Tales of a sour baby

Chapter 2

She walked to the tiny bathroom on the other side of the room, took off her glasses and splashed her face with water. The bathroom was so small, only one person could stand in it. She often wondered how some of the bigger people in the building could use theirs comfortably. She had a tiny frame, but people like Jason who were much taller and bigger than her would probably struggle to fit in such a room. When she reached out both of her arms, she could touch the toilet and the shower curtain while leaning against the sink.

She looked at herself in the mirror above the sink. Her skin was pale due to the Wellington weather, and she could swear she had lost some of her freckles. Her messy bun was now loose and letting a few strands of dark blond hair fall around her head. Her brown eyes looked tired, and she could see in her cheeks that she had lost some weight again. Her collarbones were protruding, and her arms looked thinner than they used to be. The worse part was that she hated that she didn’t hate it. She didn’t look fit or slim, she was thin. She almost looked unhealthy, but a part of her wanted to lose even more weight. She had always had an active lifestyle, but her diet was poor these days. As if reminding her of that, her stomach started to growl. She didn’t actively starve herself on purpose, she just couldn’t afford to eat well.

The girl left the bathroom and went to the shelf. She grabbed a pack of instant noodles and a bowl from one of the plastic boxes on the ground. She exited the room and headed to the kitchenette at the end of the hall. She used the hot water dispenser to “cook” her lunch and went back to the room to eat. She had to push the laptop out of the way to sit at her desk. When she was done, she didn’t bother to clean the bowl and laid down on her bed. She grabbed the book next to her and started reading, hugging the covers with her thighs when she heard a notification on her phone. She unlocked the phone to see that the message was from The Gentleman. She sighed and closed the book.

“It was lovely to see you again, my dear. I look forward to doing that again soon."

“Of course, I will let you know.” She replied.

Guinness cringed at the nickname he gave her. The Gentleman was Kevin’s username on the app where they met. Hers was A_French_Girl. It wasn’t a lie, she was French. Well, she was born in France, but her family was mainly Vietnamese. She had moved to New Zealand a year ago and was struggling. Her VISA only allowed her to work twenty hours a week, and she could only find minimum wage jobs that were barely enough to cover her rent and expenses. Her school costed five figures a year, and she could hardly afford it anymore. She had saved for years to get into that school, but now her savings were mostly gone, and she had to be creative to find new ways to pay her bills. That was why she decided to become a sugar baby.

The next day, Guinness had her head buried in her laptop. She promised herself that this semester, she was going to do anything in her power to get ahead, or at least not fall behind. It seemed the universe was against her. The first week went fine since she only had one class. Most classes on campus only started on the second week. The second week, her class schedule didn’t match her work one. She worked every night before class and ended up oversleeping and missing most of them. After that, she got sick and could hardly do anything for the next couple of weeks. She was working hard to catch up, but she had missed about a third of her lectures and workshops and there were only 24 hours in a day. Her assignments were turned in late, and she knew the world wasn’t going to slow down around her because she was in a bad position. Between work and classes piling up, she felt like she was always taking a step ahead and three backwards. The worst part was the stress. She had never felt so stressed before. She always managed to keep going no matter what and not preoccupy her mind with things she had little to no control over. But now, she felt like she was always reminded of her situation. She looked down at her shoes. They were torn up, and the soles were hanging on by a literal thread. Her backpack was in no better condition. She had sewn the straps back so much, there wasn’t anything left of the original seams. She had to pay to renew her VISA recently and had poured half of her salary into it, rent eating up the other half. Her savings account was used entirely to pay for the semester she was in, and if she couldn’t find a way to replenish it, she would have to leave. The thought made her shudder, she couldn’t let that happen, she had worked too hard and for too long to let everything fall apart.

She sighed and straightened up her back, gently massaging her aching shoulders. She was tired, she had spent the night and the morning trying to catch up on all the lectures she had missed, and she wasn’t even halfway through. She looked down at her phone and her eyes widened at the time.

“s**t!”

She got up and rushed to the closet. She was going to be late. She grabbed a pair of skinny jeans. The ones she knew made her waist smaller and her ass bigger. She picked up a top and went to the bathroom. She threw her hair up in a bun before stepping into the shower. She came out and wrapped herself in a towel before plugging in her straightening iron. She got dressed while the iron was heating up and untangled her curls with a brush. She looked like a hungover lion, but she didn’t care. She grabbed her makeup bag on the floor and looked at the time. She had about twenty minutes.

“It’s okay” she said to herself. “I could do this routine in ten minutes with my eyes closed.”

She hurried up, gliding the brushes on her skin masterfully. If her upbringing taught her one thing, it was to know how to look the part. Appearances were ridiculously important in Asian families.

She looked down at her phone when she heard it ding.

“I’m here, parked in front of an electrical store…” she read the message in the notification, not opening the app.

“Damn it!” she swore under her breath. He was early.

She grabbed the straightening iron and brought it to her hair, not even bothering to section it. She was done in just over five minutes. It wasn’t perfect, but it would do.

Guinness rushed out, took her purse and coat and locked the door behind her.

She opened the app on her phone while running down the stairs and typed a message.

“Sorry, I didn’t see your text. I'm coming down now.”

Within seconds, she was out the door, and her phone dinged again.

“No worries, my dear, I'm not in a rush.”

She smiled. At least her daddy was relaxed.

He was waiting for her outside the car. He was forty-three but looked more like fifty. Guinness guessed that he must have been handsome in his younger days, but he wasn’t her type at all. He kept his dark hair long enough to conceal the bald spots on each side of his wrinkly forehead. His blue eyes were almost transparent. He had thin lips that accentuated his strong nose. He had a large frame, and she could tell he exercised.

Kevin took a second to take her in. She was thin and small. She looked like the wind would break her if it blew too hard. Her jeans made her ass look bigger and rounder. Her black top was cropped, showing off her flat belly. It was off the shoulders and the sleeves were open in crisscross patterns that accentuated her collarbones and slender arms. He held the door open for her, and she walked in, putting on her seat belt while he circled back to the driver’s seat.

“So, how was your week?” he initiated small talk.

“Hectic.” She replied. “Hand-ins are finally over, but I still have a lot of work to do. What about yours?”

“Meh.” He chuckled. “A little paperwork here and there and taking care of the garden.”

She had seen videos of his “garden”. It looked more like a farm. That man’s property was humongous. She believed even professional farmers didn’t have that much land.

“How do you feel about the work you turned in?” he inquired.

She sighed before replying “Not good at all. I have come to terms with the saying that Cs get degrees.”

It was true, she was resigned. She wasn’t proud of the work she had handed in, she had rushed everything, and a lot of it was late and would get penalties. At least she could make it better later in the semester.

They pulled up in a parking lot, and she took her purse and coat before stepping out of the car. They walked together for a few minutes, and she caught his hand getting closer to hers in the corner of her eye. She pretended to be looking for something in her purse so she wouldn’t have to hold his hand, and he didn’t comment on it. At least, even if she didn’t like him that way, he always behaved like a proper gentleman.

They reached the entrance of the bar, which was an elevator. Kevin pressed the button, and they waited for a few seconds in uncomfortable silence until the doors opened to the rooftop.

The bar was packed as it was a Saturday night. They moved to the bar, and he ordered a beer.

“Gin and T?” he asked with a smile.

She nodded and he paid. He took the drinks from the counter and handed her the cocktail.

They walked around, trying to find a free table, but they all seemed taken. He went up to a lady, sitting alone at a large table and asked if they could sit there as well. As they sat down, a feeling of discomfort surged through Guinness. She usually wasn’t embarrassed easily, but sitting there, with a man over twice her age who was eyeing her cleavage, she didn’t want the older lady next to them to hear their conversation. She knew it was stupid. She didn’t know the lady, and even if she did, she shouldn’t be bothered by her judgment. Only her opinion mattered. Although her own opinion wasn’t that good either. She didn’t think it would be a walk in the park, but she thought she would find a way to enjoy herself no matter what. But there was something about the man in front of her. She couldn’t pinpoint what, but every time she looked at him, something felt off. For now, she was getting meals and drinks out of this relationship, and it was worth it. For now.