04

« Chill out, girl. I’m not pregnant. The dude scratched my bike, so I went after him. I asked for payments to be made, but he ignored me. Then it turns out that this dude is some big shot, and the pregnancy shit was the only way to get his attention. »

« Pregnancy ? Seriously, that’s all you could think of ? » Cassie shakes her head disapprovingly.

« Hey ! It just came out, » Cara defends herself.

« Well, because of your stupidity, he lost a million-dollar contract worth. » Cassie hands Cara her phone to check the headline that just popped up. Cara looks at the phone, but her eyes are glued to the heading that contains the douche’s name.

« Or Mr. Douche’s name is Alexander Black. » Cara can totally see him being named that. He is smug just like his name.

« You’re totally missing the point. »

« Except for the part that my ass looks cute in this picture, I have no idea what I’m missing. » This is the second thing Cara notices after the name reveal of the angry monster.

« Scroll down, Dingus. » Cassie points at her phone forcing her friend to look beyond his name and her well-structured ass.

Cassie jabs her finger at her phone screen, directing her friend’s attention to the scathing online review of Alexander, « disgusting » deadbeat » « animal » and « butthole », although Cara finds the last word impressive, she knows he does not deserve it. As her eyes scan the words, she can’t help but feel a twinge of guilt for relishing in his downfall

« Now I feel bad, » Cara sighs, reluctantly returning the phone to her friend.

Cassie drapes her arms around Cara, embracing her tightly. « Don’t worry, babe. We’ll talk about it later. I’ve got a client to meet up with first. » As she pulls away, Cara can see a flicker of sadness in Cassie’s eyes, reminding her of the harsh reality her friend faces every day.

When Cassie mentions a « client, » Cara knows what she means – a sugar daddy who pays for Cassie’s companionship in exchange for cash. At 17, the orphaned teenager had to take care of her little sister, Sam, and she did great for 5 whole years all by herself until Sam got diabetes and the cost of living became difficult. There is no job well paying enough for a high school dropout, she feels like the system is designed against her.

Cassie started working at Geisel’s at 19 and a year after she met her best friend, Cara, who also worked behind the counter with her. Despite the challenges, she manages to keep a positive outlook on life, and her unwavering strength and resilience have earned Cara’s respect and admiration.

Watching Cassie walk away, Cara’s mind begins to churn with an idea. With the money from her bike sales, her small savings, and maybe even a night or two with one of those filthy rich old men, she could finally afford the surgery her mother needs. But the thought of her mother’s disapproval weighs heavily on her conscience. Brianna has always instilled in her daughter the importance of sexual liberation and the autonomy to make her own choices about her body. But would selling her dignity for her mother’s sake be worth it

« It won’t hurt Mama if she never finds out, » Cara whispers to herself as she begins her shift at the bar. But deep down, she knows that the truth has a funny way of revealing itself – especially in her family.

Alexander slams the newspaper onto the coffee table, feeling suffocated by the fabricated nonsense that is being spewed about him. The headline paints him as a cheating, worthless deadbeat, and it’s all in favor of Liza. He shoots a side-eye at the photo of the curly-haired girl pointing her finger at him, feeling disgusted that his name is now associated with her.

« She’s not even my type, » he mutters to himself, trying to distance himself from the delusional woman.

« But the public doesn’t know that, » his publicist Andre reminds him, already thinking about damage control. « Why would she even say those things ? »

« Cause she’s cuckoo, » Alexander scoffs, but deep down, he wonders if there’s more to this than meets the eye. Could she have been sent by one of his enemies ? The bicycle incident doesn’t quite add up either. But the way she talks, it’s almost as if she has no idea who he is.

« We need to act fast before the media storm gets worse. We’ll sue her for defamation of character, » Andre suggests, but Alexander knows that’s not the best option.

He studies the girl in the photo, from her cheap leather jacket to her fake Nikes and ugly jeans, and realizes she’s not someone who has money. Filing a lawsuit against her would be a waste of time and resources, and he’s not one to waste either.

« I have a better idea, » he says, a smirk playing on his lips. « If she says she’s pregnant, then she will be. »

Andre looks confused but nods anyway, knowing better than to question Alexander’s methods.

Palms sweaty, feet tapping on the wooden floor slowly, making squeaking noises, heart racing, thoughts wandering but above all these traits of nervousness, Cara’s heart is in the right place. She stood in front of Jim’s door with her right fist curved into a ball as she considers knocking.

She wishes someone can come and save her from all of this but then Cara doesn’t believe in the knight and shining amour bullshit. She realized all clichés are a joke after she lost her virginity to Jax at the back of his car at a camping trip in high school, only for him to tell all his crew about it and soon everyone in Redwood Prep started talking about it. Plus, Cara’s forever knight and shining armor, Martin Green, is dead.

Upon all the bad break up’s Cara has been through, she still believes in love but not fairy tales, she believes in the love her dad and mum shared and she can’t wait to experience it. Maybe that’s why Jerky Jax and all other assholes were able to fuck with her heart but they don’t usually get away with it. Cara’s ex-boyfriend, Lionel, barely escaped the relationship with his legs after Cara ran him over with her bike (Another reason she loves her bike). Jerky Jax got kneed in the area where the sun doesn’t shine and got his head stuffed into a toilet.

Sadly no one saves Cara because she finally has to knock after minutes of stalling and that she did. A light knock as her balled fist comes in contact with the wooden door and a much louder knock the second time.

« Come in, » Jim yells from inside. Cara takes a deep breath before twisting the doorknob with the hand right hand which she releases from its balled position.

Cara walks slowly into the poorly dimed office, the wooden floor makes annoying squawking noises as she moves closer to this small wooden table which Jim places strategically in the middle of the room. With all the money Jim has from bets and pimping girls out, he is known to be a selfish man, even to himself. It is no surprise that the blue paint color is already peeling away, the place dirty, the fan poorly functioning and the environment feels suffocating. Cara wants to throw up, standing here is unsettling for her stomach, nervousness and the nauseating environment is a mixture that does no to well.

« What ? Have the drink finished in the bar ? » Jim yells, such a loud voice for a short man. Cara only ever comes here when the drinks need to be restocked or when she wants to collect her salary. Never in a million years did Cara think that she will be before Jerky Jim offering herself.

« No, » Cara can end this but ending this means ending her mum’s chances for surgery.

« Then what hot stuff ? » Jim gets down from his chair, with an idea in his head of why Cara was standing before nervous. Jim has witnessed a lot of young ladies come to him nervous when they are about to offer themselves and Cara is not any different but he wants to hear her say it.

Cara tries not to puke in her mouth as he comes closer to her, urging her to say the words.

« I-I wan-want… » Cara stops, clears her throat and tries speaking again. « I want to ask if the other part of this job is available. » That is all Jim needs to hear before he begins to smile like the creep that he is.

All Jim can think of is the money Cara is going to make him, his customers had seen Cara over the counter a couple of times and offered a ridiculous amount of money to take her back to their hotel but Cara had refused. Jim never thought Cara would be the one in front of him with his offer, he thinks she is strong-willed and stubborn but Jim isn’t going to sit her down and advise her like a father, he is lucky that she before him now and he won’t ruin it.