Disclaimers:
The characters are all mine. So there! But, I did get a little inspiration off Foreigner's song, "I Want to Know What Love is."
Violence: It's nothing much.
Sex/Love: Yep, both, between women.
Author comments: I would love feedback, as always, I thrive on it.
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Before I begin this tale I must tell you, this is not another one of those Cinderella stories, life, as I've learned, is hardly a fairy tale. Besides, I would look really bad in a dirty white, raggedy dress. I wasn't born to a step mother with two evil step sisters, I'm hardly prince charming and I sure ain't the fairy godmother. I'm just me; plain old me.
I guess I should start at the beginning so things don't turn out backwards. Yes, life hasn't been a walk in the park for me, nor was I born with a golden spoon in my mouth, more like a pitiful request for a morsel of food. Okay, so perhaps I am exaggerating a bit, but if you can imagine the very bottom of the ladder, that's me. My family was poor and I had three older brothers to boot. Indeed, they were a source of comfort; when one would beat me up, I would always have another shoulder to turn to. My parents barely had money for food, much less for education or anything else like that. However, I grew up fine, am quite healthy, if I may say so myself, and have even exploited...I mean, put to good use, the country's different services. I had been having such a wonderful time with said services that I quickly found myself the guest of another one of those services. Yes, you guessed correctly, I found myself thrown in jail. My parents, of course, didn't have the money to bail me out and so they simply "decided" to teach me a valuable lesson.
Believe me, I learned a lot that night. For instance, I now know three very creative ways to gut a...well, you get my drift. I also found out a few more interesting tid bits about the facts of life from a fellow guest of the state. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a wuss by any means, I'm actually a pretty strong and capable woman, but Bertha, as was my new friend's name, had a bit of an advantage over me; about a hundred or so pounds, that is.
Finally, I was released and found myself thrust out into the cold world. My parents decided to teach me another valuable lesson. Apparently I was old enough to go out on my own and find my niche in life. With barely any education and no money in my pockets, you can just imagine the tremendous luck and opportunities I encountered. Roaming the streets with no real aim started to get to me after a while and I decided enough was enough. I was a grown, mature woman with all kinds of capabilities, that still elude me, by the way, and mostly, I was determined. After several hard days on the streets, going in and out of work places, from one interview to the next, I found my calling. I was to be a restaurant's valet. Hey, there's a skill for you no one checks if you actually possess it. I guess my fake license that reads Wilma Jones worked. Go figure. Now don't frown at me, you know you would have done the very same thing. I had no choice. Besides, it wasn't like I could kill someone. The worst thing that could happen was I slammed into a car or two and got fired. Let's just say, I learned to drive real well, real fast.
This restaurant that I worked for was considered one of the city's finest, or so I've been told. If they have a valet, that should tell you something. But then again, that valet was me, so...
I didn't have time to ponder too long and frankly, I didn't really care. I had a job! And I was happy. It was enough for me. Other than the fine paycheck they gave me, they offered a back room in the restaurant for me to crash in along with a suave looking, red valet jacket and a kind of dorky bow tie. At least I didn't have to wear a stupid hat, like the ones I'd seen valets in movies wear.
Standing in front of the mirror, I pulled my long black hair into a tight pony tail, straightened my bow tie and looked with satisfaction at the tiny brass plate on my chest, proudly presenting my name in black letters, Gina Rich. Now ain't that the irony?
Sparkling blue eyes gazed at me in the mirror; I smiled and winked at my reflection then locked the door to my small room and went to do my job.
It was a really good night. Lots of people came into the restaurant, most of them seemingly well off and most of them even tipping me. I liked those customers best. It was a bit of a dull job when you think about it; patrons coming in, giving me their keys, I park their car and they go out. Very simple, all very routine. Until I found that I could actually park their cars a further ways from the restaurant. Can you hear the grin in my voice?
I had a blast. Finally, the job became more suitable for me and the cars kept getting better and better. There came a time I even stopped bothering with the "lesser" cars and took out only the serious machines. It almost felt like I was their owner and I was free to do what I pleased. But then one day things changed.
I still had a job, which surprised even me, but that wasn't the exciting event I was talking about. One night, a couple came into my restaurant. Yeah, after a while you get possessive of the place you work for. Or perhaps it's just my covert megalomania simmering to the surface. Anyhow, the couple didn't interest me all that much, it was one half of that couple that captured my attention. Damn, she was so beautiful. Never in my life had I ever been even close to someone that pretty. She had long blonde hair and the most amazing sea-green eyes. She wore a long black evening dress with a simple pearl necklace around her neck. That simple necklace could probably take care of me and my entire family for a year, by the way. But I'm digressing. Her breathtaking beauty wasn't the only thing that made me look twice, and drool, but don't tell anyone, it was more the fact that she stopped for a moment and spoke to me. In all the time I had been working for that restaurant, none of the men's dates ever even so much as glanced my way, much less talked to me. The men didn't speak to me either, but they felt they needed to tell me to take good care of their baby. This girl was different.
She came up to me; ok, so she came up to the restaurant's door, but still, I was very close by. Walking alongside her date, her arm folded in the crook of his arm, they stopped. In that moment, all movement stopped, at least for me. I think, no, I'm pretty sure, I looked like a jackass standing there with my eyes glazed over, gaping while the man said something. I felt doubly embarrassed when he had to repeat his words. He had a nice car, a very nice car and was obviously worried. I assured him that no harm would be caused to his precious car and that he could go in and dine peacefully with his beautiful girlfriend. I had actually said that. Oh my God, I still can't believe I actually called her beautiful in front of her and her boyfriend's face. I breathed a sigh of relief when the man hadn't seemed to notice, but smiled a bit crookedly when I noticed a gentle blush grace the girl's fair cheeks. He threw the keys in the air, hoping I would catch them without having to touch him and then turned and started pulling his date into the restaurant. The girl lingered for a moment, looked at me and smiled, then with a shy little wave, followed her date.
I knew I would be having a lot of fun with this car. It was sleek, it was wild, it was fast. I practically jumped into the driver's seat and revved the engine with delight. Not wasting time, I sped off. The restaurant was no longer visible since I decided to park it as far away as I possibly could. After a few minutes of roaming around at top speed, I found a comfy parking space and decided to take my chances and rush into it. In retrospect, that wasn't such a good idea. The space being a parallel parking, something I wasn't too good at to begin with, going at a lower speed might have been a better idea. The sound of the loud crash rang in my ears, making me cringe. Wide eyed and nervous, I quickly scrambled out of the car to look at the damage. Hoping against all hope I had only damaged the other car, I looked through squinted eyelids. A loud groan escaped my lips involuntarily. I was in deep shit and I knew I couldn't run. The restaurant's owner, my boss, had been good to me and all of my stuff was back there, so I couldn't possibly make a run for it. I was a grown up and I had to face the consequences of my actions, no matter what they may be. I got back into the car, slowly pulled out...don't ask me why, I know the damage had already been done but I wasn't sure if the car would survive another hit...and drove back to the restaurant.
Lucky me, the owner of the car and his beautiful date were waiting by the curb for my arrival. If I could clearly describe the look on the man's face when he saw his car, I would truly be an artist. He almost looked like a funny caricature from one of those animated movies I used to enjoy watching when I was back at home. His face contorted in all sorts of shapes and he was changing shades faster and better than any chameleon I had ever encountered. An assortment of choked sounds escaped his throat and I was momentarily afraid he would have a stroke. His girlfriend simply stood there, next to him, motionless, and watched the spectacle that her boyfriend had become. If I hadn't been the target of his deadly stares, I would have laughed. I stopped the car in front of them and slowly got out. The minute I stepped onto the curb and opened my mouth to explain, the man grabbed me by the lapels of my jacket and started shaking me, screaming at me at such frequency that I thought my ears would start bleeding. I guess I missed the horrified look on the woman's face, but faster than a speeding bullet, she was there, trying to pull him off of me.
"Josh, what are you doing? Let her go!" She screamed in helplessness.
