Harper walked back into the brothel on shaky legs. Was he going to get thrown out head first? Nervously he looked around him, taking in how busy it seemed compared to last time he’d been there. Mr Culligan hadn’t been lying when he said they mostly worked at night. As he walked up to the desk the man threw him an annoyed glance.
“Here on your little rescue mission again?” he asked tiredly. Harper quickly shook his head.
“No. I want to hire her for the night.”
“Forget it. You just want to try and get her out of here. Please leave.”
“That’s not true,” Harper lied. “Do you have any idea how many years I’ve worked with her and wished I could get her into my bed?” It wasn’t a complete lie. “Now I have my chance.” Mr Culligan rolled his eyes.
“It’s not like I have a problem renting her out,” he protested. “Why would I risk it?” Harper pointedly emptied the entire contents of the moneybag Dylan had given him. Mr Culligan’s eyes widened.
“She’s yours for the night,” he said abruptly, collecting his money. “It’s a little early though,” he added. “You might have to wait a minute or so while she gets ready.” Harper shook his head, not really wanting to see Beka looking so much like a whore again.
“No, that’s ok,” he said. “I’ve worked with her for years, I don’t really care what she wears.” Mr Culligan looked uncertain, but shrugged.
“Ok then,” he agreed. “Go right up.”
****
Probably time to start getting ready soon. Beka got out of bed, having slept way too much. Well, more laid in bed trying to sleep than actually sleeping, but it all added up to the same thing. Too much time in bed. Not that she was about to spend much time out of bed now, but it was different.
Before she could change, there was a knock on the door. Beka sighed and went over to open it, hoping it wasn’t a customer already. No, they would have told her, wouldn’t they? She wasn’t prepared for a customer yet, and so far she’d never had one without all the trimmings. As she opened the door, she was shocked to see it was Harper. She swallowed, wishing she could just disappear, but she couldn’t very well just close the door on him.
“You have to go,” she mumbled as she walked back into the room, “I have to work now.” Harper uninvited followed her into the room, shaking his head.
“Nope,” he said, “I…I sort of…paid for the night.” She flinched and spun around on her heel.
“You did what”
“Well,” he said, walking on the spot nervously, “I needed to get you on your own.” She sighed.
“Harper…what do you want?”
“Isn’t that obvious? Beka, what the hell are you doing here?” She buried her face in her hands as she slumped down on the bed.
“The Maru got stolen,” she forced out, as calmly as she could. “I had nowhere to go, Harper. What was I meant to do?” He sat down next to her and tried to put an arm around her, but she pulled away.
“Why didn’t you try to contact us?” She didn’t answer. “Come here,” he whispered and pulled her into a hug. This time she didn’t resist. He wrapped his arms around her and she put her head on his shoulder, sighing deeply as she leaned against him. When their embrace finally broke, she stood up abruptly and took a few steps away from him, going to look out of the window, wrapping her arms around herself protectively. He sighed.
“Maybe you should go now,” she whispered, her voice on the verge of breaking. He frowned.
“What? I’ve come here to get you out. I have to tell you about my plan…”
“Plan?”
“Well, how else are you planning to get out of here without my help?” She gave him a perplexed look.
“Um…if I wanted to leave…I’d go downstairs, open the door and walk out?” His face fell.
“You can do that?” She nodded.
“Yes. Why wouldn’t I be able to?”
“I just thought…”
“You thought wrong.”
“So…are you saying we can just leave now? And never come back?” He could hardly believe it.
“Hypothetically? Yes.”
“So…let’s go!” His eyes widened and a very bad feeling started growing in the pit of his stomach as she sighed exasperatedly and slumped back on the bed again, falling back onto the pillows. “Um…boss? Let’s leave, yeah? Go back to the Andromeda?”
“Harper, I left. Remember?”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t come back,” he protested. “We all want you back!” She looked away from him.
“I’m sure that’s not true,” she whispered, hardly audibly.
“It is!” he insisted.
“I can’t come back Harper. You don’t understand.” She’d changed too much. She wanted to tell him about what had happened since she’d come to the drift, what had driven her into this desperate existence. The rape. But she couldn’t. He scooted over to her, a little too close for comfort.
“Beka, you can’t seriously tell me you’d rather stay here, doing this.” She swallowed.
“Yes,” she lied.
“You’re lying.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Beka, what are you not telling me?” She turned away from him, not wanting him to see the tears forming in her eyes.
“Please just go,” she whispered, a sob breaking her voice. He sighed loudly, but didn’t move.
“I can’t leave,” he said. “I’m not leaving until you come with me.”
“Then you’ll get thrown out,” she remarked.
“No I won’t.” She almost dared a smile at his persistence. Maybe she’d let him stay, just for a little bit. Maybe…
