“Sisters are sisters, aren’t they?” Rebecca said, and rolled to face me. “It doesn’t matter how fucked up life gets with them, they’ll always be your sister. You’ll always love them.”
“Always,” I agreed. “It’s as solid as it gets, right?”
“Definitely. As solid as it gets. I can’t wait to get back out to her. She won’t know shit about where I’ve gone.”
The thought of Carolyn still worried sick made my stomach lurch. “She’ll be over the moon when you’re back. Just like Phoebe will be over the moon when I’m back. Wherever she turns out to be.”
Rebecca’s voice was a whisper. “Do you think there’s a chance she really is in rehab somewhere?”
My eyes were still on the ceiling. “I think I’d be a fool to count on it. Why would she be in rehab if I was cast aside?”
“Good point,” she said, and it was.
I rolled towards the window, squinting at the afternoon sky. The day really was motoring on by.
“You said my sixty days will really start when I get my visitors,” I reminded her. “You think it’s going to be really hard for me?”
“Depends on the clients,” she said. “Some of them are pretty steady, just like you expect them to be. Others are sickos in businessman’s clothing. Sir really did used to keep them in line, I just hope this new weirdo sir does too.”
“Has he done so far?” I asked. “With the current stuff going on?”
She let out a breath. “The current stuff going on is nothing like it’s going to get down the line. Nothing like it did get down the line. These are just security guys treating this like a porn set. These guys that come in are hungry for their own crap. They want to treat you like you’re their personal little slut begging for whatever’s coming.”
My heart picked up pace at the thought. At the reality that this really was sixty days of taking whatever random guys put me through, no matter the cost. Just so long as I walked away with my pay day.
“He’ll be starting you off soon,” Rebecca said. “There’s no way a guy like him is going to hold back for thirty days like sir did. No way. He’s way too much of a cash-hungry asshole.”
“I guess sixty days are sixty days,” I replied. “I’ll have to get through them, whatever they’re filled with.”
“Sir should be here,” she said. “He really should. He was so much better than all of this. It needs structure, and class, and real substance. It needs someone to take the lead and make this work, not a random load of sad security guys wanting to get their dicks sucked.”
We both shot upright from the bed as the door sounded, but it was only a fresh tray of food from one of them.
“Shit,” she said when he closed the door behind him. “Hope he didn’t hear that. He’ll give me a good tit slap next time around if he did.”
And we laughed. Fuck, how we laughed. Tension, I guess. Tension and overthinking and being tired to breaking. All of it mashed together into some kind of ridiculous giggle fit at odds with the circumstances.
“I’m so fucking glad you’re here,” she said, as we caught our breath, and I nodded. I nodded hard.
“Yeah, and I’m really damn glad you’re here too. Hell knows how messed up I’d feel if I didn’t have your words to keep me sane.”
She held up a hand and I high-fived her, bond ever strengthening.
“We’ve got to stay close after this,” she said. “Whatever crazy life paths we take with our crazy sisters, we’ve got to stay well fucking tight after this.”
“Definitely,” I agreed. “Maybe we’ll end up in some sisterly beach huts somewhere, sipping from coconuts as the sun comes up.”
“Damn right,” she said. “It’s top of my current bucket list.”
I was grinning to myself as I got the food tray from the floor by the doorway.
We munched away quite happily all considered, chowing down on heavily-laden sandwiches and a healthy side of fruit for afters.
“I think I’ve got one of the worst guys coming in,” she said, as I bit into an apple. “Sir had to call him off me last time. He was vile.”
“You think he’s coming back for round two?”
She nodded. “Just a feeling I’ve got. Thought I heard someone mention his name in one of the corridors after one of my shows. Mr Richter or something. Hope this sir can keep him in line.”
“Yeah, I hope so too,” I said. “The contract’s the same though, right? You walk away healthily, no lasting damage?”
“Dunno,” she said. “Haven’t seen the paperwork. Hope it’s the same. Counting on it being the same as last time around, I walked away just fine after that. In body, anyway. Mind was still fucked up over sir, but my legs worked fine enough to get me out of there.”