TouchNode | Complete

5 | Words for Dinner

Dread is a cruel mistress that often comes with a petty taskmaster.

It latched onto me: the dread. As though I was a mosquito trapped in the sticky, trickling sap on a tree. When the rays of the rising sun peeked through the edges of my orchid shades, I hadn't slept a wink, and my mind was a buzzing cacophony of fear.

Exhaustion clung to me the whole day, it too seemed to want to make me its victim and unfortunately, I succumbed. Due to an open day and no nightly entertainment, I had only the daily requirements to occupy my time, but shortly after 1 PM, the TouchNodes were completely free to roam to our will.

My morning, starting with a harsh dose of grueling exercise and then a healthy breakfast, followed by a dance class was over faster than I would have preferred. Flashes of the night before haunted my vision, clouding my mind, and making my body shake in angst.

Euphrates had truly shaken me to my core. The almost feral look in his eye and his inability to control the strength of his steely grip had me constantly touching my wrist to look for bruises. I was lucky, this time, and nothing appeared.

My body walked the halls of headquarters on autopilot, barely functioning until I found myself standing outside the double oak doors of the library. Edythe was standing at the rear of the literary paradise, I smiled to myself as I watched her five foot frame attempt to reach a book in the upper shelves.

As I stepped next to her, she sighed loudly and spit a lock of her strawberry blonde hair out of her face. A smile was tugging at her lips when she peeked up at me. I easily returned it and reached up to slide the book from its place and let it drop into her outstretched hands.

"You must be extremely bored," she observed, turning to seat herself at a nearby table. I followed her, sitting across from her petite frame. "I haven't seen you in here in months."

"Simply because you only read when it makes you look studious does not make the rest of us appear to behave the same."

She stuck her tongue out at me and narrowed her hazel eyes. The pages of the book were flipping quickly through her fingers, fanning her hair into a halo around her head. Her lips poked out as she thought of a response.

"I read quite often now, Dev." She defended, "you're the one who is never here."

Shrugging, I leaned back in the chair with a heavy sigh. "It's not my fault. Management has been trying to work me half to death."

"Management?"

"Fine." I frowned, "I have been working a lot more to pay off my debt faster. It's almost the end, I don't want to be here any longer than I have to be."

"Won't you miss us?" She questioned, pinning me with a narrowed glance. "Where will you go? You don't have any money."

Regrettably, no matter how much I trusted Edythe, I knew I couldn't tell her the truth. At least, not the entire truth. I would never be able to explain that I had been tipped by some of the patrons, and I was storing that money in a hiding place.

I couldn't tell her that I was nearing $18,000 and when I left this manor, I would do anything and everything not to return. It seemed almost pitiful, that my life was becoming a series of secrets that I couldn't expose. My frown deepened, even when I left... what would I do?

It wasn't as if I could put "TouchNode" for MPD, LLC on my resume. What would I account the last few years of my life as? Even with the savings, I'd have to get some kind of job.

What business would want a woman with no education, no training and no references? I didn't want the life of a Spectacle and certainly not anything illegal. Waitressing would be my only option until I could go back to college and make a way for myself.

I bit my lip and tightened my hands together as I thought harder about my future. College had seemed like a faraway option for the past few years and now that I was almost free, I could hardly believe my luck. Edythe's hazel eyes assessed me from her seat, her head turned as she swiftly checked for listeners around us with a cautioned look firmly etched across her features.

"So... I heard about Euphrates hunting you down."

Refusing to rise to the bait, I coolly stared at her. "Yeah."

"He hasn't been to a party in years."

"Yeah, that's what he remarked on to Ballarina."

Edythe wasn't catching the drift of my dry tone and she leaned close to me, "and you're the only one he's ever tried to keep from leaving especially in the presence of management."

Dread clawed at my insides, dragging my thoughts under water. I clenched my jaw and sucked a deep breath, "I'm sure he has chased down someone else, maybe no one knew about it then. "

Edythe shook her head, "I've been here longer than you, Devani. I'm telling you, no one has ever caught his attention like this." Her voice dropped to a low whisper. "Devani... I'm really worried about you."

Sending her a fleeting, close lipped smile I stood, "you don't need to worry about me. By the next party, he'll have forgotten I ever existed."

Leaving Edythe in the library, I trotted back to my room and stripped. My clothing was tossed to the floor, leading to my shower. I turned it on and stepped under the cold spray, enjoying the gradually increasing temperature.

I willed myself to stand under the spray until it was lukewarm and my fingers were prunes. Then, I slinked back to my bed with a towel wrapped around my torso. Dread was bouncing around my insides, forcing my heartbeat to a rapid stampede.

I thought back to the first party I debuted at as a TouchNode, at the first party ever thrown by Senator Mavis Barnes. I wore all black.

The crotchless panties, suspender belt with matching garters paired with a low cut lacy balconette bra shimmered under the low light. My heels were a gift from Ballarina, spiked stilettos that featured a wide strip of lace across my toes. I loved them, and when I put them on for the first time that night, I felt the familiar bee sting of adrenaline sending my heart into overdrive. Carter walked me to my assigned area himself, adjusting my breasts before he walked away - a giddy grin on his face.

I knew by the amount of liquor, wine and craft beer, that they were expecting quite a few people. All the TouchNodes, Trysts, Spectacles, Gales, Guzzles, and the other staff members of MPD were out tonight - in full force, wearing couture lingerie, leaving nothing to the imagination. Senator Barnes was like his house: big, boisterous and full of bullshit.

He towered at a staggering 6′6", but he was thin, too thin, with a receding hairline and lips too large for his face. His constituents loved him, for he was kind, well mannered and highly intelligent. Despite his obvious... flaws, he genuinely cared about those in his community and did much to effect change.

All that fanfare, pomp and circumstance came to a screeching halt when the party was in full swing. Barnes came out of nowhere. I was sandwiched between two freshly minted entrepreneurs who had a taste for deviance, though their fingers and mouths clumsy and uneducated. Passive and uninterested, I stood still with my hands loosely hanging at my sides.

The ridiculously tall man crawled towards me on his hands and knees, unashamed. Mildly amused I watched him, lifting my idle gaze to catch the fleeting emotions dance across Carter's face. Barnes sidled up to me, pushed away the hands of one of the entrepreneurs and stuffed his thick lips into my folds. He quickly found my clit and latched onto it, sucking deeply and gently scraping his teeth across it.

As Carter stared, I rocked my core against Barnes' open mouth and ground against his searching tongue. Immediately, he began to suck harder while he latched his big hands around my thighs tight enough to bruise.

I couldn't tell you how long that man was on his knees in front of me, but he failed and out of the fourteen that followed his example that night - none succeeded. From that night on, men and women alike came after me - each wanting a taste of the TouchNode who wouldn't come.

"Why are you getting so worked up, D?" I muttered to myself as I pulled my blanket over my body and mentally begged myself to relax, "that man has forgotten about you."

But the next night... I ate my own words.