I had to admit, the pancakes were pretty d.a.m.n good. Much better than my slightly rubbery discs would have been. They were even better once they were drizzled with a decent amount of b.u.t.ter and maple syrup.

"If you can cook like this, you're welcome for breakfast anytime." I joked.

"Really?" He raised his eyebrow and grinned. My eyes widened when I realized how that sounded.

"Oh no, I didn't mean-"

"I know exactly what you meant." He interrupted me. I froze as I felt his hand brush over my thigh under the table. Aiming my foot over his, I brought it down. Hard.

"Holy sh...aker." Devon cried, reaching under the table to ma.s.sage his injured foot. I smiled at him sweetly.

"Holy shaker? What does that mean?" Sam looked at Devon, confused.

"It means your sister is nasty." He muttered, shaking his head at me.

"Which one?"

"When have I ever been nasty, Sam? Obviously he means Kait." Neri rolled her eyes at her brother. Sam nodded in agreement.

"What did I do?" I cried, annoyed that I was instantly the nasty one.

"Oh, you know." Devon narrowed his eyes at me.

"Well if I did anything, I'm sure you deserved it." I smiled sweetly. "Shouldn't you be heading to your birthday *thing'?"

Devon opened his mouth, and then thought better of it. Nodding he stood up. "I guess I had better be going. Thanks for breakfast." A slow, suggestive smile spread across his face.

"Why thank me? You made it." I grumbled, following him to the door. He leaned behind me, to grab the jacket off the hook. I held my breath. He was so close, I could feel his breath on my cheek.

"I'll see you soon." He murmured in my ear. I felt myself nodding. I had enjoyed this breakfast thing much more than I wanted to admit.

Back in the kitchen, Neri eyed my suspiciously. "You look weird." I shrugged my shoulders. "And you're acting kinda funny." She added.

"No idea what you are talking about, Neri." I gathered up the dishes and began loading them in the dishwasher. Neri stood staring at me for a moment.

"Okay." She shrugged, wandering off.

Chapter Six.

Sunday night I tossed and turned for most of the night. I wasn't sure what had me more nervous. Neri starting at South West, or the fact that I still needed a job.

Between the two, I managed less than two hours sleep. I dragged myself out of bed at six, after unsuccessfully trying to fall back to sleep. My stomach grumbled loudly, demanding to be fed. In the kitchen, I looked through the fridge. Eggs, bacon, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Sounded like a winner to me.

As the smell of breakfast cooking wafted through the house, Sam was the first to appear, dressed in his school shorts at shirt.

"Wow this smells great, Kait." Sam was his overenthusiastic self. Neri followed shortly after, with a ghost of a smile on her lips.

"It does smell pretty good." She agreed, ruffling Sam's hair. He shrieked, ducking out of the way, as he glared at his sister.

"I just did my hair." He whined, trying to tame the mess his sister had made of his hair back into place. He was fighting a losing battle. Neri rolled her eyes and tried to grab his hair again. Sam screamed.

"Guys!" I yelled, covering my ears. They stopped abruptly, looking sheepishly at me. "Eat." I Added. "Then finish getting ready and we will get going."

"Get going? It's 7:30am." Neri interjected.

Right. Good point.

"Well by the time you're ready it will be after eight."

I pulled up outside of South West High, after dropping Sam off at the kindergarten. Before I was even out the door, he'd made friends with Jack and Michael.

"I'm guessing you don't want me to come in with you." I said wryly. Neri shook her head, her eyes growing wide with mock horror.

"I think I will be fine. Thanks Kait." I watched her walk off into the school grounds. Her long blonde hair waved dramatically in the wind, as she tried to tame it over one shoulder. She looked older than her fifteen years in her skinny jeans and blue sweater. Part of me was glad she had a steady boyfriend who lived half an hour away. The other part of me knew what girls with steady boyfriends got up to.

It really was a lose/lose situation.

I waited until she had disappeared into the building before I started up the car. It cranked over three times, before letting out a loud explosion of smoke. I winced, as people around me stared. I needed to get that looked at. I made a mental note to book the car in for a service.

I headed in the direction of South West College to sort out my schedule. I needed to condense as many of my cla.s.ses as I could into the least number of days so I could be around for the kids as much as possible. Ara was already helping out so much, I didn't want to rely on her to help while I was at college.

More than anything I wanted to avoid dropping a cla.s.s. I was so close to finishing my degree, and I already had an internship lined up for next semester. Dropping a cla.s.s would stuff up all my plans for next year. I had decided on international business after doing an introduction subject in my first semester and really enjoying it.

After spending close to an hour arguing with the student administration, I finally had a schedule I could work with. Three days a week, all starting after 10am and finishing before 3pm.

Reaching for the paper on the back seat, I took a breath and dialed the number for the job.

"h.e.l.lo?"

"Hi. My name is Kait. I'm calling about the job advertised in the paper." I kept my tone warm and friendly, knowing how important first impressions were in any type of job.

"Kait, yes Jess told me you called Sat.u.r.day. I'm Mauve. Do you have any experience in this type of role?" That was the question I'd been dreading.

"Not specifically, but I have been at my current job for ten months, working in a cafe. Before that, I was at another coffee shop for over a year." I didn't add that I wasn't entirely sure what type of role this actually was that I was applying for.

"Can I ask why you are looking for something else?"

"I need something that suits my lifestyle better, and nights suit me much better right now." I left it at that, not wanting to elaborate on exactly why nights suited me so much.

"Okay. Can you come in for a chat tonight, say 8pm?" Mauve responded.

"Sure." I said, surprised. "See you then." I hung up the phone, slightly surprised that it had been that easy to score an interview. Eight seemed late for an interview, but at this stage I'd take whatever I could get.

Now I just needed to figure out what to wear.

"You're sure you don't mind?"

Ara sat on the edge of my bed, watching me get ready. "Seriously, I'm home anyway. It's all good." I positioned my black skirt onto my waist, and held the cream silk shirt, and the blue wrap top against me, unable to decide which to choose. The blue said professional, but the silk screamed s.e.xy professional.

"Go the shirt." I nodded. Ara was right. The cream of the silk looked wonderful against my naturally pale complexion.

"Feel free to try and fish some info out of Neri on how her first day went." I added, b.u.t.toning up the shirt. I sighed, loving the feel of the soft silk against my naked skin.

"You didn't ask?"

"She wouldn't tell me." I rolled my eyes. All I had gotten out of her was a shrug and a smile. I was fast beginning to realize that Neri loved her shrugs. Sam, on the other hand, hadn't shut up about his first day. I'd received a minute by minute play of how the day had unfolded for him. The important thing was he'd loved it.

"Okay, I have ways of making fifteen year old girls talk." Ara a.s.sured me, throwing me a pair of small hooped earrings. I shook my head as I tightened the earrings into my lobes. I didn't even want to know what that meant. Glancing at my reflection, I was satisfied. h.e.l.l, I'd give me a job.

"What kind of place has an interview at eight at night anyway?" Ara grumbled.

"One that pays three times minimum wage." I shot back, smiling. To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from this interview. All I knew was for that money, I'd be willing to do almost anything.

I fished out my phone to double check I had the right address. Yep. This was it. I took in the large door in the middle of what looked to be the industrial area of Seattle. I shivered. This was not really a place I'd want to be coming and going from in the middle of the night.

I thought about just leaving. I could call up and say an emergency had come up at the last minute. No. I was going to at least sit through the interview, and then decide.

What had I said earlier about doing anything?

I breathed in deeply, internally chastising my nerves. What the h.e.l.l, I was here. I didn't have to take the job, but I was d.a.m.n well going to attend this interview.

Hopefully I made it out alive. Maybe I should have updated my will.

Stop it, Kait!

Walking through the parking lot until I stood at the heavy, rusted door, I banged loudly. Nothing.

I banged again, this time with more force. If n.o.body answered this time, I was out of here. I shivered, wishing I'd had the brains to grab a jacket on the way out. I felt a drop of rain hit my forehead, and trickle down my temple. Suddenly my raw silk shirt didn't seem like such a smart choice.

After what felt like hours, an oversized man with short dark hair opened the door. He frowned at me. He looked rough and scary, just the kind of person I'd want to avoid in a place like this.

"Hi. I'm Kait." I offered, forcing a smile. "I have an interview with Mauve." He looked me up and down, finally grunting as he stepped aside. I squeezed past him. Literally. My stomach churned as my a.s.s grazed past his stomach. After that, I felt like I needed a shower.

"Straight down the hall." He grumbled, before taking his place back on the seat next to the door, and picking up a copy of *Mature s.l.u.ts' from a table next to his chair, which I could only presume was his choice of reading material.

I nodded faintly. Was it too late to run?

If I was doubtful before, I was now positive I wasn't going to want this job. Where the h.e.l.l was the high cla.s.s establishment I was promised?

At the end of the hall was another door. This one was nicely painted. Was I in a rabbit hole? It was like a maze. As I rang the doorbell, I imagined this was what being on acid would feel like.

A woman answered the door, who looked to be in her forties.

"You must be Kait." She smiled in a way that I couldn't help but smile back. Instantly, I felt more at ease. Maybe this wasn't going to be as bad as I thought. Behind her, I could see what appeared to be a modern, inviting room. This was more like it. "Come in." She encouraged, waving her hand. I smiled again, and stepped through the door.

It took me all of about five seconds to realize I was standing inside a brothel.

Chapter Seven.

Not that I'd ever been inside a brothel to know what it was like, but the half-dressed girls walking around leading men into rooms was kind of a giveaway. The worst thing was now I was here, I couldn't just leave. I'd have to sit through this interview, smiling as if I this were my dream job.

Didn't every little girl grow up dreaming of one day working in a brothel?

In my mind, I wondered how I could've read this so wrong. Little things began to add up, like the late night interview, *adult establishment' and Mauve's questions about my experience. Not to mention the undesirable, hidden exterior. What I had a.s.sumed was office experience had obviously been experience of another kind.

"Come with me, Kait." I followed her into what looked like her office. She motioned toward the seat opposite her own. I watched as she sat down and pressed the intercom. "Claire? Can you make me a coffee please? Drink?" She looked at me expectantly.

"Coffee would be great. White, no sugar, Thanks." I didn't really want a coffee, but I felt more relaxed having something to hold onto.

Wait until Ara heard about this. She would die laughing. At least this would give me a good story to tell.

"So Kait. Let me first tell you a little about the job. From your expression, I am thinking this is not what you were expecting?" I flushed, not realizing my surprise had been so obvious.

"I feel like an idiot, but no. I was not expecting a brothel." I admitted. "I was expecting more of an, uh, hotel." Mauve smiled at my ignorance. At least she was finding this amusing.

"Brothel is not really the term we like to use. We are more of a high cla.s.s adult entertainment venue." I nodded, not really seeing the difference between the two. "Before we go on, I do need to confirm you are over the age of twenty-one?"

I nodded. "Yes, I'm twenty-two next January."

"Good." She looked relieved. "Firstly, we're looking for a receptionist, not an entertainer."

My ears p.r.i.c.ked up. I could handle being a receptionist, but could I handle being a receptionist in a brothel? Why did it have to be any different than being a receptionist in any other business?

"You'd be expected to greet clients and run them through the girls we have available for that evening. You would also be answering phones, booking appointments." Mauve paused, and looked at me thoughtfully. "For the right girl, Kait, this would be a very rewarding job. We pay extremely well, we are flexible, and we know people have a life and commitments outside of work. We really are like a family, and we like to treat our girls as such." She stood up. "Can I show you around before you make your decision?"

I followed Mauve out of the office, and down another hallway. One thing was for sure, this place was nice.

Really nice.

Each room was tastefully decorated, and every girl we pa.s.sed was impeccably dressed (or half dressed). Despite the fact that it was a brothel, it really did feel like a professional and friendly environment.

Oh s.h.i.t, Kait, what are you doing?