"You said Anna, right?"
Inside a cheap hotel, a man sat on the edge of a bed. He replied, "Yes."
In her "industry," Anna was the only person who actually used her own true name. She wasn't the brightest in the bunch, and couldn't be bothered to think of a nickname. She thought it was a hassle. And really, she simply didn't care. She just believed that she didn't need to have a useless nickname for herself. She wasn't ashamed of her job; anything that helped to sustain herself was a good one, in her opinion.
"So," said the man, "how much do you charge for your services per night?"
This was the twentieth guest asking the same exact question that night, and Anna's patience had long since worn thin.
"As long as you're happy, the flat rate will do," she responded.
Men are idiots, she thought irately. They're buying prostitutes, but they still don't want to pay too much for them. It's like they're in a vegetable market and comparing the prices between two heads of broccoli.
The tall man crossed over to Anna. He gripped his money, his payment, his whole body shivering with excitement.
"Pleased to meet you."
Anna took the fat wad of bills and flicked through them, counting.
"You know that I don't do...'in depth' transactions."
The man nodded rapidly, his fingers fumbling eagerly on his pants zipper as he yanked it down. "I know, I know! It doesn't matter."
Anna only laughed quietly to herself. The man had paid quite a lot of money. Anna didn't have any problem, as long as they kept paying her. After all, didn't all men act this way? Anna was very understanding.
She'd been mingling in this circle for quite some time now; if she did the math right, it had been around five years. Thinking back on it, the first time she'd went into this "industry" was when she was eighteen. Anna had been like many aspiring young people, just scrambling to find a good job. She wasn't the hardest worker, though, so she hadn't completed her studies at school. However, she still wanted to help her family's economic situation back at home, and so, she believed that acquiring a decently-paying job was the first and most important thing she had to do.
Unfortunately, the gods weren't fair. After Anna had bombed her seventh job interview, she happened to chance upon a meeting with one of her high school classmates. In hindsight, whenever Anna thought about it, she really wished she'd never bumped into said classmate. One moment later and she had fallen head-long into the "industry," which held a poisonous appeal: she had the potential to earn a lot of money in just one night. Eighteen-year-old Anna never thought in her wildest dreams that she could make that much cash. And so, she'd hooked up with her first client.
He had been a married man. Maybe he knew that Anna was the same age as his eldest daughter, and maybe he didn't, but he hadn't acted rudely or roughly toward her in any case. He didn't force himself onto her either, and only put her head in between his legs.
Press once, twice, thrice.
By the time she'd pressed for the twentieth time, her mouth was full of his essence, the only thing the man was screaming was his daughter's name.
It was disgusting.
The man had paid her fifteen hundred dollars.
Anna cried when she saw the money. It had been a mixture of both bitter and happy tears, and she'd always remember this. From that point onward, Anna had started to learn a few tricks of the trade. She learned how to keep a man's focus on himself; she'd get paid, regardless.
By keeping this a secret, she'd get ten clients; twenty clients or more — Anna would lose count after that. She'd always end up making a lot of money, of which she split half for her family and half for herself. With the money, she bought a car and a suite, and still had left enough to lead a comfortable lifestyle. She'd even have a reserve if the economy decided to take a downward plunge for the worse; at least, she wouldn't have to worry about food or clothing or any of the bare necessities. She thought this quite enough.
Today, the clients seemed very inexperienced — virgins, most likely. Kneeling on the ground, Anna brought them to a quick finish. Then, she repeated the steps that had become so familiar.
Spent, the man collapsed on the mattress. He was clearly exhausted.
After she made herself look presentable, Anna took her due payment, lifted her bags, and left the hotel. The fresh air outside was a relief, and she allowed herself to laugh.
"Today really was a pretty easy day..."
