Chapter 5

5

H adley | Sacramento, California | Early 2000s

"I'll have last month's rent to you by the end of the week," Hadley said into her phone, her landlord on the other line. Her shoulders relaxed, getting the good news of their willingness to work with her as long as she kept in contact. For a moment, she almost felt like an adult.

Her stomach rumbled. Despite the previous day's photo shoot replaying in her mind, she still had no money or any groceries. Hadley stumbled into the kitchen and dug through the fridge and cupboards. She came up with a small plate of string cheese, red chili flake packets from an old pizza delivery, and the last few broken pretzels at the bottom of a crumbled-up bag.

Hadley sat down at her desk and powered up her computer. There were stacks of books on formatting screenplays, outlining stories and emotional vocabularies. She had a secret, something she hadn't told Hector about. There was a contest, an audition, to get into a writing program in New York City. She had planned to finish up the stage play that she had been working on and submit it. It felt like a long shot, so she didn't see the point of talking about it just yet.

Her phone chimed after thirty minutes of rewriting and editing one of her favorite scenes, a hilarious scene about her main character stealing for the first time at a department store. The message was from Grant, her stomach floating with butterflies upon seeing the name.

This was it. This was what she was waiting for. Hadley could actually put the stress of a looming eviction behind her. She just needed to suck it up.

I got one for you, Darlin. 200 dollars pay for the hour, after my cut, of course. Does that work for you? I'll come pick you up. Just send me an address. - Grant.

She immediately responded with a yes and sent him the address to the coffee shop down the street. Not giving herself time for doubt to creep in, Hadley jumped out of her chair and into the bathroom, running a scalding hot shower. Once properly scrubbed, she braided her hair back and applied a generous amount of eyeliner and jasmine-scented body spray.

This will have to do.

Hadley stared back at herself in the bathroom mirror and gave herself a hug, wrapping her arms around the front of her torso. Not letting go, she moved over to her room and let her arms drop before throwing on a black lingerie set. She covered it with a polka-dot blue sundress that was more than appropriate for the weather. Nothing about her appearance should raise suspicion or garner too much attention.

Hadley stepped into her flip-flops, grabbed her purse, and went to open her front door. She paused and headed back into the kitchen, where she grabbed a small metal corkscrew. She threw it into her purse just in case she might need to stab someone.

Better safe than sorry .

Hadley left her apartment and made the short journey on foot to the familiar coffee shop. The sun was out as it usually was. She passed neighbors walking their dogs or talking on their cell phones. Once there, she located Grant immediately by his standout car. It was a faded red Yugo that she guessed was at least twenty-five years old. More out of sheer embarrassment than anything else, Hadley rushed into the passenger side as Grant smiled at her with all his teeth, gripping the steering wheel.

"So, you take every girl to all her appointments," Hadley asked once they began driving.

"At least at first," Grant explained. "Girls like Reign mostly use me for bookings and client communication. I probably pick up three or four of you a day and bring you over to my favorite little motel."

"I want to set some ground rules, or rather, best practices, seeing as you're new to this industry," he continued as he drove onto the interstate. "The first and most important thing is that you will get payment upfront in cash. Do you understand?"

Hadley nodded.

"Good. Next, you get that cash and then you send him into the shower. You always make sure that they shower. You are worth so much more than letting some slob rub his day all over you.

Once that man is in the shower, you hide that cash somewhere safe in the hotel room. Any questions on that?"

Hadley exhaled, her nerves caught up with her.

What have I gotten myself into?

"No questions," she said.

"You might actually enjoy yourself, kid; I vet our clients pretty well. Make sure they wear a rubber and try to have some fun, will ya?"

As the car pulled off the highway, they drove past a family fun center with a go-kart track and arcade. Hadley had been there before with her mother when she was younger. She remembered getting vanilla soft serve and a seagull knocking it out of her hand as she waited her turn for the batting cages. She hadn't noticed before the parking lot on the opposite side of it .

A small two-story exterior corridor motel with a neon sign announcing "vacancy" stood in the distance. Its faded pink exterior matched the haze in the air that day.

Grant parked the car in front of the lobby window and handed Hadley thirty dollars, the cash crisp, straight as if it were freshly printed.

"They rent by the hour here. Go to the window and ask the poor, bored soul sitting there for a room. I will stay here. Once you walk into the room, get yourself ready. Some girls like drugs, but you seem pretty clean to me. The client has been instructed to knock five times. Let him in, and hide the money. I expect a text confirming that you are okay. If ten minutes go by and I do not get that text, I will be knocking on that door no matter what the circumstances. Go get ‘em, darlin; this will be the easiest money you'll ever make in your life."

Grant snapped his fingers multiple times and then moved on to encouraging finger gun gestures. Hadley gave him a nervous smile, and it was genuine. He was just so cheesy. She opened the car door and waved goodbye.

You are fucking doing this. You are such a badass.

The small, half-dead flowers that lined the sidewalk had suffered from the current California drought, adding to the beat-down aesthetic of the motel. She did as instructed and a few minutes later, walked back towards Grant's car with a physical metal key attached to a fluffy pink keychain that had a tag reading "room 203" superglued to it.

She noticed that Grant had not taken his eyes off her the entire time, even when she walked to the opposite side of the motel, up the staircase, and into the third room on the left-hand side. It was odd, having someone look out for her like that.

Hadley locked the motel door behind her right away, pressing her back up to it as a barrier while she stared at the cheap blue carpet, taking a few deep breaths. She needed to do something with her hands. She took off her dress and replaced it with the cheap white bathrobe that hung on a hook in the shallow closet to her left. The room felt so empty, so intimate, and even though Grant was in the parking lot, she realized how utterly alone she was at that moment. She turned back towards the closet to find her purse and get the corkscrew before she heard it.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.

Hadley counted five.

Ready or not.

Hadley opened the door.

The man that stood before was a surprise. He did not look like a slob or even someone who might be lonely. He was actually slightly attractive, with a full head of dark auburn hair and brown eyes. He was six inches taller than her and possibly ten years older.

"Hi," he said with a wide grin, his eyes staying intently on her eyes. "You must be Hailey."

Say something. Say anything.

"Yes, Hailey, I'm Hailey. Come in,"

Some seductive mistress you are.

Hadley stepped aside to let him walk through. He wore an unbuttoned short-sleeved white Hawaiian shirt with a green palm tree pattern and cargo shorts.

"I'm Wes," he said as he bounced on his toes.

"It will be three hundred dollars upfront, and then you can pop in the shower once that formality is out of the way."

Too nervous for foreplay, apparently.

"No problem," he responded, pulling out a small stack of twenty-dollar bills and placing it in her hands, his fingers lingering on hers. It took everything in her power to not pull away. This was so unnatural, so robotic.

"There's a tip with your name on it if you can make this more of a girlfriend experience," he said, turning his back towards her and walking into the bathroom.

The familiar sound of steaming water falling from a showerhead rang through the small, shabby hotel room. Hadley stood, slightly frozen, until her new client's clothes softly thudded onto the floor. She heard the break in the water, a splash that signified that he was now fully standing in the tub, and then forced herself to move.

Hadley pulled out her purse from the closet, placing the cash and the corkscrew inside. Rummaging in the drawers underneath the television, she hid the purse and pulled out her phone.

Everything is fine , she texted Grant before placing her phone back in her purse and closing the drawer.

"Act like his girlfriend. Simple," Hadley whispered to herself while pacing back and forth between the queen bed and the bathroom door. She had never had a real relationship before, just the awkward hand-holding dates at the movies during her pre-teens. Her life got turned upside down once her mother got sick, and she became introverted, only relying on Hector, her writing, and a few other random close high school friendships and hookups.

Hell, she'd likely be a virgin if it weren't for alcohol and the parties that Hector dragged her along to. Not that those experiences had been great.

You are totally unqualified for this job.

No, she'd have to make this up using romantic comedy movies in place of experience.

The shower turned off, and the curtain squealed as it was pushed back. Wet footsteps hit the linoleum bathroom floor. Hadley turned on some bubbly, sweet main character energy. This was just acting.

Hadley pulled her robe off and let it fall to the floor. She then crawled onto the bed and lay on her side, stretching the full length of her bottom leg out, creating a curved shape with the other.

"I've missed you so much," she said, fumbling awkwardly with her words.

You sound nervous.

"What was that?" Wes yelled from the bathroom before walking out, a white towel wrapped around his lower torso. His eyes widened when he took a look at her.

She did her best to smolder her eyes, though quickly stopped before she realized that smoldering was not one of her immediate talents.

We can work on that .

"I said, silly, that I missed you, Wes. My bed has been so lonely without you."

Hadley patted her hand on the open space for him on the bed.

The man rushed up to Hadley and cupped the back of her head, kissing her so gently. She felt the tip of his tongue brush over her lips, finding a way inside her mouth, fluttering against her own. A wave of goosebumps rushed up her arms as her stomach fluttered, his soft lips pulsing against hers.

Please don't let him realize that I don't know what to do with my hands.

"I missed you, too," he pulled away just far enough to whisper to her. His lips moved down to the right side of her jaw, kissing her skin lightly before nibbling on her ear. She let the tension in his hands, his arms, grab onto her thighs while abruptly pulling her on top of him. She let herself giggle while he let out a deeper growl. She looked down at him, his head buried in her chest, and he stopped to meet her eyes.

He likes it when you giggle.

He grew against her with every new kiss trailing down her throat, down her shoulders, and down her chest. She wondered what they would do with it, the bulging that hardened against her as she rolled her hips, letting her eyelids flutter and her stomach drop.

Am I enjoying this?

His lips ventured lower and lower still, down her rib cage, down her stomach before pushing her forcefully onto her back, his face lingering below her hips towards the inside of her thigh.

"May I?" His head popped up, and a wicked grin spread across his face.

Hadley exhaled, the space between her thighs throbbing, then nodded in agreement without hesitation. He pulled her black lace panties down her hips with his teeth and let out a soft growl. Once he got them down to her knees, he let his hands finish the job of pulling them down off of her feet and dove his head between her thighs. Hadley let out a gasp, which turned into a moan, sweet and light. She arched with pleasure and grabbed his head with her hands, mangling his hair as he feasted, as his lips brushed against her, as his tongue stroked and circled.

"Fuck," she let out, relaxing after her body climaxed. She had gotten lost with his breath on her, in her and she didn't know if any time had passed at all or if they had been there all day. Her cheeks were flushed, her body riding through the sensation while Hadley stared at the ceiling with her fingers clamped between her teeth, pressing into the back of her throat.

He climbed back up on top of her, a condom over his erection as he slid his length into her fully, his left arm sliding under her back as he squeezed her harder with every thrust, as the skin on her outside arm began to bruise. She let herself be his, chose to get lost in his embrace, the contact that she could tell he so badly needed. Perhaps she had needed it too.

Wes finished in silence; his body tensed against her and then slumped as if absorbing her heat, never wanting to pull out. He looked into Hadley's eyes and brushed his thumb over her cheek. Hadley couldn't breathe. The tenderness was like nothing she ever had before.

Is this what love felt like?

"How did that go for you?" Hadley asked, feeling oddly comfortable with this man who she knew absolutely nothing about.

"It was perfect," he said, smiling back at her.

"I think I might set up another one of these with you the next time I come into town."

"Where are you from? I assumed you were local," she asked, rolling on her side so she could properly look at him.

"I live outside of LA. I've got family in this area and come to visit a few times a year." Wes pulled himself back off of the side of the bed and stood up. Hadley felt the energy shift; a massive wall had been put up between them.

Wes walked back to the bathroom and emerged a minute later with his clothes back on. He pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and pulled out a few paper bills, handing it to Hadley, still naked and displayed on the bed in front of him .

"I promised you a tip, didn't I?" Wes said, a coldness in his eyes. His words were suddenly robotic, reminding Hadley that this was a transaction. The shame that wasn't there when he kissed her was now pouring in at full force.

"Thank you," Hadley said, taking the money with nowhere to put it.

"I'll call you again next time. It was Hailey, right?" he asked, but didn't wait for a reply, walking out of the hotel room.

Once Hadley heard the lock of the door click, she looked down at her hand to see two one-hundred-dollar bills.

She stared at them, blinking slowly. The shame was still building in their throat while simultaneously letting her brain add up what she made in the last hour in total. After Grant's share, she still had four hundred dollars.

While this certainly was a great start, she still didn't have rent in full, and needed to mentally prepare to do this more than once a week until she was caught up. She gulped, pushing back the almost tears in her eyes.

You did it. You did it, and you own it. You will not cry.

Hadley got out of bed, rinsed herself off in the shower, threw her dress on, and collected her purse. She opened the hotel room door, the sun and the sky greeting her with warmth as the door shut heavily behind her. Walking down the stairs made her realize how sore she was as she waddled slightly on every step. She would be rewarding herself tonight with a hot bath, followed by a pint of strawberry ice cream in front of the TV.

Hadley reached Grant's car and opened the passenger side door. Grant put down his phone and sat up, flashing her a supportive smile.

"How did it go, darlin?"

Hadley sat down, the soreness amplified, and shut the door.

"I'll take my management fee upfront," he added. "I like to get the formalities out of the way. I'm sure you get it."

Hadley pulled a hundred-dollar bill out of her bra and handed it over in silence.

"Thank you very much. Steak dinner tonight," he celebrated and shimmied his shoulders. He turned the key in the ignition as the car's engine came to life, vibrating the seat. Grant cranked the gear into reverse and pulled the vehicle out of the parking lot, passing the entertainment center with families walking both in and out.

"Now, you haven't said a word. Do I need to be worried? Did you get hurt?" Grant asked, his eyes hardening. "I'm here for you, Hailey. I want you to know that. I want you to feel like you can trust me. Now, I know there are a lot of scumbags out there, but I promise that's not me."

Hadley didn't know what she was feeling. She felt numb, blank, possibly relieved that it was over.

The cash she left with felt dirty, but it was also a lifeline.

"I'm fine," she managed to say while staring hard out of her passenger window. A single tear escaped her eye and traveled down her cheek. How did she get here?

It's time to toughen up, or this world is going to eat you alive.

"I can take two clients a week for now," she said, breathing slowly while quickly whipping away the tear on her cheek. She turned back towards Grant, who was now focused on the road ahead. He raised his chin, looked down, and tilted to meet her gaze with a pulled-back grin. He understood. He understood all too well.

"You got it, darlin."