The pain in my neck reminds me why I stopped sleeping on the couch and actually bought a bed. I was trying to save money when I first got started, but the days I couldn’t work because my back was so stiff that I couldn’t move cost me a lot more than a bed did. 

As I work the kinks out, I head to the washroom to start my morning routine when I suddenly forget what I was going there for. 

Tasmin is toweling off after a shower and not doing much for modesty. I fight the urge to gawk, especially when she makes eye contact with me through the mirror. 

“Don’t be shy,” She says, throwing the towel onto the bed. I wish she wouldn’t do that, but I find it easy to forgive her as she slinks towards me. “Nothing you haven’t already seen.”

“It’s nothing like that. You came here for a procedure.”

“Oh, yes, doctor…”

She looks at me blankly, which tells me she can’t seem to find my name in her mind. 

“I see it worked. I’m Rhys. I run this place and I’m not a doctor. You were here for a catalog. You didn’t have a ride home, so I let you stay the night.” 

“Is that something you do for all your clients?” 

She took the opportunity to put on her skirt from the night before, but still walked around like they were old frat buddies on a hot day. Taking her time to find a shirt and not bothering to cover up. 

“No. Actually, there was some messed up stuff in there. You don’t remember any of it?”

“Nope,” She skips over to me and taps the end of my nose. “You must be really good at what you do.”

Too good, based on this morning. She doesn’t remember a thing. This is a completely different person from the one I saw last night, but for all I know, this is the person she was before last night. She seems happy with it, so I don’t force the issue. 

“So is that what you do here?”

She pulls her top down over herself. It doesn’t leave much to the imagination, but it’s a lot easier to make eye contact. 

“Kind of.” 

“Do you do augments and stuff?”

“You don’t remember me at all? You came to me last night. You seemed to know an awful lot about me.” 

“Nope. Probably didn’t need to know you before last night. That’s a good thing though, isn’t it?”

“Definitely.”

“Hey,” She walks up to me, getting very close. “You didn’t peek at anything, did you?”

“No, what? What do you mean?”

“You know. A girl has her private thoughts. Wouldn’t want you messing around in there to get your jollies.” 

“No. Never.”

“Good, because if you’re going to do that, I want to remember it.”

She walks out of the room. I need a moment to gather my tongue off the floor. 

“You got anything to eat in this place? I can make eggs if you got ‘em.”

She’s not opening a greasy spoon any time soon, but she can make a decent egg. I thought I didn’t have much to go with it, but she made some of the best eggs I’ve had in awhile. She takes a seat with her portion in front of me and shovels it into her mouth like a trucker. 

“Is appetite a side effect of that cataloging stuff?” 

“Could be, but everyone reacts differently.” 

She points her fork at me, mouth full of egg. 

“And you’re sure there was no funny business.”

“I swear.”

“I’m starving. If it wasn’t your thing or your...” She swirls the fork around her temple, trying to find the words. “Thing. I don’t know why I’m so hungry.”

I watch as she does and she clears her plate entirely. 

“You’re not eating yours?” She says, pointing at my half-eaten eggs. 

I motion for her to feel free and she does. 

“Can I ask about what brought you here last night?”

“Can’t remember a thing. You did the trick.”

“What’s the last thing you do remember?” 

“I remember getting to the club. I went to see my boss. Someone knocks - then I wake up here.” 

“That’s it? That’s a little more than I intended to remove.” 

“I feel fine. It’s probably for the best.” 

“You said your boss is the guy you went to see? He is the one behind that big desk?”

“Yup. That’s Ludo. He runs the club.”

“Are you a waitress there or something?”

She gets up and grabs the plates. She scrunches up her face and looks at me like I’m a small, lost puppy dog. 

“Or something,” She takes the plates to the sink and talks over her own shoulder. “Not all of us can be fancy catalog people.”

“Yeah, well, things aren’t so great here.”

“You’ve got a nice place. You must be doing alright.”

“Could always be doing better.” 

“Are you not making good money doing this?” She turns back to me as she uses her shirt to dry her hands after she can’t find anything by the sink to do so. “People would pay real good to have people that can do this like you can.”

“You don’t know I’m that good.”

“The fact that I’m not drooling on the floor this morning tells me you’re good. Trust me, I’ve seen things.”

I know she has, but I don’t want to ask for more detail. 

“Marketing costs money. I can’t get ads out there without dumping a whole bunch of cash. It also brings a lot of unwanted attention. I’m good with the shop as is, I just need it to do a little better.” 

“I tell you what, you come to the club with me and I’ll introduce you to some friends. They’d be happy to meet you.”

“Wait. You’re going back?”

“Where else am I going to go?”

“You were in real rough shape when you came here. I can’t just let you go back.”

“You’re not letting me do anything, guy-I-just-met.” 

“Sorry, it’s just- The little bit I did see didn’t look good. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt going back there.” 

“You don’t need to worry about me. I don’t know what happened last night. It’s not on the news this morning, which tells me it’s not as bad as it can get. I’ll be fine.”

She gets up and starts to gather her shoes and jacket. 

“Your choice if you want to join me. Thanks for the help.”

She leaves without closing the door behind her. 

I figure I can check this place out for myself. I saw something I wasn’t meant to see, but it can’t all be bad all the time. She wouldn’t go back if it were. I can drum up some more business from these guys. Get my shop running full-speed again. Maybe even get out of this neighborhood so I don’t have strangers banging on the door in the middle of the night.