The Villager

14

THE VILLAGER
ʚɞ Timothy ʚɞ

I had a plan. A mission perhaps. I needed to know for sure if Ruth still had feelings for me, and I could only get the true answers from a certain person. A person I have been meaning to meet with. Fixing the collar of my shirt nervously, I enter the darkened shack. Candles were the only light coming inside this place and ladies have their tops off their bodies which has me settling my sights to the ground in fear.

My younger days would eat these ladies alive. Spending my wealth for nights with them when all my heart needed was Ruth. Ruth Myers.

"You look lost, allow me to help?" A lady purrs, settling her being in front of me from escaping her grasp. Her hand touches my chest, sliding it down slowly. It has me sick to my stomach at her touch, so I quickly grab her hand and place it back to her side.

"I am looking for someone..." My eyes flicker over the crowd of women and there are tons of the ladies surrounding a bunch of grown men.

The lady in front of me smirks. "A specialty? You are a man who knows what he wants, I love that. Who are you looking for?"

Ophelia. That is what I wish to say, but I'm not sure if these ladies know her real name. "Red."

"This does not surprise me. How did I know you were going to spill her name out?" She tsks. She holds her hand open, beckoning me to follow her. "She might be busy with another. Perhaps, you could choose another?" Her eyelashes flutter as she looks back at me and I shake my head.

"Just red."

Her bottom lip pouts as she leads me to a darkened hall as I'm on my toes for any danger. I knew this was a bad idea to come, but I was never the one to think before I did something. Whoops.

We get to a door at the end of the hall, leaning her ear against the door, hitting a single finger on the door. "Oh, red." The lady sings out her name. "We have a gentleman requesting for you."

The door opens slowly, a gentleman falling to his knees as he tries to leave. He is covered in kiss marks from Ophelia's lip stick. His shirt is all unbuttoned, his belt buckle undone and he is breathing hard as he takes a foot, walking off from Ophelia's room, holding onto the wall.

The little lady at the door hums, shooing me inside. "She is all yours, Sir."

"Thank you." Tipping my hat in gratitude and she shrugs a shoulder, moving her hips a certain way as she leaves my being. My heart races as I take off my hat, entering Ophelia's room. It has her smell, a smell I knew all too well. Ophelia is making her bed, and she looks odd for doing something so simple. She looks like a normal lady, a lady who has a past, but wishes not to share with the world.

She wishes to never get close to anyone, only Ruth and even then she has boundaries.

She looks up, rubbing her red lip stick against her lips. She holds a blank stare, sighing. "To what do I owe the pleasure of having your presence? I know I am a Courtesan, but I not a whore." She is referring to sleeping with me and I was with Ruth and she knew that.

My eyes widen and with the shake of my head, I turn that idea down. "No, no, I would never."

She raises a brow. "Well, what do you wish for Lord Hampton?"

Lord Hampton. Not Timothy.

She is being formal since the falling out with Ruth and I understood that.

"Have you come here about Ruth?" She turns, facing her dresser that has tons of diamonds and pearls laying across the wood. She grabs a tin of something, opening it and rubbing the cream across her skin. She turns to face me again, eyeing me. "That information I cannot give you."