The Arrangement Anthology (11 page)

“Got any more clichés that you’re dying to use?”

“Nah, I just know how much they irritate you. Go find your boss, call girl. And if you work things o
ut, I’m taking you shopping.” Marty
gets a giddy look in his eye. “I saw this perfect little dress at Black Label. Any guy would love to rip it right off of you.”

I laugh and lean into his shoulder. The whole in the center of my chest, that painful ache that was consuming me
, withers
and I feel like maybe I can do this. I have to convince Miss Black to get Sean back. I can do that.

I think.

CHAPTER
6

After promising Marty that we’d go shopping tonight, I head to my car. Pulling the seat forward,
I toss
my
books in the back
. When I go to push the seat
forward
, it won’t move. It’s not as cold today, but still—standing in a parking lot alone is asking for trouble. My track record for getting robbed is shamefully high. I yank the seat, but it’s stuck. I climb in the backseat and put all my weight into it and pull
, trying to force it into an upright position
. There’s a cracking sound and then seat comes free and falls back into place. I
try to
squeeze between the seat and the door so that it doesn’t get stuck again
, but I don’t fit
.
So, I’m forced to climb through the bucket seats, head first, and I pretty much fall out the door.
I
stand, brush myself off, and
jump in
to
the car
. I
lean back before grabbing the seatbelt. The crappy old
seat
holds. I half expected it to snap off.

I start
my magic
car
and head toward Miss Black’s. When I arrive, the place is bustling with people. I’ve never seen anyone here before. There are worker
s
at desks. I hear a woman talking on a phone saying something about insurance for employees. Shocked, I stand there in the door way to the office with my mouth hanging open. It takes this many people to run a brothel? The phones ring nonstop. It’s like the call girl call center.

Miss Black spots me from across the room. She’s standing at an aged man’s desk, handing him a file. An irritated look flashes in her eyes and
she
quickly walks toward me in her tailored suit. She tucks the remaining files under her arm. “May I help you?”

Nodding, I look at he
r. “Yes, I believe so
.”

“
Very well, come with me.” Miss Black has perfect posture, even in those heels. She walks in front of me and I follow her back to her office, where she closes the door. “It is extremely unprofessional to arrive unannounced, Avery.”

“I’m sorry,” I say taking a chair. I sit on the edge of my seat and place my hands on
her desk. Miss Black is leaning back in her seat, legs crossed. “I needed to discuss something with you.”

“I’ll allow it this time, however, in the future, if you want to speak with
me,
it has to wait until you check in on the weekend.”

“That’s just it. Since things got messed up the other night, I wouldn’t be checking in and I didn’t want to wait for you to call me. I decided that I’m not cut out for this.” My heart is pounding as I speak. I try so hard to keep my nerves off my face. My hands rest perfectly still on her desk. There is no tremor in my voice. “I’m withdrawing my application. Thank you.” I stand, like I’m going to walk away.

Her little speech about what a rare commodity I am is my only card
to play
. I’m totally bluffing. I need this job, but I want it on my terms. I step towards the door and reach for the knob. Miss Black doesn’t say anything until I’m ready to pull the door open.

“Wait,” she says. I stop and turn to look at her. “Please sit.”
Miss Black
straightens in her chair
and leans forward, her eyes tracking me as I walk back toward
her and sit down. “The other night was an anomaly. That is not the usual course of events. In all my time doing
this, that
is only the second time I’ve had to intervene. I
apologize
that it made you question your choice to work here. There are other clients who have been on our roster longer, that have a proven track record. I would—”

I cut her off, “I’m not interested. The thing is, I didn’t feel threatened the other night and while it might have broken your rules, he didn’t make me feel like a prostitute. I didn’t expect that to happen. I was the idiot who followed him outside. He wasn’t the one who broke the rule. I did.”

Miss Black looks at me with her dark eyes. The tips of her fingers press together one by one as she watches me from behind her desk. “You’re not telling me something. What is it?”

“I’ll
consider staying, if I
was
given a second chance with that client. I won’t leave the hotel this time. I’ll do my job,
and
you’ll get your money.” My throat tightens as I speak. My heart is racing so fast. This scares the hell out of me. The whole
thing,
and here I am telling her what to do. For all I
know, she has those beefcake ninjas locked in her closet and they’ll bust out and break my face for suggesting such a thing.

Miss Black stares at me. I don’t breathe. My
tongue
is between my teeth to keep me from spewing her with nervous chatter. Her index fingers press together and then she taps them three times, like she’s deciding something. “So, this is about money?”

No.
“Yes.”

“And…” she prompts.

“And I didn’t think I could do this,
but after the other night, I kno
w I could follow through with him.”

“Even if I wanted to, I don’t think I could get him back. We exchanged some terse words afte
r the event.”
Miss Black taps her desk. She glances up at me.

I rush out what I wanted to say.
“Just tell him. If he refuses, then I’ll consider some
one else. Are we agreed?”

Miss Black isn’t stupid. She leans toward me and says, “Something else is going on here, of that I’m certain. However, I’m not one to blow a business deal over suspicion. I’ll ask him, under the condition that if he says no, that you’ll continue
working for us—that you’ll trust my
judgment
when I select another match for you.”

I didn’t want this part. I suck at lying. I can’t just yes
her,
she’ll see it in my eyes. My stomach twists as I extend my hand toward her. “Deal,” I say
,
and we shake on it.

I agreed to be with another man if Sean won’t have me.

I hope to God that he says yes.

CHAPTER
7

“No
freakin
’ way
is
she wearing that dress,” Marty says with his hands folded over his chest. He towers over Mel, who is sitting next to him in the middle of a swank shop. Either way, I need a dress for my next tryst. I’m still waiting to hear
back
if it will be with Sean or not. My stomach is twisting in knots. I don’t feel like shopping, but I had hoped that it would distract me. Since Mel and Marty disagree on everything, it’s been
an
interesting
evening
.

“How can you say that?” Mel says exasperated. This is the seventh dress, the seventh pair of shoes, the seventh set of
accessories
that I’ve put on over the last hour and a half. “Look at how tiny her waist looks in that thing. That is THEE dress.”

Marty gets up and stands next to me. I’m on a little riser, standing in front of a mirror. The shop attendant looks at me, but says nothing. Marty points to my
hips
, “True enough, but it does nothing for this
region and her boobs!
My God, she looks like she’s nursed
sixteen children. The braless look is for girls with falsies, not our Avery.” Marty gestures at my cleavage in this dress
,
or lack thereof. I look down. Okay, maybe he’s right. “A good dress doesn’t sacrifice one asset for another.” He snaps his fingers at the attendant. “Next please!”

“You’re such a drama queen,” I say as I step off the box. I add, “And stop snapping at the girl like she’s a
labradoodle
. She hates you enough already.”

He bats his eyes at her. “Sorry love. I just get so excited. You’re doing a smashing job. Keep up the good work.”

The
attendant
, Amanda
,
smiles and nods, but I’m sure she picturing strangling Marty in her mind. “I’ll get the next
dress you chose. Just leave that
one in the dressing room for me and I’ll put it back.”

I nod and
traipse
into the dressing room. I unzip the dress and pull the supple fabric over my head before putting it back on the hanger. I’m standing in my undies when my phone buzzes. I wouldn’t have heard it if I wasn’t in the dressing room. I
pick it up and recognize the number. It’s Miss Black.
Immediately
, my heart starts to pound and hope fills my chest.

“Hello?” I say, answering the phone with a swipe of my finger. I’m so excited, so terrified. I want the perfect dress for Sean. I can’t wait to hear when our next date will be. Sean made is sound like we’d be seeing a lot of each other.

“
Miss
Stanz
, good evening.”
Miss Black sounds the same as usual. It’s hard to read her emotions. Maybe she doesn’t have any. “I’ve contacted Mr. Ferro and wanted to call and tell you the results of our conversation. As I suspected, he is no longer interested in using our services.”

A rush of air leaves my lungs and I sit down hard on the puffy seat inside my dressing room. “You told him that it’d be me?”

“Yes, I did. He was rather adamant
that he no longer wishe
s
to
pursue
the arrangement with you, even after I told him that you requested we call
to
correct this situation. I’ll find you another match. Give me a little time and we’ll have you all set. I’ll call you when everything is ready. Have a
good evening.” And then the line goes dead. I stare at my phone. I feel like a hollowed out pumpkin. I put my head between my
hands and try to collect myself.

Black’s
words bounce around in my mind. It isn’t for a few moments that I realize what they meant—Sean didn’t want me. He rejected me. Worry pinches my face as I wonder what I did. Why would he say no? The other night, everything seemed perfect. I don’t understand why he would do this. I thought he liked me.

There’s a knock on my door. Amanda’s voice makes me jump. “I have your next selection here.” She opens the door and hangs the dress on a hook. When she turns to look at me, her smile falls. “Are you all right? You look ill.”

“I’m fine,” I manage to choke out. Pushing away the feelings bombarding me, I plan to fake my way through the rest of the night. I hand her the dress that made me look flat and pull this one on. It’s deep blue with silver stitching along the hem. There’s a thin belt at the waist and a neckline that dips into a deep V.
The skirt hugs my hips
before it flares at the thigh. It’s sexy and cute, all in one dress.

Zombie-like, I wander into the center of the store and show the dress. There’s a fa
ke smile plastered on my face.
Mel and Marty both gasp when I walk out. It’s a good sign.

Marty speaks first, “That is the dress, like
thee
fuck-me three ways
til
Tuesday dress.”

Amanda blinks, like she’s never heard a crass word before.

“Will you shut up, fifty shades of
gay
, and let her show us the dress!
” Mel says to Marty, and hops up to look at me. “Spin around, honey. Show off your stuff.” I turn slowly, palms raised while they look me over. “You look hot, Avery. I agree with the drama queen over there. You have to get this one. It’s perfect. Sean will love it.”

I swallow hard and keep the smile on my face. “It’s not for Sean.”

“What?” they say in
unison
.

Marty looks at Amanda and flicks his hand while he talks, “Go get us sparkling waters, honey.” Amanda smiles and walks off. No doubt she’s going to spit in his.
Marty and Mel flank me. We look in the mirror as we talk in hushed voices. “What happened? How do you know?”

“I got a
call while I was in the dressing room. Sean declined.”

Mel’s eyes go wide and she looks at Marty who is un
characteris
tically silent. Mel takes over. She slips her hand around my waist and says, “To hell with him, then. You don’t need him, Avery. He was eye candy.
A crush.
Nothing more.
I’ll help you pick out a new guy, someone better.”

Marty eyes her.
“You too?
Is the whole school whoring, now?”

Mel goes on the defense. She folds her arms over her chest and narrows her eyes. “You got a problem with that?”

“No,” Marty says, almost whining, “I feel left out.”

That makes me laugh. It caught Mel off guard too and she snorts so loud
that she sounds like a pig. We both stare at her. “Like you expected him to say that?” I shake my head. “Where’d you find this basket of gay, anyway?”

“He’s my lab partner,” I respond, waiting to see what Marty does about the
gay accusation, but he just glosses over it. I wonder what’s going through his head. The last time I assumed I knew something about someone from the way they looked, well, it didn’t go well. It turns out that the woman wasn’t pregnant. Since then, I don’t blurt things out like that.

“That was witty,” Marty says, pressing his hand to his chin and examining Mel like he’s never seen her before. “I like what you did there.” The two of them chatter and I look at the dark blue dress and know that some other guy will be taking it off of me. I swallow hard and
walk back to the dressing room to
take it off.
This is the dress
that will be on me when I solve my financial problems. This is the dr
ess that some guy will remove from me
the night I lose my
virginity
.

Several hundred dollars
later, I’m leaving the swank little shop with a new dress and silk shoes. It cost a good chunk of the money I earned with Sean
, but it’s necessary to do whoever’s next
.
After we walk outside,
I put the things in my car.

“Let’s go grab a bite to eat,” Marty says.

“Sounds good to me,” Mel replies.

Marty claps like he’s five and yells, “Shotgun!” This is a major turn of events
,
since he rode to the store with me. Mel met up with us and brought her car. Glancing at me he says, “No offense
hun
, but your car scares the
glitter
out of me.”

“None taken,” I say. “Listen, I’m going to run an errand and head back. I’m not really hungry, yet.
Late lunch.”
I’m lying, but neither one calls me on it. I wave and duck into my car.

I have to pick up my last paycheck from my previous employer. By the time I get there,
it’s
dark outside. The sun set
s
so early at this time of year. My sweater doesn’t do much to keep the chill away. I need to buy a coat. My mother would have yelled at me for wearing something so thin. God, I miss her.
On chilly nights like this, she’d be cooking chicken noodle soup. Bread would have been baking in the oven all day, filling the house with that wonderful aroma. Memories like that sneak up on me at the worst times. I sit in my car for a moment, trying to push the past away.

Moving fast, I jog across the parking lot and
walk into the front of the restaurant.
There’s a line of people waiting to be seated. A man is talking to the hostess. There’s a beautiful woman on his arm. She has deep brown hair with a hint of red. A black dress clings to her curvy body. I envy her for a moment, wishing that I had curves like that.

“Hey, Stacy,” I say as I approach
the hostess
. “I j
ust need to pick up my check.”

“Sure, but they weren’t ready when I came in. You might have to wait for it.”

I nod, intending to walk past her. I’m dressed like a bum, with tight jeans and my hol
e
y sweater. I stand out like a stripper in a preschool.
A chill washes over me as I
’m about to pass her. T
he guy at the podium turns. His blue eyes lock with mine and I freeze in place.

Sean.

We stare at each other for half a beat. Sean’s wearing
a black suit that fits him so well
. It shows off his shoulders and his trim frame. The shirt he’s wearing is the color of the night sky, perfectly blue—dark like my new dress.
A
chill encases my heart
,
as it tries to climb up my throat. I can’t do anything but stare.

The girl on his
arm,
leans in close, possessively. “Is there a problem?” she snaps.

I blink and shake my head. I hate her. I hate everything about her
. I want to
rip her face off. My fingers flex at my sides as I think about it, but I’d rather Sean didn’t know how hung up I am on him. “No
ma’am
,” I say, knowing ma
’a
m pisses off anyone under thirty years old. “Your table will be ready in a moment.”

I shoulder my way past them, leaving Sean staring after me.

I get to the back room and find Lenny’s office. He’s my boss, or he was until Miss Black stole me away. “Hey,” I say, my heart still racing from seeing Sean. “Is my check ready?”

“Yeah.
I just finished. Here it is. I hope you come back, if you ever need a job again. You’re a good kid.” Lenny hands me my check. He’s an older guy with gray stubble on his face. His white hair is thin and flops to one side.
He reminds me of my dad
when he isn’t screaming at the staff.

I nod, fingering the check. “I will.
Thanks for everything.”

“No problem, Avery.”
             

I smile at him and leave the office. I head through the kitchen and get enough dirty looks to last a lifetime, but I ha
ve
to get to the back door. There is no way I’m leaving through the front. I’m lucky I maintained my
compos
u
r
e
the first time. If I see Sean again, I’ll go nuts.

I leave through the receiving door and walk around the parking lot, back to my car. The parking lot is well lit
, but there are still patches of shadow
. I eye my car and hurry, walking fast, rubbing my arms to try and keep warm. A jacket is
definitely
a priority. When I get to my car, I stuff my check in the glove box and grab a can of ether. I lift the hood and hold it up while I spray, holding my breath so that I don’t breathe it in.

“
Miss Smith
,” a familiar voice says behind me.