Dusk & Dawn

Part VIII

Xavier had been following behind them for about thirty minutes before he saw them stop in front of an apartment building, exiting the car and entering it. The building didn't look luxurious but it wasn't rundown either. It looked to be maximum ten storey's. He waited for about ten minutes, hesitating between leaving and going inside the building, before he saw her exit again, this time following behind a different woman.

"Are you still coming back to care for Kaden? He really likes you." Kira remarked, stopping by Miranda's car as she opened her car door.

"Of course. I signed off to be the first preference assigned sitter for him with the company yesterday." She said, smiling at Kira. Kira smiled back and nodded.

Kira was using a babysitting service for Kaden, and Miranda was the third babysitter they had assigned to him. This was the fourth time she'd cared for him, and Kira previously had been too anxious to ask if she wanted to be his permanent sitter.

They were struggling to find a consistent babysitter because of Kira's hours, and the fact that she didn't require a full time one, which meant no stability for the sitters in question. It was a miracle she'd even found Miranda.

"He's a nice kid. I'm already attached to him." Miranda said after sitting in the car, prompting Kira to subtly chuckle.

"Yeah. He'll do that to you. I'll see you again on Tuesday?" She asked, stepping back from the door after Miranda had worn her seat belt. She looked back at her, smiling.

"Definitely." She said before closing her car door. Kira waved and Miranda waved back, starting her car and driving off. Kira sighed, stuffing down her subtle anxiety and longing, watching behind the car for a moment before going back into the building.

Xavier watched her reenter the building, the temptation to go in after her only growing. He sat for what felt like forever in his eyes, driven to near frenzy by the predicament of having her so close but so far away, before just driving away, looking for a nearby hotel.

Kira reentered the apartment only to see Abi and Tara sitting on a couch in the living room, waiting for her. Usually, by the time she came back upstairs the two lovers would've been taking a shower in the bathroom joined directly to their bedroom. Abi seemed to have just finished talking when she came in.

"Who was the guy at the club today?" Abi shot out, eyes fixated on Kira. Kira sighed, closing her eyes and bringing her hand to her forehead.

"You okay?" Tara asked, and she nodded, removing the hand and offering a weak smile.

"Yeah. I'm just super tired." She said while moving to the couch opposite them. "And to answer your question, a stranger I just met today." Abi leaned forward.

"And he had you for the whole night?" Tara interjected before Abi could start her barrage of questions. Kira nodded. "You liked it?" She asked, blocking Abi from asking again. Abi shot her a pout, and Tara registered it in her peripheral vision but ignored it.

Kira tried to supress the butterflies in her stomach, but her face displayed the warmth she felt. She pursed her lips in an attempt to stop the smile from blooming on her face, tremendously failing when the memories of his smile came back. Abi's hand unconsciously reached out for Tara, and Tara held it. Their eyes met for a moment, both in shock, before looking back at Kira. Kira squeezed her eyes shut, covering her face with both hands.

"I don't know." She whined before collapsing her torso over her legs. She slowly looked up to her friends through her fingers, only to see them watching her in anticipation. She groaned, sitting up again. "I'm not talking about this. You, give my phone, and you, my jacket." She said, pointing at them. They let go of each others hand, Abi taking the phone on her lap and moving it behind her while Tara adjusted the jacket around herself.

"That's not important. What's his name?" Abi said and Kira sighed, resigning herself. She deflated into the couch, closing her eyes.

"You guys are so annoying." She muttered.

"Ah!" Abi exclaimed. "Piss off!" She said, and Kira chuckled.

"His name..." Kira started and paused, overtaken by the memory of the look in his eyes when he said it, when he called himself hers... before 'correcting' himself. She'd never been looked at like that, with such utter and absolute devotion. The feeling of longing hit her again, the butterflies in her stomach becoming more intense. "His name is Xavier Alexander Woodmead." She almost couldn't contain herself, biting her lip.

"Age?" Abi asked.

"Twenty-five." She responded, releasing a breath.

"Job?"

"Some sort of businessman... I didn't ask for details."

"Hmm." Tara hummed, prompting Kira to freeze and look at her. She felt her defenses go up.

"What?" She cautiously asked.

"I don't know... Is he a finance bro?"

"No... He was born into a family with a business." Tara pursed her lips, making Kira sit up straighter. "Tara, say it. What are you thinking?"

"Just... He's setting off red flags. His type usually comes to the club in a group for a bachelor party or something, and even then, it's not typical for you to have guys that rich come in. But let's ignore that aspect of things for a moment, he spent a shit ton of money isolating one person." Abi nudged Tara and Tara looked at her. "I'm not trying to be a Debby downer... but isn't this a bit questionable?"

Kira deflated, looking at the ground. Her words were like a cold chill over Kira's warming heart. These were the very thoughts she had at the back of her head. Nothing about Xavier's actions really made sense, even if he was looking for time to kill whilst there for local business purposes... Unless he was looking for an escort, of which he said himself there was no sex obligation if she'd agreed to his proposal.

"Were you performing for him the whole night?" Abi asked after a moment of silence. Kira shook her head, looking at them with a weak smile.

"We talked." Abi and Tara glanced at each other. "He... He let me take the couch while he sat on the ground and we just talked... At the end he asked for my... time." Kira could feel her face go hot. Tara frowned while Abi's eyebrows shot up.

"Your time?" Abi asked.

"For the next two weeks... He wants all my nights for the next two weeks. No sex obligation." The more she talked, the deeper Tara's frown got and the higher Abi's eyebrows went. Kira knew how this sounded, and shame overcame her, so she looked to the ground. "He said he'd pay double the club's rate..." Kira almost whispered the last sentence.

"What?!" Abi exclaimed, making Kira shrink back and Tara grasp her hand, trying to soothe her.

"Babe, Kaden's sleeping." Tara said as she rubbed the back of Abi's hand with her thumb.

"Kira, I'm never going to judge your decisions ever, but no way is this man not going to expect a sexual exchange to happen." Abi said, lowering her voice into a whisper scream. Tara squeezed her hand. Abi is bisexual and had been an escort before she was a stripper, and her escorting day's had been some of the more traumatic experiences she'd had.

"I know it doesn't make sense but I..." She couldn't help herself... she couldn't help but take his word for everything. She sighed. She knew how stupid she would sound if she finished that sentence. Abi took in a deep breath, calming herself.

"If you want to be his escort, that's fine, but let's take the right precautions, okay?" She finally said after a moment silence between the three. Kira pursed her lips.

"Okay." She said after a while.

A/N: I'm not gonna lie, I like Abi and Tara's characters. I'm attached to them already.