Chapter 12 – Mariah
Ever since I’d come in that night for Elie, it had become a habit. It didn’t matter how many days I asked for off, I got called in every single one of them. The whole time Sasha was gone, I got more and more people than I’d gotten the whole time I’d been working at the club. It was not what I’d envisioned when I started working there, and it went against the promises I’d been made.
One of the biggest broken ones was the idea that I could say no to anyone. When I asked to not see Travis again, all Elie wanted to talk about was how good of a client he was. He didn’t directly say that I couldn’t refuse him, but he made it clear that he was going to be a regular client of mine.
“I already have him booked a day every week for the next month.”
The one person that I didn’t get to see as much was Scott. I’d only seen him once in the last two weeks, and I missed him. He was the reason that I wanted to go into work every day, hoping that it would be him who came to see me, but it never was him when I got there. I was giving up on ever seeing him again. Maybe he’d done what Sasha had described and just gotten rid of me. Maybe he was done and I just hadn’t gotten the memo.
Kimmie and I waited at the airport in silence for quite some time. Sasha was supposed to be getting off, but the flight that I thought she was on had landed an hour before. “Are you sure she was going to be on this one? Maybe she was talking about the next one?”
“No, it was this one.”
“Then where is she?”
“Why are you so eager to see her? Is something going on at the club? Because you’ve been really weird the last couple of weeks and I’ve hardly seen you.”
“Not really, I’m just sick of working so much. That’s all. I’m worn out and Elie won’t let me take a day off. If I don’t go in, he’s going to fire me.”
“Well, you’ve got enough saved up, so maybe it’s time for you to look for something else. This was only supposed to be temporary, right?”
It was supposed to be only for a little while, and I had saved up a ton of money, but the whole idea of working for less was hard to fathom. I’d gotten used to making so much money that I knew that anything else I did now was going to be a disappointment. How could I tell her about the surge of adrenaline and pleasure that came over me when I was with the right client? I would try if I thought there was a way that she would understand it.
“Yeah, but what would I do now? I don’t think I can go back to working in a diner or something. I would make as much in a week as I do in an hour. Maybe two weeks.”
Kimmie just shook her head. “I think you like it. Sasha does.”
I liked some aspects of it, but I wasn’t going to admit to them. I already felt wrong for wanting it anyway, and now I was sure that it was because of Scott. Without him coming in, it wasn’t really the kind of place that I wanted it to be. I wanted Scott so badly.
“I wouldn’t go that far, but you somehow get used to it.”
Kimmie told me that she didn’t know how I could ever get used to it. “You’re never going to have a love life with that kind of job. How is a guy supposed to date you when you’re dating all of those other guys?”
She had a point, one that I hadn’t thought about much because dating really wasn’t on my list of priorities. Every time I dated someone, they would want more than I was willing to give. With Greg, it had been fine for a while, he’d been understanding, but it hadn’t been that long before he was getting mad every time I told him no. At least at the club there were limits in place and I didn’t have to worry about it.
“I don’t think I’m too worried about that right now. You know that I’ve never had good luck with men.”
Kimmie agreed, a little too readily, I thought. She was different. About a week after we got to New Orleans, she’d hooked up with a guy from work and they’d been inseparable ever since. I was starting to see how they’d felt about me when I’d gotten with Greg and wasn’t around them very much.
“Look, I think that’s Sasha.” I pointed to a dark woman who was getting off a private jet. I should have known that she wasn’t flying commercial. If that man was going to pay that much to have her, it made sense that he was ridiculously rich.
“Yeah, that’s her. Lucky bitch.”
I turned to Kimmie and couldn’t help but laugh. She didn’t really curse that much, even though she looked like she would.
“Yeah, but trust me when I say that she has to work for it. There’s only one client that I even like.”
“Is that the rich one that Sasha talks about?”
I thought of Scott and the dark eyes that smiled down at me. He was so gentle, even when he was being rough, and it finally occurred to me how much I actually missed him. I didn’t want to see anyone else but him, even though I knew that wasn’t the life I’d signed up for. He didn’t want me like that, but it didn’t stop me from wishing he did.
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
“Well, do whatever Sasha does. She has those men on a string for her.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
We watched Sasha give the man a kiss and then smile as she turned to walk away. He pulled her back to him and kissed her again, bending her backwards in his arms. It was a kiss that made us both sigh and wish that we had whatever voodoo magic Sasha did. I wished I could get Scott to fall for me like this man was obviously falling for her. What more could I want than Scott?
***
“Where is your mind at, Mariah?”
“Sorry, sir.’
He sighed and moved closer to me. I was panting from his touches, but I couldn’t get off all of the way. He was being too easy on me, focusing more on rubbing and being seductive than being the master I knew him as.
“I haven’t seen you in over a week, and I need you to pay attention. I need you here with me, Mariah.”
“I’m trying, really I am.”
“You need to tell me what’s going on. Do you not want to see me anymore?”
“Why would you think that?”
“Because I try to book you and you’re always busy. I don’t think that it’s a coincidence. I think you’re avoiding me.”
“I don’t know what you mean, sir.”
“Stop the ‘sir’ shit. Call me by my name.”
It was another order. I could tell that he was upset. It wasn’t like Scott to really show any emotions, and I was bothered by it when he did. I knew that I hadn’t done anything wrong, but it didn’t feel that way. It felt like I’d done something to make him angry, even though it was just my wandering mind causing problems again.
“Well, Scott, there’s just a lot on my mind, that’s all. I don’t know why you haven’t been able to book. I’ve been working every day for over two weeks. I need a break, but…” I stopped myself, knowing then that I was being listened to and watched. “Never mind. I’ve missed you, Scott, and I’m glad you’re finally here to see me again. What can I do to make you happy?”
It wasn’t the way I usually acted, not quite like that, but I didn’t want Elie to know that I was saying anything about my schedule with the clients. I was sure that it was frowned upon, even though I didn’t know why I should care. What was the worst he could do? He could fire me and I would have to find another job, but there was so much more that I was worried about. Elie wasn’t anything to worry about, but I didn’t want to make him angry before I was ready to decide what I was doing next.
“You’re not even with me, Mariah. Why don’t we take a shower and you can lather me up? I think that’s about all you’re going to be worth tonight.”
His words were harsh and a little hurtful, but I wondered and hoped that it was because he wanted to have a real conversation in there. It was not working the way things were going, and I had to wonder what he wanted.
“Are you going to get naked?”
“I put on these pretty clothes for you and you just want to take them off of me?”
He nodded his head and told me that was exactly what he wanted me to do. His dark brown eyes were roaming over my body, and I couldn’t help but shiver. Maybe he just wanted another shower, because he didn’t really move to take off his own clothes. Scott did turn the water on and put his hand underneath to make sure that it was warm enough.
“Is this good?”
It sounded like he was talking about the water, but I was thinking that maybe he was talking about the sound being recorded.
“No, I think it’s better in here.”
I got into the shower and watched his eyes follow me. For a moment I think he forgot what he was doing. He tried to get into the shower with all of his clothes on.
“Scott, you need to take your clothes off too. It will work better that way.”
He looked down and then grinned at me like he was just realizing that he was still in his suit. The sleeve of one of the arms had gotten wet, and I had to wonder if he’d even felt it. He didn’t act like he had.
“Look who’s being bossy today.”
“I’m just trying to stop you from having to travel home cold.”
“I wouldn’t care if I was cold, as long as you were there with me.”
I wanted to think that he meant that, that he wanted me for more than just an hour or two a few times a month. I wanted him to want me full time. There was always the dream in the back of my mind about Scott taking me away from all of this. I needed him in my life more than I needed the money that I was making. I was getting tired of new clients and strangers. I wanted someone who cared about me to touch me. Was that really so hard to get?
“Would you like me to lather your back or your front first?”
He looked at me and grinned. “You can lather my front first, Mariah. I brought you in here because I want to know what’s going on. You sounded like you were going to tell me earlier, but then you stopped. Is it because he’s listening to us?”
I nodded my head as I got the washcloth full of soap. I moved it back and forth in my hands, suddenly so worried about it because it was easier than trying to meet his gaze.
“I know he’s listening. And Elie has been acting strange lately. He told me that if I turned anyone down, or didn’t come in on my day off, I was going to be fired. He blamed it on being short staffed, but I don’t know. It’s just different now. I would never tell him that I didn’t want to see you. You’re the one I look forward to seeing, Scott, the only one I look forward to seeing out of everyone.”
His jaw tightened, but I wasn’t sure if it was my words that made him look at me that way or if it was something else. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I have to see you more than this. I need more than this.”
Scott was so hard that I paid far more attention to his member than was proper while we were having a serious conversation. It just felt too good in my hands not to play with. He was certainly ready, and a part of me was too. I wanted him to stay, and if I gave him what he wanted there was a chance that he would stay.
“Does this feel good?”
He shook his head and rubbed his hands on my breasts. It felt like it had been a long time since anyone had touched me without barking an order first. Scott didn’t want anything, wasn’t commanding me to do anything a certain way, he was kissing me and touching me in all of the ways that he knew I liked.
What was missing was pain. I yearned for the hard hand that he would give to make me come. I liked the control that he had over my body, but Scott didn’t have much control over himself at the moment.
And then everything changed and he turned me around to push me up against the shower wall. “Now it’s my turn to soap you up, Mariah. I love the way your skin feels when it’s all slippery.”
His words were paired with slippery hands rubbing on my back and quickly getting sidetracked grabbing a handful of tit from behind. I felt the hardness slip through my legs and I saw the head of his thickness pushing through to the other side. The rubbing was delicious-feeling and I was whimpering with the friction. Again, I wanted to finally know what it would be like to feel him inside of me.
“I want you so bad, Mariah.”
“You have me, Scott. I’m yours.”
“If you were mine, I would be balls deep inside of you right now.”
I shivered with his comment and the hot breath on my neck. I had no doubt that he meant that. He seemed to really need to do what I didn’t want done. He wanted far more than I’d imagined, and I worried that maybe he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Maybe I wouldn’t say no. I sure didn’t feel like saying it right now.