My Professor Owns My Nights

Mia's POV

"There is nothing wrong with what you are doing," Lila said, pacing back and forth across the small room like she was the one with a decision to make. 

"You just have to sleep with someone you do not know to save your mother. One night, Mia. That is all." She added.

I sat on the edge of my bed, watching her pace, and said nothing because honestly, what was there to say? She made it sound so simple, like picking up an extra shift at the restaurant or selling an old textbook.

"He is a stranger," she continued, stopping to look at me.

 "You will probably never see him again after tonight. One night and it is done. Your mother's bill gets paid and you are free."

"You make it sound easy," I finally said.

"Because it is." She shrugged, sitting beside me. "People do harder things every day just to survive. This is survival, Mia. Nothing more."

I did not respond. I just looked at my hands in my lap and let the silence say what I couldn't.

She was not wrong about the survival part. I had been surviving for so long that I barely remembered what living felt like. My mother, Sarah Calloway, had been sick for over a year now and the bills had been piling up long before that. 

Between my tuition, rent for this dorm, and the hospital payments, my waitressing job barely scratched the surface. I was working four shifts a week, coming home with aching feet and barely enough to cover a quarter of what we owed.

My father had not been in the picture since I was young. He left and never looked back, so it had always been just me and my mom. She worked herself into the ground for years just to give me a shot at university and now she was the one lying in a hospital bed while I ran in circles trying to figure out how to keep her alive.

The doctors needed the next payment by the end of the week or they would halt her treatment entirely.

The end of the week was not far off, I had three days.

Lila left around ten, squeezing my shoulder on her way out and telling me to think about it. Like I could think about anything else.

I lay on my back staring at the ceiling for a long time, running the numbers again in my head even though I already knew how they came out. 

Somewhere around midnight, I stopped fighting it.

I sat up, swung my legs off the bed, and opened the drawer where I had shoved the card Lila left me with the club's address on it.

I was going.

Getting dressed took longer than it should have because nothing about this was what I was used to doing. Lila had brought the outfit over earlier, leaving it folded on my chair.

It was barely a dress, more like something that suggested the idea of one. The fabric was dark, thin, with a net panel running along the side that left strips of my skin visible. It stopped high on my thighs and fit to my skin that it'll take a closer look to notice I was wearing a dress.

I stood in front of the mirror for a full minute before I made myself stop looking.

I was reaching for my shoes when the knock came.

We both froze.

Lila pressed a finger to her lips and crossed to the door, cracking it open just enough to see out. I stepped back and held my breath.

"Is everything alright in there?" It was Mr. Collins, the dorm warden. His voice was flat and suspicious the way it always was after midnight.

"Yes sir," Lila said, her voice soft and calm. That was Lila for you, she was the best at pretending when the situation arises.

"Mia is just having menstrual cramps. She was moving around trying to get comfortable. Sorry if we disturbed you." She added.

Then there was a pause from him

"Alright. Lights out soon." He said.

"Yes sir. Goodnight." Lila responded and I soon heard his boots sounding across the hallway. He left.

Lila closed the door gently and turned to me, exhaling. I pressed my hand to my chest and let out a slow breath.

We did not say anything. We just moved through the window immediately.

The fence at the back of the compound was old and low enough in one corner that you could get over it if you were careful. Lila had found it weeks ago for completely unrelated reasons and I had never been more grateful for her reckless curiosity than I was right now.

She went first, then helped me over. My heel caught for a second and I grabbed her arm, steadying myself, and then we were on the other side and walking fast through the quiet street.

She walked me all the way to the front of the building, which looked nothing like what I had expected. No sign, no neon lights. Just a dark entrance with two men standing at the door and a line of people who all looked like they knew exactly where they were going.

Unlike me.

"You have got this," Lila said quietly, squeezing my hand before stepping back. 

"Call me if anything feels wrong."

Then she was gone and I was standing alone in front of two men who were already looking at me with those lustful eyes.

The taller one stepped forward. "Members and invited guests only."

"I was invited," I said, and was surprised at how steady my voice came out.

He looked me over once, and I felt every second of it. Then he glanced at the other man, something passing between them, and stepped aside without another word.

I walked in.

The inside was dim and I could see people making out openly, about three strippers were dancing on the stage, the music low enough that you could still hear conversation. My hands were shaking so bad and the hills I were were making my legs shake hard too.

I had barely taken ten steps when a voice came from directly behind me.

"Mia?"

I stopped.

"What are you doing here?"

I recognized the voice before I even turned around and that was exactly what made my blood run cold.