Inflation & Seduction ( Short Story)

Chapter 2

I looked at myself in my mirror in my barely furnished room; only a bed, a lonely lamp and this mirror that I got luckily for $12. I looked decent. This was the only slutty outfit I owned. I had on a mini sparkly black sleeveless dress with a push up bra to bring my already large breast up more. My ass shot out behind me and I gave my cheeks a little squeeze. My mother's genes were really proving themselves useful today. I kept trying to push my hip dips in but to no avail. They were here and free. I should have put on a corset or something, but if I did, I wouldn't be able to sit down. I looked like I gained a little weight, but there's nothing I can do about that. I grabbed my black 2 inch heels and put them on. I didn't want to be too tall because what if the landlord was short. Short men love it when a woman is shorter than them and I needed to appeal to this fucker's ego. I heard a knock at my door.

"What?!"I said with bile in my tone. I knew who it was.

"Can I come in senorita?"Sally asked.

"No. Die,"I said, putting on some red lipstick as I flipped all of my thick and curly dark brown hair to one side.

"Come one! Are you still angry with me?"She asked and I could hear that she was pouting, but I didn't care. I was about to sell my body to some gross ball headed man for a roof over our heads.

"Yes,"I said flatly. She was silent for a while. I went over to my small black purse and got out my good smelling perfume that I was stretching out. I sprayed four times; one on my neck; one on my breast; and two on my ankles.

"Are you going somewhere? I hear your heels on the floor,"Sally said.

"I am. Don't wait up,"I said. I checked the time and it read 5:49. That was enough time to get there. I didn't know how the traffic was going to be but I was praying it wasn't that bad. My stomach was already churning. I was nervous. 

"Can I go with you? Is it far? I can drive you" Sally asked. Her voice sounded remorseful but my anger was boiling over to a max each time she spoke. I grabbed my keys and opened the door. She had put her head to the door so she almost fell over inside. She was still wearing the same clothes from three hours ago, but this time her blonde hair was pinned up in a messy bun. She looked drunk and sort of wobbly on her feet. Was she trying to murder us if I let her drive?

"In your broken down Ford? We'd be stranded as soon as we left the apartment building,"I said. Her eyes looked at me over and she let out a whistle noise.

"Damn! You look good enough to eat Val,"She said seductively, her words slurring. She tried to bring her hand forward to cup my chin, but I shoved her out of the way as I headed towards the door and I felt her behind me.

"You think your car is better than mine?"She asked me, folding her arms.

"Not better, just more reliable,"I said, opening the door. "Plus, you're drunk"

"Don't waste electricity,"I said, slamming the door in her face before she could say anything as I made my way towards the end of the hallway to the elevator. The hallways were empty, thank god. I felt a little guilty for being angry with her, but I didn't care. She wanted to save face at her job, but in doing so we might be homeless. We were just on the second floor so I could have taken the stairs but my clumsiness prevented me. I didn't feel like falling on my face today, plus it could ruin my makeup. The studio apartment building we lived in: Diamonds' Grove Apartments, was mainly for bachelors, single women like Sally and I, strippers or dreamers. Our floor was the poorest one and even then we had to pay at least 2,400 a month. The higher you go the richer the rooms get. I wonder how much they had to pay for rent. It was a 30 foot tall building, almost close to being a high-rise building. It was well taken care of outside as well. Whoever the landlord was, they didn't play about upkeep. Even the room Sally and I stayed in was better than the apartments that I'd ever seen. We try to keep it clean, but two women working nearly 10 plus hours a day, we barely see our home but it isn't about that. It's about having a bed to yourself when you have a day off. The elevator came to a stop and opened up to the narrow hallway leading out. Usually a guard would be perched up in a small cubicle, but since it's the weekend they were off.. As I walked out into the warm streets, I knew eyes would be on me and I held my head up, avoiding stares. I regretted not wearing some sort of jacket. I didn't really have time to go back inside to get one either. I went across the street to the parking garage that held everyone's vehicle. Thank god our rent included our garage fees or else I would forget about it and it had our rooms labeled on them so that no one would steal it. I clicked my button on my key and my yellow 2017 Volkswagen beetle flashed at me at the end of the first floor of the garage. I had this baby for a year now. I got a good deal from a sleazy car salesman who was too touchy.

I made my way out of the garage and began to enter onto the street to my destination, entering it into the gps. I blasted my music loud, trying to calm my nerves as I made my way onto the busy highway. I kept praying that it wouldn't stop and hold me up. My phone rang a couple times, alerting me of some messages, and I didn't dare to check them. I hated driving on the highway and looking at distractions was not helpful. I made it into Houston, Texas in a little over an hour and ten minutes. I only had about thirty minutes to make it to the restaurant in time. My stomach began to churn worse. What am I doing? Was I really preparing myself to sell my body? Yes, yes, I was. I didn't care anymore. As long as I had a place to stay I didn't care what I did. I refused to go back to Utah to live with my parents. Approaching the restaurant, I could see that it was a small, cute little place surrounded by other little restaurants and shopping stores. I found a parking spot just two buildings down and locked my door.

I didn't know how long we would be here. I hoped maybe if I flirted with him quickly he'd want to go get a hotel immediately. I just had to smile and be pretty, and it'd be over soon. I walked shyly over towards the restaurant. There were many people walking here and there. I really was regretting not having a jacket. When I reached the restaurant, I looked it up and down, seeing the pretty flowers all over the front of the buildings. There was a sign flashing on and off, that read 'A little bit of Italy', on the top. The smell of cheese and savory sauce wafted into my nose and my stomach growled. I hadn't eaten anything all day. I was so nervous about the rent that I didn't get to eat. I had also slept all morning so I didn't get a chance to eat breakfast. I opened up the door to the restaurant and there was a podium to the left of me, that was unoccupied, that read "Wait here to be seated". I stood patiently for about five minutes until a Caucasian male with dyed red hair in a black suit and tie came through the glass door in front of me. When he opened it, some chatter came through the door, alerting me a little that there would be a lot of people. The man barely looked me over, but just stared into my eyes and smiled as if he was programmed.

"Welcome to a little bit of Italy. Do you have a reservation?"He asked, smiling a full mouth of teeth. My whole body froze. Reservation?

"I believe I do. I was told to meet someone here. My name is Valeria Moreno,"I said, hoping my name would do something. I didn't even know who I was meeting. He quickly looked at a large book that was on the podium and his finger stopped.

"Yes, Nickels party of two. Your guest is expecting you inside. Follow me,"He said. Nickels? Is that his name? It sounded ordinary. I looked at the time on my phone as the worker showed me inside of the restaurant. It was ten minutes from the desired time and I let out a sigh of relief as I checked out the restaurant. The ambiance was romantic, like out of a story book that I used to read when I was younger. The tables were circled with white sheets, with a candle in between each of them. I looked at the tables trying to check out each person, checking to see who was my date. Each table already had couples already enjoying their food. This restaurant must be famous, it's completely busy. The host led me towards the end of the room, and because his frame was taller than mine and the tables were closer than I had expected, I couldn't see past him. It wasn't until he moved to the side when we reached the table did I see the lone table at the end. My eyes grew large in surprise as I looked to see that my table, our table, was accompanied by not a greasy, disgusting old man but an attractive, young black woman. She was the most gorgeous woman I had ever seen.