AN: This story contains sexual scenes of dubious consent and nonconsent.
Laurey glided through the river with slow, easy strokes, her eyes glowing. She had always loved swimming, loved the feeling of flying, but now it was something different. Now she also loved the way the water rippled against her thighs, the way the cold air seemed to caress her in exactly the places where she wanted to be caressed.
Instinctively she whirled around at the noise she heard. She knew every noise every animal in the prairie made, and she knew immediately that what she heard was a person. Legs kicking to keep herself upright, she covered herself up as best she could with her hands and pedaled to the other side of the river until a man appeared in the clearing. He was a man she hadn't seen before, tall, muscular, dark hair. And he was looking right at her.
"Hi" his voice was low and harsh, nothing like the teasing tone most boys took when they talked to her.
"Who're you?" too scared to sound mad, her voice came out as a high-pitched squeak
"I'm the new hired hand over at the farm up there. Jud Fry."
"Oh" she vaguely remembered Aunt Eller's mentioning finding someone to replace Clarence, but hadn't paid it much mind. "I'm Laurey." In her vulnerable state, she didn't want him to know just who she was.
"That right?" he continued looking at her. "Where do you work? Didn't see any kinda place nearby."
"Sorry? I don't–"
"I got money now. Not a lot, but how much you charge?"
"Excuse me?" She thought she knew what he was saying, but didn't believe it; surely no one would think that about her.
"Well, how much would you charge for a couple minutes right now? Can do it here unless you got a room somewhere"
She felt her face turn bright red and she laughed out of pure nervousness. "I'm not a…I'm not a woman like that."
"You're sure?"
"Yes, of course I'm sure!" her voice had become shrill. "Oh! How dare you even ask me that!"
"Right, then. My mistake" he continued staring at her, seemingly unembarrassed by what he had said.
"Uh, it's-it's all right. Didn't mean no harm."
"You live around here?"
"Uh-huh"
"Reckon we'll be seein' a lot of each other, then?"
"S'pose so"
"Lookin' forward to it, Miss Laurey" with a tip of his hat, he walked back into the trees.
She watched him go, and only when she was sure he wouldn't turn around, she pulled herself on land and put on her clothes, her heart still thudding in her chest. She knew she should be furious, that she should hate him for thinking that about her. But she couldn't. She figured that kind of woman had to be pretty, had to be liked, didn't she? So, was that what he thought of her? That she was pretty? That she was worth liking?
She spent the rest of the day in her room, trying to forget what had happened that morning, but never being able to put it out of her mind for more than a few minutes. She kept reliving the events, even found herself looking at herself in the mirror to try and see what made him think that way about her. She tried picturing herself as a woman like that, imagining herself in a lacy black corset, black stockings. Imagined what it would be like to have men want to kiss her or touch her or…no she knew that wasn't a healthy thing to think about.
In an effort to distract herself, she walked to the kitchen, thinking she could help Eller with dinner. But on her way, she heard a voice–the same voice from the river. She knew she'd have to see him again, but hadn't expected it to be so soon. She tried to back up the stairs, but Eller had the ears of a cat.
"Oh, Laurey! Come in and meet the new hired hand."
Unable to stall, Laurey went into the dining room. Jud was even taller than she'd realized, with broad shoulders and muscular arms. He was unkempt, with thick, dark hair that fell across his forehead and black stubble all over his chin, not to mention his filthy shirt and the dirt under his nails. He smiled broadly; immediately recognizing her as the girl? the woman? the whore? from the river.
"Laurey" Eller entered from the kitchen "this is the new hired hand, Jud. Figured he could have dinner with us since he ain't settled yet. Jud, this is my niece Laurey, lives here on the farm with me."
"Jud Fry" he extended a hand to her "real pleased to meet you, Miss Laurey."
And with that, they shared a secret. It was a small secret in the scheme of things, just a misunderstanding. Surely if he'd thought it had been a silly mistake, he would have told Aunt Eller about it. But instead it was something that bound them.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Fry."
