I was feeling good the next morning, sore, but good. It seemed sore was becoming my new norm.
The good part should have acted as a red flag right away, but I wasn’t paying attention. I was still too caught up in the afterglow of our evening activities. We’d made a killing from the stream last night and things seemed to be going well… too well.
I figured I might need to take another break from sex. Some of the things that popped into my head after the stream last night were getting pretty dark. I don’t know why that kept happening, only that the more often I had sex, the worse it got.
Something had woken me up. Looking around, I tried to figure out what it had been. Terri and Remmi were curled up together, looking way more cute than they had any right to be… especially with some of the dirty things they’d done last night.
Then I heard it, it was my phone in the other room. As quietly as I could, I left the bed and made my way to the living room, closing the bedroom door behind me. I’d left my phone on the coffee table last night, and sure enough, it was still there, buzzing away at me.
Nobody called me. Everyone I knew texted me, even my parents. If I was getting a call, it had to be something important. If I had known who it was going to be, I would have stayed in bed.
Not used to answering an actual phone call, I didn’t think to look at the number calling. I just picked up my phone and hit the accept call button.
“Hello?” I said quietly.
“Hello, Ms. Asher,” the voice on the other end said. The voice was like liquid caramel in my ear. I practically felt the hot breath of the voice flowing from the speaker. It stunned me.
“I take it by your silence you remember me. I do hope you have been doing well since we last spoke. I trust you are enjoying your side of our bargain?” the voice asked.
“Ye… yes,” I whispered, terrified by the voice.
“I thought as much. You appeared to be enjoying it well enough last night. Your good fortune seems to be continuing; I’m so glad. Nothing worse than an unhappy customer,” the voice practically purred.
Memories flashed in my head of my meeting with this “deal-maker.” The strange room, the funny-smelling cigar, the crimson skin.
“Still not much for small talk, I see. Fair enough, I’ll get right to it then,” the voice said as I’d been too terrified to say anything. “I’ll be texting you an address in a moment. I would like you to go to it and speak with the proprietor.”
I jumped as my phone rumbled in my hand, the notification of an incoming text. I glanced at my phone’s screen as it showed an address downtown.
“Do you know the place?” the voice asked.
“No, but I know the area,” I managed to speak through parched lips.
“Good, good. I would like you to take care of this as soon as possible. Before noon would be best.”
“And then what?” I asked.
“The proprietor will show you some things, explain a few others, and then he’ll have a task for you,” the voice explained.
“A task?” I said, fearing what might be asked of me.
“You see, we sort of work together sometimes and do each other favors,” the voice continued.
“What kind of… task?” I asked in a trembling voice.
The voice on the other end stopped. A few moments of dead air passed before the voice spoke again.
“We have an agreement, you and I. Do we not, Ms. Asher?” the voice asked.
“Of course,” I said quickly. “I’m not trying to back out of the deal. I was just asking–”
“Ms. Asher?” the voice said quietly but firmly. As a father would speak when they were scolding a child.
“Yes?” I said in a small voice. Even with all the wonderful things this… person had done for me and given me, they still terrified me. But a deal was a deal.
“Go to the address before noon. Speak with the proprietor. Do as he asks. Simple as that. Understand?” the voice said in that commanding parental voice. A voice my parents had never used on me.
“Yes… ma’am,” I said finally.
“Oh, come now. You don’t have to call me ma’am. We’re friends, aren’t we? Friends who help each other out, right?” said the voice that had me trembling in fear.
“Of course,” I said.
“Good, good. Well then, before noon Ms. Asher, and take Ms. Terri with you. I’m texting her now.” A moment passed and then the voice returned, “Ms. Asher?”
“Yes?” I whispered, holding back threatening tears.
“I’ll know if it’s done.”
The line disconnected, leaving me holding a dead phone.
I was still staring blankly at my phone when Terri appeared, quietly slinking out of the bedroom with her phone in her hand.
“She call you?” Terri asked quietly.
“Uh, yeah,” I said, shaking myself from the state I’d been in since I answered the phone.
“We’d better get going,” Terri said as she was putting on clothes. “I already ordered a car, it should be here in eight minutes.”
“What about Remmi?” I asked.
“I’ll text her once I’m dressed,” Terri said as she pulled on more clothes. When I was still sitting there in stunned silence, Terri spoke again. “Ash,”
“Yeah?” I said, shaking myself out of the trance I’d fallen into.
“She doesn’t like to be kept waiting. The sooner we do this, the sooner she forgets about us for a little while,” Terri said quietly.
“I take it this isn’t the first time she’s asked you to do something?” I asked.
“No.”
Eight minutes later, we were both dressed and on the curb when the car pulled up. We made polite talk with the driver, but once we were on the road, Terri and I remained silent until we arrived at our destination.
I watched the car pull away and turned to look at the building we’d been summoned to. It was a large brick building, older, but still in good condition. It looked like we were on the backside of it as there were no windows, or signs, or anything. A single, plain door sat before us.
“Have you been here before?” I asked Terri while eyeing the innocent-looking door.
“Nope,” Terri shook her head.