Nathan couldn't believe that Crystal had had the nerve to hang up the phone on him. He called her again, but this time his call went straight to voicemail.
He did not leave a message.
Once Nathan was out of sight, Bush grabbed Lyla's phone. Lyla tried to pull away, but it was too late. He had already seen the photo that she'd taken, and she watched helplessly as he transferred the image to his phone.
From there, Bush transferred the photo to a third party, and he included a text: "Find out everything that you can about this woman.
Pronto." Once that was done, he stretched out on the sofa and laughed.
Lyla picked up her phone and tried to leave, but Bush grabbed her and pulled her into his lap. He looked at the other girls and shouted, "Get out of here!" And within seconds, the room had cleared. The girls had been frightened, and they'd only needed to be told once.
Once the other girls were gone, he pushed Lyla down on the sofa and yanked her skirt above her waist. She wasn't wearing any panties, and he could clearly see every detail of her vagina. He ran his index finger between her labia and smiled. Then, without any delay or foreplay, he pushed down his pants and underpants, parted her legs with his knees, and proceeded to assault her.
****
Crystal was hiding in the dressing room behind the clothes racks, and when she felt like she was safe to leave, she quietly pulled the clothes out of her way and was followed by Serenity. Once they were outside the changing room and in the dressing room, she turned to her friend and asked, "Have they gone?"
"I guess so," Serenity replied. "It's been nearly two hours. I doubt they would be willing to waste the entirety of their night looking for you."
"That's comforting," Crystal replied as she changed her clothes. Then she took the makeup remover from the dresser and slipped into the bathroom to remove her makeup. Once that was done, she swaggered out of the clubhouse, and as she had expected, no one stopped her.
As Crystal stepped out the door, though, she saw a silver Maybach parked on the curb, and she froze.
Nathan was leaning against the car with his hands in his pockets. Crystal turned around to go back into the club, but Serenity grabbed her and led her toward Nathan. Serenity waved at Nathan and said, "Hey! Professor Davis. Please make sure that Crystal gets home safely. My taxi is coming, so I've gotta go. Goodbye, Crystal. Goodbye, Professor Davis."
Then Serenity secretly twisted Crystal's arm and ran away. What a traitor! - Crystal thought as she rubbed her sore arm. She grinned at Nathan and said, "What a coincidence! Professor Davis! I am surprised to see you here."
"Are you?" Nathan scoffed. Does she really think that didn't recognize her?" - he wondered. He forced himself to laugh. "And why is that? I told you where I was over the phone, but you said that you were in bed. Why are you here? Is it possible that you are sleepwalking?"
"Perhaps." Crystal sighed, and she began to walk towards Nathan. She laughed and said, "Not actually, though. Serenity called me after you did. She woke me up and asked me to meet her after work, which is how I ended up here."
It wasn't long before they were face to face. Nathan gently touched Crystal's arm. He smiled softly and said, "I heard that your husband is bad in bed. That must be difficult."
Crystal swallowed hard, and she was too embarrassed to look him in the eyes. What is he doing? - she wondered - What game is he playing. Did he recognize me and then pretend not to know me? Is that supposed to be funny?
Crystal: "What do you mean? I don't understand what you're saying?"
Nathan: "Didn't you say that you wanted to watch me lose control?"
Crystal: "So you knew it was me all along?" Nathan: "Crystal, did you think you could hide your identity behind a layer of makeup? That's pretty dumb. And now, you will be held accountable for the things that you said. Do you understand?"
Crystal stared blankly at the man in front of her. She felt lost, suddenly, like a polar bear adrift on a quickly melting salt of ice. She dropped her eyes and said, "I'm sorry."
Nathan: "Sorry for what?"
Crystal: "I shouldn't have ruined your evening."
"Ruin my evening?" Nathan laughed.
"Because you were there, my night was better. I do have one question, though."
Crystal: "Well, what do you want to know?"
Nathan: "Why did you come here tonight?"
Crystal took a step back, but he gripped her arm. "Just tell me," he said. "I won't hurt you."
Crystal took a deep breath as she wrenched her arm free. She looked at him defiantly and said, "Fine. I will tell you. This is the truth: Serenity said that you were here with a bunch of prostitutes, so I came to have a look. And in the end, it turned out that you were with prostitutes, so it should be you apologizing to me and not the other way around."
Nathan took a good hard look at Crystal. "You must think you're pretty sly," he said. Crystal smirked and said, "Sly enough." Nathan opened his mouth to reprimand her, but he was interrupted by his driver before he could say anything. "Mr. Davis," he shouted. "Eric Bush is investigating Mrs. Davis."
"Block all information about her," Nathan shouted back.
Bush and Lyla were naked and entwined on the sofa in a private room in the Merah Club. Bush had bronzed skin and the fresh scratches on his back added to his masculinity. Under his body lay Lyla. She had been ravaged, and her senses remained disconnected. She had scratched at Bush's back as he'd forced himself on her and bit into his shoulder multiple times, but none of it had helped.
There was a knock at the door, and Bush shouted irritably, "Come in."