Annelise

Chapter Five

                  

HER FINGERS FELT SOFT and ticklish as they feathered across the skin of his collarbone. Annelise glanced up at Pierce with large doe eyes. With her chin propped up on his chest, she spoke.

"I was raised in a strict Catholic family, but we were neck-deep in debt. My parents couldn't pay for the bills, my school fees, and fund the local church. I tried getting a job, but no one around me was hiring. I was worried that, by the end of the year, we wouldn't have a home to live in anymore," she told him earnestly.

He stroked her silken hair absentmindedly. "And so you decided to sleep with someone?"

"Well... not exactly. I mean, I was deeply religious and I didn't believe in sex before marriage, so the thought never occurred to me; until one afternoon, when I stayed late at school. I was just about to leave when a guy in my grade suddenly approached me. We had never spoken before, but he seemed to have caught wind of my family problems. He offered me a job and I accepted before knowing what it was."

Pierce frowned. "He took advantage of you."

Annelise shook her head glumly. "I figured it out as soon as he pushed me down on the desk. I wasn't a complete idiot. I didn't want to do it, but he was offering a lot of money... so, I let him convince me. Unfortunately, someone must have seen us in the classroom, and it got out."

"But for your parents to disown you over that? That's cruel," Pierce muttered angrily.

"I don't blame them," she responded, surprising him. "My parents were respected by the people around them, but my actions caused them to be avoided by their friends and shunned by the church. Since they couldn't legally disown me, I decided to leave out of my own volition. They couldn't afford to support me anymore." She sighed. "If I could take it all back, I would."

All this heavy talk so early in the morning was depressing Pierce's mood. But if that was the case for him, then he could only imagine how Annelise felt. She had been through too much in too little time.

Pierce made a move as if to straighten up, and Annelise immediately sprung out of bed. "Sorry," she squeaked, trying not to get in his way. Her eyebrows knotted together in confusion as she watched him reach for his wallet. "What are you...?"

Pierce took out several hundred dollar bills and tossed them in her direction. Annelise stared at the distinct green notes with blank eyes, watching them flutter innocuously into her lap. But what Pierce failed to realize, was that there was nothing innocuous, at all, about what he had just done.

He waited for her to say something, but she was completely frozen. "It's for you," he said, after a minute of unbearable silence. When she did not say anything, he grew impatient. "Well?"

Suddenly, her face twisted up in anger. "I see," she harshly bit out, swiping up the cash in her balled fists. Annelise rocketed to her feet, picked up her scattered clothes, and hurled the scrunched-up bills at him. "Thanks for the fuck. You really didn't have to pay so much. It seems I'm worth much less than that," she spat, before storming out of the room.

Pierce could only stare at the door in utter bewilderment. He did not understand what he had done wrong. Surely, he was supposed to pay for her services? Perhaps it was something else he said.

He decided to call in sick for work, and walked out of his bedroom twenty minutes later, only to find his apartment completely empty. Annelise must have already taken Lila to preschool. Pierce waited for Annelise to return, resolving to apologize to her by making her an elaborate lunch. But by the time it was three in the afternoon, he found himself twiddling his thumbs and sitting in complete silence.