Rhea lost her family when her father remarried another woman. Since then, she had to bear the insult from her stepmother and her half-sister. So she left the house with her biological mother who had to be hospitalized. To support the livelihood, she had to work at a nightclub. One day, she had a guest who asked for a private meeting with her. That guest was exactly the same person she shared one night with. He asked her to act as his girlfriend at a blind date, where she bumped into her stepmother and half-sister again...
The bed collapsed with a loud bang.
Just a second ago, I was trying to cooperate with my partner's rhythm. And now, both of us were stunned.
"What the f*ck, am I that awesome I could break the bed?"
He gasped as he spoke.
Seeing his confused look, I couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"I told you to get a better hotel. You didn't listen to me. We pay less than eight dollars for two hours in this room. How could the bed be good enough, you think?"
"Holy crap, are you okay?"
He hauled himself from my body with a grimace. After he got on his feet, he pulled me up with him.
Although we were already there just now, when I saw his naked figure, my face blushed hot instantly.
"Oh, Handsome, why don't we just forget about it?"
I tugged at the towel nearby and wrapped it around my body, smiling at him, about to pick up the clothes I had thrown on the floor.
But before I bent down, he hugged me from behind.
"Don't. This kind of matter can't be left half-done."
His tone was too alluring, and his hot breath was right in my ear, which made me involuntarily shudder.
"But the bed's already broken..."
"An armchair's enough."
His voice seemed to carry magic with it, which deprived my ability to think.
In the next two hours or so, we finished my long journey of transforming from a girl to a woman on the only piece of intact furniture in this room.
"What's your name, sweetheart? You're so young. Are you a student?"
When I washed up and came out of the bathroom, he asked me, puffing on a cigarette.
In this shabby and messy small room, he was sitting there like a male model posing on a magazine cover with a face and a body of the best kinds.
I thinned my lips, feeling a little panicked.
"Yeah, I'm a student."
"I guess you're hungry. I'm going to wash up and then take you to dinner. I'll be right back."
Without saying anything else, he put out his cigarette and strode on his long legs into the simple, tiny bathroom.
The sound of his shower was loud and clear. I put on my jacket - the last piece of my outfit, and glanced at my cell phone.
It was almost 10 o'clock at night. I shouldn't eat now.
Moreover, I wasn't going to have any other attachment with this man who I had just given him my first time.
I quietly pushed the door open and left the room, which was still filled with the smell of pleasure.
When I walked to the reception, I gave the manager fifty dollars. We broke the bed in the room, though.
Walking into the urban night again, I took a deep breath of the cold air outside. It suddenly came to my mind that I might be crazy.
I had just met that man in the subway this evening. It was just a few looks exchanged and I felt I was bewitched.
It had nothing to do with money and love. The moment I lost myself in his deepset eyes, I had only one thought left in my bewildered mind. I had to sleep with him!
Probably because both of us were in a hurry, we got out of the subway station and went straight to the nearest hotel.
This kind of simple and fast sex without attachment made me feel both stimulated and relieved.
Those shark loans, those hospital bills, and the faces of the enemies seemed to have disappeared from my mind during those two hours.
This was the first time and also the last time I slept in a hotel with a stranger.
I had asked for leave tonight, so I didn't need to go to work.
I went back to the small apartment I rented, took a thorough bath, and then went to bed.
I had slept until the afternoon of the next day.
No matter how much I loved the warmth of my bed, I needed to get up and go to work.
The man I slept with yesterday was just a fantasy of mine, then.
I was working at the only bar in the old town.
And what I had to do was to make the guests, who had worked hard for the whole day, happy.
When the neon lights were switched on, I put on a silver wig and a heavy makeup, donning myself into a red miniskirt.
Although there was no future for dancing in a bar, this job had helped me and my mother survive for years.
The familiar opening dance music boomed, and the familiar spotlight shone on me. On this small stage, at this moment, I became the goddess in the men's hearts.
Cheers and whistles started to clamor from now.
I didn't know why, but I always felt a little weird tonight.
It seemed someone had been staring at me all the time like a wild beast fixing eyes at its prey.
Finally, the music was over. I made a thank-you bow and rushed to the backstage.
But Singh, the bar owner, stopped me midway. I couldn't even enter the dressing room.
"Rhea, you have a guest today. He said that he would love to have you sit with him for a while."
Singh's face wasn't good, and he looked embarrassed when he told me this request.
After working here for so long, I knew who Singh was. If he could help me, he would never bring such a request to me.
"Well, okay."
I didn't refuse. I thought I couldn't refuse, anyway. I then followed Singh back into the venue without any bit of hesitation.
After spending so many years working at evening shows, I had equipped myself with basic self-defense.
I had no problem with drinking and games.
But when I walked into the private space and saw the man sitting on the long sofa, I was dumbstruck.
"Come on."
Singh patted me on the shoulder and left.
I stood two steps away from the man on the sofa, and he was looking at me with his harmless eyes.
"Come and sit down."
Why? Why did he come here? Was it a coincidence or did he come to find me on purpose?
I blinked my eyes with long eyelashes, standing still.
"Come here, I can't eat you." He said and patted the seat next to him.
I let out a tiny gasp and reluctantly walked over.
On the stage, two singers were performing a duet song.
But when I sat next to him, all the noise around me was muffled.
"You said you were a student. You made me search all the universities around. I even came to search in some high schools."
As he spoke, he picked up an orange from the fruit plate.
Gently, his slender, neatly manicured fingers peeled the orange.
After he peeled off the skin, he handed it to me.
"Why are you looking for me?"
I didn't receive the orange, looking up pensively at the man who had been skin-to-skin with me just last night.
When I met him in the subway yesterday, he had worn a casual outfit with a down jacket.
But today, he was wearing a dark grey cashmere coat which looked really valuable.
Under the coat, he wore a black turtleneck sweater, whose high neck defined his beautiful, chiseled jawline further.
"I'm looking for you to make you take your responsibility. You ran away after sleeping with me. It's immoral, don't you think?"
He took back the orange, peeled a pulp and put it into his mouth.
I must have heard it right. He actually wanted me to be responsible for him. Even if I was inexperienced, I could tell he was an expert. It was already good that I didn't ask him to bear his responsibility. He was deliberately making trouble for me, wasn't he?!