YOU & ME | JENLISA

Chapter 53

Lisa

My heart raced, lately it always raced. Seven days clean and it's been the hardest seven days of my life. I've eaten too much, jerked off too much, snapped at undeserving people, slept a lot and been convinced that I was dying on at least five different occasions.

But I got through it, despite the deterioration in my mom's health. The X-rays show that her lungs have worsened, they're 85% scarred now and the doctor estimates that she has months left to live. She's comfortable at home now, still struggling daily but feeling better for not being trapped in that stuffy hospital ward. I wanted to drop out of school, care for her full-time, day and night but my mom wouldn't hear of it, she wanted me to have my education and graduate with my class.

I needed to take comfort in knowing that our neighbour Ms. Nam stays with her whenever I'm not there. They're good friends and have been for years, even before my mom's illness. Besides, I couldn't be with her twenty four seven because I needed to make money. Her visit to the hospital left me with a huge bill despite an early discharge. Bryan also took off again last night which meant his dealers would soon come knocking for what they're owed. It was getting on top of me now, I couldn't cope with this pressure. I can't take the world on by myself.

It was killing me, slowly and painfully.

I've avoided escorting the whole time that I've been clean simply because I know afterwards it will make me cave to the call of cocaine. I'll have sex with some stranger that I don't want to have sex with and then I'll drown out my sorrows with a blast of coke.

I poked around the sad looking mound of chocolate mousse that sat in a lump on my plate. I had no appetite, I hadn't eaten since Jennie's macaroni three days ago and yet, I still didn't feel hungry. My phone vibrated against my thigh and I gladly threw down the spoon and pulled it out, while opening up the escorting app.

> Hi, looks like we matched. I'm a female interested in buying your service but I'm new at this and I don't really know how it works?

Newbie, great. I bet she hasn't even read the terms and conditions. Oh well, money is money.

< Thank you for your interest, every transaction is different. Each person has their own terms and conditions which can be found on my profile along with my up-to-date sexual health certificates. With contacting me you are entering into a contract between us, agreeing to a fully confidential service. You agree to not share private messages or information with anyone other than myself. Here's further information to make sure that you're in the right place. I charge a set fee of $500 for a meeting in a regular, well known spot. This is the price for three hours duration at Del Vino's restaurant. Should we stay longer than three hours in Del Vino's restaurant, I will charge $50 per extra hour. Should you wish to extend the service beyond dinner, that is an additional fee of $500. Any extension beyond dinner will be discussed fully in person on the night itself. I have the right to refuse service at any time, as do you, however no refunds will given under any circumstance. My prices are set and will not change, all monies must be paid in advance except for the hourly surcharge. If you decide to go through with the service you must agree to have our whole arrangement audio recorded, this is both for my protection and yours.

I pushed my tray of untouched food away from me and sat back against the wooden backrest of my chair. My eyes floated up to Jennie, she was showing her friend something on her phone and I smiled to myself at how uncomplicated she was.

> What if we don't want the dinner or sex?

We?

< I don't do group sex or group dates.

Do I? How much would that pay? No, that's too much for me to handle. One is more than enough to have me feeling bad about myself.

> I* sorry, autocorrect. What if I don't want dinner or sex? What if I want to negotiate a different type of deal?

< Private events can be negotiated if a different location is preferred. This will cost extra and must be agreed upon in advance. Should you wish to negotiate a different deal I'm open to that, but we must meet at Del Vino's restaurant first and discuss fully in person what we expect from one another, again this for both my safety and yours. Anonymously contacting me through a message service gives a lot of room for error if we're not who we claim to be. Del Vino's restaurant is a public, and safe space. We can meet in person first and discuss terms and conditions before we go ahead with any future plans. The $500 charge still applies.