking. He wasn’t the sort of person anyone would want to be in a fight with, be it a fire fight or fist fight. Fortunately – though in the moment, it seemed anything but fortunate - he was on our side. Cutter worked security at Crescendo and had for a long time, years before I came into the picture. Still, the gun did nothing to neither warm us to him nor feel comfortable with him being in the room, not to mention the fact that due to our slight case of nudity we both felt more vulnerable than ever.

“You the only ones here?” Cutter asked purposefully.

As Venetia remained silent she pressed herself tight to my chest, obviously not knowing who the man was or what he was capable of.

“Cutter… what the…” I began to ask in shock before he cut me off and repeated his question, this time pointing the gun towards us directly

“Are you the only ones here?”

“Yeah.” I replied, still unclear whether I should be offended or scared. I felt Venetia nod her head whilst her body trembled. Looking back it may have been stupid to make a further comment but I did anyway, uttering “well, it was until you decided to show up.”

He glared at me, with no sign that a smile would eventually show up.

“You sure?” Cutter directed

“Yeah” I reaffirmed, this time without any Smart Alec remark

Taking his eyes from us, he quickly scanned the room with his eyes then, without a word, he turned back and made his exit. I continued to watch him as he looked down the corridor to the left from my doorway before silently moving presumably towards the next room with his gun held close to his cheek.

I glanced down to my side at Venetia, noticing she was not only still close to me but was in fact clutching my right hand. “What is it?” she whispered, still shaking. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know” I admitted. However, I could not just stay there and wait to hear about what was wrong and so I slowly raised myself up off of the bed, asking Venetia for my hand back

“Why, where are you going?” she asked

I swung my legs round to the side of the bed and sat up straight. Next I stood up and walked over to the pair of trousers that had been flung on a nearby chair previous to our physical act. Grabbing them, I wasted no time in putting my legs in their respected positions and attempting to pull the trousers up to my waist.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to see what’s going on.” I snapped back

I found myself getting increasingly annoyed not only with her constant barrage of questions but also with the pair of trousers that refused to get in line.

“No, what are you doing with my trousers?” she clarified.

Looking down and realising my mistake, I felt that it would be appropriate to become overwhelmed with enormous embarrassment at that moment, but I didn’t have time for that. Trying desperately to pull them back off my legs I fell over backwards. After struggling on the floor for a minute or two, I finally managed to pull the pair off of my legs, freeing myself so that I could now get back on to my feet

“Are you alright?” she asked, barely containing her laughter

“Fine!” I replied before spotting my own pair of trousers that, incidentally, looked remarkably like the ones I had just tried on. In a flash, I grabbed them, pulled them up to my waist and zipped up – careful not to cause a major casualty in the process. Then, I grabbed her own pair that I had discarded on the floor and flung them at her, annoyed that she refused to let her wide smile disappear. “Your trousers look like a bloke’s” I snapped in a desperate attempt to make her feel bad. At that moment, I showed no regard for who she was and didn’t feel the need to Walking away, I noticed the smile had been wiped off of her face, but as I left I heard her snarky reply “I think you mean you wear women’s clothes”.

*****

Ignoring the lady’s comment, I looked down the hallway in the direction Cutter had walked in. Sure enough, there he was, poised for action as he lurked the corridor. Quietly but quickly, I made my way towards him. However, believing that to sneak up on an armed man may not be in my best interests, I whispered his name to get his attention.

He swung his head round to spot me before signalling me to be quiet. He was about to approach the turn in the corridor and I expect he didn’t want to be discovered if his target was right around that corner. I stopped silently a couple of yards behind him. As his back pressed against the wall, he popped a glance round to see if there was anybody down the connecting corridor. I presume there wasn’t, because the next thing he did involved him turning that very same corridor without pointing his gun in a particular direction. He turned to me and whispered “What are you doin’? Get back in your room!” I should have known better to argue with him - even though he could be reasonable, now was not the time - he had a gun in his hand and didn’t seem interested in recruiting a sidekick “I can help” I offered. I didn’t know why I uttered those words, I couldn’t help. I was not a man of courage, nor could I say I would be very intimidating prowling the halls dressed in nothing but tight black trousers. “Do you even know what the trouble is?” He asked sceptically Before I answered, I headed for the wall close to him and then whispered “Not yet.” He shook his head in disbelief. “And you think you could be of some help?” “I dunno, maybe” Other people might have laughed a little at my willingness to help, even I was laughing at myself on the inside, trying to figure out why I was doing what I was doing. Cutter however, remained as serious as ever. “Go back to your room Needy. It’s nothing I can’t handle, just a wild card” “Wild card? What did he do?” He sighed at my tenacity to get involved before replying “He got a bit violent with one of the ladies… listen do I have to take you back to your room?” “No one was hurt were they? Is he… armed?” “No” I looked at his gun he still clutched before redirecting “then… why do you have the gun if he’s not dangerous. Do you really need it?” “Listen! I do my job my way and you stay out of it. Alright? Now get back to your room, otherwise I’ll arrest you for aiding and abetting the guy” “I didn’t…” “You’re bugging me, and whilst you’re doing that, he’s probably finding a way out” “I’ll…. I’ll go then” “Now there’s a smart idea” he retorted

*****

Although I was in no rush to get back to my room – mainly because facing Venetia would affect my pride – it was only a matter of seconds before I reached my doorway. There, Venetia, now covered up by means of an elegant looking purple nightgown, sat on the chair that, just moments ago, her trousers had clung to. She wasn’t smiling, fortunately, but I had the nagging feeling she was about to make me feel as small as possible. I wanted to segue back to the sex, but I knew this was unlikely. Sure enough, she started with a question “Is everything alright?” Strange, it didn’t sound that insulting. Maybe she was building up to it, I thought “Sure” I replied cautiously “Well why did that maniac just burst in here?” Either she was leading to a punch line or she was actually being genuine in her questions “Security” “Security? What’s wrong?” It seems I was mistaken, she really was concerned. Maybe I could have cut her some slack, sure she was quick to make a joke before, but I would have done the same thing in her position. Besides, she had seemed fairly pleasant up until our intrusion, maybe she was just reacting to circumstances. Maybe I was taking out my vulnerability on her. “It’s nothing he can’t handle” I reassured her. “We don’t need to worry” “What is it then?” “Just a wild c…” I paused, realising the term would mean nothing to her. “Some guy just got rough with one of the girls I suppose. Our security man has gone to sort him out. He was just checking to make sure he hadn’t come in here” “A wild card eh?” She finished my earlier thought “Oh, you know about them?” “You get them everywhere, not just in companion houses you know.” She pointed out, showing up my naivety. “Someone who doesn’t play by the rules.” “Basically” “Yeah, our family’s dealt with a few in the past” “Sorry, I didn’t know. I didn’t mean to…” I started to apologise “You’re not the first to assume that I’m nothing more than a spoilt rich girl, who knows nothing ‘cept how to spend daddy’s money” “No I would never…” “It’s alright.” “Ok, but I didn’t think that. I don’t think that” I tried to convince her of that but I don’t think she necessarily bought it. To be quite honest, I don’t know if I bought it. Maybe I did pre judge her, I don’t know, but I certainly didn’t mean to. Ever the chameleon, she changed her tone once again, this time from offended to concerned. “So is the girl ok?” “Sor… oh, you mean the one who was attacked? No, I think they’re alright” As I spoke the words, I realised a worrying truth: Cutter didn’t make absolutely clear that the person wasn’t hurt in any way. “Who was it? Anyone you know?” Her words penetrated to my very soul as my feelings of worry turned to a deep and overwhelming feeling of fear. I had no idea who was involved. “I… I don’t know” Could Cutter have told me but I was so wrapped up in myself that I didn’t hear or forgot what he said? I turned away from Venetia and faced the doorway as I tried to remember. But I couldn’t think. Fear had shaken all other thoughts from my mind All my brain could process was the terrible thought that someone I know had been hurt, and that that someone was Frankie.