Alpha’s Virgin Stripper

"To the left! To the left!" Valerie and Jojo continued to scream the chorus of the song at the top of their voices. Mel, with her both hands holding two trays filled with freshly baked muffins, walked into the living room where Jojo and Valerie were. She placed the trays on the small center table and looked at the dancing sisters. Jojo threw both her hands in the air and swayed her hips to the sound of the music, while Valerie screamed at the top of her voice and continued to jump without rhythm.

"You two should keep it down. Mrs. Smith is painting upstairs." Mel spoke with a smile on her face. Their mother was asleep in her room while Mrs. Smith had locked herself in her studio all afternoon.

After they moved to Ten two days ago, they were introduced to the two-storied building Mrs. Smith had spoken about. At first, neither of them believed they would be living here, and rent-free! The building was a tall one, cited very close to the biggest beach in Ten. From the terrace, you could see the sunrise and the sun go down, you could also see the ocean far into the horizon. There was a constant energy supply, and every room in the house was furnished. The living room had carefully selected cushions arranged in a wide circle around the glass center table. The high walls were polished with white paint while the marble tiles on the floor were a deep shade of blue.

Of all the things in the house, Valerie enjoyed the thirty-two inched LED TVs and satellite decoder in the living room. It gave her access to all her favorite TV shows. Jojo and Mel enjoyed it too.

There were four rooms on the ground floor, but Valerie and Jojo decided to stay in a room together. Mel chose hers and they picked the one closest to Jojo's for their mother. The girls noticed how much their mother enjoyed watching the sun go down on the terrace. It was how she had spoken for the first time since she left the hospital.

"It's very beautiful." She had said, while her frail left hand pointed at the red silhouette of the sunset. So, the girls made it their point of duty to take her to the terrace to watch the sunset.

It was their third day here and Mrs. Smith was still trying to put the new restaurant in order, so they were yet to begin work.

Mel had also gotten a call from Shawn yesterday. He had asked to see her in Ten since she was on holiday. Mel decided to make muffins, his favorite muffins. She had not seen him in a long time, she needed to make this moment memorable because she knew he would be returning to College today.

Jojo paused her dancing and reduced the volume of the TV. She stared down at the tray of muffins before she flashed Mel a knowing smile.

"So, we're doing blueberries today, huh?" Jojo asked with a smirk, and Mel blushed before she turned away.

"Yes, we are. And do put this place in order, please. He is ten minutes away from..." Her phone began to vibrate in the back pocket of her black denim shorts. She slipped her hands into the pocket and drew out her phone. She smiled when she saw Shawn's name displayed on her screen. Jojo continued to smile at her, but she paid her best friend no mind.

"I'm at the beach house you described." She heard his thick baritone from the other end of the line. Mel's heart softened in her chest.

"Just come in, I'll be waiting for you in..."

"I can't come in, Mel. I have to return to campus in less than two hours. You know how long the drive is." He cut in bluntly. Mel decided to ignore the coldness in his voice. She heaved a sigh. "Fine, I'll be outside." She replied.

The line went dead and Mel flashed her friends a sad smile.

"You can feast on the muffins; he won't be coming in." She said out loud. Jojo wanted to speak, but Mel did not give her the chance to do so. She slipped her phone into her pocket, pushed her loose strands of hair to the back of her head, and began her journey to the front of the house. Mel stepped out of the twin doors and continued walking until she found Shawn.

He was standing by a tall palm tree. He leaned against the stem and busied his eyes with his phone screen. Mel kept her eyes on him as she walked towards him. He was a handsome blonde-haired man, tall and lean with the soft facial features of a young boy, even though his voice was as thick as a man's.

He did not seem to notice her until she was standing in front of him. He looked up from the phone screen, his grey eyes met hers in a seemingly empty stare. Mel's heart squeezed in her chest. He did not seem like a boyfriend who had not seen his girlfriend in months. If anything, it felt like he wanted to be away from her. He did not move to hug her, so she kept her pride intact and did not offer a hug.

The silence between them was awkward, as though each had a lot to say, but did not know where to begin.

Whatever it is he was here for, Mel knew it was not to give her good news. So, he might as well get on with it. "Why are you here, Shawn?"

Shawn narrowed his eyes at her. He seemed shocked by her question at first before he chuckled in disbelief. "Mel? Is that it?"

"You did not want to come into the house, not even to say hi to Jojo. You did not acknowledge my presence until I stood in front of you. You did not ask to be pulled into my embrace, so I'm sure we both know you're not here with good news. Say whatever you want to say, Shawn, please." As Mel spoke, she could feel a hard lump form in her throat.

Before Shawn, she had been a full-time player, dedicated to the game of toying with men's hearts and purses. He knew it, she knew it, even Jojo knew it.

So, if he was here to do what she now believed he was here to do, there was no need to express her fear or her pain to him. She would not let him know that he had tamed her, even if it was just a little bit.

Shawn heaved a sigh. He moved away from the stem of the tall tree and stood erect.

"I did not see things going this way, Mel."

Her heart fell, crashing to the ground and breaking into ten unequal pieces. She could see them, but couldn't reach out to them.

Of course.

"But we have to end things, Mel. I met someone else in college and I fell in love with her. You didn't do anything wrong, Mel, believe me. The problem is with me and not you. She just... we just didn't ever really fit; you know? I tried, you tried, and we tried together. But you and I..."

"We don't make sense. We're too different, right?" Her voice was breaking, but she would not let her pain show. Shawn stared down at her. Mel shook her head as she chuckled.

"I mean, you're Ivy league material and I'm just a waitress who used to sell her body for money, isn't that right?" She had hoped that he would deny it, hoped that he would hold her hands and promise her that he did not ever think lowly of her.

But he did the exact opposite.

"Yes," He spat out, dropping the bombshell on her ears.

"She's smart, confident, belongs to a good family and she's on her way to being world known doctor, so yes, she and I make a lot more sense than you and I. You were a great girlfriend, Mel. But I do not see a future with us. Frankly, I do not think I ever did. I just wanted to say this to you because... I respect you too much to break up over the phone." He stretched out a hand to tap her shoulder, but Mel moved away from his reach.

Shawn dropped his hand to his side and sucked in a deep breath.

"Have a nice life, Melissa. And say hey to Jojo for me."

With that, he turned his back to her and began to walk away without so much as a second thought.

Mel could not even bring herself to look up at him. She fixed her eyes on the ground.

He left her with nothing but tears in her eyes, and a shattered heart.