His Hired Lady

Episode 4: NIGHTMARE

I stared at the note that was on the back of the check and kept replaying every bit of the conversation that I had with Mr Houston in my head to try and figure out what would make him want to offer me a job.

 I don't even know what he does for a living and yet he was trying to get me to come work for him… or with him… this was crazy, right? This type of stuff doesn't happen to people, right?

I shook my head to try to clear my mind and sighed.

“Well, it's just a job offer, so I say go to it and see what they're talking about. Then make your decision from there.” Ma said as she turned my face towards hers and smiled at me. “You are a very smart girl, Alaura. You’ll know what to do. I believe that to be true. Besides, young lady, I’m still waiting to hear why you are here this early in the morning when I know you are supposed to be at school.”

I bit my lip and tried to divert my eyes to anywhere other than her face, but she turned my head right back to her so that I had no other choice but to look directly into her light blue eyes.

I sighed in defeat. “OK ma, I'll tell, but you have to swear that you will not be upset with me.” I tried to bargain.

“I'm listening,” she said with her full attention set on me.

“I've been late to class a couple of times this semester and apparently my GPA has fallen a little because of one of my classes, so the school has terminated my scholarship, which means that I have to drop out of school… at least for a while.” I said as I recalled the events from earlier today.

“The hell you will!” She screamed. “Going to that school has been your dream since I've met you and I be damned if you stay in this small ass town forever, I won't let you. You are getting your ass back in that school.”

“And I plan to. The problem is that one semester will cost me $10,000 and that doesn’t even include my apartment, which is an additional $850 a month.” I argued. “I cannot afford it all, at least not yet. I have to save and try to find other grants that I qualify for or something, but I will get my degree! I will get out of here. My dream has not changed, life is just making me work a little harder for it.

“$10,000?” she whispered. “No worries! We can…we can make it work! We can figure something out.”

I sighed again and sat at the counter, since there weren’t any customers there at the moment.

I took this exact moment to glance back at the check in my hand and reread the message again that Mr. Houston left me. Ma noticed and began scratching her chin.

“You know, I'm not a believer in things happening for no reason. Maybe that man was meant to be here today and if that's the case… I am definitely for you going to that interview now more than I was before. This diner is not a way to make the kind of money you need for school. So go home, make sure you have a nicely typed resume, and go out and wow them tomorrow. It looks like you already got the job anyway,” she said as she looked back at the cheek. “Just make him see that he made the right decision in picking you.”

I don't know what came over me, but a strong feeling of determination wrapped over me.

I wanted the job… even if I didn't know what it was. All I knew was that I needed to get my ass back in school, so I’d do damn near anything.

I'm not even sure I said bye to anyone before I walked out of the diner, but I already knew what I needed to wear to make me stand out tomorrow.

It was still quite early, so I took the time to wash and straighten my hair. I bathed in my favorite lavender and chamomile soap and prepared my mind for any possible interview questions that they might have for me. Being that I truly didn’t know what I was interviewing for, I prepared myself for any position ranging from cook to personal assistant.

I just knew I'd be ready for whatever Mr. Houston and whomever he worked for, had for me.

As I tried to sleep, I tossed and turned for most of the night. My dreams were consumed with half-naked women performing s****l acts on each other and others while people watched in a room that looked like an arena. It even had some kind of weird circus decorations and set-up that included a lot of beautiful people dressed in see-through clothing doing s****l things in acrobatic stances.

Somehow, I was in the backroom watching everything, but I couldn’t move my body. I watched as this tall, impossibly handsome guy with piercing grey eyes walked past me and headed towards the center of the stage. The man was simply mesmerizing; I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.

As soon as his hand touched the microphone that was directly in front of him, the entire room went deadly silent.

The god-like man  smiled at the crowd and cleared his throat before I heard him speak.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the time has finally come.” His deep and sensual voice bolstered through the air. “The one that you have all been waiting for…my newest slut…Alaura Wright.”

He turned to me, and my body began to move towards him without my consent.

I screamed when I looked down and saw that my body was now completely nude. He smiled at me and, I swear, I saw…fangs peeking out from the top of his luscious mouth.

I screamed and screamed until….

Beep, beep, beep, beep.

My body jolted up and off of the bed.

I looked at the clock and noticed that it was officially time for me to get ready for my interview.

I shook my head to try and get rid of the feeling that I got from the dream and tried to put it off as just my nerves playing tricks on me.

I quickly got myself ready and prepared myself to leave. The one thing that kept bothering me was the saying that Ma tells me all the time, “things don’t just happen for no reason.”

I just hope that whatever this job is, it has nothing to do with the nonsense in that nightmare.