Breaking Her Own Rules

22

I ran my fingers up and down Denny's chest as my head rested on his shoulder.

"You weren't wrong about the high stamina." Denny joked.

I just smiled. "Like you can talk."

Denny let out a chuckle that I felt as his body moved.

"What made you become an escort?" Denny asked me.

"The money is good. Sometimes."

"Why are you still being one?"

I sighed against Denny's skin. "Because I need money, Denny. I have bills, just like everyone else."

"But if you could work, doing something different, would you?"

I pressed my lips together. "I don't know." I finally answered.

"You didn't seem too concerned about Nicholas threatening you."

I sat up and turned to Denny. Now that I have taken the weight of my head off his shoulders, Denny sat up a bit, placing his hands behind his head.

"He doesn't scare me. I've had it before, Denny." That's why Lloyd died. Because of me. But he does scare me. What if a repeat of what happened to Lloyd will happen again?

"Tell me."

I licked my lips and took a breathe. "I was a hooker, in the plainest terms, before most of the girls, if not all of them there now, got there. Before Maggie, Crystal, Raquel, Laurie and Gemma. Besides me, they have been there the longest. My boss knew. I had this client. He was alright at first. Then we had sex after a few outings. After that but before having him again, I met Lloyd. There was something special about him. We hit it off straight away and I told him straight up who I was. After a few more dates, like three months, I decided I wasn't putting sex out there any more. I started a relationship with someone I really liked."

"I didn't have my mother threatening them with guns." I gave Denny a small smile that he took and returned. "Word got around town pretty quick back home. It was a small, very small place. The closest town is Haast and that was where most of everyone my age lived. I didn't know my mother had one of her men following me, he shot the boy I was with in the leg while we were killing our virginities and that was the last straw for me. So when I got away, came here, met Lloyd, I thought things were looking up. We moved in to his apartment together, he was just starting to work in the family business."

"But when this client of mine returned, he expected things as he left them and when I said no to the sex, there was a small argument that broke out. Then the threats started. Then I noticed him everywhere I went. He was stalking me. Then one day, Lloyd and I were walking home from the shop, because I begged him to walk with me. I didn't want to go in the car or walk alone."

I bit back the tears as I looked down at my hands. I was knotting my fingers together as I sat up next to Denny, both our naked chests exposed.

"He came out of nowhere. Lloyd and I were crossing the street, then suddenly I felt a huge push as I fell to the ground, the groceries tipping from the plastic bags, as I landed on my hands, trying to figure out why I was pushed."

"I didn't hear any brakes. I heard a crunch, something cracking and people screaming. Lloyd pushed me out off the way, getting hit by the car. He saved me and it cost him his life."

I stayed quiet after that, letting Denny drag me back to him. I closed my eyes as tears ran down my face, nestled in to his chest.

****

I held on to Denny's arm as we crossed the footpath to the park. I saw Denny's mother and sister there at a table, chatting and preparing it with plates and bowls of food.