Get out.
1464 Words
Sophie
Damin walked straight to me when I could no longer stand on my own. I could feel the pain shooting through the nerves around my eyes. My knees were red, and two of my fingers were already swollen. I sobbed, and I wasn’t pretending as they might have thought.
My hands were still on the toilet bowl when he bent down and gently lifted me up. The two other girls slowly moved out of the toilet, but Leah didn’t move an inch. If the three of them had left Damin and me alone, it would have been better. They wouldn’t have much to say, and whatever they said would only come from their imagination.
“Mr. Damien…” I could see her lips trembling. This wasn’t the way she usually spoke to me. “What…what are you doing here?”
Obviously, he was the last person anyone expected to find inside the female locker room. I knew she wanted to satisfy her curiosity. How would Mr. Damien answer her? Would he ignore her, or would he say something that wouldn’t directly involve me?
There were a few seconds of silence because all he cared about was helping me stand properly.
“Are you okay?” he gently asked.
I nodded, thinking we would walk out, but then he turned his attention to Leah.
“A paparazzi was following me, and I didn’t want to give them a chance to find me. Of all people, Sophie helped me avoid them. I never expected you to humiliate her.”
“I…it’s not what you think. We were just being girls. We were only joking around,” she said in a low, nervous voice, forcing a smile as she tried to make what she and her friends had done seem less serious.
“By throwing her cash into the toilet and forcing her inside? Is that how you joke around? That’s interesting.”
“No…Mr. Damien.” Her expression showed that she could feel his anger from his tone.
“In that case, it’s your turn to try this joke. I want you to pick up every bill inside that toilet with your bare hands.”
“No…what? Please!” The words rushed out of her mouth without order. I could see the corners of her eyes tighten in frustration. “Please, I can’t do that with my bare hands. Is there any other way I can make it up to you?”
Her voice was desperate. I never knew she could sound this helpless.
“If you don’t reach into that bowl in my presence, I will make not only your life but also your parents’ lives a living hell.”
She stopped arguing as Mr. Damien pointed toward the toilet. The wrinkles on her face appeared before the tears followed. She knelt beside the toilet and dipped her hands into the water, her long decorated nails disappearing beneath the surface as she picked up the cash.
The disgust on her face didn’t last long before she threw up whatever she had eaten hours or minutes earlier. I quickly looked away because the sight made me uncomfortable. When her friends, who were waiting outside the door, saw what their leader was going through, they ran away. If their leader could be punished like that, what chance did they have?
I thought Mr. Damien would leave after she dirtied her clothes from throwing up, but he stayed until she had almost picked up all the bills.
“If I ever hear that you are bullying Sophie again, you will be expelled,” he said, looking at her trembling eyes.
While Leah was suffering, something else was happening inside me. Why was my heart beating so fast? Was I actually falling for my sugar daddy?
“Let’s leave so she can clean this mess herself.”
As we walked out of the toilet, leaving Leah behind in silent tears, a new fear entered my heart. What if other female students saw the two of us coming out of the bathroom? It was common knowledge among the female students that some girls brought their boyfriends here for a quick s*x.
“Please, can you walk ahead of me? Or can you just leave? Thank you for rescuing me. If they see the two of us coming out of this female locker room, I will become the biggest gossip topic in school.”
While I was speaking so fast, his eyes were somewhere else.
“Look at your fingers…they’re bleeding.”
“I didn’t even notice it.” I paused and looked at my fingers. Seeing it, the pain resurrected.
“I need to attend to it before I leave. Come and meet me inside my car. I will be waiting outside the gate.”
Our eyes stayed on each other before he turned and walked towards the exit door. I stood there watching his back as he walked majestically, as if the entire world was resting on his shoulders. I had never admired the way a man walked before. Yet here I was, counting every step he took.
He disappeared from my sight, but his image remained fixed in my mind. I only realized I was still inside the female locker room when I heard Leah’s wailing. I folded my hands, then gently clasped my fingers together.
I walked out towards the gate, and while passing through the pedestrian lane, my eyes caught sight of some beautiful white flowers. I didn’t know when I started moving my fingers above them. When I got closer to the gate, my instinct guided my uninjured fingers to pluck one of the roses, and without thinking, I carried it with me before entering Mr. Damien’s car.
His car windows were tinted, so no one could see what was happening inside. That alone gave me some freedom.
Mr. Damien was already holding a white bandage and a healing ointment.
“Give me your hand.”
There was a huge contrast between his tone now and the one he used against Leah.
As he held my fingers, I noticed his Adam’s apple move up and down.
He applied the ointment to my fingers, and every touch sent a strange sensation through my nerves, something I wasn’t used to. That feeling grew stronger when I looked at his face and saw his eyes focused on what he was doing to my hand.
“Sorry for the injury…”
“I should be thanking you…” I paused as I felt a black credit card slide into my hand.
“Take this.”
I turned the card from side to side, my eyes widening when he continued.
“It contains hundreds of thousands of dollars. Use it for any medical bills for your dad. The rest is for your personal expenses. Before I forget, don’t worry about the percentage of your tuition you still have to pay. I will clear it.”
“You want to pay fifty percent of my tuition?” I looked straight into his dark blue eyes. “How did you know I still owe tuition?”
Goosebumps covered my skin, spreading through me like waves. We just kept staring at each other.
“I…I don’t know how to thank you.”
"Money means nothing if I can't help someone with it.”
“But sir, this isn’t part of the contract. Anything beyond this contract, I will pay you back once I graduate. I mean every word.”
I could see the way his eyes tightened, but there was also a small smile on his face. He stared at me silently for a moment. Then I remembered something.
“Sir, back in the locker room, why did you step in? I am just your sugar girl, someone who is only supposed to be there whenever you need me.”
“I stepped in because you are mine. No one gets to hurt you.”
His deep voice reached somewhere inside my heart. This man wasn’t just my sugar daddy. He was protecting me too. That was never part of the contract.
Did it mean something else?
I pulled myself closer to him, holding his tie. He didn’t move away, and our faces were so close.
“Sir…”
I wanted to kiss his lips when his warning returned to my mind.
‘No love. No sex.’
“Get out.”
He didn’t just pull himself back into his seat; he added words that broke my heart.
“I will only send for you when I need you for our next appointment.”
His tone changed as he opened the door beside me and pointed outside.
I could sense he had feelings for me too. But why was he pushing me away?
- Writer
