We're Jinxed (Jinx x Fem Reader/OC)

We're Jinxed - Chapter 4

It seemed to Natalia like it was going to be a regular work day like any other at the brothel; the air smelled heavily of drugs, secrets, deceit, and sex, as it always did in the dark, velvet hallways.

She worked like normal all day, stroking the egos of whatever person stumbled upon her room or found her walking the halls when she needed to catch a breath.

Meanwhile the other workers did the same; there was gambling going on in separate rooms, people smoking, making out, throwing their clothes to the floor shamelessly.

All day she pondered the position the organization— the position Zaun— was in with Jinx's attack on Progress Day. It was an even ten steps back and ten steps forward. How it would turn out, Natalia didn't know, but she could only hope for the best.

It was later in the day, however, when Natalia was sitting on a sofa and taking a breather from her clients' affections, that she heard something.

"—Let them think you work here."

"Excuse me? I will not!"

Two unfamiliar voices —people who weren't regulars, for sure— in the corridor. Immediately upon hearing the first sentence, Natalia was on full alert.

She stayed where she was, lounging casually across the red chaise lounge as she listened in on their conversation.

"...You have to let them think that you have what they want."

And within a minute or two, one of the women had walked off and headed into a private room— Babette's office?— the other left behind with a random client.

My cue to step in, Natalia narrowed her eyes as she slipped off her seat, swerving into the hall and heading straight for the masked boy and the navy blue-haired woman putting on a very clear fake accent.

What the fuck is this girl hiding?

"Excuse me," Natalia spoke up, her voice smooth as butter as she put a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder. "Why don't you head into that room, there? Ava's been waiting for you."

"O-oh," he stuttered, clearly nervous in the big place as he looked up at Natalia's deceivingly sweet smile. "Alright..."

The woman looked at them both in what seemed like fear, thinking she had been caught. However, Natalia had other plans with her if she wished to squeeze the information that she was clearly holding.

Clothing is perfectly clean and pressed. Her posture... this girl isn't from the underside.

As the masked customer slipped into a room a few curtains down the hallway, Natalia turned to the woman with half-lidded eyes and an alluring smile.

"My apologies," she said, "he must have thought you were a worker, since you don't have a mask."

"Of course, yes..." the woman before her let her hands fall to her sides, one hand gripping her skirt in anxiety, though she masked her expression quickly into one of wary dignity.

Natalia didn't miss a beat as silence threatened to ruin her plan.

"You must have just missed the memo," Natalia said. "It's alright. Just stick with me, maybe we'll be able to find you a mask. What's your name?"

She bit her lip and thought for a moment, clearly debating lying, which made Natalia quirk a brow as she fixed her with an expression dripping with mock trustworthiness.

"C-Cat. My name is Cat," she dropped the fake accent, revealing her posh, true accent and letting her shoulders relax slightly as she followed Natalia back to where she had been sitting before, in a private corner at the end of the corridor.