Money, Sex and Power

Chapter 11

Keana opened the door for the tearful Lauren when the dark haired woman made it down the stairs. The shorter girl looked at Lauren apologetically as she slowly opened the door, letting a cool breeze gently blow in to the large townhouse. Lauren sniffled and glanced at the Latina. "I'm sorry," the brunette whispered as Lauren buttoned her coat and stepped to the door.

Lauren glanced back at Keana and saw it was sincere. She nodded once, the tears threatening to start flowing again. Keana's face was sullen as the door closed gently behind her. Lauren kept her eyes locked on the large wooden door, half expecting it to open suddenly with Lucy and Camila and everyone there to shout surprise and say all of this was some sick joke. Lauren wanted to believe that, badly enough that she stood perfectly still and watched the door for several minutes. Nothing happened.

Lauren's lower lip trembled with sadness as she finally turned to look out at the view of the thin New York City street and the tiny park across the street. She took two steps towards it, this normal life that everyone else seemed to lead, and it terrified her. After taking only three steps down the tall stoop, Lauren stopped herself, and almost instantly broke down in tears.

She didn't know what to do at this point, she hadn't had to live life without Lucy and her girl's in over seven years, when she was just a young stupid college kid. She remembered the first time she had come to Lucy's, she remembered how it changed her so much.

**

The young Lauren Jauregui had stood at the foot of the steps for more than ten minutes, debating whether or not she should actually go through with it or not. Lauren had only come out to three people at that point in her life: her sister and her two best friends, a boy named Zayn she had met at school and another girl, Normani, who took the same English class as her.

When Zayn had asked her how she knew she was gay (as he was trying to sleep with her himself), she said that she didn't know how she knew, just that she did. Zayn nodded a few times, mulling it over, and asked if she had ever slept with a woman before. Lauren shook her head bashfully but mumbled that it didn't matter, she was gay and she knew it. Zayn just smirked before ripping a piece of paper from a nearby notebook and scrawling down an address for somewhere way uptown. He handed her the scrap of paper and told her to go find out if she really was gay, and if she wasn't, to come back to his dorm for a good time. When he said it was a brothel, she thought he was kidding.

But there she found herself, just as Zayn had described it. The beautiful, tall townhouse in a quiet neighborhood, tucked away neatly between dozens of houses that looked just like it. Lauren swallowed thickly, praying this wasn't some massive practical joke because otherwise she was setting herself up to look like a giant ass. Shakily, the skinny dark haired girl walked up the steps of the stoop and rang the bell. The nervousness was causing everything to quiver with worry and she accidently rang the bell twice. She cursed herself inwardly, thinking that she would come off as impatient or rude. She scolded herself quietly for only a few seconds though, before a tall, beautiful brunette answered the door. The woman was gorgeous, her features were all sharp and defined, wearing a tiny black skirt and a white button down shirt with the first three buttons undone, and her hair looked so soft, Lauren was tempted to reach out and touch it.

Lauren gulped nervously. The woman smiled lightly at her and cocked her head to the side. "May I help you?" she asked curiously. In all her years there, the woman had never seen someone quite so young who wasn't a male. Lauren's voice shook as she nodded slightly.

"I-I, umm, I think I might have t-the wrong—I'm sorry to disturb you, I just, I think, I—"

The woman pulled Lauren inside with a smile. "You're looking for a good time?" the woman asked mischievously.