Myocardium

Part 15

In the dressing room of the cathouse, I meet Jesse and Crystal. Since I'm already wearing some makeup that perfectly does the job to keep my bruises from the kids, I use the opportunity to finish off the look with some subtle eyeliner and some highlighter to lighten the appearance of my blemishes and bruises. While dressing myself for work, I notice the multiple, purple and blueish hematomas on my chest and ribs. 

Apparently, Crystal notices too. 

"Damn, who fucked you up like that, kid?" she bursts out unfiltered,  although I play it off as just having gotten into an argument. The bruises are well-hidden under my indecent outfit anyway, so I don't even bother covering them. The only spot that is visible while I'm dressed is the ever-growing one on my arm. 

I hesitate when I reach for the sealed syringe, Rafael's words are stuck in my head. The heroin knows how to negate the guilt I feel when I end up doing it anyway, so the relaxation and fogginess I feel works wonders for me.

Once my hair, face and outfit all match as perfectly as possibly, I plough my furrow through the crowd to the sofas to sit and let the poison take over me for a bit. It relieves me to the point of almost making me fall asleep. Though I don't close my eyes, instead I stare off into the endless nothingness and try to look as pretty as possible. 

While I'm waiting for someone to strike up a conversation, I see in the corner of my eye how this oh so familiar silhouette enters the room and lets his eyes roam about. Rafael doesn't seem to notice me, and at first, I wasn't really planning on interacting with him at all. However, since no customer shows any interest in me, I eventually head over to him, who's sitting by the bar and staring at his glass of whisky mindlessly.

Rafael seems to be so lost in his thoughts that he doesn't even notice me when I sit down next to him. He looks concerned, possibly even a bit sad. Gently, I raise my voice and catch his attention.

"Are you alright? Something seems to bother you."

Almost a bit shocked, Rafael looks at me and softens his expression as soon as his eyes meet mine.
"Oh, hi there. No, I'm alright, just had an exhausting day at work," he chuckles and even seems glad to talk to me. 

I'm glad he's here too, because if he wasn't, I would have nobody to talk to, and that would only make me look like a fool in the other workers' eyes.
"Oh, really? How come?" I ask in faked oblivion, with the evidence of the incidents that occurred only hours ago still decorating my face. 

"You know, just the usual. Holding lectures, preparing discussions...breaking up two guys beating each other down," he laughs empathetically.
"Oh yeah, that must have been exhausting for sure, I'm sorry to hear that. I bet one of the people who were involved really appreciates you stepping in for him though," I mutter and support my head with my fist while looking at him as if I'm caught in a trance. 

"Do you have some time for me right now? You wanna go to the back a bit?" he mumbles in a sweet, deep voice, in response to which I nod approvingly, letting him lead the way to my backroom. After closing the door behind us, I stand in front of him awkwardly and stare at him without saying anything. 

My first reaction to this silence is to walk over to the bed and sit down, all while he's still looking straight into my eyes, also at a lack of words. 

Yeah, this feels super odd. 

What the hell is he even doing here? 

Like...logically speaking, there cannot be any proper motive for him to show up at this place again, right?

"So, what do you want to do to me tonight, Sir?" I jokingly ask him and let myself fall backwards onto the mattress, but my aching ribs remind me that I should probably not be behaving so recklessly.
"I don't know, what do you w-...", he sets to respond, but stops talking when he hears me hiss in pain, witnessing my expression distort for a second before turning back to normal at an instant.