"Okay, I'll help you," Rosa said with a smug smile on her face. "But I need you to do something in return for me."

There you go. I rolled my eyes. I knew she'd ask for a favour.

Rosa leaned forward on her bed at the brothel. Her bedroom was superbly decorated, with plenty of photos hanging from the walls with friends and celebrities alike, especially around her full-length mirror in the wardrobe, which was the most outstanding and eye-catching feature.

Her bedroom was a small, dimly lit space, steeped in a sense of worn intimacy. The bed, draped in a deep red duvet, had seen better days, its springs creaking softly under the weight of both secrets and restless nights. A pair of mismatched cushions, one chocolate brown and the other stark white, lay haphazardly at the head of the bed, offering a touch of comfort amidst the chaos.

Beside the bed stood a nightstand, its surface cluttered with empty bottles and a few scattered, crumpled notes—fragments of a life lived in fleeting moments. The nightstand itself was painted black, the finish chipped and dulled, as if it too bore the scars of countless late-night escapades.

Rosa closed the curtains, which hung heavy at the window, a deep red that blocked out the light but couldn't quite mask the world beyond. They swayed slightly in the draft, whispering tales of yearning and desperation. The room felt like a sanctuary and a prison all at once, a reflection of a life filled with choices that lingered long after the night had faded.

"Sit here," Rosa said as she energetically tapped right beside her on the bed. "Don't be shy."

I sat beside her, as she requested, unsure about how to feel about being in a brothel with a woman.

"We have seen a drastic reduction of customers here at the brothel lately," she explained. "I don't know why. Maybe they're getting bored of us or whatever."

"How can I help? I really hope you won't ask me to become one of you, girls."

She threw a hand in the air, discarding automatically what I had just said. "Nah. I was wondering if you could share some... tips on how sluts run things in Purple Rock. I heard they got a syndicate, even. They seem very organised."

I hunched my shoulders a bit. "They are. I'm not familiar with how they run things, though."

"We need our usual customers back... and maybe get some new ones." She sighed. "Any ideas on how to improve our business?"

I sent my gaze upwards as I pondered on any options at all. "Well, now I recall that they celebrate a parade every year. Whore Pride, they call it. Maybe you could do the same. Do you think it would help?"

"That would be great!" she exclaimed as she leaned forward with excitement. Her eyes were glowing, wide open as her mind was probably running wild. "What does this parade look like? What do they do?"

"They prepare special dresses every year. Very eye-catching. And they also prepare a few special carriages and a choreography."

"Fabulous!" She clapped her hands with excitement.

"Last year, they did a jungle-themed parade. Many girls dressed up as sexy lionesses and tigresses, some as colourful birds with lots of rainbow-coloured feathers. They gave vouchers and stuff."

"Wow. I would've loved to see that! Will you help us prepare all the material and the dancing, please?" she asked with eagerness.

"After the big favour I'm asking of you?" I chuckled. "Of course I will. You're even gonna lend me your sexy lingerie for those stupid naughty photos! Anyway, I could teach you the sensual choreography they did last year. It was amazing! I leant it by heart, just like many other girls in Purple Rock. It became like a superhit in every single club in the colony."

Her eyebrows shot upwards as she took a sharp intake of air. "Yes, please!"

"Sure." I nodded.

"Thanks a freaking lot, Mia! You're amazing!" She threw her arms around me and trapped me in a genuinely warm hug. It felt like a million years ago when I last got a hug like that... from my father.

"Don't mention it." I tried to hide a bittersweet smile but failed. She saw it as she let go of the hug. "I'm glad I met you, Rose. I really need to make that hacker happy with those photos." I cleared my throat as I recalled something important I needed to share. Rosa seemed the right kind of person. "Just... one... thing..."

"What?" she asked with too much eagerness, as she leaned towards me. Her face was an inch apart from mine when she asked, "Any kinks?"

"No!" I leaned back with a revealing blush on my cheeks. "It's James."

"Oh," she replied with some frustration as she raised an eyebrow, "you want to give him some photos too, is that it? You wanna know his kinks so that we can customise photos for him?"

"NO!" I yelled, my cheeks turning vividly crimson. "It's NOT that. It's... don't tell anybody about this, okay?" I tightened my fists on the bedsheets. "Not even James."

She chuckled. "But he already knows about the naughty photos, moron."

"No, I mean... about me helping you to prepare the parade and stuff. And the sensual dancing. Don't tell a soul I'm doing this for you, please," I begged, whispering. "I shouldn't call anybody's attention. That's why I need the photos, actually. I called too much attention the other day in front of the hospital, and now there might be videos of me circulating on the web. I need them... deleted asap."

"O...kay. As you wish." Rosa sighed, standing up. "So, why don't we start already?"

I readjusted my butt on the mattress. "Yeah, I need the photos as soon as possible."

Rosa rushed to her wardrobe. "Let me see."

She started to throw lots of bras and panties at me and over the bed.

"This, and this, and this too!" Her eyes almost went out of their sockets when she grabbed a particular set of bra and panties in blue and white. "OMG, this will look amazing on you! And... this, this, and this... oh, this one is lovely!"

"Just... don't overdo it, please. A couple of these will be fine, I guess." I tried to downplay it, but I just wanted that torture to be over as soon as possible.

"'Fine, I guess?!' Are you kidding me?" She sank her fists on either side of her hips and frowned at me. "You need him to do a job well done. Don't you want to impress that guy? So that he can delete all those videos?"

"Yeah, but..."

"No buts. Now, undress and put these on." She threw those blue and white bra and panties at me, which hit me right in the chest as I tried to grab them rather awkwardly. "You're gonna look so fabulous that the camera lens is gonna break!" She winked at me with naughtiness.

"James has got an impressive phone!" Rosa exclaimed, standing by the feet of her bed. "Look at the resolution of these photos, OMG."

She was holding James' phone with wide eyes.

"Are we done, then?" I asked with impatience. I was sitting on Rosa's bed, wearing the sexy, white and blue bra and panties that Rose had lent me.

The white and blue bra featured delicate lace trim along the edges, creating a soft, romantic look. The cups were adorned with intricate floral patterns in varying shades of blue, adding a touch of elegance. The silk straps were thin and adjustable and also detailed with lace, enhancing the overall design.

The matching panties were a playful blend of white fabric with blue lace accents. They hugged my curves beautifully, with lace delicately lining the waist and leg openings. The combination of the two pieces created a charming, cohesive set that exuded femininity and grace.

And I wasn't used to wearing anything like that. I felt like an idiot.

"Please, tell me we're done," I insisted.

"No, of course not. I was watching the pics he took last week," Rosa replied, browsing through an endless array of photos.

I frowned and shouted with indignation, "Rosa! Focus! I need you to take photos of me—not spy on James' phone."

"I know, sweet pea. I'm sorry." Rosa stopped browsing and opened the camera app. She took one good look at me and frowned. "Now... hmmm... you need to spread your legs to one side, like a mermaid, and raise your arms above your head. Put your hands behind your nape."

Rosa bit her lower lip as she aimed the camera lens at me, but then she pouted.

"But... no, no, no." Rosa sighed as she dropped her shoulders. "Mia, you need to relax, honey. You're tense. The pose looks fake if you let your body unwind."

"I can't relax, Rose." I dropped my gaze to the floor and undid my pose. "I hate this—all of this. What am I supposed to do?"

Rosa hummed as she pondered what to do. Then, she said cheerfully, "Let me put some music on. In the meantime, take some deep breaths with your eyes closed."

Rosa went to get her phone and, after a few taps on the screen, soft lounge music echoed in her bedroom. She left her phone at the feet of her bed.

"Imagine you're somewhere else," she said in a whispering, extremely soothing voice. "A quiet place you love. Somewhere you know you can relax and feel at ease. Tell me what you see. Describe where you are for me, please."

"I'm... at the beach in Purple Rock at sundown," I replied in a gentle whisper. "I love a small bay that's near where I live. The sun is bright orange as it melts over the sea on the horizon."

"Good, tell me what you smell and feel."

"Salt is in the breeze as I breathe in slowly. The warm sand gets between my naked feet. The scent of pine trees nearby gets carried by the wind, too. The more the evening advances, the chillier the air grows, but it's comfortable."

"Very good." She made a brief pause. "Now, focus on those sensations... and shift your position a bit. Sit up, move your neck left and right, or move your arms to and fro, leisurely, as if it means nothing, like stretching for fun. Keep talking about the beach to me."

"I love collecting shells. I walk down the beach, watching for them carefully on the sand," I said as I slowly bent my knees and spread my feet on the mattress on either side of me.

I pushed my chest a bit forward as I spread my arms on either side and pushed them back. A few bones gently cracked.

My palms lay now flat on the mattress. I leaned my head to the right as my wavy, blue hair cascaded over my shoulders and back.

Click.

The camera sound made my closed eyelids spasm and my heart race.

"Go on. Don't mind me. Keep moving, slowly."

"The... gentle waves crash against my feet as they sink into the wet sand. The waves leave crescent-moon-shaped curves on the sand. The white foam at the tip of the waves disappears."

Click.

I pushed my body to lie on my left side, sinking the fingers of my left hand into my hair while the arm made a triangle on the mattress. My legs spread in the opposite direction as my hips and right shoulder created a nice symmetry. My slender waist created a dimple in my silhouette. My dishevelled hair created a nice waterfall.

"Then, the water slowly recedes, carrying some sand with it back into the sea as it massages my ankles and feet."

Click.

Rosa then whispered, "Good, can you open your eyes, please?"

I did as my friend said.

My hooded eyelids gently lifted as I slowly opened my eyes, revealing a soft, dreamy gaze. I combed some stray locks of my hair behind my right ear with my right hand, displaying my golden earrings. My eyelids, slightly fuller, gave me a serene yet lazy expression as much as my slightly parted rosy lips.

"O... M... G." Rose bit her lower lip.

Click. Click. Click.

"Got it. These last photos are splendid, Mia." Rosa giggled. "James' gonna get a massive hard-on when he sees these."

I sat up in a hurry and slammed a fist on the mattress. "THEY'RE NOT FOR HIM!"

"This is his phone, sweet pea," Rosa replied, stating the obvious as she pointed to the phone in her hand.

I rushed to my feet and approached Rosa to snatch the phone from her hands. "I'm just supposed to make them and send them to that bloody hacker."

Rosa sighed. "James isn't dumb... or homosexual... or a eunuch. He's gonna keep them."

"Nope." I unlocked the phone and sent the photos to the hacker.

Rosa raised an eyebrow. "I see how he looks at you. When I pass by as I clean the premises, I watch him stare at you and... he's... suddenly alive—so unlike when you were not around!" She made a brief pause until Mia met her gaze. Then, she warmly added, "He really likes you. A lot."

"Stop talking nonsense," I whispered, blushing.

Rosa smiled. "You like him too, cool."

My eyes shot daggers of fire at her. "Rosa!"

"I mean it." She crossed her arms over her chest in a relaxed pose. She started playing with her gold necklace with a finger, lazily. "After the accident, girls stopped fancying him. I had spent years overhearing girls swooning over him, saying they wanted to sleep with him, although none but Vanessa eventually could.

"Many admitted to masturbating thinking of him, but when the wheelchair became part of the picture..." She clicked her tongue in a dismissive attitude as she shook her head. "He became invisible overnight."

Invisible? The phone lay in my suddenly lax hands.

"I offered him my services one day, not long ago—and he refused," Rosa went on. "He said he was done with women ever since the day Vanessa left him, that no one would ever want to marry him because of his social status, that he despised one-night stands. He became a shadow of the man he used to be, although he still acts all noble and cold as before."

He suffered a lot, but I already knew that. "So?"

"You, silly!" Rosa gently pushed my shoulder with a broad smile. "You popped out of nowhere—and his eyes started to glow again. You don't belong here—and that's a good thing because neither does he!"

I chuckled. "And then, I go and spot a deformity in his spine."

"What?"

"I spotted a deformity, which means that, after undergoing surgery, if it all goes well, he could walk again."

Rosa's eyes went wide in amazement. "Wow! For real?"

"It's a solid surgical plan to mend his spine. He would still need robotic exoskeletons for rehabilitation and walking on a daily basis, at least for some time, until his muscles regain their functionality completely." I smiled back at her.

Rosa put her hands over her mouth in excitement. "You're... you're amazing!" She clapped her hands once. "Of course he's smitten with you! You're gonna save him!"

"I..."

Rosa eyed me with naughtiness, leaning her face a bit towards me. "And you like him, too, don't you?"

I bit my lower lip.

"Come on," she insisted, raising both hands in the air with some exasperation. "He's a retired cop, well-built, athletic, young... that cold demeanour used to attract many girls. And the bastard shame gave him a tempting energy that seldom could resist, too."

It felt as if she was pitching a great idea to me.

"He's nice and caring, that's what matters," I whispered, still blushing.

Rosa rolled her eyes. "Sure. That—and he's hot."

"Rosa... stop it."

She smirked. "Say it, then."

"What?" I raised an eyebrow.

"You like like him." Her smile grew wider.

"Rosa..." I put a hand over my forehead.

"Say it!"

"I..." I took a deep breath. "I don't like him."

She dropped her shoulders and crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. "Oh, come on!"

"No, I don't like him... I..." I hesitated as I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know if I love him, but what I feel is certainly more than like," I eventually admitted in a tired tone of voice.

"OMG! YES!" She made a cute jump and clapped her hands with passion. "This is gonna be amazing! You're so cute together! I'm setting you up. Asap. Before the end of the week, you're having sex with him, I swear." She was speaking so fast I could barely follow her.

I shot my palms open ahead of me. "Rosa, don't even think about it. I'd rather take some time, not rush things, and..."

"Take some time? Are you nuts?" She asked as if I were crazy. "After all he's been through you're gonna make him wait even more?"

I sighed. "I... I don't know." I blushed even more. "I've never dated anybody seriously—too busy with college and work. I don't know what to do."

She smirked and whispered with naughtiness, "Leave that to me."

Hello, my sugar cubes!

Rosa has a naughty plan in mind. I wonder what it could be.

Stay tuned!

XOXO

Mar