Author's Note: If you've been reading from the beginning of Traffic Girl, there are some nuggets dropped earlier on in the first book that are coming to fruition now. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you, as always, for your feedback, constructive criticism, and votes!
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"I have a confession," Jess said. It had been a long week of work for both of us, and we were smoking an after-dinner joint on the balcony.
"That always makes my spidey sense tingle," I said dreamily. The weed was good, giving a very majestic high.
"I'm going to preface it by asking you not to be mad," she said. "It's something that's been going on for a while now, but I didn't know how to tell you."
"What is it?" I squinted at her. I felt a bit of reflexive anger bubbling up.
"It's about Dr. Vivianno," she said, referring to the plastic surgeon whose office she worked at.
"Yeah?" I said.
"Has Gloria ever told you about him?" she asked.
I shook my head. "I mean, nothing other than small talk boss and work stuff," I said.
"Huh," Jess said. "That's interesting."
"Are you going to tell me?" I said and laughed.
"Dr. Vivianno is a pervert," she said. "Like a big-time pervert."
"I guess I'm not surprised?" I said. "He's this incredibly successful plastic surgeon. I figured he would live fast."
"No, you're not getting it," she said. "He's, like ... a nonstop horndog."
"I feel like I'm being personally attacked," I joked.
"I'm too stoned. I need to just spell it out for you," Jess said. "Have you ever noticed that his office staff is 100% female? And they are all absolutely gorgeous?"
"Honestly, I haven't seen the staff other than you and Gloria," I said.
Jess pulled out her phone and scrolled to the Vivianno Plastic Surgery Instagram page. There, she tapped on the hashtag "viviannogirls."
"Here," she said, handing me her phone. "Look through these."
I scrolled through the feed, seeing dozens of pictures. Gloria and Jess were in some, but there were a half dozen other girls who appeared, too. It was like a bimbo convention.
"Damn," I said. "I can't say this isn't some serious talent. Jesus. You've been keeping them from me!" I laughed.
A serious look took over Jess's face.
"I haven't been honest with you about the work situation," she said.
"Okay, how so? You keep hinting around," I said.
"Let me be direct," she said again. She was really high. I could see she was a little nervous but also exasperated. "The Vivianno girls are the doctor's personal harem."
"Harem?" I repeated back to her, as the realization slowly dawned on my stoned mind.
"Harem," she emphasized.
"So you ..." I said, my voice trailing off.
"I had to blow him just to get the job," Jess said. "And whoever he wants to play with at a given time, he plays with."
I whistled. "Fucking hell, Jess," I said. "You've been working there for months! How often are you fucking him?"
"Honestly?" Jess said, and I cut her off.
"No, I want you to keep lying to me," I said sarcastically.
"He likes me," she said. "I'm the only one who can deep throat him all the way. So usually a couple times a week."
"Jesus," I said but then turned silent. It was the weight of genuine surprise that made me speechless.
"There's one other thing," she said, and I could sense hesitation in her voice.
"Okay," I said, staring at her and blinking.
"There's a lot of coke around the office," she said. "I mean, it never interferes with the real work, but, I mean, for the office-only girls and stuff, I mean, we party a little bit when there aren't anymore patients for the day, and one of the girls has this amazing dealer, and ..."
I cut her off again. "How much?" I said. My eyes bored into hers.
"Honestly?" she said.
"You better fucking be honest," I said. "I thought I made that perfectly clear."
"Two or four lines a day most of the time," she said. "Honestly."
"Okay," I said, somehow feeling relief. "That's not too bad."