Page 9 of Personal Foul
He shoves past me. “Not funny, bro. I was downtown, and yours is the closest place I could think of.”
I close the door behind him. “There are a billion gas stations, fast food restaurants, or hotels around here.”
“Those places are gross, dude!” he shouts as he closes the door. Then, “Sorry, man! I didn’t know you had a guest!” He’s found Chastity’s clothes. “I won’t stay long.”
“Take your time, man.” I’m actually torn about whether I want him to run into Chastity while she’s here.
Nothing I’ve done so far has made her quit, and this might be the thing that does it. But I also like seeing her every day, and if she storms out furious, I might never see her again, and I don’t like that idea.
I wait outside the bathroom, tapping my foot impatiently, hoping Andrew hurries up and gets his ass out of here before he sees Chastity.
Andrew comes out of the bathroom at the same time Chastity comes out of the bedroom. She freezes, her eyes going wide and her mouth hanging open. She looks down at her uniform, then at me.
Her mouth closes and her eyes narrow, raw fury stamped on her features.
For his part, Andrew looks back and forth between us, holding up his hands in a show of surrender. “Sorry again, man. Like I said, I didn’t know you’d have someone over. Just needed to use the bathroom.” He moves toward the front door, stopping next to me to give me a nudge. “Nice, man. I didn’t know you were into roleplay, but Idefinitelysee the appeal.”
Before I can respond, he brushes past me.
Chastity and I stay locked in our staring contest until we hear the front door close. When she speaks, her voice starts as a barely audible whisper. “You. Fucking. Bastard.” The last word is given full voice.
“Look, Chastity—”
“Charity!” she shouts, cutting me off. “My name is Charity! I can see how virtues could be confusing for you, but it’s not that fucking hard!”
Rolling my lips between my teeth to hide my smile, I raise my hands, assuming the same posture as Andrew. “I didn’t know he was coming.”
She lets out a harsh, angry laugh. “Oh,sureyou didn’t. I’m sure you didn’tspecificallyinvite him over today. But perhaps you let your friends know to drop in any time. Plausible deniability and all that. Because as this ‘uniform’ makes clear, your entire goal is to humiliate me as much as possible.” She stomps into the bathroom and slams the door. “And now,” she continues her rant, pitching her voice to be heard through the closed door, “your pal thinks we’re fucking. That this is some kind of kinky foreplay.”
Quicker than I would’ve expected, she’s back out of the bathroom in jeans and a T-shirt, her sweatshirt and shoes still in the bathroom. She shoves the maid’s uniform into my chest. “Is that what this is? Do you get off on making me dress like a slutty maid to clean your apartment? And then what? You sit at home jerking off after I go? Is that the real reason you make me come every day?”
“Look, Chas—” Her death glare when I start calling her the wrong name makes me change course, though I don’t really know why. I’ve wanted to see her lose her temper for ages. She finally has. Couldn’t calling her the wrong name get her to utter those words I’ve been waiting for since this started?I quit.In any case, I clear my throat and start over. “This is a simple exchange of services. You clean my apartment. I keep your secret. You can decide how long you want this to continue.”
I make it sound so reasonable when I put it like that.
“What are you going to tell your friend?” She sounds almost defeated, which isn’t what I want. I want her fire. Her temper. Her anger.
She’s spent too much of her life just accepting what’s happening to her. Keeping her head down and meekly taking the ration of shit she’s been handed. Since our paths crossed a few weeks ago, she was finally showing some spunk. I want that back.
Tell me you quit.But no matter how many times I send that telepathic message, she doesn’t receive it. Guess I don’t have that power after all.
“What do you want me to tell him?”
She releases her hold on the uniform, leaving me to catch it, steps back, and looks away, her hands going into her back pockets. She chews on her lower lip while she contemplates my question.
If I were inclined to be kind to her, I’d be more patient while waiting for her answer. But she won’t fight back against that. I need her to find her fight again. So I push.
“As far as I can tell, you really only have two options. Tell the truth so he knows why you’re really here, or let him think we’re seeing each other.”
Tell me to fuck off.
The look she gives me is cold. “You could also just tell him it was a one-time thing.”
“Mmm. I don’t think that’ll work.” Moving past her, I hang her outfit on the hanger in the bathroom. “What if he comes back while you’re here?”
She sighs loudly. “And you’d make sure of that, wouldn’t you?” she mutters, and I smile to myself. She has a tendency to mutter unflattering observations about me to herself. Sometimes I ask her what she’s saying to see if she’ll repeat it to my face, but so far she hasn’t. Usually she gives me one of her terrifying forced smiles and tells me everything’s great.
“So what’s it gonna be?” I ask, leaning against the door jamb.
