TESLA
"Your first time vas ein zucces. Spartacus has told me he vas very pleased with zee new Rewarder."
"He said that?" I asked and I couldn't help to feel happy after hearing that Spartacus seemed to be pleased with the hours we'd spent together.
"Hmm...fery pleased. Therefore, we have depozited zee money to your Invicta account."
"That's great, thanks."
"Off you go, Tesla," Madame Gremelda said and she waved at the door of her office.
I guess that was my cue to leave. "Thank you."
On the way back to my room, I thought about the money I'd make every time I got to work. The hotel had opened a special "Invicta account" for me since all my ties with the "normal" world were broken.
The hardest part of that was not being able to see my parents. I'd told them I was traveling around the world and they seemed to believe me so for now I was safe.
I would get a thousand dollars on my account, each time I was picked as a Rewarder and it'll be saved there until I quit the job. I can spend it too, of course, but there isn't much I can buy in the hotel and we weren't that often allowed to go outside. Only a few days a year was what Bentley had told me. I hadn't asked Gremelda about it, though. There were a lot of things I hadn't asked her... Maybe I should read that contract a little better. Or not, cause I thought to myself that it might be better to know as little as possible about hotel Invicta. Honestly, it seemed to be one major fishy business if I was to say something about it.
Fishy or not, for now, I was happy. It had been the fastest thousand bucks I've ever made in my life. If it was the easiest? I don't know. It was hard as he tortured me for hours, but it was a sweet kinda torture. It was a torture that even kept me up in the nights that followed, not able to get the thoughts out of my head.
God, damn! It even took hours until I stopped feeling him inside me.
How could that man be Dean from school? Thinking about Dean made me remember what a jerk I had been to him. I really did hate myself for my actions that day, wishing I could turn back the clock. It was a relief to finally be able to say I'm sorry to him. I had been wanting to tell him those words so badly.
With my head still full of thoughts, I opened the door to my room and almost got a heart attack when Mike sat there on my couch watching tv!
"Jesus, fuck, Mi--I mean Bentley! What the fuck are you doing in my room?!"
"Oh, I used the spare key," he answered, not looking up. There was a program going on about penguins and I knew his love for them birds.
"Spare key?"
"Yeah, you received two key cards."
"Then why did you give me only one?" I asked, crashing next to him.
"Well, duh...cause I kept the other one."
"Why would--you know, nevermind. Keep it."
When the baby penguin hatched from the egg, Bentley paused the program and turned to me, looking at me with grey twinkling eyes when he asked, "What did she say? Was she pleased?"
"Yeah, she said Spartacus was very happy with my services."
I was so proud to say these words.
He slapped me on my shoulders. "I knew you would be perfect! This is great, now she'll be happy with me too, cause I was the one who recommended you! Let's grab a drink at the bar to celebrate."
~
Turned out that we celebrated more nights at the bar than only that night, and tonight there was a familiar face sitting on one of the barstools. He raised his glass to me, and when I wanted to do the same I made a mistake.
"Shit."
I saw his smirk after the content from my glass dripped down, soiling my pants. Why oh why did I have to knock over the glass precisely when he was looking at me?
While I was dabbing myself and the table dry, my friend explained another rule to me.
"I can see that blush on your cheeks and I don't know the deal about you and him, but keep in mind you can't date," Bentley said while he stood up and used his napkin too.
"Hm?" I looked at him as innocently as possible. Me blushing, pff, no way. "Date? Why would you say that?" I asked.
"Cause I know you, and I can see you find him more than interesting. But, as I said, no dating. Or Gremelda will slit your throat or something. Frankly, I don't even know if that's a lie or not, she'll probably do it."
"Well, I wasn't planning on dating anyway, I'm just here for the job."
"Hm, the job and the thing you still haven't told me about," he said while taking his seat again.
"I will...later."
"I know. The bar isn't the place for heavy stuff anyway. I just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten about it."
One of the waitresses came to clean up the mess I made. I apologized to her and ordered new drinks.
"But uh...why the not-dating-policy?" I asked while secretly checking out the guy sitting a few meters further.
Flashes of him and I being busy in his bedroom came to my mind again and they gave me a certain strange feeling inside my stomach. I coughed and looked at Bentley again, who looked at me with a raised brow.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Your mouth hung open the entire time you were ogling him."
"W-wha--I wasn't ogling him!"
"You so were. And if I see it, he definitely sees it. Maybe that's why he is wearing that arrogant smile the whole time." I wasn't ogling. Bentley exaggerated. "Anyway...Gladiators and Rewarders aren't allowed to date each other, I have no idea why not. I think it has something to do with a Gladiator only has to have interest in the matches or whatever."
"Ok."
Strange rule.
~
When it was around one o'clock, Bentley and I said goodnight to each other and he went to his room while I went to mine.
After taking a shower, I went to bed.
In all honesty, the night I slept next to him was the only night that I had slept more than four hours since...since weeks. Ever since it happened, I haven't been able to sleep. But with Spartacus, I slept. Man, I slept like a baby. The fact I was completely drained from every juice and energy I had in my body possibly had something to do with it too.
I think I really should tell Bentley the reason why I wanted to come to a place like this in the first place. I wanted to tell him. I will tell him. Tomorrow.
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