Beyond The Smoke

Chpt. 8 Sell Yourslef

The air was crips and cool as I treaded through the city to the place I was supposed to meet this man I was told to call Zed. Odd name, odd person. I had a gut feeling this was a bad decision, but I was desperate, and this was my only option.

The few streetlights above my head illuminated the area, my only way to see. It had already gotten dark, of course. The main club was quite the way away from my apartment, and the further I went, the more crowded and lively the city became. The main club was a place I had never been in, only delivered, so I was clueless. I was not asked to enter the bar, but to talk to the bouncer. All I would have to do was say the word 'Zed' and I would be shown to him. When I had finally made it to the enormous club, I wasn't surprised the music could practically be heard a block away, and the lights could blind you from outside the place. Needless to mention, it was incredibly packed. Jogging up to the bouncer, I got his attention immediately.

"And you are?" He said, voice deep and rough enough for me to hear over the loud music from within the building.

"Here to see Zed." A look of realization crossed his features and he had me follow him behind the building. I was high on guard, constantly on edge. This whole situation was weird, but as I've said, no options left. Once we turned the corner of the enormous building, a long trail of smoke came into view. My eyes followed along it until I found the source, a tall, built man leant against the wall.

"Zed, the guy's here." His attention turned to me, cold brown eyes studying me. He had shaggy black hair, maybe late twenties, and a smirk etched into his features. The smirk itself gave him a cocky demeanor, but the cold, steely stare he had contrasted with it, throwing it off and made him intimidating.

"Oh, so you decided to come, did you?" He chuckled. "As you know, call me Zed. Now, to discuss the offer I had in mind."

"And that is?" I was beginning to get impatient, he was dragging.

"Aren't you sassy." I narrowed my eyes dangerously, glaring at him. "Calm the f.uck down. No need to go all piss bi.tch on me. As I was saying, the offer. Your brother's surgery was real pricey, no?"

"So you've heard."

"I have. Now, I will pay it. Every penny..." He trailed off. "But that wouldn't be free. So, as you may guess, you would be working for me." I was skeptical about this decision.

"And this job would be...?"

"Prostitution of course." He responded, calm, casual and collected. Then there's me, shocked and confused.

"P-prostitution? Are you kidding?!" This was absurd.

"I sh.it you not." He took a drag off the cigar, exhaling the polluted air before putting it out with his foot. "It ain't that bad once you get used to it. But- there are certain clients who are...interesting...I don't doubt you can handle it. The price payed, your a.ss saved, and you get sex. Not only, but you do well and you could get a bonus. That seems like a great deal to me. So what's it gonna be, pretty boy?"

I thought for a minute. Do I seriously want to sell my body daily to pay this off? The thought alone seemed so dirty, so immoral. I did a run through of any possible alternate options, which didn't take long since there were none. I have no other choice.

"Deal." I said in the most confident voice I could muster, holding out my hand for him to shake, which he did.

"Good choice. I knew you were smart. Come now, I'll give you a little tour of the club, introduce you to some people and answer any questions from there." He gestured for me to follow him into the large, crowded, rowdy building. I trailed a good foot behind him as he pushed through the sea of people. Observing my surroundings, there was the bar far out at the right and the dance floor was what I believe we were walking through. We finally made it to a section with a few unoccupied booths, and took a seat in one. The booth was circular with one opening for you to walk through, and the center was a metal table held low by its legs. A waitress dressed in an extremely revealing attire approached us.