Moonlight

Fourteen

The rest of the night was a blur. Almost a lucid blur: all the faces melted into the same, then details came back to her with great clarity. If she focused hard enough, she could then peel away the various layers, like the wet pages of a book fallen in a puddle. Every man, every quirk, every position was there to be looked at once again.

After all, this was her first time. It wasn't the one-off guy to try what it was like to be one of the girls. This was the full shift. This was what to some was normal. Maybe, in time, it would be normal to her too. Did she want it to be? Or was it just an experiment that had to run its course and could then be archived forever.

Her body was exhausted, and her mind overwhelmed, but, for now, she had to continue. She wanted to.

When she stumbled outside, she mentally through her shift and counted ten men after Phil. She had not been able to stay present, as she had done with her first client. Phil had definitely thrown her off balance. She realised it was not possible to remain in full control after him, but she marvelled at her own ability to find pleasure in these unconventional circumstances, because she had come at least three more times under the caresses of those strangers. She certainly hadn't achieved the strong orgasms she had with Phil, but she had still gotten there.

The walked out with some of the other girls. They said bye to each other. Alice knew they were looking at her with new eyes: even if she was so different from them, even if they knew she was not operating full time, they saw that she went through the same night as they had without asking for any favours. She had fucked the uglies and the taken her lot, just like them.

When she got home, the sky had become a light shade of peach. The moon, a thin sliver, had nearly become invisible.

When she opened the door, she saw Tom sitting on the sofa, quite awake, reading a magazine.

She froze on the doorsteps.

He looked at her. Different emotions passed on his face.

Alice knew he was relieved she was back. He wanted to know where she had been, but he also knew he couldn't possibly ask her anything right now, and he was saddened by the view of the rift that he had opened between them.

He just nodded at her and gave her a sad smile.

She said nothing and went to bed.