Page 45 of Dancing With Lies

“Oh, that old chestnut.” She smiled with a laugh and looked out at the water again. “For the same reason most people do, I needed a job, had no skills other than dancing, and was too young to get a job as a corporate CEO with a pension and 401K.”

“Ah, the sarcastic princess reigns supreme.” He said to tease her, and she glanced back at him, amusement making her eyes dance.

“At your service.” She pretended to doff a hat at him then went back to her candy.

“Was Nathan always like that with you?”

“Not at first, no.” She sighed, paused to put the bag of candy back in her overnight bag, and then looked at him. “He made me believe in love again, when we first met. For a year I thought it was real after all and that I’d finally found my happy ending. I don’t know why I’m telling you this. Just so you know, I still hate you.”

“Thank you, your majesty.” He responded automatically to the old jibe.

“I’m not a queen, I’m a princess, remember?” A playful response, one he hadn’t quite expected. It gave him hope that she really was alright.

“So, Nathan was a good guy at first?” He moved in the chair, getting comfortable again.

“He was, yes. I was homeless for a while, in my younger days, and back then I stopped believing in love. I couldn’t stop remembering how my parents were with each other though, how they always took care of each other, all the love they showed each other. It made me hope, even as I learned about the darker side of love and romance. I wanted what they had, even if I didn’t deserve it. I thought my chance had come when Nathan came into my life.”

“You do deserve love, Roxie, even if it’s not real.” He replied after thinking it over. She looked at him in question when he said love wasn’t real so he explained as best he could. “My mother has been married almost too many times to be decent and I don’t think she’ll ever be happy. My dad was an utter prick and, well, I’m not sure love is real at all, but if it is you deserve it.”

“Thanks. I don’t know why I’m spilling my guts to you like this.” She swallowed the last sip of the beer going warm in front of her and then took a deep breath, as if she needed to calm herself. “I should be running from you too, I think.”

“Why?” Her comment surprised him. He couldn’t think of a single reason why she should be afraid to be around him.

“Because. You’re a part of my past. A past I left behind for good reason as you know.”

It was another moment where he could tell her a treasure-trove of truth, but again, he let it pass him by. It wasn’t the right time, the right moment, to tell her what he’d suspected for a decade. He wanted the final proof of it all before he spilled the beans completely.

“Anyway, I never wanted to be rich but being an exotic dancer made me comfortable. I could take care of my…responsibilities.” Her words stumbled but she picked up the thread. He wondered what she’d almost said but let the moment go. “My mom and dad died because they lived beyond their means. I saw what too much money can cause, the damage that having more than the have-nots causes. Money is filthy and I don’t like it. It’s necessary to live, to eat, and to breathe above ground, but it’s not something I strive to stockpile. It’s a means to an end. Dancing, on the other hand, has always been something that gives me life, whether it was the ballet kind or the exotic kind.”

“I noticed you do a lot of charity work with Emily.” He said, as if to himself, but he saw her nod her head.

It was nice to just talk to her as an equal for a change, not as an employee or a victim, but just as a man to a woman. This might be the most real conversation they’d ever had.

“I do. For a place designed to make people rich, there sure are a lot of homeless and needy people here. A lot of women come here hoping for love with a guy, for example, only to find out the guy only wanted sex. They end up alone, pregnant, and without a way to support themselves. The sex industry is easy to fall into when you’re desperate. Not that all women in the industry are victims, it’s just that I know a lot of the women that come to us for help are.” She paused again and he wondered if she’d shared too much and would clam up now.

“Why don’t they just go back home?” He asked, not out of judgment but curiosity.

“Most have come from rural areas in North Carolina, Virginia, even West Virginia. Their lives there are uncertain, especially in the places where there are no jobs. They’re lured here by the dream of easy beach living where every day is a party. That’s a stark difference for women from coal country for instance. I’ve met several women from small mining towns and what they’ve told me about poverty and the drugs in those places, the violence that comes from it, is horrifying.”

He wanted to change the subject, not because it made him uncomfortable, but because she looked upset. He didn’t want her to be more upset than she already was.

“Want to walk on the beach?” He asked, to change the subject.

“Sure, that might be good for me, actually. I love the beach, you know? I didn’t come here with any kind of delusions about how fantastic life would be, but I did fall in love with the ocean. It’s really soothing.”

Lincoln agreed. He’d slept better here than he had anywhere else in his life.

“So, what all did you accomplish after MIT, Lincoln?” She asked, making her own subject change as they walked out the back gate to the beach beyond.

“I went on to Harvard Business School, saw my mother get divorced again, and built my business up. Kai and I have a lot of projects together and I’ve spent time all over the world because of that. I’ve even been to China, to the place where my Mom’s Chinese family are from.” He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his shorts as he walked, avoiding the water. His shoes were too expensive to expose to saltwater.

That made him roll his eyes at his own stupidity. Roxie worked with homeless people that had little, donated money to charities that supported at-risk women, and here he was worrying over ruining his expensive deck shoes. It seemed she was making an impact on his thinking already.

“And what about Tanya, your other PA?” She asked, and he stopped to look at her.

There was no jealousy in her face, but she must have noticed what he’d noticed. “What about her?”

“She’s obviously in love with you, even if she insists on calling you, Mr. Young.” Roxie grinned at him in the moonlight, teasing him again. “I think she wants to be more than your assistant.”