"Save me," she said in a hushed tone. Erik had to listen intently, his phone pressed to his ear. He tried to hone his mind in on the voice.
"What? Save you? From what? Who is this?" He didn't recognize the number on his screen, but the voice sounded familiar.
"Fuck," she said in a whisper, then as if speaking to herself, "I can't believe I'm doing this. Erik, you told you would always be there for me if I ever needed you..." her voice trailed off.
Erik did make that promise, to more than one person. He knew what it was like to have no one in life. "Yeah, but I really need to know who this is, and how I can help."
There was a pause, then a shuddering breath, another pause, then, finally, "Its Valerie."
Erik's heart tightened in his chest. He was instantly turned on, heartsick, excited and in pain all at once. It was like he was being sung to by a Siren from Greek mythology, but every word had an edge.
Valerie was a Siren, full of song and empty promises. He had loved her once. Erik also knew better than to get wrapped up in her bullshit, but he couldn't help himself. "What do you need?"
She broke, "Erik, I need everything. I'm homeless, they just took my car, I haven't eaten in three days, I've been living out my car and all of what I do have is being loaded on the back of the tow truck right now, and I don't know what to do." She sobbed at the end of her rant.
"Woah woah, it's gonna be okay, I'm here, I'll help you. Where are you?"
"I'm in Stary, I can send you a pin, but my phone is getting shut off tomorrow too. Dammit, I can't believe I'm so fucked."
"You're not so fucked, I'm coming, I'm getting dressed right now. Its okay, I promise, just send me that pin and I'll be there."
"You promise?" She asked, her voice quivering.
"I promise Valerie, I'm coming. Okay?"
"Okay...I'll send it right now. Thank you."
Twenty minutes later, Erik was in his truck, the new one he had purchased from Dell, and rumbling down the road. Google maps told him it would be exactly an hour to get to her, but it was almost all highway. He saw a time to beat.
Despite doing eighty to ninety on the highway, he was still left with time to think. Tonight was the first Friday he would be working since owning the club and over the last three days he felt good about where the club was at.
He managed to hire a real bartender, allowing Bob to start preparing the kitchen for food. Allen was great security with Ken. Mistina was expected to come back as a serving girl tonight but she was starting to drink a little heavily...all of his dancers were much happier now that more staff had been brought on. A DJ hadn't been found yet, but the girls didn't mind taking turns on that.
The renovations hadn't started yet, Erik was looking for a contractor that would work around his schedule.
Camilla hadn't responded to any of his texts so he just left her alone. No need to bother her if she didn't want to be bothered.
Amber fell off the radar as well for an unknown reason. That sucked because he liked her, but again, he wasn't going to pursue someone who didn't want to be pursued.
The club was doing well for it being weeknights, and he had begun trying to learn to enjoy it more. He didn't consider himself a partying kind of person, but one lesson he learned was that the bigger the party, the more money was spent.
Rachel had taken him upstairs every night before the club got busy. She had mentioned bringing the other girls with her but he hadn't seen them yet. That was okay by him, they didn't owe him anything and Rachel came to him of her own free will.
Erik turned his rental truck onto the off ramp per Google maps instructions, and followed it into a sleepy town of Stary. Farm trucks streamed around him and he passed a Wal-Mart, which rested across the street from a local grocery store. Old tin sided buildings slumped against each other with decades old farm implements standing guard in front of them. A trailer park appeared and disappeared and then a tiny clinic in what was probably a house at one point popped up over a hill at an intersection. He turned left there.
Houses rolled passed him in a depressed sort of way, falling down from age and neglect. A shirtless man in uneven cut off jeans walked to a truck that sagged in the middle, scowling at Erik as he passed. Erik ignored him.
Turning another corner, Erik watched someone look up from the right side curb. She was sitting with her chin on her knees. Black leggings with a rip down the thigh covered pale skin. A small brown purse rested next to her foot, and a dark grey hoody was wrapped around her arms. A black, tight fitting t-shirt covered her torso. Her hair was loose, like a red brown main around her shoulders, and looked like it could use a wash. Erik called her while he was driving up.
She picked answered, confirming it was her to Erik. "Hello?"
"That's me in the truck, I'm driving up now."
"Okay." She stayed on the phone without saying anything until he stopped with the passenger door in front of her. She got in.
Valerie had always been small. She barely came up to his chest if they stood side by side, but she had always had a little weight to her. Now, he could tell that she hadn't been well nourished in a long time.
"So, where is a good place for breakfast?" He asked.
"Oh God, please don't go into public with me, I look like hell."
"So McDonald's? We can do a drive through."
"Seriously, anything is fine at this point, I mean I'd take your protein shake if you pulled your cock out." She paused, "Holy shit I can't believe I just said that."
Erik busted out laughing, "You don't have to do that." He glanced at her and continued on his way out of town, following the path he came in. "I mean, I won't stop you. Its not like there isn't chemistry between us or anything."
Using his phone he found a drive through and soon after, they were on the highway with crinkling paper wrappers and sausage biscuits.
"Mmmmm," she said, biting into her second sandwich, "thank you so much. I have no idea how I'll ever thank you for coming and getting me." She paused and made a show of looking around, fields and the occasional exit ramp flew passed them at seventy-five mph. "Where are we going though?"
"First we're going to my apartment. I have to get ready for work in a couple of hours. You can crash with me for a couple days. It will give you a second to breathe and collect your thoughts. There's food, a shower, laundry facilities and stuff, and you can sleep in a warm bed." He glanced at her and she was just listening, looking down the highway, "its no Marriott, but its better than the street."
She didn't say anything for a full minute, then she leaned over the center console and wrapped her arms around his right arm, hugging it, snuggling into his bicep and shoulder. "Can I just be yours?"
His heart clinched in his chest again. He wanted to leap for joy at finally having gotten her, and scream in fear. He remembered the pain of trying to get over her and move passed the weird relationship they had in high-school. He remembered how amazing he felt when they had actually been together. The images of all of their time together flashed in his mind; flowers and elaborate date nights, and times hanging out in his old truck. He remembered how hard he had worked to make her happy and feel loved. He remembered how stupid he had been, because of young love.
