Prologue
"Cher, please, you don't have to do this." Will's southern drawl was like murder to JJ's ears. She couldn't stand to hear him talk; she couldn't even turn to face him.
"Common darlin' you're bein' stupid."
JJ's head snapped around faster than her body could move. If looks could kill Will would be dead ten times over as well as cleaning up the mess he made.
"I'm being 'stupid'? Then what do you call what you've been doing? Lonely, horny, pathetic? I'm not the one who threw a whole family away for a little 'relief', so, no, I'm not being stupid!" JJ shut her suitcase with a bang, closed the latches and attempted to exit the room.
"We can fix this Jay-Jay you gotta let things bend before they break." Will was pleading his girlfriend to stay by blocking the door.
"Mama?" A little blonde boy walked up behind his mother. He was rubbing his eyes holding his story book 'baby star'.
"Hi, baby, grab your jacket, okay? We are going on a trip." Henry took off back to his room leaving the grown-ups alone for a moment. "And, Will, we have been bending for over two years now and enough is enough." JJ removed the ring with the topaz stone and slammed it onto the dresser next to her before walking out, taking Henry, and leaving Will alone in the house.
Two years later
JJ awoke in a large comfy bed. There was a comforter and real pillows under her head. She threw the sheets back and walked around the room collecting her clothing. She walked out of the hotel room and out the door of the lobby. JJ didn't have any working credit cards so she knew the room wasn't in her name, which left the man that she was with last night to pay for the room service, mini bar and anything they may have broken.
The blonde paid the taxi driver and walked into her apartment building. Henry was waiting downstairs for the school bus... In yesterday's clothes.
"Baby why didn't you change?" The mother asked rushing to her son.
"You haven't done laundry in a few days... I didn't want to say anything so I left before Elle saw me. Don't be mad, mommy."
"I'm not mad. Do me a favour and change into your spare clothes, okay? I have money so we can go to the laundry mat when you get back this afternoon. I think Derek is working. And don't tell your teacher alright, baby?"
"I promise mommy!" The bus rolled up not long after and Henry went on while JJ headed to the apartment.
Once inside, her Hispanic roommate waited for her in their messy living room. Old food containers, dishes and clothes lay around.
"Must have been one hell of a night if you weren't even back in time to see Henry off to school." Elle was sending her a glare that made JJ shift uncomfortably.
"I saw him down stairs..." JJ muttered to the floor.
"Great, well I have to get to work. You're on dish duty and there are left-overs in the fridge." Elle lifted her bag off the couch before heading down to the diner across the street.
"Thanks Elle... For everything..."
"Yeah,yeah, I'm amazing. Just make sure we have clean plates, okay?"
"Got it." The blonde laughed at her best friend. She quickly went to work on making the house look nicer. She and Elle had made a pact when they first moved in together that their home was always just that: a home. JJ never brought her work home. She met her clients at hotels, made them pay half upfront, and made sure they never followed her back. Elle worked at the diner as a waitress and a drug distributor on the side. All sales were done at the diner and never through the apartment. This was Henry's home and nothing could ever ruin that. Another pact they made was that Henry never became a part of this life when he grew up. He'd go to college and get away from all of this. He'd never have to worry about the cops raiding the diner or getting a doctor to scan for an STD... JJ would have never brought Henry into this life style if it wasn't her only option to keep them afloat.
When twelve thirty rolled around JJ was finished cleaning so she packed up all the clothes and spare change before heading to the lobby to meet Henry at the bus.
"Hi, Kevin." JJ smiled up at the bus driver who usually dropped Henry off. The two tended to talk after school, because Henry was the last stop of the afternoon for the kindergarten.
"Hello, Jennifer, how are you?" Kevin smiled back. He always had a slight crush on the gorgeous blonde but never acted upon it. He'd heard rumors through the teachers and other bus drivers of what JJ did for a living, but when he thought about it, it meant someone would have had to have seen her or been with her for the night. This was just another horrid way the world worked: judging others before yourself.
"I'm great. Henry and I are going to meet Derek at the laundry mat, so we will see you tomorrow. Say goodbye, Henry."
"Bye, Kevin! Maybe you can show me the comics tomorrow!" Henry was bouncing around his mother in excitement.
The mother and son headed to the mat with a basket full of clothes and pockets full of change.
The bells rang when Henry burst through the door and ran to the closest machine.
"Well, hello to you too little man." Derek called from behind the counter holding up a can of root beer for the child.
"Sorry, Uncle Derek, but laundry is my favorite!" Henry jumped up in attempt to reach the pop out of the muscular man's hand.
"Wait to see if your momma says yes, kid."
Right on cue JJ walked through the door holding the basket and dropping it next to Henry. "Wait to see if mamma says yes to what?"
"This extremely amazing and cold beverage of root beer for that wickedly smart and funny kid of yours." Derek wiggled his eye brows as he spoke causing the four year old into a fit of laughter while his mother just smirked.
"Yeah, go ahead, but that means you have to sort colors and darks."
Henry dragged the basket over to his machine and started to pull the clothes out, placing light colors in one washer and darks in another.
"So, you owe Elle fifty three dollars." JJ turned towards the desk changing the atmosphere from joyous to serious. She pulled out a small zip lock bag full of white powder and placed it under the money that she owed him for the washer and dryer.
"Tell her it is coming in on the fifteen of the month. Thank you, baby." Derek said leaning over to kiss her cheek.
"Don't get used to it." JJ snapped.
"Oh, someone is bitter today. Heard from his father again?" Will had been a large problem for the last couple of months. He was a CEO of a major company now. He was begging JJ to come back home so they could be a family again. When JJ refused, Will started threatening to take Henry away from her. But this never worried the blonde, because Will had no idea where they were. He was never going to know.
"He called this afternoon, claimed he found a lawyer ,and was coming for me. Why does he want Henry so badly? He threw it all away years ago when he chose to fuck that snot nose bitch."
"And the claws come out!" The dark skinned man laughed. "Now, I think your kid needs help getting the soap in the dispenser..."
"Henry, don't climb on that!"
After they finished laundry and said their goodbyes to Derek, the two blondes headed out for dinner and were home just in time to get homework done.
"Okay, Henry, just put the cards in the right order to finish the sentence."
Elle had walked in from her shift to find the house all neat with JJ and Henry sitting around the table doing his homework and eating pizza.
Elle walked over, grabbed a slice, and placed her tips into the cookie jar on the counter.
"It's late, Henry, I think it's time for bed." Elle said before packing up his homework in his pack for him. The bag was Cars themed, Henry's favorite movie. The two put all their left over cash towards it last summer to get Henry a gift for back to school.
"I don't need to read Baby Star tonight, mommy. I'm a big boy now!" Henry declared to his mother once he was dressed in his night clothes and tucked into bed. "But maybe we can keep the night light on... For tonight... In case I have to go potty..." JJ laughed at her son growing up so fast right before her eyes. Not two months ago had he started school and was beginning to read and write all on his own.
"Alright, we can do that, and we will keep the door open a crack too."
"Night, mommy."
"Goodnight, baby."
Once she left the room, Elle was waiting, holding out her phone with her text screen open. "So you're off to the east end? Will you be back in the morning?"
"I'll try but no promises, men out there tend to take their time." JJ rolled her eyes before she started to dig through her piles of clothes looking for lingerie. "Morgan said you'd get the money on the fifteenth, and fucking Will called again while Henry was at school. Why can't the dumb ass just leave us alone?!"
"Okay, Jennifer, I think you just need to breathe. He'll go away if you keep ignoring him, alright? You better hurry, the East end waits for no one." Elle smiled as she handed JJ her jacket and heels.
JJ rode the elevator up to room 1623, the penthouse suite. She approached the door and gently knocked.
"Who's there?" A husk voice spoke behind the door.
"Special delivery!" JJ said using a higher and seductive voice.
The door was thrown open to reveal an older, more classy gentleman than JJ was expecting. Normally when she was on this side of Manhattan she dealt with younger men in their early twenties spending their parents' money as a form of payback for ignoring them. But this man was well built and obviously well off, probably even had a family only a few streets away.
"Aaron Hotchner." He greeted.
"JJ" She spat bitterly.
"What no first name?"
"I gave you initials. Cash upfront." JJ stuck her hand out towards the taller man.
"I was told you'd be worth it." Aaron laughed while he grabbed his wallet off the bed side table.
"I'm always worth it, doesn't mean I have to be pleasant." The blonde shred off her coat and placed it behind the chair.
"Then let's make this quick." He replied while he unbuttoned his very clean and pressed white shirt.