Chapter 3

3

H adley | Sacramento, California | Early 2000s

The next morning, Hadley woke up to the alarm on her phone vibrating underneath her bed. She tried to ignore it by slamming a pillow on top of her head. She writhed around, half-asleep, and buried under blankets and sheets for a few minutes before giving up. Her head and upper body fell to the floor with a graceless thump, the morning air colder than she wished. Then she rummaged around under the bed frame with her right arm for the vibrating, chiming piece of technology from hell and silenced it with the side button.

Hadley let the rest of her body fall to the floor and contemplated going back to sleep at this moment. The only thing she would be missing was this meeting, a meeting she didn't want to attend.

It's just sex , her brain chimed in with a friendly reminder. If this is the only way forward, take it.

She groaned before pushing herself up on her knees and realized that she was still wearing the same clothes from last night's outing. Hadley made her way to her bedroom door, opening it to a silent, empty apartment. Hector would already be training right now; he only had a few months until audition season.

She made an immediate left into the bathroom, wincing at the rough hair and smeared makeup in the mirror. Turning the shower faucet to the left, Hadley popped into the water for a quick clean-up to erase the evidence of her drug-infused night.

I guess I'm a regular sinner now. She eyed her reflection and shook her shoulders back and forth, trying to get her energy up. After blow-drying her hair and putting on some tinted moisturizer, mascara, and blush, Hadley returned to her room in her towel.

She sat down on the edge of her unmade bed, pulling out the dresser's bottom drawer across from her. There was a clump of brand-new lingerie with the tags still on, the lace and strings from different pieces all tangled together. It took a few minutes to separate it all. She chose a silver and purple bralette with a matching pair of panties and a garter belt.

Hadley threw the remaining lingerie into her purse before pulling out a bright red lipstick, smoothening it over her lips. She shook her head, already feeling like someone she wasn't, then threw on a pair of sweatpants and an old graphic t-shirt over the ensemble.

Hadley ran back to the bathroom to wipe off the awful lipstick and fumbled in every nook and cranny in her apartment for shoes she could wear over stockings. She found one white sneaker under her desk and the other in the back of her closet, stuffing her feet in them with the laces still tied.

Well, this is awful .

She sat on the floor with her back to the front door, her hands covering her face. She didn't move for several minutes.

"Get up. Just go," she yelled out loud to the empty apartment while staggering to her feet and brushing her yellow-blonde hair back with her fingers.

Hadley pulled out her phone, calling a taxi. It made her think about that week when she tried to be a food delivery person on her bike. It went well at first, but people would request refunds, saying the food was never delivered or the order was wrong.

And now here you are.

Hadley shimmied her shoulders to pump herself up for what she was about to commit to, and without letting herself overthink more, she walked out of her apartment. She pulled a fresh eviction notice from the door and crumpled it up before throwing it inside.

This won't be a problem soon.

The journey to Citrus Heights, a suburban neighborhood outside of the city, was longer than Hadley could truly afford. She stared at the ride's toll climbing with every second, frowning. The driver stayed silent throughout the drive, only announcing their arrival at a small one-story home that looked unkempt.

The thirty-dollar drive each way would hurt her, especially with the overdraft fees. Buying a car seemed so distant, too far out of reach.

Hadley smiled at the driver and stepped outside the car, walking up the house through the sloped driveway. Dogs barked from neighboring houses behind chain-link fences, causing too much commotion for her nerves. Driven by panic, she wasted no time ducking to the side of the garage, looking for the door as directed.

I'm here.

Gravel lined the side of the house, and a large air conditioning unit piped into the wall stood a few feet from her. The fences throughout the neighborhood gave no privacy as she stared at overgrown, half-dying grass littered with empty planting pots in the neighbor's yard.

The white, tattered door opened abruptly as a man in his early forties with a goatee and greasy ponytail stood there with his arm up over the doorway. Hadley did her best not to stare too much at his bushy armpit hair.

"You my two o'clock? Come on in, darlin'. You can call me Uncle Grant. I've got my best gal in here too; give you a proper greeting and all, show you that I run a reputable business."

Grant wore a huge, friendly smile, and Hadley felt like she was looking at a Labrador puppy in a man's body. Though still on edge, she relaxed her shoulders and walked through the door frame.

He seems nice. There's another girl inside. You might be okay.

"I've never done this before," she said, kicking herself for letting that be the first thing she said. Hadley entered a two-car garage with a four-poster bed dressed with silk red sheets in the far corner. There was a small kitchenette and a large dingy brown sectional slapped down in the middle of the space. The floor was covered by six or seven carpets layered on each other to hide the cement underneath.

Hadley's attention fell on the woman laid out on the sectional. She was dressed in a shiny plastic body suit that covered every inch of her, even wrapping around a few of her fingers on each side. Her boots laced up right underneath her butt and carried six-inch heels that could double as a weapon.

"What will you call yourself?" she asked point-blank, playing with her long black fingernails to show complete disinterest.

"Oh," Hadley stammered, "Emily."

"We can come up with something sexier than that. We need something modern, something that screams smoldering girl next door from your wildest fantasies . It'll help build your brand."

Hadley hadn't thought about this yet, her mind flashing to the names of the heroines from the cartoons she watched growing up. She supposed she didn't want to sully those memories.

"I can see you're struggling; let me help," Grant said, stroking his facial hair with his eyes lifting to the ceiling as he thought about it. "How about Natasha?"

Hadley grimaced. That didn't feel like her at all.

"No? Okay then. Wait for it, wait for it. I got it! The stage name: Helga."

"That's not modern, Grant," the woman on the couch yelled.

"That probably tracks. It was my foster mother's name," he mumbled .

"I like that it starts with an H," Hadley pipped in. It seemed easier to react to a name that was similar to hers. "How about Hailey?"

"But is that sexy enough?" Grant asked.

"That suits her, fine, move on," the woman wearing black said, glancing up at her, boredom evident on her face.

The woman was breathtaking; there was something almost otherworldly about her, especially in such an ugly setting as that garage. Her eyes were delicate crescent moons, framed by long lashes, almost as if the winged eyeliner look was made only to give the rest of the world a fair chance to keep up with her beauty. Her skin was like porcelain. Her jet-black hair fanned out over the arm of the sectional.

"Meet my number one girl; she kills it in the dominatrix game. I've seen this woman leave a client's home after twenty minutes with thousands of dollars. It always feels like highway robbery. There are lots of little niches in this line of work, so it's probably good for you to explore before settling down on a specialty." Grant chuckled.

"You can call me Reign," she said.

Hadley exhaled; her nerves started to get the better of her. She nodded to the two of them, unable to get actual words out of her mouth.

"You're eighteen, yes?" Grant asked. "I don't work with kids."

"I turned eighteen last May," Hadley confirmed. Grant flashed her another grin and ran to the kitchenette area, rummaging around in a cheap white cabinet. He returned triumphant, holding out a basic point-and-shoot camera.

"We'll take some advertising photos so I can set up a page for you across multiple online platforms. That's all that will be accomplished today. We can keep your face and any tattoos out of anything public. I care about your safety here. Go ahead and change here and pop on that bed," Grant directed.

"Change right here?" Hadley stammered, putting down her purse on the floor underneath one of Reign's heels bouncing in the air.

"No modesty in this career, little Hailey," Reign said, now lying on her back, staring at the ceiling. This seemed too intimate, too intimidating. Here, she would have to perform, to be photographed wearing almost nothing while these two faces existed in her background. Her heart rate rose, and she chewed on her bottom lip, trying to overcome the sudden bout of self-consciousness.

Hadley forced the image of the eviction notices back into her head. She saw a future of her and Hector begging for somewhere to sleep other than a sidewalk. Hadley breathed in through her nose deeply and then began to pull her sweatpants down, revealing her bare legs. She followed suit with her shirt, standing exposed in her lingerie set with her arms crossed in front of her torso.

Reign stood up and moved to her side. She began adjusting Hadley's hair, brushing it back and smoothing it with her thin, gentle fingers. Hadley jumped slightly whenever Reign grazed the back of her neck or shoulders.

"You're on pins and needles," Reign whispered, her breath warm and smelling of cinnamon. "It's okay, you are safe here. You can leave at any time."

Grant nodded his approval of Hadley's lingerie and let out an encouraging whistle before he waved his hand toward the bed.

Hadley hesitated, the joints in her elbows and knees locking up. She caved her shoulders in and let her head hang down, gulping air as her mouth was now very dry.

You can leave right now or choose to stay.

A second later, she walked towards the bed and plopped down with a hollow thud on the red satin sheets. Hadley laid her body out long, her head craned up to create an arch in her back. She grabbed a fistful of sheets with her arms over her head, her eyes hidden from any camera angle.

Just get it over with.

Grant hovered above her, standing on the sheets and making uneven indents so she would have to adjust her weight. The camera beeped every time the lens closed and opened again, ready for the next frame.

"Oh, yeah, baby. That's beautiful. Big smile, push your chest out. Now, let me see the back of your panties." Grant directed Hadley to sit on her knees with her bare back towards him to show off the lace on her underwear.

Hadley stuffed the shame down her throat as far as it could go.

"Hold up, girl. I didn't see that you have a mark on your shoulders. You'll want to pull your hair down your back to cover that up."

Grant let his hand that gripped the camera fall to his side as Hadley turned to stare at him, blinking blankly. She didn't think about the birthmarks on her shoulder blades much since she had to twist hard in the mirror to see them. She often completely forgot that they were even there.

He held the camera up to his face, looking at the previews on the back of his camera. Grant cocked his head and furrowed his brow, zooming in on the screen.

"Hey, Reign, Hailey here has the same mark on her shoulders as you do. It looks damn near identical. Isn't that wild?"

That seemed to catch Reign's attention. She bounced up into a sitting position from the sectional, suddenly very curious.

"Let me see."

Grant, who wasn't in her way at all, immediately leaped to the side, giving Reign a full runway towards the bed.

"Is it an issue?" Hadley asked and pulled her hair to the side, revealing a raised triangular-like shape on each shoulder blade.

Reign strutted towards the bed with a diffused thud on the carpet from her pointed heels. She reached out her fingers, touching Hadley's birthmark in wonder.

"What are you doing here?" Reign whispered to Hadley. "Where is your mom? I mean, who is your mom?"

Grant, confused, continued to smile and stare in the near distance.

"Should I be shooting you two together? I'm sure we could charge a premium." Grant half-sung the second half of his statement, a grin on his lips as his mind wandered. The girls ignored him.

"My mom died a few years ago," Hadley pushed out, answering all three of Reign's questions at once. "I am on my own. "

"Tell me what you know about your birthmarks," Reign commanded in a hushed tone.

Hadley stiffened and immediately obeyed. Her mind went blank as if she had guzzled a bottle of cheap vodka and word-vomited on anyone who would listen. Unfortunately, she simply did not have an interesting story to tell.

"It's a birthmark. My mom had one that looked the same. There is nothing more to it."

Hadley shook her head, unsure of why this felt so intense. Reign looked skeptical, but then pulled her face back into an expression of boredom.

"You are young. You are beautiful. You should be working at a coffee shop and running around a college campus. Nevertheless, you will come to me with any problem you have that requires help. Nod if you understand," Reign instructed and watched Hadley stiffen again before walking back to the brown sectional.

"Alright, I think I got the shots I need to keep clients coming in. Now, would you want to let me have a go so I can see what I'm selling? It is an easier sell if I can boast about your . . . talent."

Grant put his camera down and approached Hadley on the bed, stroking himself over his jeans with the biggest grin.

Hadley's eyes went wide with horror, and she picked at her fingernails, not knowing how to respond. She felt dirty, hot shame filling her body like coffee being poured into a mug.

"If you're not feeling up to it, a quick blow job would be fine, too," Grant added.

"You lose nothing here by saying no," Reign chimed casually from the sectional as if she were pulling Hadley out of a frozen lake. Hadley exhaled, her throat clenching, hiding back tears.

"You're not feeling it today. That's okay; no need to stab me in the heart," Grant said.

He moved back into the kitchenette and pulled a soda out of the mini-fridge. Hadley moved in the opposite direction towards her clothes piled up on the carpets .

"Yes, he's a typical male, Hailey. I will say you can trust him. I've met much worse."

Reign picked up Hadley's sweatpants and held them out to her.

"Don't make me tear up over here, dollface," Grant said through a carbonated burp. "That might be the nicest thing I've heard you say about anyone."

Reign flashed a smile that Hadley could only assume was sadistic. "You know me, the sentimental type."

"Hailey, we are all good here. I'll put this up online tonight, and once I get a bite, I'll pick you up for the gig. I usually drive for all my girls. Someone's got to keep ya' safe. I've got your back. You're family now."

Hadley tried to ignore that her new family member just asked for a blow job.

"That sounds fine," she said as she began to walk out the same way she came in, wondering what kind of story she needed to come up with when Hector asked her how the first day of her new job went.