Plagued by worry for her brother and tempted by Emily's offer, sleep didn't come easy for Natalie that night.
She wriggled about in her bed for a while, trying to get into a comfortable position before giving up any illusions she had about getting a peaceful night's rest.She sat up, turned on the light on her nightstand, and reached for her phone, her heart bleeding a little at the massive crack on the screen. She still had eighteen months of payments left on the contract, and now with Jamie's medical expenses, it would be a while before she could get it fixed.The group chat with all her friends back home was dead. Nothing new in Sparrow Beach. No salacious gossip or groundbreaking scandals.Disappointed, Natalie scrolled through the Hot Connexions App.Only one of the eight 'connexion' suggestions was her type. Swiping left on her screen, she turned down the seven and focused all her attention on Lucas Southey.Not his real name, of course.They never used their real names.But he ticked all her boxes. Blue eyes, black hair and muscles in all the right places, judging from the guns threatening to rip through his white t-shirt.Lucas' only flaw was his location—a small fishing village with a name she couldn't pronounce—eight hundred kilometres away.Natalie swiped left again, disappointed at the idea of giving up on him.He could be her Mr Right. But she wasn't about to start breaking her own rules. Long-distance relationships were a huge no for her and her only reason for breaking off her four-month relationship with Casey Landon.They'd dated on and off throughout high school and college, but it wasn't until six months ago that they decided to give their relationship a fair go. Then Jamie's health deteriorated, and she was forced to take the job at Chassis Studios just so she and her siblings could stay afloat.In another life, and if they didn't have such shitty timing, she could see herself marrying Casey and living out their quiet, boring lives in Sparrow Beach with their 2.5 children and maybe three dogs because dogs were everything. It was a shame she wasn't allowed to keep one in her flat.Gunshots popped off at the party in the building across, and terrified screams pierced the still night air. But Natalie wasn't fazed by any of it, and she continued swiping and tapping on her phone. It was the usual Tuesday morning drama. She got used to the chaos early on.Beacon Hill was a horrible place to live, especially for a woman. Drugs, prostitution, gang shootouts—everything her sister had warned her about before she moved to the big bad city was right here, on one stop.Rent was cheap, though; sometimes, when counting pennies, safety wasn't a priority.Natalie found one of Emily's emails hidden among all the spam as she cleaned out all the Viagra and penis enlargement offers in her mailbox. She couldn't understand why it was there until she saw the link and remembered her friend mentioning something about a referral.Heart thumping, palms sweaty, Natalie clicked the link, hating herself for being so weak and easily tempted. And all it took was the vague tagline—Dreams, the only place where everything is possible—to shake her principles and crumble her resolve.The site's ambiguous-looking logo didn't give much away, and if Emily hadn't taken her on a post-login tour, Natalie wouldn't have known what business Dreams was in.Promising herself she was only browsing and wouldn't actually do anything ridiculous like apply, she clicked the 'Contact Us' button.Not even a minute later, though, she had already dived right in and done the one ridiculous thing she had just promised herself she wouldn't do and accessed the companion application form."Nothing wrong with testing the waters; it's not like they'll contact me, right?" she reasoned as she scanned their confidentiality disclaimer, assuring her they would treat her information with the utmost care and keep her sexy photos away from the internet.She didn't know much about computers and all the cybersecurity stuff. But having her information stored on a secure server at an undisclosed location somewhere overseas sounded like a solid plan.Natalie was almost sold on the whole thing, so she pushed her bedcover aside and padded to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee.Since she couldn't sleep, she may as well get high on caffeine.Her instant coffee warmed her up nice and good, and within minutes she was buzzing with excitement at the prospect of making bucketloads of money as she moved her mission from her phone to her laptop and pondered the series of questions Dreams urged her to answer truthfully.Natalie didn't understand why and how the truth had anything to do with escorting. But she planned to comply, just in case the powers-that-be somehow figured out she was dishonest and declined her application.The first question was simple enough.Was she bored with her 9-to-5 life?Honestly, she had nothing against a steady job. It paid her bills, and until yesterday had done a decent job of taking care of her siblings.Did she crave adventure?She didn't have a single adventurous bone in her body. But she'd be a fool to turn down luxurious dinner dates, overnight stays at the best hotels, weekend getaways at some of the fanciest resorts and all-expenses-paid overseas trips.Did she want to maintain her affluent lifestyle?What affluent lifestyle? Her lifestyle was way on the wrong end of the affluence scale, but she still couldn't maintain it.The final question was the most pertinent and should have been the first, in Natalie's opinion. It addressed her only reason for visiting Dreams and entertaining the idea of becoming a companion.Was she struggling financially and desperate for a supplementary income?Yes. A thousand times, yes. Her Chassis salary was by far the highest she had ever earned. But after Amber's call and their little dilemma, it wasn't going to cut it anymore. It didn't help that she was still on probation and didn't qualify for company benefits like Medical Aid.After completing the questionnaire and submitting all her answers as truthfully as possible, a second screen popped up, prompting her to complete her personal information. It was the usual standard stuff with a few intimate details, and Natalie reluctantly shared her measurements and uploaded her headshot.The last part of her application was the hardest. She had to sell herself and tell Dreams why she deserved to be a companion of their world-class establishment."Ugh, I hate this!" Natalie grumbled as she played with the empty mug in her hands. This was the reason she hated job interviews. She could never come up with a single point to sell herself.She left the application incomplete and went to her living room window, gazing at the dark sky and hoping for inspiration. But it didn't strike until a few hours later when she sat down for another cup of coffee before dashing off to catch the 6:00 AM bus to work. She always worked well under pressure.Not stopping to think or second-guess herself, Natalie typed a lengthy motivation, highlighting all her dazzling qualities.She didn't know how long ten seconds was until she hit 'submit' and waited for some response from Dreams.She smiled and allowed herself to finally breathe when a 'Thank You' notification popped up on her screen from the recruitment department, promising to get back to her within 72 hours.Recruitment exceeded Natalie's expectations with their turnaround time.The owner of Dreams personally called her from an undisclosed phone number hours after she sent through her application. But thinking it was a sales consultant trying to sell her life insurance she couldn't afford, Natalie ignored the three consecutive calls and poured all her energy into the graphs and pie charts in her report.Around midday, as she was about to head to the staff canteen on the ground floor to grab something to eat, her phone rang again.This time she picked up, and she wasn't very nice. "No, I don't want any life insurance, and I don't have any friends I can refer you to. So can you please stop badgering me with all these calls?""I like your fire, doll!" A breathy voice purred on the other end of the line. "This is Aunty Viv. I've tried three times this morning to reach you.""Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. I thought it was the telemarketers," Natalie apologised, convinced she'd blown her chances
When the clock struck 5:00 PM the day after Natalie met with Aunty Viv, she was thrilled to finally lock her work laptop away in her cabinet.She'd had a mother of a day with too many reverts on her reports and didn't plan to work overtime tonight. She'd given Chassis enough of her time already."Atta girl!" Emily nodded her approval. She never worked overtime.She dropped Natalie off at a boutique in Rock Castle for the start of her three-day program.As Natalie tried on the outfits Aunty Viv had picked, she wondered if all escort agencies offered training or only those catering to a wealthy clientele.The clothes were stylish and elegant. Nothing like the slutty dresses Natalie had imagined she would have to wear. But the price tag on each outfit was enough to send her into a mini-crisis and the nearest Medi Clinic for heart failure."I can't afford this!" she told the store clerk when she saw the invoice."Don't worry; Vivienne took care of it.""Thank you!" Natalie nodded as she re
Emily was pretty smashed when they left Crush, the upscale nightclub where she'd blown thousands of rands on drinks and food in a matter of hours.No matter how loudly she proclaimed to be 'super', anyone with a shred of common sense could see she was in no condition to be behind the wheel.Natalie couldn't take them home either since she couldn't drive. It was one of the things she always meant to learn, but like her new sofa and wallpaper had somehow slipped further down her bucket list."I can take us home, I promise!" Emily teetered on her feet as she reached up to snatch back her car keys.She would have fallen face down if it wasn't for Natalie's quick reaction time. The two cocktails she'd nursed throughout the night hadn't dulled her senses. She caught her swiftly and propped her up against the pole light on the pavement."Sit here and be good," she said as she glanced around and bit her nails, thinking up a plan to get them home.She'd already taken too many Ubers this week be
The jarring sound of a phone vibrating somewhere in the room jerked Natalie awake. Eyes still tightly shut in an attempt to hold on to sleep, she reached out from underneath the covers, her fingers fumbling on the nightstand.Bleary-eyed, she peered at her phone, frowning when all she saw was a black screen. The darn thing had died at some point between arriving home and passing out after settling a rowdy Emily in for the night."Em, can you get that, please?" she said, nudging her friend with her elbow.Emily groaned and pulled the duvet over her head, making no effort to silence the offending noise."Ugh, you need to leave. You've overstayed your welcome!" Natalie snapped when it became clear she wouldn't go back to sleep anytime soon.She leaned over and snatched her friend's phone from the side table. "Hello, Natalie speaking, Emily's sleeping.""Natalie, it's Aunty Viv. Why are you answering Emily's phone?"Natalie spent a few minutes explaining to her new boss that they'd gone h
Emily's phone conversation didn't seem to be going well when Natalie returned to the room forty minutes later, wearing a fluffy white robe and a matching towel wrapped around her head.From the way she frowned, pouted and gestured wildly with her hands as she launched into a lengthy explanation of why she had to drop the gala at the last minute, Natalie figured she was chatting with Paul, and he was giving her a hell of a time.She pulled away from the conversation long enough to fangirl over Natalie's colourful unicorn slippers."Aw, unicorns! They're so pretty. I want them!" she gushed, blowing kisses at her feet as she left the room to continue her chat in the lounge.Natalie laughed and turned to her closet. The slippers were a farewell gift from her brother. They were supposed to bring magic into her life. She was still waiting.She sighed with despair as she scanned the row of inexpensive clothes hung in a neat line. Half of the outfits were corporate wear, and the other, a bunch
Pushing her uneasiness aside, Natalie walked around the room, trying out the shoes. They were more comfortable than any pair she'd ever owned.Now that she knew the difference between cheap and expensive shoes, there was no going back. But after she got Jamie a new kidney."I feel like a princess!" she giggled, giddy with excitement and anticipation. "Where's my tiara?""Coming right up."But it wasn't a tiara. It was a statement necklace.Natalie had never seen so many diamonds in one place, so she had to ask. "Is it insured? What if I lose it?""Of course, Paul's insured it!" Emily nodded. "But I doubt Clooney and his crew plan to stop by The Empress tonight to pull off the heist of a century.""But—""Stop worrying and be good. Let's put this on."The necklace felt heavy and cold on her bare skin, but Natalie loved how it glistened in the afternoon sunlight. She liked shiny things. They were her favourite."Now, let's go over tonight." Emily led her to the bed and told her what to e
After working through the night to catch up on three months' worth of reports, Levi was too tired to return to his place, so he passed out in his office.He slipped into a long dreamless sleep for twelve hours straight. It would have been longer if Mark hadn't pitched up.His partner let himself in and nudged him awake, his voice unnecessarily cheerful for the time of day, "Van Holt, wake up! Time to suit up!""God, no!" Levi groaned, pulling his Chassis hoodie over his head to block out Mark's voice."God, yes! We have a thing in two hours!" Mark held up a black and gold invitation card in one hand and a suit bag and shoebox in the other. He placed everything on the coffee table and drew the remote-controlled blinds, instantly flooding the room with sunlight."What thing?" Levi asked, narrowing his eyes to block out the glaring light as he sat up."The charity gala. Your father couldn't get a hold of you.""Oh, shoot!" Levi reached for his phone on the coffee table. He remembered hear
The fountain was the first thing Natalie noticed when the car pulled up in front of the entrance. It was bigger than her flat and way prettier, too. But then again, everything about this place was incredible, from the well-maintained gardens she'd caught a glimpse of when they drove into the solid Cape Dutch facade.The hotel supposedly housed one hundred and twenty-five guest rooms and fifteen suites. Natalie believed it. The place was massive. She'd need a map to find her way around.Thankfully, Paul was already waiting for her at the entrance before the sheer size of The Empress could overwhelm her completely.She'd expected a tall, gorgeous man in his thirties. But from his looks alone, Paul had no right to be the self-absorbed jerk Emily had described."Noelle?" He asked in a deep voice before he took her hand and kissed it.But since he was such a gentleman, Natalie could almost put aside her first impressions of him. Almost."You must be, Paul," she said with a smile, slipping i