Taken and Misused.

“Alright, go and get dressed, unless you want to go in your leotard” he said, pulling up in front of the entrance to my apartment. The whole ride here he hadn’t answered not one of my questions, all he did was sit there and either grin or shrug. I had gotten to the point where violence didn’t seem to bother me, but just before I started thinking about different ways to get my answer Vaughn announced to me that we had arrived at my apartment.

I gave him a dirty look about the leotard comment to which he only smiled. “It starts in half an hour Princess, but, no rush” he said and I scurried out of the car. Vaughn took his time getting out and waved away the valet, saying he’d only be here for fifteen minutes.

Half an hour?! I thought nervously as I watched the floors go by in the elevator, waiting for my floor number to light up. I nearly ran over someone waiting for the elevator when the metal doors slid open. “Sorry” I said, not looking back as I quickly approached my door. Usually I wouldn’t have been worried about have a minimum of fifteen minutes to get ready for some mysterious outing but I had just gotten back from dance practice. I was sweaty and I probably didn’t have the best body odor. Dancing for hours on end will do that to a person. Fumbling with my keys I opened my door and hurried in, pushing it closed and pulling my skirt as I went to the bathroom, I let it fall to the floor and jumped out of it, next off came my shirt and I was in the bathroom starting the shower. After dance practice I loved taking a long, hot bath but that would have to wait. I let the hot water rush over me and scrubbed my hair and body all the while counting down my minutes. Never have I taken a shower in seven minutes but today I did and I wanted to feel proud of myself but there was no time. I gave up another five minutes to dry my hair, when I was done it hung in soft waves down my back. I did a silent thank you to God that I had easily manageable hair and I was back to sprinting to my room. Grabbing the outfit I had laid out before leaving for dance practice I pulled it on, stumbling around while trying to pull on my black tights quickly, finally I just sat down and took a moment to pull them on. The dress and shoes were easy to get on and I grabbed a scarf before leaving, I had no clue where my black coat was but I’d have to go without it and hope it wouldn’t get too cold tonight even though winter was just around the corner.

The whole time I was in the elevator, waiting for it to reach the first floor, I was cursing Vaughn. If I had known I was going to have hardly any time to get ready tonight I would’ve…. Well I don’t really know what I could’ve done so I just dropped it.

“Have a nice night miss!” the door man called, waving to me when I turned around.

“You too Harold, see you tomorrow” I replied, smiling, he was a nice guy, always chipper and smiling. I liked him even though I knew my mom had him reporting to her along with the hotel manager. Still, I was pretty sure he wasn’t as vindictive as the manager. Two nights ago I had decided to explore the hotel and I ran into the manager who had asked me what I was up to. Later that day I got a phone call from my step-mom asking why I was trying to sneak out of the hotel in the middle of the night.

“Bright and early” he finished, tipping his hat to me slightly as I got into Vaughn’s mustang.

“Jeez, took you long enough, I was about to fall asleep” Vaughn said over dramatically. He shifted the car into gear and pulled out of the valet area and out onto the street, shifting gears twice before he let the car cruise. Vaughn looked over at me and took in my outfit, “no frills I see” he said, looking back at the road with a grin on his lips.

“Aren’t you proud?” I asked sarcastically. He only chuckled and continued driving, slipping through the traffic easily.

“So, Stephen Ivanov, he looks like a nice guy doesn’t he?” I asked when we were stopped at a red light. Vaughn gave me a I-know-what-you’re-trying-to-do-look, his grin rather big and his eyebrow rather high up, and looked back at the road.

“He looks like a great guy” Vaughn said, although I could hear the sarcasm in his voice.

“You ever run into each other? It looked like you knew him. Old childhood friend perhaps?” I questioned, turning towards him in my seat.

“What is this, the Spanish inquisition?” Vaughn asked, looking over at my with an eyebrow raised. “You’d make a wonderful interrogator, Princess” he added and I had a feeling he was trying to get off of the topic. No way was that going to work on me.

“Come on Vaughn, how do you two know each other?” I asked, desperate to have my curiosity put to rest.

Vaughn looked back at me and took one of his hands off the steering wheel to put a finger under my chin. “One secret per day please” he said, grinning. Well, he had effectively shut me up; I probably looked like a deer in head lights. Dancing involved a lot of physical contact, moves such as lifts and now dancing with Stephen stripped you of any shy feelings about physical contact but when Vaughn had tipped a finger under my chin I felt like a little girl who was just about to get her first kiss. I pulled myself together when his hand went back to the steering wheel, I took a quiet, deep breath and averted my gaze to the people we were passing on the sidewalk.

“I’m going to hold you to that Vaughn” I muttered, annoyed that he had scrambled my brain so effectively. I was sitting in my seat with my arms crossed and my eyes gazing out the window. I noticed him looking over at me and heard his soft chuckle.

“Alright Princess, but that means I get to ask you a secret each day too” he said, raising an eyebrow at me like he was challenging me to pull out of the deal.

“Fine” I replied, my grin rivaling his.

“Shake on it, Princess” he said, holding out his right hand to me while continuing to drive with no problem. I shook it, grasping his hand firmly.

“It’s a deal then” he said, returning to driving without another word. I on the other hand was left to wonder what questions he would ask me.