The Deal - MWBB

It seems this is becoming a regular thing, as I have yet again managed to earn a 2nd place for my entry to the Mid-Week Blues-Buster competition.

I do love the whole sound prompt thing though, and I particularly liked the song this week. It really worked for me. 

The prompt was a song:

  “Short Change Hero” by The Heavy

Josie nodded and smiled and picked up another tray of champagne to offer the guests. She slid through the suits and gave them her glazed eyed smile, just repeating the same thing over and over in her head ‘Not much longer, you can do it’.

When she got off it was late. The client offered to call her a cab, but she politely declined. She told them it was just a short walk and she would be fine.

She loved the city at this time of night; it glistened in the darkness. The streetlights reflected the recent summer storm; the air moist and hugging her close. Many wouldn’t feel safe, but she did. She had found her place here, living amongst the millions of other anonymous people. It was only the work that sucked.

She hated having to do anything, but money was a necessity and she was lucky to have found regular work. She reminded herself of that as she passed those huddled in doorways.

But she also thought about the looks on some of those suits faces as they had looked at her - or more correctly at her body. She shuddered as she walked. It was all they really wanted, to touch her body, and on occasion she had to let them.

Josie didn’t like to think about it too much, but after a night like tonight she knew she would get a call. She could say no, but then she thought about the wad of cash that would be handed to her at the end, and it was too tempting. It wouldn’t be long now before she would have enough to retire.

Jack had got her into it, telling her she could do more than just play hostess at business functions. And it was always him who called with a request, having vetted the clients first. And she would do it too - for him, and he knew why. The thought made her smile as she turned her face up to greet the light drizzle that had started. It was their own personal deal.

And she was right; the next day there was a message on her phone. Just a time and a place, she didn’t need to know more. And when she turned up there were three of them waiting.

The suite was luxurious and they allowed her to experience it as they wanted to treat her just right. They were respectful and gentle, even bathing her too. She was able to try out all the rooms, looking at them from all angles. They’d also left out the money on the ornate coffee table, which gave her something to focus on when she needed to. When they were done she left feeling more liberated than normal, and this time caught a cab home, thumbing the bundle of cash in her pocket as she went. Now it was Jack’s turn.

Josie found another message on her phone when she arrived home, telling her to block out the weekend, and she did so with a big smile.

He was waiting outside her apartment on Friday. The top down on his brand new red Mustang convertible – something he’d treated himself to as business was doing well. She climbed in looking forward to the weekend as he handed her the rings he kept in the safety deposit box.

It was just a couple of hours drive away, but it was like leaving one world and entering another. Whenever he took her home she was treated like one of the family, and for the weekend she was – the daughter-in-law, the sister-in-law, his wife. Having spent her childhood alone moving from one sleazy foster home to the next, never really belonging anywhere, this was the closest she’d ever been, and she lapped it up, embracing the fantasy.

And Jack played his part too as the dutiful husband - in every way. Sometimes she wondered how much longer she could do this, and sometimes she caught a glimpse in his eye on the way home that said the same. But for the time being it worked for them and they enjoyed the deal as it was.