Chapter 13: Moonlit Mirage
*Ellie*
“You were incredible up there, El!”
“Thanks, Mal, but we wouldn’t win it without your awesome costumes.” I sighed and fell back against the plush comforter on my king-sized bed, stretching my arms out wide and allowing myself to relax for the first time since I’d made that deal with Penny.
Mal came over to jump onto the bed beside me, landing hard so that I bounced a bit. She stared into my face. “The special effects wouldn’t have been added without you. They made the show so much more dramatic. Take some credit!”
“Alright, alright,” I managed to smile.
On one hand, I was also impressed by how well the plan had turned out to be. It had just been some silly university student event, but I felt like I had just won an Oscar or something.
On the other hand, I couldn't wave away that heavy cloud of 5,000 dollars that had been hovering in my mind.
I stared at the white ceiling. Now that the wave of initial excitement and joy had faded, I found myself exhausted.
However, Mal dragged me up. “C'mon, you can’t go to bed yet. We need to celebrate!”
Knowing her, if I declined, she wouldn’t allow me to sleep for the rest of the night, but I really wasn’t in the mood to go out for alcohol at all. My entire mind was occupied by that big, red, five grand.
“Sure. Maybe get some ice cream?” I blinked up at Mal, whose eyes were narrowed before they rolled.
“What?” I asked.
“You just won the Edenbrook Academy Gala Competition, and you want to celebrate by getting ice cream?” she demanded in disbelief. “Don’t you think this calls for a more grand celebration?”
I grimaced, knowing that tone of voice well by this point. Mal was cooking up a plan that I probably wouldn’t like.
“I didn’t exactly grow up in a family that had a lot of money, Mal,” I pointed out, rolling my own eyes. I stretched my hands up over my head, stretching. “Whenever something good happened when I was growing up, going out for ice cream as a family was a real treat.”
Mal nodded in understanding. “Well, that’s true, but now you have me to celebrate with. Let me take you out for a good time.”
I sat up and gave her a teasing look. “So, what? Are you saying that you’re my sugar mama?”
“When necessary?” she teased back. She then walked over purposefully toward my wardrobe and pulled out one of the skimpy dresses that she forced on me back when we first started going to clubs together.
“Mal,” I sighed, “I don’t mean to be a party pooper, but I don’t think I’m in the mood to go out.”
She frowned and sat down next to me. “Ellie, what happened?”
I shook my head.
“Now, you’re worrying me. Girl, tell me. What can I do to help?”
“Nothing … just some family stuff.”
“Look at me, we are friends, you shouldn’t hide from me.” she cupped my face, “ Your family is the most adorable family I’ve ever seen so it can’t be relationship-related. So, is this about money?”
I didn’t want to lie and nodded my head. “Mal, but you know I would never accept monetary help from you.”
“Yeah, I know. Stubborn bitch!” she muttered and rolled her eyes.
I chuckled at her comment, but glad she didn’t press on.
However, suddenly, her eyes lit up and she had the most sly smile that I’d ever seen.
“Guess what, I have a perfect place to take you. You’re going to love it!”
“What do you mean?” I looked at her suspiciously, fearing the answer but I wasn’t going to let her just take me somewhere with me being completely blind.
Mal pulled a laptop out from literally nowhere and started to type. I pushed myself up to see what she was doing, but she took the device away from me, and skipped over to my desk.
“Mal!” I whined, going over to her and trying to look over her shoulder. “What’s so secret?”
Mal smiled inscrutably. “Girl, I have a perfect solution for you. Not only will you have fun tonight, but also you’ll make decent money if everything works out! Ha, I’m a genius!”
“Um, sounds too good to be true.”
“Let me tell you, this kind of opportunity doesn’t come often. But young lady, it seems like tonight is your lucky night!” she said, wiggling her perfectly plucked eyebrows.
“Moonlit Mirage? Isn’t that another club?” I finally was able to steal a peek. “No, Mal, I’ll have to pass tonight.”
Mal just looked over her shoulder and grinned, making me balk.
“Oh, we’re not going to just any old club,” she said with a roll of her eyes as if I was being the most dramatic person, and gestured sharply to the tiny dress that was still lying on the bed before pointing at the attached bathroom.
“Go get changed, I’ll explain more once you’re done.”
I gave Mal a pleading look, but her stern eyes made it clear that she wasn’t going to yield, so I groaned before snatching the dress off the bed and leaving to get dressed.
I should have fought her more. That was the thought when I slipped on the thin garment.
The only reason I didn’t was because Mal had never put me in a situation that I sorely regretted. Sure, she had taken me out of my comfort zone, and I’d had quite a few hangovers to show for it, but that didn’t mean I regretted the fun we had.
She was a bit crazy at times, but Mal genuinely cared about my well-being and would never put me in harm’s way.
Whatever she had in mind, if like she said, I could have fun and make some money, that would be a wonderful idea.
Gosh, at this point, I’d do anything for that five grand.
I stepped out of the bathroom, tugging at my dress to keep my chest covered, and then having to tug it back down to keep my upper thighs covered. I sighed in defeat. I would be tugging at this stupid thing all night.
Mal had shut her laptop and was holding a few sheets of paper. She was grinning widely as if she had just come up with the best idea.
I winced and held my hand out expectantly. “Alright, let’s see what kind of torture you have in store for me this time.”
She laughed. “That’s the spirit!”
I took the pages from her and scanned over them quickly, my jaw dropping further with each word. I looked up at my best friend in disbelief. “You can’t be serious.”
***
*Samuel*
As soon as I opened the front door of my house, I dropped my bag, tossing my phone and wallet carelessly onto the small table by the front door before making my way up the stairs to my bedroom. I was gritting my teeth as I shucked off my clothes and dropped them on the bathroom floor.
I let out a huge breath as the steaming hot water fell over my body.
I needed to get Ellie Collins out of my head. She was beginning to seep into my mind more and more lately to the point where it was nearly constant. I knew it would only get worse after tonight.
The theater club’s performance had been phenomenal, as I knew it would be. Ellie put much more care into the extra special effects than she needed to, but it was clearly because she cared about the art of theater and wasn’t just doing it to win. Each effect had a purpose that went beyond simple flair and pizzazz. She added some subtle elements that enriched the whole play on a storytelling level.
She was an artist. I could easily see her directing musicals and other stage shows. She had more than enough of a creative capacity to do so.
She was an extraordinary young woman, and I knew I should focus on her talent rather than my desire to shred her thin, elegant, fairy dress.
I growled with frustration as I washed myself. The shower felt nice, but it was doing little to calm me. I needed a different form of distraction, something that would make me stop thinking about her.
I shut the tap off in the large shower and threw the glass door open. After drying myself quickly, I wrapped a fresh white towel around my waist, and strode into my bedroom, turning my desktop computer on and pulling up a website that I knew well and logged in.
Good, the receptionist had already sent over a few candidates that I could pick from. They surely took good care of their VIP clients.
I slowed down and looked carefully at the prospective partner page. Moonlit Mirage did well in terms of keeping identities completely private so I was only given images of these women from the back.
Each one was tastefully dressed in full underwear, and much was left to the imagination since they had their backs to the camera. There were women of all body types and skin tones.
My gaze slowed even further when I got to one with a petite build and long light brown hair to her waist.
I went to dismiss that one, but my mouse hovered over the X on the browser and I couldn’t bring myself to click it.
The point of booking a session tonight was to get Ellie Collins off my mind. If the partner I chose for tonight resembled her, wouldn’t that make things even harder for me?
I finally decided that no, it wouldn’t. It wasn’t her, and perhaps being with someone who looked like her would scratch the itch.
I booked the appointment and put on a dark button-up shirt with my sleeves rolled up.
About an hour later, I was walking up to Moonlit Mirage. The line was long at the entrance, but I used a side entrance exclusively for VIP members, which allowed us not to be seen entering the club.
There happened to be some kind of newbie night happening at Moonlit Mirage, a night where inexperienced individuals could come and learn about what the club had to offer. Usually, new members might even get some cash incentive.
I had a dark mask concealing my eyes and nose, just like any of the other more seasoned members did. I like the mask but it wasn’t a problem for me to show my face either. I just preferred not to run into anyone I worked with because I valued my privacy.
I flashed my picture member ID card to the young red-headed woman at the member’s entrance. She greeted me with a polite, smiling nod.
“This way, Master,” she said sweetly, showing me to the private room I had booked. She opened a small black door for me and I stepped inside, thanking her and handing her a generous tip.
She gawked at the large bill. “Thank you, Master.”
I didn’t speak, giving her a firm nod, and dismissing her. She scurried off, shutting the door quietly behind her.
I faced the room. It had been neatly set up for my appointed session. I traced a few of the tools that were lying in a nice row on a nearby table. A black padded bench was placed in the middle of the dimly lit room. The dark furniture was a striking contrast to the bright red walls.
I picked up a sheet of paper that was left on the middle of the bench, scanning the information about my partner for the night.
There wasn’t much information at all since Moonlit Mirage prided itself on the privacy of any of the attendees.
This girl was in her twenties, but the pages didn’t even specify if she was in her early, mid, or late twenties. The form wasn’t provided to me for that kind of information anyway. What was important was what she was willing to do during our session together.
She was a submissive, which was a give-in, considering I played exclusively with them. My partner was marked as shy, but curious, which was exciting to me because I got a lot out of introducing submissives to this world.
I set the form down, preparing to wait for my curious partner to arrive.