Page 42 of Mama Si's Paradise

When I woke up, Johnny was gone.

Twelve

The girls had heard.

“C’mon, who was it? How rich?”

“Handsome or fat?”

“Short or tall?”

“Length of dick?”

“No, no—thickness. Thickness is more important, you know that!”

“Just tell me how long he lasted the first round. That tells a lot about a man.”

“Why are you guys assuming it was sex?!” This one could have been Amber, but they were all talking at the same time, so I had no clue who was saying what.

“Uh,hello! She has a hangover. She looks exhausted. Of course, it was?—”

“Stop talking with your mouth full, Mia!”

“Just let her talk, will you? Was it sex or not?!”

I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers to my temples. We were hanging out at the pool after breakfast, and they didn’t care how much they were shouting, even though they apparently knew I had a hangover.

“It wasn’t,” I finally said, knowing they wouldn’t be leaving me alone if I didn’t spit it out quickly. “We talked, and we had a drink, and then we lay down on the bed and just rested.”

The girls looked at one another for a second.

“Swear it on your mother’s soul or it didn’t happen,” Melahni then said, and I could have fucking laughed. They assumed I cared about my mother’s soul?

“I swear it on my mother’s soul,” I said anyway.

They were so disappointed that they remained silent for a little while, which was a blessing, until…

“Fall.”

I turned to find Assa standing behind my lounger with her hands behind her back, looking at me. Looking right intomygoddamn soul.

“Yes?” I whispered with barely any voice.

“Mama Si sent me to give you a message,” Assa said, and there I went again in my head, out the mansion’s gates with the train money in my back pocket.

“Oh.”Don’t bother,I wanted to say, but I had no voice.

It’s okay, I get it. I understand,I wanted to say, but I had no courage.

It was over.

My life here had hardly begun, and it was already over.

Where the hell was I going to go now?

“She’s heard back from the client,” said Assa, and Johnny’s handsome face took over my mind’s eye. “He’s signed a contract with us to become your regular for the following month. Good job.”

The girls screamed. They fucking screamed their guts out and were all around Assa the next second.

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