The Professor - Ch. 5.1

The Wednesday after Count’s bachelor’s party, Baron received a disturbing call from his brother Marquess. A call that tilted both of their worlds on their axes.

Marquess had gone to the doctor and discovered that he had not one, but two STDs – gonorrhea and herpes. He’d gotten both from Raven at the party due to a broken condom.

Although none of Baron’s condoms had broken, he still went to get checked out. Fortunately, all of his tests turned out clean. Even so, that whole experience scared him straight. No more strippers for Baron, even though he couldn’t help but think about Aurelia every other hour it seemed.

As for Duke, who’d tested both of his brothers for everything under the sun after Marquess’ diagnosis, he was scared all the way straight now. Sasha didn’t know it yet, but she never had to worry about him straying ever again.

Realizing that someone had to act responsibly since Marquess was too bitter to do so; Baron went to the club to inform Dingo of Raven’s condition on the Friday before school started at Alcove University. But that wasn’t the only reason he showed up at the club. Baron was there to see Aurelia, too. Why else would he have her wig in the trunk of his car?

The minute Dingo saw the professor walk through the club doors that night, he shook his head. He was surprised it took the man this long to search Aurelia out.

Making a beeline for Baron, Dingo quickly escorted the man to his private office in the back. On the way there, he gave Six-Eight a nod across the room, letting him know to mind the store until he got back. The nod he got in return indicated his brother’s agreement of that assignment. The club couldn’t have been left in better hands.

“Before you ask, Aurora no longer works here. She quit right after Cabo,” Dingo said before Baron could even have a seat or get the first word out.

“Aurora quit? Why?” Baron asked, temporarily forgetting what he originally came here for as he took the empty seat in front of Dingo’s cherry wood desk.

“Because somebody made her realize that this life just wasn’t for her,” Dingo replied in an accusatory tone, settling his large frame into his black swivel desk chair. “What did you do, promise her the moon and then take it back?”

“No. I didn’t promise her anything. And the extra four grand I tried to pay her was left on the nightstand,” Baron replied with a puzzled expression upon his face. “We had such a great time that night. I honestly don’t know what went wrong to make her slip out of the room while I was in the shower and leave her hard-earned money behind.”

Dingo winced. “What went wrong is the fact that you tried to pay her for sleeping with you. Aurora’s not like some of the other girls around here. Like my Crystal, she was just here to dance and get paid.”

“Which means she slept with me that night because she wanted to,” Baron deduced, inwardly thrilled by that news.

“Exactly.”

“Which also means I blew it with her big time.” Baron raked a frustrated hand through his thick dark hair. Just thinking about how offended Aurelia must be with him right now made him tense up in his seat.

“Yep. You blew it for me, too. Aurora brought in a lot of new customers in the short time she was here,” Dingo replied, speaking from a business point of view. “Some of them quickly became regulars because of her.”

“Do you have her phone number? I think…no, I know I owe her a huge apology,” Baron said, ready to make amends with Aurelia and so much more.

“I have all of Aurora’s personal information, but I’m not giving any of it to you,” Dingo said matter-of-factly. “The fact that you’re here at all tells me that you have stalker tendencies. I can’t unleash you on that girl like that.”

“Actually, I’m really here for medical reasons,” Baron explained, hoping to incur Dingo’s favor by telling him about Raven. Instead he incurred only anger.

“So now I’m about to lose another big money-maker?!” Dingo raged after hearing about Marquess’ recent diagnosis.

Club policy was if a dancer was infected with any kind of STD, she had to be cleared by a licensed physician before returning to work. If what she had was incurable, she was fired in order to keep from putting the clientele at risk.

“Out with you, Professor! Out and never come back!” Dingo said, standing to his feet now. “For all I know your brother might have been the carrier of those STDs,” he added, ready to revamp his whole look-the-other-way policy behind all this.

Realizing that he wasn’t going to get Aurelia’s personal information at all now, Baron left the club a very disappointed man. He also left with an even greater desire to see her again. Especially now that he knew for certain that he’d been just as special to her that night as she had been to him.

© 2009 by Mi’Chelle Dodson/Suprina Frazier