Chapter 6 The Debt From Club Paradisso

• As soon as Mr Kingsley’s polished footsteps faded down the hall and the front door clicked shut, Valerie felt her composure slip. Her breath hitched, her chest tightening as the reality of the situation clawed its way into her thoughts. Her luxurious mansion, lavish lifestyle, and entire world were coming undone at the seams. She sank back onto the sofa, covering her face with trembling hands, muffling the strangled sob that burst from her lips. She was suffocating beneath the weight of it all, and for the first time in a long time, she felt completely powerless.
• Layla gently guided her to the dining table. “Come on, let’s sit down. You need to breathe,” she murmured, pulling out a chair. Valerie dropped into it like a marionette whose strings had been cut, her gaze distant and haunted. Layla poured her a tall glass of fresh juice, sliding it in front of her.
• Valerie stared at the juice, her nose wrinkling in distaste. “Layla… I don’t need juice,” she whispered, her voice fragile. “I need something stronger. You don’t understand… I… I need something that will actually numb all of this.”
• Layla shook her head, her expression firm but compassionate. “Valerie, I’m not about to let you drown yourself in alcohol. Drinking won’t solve this mess. I don’t want you spiralling any further.”
• Valerie let out a bitter laugh, tears glistening in her eyes as she leaned back in her chair. She looked around her beautiful dining room, seeing it not as a place of elegance and wealth but as a painful reminder of all she was losing. The gleaming glass table, the chandelier overhead, the delicate china on display—all felt like remnants of a life that was slipping through her fingers.
• “It’s all happening so fast, Layla,” Valerie murmured, her voice quivering. “One minute I have everything, and now I can’t even keep up with the basics. No new clothes, no new shoes… I’ve gone from spending freely to watching every last penny disappear. How am I supposed to keep up appearances? Everyone knows me as the girl who has it all, and now I have nothing… absolutely nothing.”
• Layla reached out, placing a comforting hand over Valerie’s, squeezing it gently. “Val, you’re going through a rough patch, but you’re not alone in this.”
• Valerie’s shoulders shook as she sobbed openly, the anguish pouring out of her in waves. “I’m going to lose this house, Layla… I’ll have to live in the dingy boy’s quarters out back. That place hasn’t been touched in years! I can barely stand to walk past it, and now it’s all I’ll have left.” Her voice broke as fresh tears slipped down her cheeks. “I don’t even know who I am without all of this… without the image I’ve built. How am I supposed to live like this?”
• Layla rubbed Valerie’s back, trying to calm her, though her own heart was heavy. She knew Valerie’s pain wasn’t just about the money or the material things, but the fear of losing herself and her identity. She wanted to offer comforting words, to tell her it would all be okay, but she knew it was a fragile situation, and words could only do so much.
• Just then, Layla’s phone buzzed. She glanced at it, an incoming call from Club Paradiso. She hesitated, not wanting to disrupt Valerie’s fragile state, but the manager was relentless, and she knew ignoring it would only make things worse. With a resigned sigh, she answered.
• “Hello?”
• “Ms Layla? This is Marcellus, the manager at Club Paradiso,” the voice on the other end announced smoothly, though there was an edge to his tone. “I need you to pass on a message to Ms Valerie Davis. She still has an outstanding bill from her last visit, and we need her to come by and settle it. We’ve been more than lenient, but this needs to be addressed immediately.”
• Layla closed her eyes briefly, biting her lip as she listened. She knew that this would only add to Valerie’s anguish, but she had no choice. “I understand, Marcellus. I’ll let her know,” she replied, her voice tight. She ended the call, turning to Valerie with a look of sympathy mixed with dread.
• “Val… I don’t know how to say this, but… the manager from Club Paradiso called. They… they need you to come down and pay off your bill from the last time we went.”
• For a moment, Valerie simply stared at her, the words hanging in the air like a dark cloud. Then, in a rush of anguish, she tipped sideways, slipping off the chair and collapsing onto the floor. She pressed her hands to her head, letting out a choked scream of frustration.
• “No… no, I can’t deal with this! I’m finished! Completely, utterly finished!” She sobbed, rocking back and forth as she hugged her knees to her chest. “I have nothing left, Layla… nothing. I’ve lost everything, and now even the smallest things feel like the weight of the world crashing down on me.”
• Layla knelt down beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, trying to offer some semblance of comfort, but Valerie’s sobs only grew louder, more desperate. “It’s all madness, Layla! I can’t breathe; I can’t think straight. How did my life become like this?” She pounded her fists on the floor, her body wracked with tremors of despair.
• Tears prickled in Layla’s eyes as she held her friend, feeling utterly helpless. She could feel Valerie’s pain as though it were her own, and it tore at her heart to see her proud, confident friend so utterly broken. All she could do was hold Valerie close, trying to ground her amidst the storm of emotions, whispering gentle words of reassurance, though they felt woefully inadequate.
• Valerie’s sobs gradually subsided into soft, broken whimpers. Layla stroked her hair, cradling her like a fragile, wounded bird, deep down, she feared for her friend.