The List by Alice Ward
CHAPTER ONE
Riley
Headlights flickered through the bakery’s rain-splattered front window. Red and white orbs grew and shrank as cars made their way along Perry Street. Even with the front door closed, the sweet smell of freshly fallen rain permeated the bakery.
I hoisted up the last metal chair, flipped it upside down, and deposited it on top of one of the tables. Closing Crumbs wasn’t that bad.
At least that’s what I tried to tell myself.
After a ten-hour shift, my calf muscles begged to differ, but I at least got to be alone while I closed. A full day of ringing up Greenwich Village wives dressed head to toe in Louis Vuitton and college kids stoned out of their minds had the tendency to run you down. Before working at Crumbs, I never would have guessed how important it was for people to get the cupcake with the most icing on it. At least once a day, someone acted like the selection of their afternoon treat was the most crucial decision they’d made all day.
The chairs off the floor, I headed for the broom closet. A sharp rap on the front door made me turn. My roommate peered at me above the closed sign, her hazel eyes wide and her wavy, auburn hair thick from the evening’s humidity.
I unlocked and cracked the door but didn’t let Ann-Marie in. “Our cash has been deposited for the day. Go rob someone else.”
She grinned. “How do you know I’m a burglar and not a rapist?”
I opened the door the rest of the way and motioned for her to enter. “That’s sick.”
She flounced across the floor, her flowy summer skirt billowing behind her. “How long till you’re finished?”
“If you leave now? Twenty. With you distracting me? A few hours, give or take.”
She ignored me and settled onto the plump cushions on the window seat. Ann-Marie and I gave each other shit all the time. She was the only person I could be like that with, but I guessed our shared caustic sense of humor was a testament to our closeness.
“I can help,” she offered.
I quickly shook my head. “No, but thanks. If Dan happened to stop by—”
“Isn’t he out sniffing coke off hookers’ boobs?” she interrupted with a flip of her head.
Folding my arms, I cocked my hip out to the side. “That’s a rumor. One person said that, and she doesn’t work here anymore.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s not true,” she singsonged, an auburn eyebrow raised nearly to her hairline.
“I’ve never heard anything about him and hookers. Anyway, I need to hurry up and close, but you can put some music on while I sweep and mop.”
Ann-Marie huffed. “Aren’t you wondering why I’m here?”
Before I could answer, she held up a folded piece of paper. It was thick, off-white material with a ripped, red wax seal at the end. It looked like a wedding invitation and an acceptance letter to Hogwarts had a baby.
“What’s that?”
Ann-Marie grinned in an almost wicked way. “Ever heard of Enigma?”
Heard of it? I think I’d had wet dreams about it. “Yeah.”
“This, my dear, is an invitation to it.”
“No,” I breathed, unable to believe it.
She nodded. “It’s for two, and it’s only good for tonight.”
The floor could wait. I sat down on a cushion and took the invitation in my hands. “How did you get this?”
“You know Bethany from work? Her cousin works for Marc Jacobs, and she’s kind of high on the rung. I’m not sure what she does, but anyway, she got these for Bethany. Thing is… she couldn’t go tonight because her sister is having a baby. So, yay for us!”
I dragged my eyes from the invitation to Ann-Marie’s face. “How do you know Enigma is even real?”
Her forehead wrinkled. “What are you talking about? I have the invitation right here.”
“Yeah, but it could be fake,” I blurted, then cringed at how stupid it sounded. As excited as I was about the possibility of visiting such a place, I was equally as nervous. Maybe more so.
Ann-Marie’s head slowly fell to the side as she studied me. “You don’t want to go?”
My heart hammered, and I twisted my hands in my lap. “Yes… no.” I chomped down on my lip. “I’m pretty tired.”
“Is that the only reason?” she asked in a tone that said she knew it wasn’t. “It’s Friday night, and you seriously don’t want to go to what might be the hottest club in New York?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted, biting my lip as anxiety threatened to send me crawling into my shell.
“What don’t you know about, specifically?”
“I’ve heard things about that place. Like, it’s really wild… and kinky.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ve heard everything under the sun about Enigma, including that it doesn’t exist. But it does.” She shook the invitation in front of my face. “We’d be idiots to not go. We’re never going to get another chance, Riley.”
“True,” I conceded, anticipation stomping on the nerves.
She grinned. “Besides, I did some research online.”
“What did you find out?”
“Well, mostly crazy things, like the place is owned by Leonardo DiCaprio and he keeps it as a retreat for the Masons.”
“Leo is good,” I nodded. “I’d go if there was the slightest chance he might be there. But what if the place really is crazy? What if everyone who enters is required to get naked?”
Ann-Marie’s eyes grew wide. “I haven’t heard that one.”
“I have.”
She huffed out a breath. “Nudity being a requirement doesn’t sound likely. Let’s just go. We’ll scope it out. If either one of us feels weird, we’ll leave. No questions asked.”
My heartbeat increased, but now it was from excitement. The rumors about Enigma might have run rampant, but one thing was true — the club was a legend. Though I’d heard about the place, I didn’t actually know anyone who’d been there. Like Ann-Marie said, we’d be crazy to pass up the opportunity.
I stood up. “All right. Let me finish here, and then we’ll go home and get ready.”
Ann-Marie’s hands, one still clutching the invitation, shot into the air above her head. “Yes! That’s my girl!”
I rushed through the cleaning on autopilot, barely seeing what was in front of me. The mysterious club and what might or might not have been going on there was the only thing on my mind.
I didn’t know what to expect when we stepped through Enigma’s doors. But I had a feeling that, no matter what was to come, it would be big.