C A L U M ' S P O V
"Even better than last time, kiddo," the man said, looking down at me while getting dressed.
I was sitting on the bed, still naked but covering my body with the dirty bed sheets. I bit my lip before sending him a weak smile and whispering a small 'thank you'.
"I'm goin' to give you ten more today, I'm feelin' great."
He handed me a bundle of money and left after I counted it, seeing he gave me enough.
I fiddled the money between my fingers, sighing before putting it in my special place for the money I earned, which was basically just a pink, little purse that I always hid somewhere in my closet when I wasn't working.
Then I laid down again, not caring about the not so clean bed sheets. I already felt dirty enough, it really didn't bother me.
I stared at the ceiling and felt a tear escaping my eye, running down my cheek and I started crying more when I thought about how normal this already was to me.
Getting fucked, payed and then I cried until the next customer arrived.
I buried my head in the pillows and just let it all out.
It felt good to cry, really. After crying I always felt a little better but still, the reason why I cried was awful and disgusting.
After showering, getting dressed and changing the bed sheets I sat down on the little chair that was standing on the balcony. It was a cozy day, not too cold and not too warm.
I fished my phone out of my pocket and texted Michael.
[to: prince 💞🏩💟]
can you pick me up? 💞
[from: prince 💞🏩💟]
of course, i will be there in 15
Michael wasn't the type to put emojis in his messages but that was okay because then it was kind of my thing in our relationship, whatever relationship we had.
I put him as prince because he always calls me his princess and it makes me weak in the knees. And when I was around him, I actually felt like a princess. He made me feel so beautiful and happy with myself, I didn't know how he did it.
Sure, I never really loved myself 100% but who does anyways? I just didn't feel comfortable in my skin, it was mostly because of my job.
But, who would feel good if they were in my position? No one, I could guarantee that.
I always felt so dirty after having sex with those men and even after showering. I couldn't just scrub the feeling away with soap.
I tried. Once I tried so hard that I started scratching the dirty feeling from my skin with my long nails and I started to bleed but all that didn't help. I was even more hurt than I was before, physically and mentally.
I just wished I could change that somehow.
The clouds were now covering the sun and a small breeze hit my face, making me shiver. I got inside again and put on my jacket, walking out of the room and locked it.
A smile appeared on my face when I thought about seeing Michael again.
The last time I saw him may have been this morning but that didn't matter.
And my heart sped up when I saw Michael leaning against his car and typing something on his phone.
"Hey," I said, getting his attention and he looked up immediately, looked at me and smiled so big that I thought his face would crack.
Instead of answering he just wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him.
"Excited to see me?"
He nodded and mumbled, "I have a surprise for you."
We separated and I looked at him with furrowed eyebrows.
"A surprise? For me?"
"Yeah and I hope you will like it. Let's get home so I can tell you," Michael said excited and we both got in the car, singing along to Marianas Trench. It was a band the Michael and I both liked before we knew each other, which was rare since we had such a different taste in music.
The car drives were always the same. We drove to a small fast food restaurant before actually driving home, mostly my home. It was like a small tradition we had.
I always watched Michael when he was driving. I wasn't sure if he ever noticed but I didn't care.
I didn't even know what it was that made me fall for him. Maybe how kind and caring he was, how good he looked and how nice his laugh sounded, how it made me feel at home when I felt alone. Or maybe it was the way he held me close to his body when I felt sad or when I just wanted to cuddle. Maybe it was his heartbeat that calmed me down, even though it was pounding hard against his chest most of the time.
Yeah, maybe it was just him and his person in general.
I smiled and looked out of the window again.
I've waited for such a long time to find a person like him and now he was there and almost everything felt good.
✧✧
"Are you ready for your surprise?" Michael asked with a big smile on his face and an exciting spark in his eye.
"I guess?"
Never ever had someone surprised me with something before. I never got presents or surprises, not even for my birthdays. I was more than just excited for what Michael had for me.
"Okay, you better hold onto something because this is big," he said and then made a little pause, looking at me with such an happy expression.
"I have a job for you."
I almost choked on my own spit and my eyes widened. "What?"
"Yeah, I got you a job," he repeated. "Are you happy?"
I didn't even care what the job was, I just nodded and threw my arms around his neck, brought him close to me and hugged him tightly. Michael always smelt so great. It wasn't really relevant to what was happening right now but I always noticed it when I buried my head in his neck.
"Don't you want to know what it is?" he asked but I totally ignored the question.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much."
Michael just laughed. "I'm not the only one you have to thank, though."
I pulled away and looked at him confused. "What do you mean 'not the only one'? Another person helped? Who's he or she then?"
"Well, I guess you have to thank Ashton for getting you a job in the photo studio he's working at."
"What? Ashton? But, I thought he hated me. And in a photo studio? That's amazing. But, how?" I asked, not really believing anything that Michael was telling me.
I mean, how did they manage to get me into a photo studio? Who even wanted me in their business? I had nothing that made me useful in a studio, really not. I wasn't smart or had special talents, I just didn't understand.
"I can't believe it."
"You have to since you're going to start there on Monday," Michael said and smiled and I wanted to cry tears of joy. "But, don't be disappointed if they only let you bring coffee for the first few weeks, it's normal and you have to learn a lot of stuff before they actually would consider letting you do the real work."
"I don't care, I would scrub the floor if I had to, I'm just happy about not having to do, you know, this anymore," I said and meant every word. I would scrub floors until I died if that meant that I could stop with my current 'job'.
And I didn't even care in that moment how much I would get paid, it really didn't matter to me. Even if it wouldn't be much, I'd somehow manage to pay everything. I saved myself some money over the years.
"Oh, believe me, I'm also more than just happy that you have a normal job now. God, I told you how much it hurt me to even think about you being with another men," Michael said, smile still on his lips.
"But, how did you get me in there? I don't have a CV, nor do I have my old report cards anymore. His boss doesn't even know what kind of person I am and he just gave me a chance?" I asked.
"Ashton always told me that his boss is a nice person. Sure, he was a bit skeptical when Ash told him that he had nothing like CV's and stuff from you but Ashton convinced him. I really don't know how but he did. See, I've told you that Ashton is a sweetheart."
I looked at Michael and tried to process what was happening.
After four years of selling my body, I could stop.
I could finally stop this and maybe even try to get a little more comfortable in my skin. I could live a normal life and then I realized, without Michael, all this probably wouldn't be happening.
Since I knew him, my life got so much better and happier.
He made my life better by helping me, by making me feel beautiful even if it was just for a day.
Michael made me so happy. He made me feel all those nice stuff people always talked about in those cliché romance movies. I always wanted that and now I had it.
"I love you," I said, very quiet but so loud that he could hear it.
My heart started to pound so hard against my chest and I was breathing heavily and made myself sweater paws because I was so nervous.
But, there really was no reason to be.
Michael smiled even wider and just looked at me with this loving expression in his eyes, which made me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside and I was probably blushing.
I didn't expect him to say it back, really not. It was kind of rushed and we weren't even boyfriends or something, just friends with a lot of feelings for each other.
I was scared that I had maybe messed this up but then again, Michael wouldn't look at me like that if I did.
And then he slowly leaned in and cupped my cheeks with his hand, capturing my lips with his.
Yeah, I was in love and I liked that.
Everything was okay now, thanks to Michael.
And never in my life have I been so happy before.
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Calum saying 'I love you' isn't rushed. He knows what he's feeling and he just wants to express it. It's just a way of him thanking Michael for everything he had done now, okay? And don't worry about Michael not saying it back :)
I hope you liked it, I worked two days on it :D
Thoughts about Calum getting the job? About Ashton who helped?
What was your favorite part in this chapter? :)
୨୧ See you next chapter! ୨୧