Chapter 2: On Hold

With her first attempt to quit a disaster of epic proportions, Elle took a week to gather her strength, to get herself ready so that the next time she approached Gio, nothing would sway her. The process was greatly helped by Gio being away on some less legal business that week, so Elle used the time to get herself.

"You are a strong, independent woman who knows her worth and deserves better. You are ending this relationship today," Elle had told her reflection after she had gotten ready that evening. She should have known things would not end well when not even her own face in the mirror seemed to believe her.

But Elle was an optimist at heart, so she walked into club M and went right to Gio's office.

Without bothering with a greeting, she went right around his desk, stood in front of where he was seated, and looked him in the eyes "Gio, I'm here to-" The hand on her thigh, slowly moving up her red dress made her pause, her train of thought completely lost.

Then to make things worse, Gio leaned forward and kissed her on her stomach, right where her bellybutton was.

"I have missed you, so much," He whispered the words like he was telling her a deeply guarded secret and Elle found her hand going to his head, fingers running through the thick waves.

She had missed him too, more than she had been willing to admit to even herself.

Alright, she would put off quitting for now. She would just enjoy a bit more time with him.

'Think of it as serving notice' She told herself, feeling only the tiniest bit ashamed of her weakness.

The next time Elle went to quit, she stopped trying to be brave, and just decided to be as cowardly as possible. So she was sending a text.

Dear Gio… Elle had actually typed that in before deciding it sounded too formal and deleted it. Her new message had a much simpler beginning, getting straight to the point.

Gio,

I thank you for allowing me to work at your club all these years. Dancing at club M has been a great help to me, it got me through some tough times. I will forever be grateful for all that you have done for me. But it is time for me to now explore other avenues of employment. Which is why I am informing you that I will no longer be dancing at club M with immediate effect. I thank you for all that you have done for me.

There, short but straight to the point. Now all she had to do was send it. Her thumb hovered over the button.

Press it…press it…press it. No matter how much she willed herself to move it, her thumb remained where it was, suspended mid-air. When the phone began ringing, Gio's name plain as can be on the screen, she nearly jumped a foot in the air.

"Hey, Gio, what's up?" Her tone was a bit too high to be casual, but Gio did not seem to pick up on it.

"Elle, sorry to bother you, I know it's supposed to be your day off," And he sounded genuinely sorry too. Making it even harder for Elle to tell him out right that it was not just her day off. That it was supposed to be her last day working for him.

"I need you to come in, one of the new girls quit last minute and she's supposed to be on stage in an hour," Elle had been beaten by a newbie. But even now she could not muster up the courage to tell Gio that she was quitting too. How could she let him down, Gio was not a person who asked for help easily. For him to be calling on her, that had to mean he was really desperate.

"Alright, I'll be there" Traitor. Her inner voice whispered, and Elle resolutely ignored it as she got off her comfortable couch and went to get ready.

The third time Elle tried to quit, she wrote a letter. An honest to goodness letter, written on paper with an ink pen. She wrote it out, no cancellations and no grammar mistakes. She actually even bought a white envelope and a stamp.

Mail it.

It was a watertight plan, until it was not…watertight at all. All it took was a run-in with the building custodian, the old man holding a bucket of water. One missed step and Elle threw her arms out to catch herself, her palms opening up. The letter went flying. Elle watched it move through the air, with a gracefulness that was almost mocking, and then it landed right inside the bucket, the dirty water swallowing it up.

"Oh, I am so sorry about that," The old man looked so distraught Elle's attention moved to him instead of the soggy letter.

"It's alright, Ben, it was not anything important anyways," She lied to her teeth, even going as far as to help him carry the bucket as continued to reassure him.

"Just throw it in the trash," She told him as they parted ways. With that, Elle walked out of the building, went around the block and then came back inside feeling slightly less angry at herself.

Maybe she should put the whole quitting thing on hold for a while… yes… that would probably be for the best.

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