The Black Rose was nice and quiet today. At least, at the front desk. The manager sat at her station, reviewing the various reports from the girls. Basically, every now and then the brothel's workers would write special reports whenever something important happened to them. Whether it was something they noticed or something that the customer did.
The purpose of these reports was to highlight customers of interest. Some of them they'd report to the authorities (if one of the girls were to, for example, discover a dead body) or if the man in question was rich, famous, or both then Cass, the boss, would make a point out of only giving him the best workers the Black Rose had to offer.
"Another guy cheating on his wife, another man who may or may not be a thief... Huh." The manager squinted when she saw Lily's name come up. Immediately, she remembered yesterday's events.
The Incident, as the manager was now referring to it, had become an exceptionally hot topic. Even now, she could hear the girls giggling in the room behind her as she ran her index finger over the words that Lily had written.
"It was... Different." Lily wrote. The manager raised a brow, taking a deep breath, and getting comfortable. "She was gentle, almost to the point where I wondered if she was the whore and I was the customer. She treated me to a little snack after everything, it was the first time anyone had done that. She put her tongue on my... You know." She could picture the young girl blushing as she jotted this down. "Obviously, we do it for men all the time but I didn't know there was a way to do that for girls..."
The report continued, but the manager put the paper down. She scratched the top of her scalp for a moment before inhaling and exhaling. Lesbians weren't extremely rare creatures or anything, but for most of the girls at the Black Rose, that was their first time encountering one.
The door opened, one of the workers walked out. She waved at the manager who smiled in return, but she didn't close the door. So, the manager could clearly hear what was being said.
"I swear by the Mother, it was... Intense." The manager heard Lily say. She leaned back a little, her curiosity getting the better of her. "She spread my legs and put three fingers in my, uh, you know."
The other girls cheered and once again, she could imagine Lily blushing.
"Was she good at it?" The manager recognized the voice as Veronica's, the mischievous redhead with a great many freckles on her face. There was something about her eyes that always made the manager, and probably the other girls, feel like she was teasing them endlessly.
"Uh..."
"Oh?" Veronica said and the group giggled. "Come on, answer. Was she?"
"Y-Yeah."
With that, they gave another cheer and the manager stood from her chair. She walked into the lounge and went straight to Cass's office.
"Uh, boss?" She called out. Cass was smoking from a pipe, reading a book when the manager walked in. She looked up with a questioning expression. The manager wasn't known to move out of her post often. "Sorry, could I take a small break?"
"What time is it?" The boss asked. The manager checked her watch.
"Almost noon."
"Hm..." She rubbed her chin before nodding. "Sure. We don't really get customers at this time. Be back before 2."
"Alright, thank you."
"No problem."
The manager bowed and turned on her heel.
"Oh, Sil!" The manager heard a girl call out her name and turned towards the workers, all of which greeted her warmly.
In truth, she never really understood why they liked her so much. She didn't dislike them or anything, but she also never really talked to them that often either. And yet, over the few years, she'd worked here, they'd developed some strange attachment to her.
"Where you headed?" Veronica asked.
"I'm just going to grab some lunch." The manager replied with a slightly forced smile. It didn't seem like they noticed though.
"Oh, wow, the manager's getting laid?" Veronica asked another girl.
"This early?"
"Who knew she had it in her?"
"GOODBYE." The manager called out and the girls laughed as she walked out, feeling far too embarrassed for her age. With a sigh, she closed the front door of the Black Rose behind her and walked out onto the street.
Aerum felt lively today. Men and women, mostly peasants, greeted each other and wore pleasant smiles as they passed each other by. They were all dressed in some form of cheap skirts and new slacks, on their way to their normal jobs filled with normal people.
Sometimes, the manager wished she was one of them. She liked the girls and Cass, her boss, although she did tend to be prickly, all in all, they were good people. That said, they could be a handful sometimes.
"Working there might not be good for my heart." The manager mumbled as someone passed her. "Alright, what do I do?" She asked herself.
She glanced around. There were a few interesting sites hugging the brothel. To the front, was the Caribelle Academy. It was a school, but it contained one of the largest libraries out there, so most mages tended to spend their time there, researching whatever they had an interest in. To the manager's left, there was a general store, from where some people were leaving now holding swords, potions, and the like. To the right, the Intercontinental Railroad was arriving now.
Exotic looking merchants, travelers, and soldiers exited the giant vehicle as it whistled its arrival. The manager stared at it for a moment. It was surreal to think that just a day ago, that strange woman came from there. But, it did give her an idea.
Most of the time, a traveler's first destinations in Aerum was the merchant's square, to the northwest of the city. It was a spot where many people had small kiosks up where they could fix up some meals at a moment's notice, and there were proper restaurants around it as well.
"Yeah, I could go for some steak right now." The manager thought and so, she began walking in that direction.
Every now and then, a car would drive past her on the street, but people still mostly used horses. After a few minutes, she even saw something gliding through the sky. There had been rumors of vehicles that could soar the same way dragons and birds did.
None of that mattered to her though, her reality was confined to a small establishment no one would pay too much attention to. And, the manager was okay with that.
Eventually, around twenty minutes later she was stepping into a large opening where many tables were placed under umbrellas covering them in case of any rain. Some citizens ate there, but most usually tried to find a restaurant of some sort. The manager was one of them.
She'd never been to the one called "Sanguine", and she'd likely never go in. She had no reason to get out of her comfort zone. "The Lightning Blade" was another one that her friends liked but she didn't. The food was too spicy. Finally, she smiled when she found an option to her left. "Veil" was one she'd been to a few times. It was a safe choice, she knew their menu well. So, she walked in.
The leather seats were mostly empty. A few employees, some of them with grey skin and colorful eyes, perked up when she walked in. Most of the people in Aerum were human, but these workers were part of a race called the "Ven", known for their ashen skin, strangely colored eyes, and pointed ears.
"Hello!" One bubbly girl called out to her.
"I don't have a reservation or anything." The manager let her know politely.
"That's okay, take... This seat over here." She was led to one by a window. "We'll have the menu with you shortly.
"Okay, thanks." Not much was said, and that was how she liked it. She'd always been one to remain in the background for as long as possible.
After a while, she was quietly eating as just a few other customers started coming in. She didn't really think about much. Sure, she wondered what it would be like to own a car for a few optimistic seconds, she cast a glance at one of the other people who had come in and pondered whether or not she should expand her wardrobe, but the reality was that there simply wasn't much going on in her life.
She had a few friends, but no one she was truly close with, she had some family in the city but most of them were rather disappointed in her career choices, so they barely talked. The truth was that this was how most of her time was spent.
Just as her mind started to turn blank from an absence of thought, someone poked her shoulder. She turned to the left, to face them with a raised brow and she nearly jumped back when she saw who was there.
The woman from yesterday. Selia? The manager blinked a few times. The sapphire-eyed lady gestured at the seat opposite hers before she said:
