chapter four
florence thompson
song: i'm so tired... - lauv & troye
Good news, Vincent De Bellis likes you too! You're a match!
Panic ensued.
I let out a girlish squeal and threw my phone across the room.
You could say I reacted reasonably. My heart was thudding loudly in my chest, my pulse thumping in my ears. Anxiety bubbled in my stomach and my breaths were uneven. I hadn't actually expected him to swipe right on me, I was just humoring myself.
What in the ever loving frick am I supposed to do now?! Message him? No way! Oh my god, I think I'm going to throw up.
In the silent room I could hear my phone vibrate against the hardwood floor, only sending me further into a frenzy.
Dear god, what did I do?
I got up onto my feet, scooting over to my window that overlooked the lake and conveniently enough—the patio. The three of them were still sat around the blazing fire, all of them had a drink in hand and Alex sat by himself on the side that I had occupied with him not too long before.
They all seemed relaxed, Brandon and Aria still cuddled together cozily.
I stepped back from the window, my fuzzy socks gliding across the glossy flooring as I neared my phone. I bent down, slowly retrieving it and bringing it to life.
Vincent De Bellis has sent you a message.
My heart thudded relentlessly in my chest as I put in my passcode, opening up the app.
What in this world could this man even have to say to me? Laugh at me and tell me how outright ridiculous I am for even swiping right on him, or better yet, to tell me that his swipe was accidental?
Vincent De Bellis: Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem a little innocent to be on here, Miss Thompson. It was the picture with the puppy that planted the seed, in case you're curious.
My stomach fluttered again, I rolled my eyes nervously at his words.
What is it with everyone thinking I'm too innocent to be a sugar baby? What do I need to do to be taken seriously? Become a prostitute?
A clever come back was on the tip of my tongue, or thumbs rather.
Is this how you start a conversation with everyone, Mr. De Bellis? If so, I'm willing to bet your success rate is fairly low, I typed quickly, pressing send without a second thought.
I drew my bottom lip between my teeth as I watched the small check mark below my message, signaling that he'd opened the message. Small bubbles appeared on the left side of the screen and I watched with anticipation.
I'll have you know, Miss Thompson, my success rate it pretty impressive. Quality over quantity is the key, I'm sure you know that.
A smile danced on my lips when another message pinged.
On another note, though, I see you're trying to persuade me into believing you aren't as innocent as you look. I'll bite. What makes you so...not innocent, Miss Thompson?
An inexplicable feeling washed over me as I read his words and I rolled my eyes at him.
I'll bite.
My fingers hovered over the keyboard as I thought about how in the hell I wanted to respond to his messages.
Well, I began, for starters—sometimes I drink milk straight out of the jug. Pretty badass, I know. But trust me, it gets a whole lot worse than that so you might want to brace yourself. I sometimes put the milk in first when it comes to cereal because I want to live a little on the edge. See? You've got me all wrong. Total badass.
I nearly face palmed at my response but instead put my phone to sleep and curled back up in my bed, resting my eyes and coming to the conclusion that he probably was not about to respond and thats okay.
Right as I was thinking about what I wanted to name my 100 cats when I hit 60, my phone went off again and I found myself flipping it over faster than usual.
Very chilling, Miss Thompson.
The whole milk before the cereal thing, I mean. What kind of monster lives their life like that? I believe that calls for banishment from society, truly.
I shook my head, my blonde hair falling from where I'd tucked it behind my ears.
I wondered momentarily if all sugar daddies are like this but squashed the thought quite quickly when I thought of Brandon and how sleazy he could be. Brandon's banter pretty much only consisted of assholery that was enough to drive any one person insane. But then again, theres no saying that Mr. Vincent De Bellis wasn't an asshole himself. He could just be a really charming asshole.
A harsh reaction, really. If we're going to be fair you did ask, I only delivered. Banishment from society? Seems maybe we're being a little dramatic, Mr. De Bellis.
I felt like a teenager awaiting a text back from her crush, and the feeling was so small and mildly embarrassed. I don't even know this guy and yet here I am, a small smile playing on my lips and my cheeks tinted a shade of pink.
You do have a point. Though I still do maintain that putting milk in first is barbaric.
I chuckled lightly to myself, about to type out a response when another message came through.
So what are you really on here for, Miss Thompson?
I gnawed on the inside of my lip, pondering his question to myself as I rested my head back onto the pillows below me and stared at the ceiling where a fan was spinning slowly. What am I doing on here? Trying to prove Ben wrong? Trying to prove myself wrong? A social experiment for myself?
After a few moments of mulling over his question, I came up empty handed.
Honestly, I'm not sure, I said admittedly, pressing send.
His response came quicker than the past few times.
So, I was right.
It wasn't a question, or an observation. It was a statement. He knew he was right from the moment he said I was innocent, surely. He didn't need me to confirm it, he was just simply stating that he had been correct from the beginning.
For a lack of better words, I suppose.
It felt weird admitting that I was innocent. I was a complete noob when it came to the sugar baby world and I knew even if I wanted to play it off like I wasn't, he would be able to spot my lie from miles away.
His reply was slow this time, not instantaneous like the other times. After a few moments of staring at my screen, I finally released a sigh and put my phone to sleep before placing it down on my mattress.
What am I doing?
My thoughts were cut off as a knock rattled the door. I groaned, shoving myself up off of the bed and moving towards the door, unlocking it only for it to swing open dramatically and my best friend to slip into my room, slamming it behind her.
"He's a piece of shit, I'm so sorry," she blurted, sincerity in her words and eyes. "From what Brandon had told me, I thought he was a good guy, a great match for you. I'm so sorry. If you hate me, I completely understand. I shouldn't have tried to set you up without your knowledge."
As she continued her blabbering, I noticed the very present scent of alcohol on her breath. Her pink tinted cheeks and wobbly stance were also indications that she maybe had too much to drink, and I nearly groaned aloud at the realization.
I was slightly irritated earlier when she just watched the conversation unfold instead of standing up for her best friend. The anger quickly simmered, though, when it seemed much more reasonable to be mad at Alex.
"Calm down," I sighed, plopping onto the end of my bed and watching as she stood in front of my door, flushed face. "It's fine, really. I don't care what he thinks. Money buys entitlement and for that, I couldn't care less about his opinion. I mean sure, it stung at fir—,"
My phone pinging caught both of our attention and it was like a lightbulb went off in Aria's head as I watched her next moves unfold over her expression.
Her pink lips tugged up into a smirk before she took off, running straight for me and before I knew it I was hurdling back onto the bed as my best friend sat on top of me, struggling to grasp the phone near my pillows.
"You—You shit!" I sputtered, attempting to pry her ridiculously strong legs off of me all while keeping her away from my phone.
The last thing I need right now is drunken Aria finding out that I was on the sugar baby app she's recommended and I'd so quickly turned down.
"Stop squirming!" She gritted, shoving me further away from her by placing an open palm on my face. She lifted her other arm high up that was now holding my phone and I watched through the gaps in her fingers as her expression quickly turned dumbfounded .
"You're squishing my nose!" I groaned, gripping her wrist and trying my best to pry her claw off of me.
"You sly dog!" She gasped, and I knew in that moment that the ping was from Vincent De Bellis and she knew exactly what I'd been doing. She removed her hand from my face, placing her hand on her hip as she glanced down to me where I was still pinned beneath her as she straddled my ribcage. "You're on Sugar!"
Before I could reply she unlocked my phone and opened our messages, reading his response aloud.
"Well, Miss Thompson, I have to say against my better judgement that you should probably flee this site before you become...tainted," she read it aloud, and I felt my cheeks immediately flush.
She slowly glanced down to me, her mouth hung open dramatically, blonde tendrils of hair falling around her face.
"What?!" I asked, shoving her off of me in one fluid motion while she was off guard and sitting up before snatching my phone out of her hand.
"Florence Bree Thompson, are you a secret sugar baby?!" She asked, her voice coming out as a harsh whisper that was the furthest thing from secretive.
"No!" I snapped quickly, shoving my phone under my leg as I released a long sigh. "No. I just got bored and saw an ad for it so I decided to download it, it isn't a big deal. I've only talked to one guy and thats it. I'm probably going to delete it anyway."
"What?!" She gasped, sitting up quickly. "No! Don't delete it! At least get a Gucci purse out of it," she insisted as we sat shoulder to shoulder on the edge of my bed.
I shook my head slightly, glancing down to my socks on the hardwood floor.
My curiosity didn't have much to do with the material side of a sugar baby arrangement, honestly. Sure, it was odd to me that there were people out there who liked to pay others for something as simple as their companionship but the part that piqued my interest the most was the people themselves.
The people that found themselves so lonely that they felt they needed to pay for a friend, girlfriend, companion, whatever you call it.
I don't want a Gucci purse. I want to figure out what makes these people so...desperate.
"You should reply to him," Aria mumbled, quietly pushing herself up off of my bed and ruffling my hair like I'm a kid before exiting my room.
I listened to the sound of her footsteps going down the hall, fading with time as she got further away. I released a sigh when I could no longer hear them, pulling my phone out and reading over his message a few times.
Do I reply? Or do I just delete this silly app?
What makes you think I don't want to become tainted, Mr. De Bellis? I typed and quickly pressed send against my better judgement.
It felt as if I was dancing with fire, but I can't say I didn't like it.
His reply was quick this time around, making the fluttering in my stomach all that more intense.
Innocence is something you should hold onto for as long as you can, Miss Thompson. I recommend that if you're in the business of losing the innocent air about you, to do it some place other than here.
Even though I knew nothing about Vincent De Bellis other than the fact he poured his cereal before his milk, his words stung slightly and I found my heart thudding a little faster in my chest. Maybe he's right. Maybe I should just accept the innocent title I've been given.
I mean, whats so wrong about being innocent, anyway?
It's boring, my inner dialogue reminded me.
I let out a breath, scrolling through Vincent's profile again. His mismatched eyes were piercing, and I couldn't even imagine how breathtaking he was in person.
Very well, then, I began typing, consider me gone, Mr. De Bellis.
I closed out of the app altogether, shoving my phone underneath my pillow before getting up and shutting the lights off in my room. I crawled into my bed, letting the darkness envelop me as I watched the trees brushing against the window.
My phone went off again, and it was almost torture.
You don't have to be.
Underneath this message was another with his phone number.
I grinned like a giddy schoolgirl.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
q: favorite tv show right now?