CALL ME SINNER — AND I WILL MAKE YOU SIN.

Chapter 3: Call Me Sinner

Harris's voice called Eric back from his thoughts.

​“Just now? You suddenly found yourself a girl?” He gave a sharp laugh. “Or… are you scared of my girls? I will call you back, I have got something to attend to.”

​He ended the call, leaving Eric to face the beautiful stranger standing outside, winking at him.

​“Hi, beauty,” Felicia greeted, twisting her body seductively.

​“I don’t know you,” Eric said politely.

​“Yes, neither do I know you,” she responded, using her fingers to brush the hair away from her face. “But you stopped and honked for me… so I thought you wanted me.”

​She smiled, a smile that brightened her face even more.

​The smile looked effortless… almost too effortless, like she had worn it for too many strangers before him.

​“Oh! That’s a coincidence, I… I… actually stopped to receive a call…”

​Before he could finish his words, a man walked up and snapped Felicia's buttocks playfully.

​“Oh! Sexy, I have been looking for you,” the man said.

​Felicia turned around, smiling back at him. It was then Eric finally realized he had parked at a brothel spot, his eyes widening as the harsh neon lights revealed several other girls walking in their direction. His pristine luxury car looked completely out of place against the gritty sidewalk.

​“Hi, customer,” one of the new girls called out, touching her head seductively.

​“I’m talking to a client. Let’s see if he will pay,” Felicia said slowly, turning back to face Eric. “So, beauty, what do you say?”

​Eric gestured with his hand for her to enter the car.

​“Come on in,” he said sharply, completely forgetting to unlock the side door.

​Felicia tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

​“Still locked?” Felicia asked.

​“Oh, sorry, my bad,” he said, his fingers hitting the console to unlock it.

​As Felicia tried to climb inside, the man standing behind her pressed her buttocks again, this time intentionally and intensely.

​“I love playing with that big butt,” the man teased loudly, slamming the heavy luxury door shut for her.

​“s**t!” Eric muttered, looking away through the windshield, his jaw clenching tightly to hide the sudden tension rising deep inside him.

​“Tomorrow, handsome!” Felicia laughed through the glass, waving the man goodbye with an ease that felt entirely practiced.

​She settled into the leather passenger seat, turning her eyes to Eric. “Jealous?”

​Her voice caught his attention, and he smirked bitterly. “Jealous of what?”

​He quickly rolled up his window, sealing them inside the quiet capsule of the Lamborghini, shutting out the rowdy girls who had just arrived outside to seduce his rival through the glass.

​“I saw that look,” she teased, pulling her seat belt across her chest. “I saw the way you looked away.”

​She smiled, revealing her beauty even more.

​“I’m hot, beauty…” she murmured, leaning across the console to touch his neck seductively. “That’s why they all die to have me.”

​Eric looked at her for some quiet moments, paralyzed by her closeness. He studied her features—she was undeniably beautiful, and certainly young enough to challenge Sia at the dinner table.

​There was also something strangely tired in her eyes, though Eric ignored it completely.

​Felicia’s gentle, soft hand reached down, touching Eric’s belt line.

​“Stop!” his voice rang out, commanding and sharp.

​He quickly threw the car into gear, pulling away from the curb and parking a bit farther away along the dark shoulder of the road.

​“Oh my goodness! So you do car s*x too?” she laughed out loud, leaning back against the leather headrest. “I know you’re gonna be a bad boy too. Like seriously, I love f*cking bad guys because they pay me well, nothing less than $200.”

​“What’s your name?” he asked instead, completely ignoring her crude words.

​“Sinner,” she said sharply.

​“What? Sinner?” Eric sounded completely astonished.

​“Yeah, everyone calls me Sinner.”

​Their eyes locked tightly for a moment in the dim glow of the dashboard. Felicia unbuckled her seat belt, turning her entire body to face him properly. Eric sat there, entirely short of words for the bizarre situation he had driven himself into.

​Felicia bit her tongue seductively, her fingers reaching out automatically, trying to undo his expensive shirt button.

​“Call me Sinner, and I will make you sin… right here. I promise you will scream and won’t want me to go home.”

​Eric’s left hand shot out, firmly catching her wrist, stopping her fingers, and pulling them back down away from his chest.

​“Will you please tell me your real name? Please… I am in the middle of a crisis. I don’t do hookers. Yes, I was a bad boy—part of the consequences I’m facing now—but I don’t do hookers…”

​The seductive mask on her face instantly cracked.

​For a brief second, something hurt flashed through her eyes before she buried it again beneath the street attitude.

​Her posture stiffened as his words hit home.

​“So when you know you don’t do hookers, why did you pick me?” Felicia interrupted, her voice hardening into something real and defensive.

​“I picked you up because I have a deal for you,” he said, his steady, desperate gaze holding hers completely captive.

​Even to himself, he sounded desperate.

​“What deal?” she asked, confused.

​“Pretend to be my girlfriend tonight, just tonight, and I will pay you triple your normal charges… Just tonight.”

​“You don’t have a girlfriend?” she asked calmly, the hyper-s****l street persona completely dropping away, revealing the tired woman underneath.

​“I did, but she cheated.” Eric looked away through the windshield, his chest tightening at the thought of Billie. “It’s a long story, and I don’t have the time for that s**t right now.”

​“I’m Felicia,” she said softly, looking down at her own hands. “Only a few people call me that…”

​The name sounded unfamiliar even to her own ears.

​It had become a forgotten name, she thought to herself, a weak smile forming to hide the sudden, choking rush of internal pain. This time, the smile wasn’t shining or bright like before; it was completely dull.

​“I’m… not too good at playing love stuff,” she explained calmly, looking at her lap.

​“It’s a formal dinner, so it’s not a romantic event… just sit by my side and treat me right, simple.” He paused, letting his voice soften as he realized how terrified she actually was. “I’m Eric. You can choose to call me any sweet name for the next two to three hours.”

​Felicia sat upright and slowly pulled the seat belt back over her chest, clicking it into place. She looked down at her revealing cheap dress, her fingers nervously smoothing the fabric.

​Before she could even voice her worry, Eric immediately understood.

​“Let’s go to my house first,” he said softly, putting the car in drive.

​Felicia stared blankly ahead as the powerful engine purred under the hood.

​It’s been long since I fell in love… that was five years ago. How am I going to compose myself? I don’t even know how to use cutlery anymore. My life has been rough… rough and…

​“Please, could you… you… never mind,” she said aloud, her voice cracking slightly as her eyes lowered to her tightly joined, trembling hands.

​“Are you okay?” Eric asked, looking over at her sudden shift. “You’ve been acting weird since I made the deal with you… What killed the earlier energy?”

​“It’s just dinner, not marriage.”

​He gave a faint smirk.

​“I promise you will enjoy it.”

​Felicia kept her gaze locked on her lap, her heart squeezing so tightly it hurt to breathe.

​Only if you know love is what I hated most in life… I have never experienced genuine love, not even from my biological mother who dumped me and ran away. I don’t do love. But I need this money to save my ass… at least pay part of the endless debt choking me, and maybe one day I could finally live freely like a real person.

​Suddenly, Eric's phone vibrated against the console again. He picked it up quickly, eager for the distraction.

​“How is it going, buddy? I'm damn worried for you,” Harris's voice asked over the speaker.

​“I got it handled, man. Thanks, buddy,” Eric said and ended the call with a quick tap.

​“That was my friend Harris,” Eric said, talking to Felicia as he accelerated onto the main road. “He has been worried about me.”

​Why was he telling me? What is my concern? she asked herself, looking out at the blurring streetlights.

​“Hmmm, that's a good friend,” Felicia said slowly.

​“Indeed, a good one,” he repeated.

​He checked his wristwatch and realized it was already 6:30 PM. Thirty minutes more. Panic flared in his chest, and he pressed his boot harder onto the gas pedal, increasing his speed.

​Felicia watched the digital clock on the dashboard tick forward, her jaw tightening.

​Love had never saved her. It only ruined people.

​Only if you know you’ve not got anything handled because the woman sitting here doesn’t do love. I can’t even fake it.

​I really hate those four letters.