Chapter 16~

It had been two months since I last saw Darien or any of the girls. I was thinking about him less and less. It was truly a blessing. Contests weren't starting up any time soon so I was still a hooker making good money and helping Summer pay rent. I had been trying so hard to push her and Kent together but my efforts always ended in failure. Since Kent was too shy to make the first move I tried to convince Summer to, but she wouldn't have it and wanted the man to make the first move. She was very traditional when it came to relationships.

I had my distractions between friendship, matchmaking, and a job I was growing more and more sick of every night. At first it didn't seem all that bad. Now, as time moved on, I was so tired of screwing random guys. I was tired of walking down sidewalks acting sexy. My name was spreading from a drinking contest champion to the former champion resorting to life in a stranger's bed for her income. In one way it was humiliating, in another way I'd simply grown too used to it to care.

For now I had to remind myself that my personal view on the subject didn't matter. Business was slow and whereas I'd normally be picked up within an hour, it had been three. Betch's locally famous club was probably to blame. They'd started a special on Saturday nights and according to Betch they had some very young and attractive new hires. It wouldn't come as a surprise if everyone was going there to see what the club was bragging about. I still refused to work for any clubs. I didn't have a desire to broadcast my body to the public and I doubted I could go on stage and pole dance for a perverted audience.

I sighed and considered going back to Summer's. The bed was boring but standing around waiting for the bed was worse.

I was on the brink of going back when a sporty black car slowed down and pulled over beside me. It was chilly out and I was getting cold. Even if he offered $50 I was willing to take that for a little warmth. Not to mention I couldn't be very picky tonight, not with business this bad. $50 was better than nothing at all.

I walked up to the car and put on a cute little smile as the window rolled down. The smile dropped immediately when it revealed Darien. I tried to look as absolutely annoyed as possible in hopes that he would just drive off.

"What are you doing out here so late?" he asked. "And not even dressed for cold weather."

I noticed that he didn't comment on what my clothing or late night stroll hinted at. Maybe he'd never seen one of my kind before. Or maybe he simply didn't want to believe it.

"I'm just on a business run," I answered, backing off from the car.

I started walking back down to Summer's place but he followed, his car slowly rolling along in synced pace. I'd never hated the sound of tires gripping the road as much as I did now. I seriously considered kicking the car itself. Maybe leave a scratch or small dent in it. It could be enough to make him angry and drive off, leaving me to go back to Summer's alone and in peace.

"Yeah. So, uh, what exactly is a business run?"

I shrugged. "It's just errands, really."

"Errands for who?"

"Company."

"So you're a businesswoman?"

"Something like that."

"What's the company you work for?"

I refrained from snapping at him. "Why do you even care?"

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because I'm n—" A car practically screeched to a halt behind him before I could finish my sentence and honked.

I glared at Darien.

"You're holding up traffic," I said.

"They can wait."

"That's—" I paused for a moment as a half baked plan struck me. "—a company car."

"A what?"

"I called them to come pick me up. Cold outside, you know?"

I didn't give him a second longer to respond and dashed to the passenger window of the car behind him. Even if this person had no intention of paying me for a night, maybe they could help me out anyway.

A man rolled down the window and looked at me. I flipped my hair to cover my face so Darien couldn't see my expressions and smoothly leaned in to see if I could secure a client for the night. He seemed interested with my smile and fluttering eyes.

"Hello, sir," I practically sang.

"Well…hello there," he replied. "What are you doing out here in the cold?"

I wouldn't put it past Darien to get out of his car so I tried to be quick without being too obvious.

"Just looking for a little warmth." I winked at him.

If Darien saw my face he would know I was flirting and the whole "company car" act would be blown to bits.

"Warmth, huh? You know…my apartment has a nice heater. Should keep you plenty warm."

His voice sounded lower and huskier than before, and at that moment I knew I had this in the bag.

"You wouldn't mind if I, maybe, dropped by for a while, would you?" I kept my voice sweet as honey.

"Would you drop by for $100 and a good time?"

"Maybe you could give me a lift and let the good time last just a little bit longer…" I whispered seductively.

He unlocked the car with an excited smile and I couldn't help but wonder if he was new to this game. I got in, still trying not to seem rushed, and rolled the window back up no sooner than I closed the door.

"Safety first," he said, pointing to his seatbelt. "Don't want some drunk asshole killing nobody."

"Of course!" I put my seatbelt on as quickly as I could and kept smiling.

He nodded his head in approval and tried to drive around Darien's car. My relief was short-lived when Darien suddenly turned his car from the side of the road and cut us off. Thank goodness for this seatbelt.

"Are you kidding me!" the man shouted. "This is exactly what I mean, a bunch of Saturday night drunkards driving around town in a damn stupor!"

I giggled somewhat nervously. "Traffic's been a little slow today, what about a u-turn?"

"Honey, there ain't a way to make a u-turn on this here road, that's illegal."

Okay so he would pay for sex but follow the law down to the tee like some obedient dog? There were no cars coming on the other side of the road and the cops here didn't obey or enforce the law anyway. If anybody in this town cared about laws I wouldn't have been able to drink that much when I was underage. I beat the sheriff in a contest before!

The man honked again and rolled down his window.

"Get outta the way!"

Darien, as I predicted, got out of his car and came around to the driver's side. The man should've just made the u-turn when he had the chance.

"Listen, if he asks, we're coworkers and you came to pick me up."

"What?"

"Play along and I'm half off."

"Excuse me, sir," Darien told the man when he reached the window. "I believe you have the wrong girl. She's on a business run."

"We're coworkers and I came to pick her up," the man replied, quoting me word for word.

"Oh, yeah, of course. Ahhhh…" Darien snapped his fingers as though he'd forgotten something. What was his game, exactly…? "What was her name again?"

"He knows my name is Serena," I quickly interjected. "Serena Tsukino."

Well played, Darien.

He took a deep breath. "Serena! Yes, that's it! I am so sorry, I'm usually not this forgetful."

"Well now that we got names out of the way, could you kindly get your car out of the way?" the man asked.

Darien looked at me, then his car, and then back at the man. "Serena's not for sale."

"You think I'm buying her?"

I just stared straight ahead miserably. Men stole girls away all the time by offering larger sums of money. It was little more than a business transaction. There were known occasions when disputes broke out. The girls never got involved in them. I wasn't going to get involved in this one.

"Listen, buddy," the man continued, "I'm not buying any girls here, I'm just renting her out for a night. Nothing wrong with that, she's not my slave or nothing."

Darien's face twisted into anger and he pulled the car door wide open. "Get out."

"Hey! You can't do that to my car, that's trespassing, I could have you arrest—" A hard punch in the face stopped him short.

I'd personally seen these kinds of disputes. Rarely was it a man who disapproved of prostitution. Usually it was because two men wanted the same girl and neither was willing to give her up. Men like Darien thought they were protecting the girls. They thought of this as rape or something but it wasn't. There was consent from both parties.

"Oh, that does it!" the man shouted, unbuckling his seatbelt.

He got out of the car and put his fists up. Both men started throwing punches at each other. This could've been avoided. All of it. Had Darien kept to himself I would be getting paid tonight. I would get paid and go home. I would sleep it off, wake up, have a few drinks, and pretend nothing ever happened. Rinse and repeat later that night. I thought Darien had left but I was horribly mistaken. He would give me space for a few weeks or months and somehow manage to cross my path again. I wished he would go back to wherever he came from and leave me be.

I heard the grunt of the man I was supposed to screw tonight and heard him fall back onto the car. I knew Darien had won but I refused to look at the aftermath. Before I knew it my car door opened.

"Serena, get out of the car," Darien said, his tone very commanding.

I looked at the steering wheel just to look away from him.

"Get out of the car," he repeated.

He couldn't yank me out. The seatbelt would stop me from moving. And he could tell me to do something all he wanted, I wasn't obliged to listen.

He threw money onto my lap. "You go with men for money, right? You do what they tell you to?"

I'd already heard this from Summer, so much that she got tired of hounding me and stopped because it wasn't working.

"It's payment in advance, now let's go," he said.

Although I didn't have to accept the money, once I counted out $250, I gauged how slow business was as opposed to me getting paid this much. And he wasn't wrong. If a man paid me then yes, I did what he wanted me to do. Besides, it was only for one night and it wasn't like Darien was into his friends doing business with me all at the same time. Granted, I did get paid a lot the only two times I'd ever done that, but there wasn't enough of me to go around so two men became my max. If Darien by chance did have a friend I would be getting paid double so I suppose I couldn't complain too much.

I unbuckled myself and let him walk me to his car. He was fuming and as I got into the car I could feel the rage filling it up.

"So that's your business?" he growled.

I wordlessly put my seatbelt on and waited for him to take me to his place. One night. That was what he paid for. After this, I never wanted to see his face again. I wanted him out of my life forever. I wanted the girls out of my life forever. I wanted my real friends. I wanted things to go back to normal and that couldn't happen if everyone who used to know me kept barging in like this.

"Serena, is this your 'business' or not? Answer me!"

"So what if it is? It's none of your concern."

"It is my concern, actually. I still care about you."

"You used to care about me. It used to be your concern. But now it's not. This is just a business transaction, nothing else. You paid for one night. I suggest you make the most of it." Just like everyone else did.

"I paid for one night of what? What are we doing tonight?"

"That depends on what you want."

"So, anything at all? Whatever I want?"

"That's how it works."

"Okay. No more 'business' deals."

"Done."

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Done?" he said. "That's it? No resistance? No arguing? No excuses?"

I looked out the passenger window and watched the buildings go by. "Nope. You have me to yourself for one night. Like I said, this is business, not personal."

"Why nights? Why not a day job?"

"You paid me to do things, not answer things."

"Answering things is doing something and you said you'll do whatever I ask for an entire night."

Whatever. "This one pays well," I sighed.

And considering I didn't have a high school diploma or GED or transcript, I'd probably dropped out of school. Who would hire a dropout?

"So that's it? You want money so you just sell yourself to buy what? Alcohol, cigarettes?"

"Rent, utilities, groceries, etc."

He paused for a few minutes. I didn't know for certain why but I was hoping he was letting it sink in that I had more responsibilities than alcohol and smoking. Another person was living with Summer. I had to help pay expenses one way or another. I also chipped in for Kent. Sometimes Summer struggled with money when competition came to town so I picked up a little extra for her. I liked to live carefree but I also had financial obligations.

"So, you know, get a different job. It's not glamorous but they're always hiring waitresses," he said. "This one is dangerous, you can get yourself into real trouble. What if you were to get pregnant?"

"Birth control implant," I answered.

"STDs?"

"So far I'm good."

"Well, yeah, but what about in the future?"

"I already know it's dangerous." And admittedly there was a certain thrill in it. "But what I do is my choice, not yours. Leave it alone."

He let out a long, frustrated breath. I already knew he wouldn't be happy with my choice of career, especially given that he was unhappy with my lifestyle. I'd tried to hide it, but he always found a way to track me down and catch me before I could run. It was annoying.

Perhaps I had a way with him, too, because the rest of the ride was mostly silent. I did my best not to look stressed but I was sure that at one point or another he saw my reflection in the glass.

There was a distinct lack of interrogations and, while I didn't like him texting while driving, I was hoping to get this night over with and leave first thing in the morning. Head back to Summer's. Take a long bath potentially followed by a shower just to make sure he was all washed off me. Get something to eat. Take some painkillers for the headache I would inevitably have. Try to catch a few hours' sleep. Wake up. Beg Summer to move closer to Kent on the other side of town. Be forced to tell her what happened and why. Try not to mention Darien even though I knew I would have to. And finally, never bring this night up again. To anyone.

We took an elevator to his hotel floor and I was hit with the scent of extremely loud cologne wafting through the halls.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Darien said when he saw me scrunch my nose up. "I think the guy a few rooms down has a date and he overdid it. Now the whole floor has to suffer."

Suffering didn't even begin to cut it…

"So, how exactly did you have that much money hanging out in your pocket if you weren't looking for…" I whispered the last part as we approached his door. "…a hooker?"

He didn't answer until we were in his hotel room.

"I have a nice job, pays pretty well. And for the record I've never looked for any hookers," he said.

I crossed my arms. "Then what, exactly, do you plan to do with me?"

I was fully aware that I'd just referred to myself as a hooker but after all Darien had seen, there was no use trying to hide it any longer. I also didn't care too much about what he thought of my choices. Besides, I did very much consider my job better than Betch's job. If Darien thought a paid one night stand with someone was bad, he'd lose his mind over work at a strip club. If anything he should be grateful I wasn't doing worse things.

"Well, first of all I need you to wash that makeup off," he answered.

It wasn't in the job description to question clients. I was told to do something and I did it, whether it made sense or not. Despite having known him in the past, and despite our obvious history, he was just another client tonight.

I went to his bathroom, grabbed a wash cloth, lathered it with unscented soap, and started scrubbing layers of makeup off my face. I'd spent a good half hour trying to make my face look perfect and now I had to ruin it. This wasn't supposed to happen until morning. I was supposed to keep looking fake and trashy all night.

With the makeup off and a dry face, I came back out expecting to be led straight to the bed room, to the bed, where my clothes would be off my body in seconds. I would be completely exposed to him. But why did he even want me now? We had slept together twice, there was nothing new about me. There was nothing left to discover. Where was the fun in that?

But I found him sitting on the couch flipping through TV channels.

"Want something to eat? Drink?" he asked me.

"Actually I could go for a smoke," I replied truthfully.

Smoking helped me destress. Let me relax for a while. Darien didn't seem to like the idea but tried to keep a straight face. Maybe he understood, maybe he didn't.

"I can also stay inside," I added. I had to show him I was only here to do my job. I didn't want him getting any wrong ideas.

"No, no. But put some clothes on first."

He went to his bedroom and rummaged around his closet until he found a large shirt. He threw it to me and looked at me expectantly.

"Seriously? This thing over what I'm wearing now?" I held up the shirt with one hand and motioned to the rest of me with the other.

"Are you supposed to be asking your 'clients' why they want something?"

I cleared my throat. "Very well."

I began to take my shirt off but he stopped me before I could lift it over my head.

"Woah! Not in here!"

"Well, dammit, Darien, what do you want from me?" I growled as I put my shirt back down.

"Not paying for sass," he 'reminded' me.

I gritted my teeth and went back into the bathroom to change. Washing my face was one thing but by the time I got done struggling to get that tight skimpy shirt off, my hair was a wreck. I had to go for a hot mess look. Doable. Not as great as before but doable.

I was already frustrated by the time I came back out a second time. Normally I would've had a little patience but the mere fact that this client happened to be a forgotten old flame that wouldn't leave me alone was upsetting.

I pulled a cigarette pack and lighter out of my purse and Darien led me to a small balcony outside his hotel room. I didn't know exactly why he was acting so calm right now. He was clearly unhappy with me smoking but he paid for one night of my obedience and he was letting me smoke. I couldn't figure it out.

I tried to ignore it and lit my cigarette.

"You know that stuff can give you cancer right?" he said.

I inhaled some cancer and slowly blew it away from him.

"I'm not a heavy smoker. I have met some people who smoke like freight trains though."

"At your 'job'?"

I leaned against the railing and watched the trees below quiver with the breeze.

"I know you don't agree with what I do but I can take care of myself. Been on my own for several years now."

"Why did you run away in the first place?" I felt his eyes staring me down.

"Dunno." I snuck a quick glance at my wrist and added, "I was probably in a bad place before I actually came to one." This part of town wasn't exactly the best neighborhood to live in. It felt like home to me nevertheless.

Darien leaned back against the wall. "Have you ever thought about coming back?"

I took another puff of smoke and shook my head. "If I ran away it's because I wasn't happy there."

"Are you happy here?"

"Yes."

"Are you happy with your job?"

I resisted the urge to react rudely—this was business, not personal, no matter how much Darien wanted to make it that way. And a professional attitude meant sucking up to the client…whoever he happened to be.

"I'm fine with it," I lied. Said job didn't include honesty in its description.

I heard his initial sigh turn into a hiss.

"So what did you do before…this?"

"I don't really remember. I know I used to live in this old house before Summer took me in. Aside from that I can't recall a thing."

"So you have to help with expenses and that's why you sell yourself."

"I'm using my talents for a greater good."

"And this doesn't at all seem wrong to you?"

Of course it seemed wrong. It felt wrong. But I needed the money and this was the only thing I was actually good at, if drinking wasn't included.

"Nope."

"You're fine with random men giving you a piece of paper to get in your pants? Men who don't care about anything but your body?"

I inhaled some more cancer and replied, "They're just clients."

"Do they ever ask if you're uncomfortable with something they do? Do they ever ask you what you like?"

"It's business. It's not some intimate relationship, they don't care what I want. I'm not being hurt, okay? There's no abuse or rape or whatever going on here. They pay me to do what they want and I accept, that's how things work. Just like any other job out there," I explained about as calmly as I could.

I may not like selling myself but it paid the bills. Some new dealers started showing up recently and Kent's monthly rent was closing in. I didn't have the time to find a job that not only took hookers but also paid well enough to help my friends. Friends so close that I actually considered them family.

By the time I was done smoking, Darien was starting to shiver. I really shouldn't have cared but for some reason I did. I blamed it on being human and having human compassion. I wasn't ignorant, I knew he cared about me. I wouldn't venture to say he loved me but he did care. He wanted me to be happy. He thought I wasn't and that's why he was doing all this. Neither of us would get laid tonight.

"Let's go back inside," I said.

He was about to reply but I yelped as we went back in, something sliding against my lower leg. I looked down to find his cat that had been so friendly towards me last time I was here.

He chuckled when I picked her up.

Her fur was so soft and well groomed.

"She used to be your cat," Darien said.

"That explains why she seems to like me so much." I didn't question him. I didn't even want to question him. I just wanted to relax with a sangria in hand and crickets chirping in the background.

Darien sat on the couch. "Yeah, her name's Luna. You found her in the streets, she followed you home, and you kept her."

I sat next to him and Luna curled up on my lap. This cat was so sweet. I couldn't resist stroking her. She seemed to like it and purred loudly. It was kind of funny, in a way.

"I don't know if I could keep her now. Summer might not want a cat." Plus, although it wasn't exactly a financial struggle, a pet would cost more money and I wasn't so sure if it was a good idea to be spending more right now. Maybe I could keep her when Summer managed to get more customers back.

"You should talk to her," Darien said. "Luna's missed you for a long time, look how happy she is to see you again. And she can keep you company when you're lonely."

Nights were when I spent most of my time awake. Thanks to my job my body had become accustomed to staying up very late and sleeping in til past noon. Summer did stay up late but she was nowhere near as nocturnal as me. I did get a little lonely sometimes, mainly when I was trying to fall asleep but couldn't.

I could try to take Luna home with me but I didn't know for sure if Summer would let me have a cat… There was a chance she might though, and this cat was such a friendly little thing… Couldn't hurt to ask.

"I have something I want you to watch," Darien told me.

He got up, opened a drawer in the TV stand, and rummaged around until he pulled out a seemingly blank floppy disc. It did have writing on it but the handwriting was sloppy and illegible. Whoever wrote on it was either in a rush or just had messy handwriting. I could vaguely make out what could be my name, but there was absolutely no certainty.

He inserted the disc into a DVD player and changed the input on the TV. He pressed play and took a place beside me.

"Tell me if this brings back any memories for you," he said.

By now I doubted I even wanted to remember anything… What if I did, and my life changed because of it? Why would I want that? Why would I want to remember a guy who dumped me because he had a bad dream? Or so-called "friends" who obviously hadn't helped me in my time of need all those years ago? They had to have known I was depressed. They probably even knew I was cutting myself. Where were they when I needed them? Why did all of them abandon me and then act so shocked when they found out I had new friends who would do anything for me? Real friends who would help me.

The movie started playing and I immediately realized that it was not a movie. It was some strange compilation of a group of female superheroes. Called themselves the Sailor Scouts. One of them, presumably the leader, had my old hairstyle. She sounded similar to me but this was an obvious coincidence. If I was some superhero I was pretty sure I'd know it even with amnesia. I would have gadgets and special powers and whatnot. I would feel the irresistible urge to save people, to dive right into a dangerous situation for the sake of some random person. I felt no such thing. For Pete's sake, I was a prostitute. I wasn't helping anyone, not even myself. Men paid me to pleasure them, I'd never rescued anyone…never even felt the desire to.

The next compilation was younger me enjoying myself with who I assumed was Amy, Rei, Lita, and Mina. I was almost positive this was us back when we were a group of friends. Rei was constantly fighting with me, that was one of the first things I noticed. At one point it looked like Lita and I were bickering over the same blonde-haired boy. I was such a klutz back then, hard to believe that was me. My assumptions about me having dropped out of school were proven correct when I saw a clip of myself falling asleep during an apparent study session with Amy. Mina and I were being scolded by Rei in one of the clips. Luna was in most of the clips, just hanging around in a catlike fashion. I was either laughing or crying in all of them.

Things changed again, this time showing me with Darien and, in some clips, a very young pink-haired girl. I was so happy. I was clearly head over heels in love with Darien. It seemed as though I was fond of the girl as well. Perhaps Darien and I had talked about adopting her back then, and that was why she'd been referred to as our "future daughter". It was really the only thing that made sense to me.

I was getting uncomfortable with this video. It wasn't ringing any bells but my life looked so good…why had I deliberately abandoned it? Something didn't add up. There was no way I could be that happy but end up completely replacing everything in my life. There was something Darien was keeping from me.

I waited for the video to end before addressing the matter—client or not. And if he brought up the "never question the client" thing again, he got his money back and I left.

"So," I started, "where's the rest?"

"You still don't remember anything? None of that?"

"No." Maybe the Sailor Scout thing was a past interest. "But tell me why I would ever give up my happiness to come to this place. What else happened?"

At first he just looked at me. I couldn't quite read his expression. Maybe he was surprised at my question, maybe he was caught off guard, or maybe he was concocting an answer—true or false. I wasn't in the mood for lies right now.

"I-I…" he stuttered.

I sharpened the knives I was about to throw at this guy and waited for him to finish.

Suddenly he sported a huge, infuriating grin. "Isn't your job to answer questions, not ask them?"

I almost laughed, not at him, but at myself for being so stupid as to come here with him. For being so stupid as to work for him. Instead I took a deep breath and proceeded to get his money out of my purse.

"Wait, what are you doing…?" he mumbled.

I dropped the money onto his lap and turned to leave, only to have my wrist yanked back. It hurt, and I was more than ready to break his hand.

"Y-You have to stay!" he cried. "I paid you, you said you'd do whatever I say!"

I took another breath to calm myself down and looked over my shoulder to him.

"I'm giving you a full refund and I will not spend another minute in here," I said. "Whatever we used to have is over and you're the one who decided that, not me. You dumped me because you had a bad dream. A bad dream. What the hell kind of an excuse is that?"

"I—"

"And then," I continued, cutting him off, "you decided I wasn't worth helping when I needed you. I was so depressed I was slicing up my skin and you didn't give a rat's ass about it. Now you want to get back together? I'm guessing you'll say you made a mistake or something and expect me to believe it. Newsflash, I don't want a boyfriend and even if I did it certainly wouldn't be you."

"No, Serena, please, you have it all wrong!"

"I might not remember the details but I know I ran away because I wanted to be happy. Well I found happiness here. I made new friends. I have a new life. I don't want you in it anymore," I finished.

I found it very hard to believe I had anything wrong, let alone all of it. I was literally wearing the evidence on my sleeve. Maybe I'd been so hurt by the breakup that I became depressed, and it spiraled out of control. But that was all in the past. I needed to focus on the present.

I walked out the door with Luna in tow, and headed back to Summer's apartment.

A/N

So sorry for the EXTREMELYYYYYYYYY late update, so I'm hoping to sort of compensate with a really long chapter. Here's to hoping for forgiveness!

*Turns out I had this chapter written out all this time but for some reason it never got posted... What...the...