Hell Above

Alex scuffs his shoe against the pavement, bringing a hand up to brush back his fringe as he squints his eyes to focus in on the time displaying on the small menu bar along the top of his phone’s screen. It reads 10:02 p.m., declaring that the blonde has been in and out of the cold December air with clients for nearly the past three hours.

The wind picks up again as he stands there, back leant against the bricks of the club’s exterior wall, causing him to curl in on himself just the slightest as he slips his phone back into his jacket.
He’s tired, body aching from the wind and abuse it’s taken over the course of the night.

He’s about to retire for the time being, shifting to pull himself from the wall and hail a cab, but is stopped when a car draws up along the curb in front of him. Alex covers the short stretch of sidewalk to the curb slowly, coming to a halt beside the vehicle to wait for the window to be rolled down as he pulls on his best attempt at an alluring smile.

The glass slides down, causing a shiver to run up the blonde’s spine as he’s enveloped in warmth from within the car. He leans forward, resting his forearms along the open window frame as his eyes adjust to the dim light inside of the vehicle. Alex waits, watching as the man in the driver’s seat looks him over.

After a moment, the man speaks, tilting his chin forward in a superior manner. “I’d say you must be pretty cold out there, huh?” He asks, to which Alex only nods, calculating just how he could talk himself out of this situation. There’s something imperious in the man’s tone though that let’s Alex know he’s going to end up in the passenger seat of this car within the next few minutes regardless.

“I’ll tell you what, you come with me and we’ll see what kind of agreement we can come to once we get back to the hotel room, sound good pretty?” He says, dark eyes focusing on Alex’s face as he smirks through the car’s stale air at the blonde.

“Sounds good.” Alex throws out, pulling the car door open before sliding into the vehicle.

The entire ride is silent, although the blonde hadn't expected conversation to start anyway. He remains still, fingers occasionally wringing together in his lap as he stares out the window, watching the sidewalks and lights blur together.

All of the vents in the car are blasting hot air at him, which is such a stark contrast to the nearly freezing wind that he’d been surrounded with before he got into the car that it’s making him physically uncomfortable.

This routine, although predictable, has never gotten easier for Alex. Each time he gets into a new car, sees a new face giving him the same look as all the others, there’s always this painful twist in his gut, a physical sign that makes up for him always ignoring his conscious. He bites his lip, turning to face forward when the car slows to a stop along the sidewalk.

Alex trails a few steps behind the man after they exit the car, following him through the hotel entrance and into the lobby, one of which the blonde has seen more than a few times over the years.

Once inside the elevator, the uneasy feeling returns to his stomach, and he wishes now that he hadn't agreed to this. He should have simply pocketed his earnings for the night and went home to Jack, but instead he’s about to let a stranger use him for the fourth time tonight because in reality he’s too scared to be around Jack right now in fear of something he’s not ready to confess yet being said.

Sometimes, Alex really loathes himself. And this is one of those times, he thinks, watching the man pull a key card out and slid it into the door. The lock release clicks and then the man is pushing the door open, glancing beside him to Alex once before slipping inside the room, the blonde barely a step behind.

Across the room, the first thing Alex catches sight of is another person, a man, probably only a few years older than him, with a glint in his eyes that makes Alex’s stomach churn. He opens his mouth to speak, turning back around to face the man that had brought him here, but the words don’t come out.

The man smirks, well aware that he’s blocking Alex’s only escape. Alex swallows, gut twisting again when he hears the lock on the door click back into place.