It was Helena's 30th day in a row working her office job. She had been inundated with calls for 29 of those days but this day was deceptively quiet.
Boredom had started to sweep across her mind, ravaging all the positive sentiment she had fostered amongst her colleagues, destroying all the pleasant conversations she had undertaken in her duties as a contact centre operative, her mind had turned to plans for the weekend.
Helena's supervisor walked up and reminded her that the break for lunch had just started.
Helena was reluctant to face the gruelling hour of artificial lighting, passing conversation and the regular sound of the microwave timer notifying others that their portion of bland, barely edible calories was ready for 10 minutes of noisy eating.
Helena started to walk herself through the first half of her shift, trying to get an oversight on how the day would pan out, knowing that anything could happen in the final hours of work whilst also suggestive to a more amicable set of circumstances than those the first half of the day led into.
As Helena's attention started to lapse on her surroundings and as the mundane motion of colleagues filtering through the canteen started to blur Helena saw that her iPhone 6S, that she could barely afford on her income, had just lit up as a phone call started to connect.
Desperate to connect with real life she clamoured for the phone, nearly dropping it as she pulled the phone up to view the caller ID. The name that flashed up on the screen made her eyes widen, it was Frank.
Frank had been in the same class as Helena in college 5 years prior although, unlike Helena, Frank had moved on to university just as Helena had found out that she didn't have the grades needed to become a research psychologist as an undergraduate in applied psychology. Helena had heard from college friends that Frank had hit the gold mine after finishing top of his class in digital mathematics, rising quickly through the ranks of a city based hedge fund after developing an algorithm to detect market profit and bidding as soon as the signs appeared in the available data.
The sound of the canteen came into full focus as Helena picked up the phone, hoping that this was one of those calls where she would be whisked away to the realm of financial safety, never again struggling with rent, bills, new phones. Hoping, longing, for Frank to be a typical case of 'I had a crush on you since college, want to go out for dinner?'.
Helena had requests for dates every week due to her long legs, perky 36CC breasts and conveniently angled hips, she had almost become depressed due to the number of times she had used the word 'no' while out drinking with friends.
Helena knew that Frank was there, on the other end of the phone waiting for the call to answer. She had to portray herself as busy, despite her boredom, if only to keep Frank's attention when they spoke.
"Hi Frank, long time no speak. How's the rich life treating you?" she said.
"Not too kindly at the minute, I'm going through a divorce that could see my bank balance cut in half." Frank replied.
Helena had found this disclosure indicative of the latent narcissism that comes with being financially secure, and she almost felt compelled to remind Frank just how much money people thought he had.
"But I don't really want to talk about that Helena." Frank said, the emphasis he had used had set Helena's mind racing. She knew the relevance, escapism. Frank was trying to redirect his thoughts into something more exciting.
"Oh, ok Frank, hun. What is it you want to talk about?" Helena asserted, trying to prove to herself that she could hide her anticipation.
"You Helena, I want to talk about you." Frank had captured every element of Helena's focus, she knew what she was, she had concluded during college that financial insecurity was a form of torture. Helena didn't care, the level of excitement had given her a very powerful buzz, as though she could become absolutely anything in the next hour. This form of spontaneity was her vice, the possibility that change could happen at any time.
"Go on" said Helena, making sure she sounded not only intrigued but also happy with the rather blunt manner in which Frank had changed her into the topic of conversation.
Frank had given just enough preamble to make Helena drip at the prospect of becoming his new partner. However, Frank had other plans.
"Well, as you know I'm going through my divorce. It's a pretty difficult time for me Helena, if I continue on this unhappy path I could second guess myself, and in fund management that is not a future I want to endure. So, I've been speaking to my colleagues and we've come up with a 'social' solution to my misfortune." he said. Frank had exposed an element of secrecy, indicative of a potentially embarrassing request, or a social play that could backfire.
"You need a new girlfriend Frank." Helena put forward, trying to sound the sentence matter-of-factly, hoping that she had picked the conclusion Frank needed to be reminded of. The conclusion, she hoped, had driven Frank's call.
"It's not that simple Helena." replied Frank "We've come to the solution, now it's a bit different... Hell, it's exciting Helena. It just has to be you. The guys think that by sharing a partner we could all be on the same page, so to speak. They hope by sharing You and working with me I can stay part of the pack and avoid all my self-doubts over the break up of my marriage."
Helena felt the blood rush into her face as Frank spoke, Frank wasn't talking about a relationship, he was talking about a gang-bang. Helena hated the idea, the notion that she could pick 3 or more guys as potential fathers made her feel cheap.
"But, and it's important that you hear this, we don't expect you to do it for free." Frank said.
Helena couldn't believe her ears, Frank was considering her as a sex toy, a prostitute, a body with a price tag. Not only that, but devoid of any social standards. An indiscriminate whore just gagging for hard cock, and many of them.
"Now, as you know Helena we're incredibly well off. We're offering you $25k per guy, there are 5 of us though Helena and there is one rule about the whole thing...."
Helena had hardly been able to hear the last part of the sentence regarding a rule. Frank had just offered her $125k. This wasn't a cheap standard, Helena had already started to tell herself in excitement. 'Frank is willing to set me up for life' Helena began to tell herself, knowing that it was an offer too good to refuse.
"...and that rule is sacrosanct Helena. It cannot be broken. We've agreed that if the rule is broken you get $5k."
