Page 9 of No Mercy In Red

I threw a dumpling at her, and she dodged it cackling. “Alright, fine. Who’s the lucky guy?” I asked

“His name is Damien. Tall, tattooed, rides a motorcycle. Absolute menace in bed.” She sighed again, dramatically throwing her head back. “I might have to keep him.”

I raised a brow, “You? Keep a man? Lara, you once ghosted a guy mid-date.” I laughed.

“He had the personality of a potato!” She argued. “And this is different.”

I rolled my eyes again, sipping my wine, “Right. We’ll see how long this one lasts then shall we?”

Lara sat up suddenly, narrowing her eyes at me, “What about you?”

I froze mid-sip, lowering the glass. “What about me?”

She smirked, “When was the last timeyouhad sex?”

I coughed, setting my wine down. “I don’t see how that’s really relevant.”

“Oh, it’s very relevant.” She pointed her chopsticks at me accusingly. “You’re hot, Max. And don’t give me that Idon’t have time for menexcuse. When was the last time?”

I stared at my food, suddenly very interested in my noodles. “…It’s been a while.”

Lara gasped, “How long?”

I sighed, “Six months.”

Her eyes widened, “Maxine!”

I groaned in response covering my face, “Don’t Maxine me.”

“Six months? Six?” She looked genuinely horrified. “Babe. That’s unacceptable, you’re basically a nun at this point.”

I rolled my eyes at her, “It’s not like I haven’t had opportunities. I’ve just been… busy.”

Lara scoffed. “Busy, my ass. We’re fixing this.”

I groaned, leaning back. Jesus I’d do anything to not be having this conversation right now. “You are not pimping me out.”

“Max, I say this with love - you are well overdue.”

I huffed picking my wine back up taking a long sip, “I’m fine, I have my vibrator.”

She shook her head, grinning. “You know damn well no vibrator compares to the real thing! One wild night, that’s all I’m asking for.”

I smirked at her, finishing off the glass. “You’re asking for a lot.”

Lara winked, “Oh I always do.”

I laughed shaking my head, but I knew she was right, I was overdue. I enjoyed sex just as much as any other woman, it was just so much harder trusting men when I was surrounded by such disgusting creatures constantly. She had no idea how hard it was to let your guard down around a man you didn’t know when you spent day after day reading rape cases, spoiler, it’s fucking hard.

The two weeks leading up to my birthday flew by in a blur. The nightmares had finally started to dissipate, only happening every other day now the dreaded date had passed. I had visited my father’s grave with Tony, placing down the flowers whilst asking my dad if he was proud of me, praying that he was somehow watching down on me, proud of the way I continued his work. Me and Tony sat there for a while, reminiscing about my father and all of his quirky ways. He was a stubborn man, stuck in his ways, constantly grumbling about coffee shops being ridiculous, that technology was getting far too advanced and that we’d be slaves to robots in no time. I shed a few tears, Tony had pulled me into a tight hug whilst stroking my hair, reassuring me that my father would be proud of the strong woman I had become and that he would be proud of me no matter what I did with my life. I struggled to believe him, the niggling voice in the back of my head repeatedly telling me he wouldn’t be proud because I wasn’t doing enough. No matter how hard I tried to push that voice away, it always came back, hissing its poison until I had no choice but to believe the words that repeated.‘Never enough. Never enough. Never enough’.I went home that night and drank two whole bottles of wine until I passed out on my sofa, tears staining my sweatshirt from the relentless guilt that always threatened to swallow me whole.

Thankfully, Saturday night quickly rolled around and my apartment was soon a mess of makeup, hair products, and empty wine glasses. Lara had arrived an hour ago, buzzing with excitement, a garment bag slung over her arm like a trophy.

She plopped it down on my bed and unzipped it dramatically. “Happy birthday, bitch.”

I eyed the dress inside with immediate suspicion. “Lara. What the fuck is that?”

She beamed at me, “This? This isthedress Maxine, the one that’s going to get you laid tonight.”

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