Page 7 of My Soul for Sale

Tomorrow is my day off, so I’ll go as soon as I wake up. That way it’s done and they can get the results. I’m hoping being so quick about it will show whoever’s in charge that I’m serious.

I send the email back with my form and a few more pictures of me, full body, and all angles. That way, they know my body measurements are accurate or pretty damn close.

Looking at the clock, I see it’s half past midnight and I’ve been alone since the two friends came in earlier to order Miller Lites.

I lock the doors, switch off the open sign, and start closing my drawer.

Tomorrow can’t come soon enough.

Chapter Five

Atlas

The hum of the radio fills the garage as I work on my truck. It’s a 1979 Chevy Silverado and my pride and joy. I can’t wait for her to run and look her best. I just installed a new carburetor and now I need to make sure she’s working.

Using a compression tester on each spark plug hole, I watch intently as the gauge on the tester climbs, measuring the pressure within the cylinder. My eyes narrow in concentration, fingers tightening around the tool. Once the gauge stabilizes, I release the pressure and move on to the next cylinder.

Frustrated, I slap my towel on the open engine. “Fuck!” I have a weak intake and exhaust valves.

I’m sure I’ve got a fuel delivery problem like a clogged fuel filter, fuel pump, or the fuel pickup strainer in the tank. Tomorrow I’ll have to check the fuel pressure and volume.

“You look good working on your truck, Atlas,” a familiar voice calls.

Turning around, I see Jenna leaning against the door of the garage with her arms crossed.

“What are you doing here, Jenna?” I ask, wiping my hand on a shop rag.

It’s not like her to just stop by unannounced, and if she asked or gave me a heads-up, I would have told her that now isn’t a good time. We went to high school together and while she’s tried her damnedest to get in my bed, she’s not been successful and won’t ever be.

We may be friends, but I remember how she treated Sloane when she went to school with us. Jenna acted like she was gum on the bottom of her shoe. I warned her a few times to knock it off and was going to end our friendship, but then Sloane left and it didn’t seem necessary.

“I had the most interesting day at work and thought you’d like to hear about it.”

I roll my eyes and huff in annoyance. Jenna knows I don’t like gossip, but she always has ‘the tea’ to spill and somehow I’m the one she tells.

“So I was at work today doing some filing and we had quite a few back-to-back appointments. Which is unusual, and they were all women. Women who didn’t all look like they’d fit our normal clientele. Anyway, I asked the head nurse what was going on and she told me that some fancy rich guy was sending in all these women to be screened for an auction.”

An auction? She can’t mean the same one Dad and I are going to, right? But how many more people auctions can there be in town?

“An auction?” I ask, playing stupid because I don’t want her to know our business. If Jenna knows, the whole town will know within the week.

“Yeah. Apparently, all these women and a few men are selling themselves this coming weekend for sex. Obviously not legal, and all of us in the office had to sign an NDA.”

I shake my head at her and narrow my eyes. “You know that by telling me you’re breaking the NDA, right?”

She laughs. “It’s you silly. Are you going to turn me in? But more importantly, what kind of woman would willingly do that?” She sticks a finger in her mouth and feigns a gag.

“I don’t know Jenna. I’m sure they have their reasons.”

“And who would go and buy sex? Sure, we screened them all for STDs, pregnancy, and shit, but still. No self-respecting person would pay for sex. Better yet, I snooped on the billing codes, and all the appointments got billed to the same place. Club Lust.”

“Jenna, you better be careful. You’re going to get fired. You can’t just snoop around people’s medical files and billing. There’s a thing called HIPAA, you know.”

I can’t believe I have to tell her this. It’s her job, for fuck’s sake, but Jenna has always had one downfall and it’s gossip. She is the epitome of a town crier if that was still a thing in today’s world.

“You don’t need to worry about me, Atlas.” She steps closer and runs a polished nail down my chest. “I’m a big girl, but I love that you care.”

I grab her finger and remove it from my shirt. “Don’t read too much into it. I just don’t think you deserve to go to jail for being nosey. Now it’s time to go. I got things to do.”

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