“Going home,” she replied.
“Wasn’t your shift supposed to end at five?”
“I extended a little.”
“I told you, you don’t need the extra cash,” he said. “Wait, are you walking home? Wasn’t that place ten blocks away?”
“I’m taking the bus,” she replied.
“Call me when you’re free.”
And he ended the call. She wondered what he was up to. Didn’t he have enough of sex for the day? Or did he have to go through, say, four more rounds before he was satisfied? She pocketed her phone into her coat and zipped it up. There was a bit of a chill tonight, but it made her hair behave. The bus ride took twenty minutes and she walked the remainder of the journey to her apartment.
She didn’t want to call him again right away, but there was something in his voice that said it was urgent. She shook her head, wondering why she was such a doormat over him. She only did that to customers. But then again, he was a customer. Sort of. With the contract and all. Now she sounded like a major slut.
“Well, shit,” she muttered as she dialed for his number.
“I forgot I was supposed to have someone pick you up,” he greeted.
“No need, discreet, remember?” she reminded him acidly.
“Right.”
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Whatever it was you wanted to share?”
“I didn’t want you to talk while you were on public transportation.”
Was this his way of saying he wanted her safe? He was being an asshole again, but she found it bearable this time. A loveable asshole. Wait, what? He was never loveable. Not in the week she had known him. She realized she had only known him for a week and that whatever impressions she had of him could still change.
“Uh. Okay. So, what was it?”
“I’m leaving for a trip next week,” he said calmly.
Leaving? How long was this going to be? Where was he going? So that meant she was free (sort of) from the contract until he came back? But she didn’t quite want him to leave…
“Uh-huh.”
“For London. Just a week.”
Business or pleasure? With that distance, she would never know. It was only a week, but a lot could happen in a week. What was in London? Well, she knew he held dual citizenship. He had family there, maybe ex-girlfriends, too.
“Okay,” she said, making it sound like she was genuinely interested. At the back of her mind, she wondered what London was like. I would love to see London.
“What?” he uttered.
“I didn’t say anything,” Mikaela said. Then she realized she had said it out aloud. Oh my god, how stupid. How deprived. She couldn’t blame herself though, as she had never been out of Ameri
can soil.
“You said you would love to see London, am I right?” there was amusement in Justin’s voice.
“I- I’ve never been there,” she stammered.
“You’ve never been anywhere,” he teased. He took a breath. “Well, I think that could be arranged.”
She blinked. Did she just hear right? Or was she having auditory hallucinations? No, she was assuming again. But the contract did say that he was going to pay for every expense imaginable. He might even pay for plastic surgery if she wanted to have one.
“What do you mean by that?” she whispered, knowing it all seemed unreal.