I sipped on my glass of ice water as JC and Savannah continued to talk. This had been going on for a good 15 minutes and the tension was building up.

I mean sure JC was talking to a chick he liked and was possibly going to get laid, but fuck! We were hungry!

Justin fiddled with the jukebox as I sighed and looked down at the menu for the hundredth time.

“So what are you ordering?” I asked Justin as he just shrugged.

“French Toast.” He said nonchalantly, as he continued to flip through the lists of songs. “You?”

“A grilled chicken Greek salad.”

Justin just nodded and finally stopped playing with the jukebox and put 50 cents into the machine. I glanced at him curiously as he punched some numbers into it and the original version of “Take My Breath Away” started to play.

Now I fucking adore that song, the old version especially. I mean I guess the Jessica Simpson version is all right, but it does not do justice to the original.

Some things just should not be tampered with.

“You dork. I love this song!” I said with a small giggle. Justin smiled at me and nodded.

“Me too. I don’t like the Jessica Simpson version though.”

“Me neither. The originals are always better.”

“Definitely. The remakes always sound too cheesy.” He said. I couldn’t believe how similar we both were. It was almost like we were the same person in so many ways.

JC came back and sat down with a smile glued to his face.

“She said yes. We’re going out clubbing tonight.”

            “That’s great man!” Justin exclaimed and sipped some of his Vanilla Coke that a waitress had finally brought to the table.

            “I know. Thank you so much Natalia.”

            “No problem.” I said with a small smile. “Just remember that in the future and don’t be an asshole to me.”

            “That’s a fucking promise.” JC responded and I grinned, not because of what he said, but because I was going out and possibly I would find my way out.

**

            I got dressed in my room, really excited to get the out. I scrunched my long brown hair and put on a black mini skirt with a red string belt. I put on a red and black one-strap top and a pair of red stillhettos.

            I sat at my vanity applying some pink gloss to my lips and staring at my reflection. I couldn’t believe what I had become. A manipulative bitch with nothing else in mind but my own personal gain.

            I hadn’t even thought of poor Savannah. She seemed like such a nice girl and only God knows what JC would do to her.

            He was insane; fuck everyone in this goddamn place was insane. I hated this feeling of having to watching my back all the time and having the constant fear that I was going to be hurt.

            I had a little more than a week left in this place, but I wondered if I would actually get out. Would my Uncle actually pull through and give Tommy the money?

            I had my doubts about that. My Uncle wasn’t really reliable and as much as I tried to believe that things would be okay, I had a feeling they wouldn’t.

            I didn’t want to die…so I knew I only had myself to rely on.

            “Hey there beautiful.”

            I turned to see Justin standing in the doorway. He looked gorgeous, wearing a pair of charcoal gray pants, a black Jack Daniels t-shirt and a black jacket over it.

            “Hey.” I smiled, getting up from the chair and placing a small kiss on his cheek.

            “You ready to go?”

            “Yeah… just let me get my bag…” I grabbed the simple black Chanel purse off of the dresser, which I had taken the time to fill with papers, a black marker, makeup and a small bottle of hairspray.

            Sure it was a bunch of seemingly normal stuff I was taking with me… right? But no… I had a plan for it all. Well… except for the makeup. That was to prettify me.

            Justin and I headed out the door to his black Escalade. We made small talk on the way to his car and he told me he had 8 cars and 5 motorcycles.

            I wondered how much he was worth. Maybe he would pay my ransom if I was nice enough to him? Hah… right.

            I got into his already running car in which JC was already sitting in the back. We drove down the road to Savannah’s apartment and I couldn’t tell you how nervous I was.

            This was my chance, and although my plan wasn’t brilliant or flawless, I was hoping it would work and get me out of my hell.

**

            We arrived at the club at about 8. There were long lines to get in but JC and Justin walked right up to the Bouncer who immediately let them in without even a word.

            It was like they were celebrities.

            Savannah and I were talking, she seemed really sweet and the two of us seemed to hit it off.

            “That outfit is so cute.” I commented and she grinned proudly. It was a tan skirt with a tiny white shirt that showed a lot of cleavage. She wore a pair of white go-go boots and a white tan bus boy hat. Savannah looked adorable.

            “Thanks. So is yours. I love your skirt.”

            “Thanks.”

            “So uh do you girls want anything to drink?” JC asked us as we were seated in the back of the dimly lit club. JC was looking very hot in his white pants, white wife beater and matching white jacket.

            Even crazy men could be cute.

            “Yeah uhm… just get me a black cherry wine cooler.” Savannah smiled at JC and I swear you could almost see him melt. I giggled lightly to myself.

            “I’ll have a cosmopolitan.”

            “The ultimate girly drink.” Justin laughed and shook his head.

”Oh shut up.” I playfully stuck up my middle finger at him and saw JC laughing. God. The sicko had a sense of humor. He was laughing. Dear God.

I think that was like the first time I saw him laugh in the few weeks I had known him. I took a wild guess and figured Savannah was the reason he was acting so giddy.

“Yeah! Stop lollygagging and go get us our drinks!!” Savannah laughed and I turned and looked at her.

“Lollygagging?!”

“I blame it on the drinks that I haven’t had yet.” She laughed. I could tell her and I were going to get along really well. I didn’t know if I should warn her about JC or if I should keep my mouth shut.

The guys walked off laughing and I awkwardly looked around the club, hoping to see a bouncer walking around that I could call for help.

“So… are you and Justin dating?”

“Huh?”

“Is he your boyfriend?”

“Justin? Uhm…. No I mean I barely know him…” I was so tempted to tell her I was kidnapped, but I held it back. What was I doing?

“Well y’all seem really close. He’s a great guy. I’ve known him for a few years now and I can tell he likes you.”

“Yeah I kinda figured that…” I didn’t mean to come off snippy but I guess I did. It was kind of weird to talk about Justin liking me. I sure as hell didn’t want to have a relationship with him.

I didn’t want to get with a hit man/ drug dealer, no matter how nice he was to me. My family would throw a fit and I eventually want to get married and I am so not bringing a child into this world with a mobster as its father.

“So do you like him?”

“He’s alright… do you like JC?” I had to change the subject. I couldn’t talk about Justin anymore and if I felt anything.

There was a tiny little part of me that did feel something but it was microscopic. It could definitely be erased at any given time.

I hate denial.

“JC’s okay… when he’s not being an annoying perv.”

“Yeah he can be a little scary sometimes…” I stopped saying anything else when JC and Justin walked back over with the drinks. I took my cosmopolitan from Justin’s hand and sipped it greedily.

“How bout we all dance a little?” JC suggested and Savannah grinned. The two of them went off to the dance floor and Justin looked at me.

“Should we join them?”

“Yeah just give me a second. I’m gonna use the bathroom… wherever it is..”

“Oh it’s right over there…”Justin pointed at a door on the opposite side of the club and I nodded, shooting him a smile. I headed to the bathroom and locked the door behind me, quickly going to work on my plan.

I grabbed my black sharpie marker and wrote on the wall of the bathroom, “HELP! My name is Natalia Fuentes and I’ve been kidnapped. I’m being held by Tommy Ryan and his gang of crazy people. If anyone sees this please contact the police or call (718) 555-6865 and tell Andrew or Isabel what you’ve seen. PLEASE!”

I closed the marker and looked proudly at what I had written in big letters. It was absolutely perfect and I had a feeling this was going to get me out of here.

I snuck out of the bathroom and saw Justin was waiting for me by the door. I forced a smile, wishing I could have run away from him and out of the stupid club.

“So you ready to dance.”

“Sure let me put my bag down first.” I headed down to the table and dropped my bag on the couch like seat and followed him to the dance floor.

“Naughty Girl” by Beyonce and Lil Kim was playing through the club as Justin and I started to dance on the packed dance floor.

Our bodies were rubbing up against each other. Song after song passed and time seemed to just pass us by. It was like all that was important was us.

I ran my hand down his face and stood up on my toes. Yeah, even with my heels I was nowhere close to his height.  I placed a small kiss on his lips, but the urgency between us grew and that small kiss became hot.

Before any of us knew it, there was a full-fledged make-out session going on. Now I wasn’t complaining. I was loving it actually.

But then… I heard Tommy’s voice.

“WHERE IS THAT STUPID BITCH? I’M GONNA FUCKING KILL HER!”

Justin and I pulled away from the kiss and we looked at each other curiously.

“Hold on.” Justin said and quickly walked over to Tommy. Tommy was enraged and after he got once glimpse of me, he stormed over in my direction.

I turned around, hoping that he was yelling at someone else, but it was me. I started to back up and finally I started running. I headed through the crowds of people until I finally reached a bouncer.

“Please! You’ve got to help me get out of here!”

“What’s going on? Is there a problem?” The large Bouncer asked me as I exasperatedly nodded.

“I’ve been kidnapped by this mobster. I know this sounds crazy but you need to call the cops!!”

The Bouncer looked at me and adjusted his big dark sunglasses. “Alright come with me…”

The bouncer roughly grabbed my hand and pulled my along. I looked around nervously as he pulled me right in front of Tommy and Justin. It seemed that Justin had been trying to calm Tommy down but it was certainly not working.

The two were standing in an empty VIP room.

“Here you go Boss.” The Bouncer said and tossed me to them. ”The little bitch had quite a mouth. Be careful with her.”

 Justin quickly grabbed me and I kicked at him.

“LET ME GO!!!! NOW!!!!”

“Shut the fuck up you little bitch!” Tommy stood in front of the both of us and I bit my lip, almost immediately stopping my actions.

“Why did you have to fucking go and do that?” Justin asked angrily. I don’t think I ever saw him so angry.

“Do what?!”

“Don’t play stupid!! You fucking wrote the note on the walls. One of Tommy’s workers saw it. I told you not to do something stupid like that!!!” He replied, his jaw was clenched in anger.

“Enough talking. She’s going back to my place and she’ll be lucky if she ever fucking sees the outside world again.” Tommy grabbed my arm tightly and pulled me outside to the car.

I fucked up. I really fucked up.