Twenty For A Dozen

01 || Not A Bad Turnout

01 || Not A Bad Turnout

          "Does it feel like you're kind of a prostitute?" a male voice asked.

The mid-day sun was no match for Kira's embarrassed red cheeks, and she stopped chugging down lukewarm water to glare at the newcomer in surprise. She saw brown shaggy hair and bright blue eyes on a tan face shadowed by the sun he was blocking.

          "Maybe," Kira replied truthfully after a moment of thought. She was momentarily blind-sided by the contrast in his words and the no-nonsense look on his face. He didn't seem to be trying to insult her, and she was confused by his frank curiosity.

          The man wasn’t someone she’d stop in her tracks to watch, but someone whose beauty grew on you the more you saw them. Kira watched as he stepped out of the way of the sun into the shade of her kissing booth.

          There was something familiar about him, and he looked close to her age, but Kira was struck by the serious set of his jaw and the neutral expression in his eyes. "My brother wasn’t happy about it after I volunteered for a position and got this," she half-heartedly gestured around her.

          "Senior prom, I know. My brother goes to the school," he said in a monotone and folded his arms over his T-shirt. His arms didn't bulge at the sleeves but Kira could see he had well-defined muscles.

          She licked the sweat off her upper lip and shuffled in the hard-backed armchair. "Um... so, may I help you?" Kira became very aware of the way her pink tank top was blotchy with round circles of sweat stains and her frizzy brown hair. The sun was as if it were right over her tent only. The water of the dunk-tank opposite her booth continued to look tempting.

          The man took a seat where her customers usually sat and he took a look at the dismal amount of money sitting in the money jar. So far, Kira had only kissed little children and acne-ridden boys with virgin lips, and there hadn't been many of either. Her afternoon shift had five minutes till completion, but the heat of the sun made out for few carnival attendees.

          "Not a bad turnout," the man said, and Kira's head snapped up in surprise at the smile in his voice. So Mr. Monotone could crack a joke, after all. She only smiled at him and when he hesitantly gave her a twitch of his lips in return she broke out in a hot sweat all over again.

          He stood up from the stool slightly to withdraw his wallet from his khaki shorts and Kira squeaked in surprise when he unceremoniously dumped out its contents on her table. A few coins rolled off onto the floor and Kira watched them go. "I'll get that," he said. He ducked down and Kira took a moment to regain her wits.

          Kisses are only a dollar, she wanted to say to him but the large sign dictating her mind's words stood right at the entrance. He couldn't have missed it.

          "I usually use my card, and don't have much cash, but here you go," he said. He sat back down on the stool. Kira sent a mental prayer for mercy to the heavens when his striking eyes flicked down to her lips. She licked them again.

          "That's..." she avoided looking at him and began to calculate the bills in front of her.

          "A dozen hundreds," both of them said at the same time. Kira's eyes locked with his. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered what Mr. Monotone was really named if he thought a dozen hundred was ‘not much cash’.

          "I don’t think I’ve met anyone else who counts in dozens instead of simply saying twelve hundred," he mused. His bluish eyes twinkled although the rest of him was much too serious.