Paul looked at Hannah and grinned. He was roughly about the same age as her. He was kind of on the shorter side but still had her by at least two inches in her heels. He had a pudgy nose and dark brown hair and it was obvious that he had a full set of dentures. But he had a cuteness about him, and his personality seemed pleasant. I started to ease up a little on my concerns.
“So what are you two going to do tonight?” I asked. “Hannah has to take security with her, as a precaution. I hope you don’t mind. They’ll stay out of the way.”
Paul seemed uncomfortable then. “But I thought you were the celebrity? Why do we need security?”
Hannah cleared her throat and glared at me. “We don’t. Wicket’s just fucking with you. We’re rolling solo, Paul.”
“Are you sure?”
Hannah let go of Paul’s arm. “Baby, why don’t you wait for me out in the hallway. I’ll be right out.”
Paul shook my hand. “It was nice meeting you, Miss Wicket. Great show, by the way.”
“Thank you.” I waited until he exited and closed the door behind him. Then I pounced on Hannah. “I thought we had an agreement!”
“Ladonna, it’s obvious that Paul’s not comfortable with that scenario, and I’m not blowing this opportunity.”
“Please, let’s just think about this. Even if the two of you hit it off, you live in two different parts of the world. How is any kind of relationship going to work?”
“I’m not worried about that at the moment. But I’m sure you would travel with me to see him if that’s what I want. Right?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Right?”
“I guess, but I need you with me.” I pouted. “You’ve always been here for me.”
“And I always will be. But you’re not a baby anymore. There’s a huge difference between fifteen and thirty-three. You know how to handle yourself. You’re Wicket, international superstar, dammit!”
We both laughed.
“I’ll be back at the hotel before sunrise. Don’t wait up for me.”
“Where are you going?”
“Out for drinks and hopefully back to his hotel room. That’s where the magic will probably happen. Did you see those architect hands?”
“I shook one of them, but I didn’t stare.” I giggled. “It was rather soft, though.”
Hannah grinned. “Exactly. I can’t wait for him to lay both of those soft hands on me.”
Hannah rushed from the room as I started stripping down to take a quick shower. I always shower after a show and before I head back to my hotel. A lot of entertainers wait, but I simply can’t take it. I need to rinse all the sweat residue off as soon as possible.
I ended up dragging my security detail to Crazy Horse Paris, also on Avenue George V. A cabaret club where a lot of celebrities hung out, the acts were very sensual and not to mention creative as all get-out. It was there that I first gained an interest in BDSM. When I saw this woman beat a man with a whip onstage, it made me feel some kind of way between my legs. I wanted to bring pain to other people, the way that they had brought pain to me. I wanted to humiliate them and give commands that they had to follow.
I stayed there until about 3:00 a.m., and then headed back to the hotel. Hannah wasn’t in her room when I got back to our suite. I drank some wine, took a sleeping pill, stripped nude, and passed out in my bed.
* * *
I woke up about ten and dragged myself out of bed and into the shower. When I came out into the living room, I noticed that Hannah’s door was now closed. She had gotten back safely. I ordered some room service and it took damn near an hour for it to get there. Once it did, I figured Hannah might be hungry, so I went to wake her.
I knocked lightly at first and she didn’t respond. I considered letting her sleep, but something urged me to knocked louder. I tried the knob and it was locked from the inside, making me wonder if she had brought Paul back to our suite with her. That would’ve been a first, but maybe he was sharing his room with his brother. I continued to knock, and then I started shouting.
“Hannah? Hannah, are you all right?”
Now I was escalating into a panic. I leaned my ear up against the door and heard nothing. I tried to ram my shoulder against it to get it open and then kicked it.
I rushed over to the phone and called the front desk, demanding that they send someone up right away with a key to the door. While I was waiting for them to come, I kept trying to get the door open and by that time, I was in tears. Something wasn’t right and I only prayed that she was okay. Just passed out drunk or high, even though she didn’t use drugs.