Page 9 of Reed

Originally, bringing them along to the Ridgeway community event was to help make my day more bearable, but that’s going to be impossible.

Their smell is all wrong, their fakeness oozes from them, and every time their hands roam over me as if they own me, I feel like shoving them away.

That woman did a number on me six months ago, six long miserable fucking months, and to say I’m broken is an understatement. The only time I can get hard is with her in my mind.

The way her soft curves bounced below me, above me, and around me while I filled her like I’ve never filled a woman before. Then bam, gone from my life quicker than a priest coming in a whorehouse, and all I’m left with is a distant memory from a night that taunts me.

“I hope there’s food at the party. I’m hungry,” the one to my left purrs in a voice meant to be seductive, but it’s not. It makes my skin bristle.

Annoyance simmers through my veins, and I pinch the bridge of my nose to try to not sound like a complete ass. “I’ve told you, it’s not a party. It’s a community event. Some charity thing for…” I forget what charity was in the email I received from Fanzio’s office this week. “Some charity thing,” I reiterate for good measure.

“I hope there’s food at the charity thing.” She nips at my ear, and I jolt. Just what the hell is wrong with her, trying to eat me like a piece of meat.

I lean forward and tap on the divider; relief floods me when Stanley, my driver, comes into view at the screen going down. “How much longer?”

He glances to his side. “We’re almost there, sir.”

“Thank fuck.” I exhale, and relief rushes through me at lightning speed.

“Oh, goodie, the party is over there.” The other blonde bounces, with glee in her whiney voice, and points out of the window. Pressure builds in my temple, and the tie around my neck feels tighter than ever.

Kill. Me. Fucking. Now.

* * *

What in the ever-living fuck is this hellhole?

I glance around again and grimace. I’ve seen nothing like this before; it’s almost apocalyptic. People actually choose to come here? Derelict buildings surround a patchy scrubland. A games field, judging by the faded, painted lines and poor excuse for goals. Makeshift stalls surround the space, and I’m truly taken back by what they appear to be selling. It looks like someone raided the trash and emptied it on the table.

Balloons adorn the stalls along with a sea of wayward-looking adults, and worse, countless feral children run rampant, covered in dirt and food. Their laughter rings out like warning sirens in my head, and I spin on my heels as panic wells inside of me.

A small boy with what I can only imagine is a sticky substance on his hands wanders toward me, and I jump back, and my shoulders drop when he heads straight toward a stall.

Good God, do their parents have no shame sending them out like that?

A herd of rowdy kids runs toward me, and I hop out of the way as they bypass me and head toward a cupcake stall.

My mother used to say children should be seen and not heard. Then again, she despised her own child.

It surprises me they may actually want to eat something made by someone here.

Now I can appreciate why Fanzio wants to sell this place; it’s a hygiene risk waiting to happen. It’s more than likely crawling with vermin, probably diseases too.

I locate the hand sanitizer in my jacket pocket and douse my hands in it, then shove it back inside, making a mental note to shower extra thoroughly when I arrive home this evening. Preferably an aromatherapy shower to help de-stress me while my mind wanders to thoughts of her.

I snap my eyes open, not realizing I’d closed them, when thoughts of the woman who left me crept into my mind. “Are you okay?” one of the blondes asks, then reaches out to touch my face, forcing me to bat her hand away. I straighten my shoulders, determined not to show any sign of weakness to the women or these people, and take in the squalor.

My gaze locks onto a small child shoveling fries into his mouth with his bare hands, and the god-awful plastic cheese in spray cans covers his fingers. He slurps and turns to face me, offering a grin that exposes the food between his teeth.

Holy fuck, I think I’m going to puke.

My vision becomes hazy when lightheadedness hits me, and my chest tightens. Quickly, I work at my tie to loosen it, the material feeling like it’s strangling me with each breath I take.

Jesus, when the hell did it become so hot out here?

As my attention flicks around the never-ending grounds, I grimace at the thought of entering one of the buildings. No doubt home to some wild critters that could attack you, leaving you with some flesh-eating bacterial disease.

“I want a cotton candy. Can I have cotton candy, Reed? Pleassse.” The whine starts from beside me, and I dig into my pocket and extract a wad of bills before thrusting them at the blonde’s enhanced chest to fucking shut her up. She bounces on her feet like a deranged animal, then claps in a childlike manner that sets my teeth on edge. For the first time in my life, I’m embarrassed by the people I choose to surround myself with, and worse, pay to surround myself with.

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