Sexperiment [18+]

CHAPTER NINE: POWER

What a mess, I thought as I mapped out a client budget plan. "How does anyone get themselves this deep in," I muttered, knowing the hypocrisy in my own words. I was pretty deep in the hole myself, and only sinking deeper.

"I know. People are reckless. It's the foundation of every creditor's success. The recklessness of people." Anita leaned in over my shoulder. "I like this plan though. I knew, as bad as it was, that we could salvage this account." She straightened and I turned in my chair to face her. "Send it to my personal email when you're done. I'm out for the rest of the day."

I lifted an eyebrow. Anita never took days off. "Special plans?"

"Marriage counseling," she said flatly, running a hand down her smart business suit.

"Oh." I blinked up at her. I never thought Deacon and Anita were the ideal couple, but they always seemed to make it work despite the odds. I frowned, feeling bad that the odds might have caught up with them. "Good luck," I offered, feeling a pit in my stomach. Did anyone get to just find love and be happy or was life just a perpetual stream of disappointments?

"Thanks." Anita gave me a half smile. "Hopefully, the place is still standing tomorrow."

"I don't know, the boss and the boss out of the office, things could get wild." I grinned and Anita's smile widened.

"I trust you to keep everyone in check." She sucked in a breath. "Okay, I'm out of here." Turning, she left my cubicle and I watched after her until she disappeared around the corner.

I turned back to my computer screen to finish fixing the budget for Client Moron. It baffled me that anyone could make a hundred grand a year and still find themselves in chronic debt. Surely, I was no model financier, but at least my debt meant something. I hadn't dug my hole all on my own, blowing thousands of dollars on lavish hotel rooms and two grand Scotch.

I frowned, feeling guilty for judging a client. Debt was debt. I was no better than they were.

My bank alert chimed and a message popped up on my screen. Money has been deposited into your account. It was perfect timing. The perfect, humbling reminder that the only reason I was still standing was because I had a best friend willing to be my crutch.

Clicking the notification, my frown deepened. I'd told her I only needed the twelve hundred dollars to pay for the bike, but the number in front of me read 2,000.

My phone vibrated on my desk and I picked it up, reading the text dancing across the screen. Just transferred the money to your account. Don't get pissy but I rounded up to an even number.

I rolled my eyes, texting her back. If you were rounding, you should have gone down, not up. I appreciated what she was trying to do, but with each passing moment, I was beginning to feel more and more worthless.

My phone buzzed in my hand. Whoops. Guess that's why I'm not the accountant.

Sighing, I put my phone down, staring back at my computer screen. "Oh, Client Moron, I feel your pain. You are me and I am you." I swallowed down the lump in my throat, feeling a sulky spell coming on. It had become an all too familiar event. Lately, all I ever seemed to do was mope. There was no light at the end of my tunnel, just sulky, sad pity parties.

I picked my phone back up and hit the call button.

"Hey, was there a problem with the transfer?"Jordan answered immediately. She always seemed to be permanently attached to her phone. It always took me at least two rings to get to mine.

"No, everything went fine." I cleared my throat. "I was thinking about that thing you had at work..."

"Thing?"

"Yeah, with the test."

"Oh, you mean Sex Connect?"

I rolled my eyes. God, what a stupid fucking name. Was I really doing this? "Yeah, I guess that's it. How long would it take you to get me in?"

Jordan was silent on the other end and, for a moment, I thought she may have hung up on me. "Jordan?"

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"That's fucking amazing." I smiled even though my stomach was in knots. She sounded so excited. "Do you know how many brownie points I'm going to get for bringing someone in?"

"I said, I think so," I clarified, even though it wasn't entirely true. In my moment of pathetic, I was feeling pretty all in on something that made me feel less worthless. "I'm going to need a little more information first."

"Okay, okay. Understandable." Jordan hummed over the line. "If you want, I can get you in for a pre-screen next week and you can take home all of the paperwork and ask all of your questions."

I shook my head. "I'll change my mind if we wait that long."

"Okay, okay." I could almost hear the wheels in her head turning. "Just come by Sexperience when you get off. I'll work something out."

I nodded. "Thanks, Jordi." Hanging up the phone, I relaxed into my seat. My heart was racing so fast in my chest, I was concerned it might pop out. I sat up straight, forcing myself to look at my split computer screen. On one side was a transfer of money I desperately needed from a friend and on the other was a budget for a client that would likely be under the foot of creditors until they died. Both were my motivation. It didn't matter how much my stomach flipped or how fast my heart raced. I needed to do this. I couldn't keep sulking like things were out of my control when I had an opportunity to gain some.

This was it. It didn't matter what I had to do or who I had to do it in front of, it would be worth it to feel like I was driving my own life again. I had given all of my power away, but today I was going to start taking it back.

***

Gonna try and update on Wed. this week to make up for missing Friday last week. Stay with me ya'll, I'm finishing up the project that's been pulling all of my focus, so then I'll be full body into this one :)