Page 11 of Glass Wings
That seemed to catch Reign's attention. She bounced up into a sitting position from the sectional, suddenly very curious.
“Let me see.”
Grant, who wasn’t in her way at all, immediately leaped to the side, giving Reign a full runway towards the bed.
“Is it an issue?” Hadley asked and pulled her hair to the side, revealing a raised triangular-like shape on each shoulder blade.
Reign strutted towards the bed with a diffused thud on the carpet from her pointed heels. She reached out her fingers, touching Hadley’s birthmark in wonder.
“What are you doing here?” Reign whispered to Hadley. “Where is your mom? I mean, who is your mom?”
Grant, confused, continued to smile and stare in the near distance.
“Should I be shooting you two together? I’m sure we could charge a premium.” Grant half-sung the second half of his statement, a grin on his lips as his mind wandered. The girls ignored him.
“My mom died a few years ago,” Hadley pushed out, answering all three of Reign’s questions at once. “I am on my own.”
“Tell me what you know about your birthmarks,” Reign commanded in a hushed tone.
Hadley stiffened and immediately obeyed. Her mind went blank as if she had guzzled a bottle of cheap vodka and word-vomited on anyone who would listen. Unfortunately, she simply did not have an interesting story to tell.
“It’s a birthmark. My mom had one that looked the same. There is nothing more to it.”
Hadley shook her head, unsure of why this felt so intense. Reign looked skeptical, but then pulled her face back into an expression of boredom.
“You are young. You are beautiful. You should be working at a coffee shop and running around a college campus. Nevertheless, you will come to me with any problem you have that requires help. Nod if you understand,” Reign instructed and watched Hadley stiffen again before walking back to the brown sectional.
“Alright, I think I got the shots I need to keep clients coming in. Now, would you want to let me have a go so I can see what I'm selling? It is an easier sell if I can boast about your . . . talent.”
Grant put his camera down and approached Hadley on the bed, stroking himself over his jeans with the biggest grin.
Hadley’s eyes went wide with horror, and she picked at her fingernails, not knowing how to respond. She felt dirty, hot shame filling her body like coffee being poured into a mug.
“If you're not feeling up to it, a quick blow job would be fine, too,” Grant added.
“You lose nothing here by saying no,” Reign chimed casually from the sectional as if she were pulling Hadley out of a frozen lake. Hadley exhaled, her throat clenching, hiding back tears.
“You're not feeling it today. That's okay; no need to stab me in the heart,” Grant said.
He moved back into the kitchenette and pulled a soda out of the mini-fridge. Hadley moved in the opposite direction towards her clothes piled up on the carpets.
“Yes, he's a typical male, Hailey. I will say you can trust him. I've met much worse.”
Reign picked up Hadley's sweatpants and held them out to her.
“Don't make me tear up over here, dollface,” Grant said through a carbonated burp. “That might be the nicest thing I've heard you say about anyone.”
Reign flashed a smile that Hadley could only assume was sadistic. “You know me, the sentimental type.”
"Hailey, we are all good here. I’ll put this up online tonight, and once I get a bite, I'll pick you up for the gig. I usually drive for all my girls. Someone's got to keep ya’ safe. I’ve got your back. You’re family now.”
Hadley tried to ignore that her new family member just asked for a blow job.
“That sounds fine,” she said as she began to walk out the same way she came in, wondering what kind of story she needed to come up with when Hector asked her how the first day of her new job went.
4
Djoser | Alexandria, Egypt | 47 B.C
