Meredith felt as if she had arrived in a different world.
She thought that she was in heaven. But no matter how hard she tried to find a ray of light, only
darkness surrounded her. And within the darkness, she tried to search for her child.
It was as if her child had disappeared into thin air. Her child was nowhere to be found no matter how
hard she searched.
Just when she was about to give up hope, Meredith heard a weak voice calling out to her.
“Mommy, save me...“, Meredith rushed towards where the voice came from and reached out her hands
to grab her child‘s hand. But she was one step too late. Meredith watched her child get swallowed into
the darkness while she did nothing.
“Nia!” Meredith cried as she sat up abruptly. Opening her eyes, it was only then Meredith realized that
she was sitting in a corner of the washroom at the club.
‘It‘s the same nightmare...‘ Meredith sighed under her breath as she thought to herself. She had been
having a similar nightmare throughout the past three years. While wiping away the cold sweat on her
forehead with the back of her hands, Meredith checked the time on her phone. Her performance was
about to start in half an hours‘ time.
Getting up on her feet, she then fixed her makeup in front of the mirror. Under the butterfly–shaped
white mask hid a hideous scar on the left side of her face. It was from the fire that broke out that year.
The wound, of course, did not hurt anymore, but the wound in her heart still had yet to recover. Every
time she put on the mask, she would be reminded of the cold and ruthless Josiah, and of how he
forcefully locked her up in the psychiatric ward. Closing her eyes, Meredith tried to stop herself from
thinking about the past.
“Hey, Miss Josie said you can get off work now. I‘ll be performing in your stead,” said a lady with a
sarcastic tone. Confused, Meredith stopped adjusting the mask on her face, looked at the lady, and
asked,” Why?”
The lady was from the performing team, Linda. She was mainly involved in performing sexy dances.
Meredith, on the other hand, was in charge of doing piano solos. For some reason, Linda disliked her
and had always come up with different ways to pick a bone with her.
“Isn’t it obvious? The guests don‘t know how to admire your piano solo and would prefer to
see me pole dance instead,” replied Linda while she fixed her make–up. Glancing at Meredith through
the mirror, Linda sniggered and mocked, “To put it simply, they don‘t want to see your ugly face.” The
expression on Meredith‘s face changed.
Meredith knew that it was Linda who had Miss Josie replace her performance. Hence, she did not want
to waste any time arguing with Linda and charged toward Miss Josie‘s office instead.
At the sight of Meredith, Miss Josie knew right away why she had shown up at her door.
“Merelyn, Linda is right. People who come to this sort of place mostly enjoy performances like pole
dancing. Also, they go crazy for ladies with a pretty face and long legs, but you...” Pointing to
Meredith‘s face and her long dress, Miss Josie continued, “You do understand what I‘m trying to say,
right?”
Meredith knew perfectly what Miss Josie meant. But she still bit the bullet and begged, “Miss Josie,
please don‘t remove my performance. I really need the money.” “And who doesn‘t?” Miss Josie
snapped, “Every single one who is working here needs the money. Do you really think that you‘re the
only one?”
“Miss Josie! I...”
Annoyed, Miss Josie cut her off and said, “Come tomorrow night and you can get off work now.”
Gnawing on her lips, Meredith looked as if she was about to cry. This made Miss Josie feel slightly bad
for her.
In the end, Miss Josie said to her, “Alright, alright. Since Lyla had taken leave, I‘m sure Zya could use
some help. I‘ll pay you accordingly for tonight.”
Zya was in charge of serving guests in the VIP lounge and Meredith used to fill in for her colleagues.
For the extra pay, Meredith headed toward the VIP lounge.
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