Friday, August 25, 2017

Right Where I Want to Be Chapter 9


It's a quiet plea, simple yet monumental. So is my answer. “No.”


He takes my shoulders, straightening me on his lap. “Bella-”

“I'm not having this conversation naked.” I maneuver off of him and grab my clothes, exiting the car altogether. I dress myself in the parking lot, ignoring the bite of the early morning air. There’s not a soul around at this time of night.

When he steps out the door I left open, he's collected himself and now he looks like it's casual Friday at the office instead of having just fucked a stripper in the backseat of his car. “Please, come sit with me in the front seat.”

I comply, mostly because I know we need to talk, but also because I don't relish the idea of walking home. I may be stubborn, but I can be reasonable if he can. Edward turns the heat up and stares straight ahead without speaking.

“Go ahead, tell me how I'm ruining my life, and you're going to save me from a life of selling my body to strangers.” I cross my arms over each other and tap my fingers.

He looks over at me, and I imagine his eyes are blazing, but I can't quite see them in the dark. “And tell me, how is it instead, Bella?”

“I love my job. I love to dance, and I live for the moment when the audience freaks out as I appear in the spotlight. I'm a sexual being, Edward, and it thrills me and satisfies me to simulate it nightly.” I reach for my purse where I left it on the floor, and pull out the roll of cash from the previous night. “And I make way more money than most women my age. I drive a nice car and live in a nice apartment.” I drop the money on the console between us. “I spend plenty of time in the gym, and practicing martial arts. Nobody takes advantage of me.”

“Aren't you lonely?” he whispers.

I turn to him now, searching his expression until I realize he's the lonely one. “Are you confined to your ivory tower, Edward? Are you working so hard to be rich that you've forgotten to have friends, a family?”

Edward abruptly breaks the connection between us, putting the car in reverse and leaving the parking lot. I don't say anything else until we're back in the lot at the club. He stares straight ahead, stoic and cold in his demeanor. Unfastening my seatbelt, I lean over until my mouth is at his ear.

“Thanks for the fuck.”


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