Discarded by M. Hunter (the reading list .txt) 📕

give up looking for her. The night she tried to escape before had been flawed from the start because she had involved Chez, and he’d suffered as a result of her actions. She wouldn’t allow Precious to fall to the same fate.

Opening the bottle of wine, she filled two glasses, grimacing as she sipped the tepid liquid. ‘The wine’s warm,’ she called out.

‘Just drop some ice in it,’ Precious called back, her head popping out from behind the bedroom door. ‘It’ll chill quickly enough.’

Joanna nodded as the head disappeared again and she opened the fridge-freezer, plopped two cubes in each glass, and turned on the radio.

‘Oh, I love this song,’ Precious called from the bedroom, singing along to it and dancing out of the bedroom, clutching two dresses in her hands and holding them out for Joanna’s approval.

Joanna didn’t like the short red dress as it barely covered her bottom and had a tendency to ride up, which made it one of Grey’s favourites to photograph her in.

She scrunched up her nose. ‘The red one? Really?’

Precious wasn’t listening, draping the garment over the arm of the chair, the message clear: the choice wasn’t up for debate. She continued to dance, twirling in the spotlight overhead. It made Joanna suddenly self-conscious about her own lack of breast development. The bra Precious was wearing could barely contain her, but Joanna at eleven was as flat-chested as when she’d first arrived.

Precious caught her looking and Joanna quickly averted her eyes, but it was too late. Dropping onto the seat beside her, Precious said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll give you a bit of extra padding for tonight; make you feel like a proper lady.’

It wasn’t what Joanna had been hoping for, but she didn’t disagree.

‘What will the party be like?’ she asked, gnawing at one of her fingernails.

Precious rolled her eyes in frustration, sensing the nervous energy radiating from her roommate. ‘Listen, it’ll be in some fancy house, right? We’ll be asked to wait in some room where there’ll be wine to drink, and when the time is right, Grey will open the doors and we’ll be invited into some boardroom or whatever and we’ll meet the clients. Some will be overweight, some balding, but their eyes won’t leave us for a moment. They’ll ask us to sit and talk, and the one thing you need to remember – I can’t stress this enough – be nice. Compliment them on what they’re wearing, or how handsome they look, or whatever. Our job is to make them feel special by any means. Okay?’

Joanna tried to ignore the wave of nausea bubbling nearby. ‘And then what happens?’

Precious sighed loudly – a sign that she was losing patience. ‘And then if the client yer paired with wants to talk privately, he’ll invite you to his room. But you don’t need to worry about that. Like I said, you won’t have to do anything you don’t want because it’s your first time. Grey knows yer not ready for that yet, and you coming along tonight is just so that you see what it’s like.’

Joanna didn’t want to upset her friend further, but she couldn’t stop herself blurting it out. ‘W-w-what happens in the bedroom?’

Precious turned her head and glared. ‘What do you think happens in the bedroom, Kylie? It’s a sex party! You know how Grey makes you pose and play with things in the studio? Well, that’s what’ll happen in the bedroom, only it won’t be toys you’re holding.’

Tears burned behind Joanna’s eyes but she knew better than to let them out.

Precious reached for the packet of cigarettes on the table top and lit one, blowing the smoke at Joanna in frustration. ‘That’s what we’re doing here, Kylie. Don’t you understand that yet? We’re paid to provide a service that these men can’t get elsewhere. Mr Brown runs a club that relies on the discretion of its clients and the willingness of its employees, the likes of you and me. You can hate it, but that’s what this is.’

Joanna nodded frantically, breathing in deeply and exhaling to control her emotions and repress the need to shout and scream and cry.

‘I-I-I’m sorry,’ she whispered, barely audible over the sound of the radio.

Precious folded her arms before offering the cigarette like an olive branch. Joanna accepted it gratefully, and put the butt between her lips, allowing the smoke to fill her mouth, before drawing it down into her lungs as Precious had taught her, and then exhaling through her mouth and nose simultaneously. She passed the cigarette back, her panic slowly settling; the beast was back in its cage for now.

A knock at the door was followed by Grey entering, tottering slightly, the smell of whisky on his breath overcoming the cigarette smoke hanging overhead. ‘How are my two favourite young ladies tonight?’

‘Half-dressed,’ Precious snapped back, infuriated by the interruption.

‘Oh, don’t mind me,’ Grey replied, holding his hands out in some kind of surrender. ‘Why don’t you run along and finish getting ready while I keep Kylie company?’

He tottered over to where she was sitting, the lust in his eyes more determined tonight.

Joanna couldn’t bear to look at him when he leered in that way, and was relieved when she felt Precious tugging at her hand.

‘We both need to get ready,’ she growled, pulling Joanna out of his clutches and towards the bedroom, dragging the dresses with her. ‘Don’t worry about him,’ she said quietly when the door was closed. ‘He knows his place.’

Joanna allowed her friend to pull the T-shirt up and over her head and raised her arms when instructed to do so, as Precious fastened the loose bra at the back, before shoving in soft fillers. With the red dress then pulled over her head, Joanna fixed her makeup as she’d been shown, applying the eyeliner, mascara, and bright red lip gloss, before Precious tied her hair and fitted the violet-toned hairpiece. Ten minutes had passed, and it was like she was watching someone else now in