“You SOLD me?” Emma said, her voice filled with disgust.
“He paid $50,000 for you. What can I do. You’re bought and paid for,” Jane said, who was Emma’s stepmother.
“I’m not getting married,”
“Oh, yes you are! He already paid us! After you graduate from college, you’re going to get married. I finally found a man that has agreed.”
Jane picked up a photo of an older man. Bald, fat, ugly. He was at least over 50 years old. Emma was just twenty-one.
Emma’s anger bubbled over. “I have a boyfriend! I’m not yours to sell! You couldn’t have sold Anna to this old man?”
Before Emma took a breath, Jane slapped her hard across the face.
“You stupid bitch! He already paid for you! And the money is already gone! You’re gonna marry him or I’ll have to sell the house!”
“You should feel lucky that someone thinks you’re even worth anything,” Anna teased.
“You’re not going to sell the house, and I’m not going to marry that man! I’ll pay that money back on my own!” Without any of her things, Emma stomped out the house and back into the rain.
Jane was an evil bitch, but this was an all-time low.
Emma had been sold. She wanted to cry and scream at the same time. Her tears mixed with the rain, and after a while she couldn’t tell the difference.
Matt, she thought. I need to see him.
Being around him always made things better. Matt had a way making the bad feelings melt away. He was the one she was supposed to marry after graduating. Not some perverted old man. He came from a wealthy family. Maybe they could help her with this.
She stormed out and walked towards Matt’s dorm. The rain suddenly stopped. In fact, she wouldn’t go home if it wasn’t pouring this afternoon.
The last thing Emma wanted to do was go home. It wasn’t a home. At least not to her. She’d lost her mother when she was young, and her father has been in varying degrees of drunkenness ever since. In one of his more sober moments, he got remarried. Jane was nice at first. She came with her own daughter, Anna. And the expansion of the family seemed to do some good for her father. For a while anyway. Soon enough, he was back to his old ways. He’d be drunk from 9:00am. He never hurt them or anything. Jane took care of that. She was evil incarnate.
Emma had become a servant in her home. Her father lived in a perpetual drunken stupor. Emma wasn’t sure he was even in there anymore. Jane took advantage of this and forced Emma to do everything. Jane and Anna never lifted a finger. Unless of course it was against Emma.
The sight of her home was bittersweet. While it held the precious memories of her childhood, it also held the deep trauma of the abuse Jane subjected her to. The cold rain soaked her down to her soul.
“Just a quick in and out,” Emma reassured herself this afternoon before getting into the house. She went around to the back door, and prayed for it to be unlocked.
As she closed in, familiar sounds assaulted her.
“You good-for-nothing sack of shit! Why don’t you just die already? You aren’t worth anything to me alive!” Jane’s venomous screams rattled the house.
This home was once such a happy place. That joy existed only in Emma’s memory now. The house was dark and desolate. Jane’s screams and the droning of the TV drowned out the noises of Emma sneaking around. Or so she thought.
Just as she reached her room, arms flew around her waist.
“Emma! Sneaking around here in the dark! What do you think you’re doing?” Anna squealed as her arms tightened around Emma’s body.
Emma’s body stiffened. This is the last thing she wanted.
Jane was evil, but Anna wasn’t any better. She often piggybacked off of Jane’s cruelty. Anna thrived off of it. “Mom! Look who’s trying to avoid us!”
Jane marched out of the living room, and her eyes narrowed at Emma.
“What the hell do you want?” she screeched. Anna let go and giggled with malicious glee.
“I need some of my things,” Emma sighed.
“All you and that deadbeat father of yours do is take, take, take! Neither of you contribute anything to this family! I’ve kept us afloat for these last ten years! And you! You’ve been such a horrible pain in the ass!”
“I work three part time jobs while going to school full time! I pay you $500 a month! I clean this house every weekend! What more do you want from me?” Emma countered.
“Prices go up. Aren’t you supposed to be educated? Your father put us in so much debt! I can’t afford anything anymore!”
Emma was tired of this argument. She was cold and wet. She just wanted to leave.
“I don’t have the energy to do this with you. I’m just going to get my stuff and leave —”
Her thought was interrupted by the sudden rain again. She had to ran through the storm, and with water sloshing everywhere, she made it to Matt’s dorm eventually. Emma knocked on the door, and waited. The door opened and she hoped to see her salvation on the other side.
“Matt! I—” she stopped short when Matt’s roommate was there instead. “Oh, I’m sorry to bother you.”
“Emma, you’re soaked. Are you all right?”
“Yeah, sorry. Is Matt around? I need to see him.”
“He’s…” his roommate said. His hand scratched the back of his head, and he looked down. “He’s… he’s not here. He ran out a little bit ago. Said he was busy with… something.”
Emma felt bad. Matt was under a lot of pressure from his family, and was usually busy to ensure he met their standards. She should have known better than to show up unannounced like that.
“Oh. That’s okay. I understand. Thanks. I’ll try him later,” she smiled and turned to leave.
“Emma?”
“Yes?” Emma turned back and saw Matt’s roommate reaching towards her with a sad look on his face. He seemed to battle with something, but shook his head as though he’s changed his mind.
“It’s nothing. Be careful out there, yeah?” He offered a smile and then closed the door.
Emma trudged back to her dorm, heavy with water, sadness and regret. *Naked laundry it is,* she joked to herself. After what seemed like the longest day of her life, she finally got back to her dorm hall. As she got closer to her room, she thought she heard her name.
“What else could happen today?” she whispered to herself. As she got closer, the voices became clear.
“Come on, Matt,” a sickeningly sweet voice simpered. “You’re going have to choose between us eventually. Tell me, baby. Which one of us is it? Who do you really love?”
Emma froze. No. I must be hearing things. She peeked around the corner and the last bit of hope in her life fizzled away. Matt was in the doorway of her room, with his hands all over her roommate Vivian. Vivian looked up at him and ran her fingers through his hair. Their clothes were disheveled. It didn’t take much imagination to figure what they’d been up to. “It’s me or her, Matt,” Vivian cooed as she traced circles on Matt’s chest. “It’s me or Emma.” “It’s you, Viv,” Matt answered. “You’re the one I want to be with.” Emma’s heart shattered and dripped into the hallway along with the rain water she was soaked in. She choked back a sob, but the sound escaped. Vivian’s head snapped in the direction of the noise. She had the decency to look shocked for a bit, but then she giggled. “It seems we have an audience. Who’s there? Maybe we’ll give you a show.” A cascade of emotions bombarded Emma. Betrayal, anger, sadness, denial. More than anything, she wanted to run as far as she could
Vivian shot up and slapped Emma across the face.“A devil slut? You’re just jealous that Matt would rather be with someone like me!”“And you’re just a horrible bitch that can’t get a man of your own. What is this, like the fourth boyfriend you’ve stolen? Get a fucking life!” Vivian looked almost hurt. She lashed out and pulled Emma’s hair. She’d had enough. The anger that she had buried all day wouldn’t be suppressed any longer. Emboldened by the drink, she launched back at Vivian and they blew up into an all-out cat fight. They scratched, slapped, and pulled at each other. Emma was having an out of body experience. She wanted Vivian to hurt the way she was hurting. She went in for another slap, but Matt jumped in between them.“Stop!” he called out. “Just stop!”The girls backed away from each other. Fury still boiled in Emma’s blood. She wanted to yanked that wench’s hair out strand by strand. But her wrath for Matt was on another level. At the end of the day, this was his doing.
The stranger looked her and raised an eyebrow. Emma figured he thought she was a sex worker. And that factored into her plan. Maybe this rich man could provide her the money she needed. At least he’s hot, she thought. If she was going to be sold, it may as well be under her own terms.“Okay. I see where this is going. Fine.” He didn’t speak after that. Emma reveled in the warmth inside the car, but also cringed at the mess she was making in it. The dirty rain water would stain the glossy leather seats. But he didn’t seem to notice.They pulled up to a fancy five-star hotel. The lobby was glamorous. Her wet shoes sloshed on the polished marble floors. Mirrored ceilings assaulted her with own reflection. Emma realized her suspicion was right. He thought she was a sex worker, and there were expectations with that. She followed him to the front desk. A classy worker at the desk greeted him with familiar enthusiasm.“Good evening, Mr. Stewart. Housekeeping has been to your room. You’ll
Emma longed to submit herself to the throes of passion, to let this man erase the memories of the worst day of her life. “I’m not Grace,” she whispered with what little power she had left. The spell was broken. Something inside him shattered as he pushed himself off this imposter. This common whore. Not his Grace.“No. You aren’t.” Emma thought he would be angry, but she was surprised to see a tragic sadness in his eyes. He was in pain. Just as she was. “But I can be her. I can be Grace for you, if that’s what you’d like,” Emma said. She tried not to feel any sympathy for him. This is a business deal, she thought. Just a business deal. Will scoffed and sat up, trying to put as much distance between them without getting off the bed. How could he mistake this hooker for his Grace? Now that she was cleaned up, it was clear she was beautiful. And under other circumstances, he’d had every intention of finishing what they started. But not like this.“Of course, you could. I’m sure you’
Will’s eyes went wide. His eyebrows shot into his hairline. They stared at each other for a few seconds. Emma knew exactly that it was a steep price for just one night. But she had no choice.“Why not? This night has been strange enough,” Will said. He got up from the bed, still very naked. He laughed as Emma looked away.Emma felt her face flush. Rough fingers gripped her chin, and Will pulled her face so that she was looking up at him. The danger is his eyes was back. A violent storm raged in them, and Emma found herself wishing she’d been caught in that storm rather than the one she ran through yesterday. “So, Emma,” he inched closer to her face. “Did you enjoy yourself last night?” he smirked, hot breath hitting her ear.Emma wanted to slap the smug smile off of his face.“I don’t understand why that matters,” she managed to whisper. As much as she hated it, her body responded to his in a way she couldn’t control. “Did you enjoy yourself last night?” He ignored her question.“Y.
“What could possibly be taking them so long?” Will asked. He paced back and forth in the salon. Jason had picked a striking Yves Saint Laurent suit. This is why Will came here. Jason was the absolute best stylist in the city, and he was discreet. He supposed he’s presented him with quite a task this time. Emma wasn’t ugly, he’d seen all of her last night. But she wasn’t his usual type at all. She didn’t stand out. *Probably because she doesn’t want to,* Will laughed to himself.“Ahem!” Jason announced with fanfare. “I present the Lady Emma Skye Wells!” He pulled back the curtain and revealed the new and approved Emma. Will stood up at the sight of her. Her once matted, disheveled hair was swept into a sophisticated low bun. Her ruined clothes were replaced with a chic skirt suit. The skirt hugged her curves. The emerald hue against the olive tones of her skin made her glow. Will was enchanted her with her. “She is dressed in an exquisite viridian Givenchy skirt suit that has been
Emma walked until she couldn’t see the hotel anymore. What had she done? The last 24 hours had been the most bizarre of her life. She slept with a man for money. How could she do something like that?“You’ve got to get over this,” she said to herself. “You’ve got to move on.”A reflection from a store window caught her attention. It was a beautiful, elegant woman dressed in luxury brand clothes. But she carried an old bag stuffed with old clothes. Emma decided she had to change out of those clothes. That elegant woman was someone else. Someone she didn’t want to be. She ran into a store and into their restroom. Emma ripped the clothes from her body. They were another reminder of what she’d done and she just wanted this day to go away. Jason had done her a favor and had her clothes washed. After she changed, Emma washed the makeup off and removed her jewelry. She released her hair from the tight bun, and threw it up in a messy ponytail. “There,” she said as she smiled at her reflecti
Matt and Vivian were viciously making out.“Of course, they’re here right now,” Sabrina said with disgust.“Come on, guys. Let’s get out of here,” Emma turned to leave, but Jess and Sabrina stopped her. “Excuse me,” Jess called. “You are in my booth. Get the fuck out. Unless you want to continue to give us a live show.”Matt and Vivian stopped and tried to gather themselves.“Excuse me,” Vivian mocked. “This is a private moment.”“Not in my reserved VIP booth, it’s not.”Their argument was started to gain the attention of the people around them. Emma wanted to hide, but Jess and Sabrina had no plans of backing down.“Get your cheating ass out of our booth,” Sabrina threatened. “We were here first,” Vivian taunted.“Oh, I’m sorry. Were you busy?” Sabrina ridiculed her. “Busy getting it on with my girl’s sloppy ass seconds? What does he taste like?”“Probably like last week’s nasty leftovers,” Jess answered. “Everyone knows Vivian is only interested in everyone’s trash. She’s not good