Chapter 9: Worker Bees

Phoebe Waterson – Saturday, June 20th, 2015

Sara's little apartment was gross. The walls were a yellowed off-white. The hardwood floors were not smoothly connected. The kitchen counters were pockmarked and chipped. At least the bed was large enough for the three of us.

Carmen kissed the little blonde good-bye and waved to Dawn and I. Sara moved with purpose like she always did. Always had to be going. Never had the sense to take a breath. Dawn just looked at me nervously before following Sara to the bedside. Dawn wheeled our suitcases to the closet.

"What are we getting?" I asked waiting by the bags of the Things we had brought for my new Master, "What did you steal?"

"Just these," Sara said draping her hoodie over her violin case.

"Matthew said there was a music box," Dawn walked over and picked the red laquered box from next to the armchair. It was completely unwound. Dawn closed it with a snap.

"The music box is pretty," Sara frowned at it.

"But it isn't a Thing," I finished.

"Well he wants it," Dawn murmured defensively.

"Then he gets it," Sara shrugged, "Let's go over to his apartment now."

The three of us collected our supplies. I carried a bunch of cleaning supplies in a laundry basket. Dawn dragged a rolling suitcase and carried a grocery bag full of Things. Sara cradled her violin and music box. We had difficulty with every door. We cut through the parking garage and rode up the other elevator to the seventeenth floor. Dawn had Matthew's keys but the apartment was unlocked.

"Hello? Joe? Ryan?" Dawn announced us but the apartment was empty. She led us down to his bedroom. She seemed full of herself knowing how to navigate the three bedroom.

Matthew's room had an odor. I doubted we had bought enough Febreze. Dawn divided up our tasks and we got to work. We all carried the laundry down to the laundry room and left Sara with it. Dawn and I cleaned the room and made note of new things Matthew needed. We washed the walls and did our best with the carpet.

Dawn and I unloaded the Things, after spraying down the desk, closet shelf and dresser top. Matthew had been sweet to us, putting the scarves in Ziploc bags. Those went in reach of his bed. I put the stand of Champagne flutes in the closet. She hung Sara's hoodie from a hanger. I laid a teddy bear on the desk. She put the handgun in the bottom dresser drawer next to the cash. I dropped the hymnal on the desk. Dawn looked at me, smirking.

"Don't you want to see what else he can do?" She said picking up the book.

"How?" I tolerated her for the moment.

"He showed me a few pages and—Motherfucker!" Her fingernails dug in, her knuckles went white and her cheeks grew red.

"I guess we'll have to ask later," I shrugged, "There's a lot more work to do."

I made the washroom spotless. Dawn cleaned the kitchen. We picked up the living room. Dawn was loathe to throw out things I recognized as garbage. When I moved to clean up the middle bedroom, Dawn grabbed my elbow.

"What are you doing!" She hissed. She had been reverently quiet since we had got there.

"Last two rooms to clean. You take that one."

"They're not Matthew's rooms," She barked.

"Alright, alright," I pulled my elbow out from her grip. She looked frustrated as I flopped down on the couch.

"What're you doing!" She barked again. Her sister started howling from the next apartment over. Bitches. It was a loud dog. They both shut up soon enough.

"Oh hey, did you--" Dawn turned and squeaked, "Hi, Ryan. I thought you were--"

"Not Matthew, Dawn," Ryan walked in and swiveled headed until he saw me, "Hi, are you a friend of Dawn's?"

"No." Dawn glared at me.

"Oh well," he shrugged with a laugh, "Why are you here?"

A phone chirped from Dawn's front pants pocket. She scrambled to pull it out. I liked their couch, fluffy and yet leather. Ryan fell onto the cushion next to me. He seemed to keep his attention on Dawn but I arched my back like I was expected to while he surreptitiously checked me out, "Matthew's phone?"

"He left it in the car," Dawn looked wide eyed at the screen as she checked the message. She blushed and hurried it back into her jeans.

"You didn't have to pick up while you waited for him," Ryan said, "But I'm glad you did. Matthew probably won't be back until after work."

"OK," Dawn sighed, "I guess the three of us will get out of your hair then."

"Three of you? Jesus fucking Christ, Matty," He beamed, "Where's the third one? Carmen?"

"No, Carmen's at work," I replied.

"Fuck..." He whistled, "She as hot as you two?"

"Yes."

"Meh," I disagreed with Dawn.

"I like this one," Ryan turned and put his hand on my thigh. I met his gaze. Did I have to entertain his friends? When He had given me away it was clear what I was being exchanged for. I decided to err safely.

"Maybe we should go?" Dawn fidgeted.

"This will only take a few minutes," I shrugged, picking up Ryan's fingers and lacing them with my own, "Besides then we'll find out if we have to clean the last two rooms."

"I'm going to help Sara with the laundry," Dawn bolted. I let Ryan walk me to his room.

"Seriously? You'll clean my room when we're finished?" He led me into the middle room. It was considerably tidier than Matthew's had been and the bed was sitting on unbroken rails. Still, there was a bit of clutter.

"I don't like to leave a job unfinished," I shrugged and he flashed a toothful grin. I knelt on the carpet and yanked open his belt.

"Now I'm seeing how Matthew suddenly got so suave," He sneered. I shrugged as I tugged his jeans down with his boxers. Ryan grew ready in front of my eyes and I took him in my mouth. Move my throat. One two. Tilt my neck. One two. Roll my tongue. One two. Up and down. One two.

"God, you're good at this," He tangled up my hair and hurried me. Well, if he wanted the express job, it was less skin off my knees, "Get on the bed, I need to fuck you."

"Alright," I let go of his dick and felt the air pop as I unsealed my lips. He lifted me up by my elbows and tossed me backwards onto his bed. He grabbed a box of condoms from his desk as I pulled down my shorts.

"No panties?" He grinned as he rolled the latex down his dick.

"Yes," I agreed. He furrowed his brow and then laughed. I kicked my knees further open and he climbed on top of me. He rolled my shirt up over my tits. He didn't try to kiss me and I made no move for him. I let my head lag to the side as I rolled my hips up to meet his entry. I breathed deeply. Clench, rise up, unclench, pull back. His harder tummy slapped against my clit. I didn't have to rub myself on the rim of a table like I had with Matthew.

"Oh, thank you," I murmured as he gathered speed. Little shocks diffused under my skin. My breaths seemed tighter and smaller. My head swam a little.

"You're incredible," Ryan huffed, he was maintaining a steady slightly fast pace, "You act like a dead fish and fuck like a whore."

"I'm not charging you," I corrected him as I felt the my forehead and toes stiffen up, "Oh, thank you."

"God, you're easy," He laughed celebratorily, "C'mon, I know just the way to finish."

He dragged me by my knees off of the bed. I slipped down into the carpet, grabbing his cock under the condom he was ripping off. I put the head in my mouth. Hum, roll tongue, pump wrist, look upward. He put a hand on either side of my head and rushed short strokes rubbing the bump of his foreskin against my lips. I collected the little bit of weeping precum with the tip of my tongue. He grabbed my hand with his and pulled me back by the hair at the top of my skull. I had my lips wide and open when the glob of cum collided like a fist to my nose. I was splashed all over. I had been trained not to flinch and my right eye burned a little. I licked what I could around my lips and stood up as

"What was your name again? Sara?"

"It's Phoebe," I replied and rolled my spattered shirt back down over my tits.

I left his room in the direction of the bathroom. Sara and Dawn were in Matthew's putting folded clothes into the dresser. I popped my head in and caught the semen that sloughed over my chin before it got into the carpet.

"When you're done here, we should clean Ryan's room as well," Both girls had tomato red faces. Only Dawn was embarrassed at all. Hillary Dodds – Saturday, June 20th, 2015

"I'm going to run out and grab some dinner," my boss, Zane, rushed by me as I showed up fifteen minutes before my shift. I had just wanted to drop off my bag and purse behind the counter before running across the street for a coffee. Now, I was effectively clocked in for a shift, "Watch the counter."

The Portal was a comic shop. It was more of a hobby and game store. There were racks of comics on the east wall and two tables of boxes full of famous issues bagged and boarded. That was only about a fifth of the store. The other walls and aisles were loaded with board games, toys, dolls and figurines. Behind the counter we kept all forms of collectible cards. None of this included the finished basement underneath my feet with rows of tables where Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons and Yu Gi Oh players gathered.

I walked around the glass display counter where we kept the booster packs and singles' binders. I took an overpriced can of Monster and sat it next to the register. The perfect pick-me-up excluding an actually well brewed espresso from the pub across the street or a well timed slap in the face. I wasn't going to get paid for these additional fifteen minutes so for the third time in four years I didn't drop my money in the register.

It was early afternoon on a Friday. The store was pretty empty but for Lara, Victor and trio of middle school kids arguing about comics they were not likely to purchase. I can see why Zane had ditched so readily. Lara was slutting up against Victor. Good, that meant Paul had finally dumped her and now she was looking for another cock she could suck for rent. Victor ignored her shredded t-shirt and cut offs as easily as she ignored his wedding band. I yawned and cracked open my Monster. I think the store was shocked to know I had arrived.

I dragged my sketchpad out from under the register. I liked this job. I liked this community. Gamers can be petty and salty but they're a tightly knit group with passion. Passion about trivial bullshit is still passion; it's what I love about life. I never felt invisible. I was a great looking brunette and I was surrounded by geeks. There were the socially anxious nerds, those that had trouble talking to me or looking me in the eye. There were alpha male nerds, those that felt so arrogant and full of themselves that they had to be dissuaded loudly and publicly to stop hitting on me. But for the most part, most of the nerds were just guys. I liked the occasional flirting and the festering crushes that came from providing customer service to familiar faces. The community was well aware of me and who I am. My Donnie was well known and prevalent so I avoided a lot of the bad attention and I just made friends. I took my first sip of my Monster. Victor had turned at me opening the can and was coming over to insulate himself from Lara.

"Hey Hills," He greeted me as Lara slid around on his left.

"Yeah, hey," She said in her "you can't do much for me" level of civility.

"How are you guys doing?" I smiled at both, "How's Crystal?"

Lara flinched but Victor grew less obviously rigid.

"She's doing great," He said, "Going batshit with Becky over the wedding."

"I don't know Becky," I answered.

"Malcolm's girl," Victor was a hand talker. It forced Lara to edge back a bit.

"Right," I nodded. Malcolm wasn't a cards guy so I didn't see him every week. He hung around with Victor, Matthew and Craps, if I recalled correctly.

"Anyway, I'd had enough of fluttering women so I came here to the land of unwashed nerds," He tilted his head at Lara, "Didn't work like I'd hoped."

"Well, it's three to three for girls in here at the moment," I pointed out, "Most would say that's a better ratio than usual."

"I'm sure it's better for someone," Victor shrugged. "But more importantly, I need Watery Graves."

"There were two Gatecrash yesterday," I squatted to grab the skinny green binder with the right label, "But we don't keep shocks for very long."

"Well, I need four so, there's that," Victor shrugged.

"I'm pretty sure you can get a lend of someone's," I suggested as I dropped the binder on the table and flipped to the back where we kept the lands. I slipped the Watery Graves from their pocket. Three cards that turned out to be just one Grave backed by opposite facing Blood Crypts.

"Well, I'll take it," He sighed.

"Star City says its $11.20," Lara said showing her phone screen. We were all duly impressed by her ability to work a search engine.

"$14.00," I ignored her and told Victor.

"Yeah, and use the last buck to give me a can of Pepsi," He dragged three crumpled fives from his pocket. I exchanged the money for goods or services, "Hey, thanks."

"No worries," I smiled, "Anything else you need?"

"Nah," He gave a little half wave and said in his most put upon yawn, "I'm going to go fuck the wife."

"Don't hurt yourself."

"That'd be a first," He then flashed a bright white smile in need of orthodontia and turned for the door.

"Fuck," Lara bemoaned and leaned forward on the counter. She idly started flipping through binder.

"No luck then?" I asked. Lara was a parasite but she was nice enough to look at.

"Nah," She shook her head, "I mean, I figured I'd have better luck with someone who's had a fuck than Joseph downstairs. You know?"

"No," I refused.

"Yeah, whatever," She yawned and stretched for the teens by the Spider-man comics, "I'm going downstairs."

"Have at 'er," I told her with genuine disinterest. The next few minutes were relatively boring. I got a hi from Scott and Paul as they cut straight through the store and went downstairs. The kids left and I was wandering over to the racks to make sure no stock was missing. We didn't have much trouble with shoplifters. Zane still liked me to treat every teenager as a criminal. The bell at the door tinkled again.

I hadn't seen her before, a good looking fortyish woman with dark hair and prettily dressed. Her top was a white ribbed sleeveless sweater but it formed around her body pretty nicely. She was wearing a knee length black skirt, dark hose and black sneakers. Her hair looked like it had gone through a bit of hassle this morning. She didn't look like she belonged here. Probably a mother picking something up for her kid's grading day or birthday. I put on my smile and walked towards the counter. It was easy to catch her eye.

"Hi, welcome to The Portal," I smiled.

"Oh, hi, thanks," She crossed the display room with her head on a swivel.

"Not your usual hangout is it?" I asked and she gave me a half smirk yes, "Need any help, what are you looking for?"

"Thanks, that would actually be great," She sighed, "I've got--" She looked like she was struggling for the right word, "--a new boyfriend and he's kind of a huge nerd and I wanted to surprise him with something he'll like."

"Yeah, well we probably have you covered," I smiled and took another quick sip of my sugar and caffeine, "Do you have any idea what he likes?"

"Superman," She said pretty confidently. Then she looked to the door and fingered a bracelet on her wrist, "Not much more than that."

"He's a nerd in Halifax? I might know him and be able to give you a bit of insight," I walked up next to her and caught the smell of exertion and sex. I smiled. She must have been wanting for sometime and this nerd had just blown her mind and other various bits. I really needed to know now.

"I guess," She vacillated, "His name's Matty, uh, Matthew Reid."

"Oh! So you're Carmen!" I grinned and smiled, "A couple of my friends met you at his place a few days ago. They said you were hot; I just thought they meant hot for Matthew."

She laughed at that. "Um, yeah, actually I'm not Carmen."

"Oh," I went white faced, "Did I just fuck things up?"

"No, Carmen's the girl who--" Again I watched her face struggle with the next words, "--gave him the confidence boost he needed to ask me out. I'm Deborah."

"Hi, Deborah," I took her hand and smiled, "I'm Hillary."

"So, you think you can help me out with Matthew?"

"Yeah, skip the comics," I told her, "Matthew's more interested in these." I led her over to the board game wall.

"Uh, bored games?" She was really new to dating nerds it seemed.

"Yeah, if you don't like them you're playing the wrong games or with the wrong players," I assured her, "Have Matthew take you to the Board Room on one of your dates. He'll set you straight. But he's been building credit up to get this," I picked up the Game of Thrones board game off the shelf, "I haven't played it, but I know he wants it."

"Seventy dollars?" She looked at it, "He's worth it but that seems a lot for some cardboard and paint."

"And you're absolutely correct," I assured her, "But it's the price we're asked to sell it as."

"And you're sure he'll like this?" She seemed nervous. That was cute. I'd known Matthew for almost seven years now. A woman nervous over him was the peak of opposite day celebration.

"Yeah, he'll love it," I promised her.

"Visa's good here?"

"Yeah," I told her, "We'd go out of business if we didn't let geeks spend money they didn't have."

"Thanks," She said as we walked over to the cash register.

"Do you mind me asking how you know Matthew?" I said as I scanned the bar code and typed the price into the credit card machine.

"Oh, he works for me at the restaurant." She answered as the receipt printed.

"Wow!" I rolled back on my heels, "He asked his boss out? Ballsy."

"A side of him I hadn't seen before," She smiled wanly.

"Good for him, then," I grinned, "And good for you too, I hope."

"He's pretty aggressive," She mirrored my excitement, "Once you get him to stop doublethinking everything."

"Good," I passed her the game in a plain white shopping bag, "Make him happy. He's a friend of mine."

"I'll do my best," She promised and gave a little wave good-bye. The bell over the door tinkled on her way out. There was no one in the top section so I went back to my sketchpad. A couple of people wandered in and out without buying things. Zane just seemed to have been disappeared. Eventually, Scott and Joseph walked up from the basement.

"Lara's going nuts at Paul," Joseph alerted me. I looked up from my drawing. I had managed to make it as far as the tentacles of an unknowable Lovecraftian nightmare. I was was about to detail the destroyed dress of the heroine. Everyone always said my artwork was jagged and violent. "We're going to flip through some binders."

"Good move," I sighed. Normally, I'd have immediately asked what sets they had wanted to see but I had to needle Joseph.

"You'll never guess who I met a half an hour ago," I bubbled and Scott looked up with interest.

"Probably, I'm not a guesser," Joseph prompted me to continue.

"I just met Matthew's new girlfriend. She is super hot." I beamed.

"Yeah, those legs go all the way up," Scott grinned.

"She's not talking about Carmen," Joseph shook his head, "I dunno about her being super hot--"

"Because you're too picky," I interrupted. He took a deep breath and chose his words again.