The Strings That Attach

Chapter Three

(Content warning: Sexual assault and light stalking)

I sigh as I start to walk down the street to my job. Walking around the city at night is very dangerous, especially dressed as I am. I cover myself with the small amount of material we have. I have a long skirt over my shorts to cover my legs and a tiny sweater draped over my shoulders to cover my revealing top. The rain is battering against the top of my head, and a simple red hat has covered me. It covers enough of my hair and makeup not to have it ruined.

I slip inside the bar from the back since I cannot be seen on the floor without my uniform. I walk over to the small shelf they gave me to set up my stuff. I set down my satchel and strip down to the slutty uniform they have me wear. I fluff out my hair to make it look as good as when I left. I look into the small mirror we keep back here and sigh. I sigh a lot. No matter how fake it is, I smile and slide out on the floor.

"Hey Ash, where am I tonight," I ask my all-time best friend, Asteodia, or Ash for short. She is the prettiest fae I know as she is very tall and thin with beautiful pale skin. Think the exact opposite of me. Ash also has pin-straight pastel green hair down to her hips. She puts it up for work in a beautiful braid that makes cute heart shapes on the side of her head. Ash makes the best tips from us all from how stunning she is and usually lets me take a couple of hers if I have a rough night. Ash's day job is as a florist on the main merchant street. She uses simple earth magic to make the most beautiful bouquets that sell quickly.

"You're handling those five tables in the corner; I'm taking these five in the center, and I made sure to put Jaxson in that corner. " She points to four pathetic tables with two people sitting at one. I smirk at her, knowing she did that for me. Because of my uniqueness, I get plenty of tips, but nothing like what I would make if I were pale, skinny, and tall.

I shake those thoughts out of my head and wipe the pathetic smile back on my face. "Here we fucking go," I mutter and walk over to my section, which is already full. People are drunk, so I must be careful with who I pass. I walk to the closet table and start to chat.

"Hi boys, how are we doing tonight?" I smile seductively at them.

"Well, aren't you a pretty sight," one of the men says as he leans closer to me. "I'm doing alright now that you're my server; the last old hag to serve us was nowhere near as pretty as you," ick. I gag in my mouth but smile at him and curl my hair slightly. The other men started paying good attention to me, too. Girls have to do what she has to do to make those tips.

"How sweet. Can I get any of you guys anything to drink?" I ask them, trying to keep the bitterness out of my voice. They all give me an order, and I put it into the bartender. I do the same with the other tables, giving me different leud marks. Like, can anyone even be original anymore? It's always "Those curves would look good on top of me" or "Show me what your mouth can do," but I flirt back to get good money.

I made six coppers, and one of the men even gave me silver. I sigh, thanking the goddesses for a good night. By now, it's one a.m., which means there is an hour left until we close and two until I can go home.

The bell rings, and the door opens while I grab the drinks for a table. The table is unbearably drunk and obnoxious, so I try to set their drinks down and leave the table quickly. However, as I set the last drink down, a man whistles and grabs me by the hips. He then tries to pull me close to his hips as I gasp in surprise. I quickly tried to pull away, but he firmly grasped me.

My breaths come quicker, and I start panicking. "Relax," the man whispers in my ear. Relaxing is the last thing I can do at the moment. He starts grinding on me, and I shiver, still trying to get away. Suddenly, I hear a loud whistle, and the man who came in just seconds ago is sitting down, trying to call me over.

I slump slightly in relief. " Sir, I have to go help another customer," I tell him, prying his hands off my body. Thank you, goddess. He scoffs and pushes me away from him. I'd rather him do that than him doing whatever he was doing.

I quickly ran over to the other table, relieved of the interruption. As I took my final steps, I noticed something about the man. He was the same man I had encountered on the street and again in the shop. I gasped slightly as I went on edge.

"Are you following me?" I spit at him because it is not expected to run into someone so often in such a busy neighborhood.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," he says helpfully.

"Look, if this is over the doll, I was going to go back and pay for it after my shift. I just needed to make more money," I scoff because I had just admitted to stealing the doll.

"No, actually, I just paid for the doll and even asked for you not to be banned. No one steals a five-copper doll if it's not a good reason," He speaks so comforting that I relax a little. However, the backhanded poor comment hurt a little.

"So why are you following me?" I nervously start playing with the string attached to my finger.

"I never said I was following you," he says calmly, as if I were a child.

"So why do you keep showing up in the same places as me?" I say dryly because I don't take fondly of people treating me like a child.

He chuckles, "Would you believe pure coincidence?"

"No, now tell me what you need before I get the big guy in the back to kick you out." There is no big guy in the back, but it usually works.

He laughs harder, "does that usually work?"

The side of my lip quirks a little as I let my guard down some more. "You'd be surprised."

"Your smile is beautiful," he tells me, and I forget all about my interactions with the other men.

"So, can I get you anything? We're about thirty minutes away from closing." I smile at him, but I realize it is genuine.

"Nothing tonight just came to scope out the spot." Well, now I really think he's following me.

"Definitely not stalking me," and then he smirks. SMIRKS. Why does that smirk give me butterflies?

"Here is something for your troubles; goodnight, Melia." He reaches for my hand and flips it so its palm is open. He then inserts what feels like three coppers into my hand, but I can't stop staring at him.

"How did you know my name?" I look at him, dazed.

"Goodnight, Melia," he said, walking out the door. I am so stunned that I still stand there. I'll make sure to walk home with Ash. I open my hand and see three gold coins sitting in my palm. I gasp and close it again. I instantly ran after him.

"Sir! Sir?" I look around but see nothing. It's like he vanished.

I quickly shove the gold into my pocket and keep it hidden. It's finally two a.m., and we get to kick the customers out and go home.

"Hey Ash! Want to walk home together? I think I have a stalker, but I can tell you more about that on the way home."

She laughs at me, "Of course, you have a stalker and attract the worst people into your life. But yeah, I'll walk home with you."

So, we walk home together, wearing layers to hide our bodies. I tell her all about the store and tonight.

"Is he cute?" She looks at me with an eyebrow raised.

"That's the problem! He's really hot and charming!" I grab my face in frustration.
Finally, when we stood before my door, I reached into my pocket and gathered the coins. "He gave me these," I whisper, showing her the coins.

She gasps so loud, and I push my hand over her mouth. "I know, so keep it down."

She smirks at me. "You have to find him again."

I smile at her. "I know I do now. I have to hide this before anyone gets up. I'll see you at the same time tomorrow."

"Bye, girl." She blows a kiss goodbye and turns to leave.

When I enter my house, my father is asleep in his chair, so I instantly sneak over to my central hiding spot, a hole behind the bookshelf. When my head hits the pillow, I ensure all the children sleep well before passing out.