Strictly Business

"So, how does this work exactly? Are you, like, our boss?" Angel asked, perching herself on the pristine white bathroom counter.

Angel was tall and blonde, with gorgeous eyes and the longest legs Scarlett had ever seen on a person. She was young though, still a teenager, and she was inexperienced, which reminded her of Celeste back in Las Vegas. She was so naive about the business and the world in general.

"I'm not your boss," Scarlett replied, rinsing the suds off of her skin. "I'm just in charge of assigning you all to customers."

"Please please please don't give me any old guys," the blonde begged playfully. "They're so gross."

"Shut up, Angel," the third girl in the room growled, annoyed. Kimberly was still young, but she was one of the more seasoned girls in the group at the age of twenty-two. Her fiery red hair hung halfway down her back and she had a temper to match. "If anyone is going to get the old guys, it's going to be you newbies."

"I'll try to divide them evenly," Scarlett promised as she turned the shower off.

"So what should we do today? We don't have to work until five so we can do whatever we want!" Angel cheered excitedly.

Kimberly shook her head at the blonde and looked at Scarlett. "We could show you around town if you want. There's not really much to it though. There's a few places to shop and a couple of restaurants."

Scarlett shrugged her shoulders as she stepped out of the shower and grabbed her towel, wrapping it tightly around her body. "It doesn't matter. We can stay in as far as I'm concerned."

"Awh, no, that's no fun! We stay in this house all the time! Come on, please?"

Scarlett looked to the redhead, but Kimberly just rolled her eyes at the younger girl's begging. "Alright," she finally sighed. "We'll grab lunch or something."

"Yes!" Angel cheered, sliding off the counter and immediately bouncing out of the room. Kimberly shook her head as she quickly brushed her hair and left the bathroom to change out of her pajamas.

Scarlett headed back down the hallway to her bedroom and dried off her body then quickly pulled on some cutoff jeans and a plain white tee shirt. She threw her still wet hair up into a knot on top of her head and slid on her flip flops before grabbing a few bills from the roll of cash that Trish had given her. She stuffed them into her pocket then headed downstairs where Kimberly was waiting.

It was another ten minutes before Angel finally bounded down the stairs, obviously excited about their little trip into town. "I'll drive!" she cheered as she ran directly past them and out the front door. The two just gave each other looks as they begrudgingly followed the blonde outside to her little white Honda.

When they arrived in town, Angel parked outside a little cafe on the corner of Main Street and the three of them went inside. They were seated on the outside patio, directly next to the french doors that led inside. Scarlett was especially excited that so far her new bosses had not restricted what she could and could not eat, so she could get whatever she wanted without fear of punishment.

After they had finished eating, the three of them just sat around the table talking and having drinks. To anyone else in the cafe, the three women looked like any other normal citizens of Sterling. Kimberly reached into her bag and pulled out a new pack of Marlboros along with her tie-dye lighter.

"Want one?" the redhead asked, holding out the pack to Scarlett.

"Oh, fuck yes," she replied, immediately reaching out to snag one of the cigarettes from the pack. Kimberly passed her the lighter and she put it between her lips as she lit it, handing the lighter back as she closed her eyes and took a long drag. "Jesus Christ, that's good," she moaned.

Angel snickered to herself and took one from Kimberly as well, though she didn't look like she really knew what to do with it. "So, tell us about yourself," Kimberly said, lighting her own cigarette. "How'd you get into the business?"

"There's not much to tell really. I grew up in foster care in Queens. Ran away when I was sixteen, wound up in Vegas. Trish Marshall found me in a shelter and I've worked for her ever since."

"Trish Marshall?" Angel repeated surprised. Trish Marshall was a relatively famous name, having the number one brothel in the West. "Why would you come here to work for Felix then?"

"Mm," she sighed, letting out a puff of smoke. "She sold me."

"What? But you worked for her for so long. Why would she do that?"

Scarlett shook her head. "When there's twenty grand on the table, loyalty don't mean shit anymore."

Both Kimberly and Angel stared at her with their mouths hanging open. "Twenty thousand dollars? Are you serious?" Kimberly asked surprised.

The older woman shrugged her shoulders and took another drag from the cigarette between her fingers. "I made Trish a lot of fucking money. She wouldn't have taken a penny less." Scarlett left out the part of the story where she'd conned Trish into giving her three fourths of that money.

"Hey, isn't that your customer from last night?"

Scarlett exhaled the smoke from her lungs as she turned her head to look over her shoulder, immediately finding the man she had entertained the night before standing by the bar inside the cafe. He was staring at the three of them with wide, dark eyes. She gave him a little smirk as she turned back to the girls in front of her and took another drag from her cigarette.

"Angel, stop looking at him," Scarlett warned her lowly. The blonde immediately snapped her eyes back to the empty plate in front of her, looking like a scolded puppy. Scarlett leaned forward, resting her arms on the table. "How long have you been in this business exactly?"

"Not long," she mumbled. "About a month."

Scarlett felt bad for her. Angel was still just a kid and she obviously hadn't been educated on the unwritten rules involved in working in their profession. She sat back in her seat with an understanding smile. "It's okay, Angel. You just can't stare at customers if you see them in public. It's just kind of an unspoken rule. They like anonymity."

"That one doesn't seem to be worried too much about anonymity. He's been staring at you ever since he came in," Kimberly muttered under her breath.

Scarlett chuckled as she brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Well, he doesn't really look like the type of guy who would give a fuck if someone knew he buys hookers."

"Yeah, what is that? He looks like he's in a biker gang," Angel whispered.

Scarlett took another glance at her new favorite customer and the leather that stretched across his perfectly toned back. He was with an older man, who wore matching leather and had deep scars on both sides of his face, and was in the middle of a heated exchange with the man behind the bar while the other man just stood silently beside him, attempting to keep himself from staring back at the group of women.

He had told her his name was Juan, but she had assumed that he just used a variation of the normal "John Doe" that most of the other customers used. He had been very gentlemanly, which was completely unexpected based on his looks, and he was very considerate, but he used every second of the two hours he paid for. Scarlett could honestly say that he was the best customer that she'd had in a very long time.

She just hoped he would come back.