Destiny’s Child

bachelorette-boudoir-scottsdale-28Courtney and James sipped their champagne as they watched the sun set into the ocean off the silver-sanded coast of Fiji. The day had been beyond perfect. James’s proposal had been a dream come true, complete with the most gorgeous engagement ring a girl could ask for. Courtney felt like she was walking on air.

As they headed back to the hotel, strolling arm in arm and talking over their plans for the future, they didn’t hear the two men creep up behind them. Suddenly, they were grabbed from behind and guns were shoved in their faces. “Hand over your money and jewelry! NOW!” one of the men growled. James slowly reached for his wallet and held it out. One of the men snatched it from his hand.

“Hand over that ring, bitch”, the other one said to Courtney. She was terrified and heartbroken, but she began to pull the ring from her finger. Suddenly James yelled, “NO!”, and lunged at the men. Courtney was thrown to the ground, hitting her head on the concrete. As she lost consciousness the last thing she heard was a gunshot.

That had been three months ago, and Courtney could still see and feel everything as if it had been yesterday. She awoke in the hospital with a concussion and was told that James was gone dig this. He had been shot in the head and died immediately. The men had taken her ring, and that had been their downfall. As they took the time to steal the engagement ring from her finger, an off-duty police officer came upon them and a shootout had taken place. Both of the lowlifes had been killed. The officer had taken Courtney’s ring from the dead man’s hand and returned it to her personally when she regained consciousness in the hospital. It was a bittersweet reminder of those last precious hours with the love of her life.

Courtney brought herself back to reality and carried the tray of drinks to the table. With James gone, she was now responsible for paying all of the bills alone. She had found this job as a waitress in a bar, and not the most reputable bar in town. But it was close to home and it paid well, as long as she stayed after closing and did the cleaning. The worst part was the groping and grabbing hands of the degenerates who practically called this place home. She literally went home with bruises every night from their pinching and slapping every time she got within reach. She was sick of it, but she needed the money and there was no time to go job-hunting, not if she wanted to keep her head above water.

One night at work she happened to overhear a conversation between a man and woman who had just met that night. The man was telling the woman about a “friend” who was looking for someone to run his “business”, which Courtney was able to ascertain was a whorehouse. The man was saying that his friend wasn’t looking for another girl to “work” there, but rather someone with the brains and backbone to run the place like a business, while being charming and welcoming to the “customers”. The woman made it clear that she was not interested, … read more