The grave decision

Ophelia's POV 

"I'm sorry I didn't inform you before I left the club, don't get angry at me, Ava. It was an emergency and I needed to see the doctor as fast as I could," I spoke into the phone with a sheepish grin twisting my lips upward.

Just like I had expected, Ava was quite pissed at me because I didn't wake her up to tell her that I was leaving the club before her, she was such a baby at times. I thought to myself even though I knew I couldn't say it aloud to her face.

"Okay, I'm not mad anymore. So, how is your dad feeling now? Is he getting better? What was the emergency you were called for?" Ava questioned me, and I sucked in my breath through my teeth to repress the resurgence of panic inside me.

I had almost forgotten about the fact that I needed to get three million dollars in a week. I had transferred everything in my bank account to the hospital for the treatment to commence on my dad and I only had about fifty cents left in my account balance.

I had no idea how I was going to start conveying myself to college and the strip club.

I could manage to miss classes sometimes because luckily for me, Ava and I were in the same department and year and I knew Ava was always attentive and present for every class, so she'd explain everything to me before our tests and exams began.

"I'll explain everything to you later when I get back from the hospital and everything is fine, you don't have to worry," I managed to utter with a surprisingly steady voice even though my throat currently felt clogged with tears.

"Oh, okay. Are you sure everything is fine though? You sound weird. Anyway, I'll head over to sex in a bottle after I'm done with classes, don't forget to take care of yourself, I love you," She responded.

"Love you too," I croaked, and the line went dead on the other end.

Afterward, I stared mindlessly at my phone for a while before I yanked myself out of my reverie and slipped the device back into my bag.

As I took a left turn towards the narrow alley that led home, a graphic poster that was pasted on the wall caught my attention and caused me to halt in my steps.

I trekked up to the wall to get a closer view of the lewd picture of a sexy woman who was naked save for the thong and a tiny rope which I deduced was meant to be a bra but it didn't do anything to cover her as I could see her large boobs and nipples.

I averted my gaze from her picture and inwardly read the message printed next to her. I gasped in shock as my hands flew to my mouth when I finished scanning through the sentences.

"Sell your virginity, what the fuck is that?" I huffed to myself as I read through the words again 

On the paper, it was written that there was a strip club somewhere and they were having a strange auction where some retarded, wealthy men would buy the virginity and an opportunity to have their ways with virgins for a price of two million dollars.

It was quite sickening to think about the fact that they were some people who had enough money to waste on unreasonable stuff like that while I was broke with just my bottle girl uniform, some of my worn-out clothes, and college textbooks left to my name.

Life was unfair.

I shook my head and made to trek away from the poster when a horrible idea suddenly struck me like a flash of a lightning bolt.

"No, Lia. Get a fucking grip and banish that idea this instant," I yelled as I smacked myself by my temples.

There was no way that lewd thought just crossed my mind. 

But then again, the offer seemed mouth-watering. A voice in my head spoke to me and I walked back to the poster again and gazed tentatively at it.

I wasn't going to lose anything if I sold my virginity, right?

It was just my virginity, the mere dignity of my womanhood. It wasn't as if I was going to sell myself forever to them. In just one night, I would be done with it and I'd get two million bucks deposited in my account for just spreading my legs open for a perverted old man.

I may even get lucky and escape untouched by my buyer. I'd just have to make up a sob story for them and they'll be touched and saddened by the cruelty of the universe towards me, so they'll take pity on me and give me the money without doing anything to me.

I could leave with my virginity still intact and the money in my account. I negotiated within myself as an accomplished smile bestowed my features.

Fuck, I was just too smart. I praised myself as I grinned from ear to ear and typed the number that was displayed on the poster into my phone.

Then, I placed a call to them and waited silently in the dark alley for a response. Just as I was about to hang up and place another call to them, a groggy male voice resounded into my ears.

"Hello, this is the virginity club, how may we help you?" He asked, to which I gulped in a mixture of nervousness and shame.

"I-I called to enquire about the auction," I stuttered, clasping my phone tighter against my ear.

"Oh, you called just in time. We were about to put an end to it this afternoon," The man responded and I heaved a deep breath, while internally thanking my stars.

"So, what next?" I whispered.

"I'll send the address to your line right now, come over as soon as possible. The auction is happening this evening and there are a lot of preparations to do," The man elaborated, to which I nodded and squeezed my eyes shut.

"Okay, I'll be on my way now, thanks," I muttered.

"By the way, what is your name?" 

"Ophelia Alvarez," 

"Alright, we will be expecting you," The man concluded and just before I could respond, he hung up.

Fuck, what was I getting myself into? Was the auction even legal? I thought to myself as I rooted my gaze on my phone, waiting silently for the message.

Soon enough, my phone beeped with a message and I quickly memorized the address before I trekked to the bus stop and got into a cab.

I had no time to waste.