Whore.

Chapter 34: Zaijian

I considered it. Technically, such an arrangement would work, as long as the Robertson guy was fine with it. Hell, if he was getting paid for it, it seemed like a pretty sweet deal. I perused it for a while before my thought patterns went erratic.

"Wait...is this Robertson a sex worker?"
"Yes," she smiled with a little surprise. "Do you know him?"
"Is he about 5 foot 10, jet black hair, strong facial features with a dick like an elephant?"
"Wow, you really do know him," she laughed.
"Yeah, but we all just call him Rob. Or Robert."
"It's Robertson in full. he doesn't like it, but I think it's sexy."
"And you both pay him for this, right?"
"Sure. That's the only way he shows up. It's a little weird, I know."
"Oh it's quite normal," I laughed. Brianna laughed along. I spotted Rita standing by the back door, looking even more confused than before. I waved at her, and she waved back slowly. Brianna looked up and beckoned for Rita to come. She walked to us cautiously, like she was scared we'd pounce on her.

"Why so serious, Rita?" Brianna laughed.
"Okay, what the hell is going on?" She looked like she had reached her breaking point.
"Brianna was just telling me how I had saved her marriage."

Rita couldn't look more confused if she tried.

"I'm a whore. I slept with her husband. Now they have an exciting sex life."
"Wait what? You're a...sex worker?"
"Yep." I smiled. I wasn't ashamed of it anymore. Hell, I had no problem with going inside and announcing it to the rest of the party.
"Does Swash know this?" She looked really concerned. I started laughing again. Her expression eased a little as she began to understand the situation. After a few seconds, she sat beside me.
"Swash knew from the second I stepped into his house. Hell, that's the only reason I stepped into his house."
"So you guys have..."
"No. We haven't. He hired me, but all we did was talk. We went to the same high school, you know. He just wanted to reach out or something. We've been hanging out ever since."
"Is Swash the tall hot guy with the green eyes?" Brianna asked with a playful glint in her eye.
"Yeah? What, you want him?" I chuckled.
"I won't mind," she laughed back.
"Too bad he's gay," Rita breathed at her. "And completely into our little whore over here."
"Too bad I'm taken," I laughed.

Our conversation was playful from then on. Brianna really had a wicked sense of humor. I told them about Malone - even the sultry bits - and had to suffer through their repeated swooning. I was called a lucky whore. I felt like a lucky whore. But I told them they had to drop the whore title as I would be retiring, starting tomorrow. Brianna excused herself to use the bathroom and Rita rushed back inside shortly after, saying that I had to come in for a surprise. I strolled back into the house. She had gotten everyone to settle down and they were looking at her expectantly. The children had been called down from their little party upstairs. They seemed restless to leave, but their parents kept them in check. I spotted Swash and Bradley sitting on the couch right in front of Rita. Everyone looked behind Rita as Brianna came out with a large cake that had five sparklers in it. The kids squealed with excitement. Bradley just smiled and looked up at Rita.

"Happy Birthday Bradley."

We all broke out the 'happy birthday' song. Bradley blushed shyly and buried his face in his father's chest. Swash seemed to look around and then stopped when he spotted me standing by the door. He smiled. I smiled back. I truly felt happy for the situation I was in, for Bradley, for Malone, even for Brianna and Jonathan Beedham. It almost felt like it was my birthday. We cheered for Bradley and cut the cake. Then Rita went into the kitchen and came out holding a glass bowl. A single goldfish was swimming around inside it. Bradley squealed with excitement and got off Swash's lap to look at the fish.

"I had to get him this because I didn't think you could handle having a puppy in your apartment."

She smiled at Swash who laughed in appreciation. Bradley turned around and smiled at his father. I had never seen him look so happy. I crossed over and crouched beside the other children who had gathered to look at the fish and were poking at the glass.