Chapter 1

Checking her reflection for what seems like the 30th time this evening Ava couldn't help but feel the butterflies squirming around inside her stomach as she mentally prepared herself for what she was about to do.

She had been living in Las Vegas for the last six months after an impromptu visit with her cousin Shawna briefly last summer and decided that life in Vegas seemed way more appealing than life in boring old Baltimore.

Shawna had lived in Vegas for going five years now and every time she and Ava would talk, either by phone, text or email she would try to get her little cousin to come pay her a visit. She would constantly drone on and on about how she was living the good life or ‘ballin’ as she liked to call it.

Shawna also like to brag to her ‘baby cous’ as she often nicknamed Ava, that she was living it up with some of the most rich and famous eligible and not-so-eligible bachelors that were around today.

At first Ava didn’t believe her cousin. You see Shawna was prone to exaggeration on many notable occasions, but after Ava’s summer visit she actually got to see it for herself. The many pictures that Shawna kept on her cell phone of these ‘ballers’ – as she so often affectionately referred to any man that was good looking, loaded and prepared to show her a good time; indeed proved to Ava that her cousin wasn’t lying after all. Also Ava couldn’t help but notice the vast amount of material things that her cousin constantly flaunted and bragged about – money, jewelery, clothes, shoes, nails ... you name it, Shawna seemed to get it from these men.

Ava was impressed. She always looked up to her cousin as she was an only child, and Shawna had always been there for Ava, especially in getting her through some difficult situations in the past. But she couldn’t help admitting that the life Shawna was living out here was impressive to say the least.

'Girl, it's just a job ... it’s just a job, it’s just a job' Ava starts to repeat over and over trying to calm her jittery nerves. Finally Ava musters enough courage to open her front door to her potential new boss Lucas.

“Hey Lucas,” she smiles and trys her best to sound confident and eager but deep down she couldn't help but think how forced it came across.

It's pretty clear though that if she did sound phony, well it had been completely lost on Lucas who seemed to be too busy admiring the woman stood before him. With the way he was undressing her with his eyes Ava started to feel herself blushing hard as Lucas’ eyes traveled up and down her body finally coming to a halt when they land on her lips.

'Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god' she repeats over and over in her mind, 'I can’t do this....'

“Ava, baby you look amazing” Lucas says in a lazy drawl. Ava is fully aware that she looks the part in her little black dress that grips and hugs her figure in all of the right places, but she wouldn’t go as far as amazing. She knew that she had a pretty quality to her and knew that her body wasn’t that bad looking either but amazing? No way, not like some of the other girls who worked for Lucas. She’d seen some of them ... now they looked amazing. But Ava? No way. Never.

Having nothing suitable to wear for her “interview” so-to-speak, Ava had to rely on her cousin to lend her something appropriate. You see Shawna already worked for Lucas and she was the one who introduced Ava to this new field of work. This is how Ava was going to ‘live the good life’ too.

“mm mm mm girl, you gon' fit in just fine" she hears Lucas mumble shaking her from her reverie.

This comment has Ava’s face changing a deeper shade of red and once again the butterflies inside her stomach flutter wildly out of control, only now it feels like she has elephants jumping up and down doing somersaults.

Lucas’ gaze remains relentless on Ava’s body as he comments “Honey your cousin told me you had potential, but dang girrrl, she didn’t tell me how fyne you really are."

‘Oh sh!t’, Ava thinks to herself as Lucas takes her hand and pulls her into the corridor of her apartment block.

Like a lion circling its prey, Lucas proceeds to circle Ava once ... twice ... three times... then stops behind her completely. He reaches up to Ava’s long flowing chocolate coloured hair that hangs all the way to the small of her back and lifts it to his ....nose? ‘Urggghh’ Ava thinks to herself ... 'is this guy for real? Sniffing my hair of all things?' 

Lucas continues to admire Ava’s body from behind. He has to admit that she really does look the part in that tight black dress which stops short a few inches above the knee. The material clings to every inch of her body that it comes into contact with ... and ooooo that ass.

“Hmmmm” Lucas breathes into Ava’s left ear, “Baby, you’re gon' make me a lot of money .... this is gon' be the start of a beautiful relationship, I can FEEL it."With that Lucas palms his crotch, hopping that the semi hard on this girl is giving him will die down before she notices it. He can tell she's nervous. The way she keeps fidgeting with her fingers ever since she opened the door and the way she stands frozen to the spot as he checks her out. He realizes he needs to get a grip; after all he doesn’t want to scare her off before she’s even started.

‘Man....stay professional. This one could make you a lotta money’ Lucas thinks to himself.

“So Ava, you definitely look the part, but we need to see if you can act the part ... shall we?”

Lucas holds his arm out for Ava as though he's going to escort her to a prom or a formal event. Ava feels reluctant to take hold of Lucas’ arm but her brain seems to quickly remind her of her sh!tty job at the Palms and of some of the crap she's had to go through there recently. She also realizes once again at just how sick and tired she is at struggling to get by when she could make some real easy money from just being pretty. These thoughts alone has her quickly linking her arm with Lucas' and with a huge grin on her face she pulls the door shut seemingly ready for whatever tonight has in stall for her.

When they finally get outside Ava can't help but show just how impressed she is with the black hummer limousine that is waiting to take them the short distance to the strip. She tries her best to act cool in front of Lucas but he can see just how impressed she is by the glazed over look in her eyes. He's become accustomed to the same look time and time again and this just makes him chuckle. 'Silly hoe's, show em a bit of flash and they're like putty in my hands' he thinks to himself.

As Ava climbs into the monstrosity of the vehicle, Lucas pats the seat next to him. Ava takes her seat obediently as Lucas holds out a shot glass full of some crystal clear looking liquid.

“You should taste this sh!t, it’s the best tequila ever" he says with a wink. Ava can see the label on the bottle as Lucas fills himself a glass ...”Patron Silver”she says quizzically underneath her breath.

“Yep that’s right" Lucas says bragging, “only the best drinks for me and my girls,” he chuckles to himself as he once again sees Ava trying to act cool after she realizes he has heard what she's said.

Ava has never tasted the drink before but had heard about how it was the “in” drink and how many of her favourite rappers and singers was dropping the brand name in their songs as clearly it had a luxury status.

“You gon' drink it, or stare at it all night?” Lucas eyes Ava with a slight smirk. God this girl was ripe for the picking.

“Uh-u-uh yea sure”...Ava brings the shot glass to her lips, smelling the oak flavour that the drink permeates and throws her head back as the liquid enters her mouth then coats the back of her throat. Whoa...strong stuff Ava thinks as tears spring to her eyes. Even though she's not a heavy drinker she is glad Lucas had handed her this drink as it seems to take the edge off her nerves.

“So um, where are we going tonight Lucas?” Ava sits back in her seat as Lucas hands her another shot of Patron.

“Well babe, first we’re gonna hit up Pure at Caesar’s. You ever hit that place up before?” he says busily pouring himself another shot.

Ava shakes her head no as she brings the second shot of the night to her lips.

“Yea we got us a VIP table there, that place is off the chain. You’ll meet some of my friends and some of the other ho....uh girls that work for me,” Lucas corrects quickly mentally slapping himself for nearly saying the word ho to Ava. Sure this chick understands perfectly well what line of business he's in but he doesn’t want to scare her off all the same.

Right now he doesn’t own her, and looking at the fine piece of ass that's sat next to him, he wants, no...make that needs to own THAT. That ass was gonna add dollars to his forever expanding "bidness".

Lucas notices Ava’s green eyes widen at his statement and realizes that she had indeed picked up on what he nearly said.

“You know I look after my girls right Ava? Did your cousin tell you how good I look after her?” he says hoping to have redeemed himself as he watches Ava bite on her bottom lip and look down into her empty shot glass.

“Uh yea..yeah, Lucas she told me how good you are to her." Ava knew that the only reason he was good to her cousin was because he didn’t want to lose her or the profit he was making off of her. Shawna told Ava a while ago that she was one of his top earners and how he would do anything to keep a hold on her. It actually scared Ava a bit the way she was talking and now sitting here remembering this conversation, well the doubts she's had over the past few hours have begun to resurface.

Just as Ava is about to voice those doubts the limo comes to a stop and almost immediately the car door is being opened by a burly looking doorman.

She watches as Lucas exits the limo onto the sidewalk and holds his hand out for her to take. ‘Such a gentleman’, Ava thinks to herself ‘yea right’ she muses.

“Yo Mr. Martin, so nice to see you again so soon,” the head doorman says whilst motioning with his hand to the entrance of the club.

Ava laughs to herself 'Lucas Martin? This guy has two first names!' Clearly the alcohol has started to take an effect on her, as this revelation has her chuckling loudly.

She watches Lucas shoot her a stern look before saying, “Thanks Marcus my man. Keep the limo close to the building for me would ya?” 

Ava watches with wide eyes as Lucas gives the doorman a handshake that contains a folded fifty dollar bill.

“Anything for you Mr. Martin, anything at all,” the smarmy doorman says.

Ava notices the doorman give her a sh*t-eating grin as if to say ‘I know what you do for a living hunny.’ This thought has her feeling sick to her stomach but before she knows it, Lucas has taken hold of her hand and struts them cockily passed the barriers which are holding back lines and lines of people waiting patiently to get in.

~~~~~

He spots her as soon as she enters the room. He's been sat in a VIP cabana that overlooks the dance floor and has been people watching all night – his favourite thing to do when he's bored.

He can't resist a pretty face and when she walks in, immediately his interest pipes up as he continues to participate in one of his favourite pastimes.

Javon sits next to him, silently sipping his Coke ready to stop any unwanted company from approaching his boss. He notices from the corner of his eye Michael shift in his seat and follows his boss’ gaze. ‘Uh oh’ Javon thinks to himself after spotting the striking brunette that his boss has fixed his sights on. ‘This could be trouble’ he chuckles to himself.

He's been with his boss for a couple of years now and tonight is nothing new to him. When Michael has the urge to escape the confines of his house or hotel suite, Javon is normally the one to accompany him to whatever joint is most happening at the time.

He has to admit that most of the time it's quite fun. They've gotten pretty friendly during these little nights out but at the same time Javon can't help but feel sorry for his boss. He can see the envy glaze across his boss's face at the many people relaxing, dancing and having fun. He knows perfectly well that his boss would love to be able to do these things that "normal" people do but unfortunately he has to settle for vicariously living through their "fun" by simply sitting there and watching.

Sometimes the watching turns into more than that though and on a few occasions Javon has been asked to play matchmaker for his boss when he sees some woman of interest. Most of the time it is what it is - fun without attachments, but there has been a handful of occasions where these woman have turned into complete and utter nightmares and the really pretty ones always seem to give the most headaches for him and his co-workers.

Javon watches as Michael sits up straight trying to get a better view of the woman as he brings his glass of whiskey to his lips. Michael continues to follow the woman’s path throughout the club and watches eagerly as she and some guy make their way towards the area where they've been seated for the past two hours.

The entrance to the VIP area has two security men letting people through and they were alerted earlier in the night that Michael would be stopping by so they were to be extra picky about who they let into this section. Michael was now curious. He doesn’t recognize the woman but the guy she's with did look kinda familiar.

Michael leans over in his seat to Javon and whispers, “BJ that guy over there in the black suit – he looks familiar, do we know him?” addressing Javon by his nickname.

Javon looks over to the guy Mike is referring to and shakes his head in recognition of the man also.

“I don’t think we know him Mike but I think he’s a regular at these clubs. Wasn’t he also at Christian’s birthday party in L.A. in May? Yea Britney was all up on him if I remember correctly.”

Michael chuckles at Javon's remark and nods his head in agreement. 'Yea that’s right' he thinks to himself, Christian had mentioned to him that the dude had provided some of the girls to model and entertain the guests.

Both Michael and Javon watch closely with interest as the couple take a seat in an opposite cabana that is already occupied by a group of men and women. From her body language it appears that the woman doesn't know any of the other people sat at the table and Michael watches intently as the guy introduces her to the rest of the group.

She looks shy, real shy. Michael can sense that she's nervous about something by simply observing her body language. She seems tense, rigid almost and it appears from the way she's fidgeting that this is the last place she wants to be. His curiosity now peaks with the revelation of the signals that she's giving off. Clearly the guy she's with isn’t her date or anything as there's not an inch of chemistry between them. Well not from her at least – Michael chuckles to himself at that thought. He can tell the guy is into her though. The way he keeps looking at her and licking his lips, the dude is practically salivating over her, but then again - who wouldn't? She's stunning.

Michael watches as she downs a shot that the guy in the suit had given to her. She fidgets nervously in her seat as one of the other men in the group takes a seat next to her. She's now sandwiched in the middle of these guys and has a nervous look on her face. The guy in the suit leans over and whispers something in her ear as she turns to look at the other man sat next to her.

‘Poor girl’, Michael thinks to himself – she really doesn’t seem to be enjoying herself at all. This thought makes him wonder if she's being initiated into something. Not liking this thought he tries to push it away but it seems pretty obvious to his eyes that this girl is gonna be used for something. He's seen this kinda thing way too many times before at these type of clubs and the fact that she doesn’t appear to be like the rest of the women who are sat around the table has him convinced that this is the case. The other woman are really loud and openly flirting with the men in the group, sitting on their laps, touching their arms and legs suggestively, practically begging for the men to give it to them then and there. But this girl ... there is something about her that screams ‘please get me out of here’. 

The guy in the suit now looks up and appears to sense Michael is watching them. He gets up from his seat whilst keeping his eye on where Michael is sat. As he approaches, Michael watches Javon stand up immediately walking towards the guy in the suit.

“I’m sorry sir but I can’t let you walk any further” Javon says holing his arm out to the guy in the suit, creating an illusion that he's going to push the guy away should he come any further.

“It’s ok BJ let him through," Michael says as he stands up ready to greet suit guy.

Javon looks curiously at his boss, then shrugs his shoulders and listens to him as he lets the guy pass.

“Hey Michael, good to see you again man ... Lucas Martin - we met at Christians birthday party." Lucas holds out his hand for Michael to shake.

“Oh yeah Lucas, I remember, how’s it goin’ man? You provided some of the entertainment right?”

Lucas is amazed that someone like Michael would ever remember someone like him but he's glad he did. Maybe he can be a possible client in the future, he thinks to himself, as he notices Michael's gaze travel past Lucas towards Ava’s direction.

“I did indeed. Did you enjoy the party? It was some event wasn’t it?” Lucas says trying to hold Michael's attention for a little while longer.

Michael really doesn't want to make idle chit-chat with this Lucas guy but he isn't a rude person, plus Lucas knows the woman whom Michael has been admiring as soon as he set eyes on her.


F*ck it Michael thinks to himself, let’s cut to the chase why I really let you speak to me.

“Yea the party was bangin’ but I had to leave after an hour or so. It got a bit out of hand with the crowd if you know what I mean." Who was he kidding, of course this guy didn’t know what he meant. No-body really knows what it’s like to get stuck in the middle of a mob of fans and paps – all wanting a piece of you just so they can say they met the King of Pop.

“So you here partying with ya girl tonight?” Michael nods his head towards Ava while asking Lucas this question.

“Nah man, I’m here to party but she’s not my girl so-to-speak. She uh, might be working for me if you know what I mean?” Lucas chuckles to himself after using the same statement that Michael just had on him.

‘Idiot’, Michael thinks to himself. He’s a wise ass who thinks he’s funny.


“Really," Michael’s curiosity now perks up even more. “She works for you? Like a model or one of those girls at Christian’s party?” 

Thinking it best to just agree with what Michael has just said, Lucas replies, “Yea, uh so if you want I could bring her over to introduce you to her?”

Immediately Lucas sees the twinkle in Michael’s eyes when he says this and all he can now think is ‘ker-ching’ as dollar signs start to flash rapidly past his eyes. If he could hook Ava and Michael up this would be the easiest money he’s ever made. He practically rubs his hands together when Michael says, “Sure, bring her over."

~~~~

Ava watched Lucas as he walked over to a man wearing sunglasses. Who wears sunglasses in a club? she thinks to herself. Clearly Lucas knew the man though as she watched them shake hands and make conversation.

“Baby, you really are something else,” she hears the guy seated next to her say as he twirls a strand of her hair around his index finger. Ava can't help but feel sick at the thought that this was happening so soon. She had only been in the club all of ten minutes and already Lucas has introduced her to a client.

I can’t do this she thinks to herself as she downs another shot of Patron. She watches as Lucas walks back over to their table and says something to the guy sat next to her. She didn’t hear what he said but he seemed to huff at Lucas, and then proceeded to walk back to the other side of the table.

Ava sighs a breath of relief and really wants to thank Lucas for that much needed interruption but he quickly grabs her arm and pulls her up. As he does so he breathes into her ear, “I’m gon' introduce you babe to a well-known client. If you wanna work for me, whatever he wants – you give it to him. Is that understood?”

Ava looks in the direction of sunglasses man, and then looks back at Lucas. “Uh uh, ok Lucas,” she stammers. She can’t believe that he's now taking her to meet the weirdo in the sunglasses. Maybe she'd be better off staying with the other guy she ponders.

Too late, Lucas is already escorting her over to the man in sunglasses who now stands up waiting for them as they approach closer. She's unable to see what the man really looks like as it's too dark in the club but with the sunglasses and his hair covering his face the way it is, well something seems familiar about him. As Lucas makes the introductions Ava holds out her hand for the man to shake. He follows Ava’s lead and takes her hand into his. Ava has no idea why but she can feel herself start to blush as he gently squeezes her hand inside his larger ones.

“Ava this is Mike, Mike this is Ava,” Lucas says with as much charm as he can possibly muster.

“N-nice to meet you Mike,” Ava stammers. Why am I so frickin nervous? Ava thinks to herself.

“Hi Ava it’s a pleasure to meet you. You look wonderful tonight,” Michael compliments her.

Again Ava can feel the heart rush to her cheeks once more. ‘Urgh Ava – blush much’ she says to herself underneath her breath.

As Michael sits down he signals for Ava to take a seat next to him. She complies with his request and then looks to Lucas who just nods his head at her. His job is done. He has made the introductions, now it's time for Ava’s test. If she can bag Michael Jackson he thinks to himself, then she will definitely become one of his girls fo' sure. What a first client to bag too Ava, he chuckles to himself.

“Well I need to get back to my table Mike, I have some other business to attend too. It was nice to see you again.” He shakes Michael's hand once again then winks at Ava before he turns on his heels and leaves them to it.

Ava really doesn’t know why she let Shawna talk her into tonight. Do I really need the money this bad she thinks to herself as she takes in the appearance of the man sitting next to her.

She has to admit it though, yep the guy looks weird. I mean who wears sunglasses in a dark club? But there is something about him that just screams money. His plain black pants and shirt look real expensive and he has this air about him that screams rich guy walking.

Ava can sense that Mike is staring at her through his sunglasses and once again she feels the heat rush to her cheeks. She freezes as he leans into her and says, “Ava can I buy you a drink?”

He's so close that she can feel the tickle of his breathe on her neck as he softly speaks to her. 'Woa this doesn’t feel as sleazy as it did with the other dude' she thinks to herself. Maybe it's because "Mike" doesn't appear to be as threatening as the other guy was she argues. Also his soft voice seems to calm her nerves a little.

“Uh y-yea I’ll have what you’re having please,” she replies nervously.

He raises his eyebrows and chuckles when he says, “girl, you like strong liquor?”

Ava looks at Mike confused. “Well what are you drinking? It looks like Coke?”

Mike chuckles again before saying, “Nah I’m drinking whiskey. Javon is drinking Coca-Cola.” Mike tilts his head towards Javon’s direction so she can see who he's referring to.

“Oh, uh ok whiskey it is then." She laughs nervously. She had never tried whiskey before but what the hell, she’s never done half the things she has already done tonight so what harm could come of it right?

Sensing that she's already a bit tipsy Michael holds up his glass for her to try some of his drink before he orders one for her. She looks quizzically at him offering his drink for her to try, but then catches on and licks her lips before she takes a sip. She watches from the corner of her eye as he appears to focus his attention to her lips.

As the liquid hits the back of her throat she isn’t at all prepared for how strong it tastes and immediately she starts to cough and splutter in reaction to its strength.

Michael takes the glass from her hand as she holds her hands up to her throat as she continues to cough and splutter. He chuckles at the faces she's pulling.

“I didn’t think you were the hard liquor type of girl,” Michael says laughing whilst tapping her back gently to help ease her choking fit.

“I...I guess I’m not,” she says as she looks at him embarrassed.

Ava watches Mike lean over to Javon to ask if he would get Ava a coke and another whiskey for himself. He then turns back to face her and says, “So Ava do you have a last name?”

“Uh yea its Phillips, my name is Ava Phillips,” she replies shyly.

Michael holds out his hand once again to shake hers and says, “Well nice to meet you Miss. Phillips. My name is Jackson. Michael Jackson.”

With that statement Ava can’t help but burst into a fit of giggles. Only the giggles now turn into full blown laughter. So much so that Ava can feel the laughter tears start to spring to her eyes.

He smiles at her outburst but has a quizzical look on his face.

Is this guy for real? Ava thinks to herself. He’s going by the name of Michael Jackson? Or is that really his name she wonders?

Poor guy, it must really suck to share a name with someone as famous as the King of Pop she chuckles to herself.

~~~~

Two hours have passed and the club is getting busier by the minute. Michael really doesn’t want to say good-bye to Ava but when she had left for the ladies room, Javon reminded him that if they didn’t leave soon it would be a nightmare trying to get him out of here without being mobbed.

Michael agreed with Javon but he needed to say goodbye to Ava first.

As Ava takes her seat next to Michael the loud music has him once again leaning into her ear as he says, “I’ve really enjoyed myself tonight Ava. I really don’t want to leave your company but if I don’t go now I might not get out of here alive hehe,” he chuckles.

Seeing the disappointment on Ava’s face he thought he’d be bold and ask her if he could take her home. She looks shocked at what he’s asked her but this time it was his turn to blush, “I uh, didn’t mean ya know, take you home – take you home, I uh meant you know give you a ride home. So I know you get home safe.”

Once again Ava bites her bottom lip and takes a moment to digest what he's just said. Looking over to the table that Lucas is sat at she realizes quite quickly that if she doesn’t leave with Michael, Lucas will defiantly make her leave with another man. Plus she argues with herself that Michael has made it quite clear that he only wants to give her a ride. Although what type of ride she wasn’t sure. Nah, he’s not like that she thinks plus didn’t I read somewhere he’s gay?

She chuckles to herself before she sweetly says, “Yes you can take me home, it would be very gracious of you."

Michael gives her one of those sh!t eating grins again and she feels something stir between her legs as she studies his handsome features. His high cheekbones that protrude prominently when he smiles... his cute little dimple on his chin...his perfectly shaped eyebrows... his soft silky lips... ... his cute pixie nose... those eyes... those delicious pools of chocolate... she shakes her head snapping her back to reality and watches as he puts his sunglasses back on and nods for Javon to lead the way.

Hopefully, he thinks to himself, they will make it out of here without any fuss and with Ava on his arm he is sure people will be too busy looking at this gorgeous girl to pay him any attention....