lipstick // l.h.

1 // neon.

it wasn't like that, luke claimed to himself. she was an innocent person. he knew this because she was disgusted by what she was doing. every time she stood outside the building, with a man approaching, ready to pay, she had the same look on her face. the look of anguish.

luke leaned back into the brick wall, watching the bright, neon-decorated building from across the road, a cigarette perched between his lips. he inhaled the stale smoke, before puffing it out, then tossing the cigarette butt to the ground and crushing it beneath his foot.

again, he waited for the girl. and she didn't disappoint. a few minutes later, and he spotted her, standing awkwardly outside the entrance to the building with the neon signs. she pulled a lipstick out from her bra and slid it on, puckering her lips as a man stopped by her side, saying words luke couldn't hear.

the girl smiled, nodding and rubbing her hand on the man's chest, before leading him back into the building. it was happening again. luke clenched his fists. he hated that anyone, especially a girl, had to do these kinds of things just to get by. but who was he to judge?

he'd done much worse things for money. hell, he once dealt drugs just so he could bring money home to his family. he'd been in a bad way before. so he knew what it was like to do things you didn't want to do.

of course, no one else knew. people like luke and the girl, they were practically underground, operating beneath the eyes of those who were blissfully unaware of the things people did for money.

luke remained by the brick wall, smoking cigarettes and watching the bouncer eying him suspiciously before shrugging and getting back to work.

and an hour later, there it was. the man was leaving, hot and sweaty, his clothes messy, stumbling to his car. after he got in, he left straight away, probably back to his middle-class life, never to be associated with somewhere like this ever again.

and a few minutes later, she emerged from the building, her legs shaking and her face hot. she leaned on a metal pole holding up the main neon sign, her shoulders shuddering as she cried. her face was streaked with tears as she looked back up.

and her lipstick was smeared.