His new habit turned out to be a huge help. He was energized, he can fully function throughout his grueling schedule. No more body aches, no more fatigue, his mind was sharp and alert, more importantly, he can make love to Charlie more often than before.
The only down point was he needed his fix a little more everyday to make him feel at his prime. When little wouldn’t do, he had to have more to feel a little better than before.
To support this new habit, he needed a support system so he could keep it casual, yet hidden from people who didn’t need to know about it. He attended after work parties more often, surrounded himself with those who shared the same lifestyle.
He spent less than three hour sleep every night, with Charlie living apart from him, and their schedule being so busy, his new habit went unnoticed. He tried his hardest not to succumb to the temptation around him. At parties, the women were wild and relentless. But he wasn’t there for the sex, he was there for the fix. He kept it that way, so far.
The girls were all over him, he was slowly making a name for himself, and he was a carcass to the vultures. He made sure everyone knew he had a girlfriend, not that it mattered anything to anyone, but he tried. When he entered that world, he was summoning the devil half believing he was going to make it out unscathed.
Charlie was wearing his shirt with nothing else, she sat on the bed looking through her papers and books. Tommy laid naked beside her caressing her bare legs. Charlie showed him a few of her graded papers, she’s got an A and an A+. “Professor Winthrope said I got potential,” she smiled. “We kinda hit it off on a bad start, I worked my ass off for his assignments and he was happy with the results … me too, I guess, I might be his favorite student now,” she said with glittery eyes.
“That’s good, babe, … why did you guys hit it off bad?”
“I kinda fell asleep in his class on the first day,” she laughed.
“Well, maybe he was just a boring old professor, can’t blame people for dozing off in a boring class.”
“No … he’s a star teacher, actually, barely thirty, I think, or maybe even mid twenties, he looks very young … he was kind of surprised that Maxine granted me a full scholarship with a special note to all the professors.”
Tommy raised his eyebrows, pulled her hand, “Is he handsome?”
She turned to look at him, furrowed her eyebrows, “Did you hear what I just said? Maxine told the school that I was there on a full scholarship … when we know that you’re practically slaving to pay for my tuition, don’t you think that’s a bit odd?”
“Well … yeah, I heard that too, to tell you the truth .. I have no idea how much money I’m making right now, all I know … everything is paid for, they gave me a platinum credit card that I can use to buy anything, I can ask for cash from Vicky whenever needed … endorsements are coming in like crazy … but I have no idea how much money I’m actually worth, all I know is what I have to do to make it,” he didn’t sound too happy about it.
“Do you think that’s common for the industry?” Charlie was curious, she felt something was off about the whole thing.
“We can’t really complain, can we? We’ve agreed to her terms, Vicky handled all my contracts and transfers, I asked her about your tuition money, she said it’s being handled by Maxine … and she kept offering me to buy stuff I don’t really need just to get some money out of the account … it’s almost like, that’s how I can get paid, with things that I buy … I guess it’s the same thing, right?”
“Hmm … I guess, but without the financial freedom … it would only be a problem if the contract is cut off … you won’t have any access to the money you’ve been making.”
Tommy sighed deeply, “It’s a shady business, Charlie, I told you this before … Maxine wouldn’t give us all this privileges without getting something out of it, let’s just make the best of it … I’m hoping to make a name for myself so I can get out of this contract eventually … she’s turning me into a slave dog, now what about that young professor again? Is he handsome?” he pulled her by the waist and made her hover over him.
“Not nearly as handsome as you,” she kissed his lips.
**********
“Hey, Charlie … just calling to see how you’re doing, is everything okay with school and work?” Malcolm’s voice on the other end.
“Hey, Malcolm … everything’s good, thanks for asking, I’m sorry I haven’t contacted you to keep you updated … it’s been very busy lately, I’m still trying to get use to my new routine here.”
“That’s okay, I totally understand … how are you enjoying it so far? Do you have any trouble with grocery shopping, laundry or anything? Those things could get in the way when you live alone, you know?”
She chuckled, “It does … I tried to stock up on food, and the laundry room in the basement is pretty creepy, I found one a few blocks away from here where I can do my laundry without being scared of rats.” She had been eating canned food to save some time, but she knew she had to do better than that.
Malcolm laughed lightly, he remembered how it was being a college student living away from his family. “Have you been in contact with your mom?”
“Yeah, she’s in Gastonburry, my sister just entered a boarding school there, she said she’ll be staying there for a while to get Charlotte to settle before she goes back home … haven’t you been in contact with her?”
“No, I haven’t actually … not since she left Goldstone, I have a few things I want to go over with her … do you have her contact in Gastonburry?”
She gave him her contact details, the hotel where she was staying and her mobile number.
“That’s great, I’ll just call her to that number then … by the way … how’s working for Maxine Roberts? Everything fine?”
It was a casual question, maybe it was the timing, Charlie paused for a few seconds, she wanted to ask Malcolm about the unusual payment term of Tommy’s contract but she thought it was too soon. She didn’t want to have to explain to him how she got the contract in the first place.
“Everything’s fine, I’m learning a lot from her … it’s great,” she replied instead.
“Good … just remember that legally you’re still under age to be overworked … (chuckled) … Maxine Roberts has the tendency to put her employees on long hours, you can debate on that with her … just saying … Anyways, I’m hoping we can get together sometime for dinner … ask Tommy to join and let me know when you’re available, ‘kay?”
Charlie laughed softly, “I will keep that in mind … thanks Malcolm, really appreciate it, we’ll be in touch.”