A/N. I am very open to criticism related to the plot, grammar and spelling. I would like all the help I could get, though I am not looking for a beta, because of personal reasons.
One of my flaw as a writer is that I sometimes jump between past tense and present tense but I am not a native English speaker. I'd like to apologize for that, I try to fix it when I can.
However sometimes separate scenes are in past tense and others in present tense. That is done for the atmosphere.
Chapter 2
Dread
Its time for her eight o'clock shift.
Putting on makeup is both tiring and boring but like most habits a relaxing ritual. In a way she imagines that she is hiding all of her issues and problems away under a slight but durable layer of Gosh foundation +. Then she begins to tell a story and the paper is her face.
Her eyebrows otherwise thin and pink are made a tad bit more luscious with a red undertone. She fantasizes that she is as confident as the eyebrows make her. She adds a thin smidge of a green eyeshadow on her eyelids, she shades with a dark green undertone and cyan glitter for highlights. Maybe this represents her tears, but the clients won't know that, only she does.
She contours her face, making her cheekbones higher and her forehead smaller. This stems from her own insecurity. She doesn't like to think about the bullying but she still carries worries with her about their teasing. Was it really that big?
She finishes it off with a light red lipstick, using a pencil to dutifully make it stick throughout the shift. She looks like a somebody now. A woman who speaks her mind and isn't intimidated easily. She feels more optimistic, more secure.
But like most stories, hers is fictional.
She puts her heels on and enters the stage, grabbing the familiar steel of the pole.
-
She's home again. It's 4 am. She looks into the living room, seeing only clothes and junk food thrown everywhere. Hinata is nowhere to be seen. Where could she be at this hour? Sakura supposed it wasn't any of her business. The chubby girl was shy but seemed adept at making bad decisions.
Sakura wonders though, if her mother was alive, what would she think of her decisions? She doesn't elaborate on the thought, deciding to not venture into that matter. Clammed up from the introspection, she abandons all thoughts of judgement and hastily walks to her room, as if she had been caught doing something wrong. She picks up a book to read. It's old and worn out, from the public library. Her eyes skims the letters but she finds it hard to concentrate.
On the cabinet lies an unopened warning about a late payment on her medical loans. She doesn't look at it.
-
Two weeks pass before she hears from Sasuke again. She can feel his annoyance, pent up like a storm. Please let him be gentle, she thinks. She starts to take off her coat but his voice freezes her in place.
„Stop." She looks at him incredulously. Seeing that she is waiting further instruction, he continues.
„I want to offer you a deal, Sakura." A gasp escapes her lips for he had never addressed her by her name before. And at that moment she got worried.
„ Frankly, I have the Uchiha clan breathing down my neck right now. Watching my every move. It is in light of this that I ask you to sign a confidentiality agreement about our engagement." He observes her with hooded eyes, as if she was too dumb to understand his words.
„...And?" She asks, because she knows that there is something more to it.
„ Let's be clear, do not take this as any kindness. My offer to you is not of my own initiative but of my trusted family members. Call it a promotion if you will." A disgusting little smirk slides on his face and Sakura is immediately discouraged. That smile signaled nothing good.
„You will get a small apartment in my settlement of the Uchiha district, as a cover you will be able to attend retraining classes for high school education. This is one of the perks, the second one is the pay; six grand per month, paid to your account."
She can't believe what she hears. It's unbelievable and her body doesn't know how to respond. An apartment for herself? She shared her flat with three other roommates. This was surreal. The luxury, the education potential- It was all too much. Her mind was racing for an answer, for any direction to take this conversation. But despite her initial shock of bewilderment a heavy feeling settled in the bottom of her stomach.
Dread.
He noticed her expression and his smirk grew a little nastier, but he hid it quickly under a mask of indifference.
„But nothing is free Sakura-chan... I suspect you already know what your job description entails. But to be precise it requires your services as a formal escort for six months to begin with. Legally I'm the only one you're required to serve, though others may ask for your services in exchange for fair payments. It's your choice whether you accept these offers or not."
She wanted to scream. Scream at how disgusting and revolting he was. Make him understand just how much she hated him. Scream at him for making her an offer she couldn't refuse with a good conscience. He spoke like she had already agreed to it and his assumption made her reel with anger and embarrassment.
He held out a contract to her, his eyes piercing her.
Sakura hesitantly reached out with thin fingers for the papers and she supposed in a way that her decision had already been made for her. The contract was just supposed to give her an illusion of choice. She skimmed the first page nonetheless.
He handed her a pen as she read.
Many of the words were too complicated for her to understand, she liked reading but it was mostly high school level vocabulary. Those words… Many she hadn't even heard off before, it might not even be Japanese anymore. But stubborn as she was, she stared at the paper in silence, moving her eyes back and forth after every word, making it look like she was reading it. Sasuke's huff of amusement made it clear that she wasn't fooling him.
Riled up by his obvious belittlement of her person she felt her heart speed up. This filthy man kept oppressing her, he fucked her, beat her, cut her and tortured her for the fun of it. He did this to her body. But she wouldn't let him get into her mind.
She quickly turned the papers around to the last page and with bated breath wrote on the line; Sakura Haruno.
-
…Sigh, Sakura. You're supposed to read contracts before you sign them, haven't you seen the little mermaid?