The Prettiest Woman (9 page)

“You followed through on your promise. It was the best date that I ever had.”

“Hopefully, I can break that record again.”

“You’re going to spoil me rotten.”

“That’s my goal.”

Our moment was ruined when Jessica opened the door. She pretended as if she was getting ready to leave. I knew that she wasn’t because she was only wearing jeans and T-shirt. She never left the house looking regular.

“Well, hello, hello.” Jessica said with a sly grin.

I rolled my eyes because I knew that I didn’t have any choice but to introduce them.

“Vince, this is my best friend and roommate Jessica, Jessica this is Vince.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Jessica.” Vince said.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Vince.” she grinned.

“Jessica please give us a moment to say goodbye. I’ll be inside in a moment.”

“Alrighty.” she sang. She then gave me a knowing look. It was clear to me that she was telling me to get money. It was the same look that she gave me before I walked out of the door. She closed the door and I felt a little awkward. I knew that she was most likely on the other side of the door listening in. She’s always been nosy, and she lacked the ability to mind her own damned business.

I looked at him and shook my head. I took a deep breath and asked for it, “Ummm, I was wondering, will we be exchanging anything? I wasn’t sure exactly what the arrangement was. I guess I should have gotten clear on that before…well … you know.”

He looked confused for a bit and then awareness crossed his face. Then awareness was replaced with disappointment, “I’m sorry, I totally forgot. I was having so much fun that it slipped my mind. I’m sorry.” He reached into his pocket and grabbed his wallet. He grabbed all of the money inside and shoved it into my hand. “It’s been fun, you have a great day.” Vince kissed me on the forehead and walked away before I could respond.

It was clear that I’d just fucked up.

I instantly regretted asking him for money. My heart sank; I’d just been paid for sex. His respect for me probably went completely out of the window. I portrayed myself not to be an escort and yet I’d just behaved like one. I contradicted what I put on my profile and what I said on that date. To him, I was probably like all of the other women.

My perfect date was ruined by my own actions I wished that I met him in a different way. I wanted to go into the apartment and rip into Jessica but it was only my fault. I had the ability to think for myself and I didn’t. I opened the door and prepared to talk to Jessica before I had to go to work.

#Chapter8

When I walked into the apartment, Jessica was in the kitchen sitting at the table with two cups of coffee.

“So get your hot ass in here and tell me what happened.” Jessica said.

“You have way too much energy this morning. I should start getting ready for work.”

“Don’t play with me. Come on, I’ve made this pot of coffee extra strong just for you. I want the gossip.”

I took off my shoes and took a seat at the table, “Well we had a great date. We went to the signature room, then to the WIT and then to his place. Our connection was something I’ve never experienced before.  We had amazing sex and then I asked him for money and I got it. Now I’m here.”

My annoyance went completely over Jessica’s head, “Woot! That’s what I’m talking about. How much did you get?”

“I don’t know.” I said. I didn’t even realize that I was still clutching a handful of uncounted bills.

“Well put it on the table, stupid.”

I put the money on the table and pushed it towards her. I was in a daze as she immediately started to count the money. I didn’t care about how much or how little was there. I just knew how I felt.

“Holy shit! This is about $1000 dollars! I’m impressed. You must’ve really put it on his ass last night.” she giggled. “This is just the first of many thousands that you’re going to make. You’ve really got a good one and only on your second try.”

“I don’t know about all of this. I felt like crap taking that money.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You should take as much money as you can. If he gave you this on the first date just imagine how much money he has. You should see if you can get him to take you shopping. Men love that shit. You get to be their personal Barbie doll for the day and you get everything you want.”

She was talking about Vince as if he was a human wallet and I didn’t like it one bit. I knew about how wonderful of a person he was. As she spoke, I subconsciously shook my head in disgust.

Jessica looked sad for me, “Baby, you can’t do this. Do not fall in love with him. Treat this like the game that it is. I know he’s nice but he will drop you the first chance he gets. As soon as he’s bored, he’ll move on to the next. Get what you can now. He seems pretty generous so you should negotiate a monthly allowance. That way you can make guaranteed cash every month and he’ll probably stick around longer.”

My friend just didn’t seem to get it. “I don’t think he’s going to call me again. He seemed really disappointed about giving me the money.”

“That’s because his fine ass was probably looking for a freebie and if that’s the case, then he’s not worth seeing again, anyway. There is plenty more where his kind comes from. You can fuck any man for free.” she shook her head. “That’s a real shame. He acted as if you two didn’t meet on a sugar baby website. What did he think was going to happen?”

She was only focused on the money. However, I knew better. I knew that I’d never met a man like Vince before in my life, and that I would probably never meet another. He was truly special and I ruined my chances. I knew that Jessica liked money, but I was irritated that she treated men as walking ATMs.

I needed to talk to Jaime but I would have to wait until the following day.

*

“Oh my god. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of Pink Berry.” I said as I dived into my mango frozen yogurt topped with six different kinds of fruit and gummy bears.

“Clearly.” Jaime said as she watched the orgasmic look on my face.

“Shut up.” I laughed, “You’re not ruining this for me.”

I was so happy to be there with my friend for lunch.

“Okay, so tell me what happened with you and that guy.” she said as we took our seats outside.

“I don’t even know where to start. He was so far beyond what I imagined he would be. He’s funny, smart, successful, a great kisser and even better in bed.”

“Wait! You fucked him?” She asked a little bit too loudly.

“Would you keep your voice down?”

“I can’t believe you slept with him. You skank.”

I sighed deeply, “Well you would’ve had to be there to understand why I did. We had a beautiful night, I didn’t want it to end and you know how I am when I drink. I’m not blaming the alcohol though because it’s exactly what I wanted to do.”

“So, how big is it?”

“How big is what?”

“His dick, girl!”

“I’m not telling your crazy ass that. Just know that he’s not small and it was more than enough to get the job done. “

“Wow. I don’t even know what to say. My good girl has gone bad.” she said with a fake sniffle.

“I haven’t gone bad. In fact I don’t even think that we’re going to see each other again.”

“Why not?”

“I let Jessica get into my head. I asked him for money when he brought me home. Then I told Jessica about how bad I felt afterwards, and she started going on about how men use women all the time. I was so hurt because I could see the disappointed look on his face when I asked him. I ruined an amazing date by being a gold digger. But then again, I don’t know, maybe Jessica is right. She’s had more experience than me in this arena. What if sex was all he wanted and he planned on dropping me, anyway?”

Jaime stared at me intently as I gave my confused monologue. She had a look of disgust on her face.

“What are you looking at me like that? I asked.

“You don’t even want to know.”

“Say it, because you’re going to say it anyway. Just know that I feel bad enough already. I don’t need the extra guilt.”

“I don’t want you to be offended but your girl Jessica is a big ass hoe. That chick clearly has issues when it comes to men. She shouldn’t be tainting you and trying to make you be like her. If she were any kind of friend, she wouldn’t be giving you that horrible ass advice. If you don’t want to end up used and abused, you need to stop listening to her. You should’ve enjoyed your date with Vince and left it at that. He showed you a wonderful time and you had sex that you both enjoyed. So tell me why you deserve to get paid for it unless you’re a whore?”

Her words stung as she spat them. I hated to hear them but they rang true for me.

“You’re right.” I sighed, “None of this probably matters anyway. I think I messed things up beyond repair. I doubt if he will ever want to see me again.”

“I think you’re correct, but if he does ask you out again, don’t mention any money. Just be grateful that you have a nice guy that treats you well. They’re very rare these days and you need to appreciate them.”

I fought an eye roll because I was torn between my friends. I felt that they both had good points. I wasn’t sure what to think. I felt more confused than ever.

*

A few days passed. They were monotonous and I had to squeeze in those extra hours. I hated missing class but I didn’t have much choice. I stayed busy and I was grateful for it because it kept my mind off Vince. What I hated the most is when I was left alone with my thoughts at night.

Each night I had to fight the urge to contact Vince. If he wanted to talk to me then he would have called me.

“Hey, do you have those files for me?” My boss asked when he came to my cubicle.

“I do.” I said when I handed him a folder from my desk.

“You’re awesome. Thank you for putting in the extra hours like a champ. When this blows over, I’d like to talk to you about your future with the company.”

“Yes, sir.” I said feeling giddy.

I watched him walk away with a big goofy grin on my face. I was hoping for a job offer but I would settle for minimum wage at that point. I hummed a little tune as I continued to compile data. My phone buzzing interrupted my song. I looked at the phone and saw it was Vince. My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to answer it, but I made it my personal policy to never answer the phone in public at work. I quickly got up from my desk and went to the bathroom. I missed his call and I called him back.

“Hello?”

“Hey doll, how are you?”

He sounded pretty laid back over the phone and not nearly as upset as I thought he would be.

“Umm I’m doing okay.” I said in relief. I was happy to hear his voice again.

“That’s good to hear. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“No.” I lied, “Well yes… I’m at work but I’m happy that you called.”

“Really? Why is that?”

“ I wanted to apologize about the whole money situation. I didn’t mean to...”

“Don’t worry about it.” He cut me off, “Are you free this weekend? I have an important networking event and I kind of need someone beautiful on my arm. You were the first woman that popped into my head.”

I warred with myself because I worked on the weekends. I had two shifts to pull at the restaurant but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see him again.

“Umm, I’m not sure.”

“If you’re busy, I understand. Just let me know.”

“No, I would love to hang out with you this weekend.”

“Great, I’ll email you the details this evening and talk to you soon.”

“Looking forward to it.”

We hung up and I tried to keep myself from shrieking. I looked in the mirror and smiled. My day was going pretty damn well and I deserved to celebrate. Then I thought to myself that I needed to go shopping. I couldn’t go on a business trip with the clothes that I had. I had to look hot the entire time.

I vowed not to mess up the experience this time and I hoped that our weekend would be filled with great conversation and more amazing sex.

*

“I can’t believe you’re really about to leave for the weekend.” Jessica said.

I grinned, “I know, right. Seems a bit surreal but I’m so looking forward it.”

“Just remember everything that I told you. This is a work trip for him. You’re there to make sure that he looks good in front of his colleagues and to relax him behind closed doors.”

“Ugh, Jessica. You make it sound like I’m pretty woman.”

“Well technically…”

“I don’t want to hear it. I want to go and have a good time. I know how to act in public so you don’t have to prep me. I’m not stupid.”

“Clearly you aren’t stupid. I’m just trying to make sure that he wants to bring you on future trips. You have to be more than a pretty face. You have to be a demure and intelligent pretty face. Smile, nod, collect business cards and charm the people that he’s interested in doing with. Keep the other women company while the men talk business. You want to get the women out of the way so that he can do business.”