When Henry got up in the morning Abigail was still gone and, as she anticipated, had surely spent the night comforting a distraught, Candy. He thought about talking to Charlie but he couldn't come up with any cogent argument that would rationalize what Candy did for a living and why the girls and Henry were close family.
The girls came of age together, and when their families failed them they turned to one another for care and love. That was the world they trusted and the fact that they embraced Henry humbled him. Regardless of how society viewed their profession, Henry knew these were good people and in his heart knew he'd found the love of his life In Abigail.
Henry struggled to find the words to give Charlie that would make him understand Candy better but it felt hopeless. Charlie would understand and accept the woman he professed to love or he would ask her to reject everything she knew.
Peer pressure, being difficult to overcome when a person is young, was pounding away, telling him she was nothing but a whore and that was it.
Henry felt sad for both of them.
***
By morning Candy's bed had become overloaded with caretakers. Everyone, including Lana, had piled into the mix of love and support. They talked and held her throughout the night, occasionally falling asleep.
When Henry peeked in he thought it looked like a football huddle where everyone had passed out. He softly closed the door and let them rest.
His job would be to manage appointments not knowing when they'd be back to form. The only thing he could do is organize their times and numbers and cancel as need be. Fortunately Edgar had shown up and was manning the backdoor in case of walk-ins.
There was only one person who refused to use the backdoor and that was the bank loan manager who had the attitude that Abigail owed him something special for approving her home loan with insufficient collateral. Once she revealed the source of her income he found something to take advantage of. Suddenly, she went from declined to approved as long as she serviced him once a month for free.
Henry never trusted him and this time sensed something was more off than normal.
"Mr. Billings!" said Henry, throwing him off balance, believing no one knew his name except Abigail. "What can we do for you? You're early for your regular appointment."
"I need to see Abigail right now." he said, slightly slurring his speech.
Day drinking.
"I'm afraid she's unavailable, right now," said Henry, gently mocking his last two words.
Edgar, somewhat following the conversation, positioned himself on the landing as a presence.
"Look, Henry," said Billings, "if you don't want that desk out on the fucking curb, get Abigail now."
From around Edgar she appeared, "It's alright, Henry, I'll take him."
"Are you sure, Abby?" said Henry, barely keeping his anger in check.
Henry followed them on the monitor. Billings said nothing as she took her clothes off. He shoved her back on the bed, dropped his pants and angrily fucked her until he was satisfied, leaving his cum in her.
He pulled up his pants and walked out the door. The whole act of sloppy dominance barely took 10 minutes.
As he was leaving, Henry stopped him, "Excuse me, Mr. Billings, just a couple things."
"Make it quick."
"It was generous of you to help Abigail with her loan but we have rules. She will continue to honor the arrangement you made but I would suggest, one, don't come in here without your wallet demanding anything other than your regular appointment. Two, all customers come and go through the backdoor and that includes you. And three, you'll respect everyone here because they don't deserve the brunt of your drunkenness."
"And who the fuck do you think you are?"
"With all due respect, sir, I'm the one who knows where you work, where you live and the name of your wife so if you want to continue enjoying this clandestine arrangement that makes your dick hard you'll honor these simple rules. Have a nice day."
Billings said nothing but notably left by the backdoor.
Abigail listened silently but when Billings left, "Are you sure you should have said that?"
"Absolutely. He was beginning to cross the line and I had to remind him of where the line was. Believe me, if I didn't do that he'd be back for more and he's already getting more than he deserves."
"I guess you're right."
"How's Candy?"
"She's doing better but as with anything like this it will take time. Everyone said such beautiful things to her, it was amazing, that is before we all conked out."
"This seems an out of place question but do you want me to keep your 1pm appointment with Mr. Down and Dirty? I can reschedule him and you could give that potty mouth of yours a rest."
"No, I'll take him. I actually like dirty talk. I have a secret goal and that's to get a guy to bust a nut without touching me and without touching himself. I'll bet I can do it."
"Abby, I swear sometimes I don't know who you are," he said smiling.
"That's easy, I'm the sexy bitch you're going to marry," she said kissing him.
From Edgar at the backdoor, "What? You're getting married?"
From Lana's bedroom, "They're getting married?"
"Oh, no..." said Henry.
Then they heard Ginger's voice on the stairwell, "Who's getting married?"
Farther away they heard Candy, "Someone's getting married?"
Everyone came down to the greeting room...
Henry was trying to downplay the news for Candy's sake but there was no more hiding it, "We wanted to pick a better time to tell you guys but Abigail did a foolish thing and agreed to marry me!"
Everyone yelled and cheered, jumping all over them, hugging and kissing. "Where's the ring?" "I'm so happy for you guys!" "This is fantastic!!"
Candy spoke above the others and everyone stopped.
"You mean you purposely didn't tell us right away so you didn't hurt my feelings? You guys...you didn't have to do that. I love both of you so much it makes me crazy happy that you're getting married..."
Everyone was silent and tearing up.
Abigail broke the silence. "Candy, would you be my maid of honor?"
"Absolutely! But," looking at the other girls, "I was wondering, because that's a lot of responsibility for one person..."
Abigail got it and nodded, "Ginger, would you also be my maid of honor?"
"Yes! I'd love to."
"And Lana, my newest sister, if it doesn't weird you out too much considering who the groom is, (everybody laughed) would you also be my maid of honor?"
