Chapter Six
The Pleasure Palace
BRIDGETTE HADN'T RETURNED when I got back to the dorms. Just as well since I had to mentally prepare for a night of getting strangers off. Ash had kissed me and promised to see me soon, disappointment in his voice. I didn't blame him. I'd be pissed if he were about to talk sex with other girls all night. The very idea made me sick to my stomach and my headache returned, buzzing behind my eyes, making the lights dance around like fireflies.
When the phone rang, my mouth went dry. I reached for it, then yanked my hand back like I'd been electrocuted. The phone rang again. I reached for it again, my hand hovering over it uncertainly. Finally, I picked it up.
Donna's voice calmed me down. "Hey, Cat. How are you, sweetie?"
I'd never met Donna, but I always imagined her as a pretty girl with long brown hair and light eyes. I had no idea if that was remotely true, but I needed something to visualize when we spoke. "Hi, Donna. I'm okay. Ready to be back to work."
"You sure? You can take more time. The job will be here when you're ready. I can't even imagine what you've been through." She clucked her tongue.
"I'm sure. It's not like it's physically demanding. Best job I could have, really."
"Okay, well, if you're sure…"
"I'm sure." I'm not sure. I could be ruining the best thing that's ever happened to me, but what choice do I have?
When she hung up, I shivered, cold, and dug through my dresser for thicker socks and a sweatshirt. Once I was sufficiently layered and propped up in bed with a book, a notebook, my phone and my blanket, I took a deep breath and readied myself for my first call. I hoped it would be someone normal and boring and lonely, someone who just needed a nice voice to chat with for a few hours but required very little in the way of sexual stimulation. Those calls came more than you'd think, and I needed one tonight.
But the voice on the other end of the receiver didn't belong to a lonely guy who didn't need sex. No, not at all.
"Hi, Cat. I've missed our talks."
My heart thrummed in my chest. "What are you doing calling here?"
"What do you mean? I thought I was your favorite?" Ash's voice teased.
"Ash, you can't call here, this is my job."
"I know, and I'm a man with needs. I'm a paying client, so you're stuck with me, Cat."
"This is ridiculous." I snuggled under my covers and couldn't help but smile. The only voice I'd wanted to hear tonight had called me.
"No it's not. Besides, my girlfriend bailed on me tonight, and I'm a highly sexual person. I need you, Cat."
I stared at the posters on my wall, pictures of all the places Ash and Cat had visited on their phone calls. Our phone calls. I'd torn them down and then put them back up. I was glad I'd kept them. "And what would your girlfriend think of you calling a phone sex operator?"
"I'm sure she wouldn't have a problem with it, considering she is one. That would be hypocritical of her, wouldn't it?"
Once again, the thought of Ash calling anyone but me made me sick, and I felt horrible for keeping this job. "You have a point. Well, since this is your dime, what can I do for you, or to you, tonight?"
"Do you ever do threesomes?"
His request threw me off. "What do you mean?"
I could hear the smirk in his voice. "You see, my girlfriend is smoking hot, but I'm also quite fond of you. I'd love to take you both at once. Maybe have her ride my cock while you sit on my face and I eat you. What do you think?"
My brain could not mesh that image together, since I was obviously both people. I just laughed. "You're a perv, you know that?"
"Ah, but I'm your perv."
"That you are."
We spent hours talking about everything from politics to our favorite animals. Then Ash pulled up something on his computer, a list of questions he wanted both of us to answer.
"Would you rather… get lost in space for thirty years, only to come home to everyone you know dead, or become immortal and outlive everyone you will ever love?"
I thought about it. "Become immortal. At least then I can spend time with the ones I love. You?"
"Get lost in space. That way I could still die a mortal death and join them in the afterlife."
He inhaled something, his cigar probably, before he asked the next question. "Would you rather eat cow testicles or live cockroaches?"
"Ugh. Are the testicles cooked and marinated?"
"Yes."
"Then I'd pick them and pretend they're something else."
He exhaled. "I'm going to have to go with cockroaches. I'm not putting someone else's balls in my mouth."
I laughed. "You're such a man."
"So glad you noticed, sweetheart."
"Oh, I noticed."
"Okay," he said, "next question. Would you rather be sprayed with gallons of tar, or dunked into a tub of semen donated by thousands of different men and beasts?"
"Gross. You have a sick brain. I guess the semen. It's supposed to be good for the skin and certainly would be easier to clean off."