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In the last chapter, Cassidy and Sylvie worked their first day together at the Nymph and now it's time to introduce a few more characters and their respective backstories. And even though Cassidy has left her days of crime behind her, she still manages to get herself into quite a bit of trouble.
Rashid
Running a brothel without security was not a good idea, so I decided to find a replacement for Wally as soon as possible. There were plenty of guys who would jump at the opportunity -- after all, seeing pretty girls having sex all day was a powerful incentive -- but I was looking for a recommendation from someone I trusted.
As luck would have it, I heard that an old colleague of mine was on Zesta as well, so I decided to look him up. We met in a quiet corner of a cafe off the lower promenade with an impressive view of the shipyard.
"Rashid, my friend!" I said and gave him a big hug. "Long time no see."
He seemed relaxed and damn, he looked handsome as ever -- tall and muscular, with disheveled black hair and a hell of a beard.
"Hey, beautiful!" he said. "So it's true, you're done running spec ops for George?"
"Yes, I'm out. Twelve years, that's enough. I've had my fair share of near misses, there's no point in pushing my luck."
"My thoughts exactly," he said. "We had a wild time, but when you're going on forty, it's time to hang up your gun or they'll bury you with it."
We ordered coffee and some cheesecake before I got to the point.
"Hey, you're from around these parts. I was wondering if you maybe have a friend or an acquaintance who'd be interested in running security for a small brothel. Someone reliable who can handle themselves. I can't pay much, but there's free food and I'd take good care of them, if you know what I mean."
"So essentially you're back to your old tricks?"
"I've got an old place down on ninety-seven and I'm trying to fix it up, but you can't run a whorehouse without muscle."
"Funny that you should mention it," he said, looking out towards the docking ring. "I was hunting for a security gig on a cruise ship or a deep space miner."
"I thought you had enough savings to ride into the sunset. Find a girl and retire dirtside on Teraxis, maybe have a bunch of brats."
"I wish. I hurt my back on a jump last year and a large chunk of my savings went into surgeries to get it fixed. I'm not broke or anything, but retirement is off the table for now. What about you? You're really getting back into whoring?"
"Well, I was never really out. Even when I worked for George I did a few shifts per week when I had the time."
He chuckled. "And always in the cheapest places you could find. Not that I'm judging, it's good to have a job you enjoy."
"Look, a guy like you can always get a security job, there's plenty of ships coming through. But how about you stay a few weeks and help me get things up and running? I'll cook for you and I'm sure we'll have a great time together."
"Like back on Rana? Without the snow?"
I laughed. "Pretty much. But you'll have to share me with my customers."
Anahí
Rashid joined us the next day and made himself comfortable behind the security desk to the left of booth one. The desk was on a small platform, giving him a good view of the room and he had access to all the surveillance feeds. He was reading the news, eating self-baked cookies, and drinking excellent coffee.
I had decided that while my little Raptor was collecting dust at the space dock of an acquaintance, I might as well get the expensive coffee maker and put it to some use.
The morning was rather slow, which gave me the opportunity to thank Rashid for his service -- personally and repeatedly. As much as I liked getting guys off at work, sex with him was on a whole different level. That man sure knew how to hit all the right spots.
*
After handling the busy lunch hour traffic, Sylvie and I were playing dominoes on an unused bed when an unexpected visitor came through our door. She was tall and pretty, with short black hair, wearing boots, military fatigues, and a gray, washed out t-shirt from a rock band I had never heard of. Her backpack looked heavy and she seemed a bit tired.
"Hello, beautiful traveler," I said and walked over to the reception desk. "How can we help you?"
"Hello, sister," she said and set down her backpack. "Wow, you two look absolutely gorgeous."
"Thank you! We'll give you a discount if you want to play with both of us. And we have fresh coffee and cookies."
"I'm not here for fun, I was walking by and saw that you've got a lot of empty beds. Are you guys hiring by any chance?"
I shrugged. "We could definitely use some help. It's quiet now, but later in the evening we'll have more business than we can handle. You just arrived at the station?"
"This morning. Got here on Broke Girl Cruises and I was hoping to stay a while and make some cash here."
"Broke Girl Cruises?" asked Sylvie. "Never heard of it."
"Oh, Sylvie," I said and gave her a friendly slap on the butt. "That's when you hitch a ride on a freighter. Ship's whore, the cheapest way to travel."
"Exactly," she said. "It gets you almost anywhere, but you can't make money that way. I'm not complaining, it was a pleasant trip and with just six guys on the crew I had plenty of time to read. And now I'm here."
"Then welcome to Zesta! I'm Cassidy and this cutie here is Sylvie."
"I'm Anahí, pleased to meet you. So, about that job, is your manager around?"
"That would be me," I said. "I own this place."
Anahí's face lit up with a smile. "Sister, you look a bit young. At your age I owned a pack of chewing gum and even that was half empty."
"Oh, looks can be deceiving. I'm thirty-six, but if you tell anyone I will absolutely deny it."
She seemed amused. "Let me take a look."
I stood up straight, arms behind my back, chest out while she checked my eyes, the area around my mouth, and of course my breasts.
"Unless they stored you in stasis, you should at least have some wrinkles," she said after concluding her examination. "I'm twenty-nine, no way you're older than me."
I pointed at the tattoo above my pubic mound. "You could always check the register."
She scanned my old slave registration number with her comlink and downloaded my information.
"Penal slavery," she read. "Released fifteen years ago, wow. You look like you're in your early twenties, you must have one hell of a sugar daddy if you got him to pay for rejuvenation."
"Something like that. My previous job had great benefits."