Clover yawned as she walked into her home, the clock on her wall reading 4am. She'd met with three clients today, and was exhausted. Tomorrow was supposed to be her day off, but of course, her phone rang as she was pouring a bowl of cereal.
"Clover! Hope I didn't wake you," Evelyn said into the phone, sounding pretty tired herself.
"No, I just got home," the girl says quietly, moving toward her bedroom. "Let me guess, I'm working tomorrow?"
Her boss laughed. It was obvious at this point. "Only if you want to, of course. That guy, Grant, would like to see you again."
Clover, despite her tiredness, perked up slightly. They met once, a little over two weeks ago, and he never called again. She'd been a bit curious about him.
The reason Ethan hadn't called was because he kept telling himself it was stupid. But he kept thinking about it-about her-and decided to give Masquerade another go. This time, he'd planned a little more than just being awkward around her at a club.
"He said he'd like to pick you up, if you're comfortable. I know you've only met him once... I don't know if it's a good idea," but Clover agreed instantly. "Alright, I'll give him the details in the morning. He called a couple of hours ago so he's most likely sleeping now. Grant can't know your address, obviously, so he can pick you up here. Three in the afternoon, he said."
Ethan was feeling a little bolder, taking her out in the middle of the day and wanting to drive her. Now that he knew what to expect, he was hoping to be less nervous around her.
Clover got the details and hung up the phone, eyelids heavy, knowing she was going to be tired tomorrow too. But she was curious about seeing Grant.
After finishing her cereal, begrudgingly getting up to put her dish in the sink, and then taking a late-night shower, she finally passes out.
The next day, just before three rolls around, she finds herself sitting in the Masquarade offices scrolling through her phone. Ethan walks in exactly ten minutes early.
"Hey," he smiles, stuffing his hands in his pockets. The few other people around the office all looked up at him.
It was pretty dead in the middle of the afternoon, luckily. Clover smiled back at him, waved to Evelyn, and walked out with her hand in his.
"I'm guessing this isn't actually where you live?" He laughs. "Not judging, but..."
"It's not," Clover shakes her head, giggling along with him. "Just for privacy concerns, I'm not allowed to share my address. My boss was already against you just picking me up."
He jogs ahead of her, opening the door of his Jeep to let her in. "I'm not that sketchy, am I?"
She hums, watching him closely. "I'll let you know at the end of the day," he rolls his eyes at her teasing, driving out of the parking lot. "So, where are you taking me?"
Clover was told to dress casual, so she wasn't sure what to expect. There were a million things they could do in LA.
"It's not far. I just figured it'd be cool to hangout and talk, not in the back room of a club."
Ethan was wearing a long sleeve shirt, plaid pants, and had a beanie and sunglasses on. He was obviously trying to lay low, so she assumed it was somewhere at least semi-public.
"I'll have you know I've had many good conversations in the back of that club," she protests. "So, are you still gonna be nervous and awkward?"
"Am I paying just for you to tease me the whole time?" He laughs.
Most guys didn't like to talk about the fact that this was something they paid for, or that it could be 100% curated. Ethan, however, saw no reason to avoid that topic. It felt more awkward not to acknowledge it.
"Yeah," Clover shrugs. "You're cute when you blush." Her comment makes his cheeks heat up more.
Usually, he didn't get nervous so easily. But he chalked it up to the unusual situation this was.
Ethan cleared his throat as the car pulled to a stop, already parked. Her eyes lit up as she realized he'd brought her to an art museum.
"I love art museums," Clover mumbled, looking back to him. No one ever wanted to go to them with her, and most clients certainly don't take her to them either.
She grabbed his hand the second they were both out of his Jeep, dragging him toward the doors almost so fast he has to jog to keep up. "Hey-shit, you never told me your name-slow down!"
"...Alison," she nods. That was her middle name, though she hated being called it, it made it easy for clients. "You can call me Alison. And sorry, I'm excited!"
He knew it wasn't her real name, but was happy to finally be able to put one to her face. Thinking about her without even knowing what to call her felt weird.
Seeing how excited she was to be at the art museum made him smile again. It was as if he hadn't stopped smiling since he picked her up.
He figured it would be a calm place to actually talk, to get to know her more. Plus, he'd been a few times and really liked the exhibits. Ethan always wanted to go on a date here-he thought this counted.
The two walked around, chatting, still holding hands. Most of the other people were middle aged and didn't spare them a glance.
"Alison! Take a picture of me with these statue guys?" Ethan pleaded, trying to copy their pose. "They're pretty cool,"
"You look like a dork," she snorts.
Clover gets a few good ones of him posing, and some of him laughing afterward. He deletes a few but keeps most, intending to post them later.
His brother is definitely gonna ask about who took them, but fans won't question it at all.
Ethan also takes a few of her messing around with the statues-some of them are her making obscene gestures to make him laugh-and they begin to attract a bit of attention with their loudness. Neither really cares though, they're too busy having fun.
"I probably look like a douchebag wearing sunglasses inside," he mumbles, ignoring the glares from the elderly.
"Let's fix that," she says, mischief in her eyes. He watches as she takes his sunglasses off and slips them onto a marble statue. They definitely weren't supposed to be touching those. "...we should leave before we get caught."
Ethan shakes his head as they rush away, ducking out a side door and being overcome with hilarity.
The two find themselves in the garden, which is empty due to the slightly chilly weather. They do not mess with the statues this time around. Instead, they sit on a bench to talk.
"We so would've gotten kicked out if we didn't leave on our own," Clover sighs contently, playing with his fingers.
"It would've been worth it."
She leans up against his shoulder, swinging her legs over the side of the bench to lie down partially. Ethan just watches her, forgetting everything he wanted to say.
"Tired?" He asks instead, seeing her nod.
"Yeah, I didn't get to bed until a little before six last night," she hums.
"Woah, why?" As he's asking, he gently shifts her so she can lie down on his lap and stare up at the sky. It had to be more comfortable than his shoulder.
Clover shrugs, smiling at him. "Just had a few different clients to meet with yesterday. I got home around 4am-and I was supposed to be off today so it wasn't a big deal-I was just gonna have a snack and fall asleep but then my boss called and said you wanted to meet. So I stayed up and showered and stuff before getting to bed,"
He frowns down at her. "Why're you here if it's your day off?"
"Grant, I wanted to come. Really. I'm always allowed to say no if I'm supposed to be off," she reassures him. If it was a client she wasn't fond of, she would. But more often than not she ended up working on her days off.
"Yeah, but-"
"No buts! If I didn't want to come, I wouldn't. I'm there, quite literally, whenever you want me. Even if it's the middle of the night."
"Why do you work so much?" Ethan asks, looking at her eyes. There was no sign of bags under them, probably due to makeup, but he knew they were there. The rest of her features gave away the tiredness. He felt bad.
Clover, however, didn't mind at all. She was young, and she enjoyed this job for the most part.
It allowed her to meet a lot of interesting people, him being one. And it saved her from committing to a job she hated so early in her life.
"Like I said, I work when I'm called. I don't mind-I get to do stuff like this."
That didn't really make him feel better. "What about, like, your life? Do you have friends and family? Do you date?"
Sure, he was prying now, but he couldn't stop himself. If she worked all the time, when did she find time for herself and her loved ones?
Ethan bit his lip as she stayed quiet, wondering if he made a mistake. Was that too personal?
"My parents don't live around here, but I call them and go home for holidays. And my friends all have like, normal jobs, so we get together when we can. They don't exactly know what I do," Clover laughs. "And I tried dating, at first. But honestly, guys aren't really comfortable with their girlfriend being-for lack of a better word-an escort, even if I don't sleep with clients. Which I get, so I just don't date much anymore,"
To Ethan, it sounded like she'd sacrificed a lot for this job. He knew he couldn't do it.
But Clover did like it. It payed really well, first of all. When she had time off, she could afford to do just about anything she wanted. Every year she took at least two weeks off at some point to travel.
That, along with the experiences she got, made it more than worth it. Clover was young, this wasn't something she'd do forever, but for now it was her best option.
"Do you like-do you kiss clients?"
"Sometimes? If they initiate it I'll kiss back. But most guys don't anyway. Or if they do, it's usually chaste and sweet," she explains, sitting up from his lap to actually make eye contact with him.
He kind of wanted her to keep lying on his lap, it was comforting. But he wasn't gonna ask her to stay.
"Honestly, a lot of the guys I meet with come for the emotional connection, or just to escape from their real lives. It can be thrilling for some, I meet with a guy who has me pretend he's a foreign prince. It's not super romantic, or all that physical, minus a few of the creeps."
That made Ethan feel a little better, hearing that. He wasn't so weird for coming to her just to hangout.
"Wait-a foreign prince? Really?" He laughs, phone buzzing in his pocket.
Grayson: dude, where are you?
Grayson: we're supposed to upload today
Grayson: i'm putting the video up. at least make a quick announcement about it wherever you are?
Ethan had completely forgot. Luckily the video was edited, but they were usually together when they posted it. Hopefully no one thought anything of it.
Ethan: shit, totally spaced bro
Ethan: thanks for uploading. i'll post on my story about it now
Grayson: cool but where are you??
After that, he left his brother on read. He didn't like lying to Grayson, so instead, he wouldn't answer. At least until he came up with a way to tell the truth without admitting who he was with.
"Everything all set?" Clover hummed.
"Yeah I-sorry. Just forgot to do something. Would you mind meeting me at the car? I've gotta make a couple calls," he asks, looking over to her. They should probably leave about now anyway.
Clover leaves him, but the walk isn't far. He doesn't take very long anyway.
When Ethan walks over to see her leaning against the Jeep and not inside, he sighs at himself. She had her arms wrapped around her torso, due to the cool breeze, but smiled back at him.
"I probably should've given you the keys," he says sheepishly. "Sorry..."
"It's alright," Clover shrugs. Ethan fumbles with them awkwardly, dropping the keys on the ground. "I'll get-"
They both reach for them at the same time, bumping into one another. They let out soft laughs, Clover handing him the keys.
Ethan licked his lips as he looked down at her. Their hands just barely brushed together, yet somehow caused goosebumps to rise on his skin.
"I wanna kiss you," he whispers, heartbeat in his throat. "But I don't want you to kiss me just because you feel like you have to."
Clover smiled back. "Good thing I wanna kiss you too."
She pulled him in for a kiss before he could even think to move, one hand on the back of his neck. Ethan tensed up at first, hands hovering just over her hips. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable.
Ethan relaxed against her slowly, and he wasn't sure if he'd ever been so nervous to kiss a girl before. But god, her cold hands pulling him in made his head spin.
Their lips brushed together just long enough for him to get a taste of her lip gloss, and for her to savor the feeling of his soft, warm kiss.
As they pulled back, lips still mere centimeters apart, Ethan thought about kissing her again. But instead he took a step back, readjusting his beanie.
Clearing his throat, he spoke up, "why don't we grab dinner and then I'll set you free?"
"Back to being awkward?" Clover teases, climbing into the passenger seat. "That sounds great." Ethan rubbed his lips together, savoring the sticky feeling and taste of the remnants of her gloss. "It's raspberry sorbet. The lip gloss," she snorts.
"I was-it just-I like it," he mumbles in response.
She hums as he drives, music playing quietly. Ethan's fingers tapped along the steering wheel to the beat, lost in his thoughts.
They pull into a small diner, not that busy, but Ethan still pulls his hood on as they sit in a booth. He didn't have his sunglasses and wanted to be cautious.
The second their waitress walked away after getting their drink orders, Ethan looked to her. She raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to speak.
"I'm paying this time."
Clover laughed, but he'd already taken out his credit card and placed it on the edge of the table, waiting for the moment he could. He felt bad letting her pay last time, though he shouldn't.
"You don't have to. I've got my card too," she insists, pulling out her wallet. Ethan snatches it out of her hands. "Hey, Grant!"
"You can have it back after dinner," he whines, placing it down gently. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to her calling him that-but he didn't want to give her his real name either. "I'm paying whether you like it or not."
"Your phone keeps lighting up," she motions, and Ethan lets out a sigh. "Do you have to get going?"
"No. No it's fine, it's not important," he shakes his head. It was Grayson again, but nothing urgent was happening. Putting it on do not disturb, he smiles back up at her. "That can wait. Now, dessert first?"
A/N
sometimes,,,,, ending chapters is hard.
this turned out longer than i planned but im not mad about it. like i said the chapter length is just vibin for this entire story
ALSO I KNOW HE SOLD THE JEEP OR WHATEVER BUT i miss it so here it is just pretend he didn't