I
Paige nearly spat out her tea.
Brenda faced her from across the coffee table, a cheap glass and luminium affair picked up from the gods only knew what kind of flea market her parents shifted through. A point of pride for them, she thought ruefully. Not for her, though. Still, until she made her own money, it was all she had.
I mean, it's not like I haven't tried. Besides, I haven't done so badly. Her mind darted over the flurry of jobs she'd acquired and lost for that semester. Waitress. Cashier. Housecleaner. Hostess. That last one had lasted the longest, over a month in fact. She really liked it, and it was easy.
Sucked in the way of hours, but still. Tips offset that a little.
Still.
It's not like her folks could help much with rent.
Her scholarship only covered tuition and fees.
Her apartment had been a godsend, but now she was going to lose it. Had lost it.
The realization sent a wave of nausea through her gut.
She'd been frantic that past couple of weeks. Okay, maybe not frantic. But diligent. Okay, maybe not diligent. A girl had to party, and something always turned up. But she tried. She did try. She applied to places. Online and in-person. Networking among the working girls, and nobody had anything.
Only it didn't.
Application after application had been rejected.
A vast employer conspiracy keeping her from getting a job.
Her friends worried about her.
Which was sweet of them.
But since they all had money, came from money, the sympathy rang a little hollow.
But then they all came over this evening, Brenda with her fancy tea, Heather with her perfect makeup and hair, Olivia in her usual slutty outfit.
"I don't understand," Paige stammered. "You want me to what?"
"Drink your tea, dear," Brenda said, no ordered. In that way of hers she had of speaking to Paige. "It'll make you feel better."
That part was true.
The tea did make her feel better, reducing nausea, that sickening feeling at losing her apartment, of getting evicted, of breaking her lease.
Paige took another sip.
"Go ahead and finish it. And then we'll talk more about this."
Paige tilted the cup and gulped the remaining tea, leaving only a thin layer of loose tea leaves at the bottom of her cup.
She did feel better, more relaxed, ready to listen to her friends' ideas. Even they bordered on the, well. Bizarre.
"You want me to what?"
Olivia, her platinum hair waving over her face, her high cheeks accentuating the sharpness of her eyes, hazel and slightly inclined, giving her a vaguely Asian appearance, leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, covered in a pink hose.
Her red glossy lips gleamed when she smiled, and the blue shadow of above her eyes glittered. She blinked rapidly with long, heavily mascaraed lashes.
"It wouldn't be so bad, would it? You'd be able to keep your apartment. And the money would be good. I promise, it would be so good."
I'm sorry, but no was all Paige could think. She couldn't, however, bring herself to say it. Not out loud. Not to her friends who'd been so kind to her.
Really, she shouldn't have even had such friends.
They moved way beyond her social circle.
But she'd met them as a hostess.
Brenda was the one who chatted with her, too an interest in her, started to invite her out to the clubs, the parties, the yacht parties in the bay.
They'd had fun, they'd taken care of her, kept her away from bad elements when she drank too much champagne.
She kind of owed them.
In a way, didn't she owe them?
"But. But why?"
Heather sighed. The practical one of the group, despite her name, she liked to dress at all times in a semi-professional manner. Pencil skirts, hose, three- to four-inch heels, a dark or light blazer thrown over a dark or light blouse. A blazer that never managed to conceal the fullness of her breasts.
Heather, like Olivia, had blue eyes, but Heather's hair shone yellow almost golden blond in contrast to her friend's platinum look.
Paige herself was a tiny thing, waif-like; she knew it, acknowledged it, and never let it get to her. She kind of liked it in a way. Her small breasts, her thin hips, not boy-like, she had curves, just not pronounced in the way of her friends. Among Brenda, Heather, and Olivia, she was a child among grownups, a girl among women.
"Surely it's clear to you, Paige? I mean, we're making it clear to you, aren't we?"
They were.
And she should just stand up, yell at them, and kick them out of her apartment. It belonged to her for now at least, and she didn't have to put up with any of this bullshit.
Bullshit?
It wasn't bullshit, though. Was it?
I mean, it kind of made sense.
Didn't it?
"But what would I have to do?"
That's when Brenda took over the reins of the conversation.
Good old Brenda.
"It's just that we kind of get lonely ourselves, Paige. And it would be nice to have someone we could rely on. Someone we trusted. A friend we loved. It's kind of a dangerous world out there, and you know how men are. We've been keeping you safe for a reason, you know. Keeping you away from those boys at our parties. Keeping you from making terrible, terrible mistakes."
"But you want me to be your prostitute!"
There. She said it.
And somehow saying it came as a relief.
She felt less confused. More sure of herself. More sure of where things stood.
"Yes, Paige. We do. We want you to be our prostitute, as you put it. I mean, we'd pay you for your services. A lot of women, you know, a lot of girls like to get paid for sex. It's a power thing. It fulfills them."
"But I'm not gay. I'm not a lesbian. I'm not even bi. I'm just not into girls."
Heather spoke up again, obviously annoyed.
"You don't have to be honey. You're not paying us. We're paying you."
Olivia chirped in.
"Besides, we're not lesbians either. It's just that. It's just that."
Brenda's eyes darted at the blond woman.
Olivia fell quiet, not quite being able to put a finger on what "just that" actually entailed.
"I'm sorry," Paige said. "I'm so sorry. I don't mean to be rude, but I can't. I just can't."
Brenda stood up, followed quickly by her two companions.
"I want you to think about it tonight, Paige. All night long I want you to think about being our prostitute. Just ours. Just mine, and Heather's, and Olivia's little lesbian whore. If it makes you hot, if you get really horny, play with yourself and think about us. Just us. Or other women. But not men, okay? Don't fantasize about fucking men. Not tonight, darling. Can you do that for us? Would you do that for us?"
Paige looked up, her pale hazel eyes meeting Brenda's brown eyes, and something told Paige inside that it would be so rude, so hurtful, so selfish not to at least consider it. All night long.
Paige nodded slowly and gulped.
"You can even watch lesbian porn to help you."
Brenda smiled.
"Good. That's it then. I really do think this will all work out for the best."
Brenda reached down to pinch Paige's chin softly between her thumb and forefinger.
"You really are the cutest thing."
Somehow that made everything better.
Being the cutest thing.