Page 30 of The Devil's Reward
The day started off well enough, even with Macy not giving me a huge fight about going to school. Probably because she knew she was going home with Maddie today, but I’ll happily take the win. Except, that was all that was good about my day. I spent the rest of the morning dealing with one particular client who is not happy to be medically discharged, and trying to fight it tooth and nail. Refusing to leave the base, refusing any help, and refusing to interact with me at all other than to be an arrogant asshole.
My favorite part was him informing me that the only way he would give me the time of day was if I got on my knees and to give him a blowjob. And while he fucked my mouth, he would work out how to make the military change their minds.
Of course, that was the end of the session with him, and I referred him to one of my male co-workers, explaining the situation in the email. Thankfully, Theo is understanding and has no problem in taking him on. He actually referred over one of his own clients who admitted she would prefer to speak with a female, and I’m happy to do that.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one I had to deal with today.
My second and third clients weren’t much better, though they didn’t ask for blow jobs or remark about me sexually. In fact, one of them gave me a look of disgust. I won’t lie, that stung, but I let it go. It’s not the first time someone has looked at me that way, and probably won’t be the last.
Still, it was the fourth client that pissed me off the most by showing up almost an hour into his appointment high as a kite. I had to call him a cab, and then babysit him until the cab got there. I’m not even sure how he made it to my office in the first place.
When I told Crypt about becoming a statistic, I wasn’t exaggerating. I don’t want to see that happen to anyone, but unfortunately, I can’t help this man yet. He needs to help himself, but unless he figures out how to take those steps, well, all I can do is hope.
Still, it saddened me, and by the time I called it a day, I decided I needed to walk it off before I went home. There are bad days in this job, and I learned from the beginning never to bring it home with me. I have enough ghosts and memories already, and I don’t want to add more. So, instead, I’m going to go to the ice cream shop and I’m going to let myself window shop until I head home.
I stop when I hear a chime in my purse. Grabbing my phone out of it, my heart races when I see the message is from Maddie’s mother, Lori. I swipe it open and then relax when I see the picture of the girls having fun swimming in the pool, looking happy as can be. Lori assures me Macy is fine and says to have a good night.
I tap back a quick message, thanking her again for doing this, and I slip the phone back in my pocket. Alright, that helped brighten my mood considerably.
I keep walking, but pause when I see the homeless man by the mouth of the alley with a sign asking for money. He looks sad and tired, and I pull out a couple of bills from my purse, moving towards him. He looks up at me with untrusting dark eyes, but I put on a smile and hold out the money to him. I don’t say a word, but he snatches the money quick enough and then pushes off the wall. “That’s it?” he snaps at me, going from sad to indignant in the blink of an eye. “Ten measly dollars? Bitch.”
“That’s all I have on me,” I tell him calmly, stepping back.
“Yeah, fucking right. I saw that phone. You got money to afford that, you got money to give me,” he snarls. He immediately tries to grab my bag. I step back again but he keeps advancing.Shit.
“Leave me alone,” I bark at him, moving across the sidewalk to get away from him, but he keeps following.
“Not until you pay up, fucking whore,” he screeches, eyes bright from whatever he’s on.
“I don’t fucking thing so,” a deep voice says dangerously behind him, and the man instantly freezes. I step back hastily and see my rescuer is none other than Shadow, and behind him is Viper, who looks none too happy. “You trying to put your hands on a woman, Frank?” Shadow demands, jaw clenched.
“No, no, of course not,” Frank rushes to assure him, stepping away.
“That’s not the way I saw it,” Viper chimes in, crossing his arms forebodingly over his chest. “Looks to me like you were seconds away from mugging her to get her bag.”
“A simple misunderstanding,” Frank tries to assure them, though the hateful glare he sends me is clear. If they hadn’t shown up, Frank would have indeed mugged me.
“Take whatever you got and get gone, Frank,” Shadow barks. “Now.”
Frank doesn’t hesitate, quickly moving around Shadow to grab his sign and run off. “I’ll be back,” Viper says as he takes off after him at a much slower pace.
I swallow hard, my body trembling. “Thank you,” I whisper, staring up at Shadow.
“You alright?” he asks, concern evident in his voice. He gives me a quick once over, like he’s checking for injuries.
“Just shaken up,” I say honestly, swallowing hard. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come along.”
He frowns and steps closer to me. “Frank’s known around here, but he’s never been violent. Mostly just a drunk that bums money for booze and cigarettes. Sometimes he’ll get food, but he’d rather drink it away than eat.”
“I was stupid for getting so close,” I say tiredly. “It’s been a bad day, so I guess I can add this to the running tally of bad things for the day.”
“Where’s the little scammer?” he asks me, glancing around in concern.
“She’s at a friend’s place for the night,” I assure him.Thank God. I don’t want to even think about what could have happened if she was with me. “I was just, uh, walking to get some ice cream. You know, drown my sorrows in something that will go straight to my hips but is worth it in the moment.”
Oh my God, someone stop my runaway mouth. That was way too much information.
“I’ve heard that ice cream is a cure-all for bad days,” he agrees. “Might ruin your dinner though.”
