THE RUSSIAN MAFIA'S ANGEL

Alone in the big hall, Angel walked over to the table the tray was placed on.

She paused when caught her reflection on a pillar with glass clutters.

"Oh my God!" She gasped, and covered her mouth, totally horrified.

She checked again to see if she had seen correctly, and almost lost it.

Her nose had dried particles, which had to come from her crying after that mean guy tried to force her to eat.

No one had told her. They just let her walk around like that.

Panicking, she grabbed the bottle of water from the tray, and hurried around in search of a window, or a sink.

She found neither, and nearly lost it. Returning to the hall, she continued her search.

When it dawned on her she was only wasting her time, she looked down.

Her night wear was intact, and thankfully, it had a silk robe.

She untied it, and was left wearing just the inner singlet, and short.

Wetting the silk robe, she brought it to her face, and began to wipe.

"I can't believe this. I look horrible!" She said to herself, as she wiped.

She focused on her nose, and began to clean furiously, when the door opened, and the sound of shuttling feets filled the room.

She was directly facing the girls that had just come into the room, so she couldn't even hide what she was doing.

Reddened with shams, she brought the robe behind her, and tried to fake a smile.

She couldn't look at their faces. From her little glimpses, these were gorgeous girls.

They were even more attractive than the models she was used to seeing.

"That's Angel, girls. She's so beautiful, isn't she?"

She lifted her head on hearing Luciana's voice.

"That's her?" One of the girls asked in a disgusted tone.

Angel noticed it was the one with the blondest hair amongst the rest.

"Yeah, I know right? She's so sickly thin. I wonder why the other girls think she's a competition for the boss's heart," a dark haired girl said, and scoffed.

Angel was more intrigued; they were all being so venomous in her face.

Usually, people gossiped behind you. Neither of these girls cared about those societal rules.

They said what they were thinking, without mincing words.

"Girls, don't be mean. She's gorgeous. Not every girl has to be thick, alright?"

"But that's what makes a real woman," a girl with tinted blue hair said.

"That's enough, alright? I can't believe how classless you're all acting! Go up the stage, and start practicing!" Luciana ordered angrily.

It didn't take long for Angel to deduce she was the leader, and the other girls were her fellow strippers.

For a second there, she felt relieved. It would have sucked if the leader of these very brave girls didn't like her too.

"Hey," Luciana walked up to her. "Don't take their words to heart, okay? The men who frequent the club have fried their brains."

Angel chuckled with humor. "I think they have every right to feel the way they do. After all, everyone has their own beauty standards,.right?"

"Wait, you're not offended? If one of the other girls said those nasty words to one of us, there would be a fight!"

Angel laughed, intrigued, and really amused.

"Let's just say I come from a world where it's quite normal to pretend to like each other. I'd rather people tell me how they feel about me to my face, than pretend just to suck up to me. I like these girls," she said with a big smile on her face.

Luciana was terribly confused. All her life, rich girls aroused her curiosity.

She wondered what their world felt like. Her insecurity was further heightened when the princess of Prague began showing interest in the man who was interested in her.

Xander was her one foot into a world where she didn't have to strip to make ends meet.

But a real life princess was interested in him. And now she had met another who made her even more curious about their world.

"Wow, they're amazing!" Angel blurted.

She followed her gaze, and saw that the girls had begun to rehearse.

Her eyes went to Sasha, the blonde bombshell.

She had all the potential to be a breakout star. Her cattiness was also something that would probably make her succeed.

What turned her off was the fact she didn't know when to draw the line.

"She's really good." Angel pointed at the blonde girl.

"Sasha? Yes she is. Unfortunately, she's got a few loose screws."

"I think that just makes her more fierce," Angel replied in an enthralled voice.

"You're really interested in all of this?" Luciana asked, still in disbelief.

"I am. It's fun, and exciting. Do you all go one after the other, or is it a together thing?"

"Some girls share the stage. Some have such a big presence, it's absolutely criminal to let them share."

"What about costumes?" Angel's eyes popped. "Do you do costumes?"

"Fuck!" Luciana cursed.

"What? Is it something I said?" Angel asked, already racking her brain to find where she had gone wrong.

"No, it's not you. The girls' costumes have not arrived yet. Ava was supposed to send it, but I haven't heard from her. Excuse me."

"Who is Ava?"

Angel asked at the same time Luciana said her last words.

Before she could get a response, Luciana had disappeared into a room.

She returned to watching the girls, when a thought struck her mind.

Turning towards the direction Luciana had come out from before, she developed her plan in her mind.

"Where do you think you're going?"

She paused on her track, just seconds from crashing into the person that had stopped in her path.

"Can I see your costume room? I think your costumes haven't arrived yet, and I can do something to help."

Sasha burst into a feat of laughter, causing Angel to wonder what she had said that was so funny.

"Hear that everyone? The new bitch wants to see our costume room!"

The rest of the girls burst into mocking laughter.

Angel made another observation. As much as Luciana was a leader, Sasha was also one, and even worse, the girls worshiped her.

"I just want to—"

"Shut up, you bitch!"

Sasha suddenly grabbed a fistful of her hair, and began to pull.