He kisses my back through my pajamas and I smile with my eyes still closed. “Morning, Owie,” I whisper sleepily.
“Hi, Mom,” his husky little voice replies.
I roll onto my back and put my arm underneath his head, my eyes are still closed. “I thought we were going to try and sleep in your bed all night. Remember, we were going to buy you a new truck if you did?” I murmur. I’ve stooped to bribery, but at this point I will do whatever it takes.
“I just don’t like it in there,” he announces.
“Hmm.” I sigh with my eyes still closed. I lean and kiss his forehead. “What’s on today, buddy?”
“Cornflakes?”
“Yeah. Okay.” I doze for a moment. “Momma’s tired today?”
“Rise and shine,” Jenna’s perky voice echoes through the room. She opens the drapes and the sun comes blazing through. “Oh, go away,” I moan as I cover my eyes. “What time is it?”
“Wake up time.” She smiles as she stands at the end of the bed with her hands on her hips. “This time tomorrow you would have been at the hospital for an hour by now.”
I frown. “Don’t remind me. I’m trying to forget.” I instantly feel my nerves rise in the pit of my stomach.
Owen hops out of bed and disappears up the hall. Jenna lies down next to me on top of the covers. “We have to go shopping and buy you some new work clothes.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“So?” She leans up onto her elbow to look down at me.
“What?”
“How was it?”
I rub my eyes with my two hands as I yawn. “It was pretty good, actually.”
She raises her eyebrows in surprise.
“I start on Wednesday.”
She grins.
My eyes meet hers. “Is that okay? I don’t have to be there until after Owie goes to bed and I will be home before he wakes up.”
“Of course it’s okay. I told you already, that’s why I moved here—so I can study from home and take care of Owie while you finish your degree.”
“I feel like shit that you have to babysit for me.” I sigh.
“I feel like shit that I am living with you rent free.”
I smirk. “Thank you. You don’t know how much I appreciate all that you do for me.”
She smiles. “About last night. I want details, all the details.”
I shake my head. “Jeez, I don’t even know where to start.” I pause for a moment as I try to articulate my thoughts. “It kind of looks like an old picture theatre or something that has been converted because it’s tiered down to a catwalk at the front.”
She sits up. “Okay.”
“The stupid fuckwits pay one-hundred and ten-thousand dollars a year.”
“What the hell? What are you donating? A fucking organ or something?”
I laugh and shake my head. “Probably. She tried to get me to be an Escape girl.”
“Escape girl?” She frowns.
“It sounds weird when I to say it loud, but it didn’t sound so bad last night. There are twenty-four men and twenty-four Escape girls. The girls dress up and put on a fashion show in designer clothes—”
“What?” she interrupts. “That sounds fucking stupid.”
I rest the back of my forearm over my forehead to block out the sunlight. Those drinks had some punch last night. I feel like shit. “I know. It really is.”
“Then what?”
“They dress up in gorgeous clothes and do a catwalk thing and then go into a private area for a cocktail party with the twenty-four men.”
Jenna scratches her head. “Sounds like a bad dating television show.”
I laugh. “Totally.”
“Weird.” She frowns.
I remember something else. “Oh my God. Get this: The girls then pick their date for the night and get to go back to this luxury penthouse with the guy for twelve hours.”
“Shut up.”
I shake my head. “Serious.”
Her eyes widen as she imagines it. “Fuck, that’s hard core. It would be so bitchy.”
“What do you mean?”
“Imagine twenty-four guys and only five are hot. You get paid the same if you bang a hot guy or an ugly guy. All the girls would be going for the same guys.”
I frown. “Hmm, true. I didn’t think of that, but I suppose they would be. They were all really hot, though. It wouldn’t be a hard choice.”
“And what happens if you did the deed with one guy and liked him, and then next time some other chick wanted him.”
Horror fills me as I imagine the scenario. “Oh, yeah, that’s bad. I couldn’t deal. I’m taking a shower.” I drag myself out of bed, walk into the bathroom, and turn the shower on and I glance at my reflection in the mirror. A stupid thrill of excitement runs through me and I smile goofily at my racoon-eyed reflection. For some reason, last night made me feel alive. It was my very own dirty little secret that only Jenna and me know about. I would never do it. I already know that my morals would never surrender, but damn, it is fun being offered a choice. Dreaming of the impossible, I haven’t had any choices to choose from for so long. I undress and hop under the hot water and let it run over my head. Eliza’s words run through my mind.
“Every girl in this club wants this position, but I’m not interested in them.”
“I want you, Vivienne. You have something special. I want you as an Escape girl.”
I soap myself up. Eliza wants me. She thinks I have what it takes to keep her clients happy.
And you know what? If that was what I wanted to do—it’s not, but if it was—I reckon I could do a bloody good job of it, too. It’s been so long since I had a good night with a man. Years, in fact.
I continue washing my body as I imagine getting my every need met for a change. A powerful man who would do anything to have me in his bed. What would it be like?
Maybe it’s me who needs an escape.
“What do you have to get today?” Jenna asks, interrupting my daydream. She walks in and sits on the toilet with the lid down.
“Erm.” I subtly shake my head to snap my wayward thoughts back to reality, frowning as I think. “A few new outfits. I don’t have anything dressy enough. My hospital work stuff is all a bit dated.” I think on it. “Oh, and some sensible shoes.”
She smiles cheekily.
I smirk. “What?’
“Are you going to wear your sensible shoes on Wednesday night to the Escape Club?” she teases.
I shake my head and laugh. “The Escape Club doesn’t do sensible in any way, shape, or form.”
“Hello, I’m here to start today,” I say nervously through the glass window.
The receptionist looks at me over the top of her glasses. “What are you here for, dear?”
I try to calm the nerves in my stomach. “I have an internship that starts today.” I’m nervous as all hell. God, I hope I get a nice doctor.
“What doctor are you with, dear” She smiles kindly.
I shuffle around in my bag and pull out the printed email I have. I quickly scan the document for a name. Oh, there it is. “A Dr. Stanton.”