I straighten up and shake my head at him. “I appreciate you telling me that, but I’m going to work where I want to.” I won’t tell him I need the money. I’ve always been like that. Mom raised me to never look desperate even when on the verge of death. Keep strong with my chin up and do what I have to, to survive.
That is what I’m doing now.
“It’s not the right place for you to work. Things happen there and you have to do things you might not want to do. The men who go there have expectations.”
“Oh, like you and your friends last night? You organized it. I saw the booking, and I was everything you wanted. If you didn’t know me, you wouldn’t have sent me home,” I throw back, although my treacherous body makes me wonder how the night would have ended if he hadn’t.
The sudden spark of desire in his eyes captures me but at the same time throws me off kilter. I’m right. I saw the way he looked at me before he realized it was me. In that split second when he thought I was just one of the girls, he looked at me like he wanted me.
They were all there for sex. I was unpacking condoms, nervous as hell and shaking, terrified at what the night might bring. Terrified that I’d have to have sex with a stranger and how I’d feel after.
I’m not sure if I feel worse now from the embarrassment of it, because he must know the ins and outs of how it works way more than me.
“Paige, are you in some kind of trouble?” he asks, cutting to the chase. I can practically see his mind working, trying to figure out what’s going on with me.
“No,” I lie and stand up ready to leave. I can’t talk about this.
“Then why would you work at The Dark Odyssey? You’re in your final year, a year when most people sign off work so they can focus on their studies.”
“Well, I’m not as fortunate as most people,” I counter.
“So, you’re there because of the money? Paige there’s a reason why the pay is so high,” he argues.
“I’m aware of the job.” I decide to give him a snide remark because there’s no way out of this for me. The only way sees me losing everything, and I can’t allow that to happen. “You don’t know me, and like I said, my business outside class is my own.”
He grits his teeth and glares at me. I walk away, but he calls out to me and I stop before I get to the door.
“Paige, this session is compulsory. You need to come back.”
I turn back to face him. “Corporate manslaughter. That’s what I’m doing for my thesis.”
“No, you aren’t. This year I’m allocating topics. I want you to do securities fraud. Now, come back here, take a seat, and let’s talk it out,” he orders.
I hold on to a breath and feel my heart squeeze. I want to go away and recover from this. Have a drink or something.
I could barely think of sitting with him and talking out my thesis before last night happened. Now that it has, I feel like shit.
I return to my seat and sit, pulling out my notebook and pen.
I look at him and see he’s already staring. The twitch in his jaw gives away his annoyance.
He’s annoyed about last night and my stubbornness, but I wonder if he remembers being the guy who kissed me.
There doesn’t seem to be any trace of that guy anywhere.
But what did I expect after two years?
It was a stupid inappropriate kiss that was instigated by me. I shouldn’t have done it. It’s time to stop embarrassing myself in front of this man.
“Paige, I’m going to ask you again… are you in trouble?”
“Why do I have to be in trouble to work at The Dark Odyssey? Can’t I just be a woman who appreciates earning good money?”
“That’s not you.”
“You sound like you know me.”
“I know enough about you to know you aren’t the kind of woman to work in a sex club. If you need money, let me help—”