The Night That Changed All

    "Mum, you will be fine. I will make sure nothing happens to you," Elsa muttered, holding her mother's hand.

Elsa Wallace's mother has been sick for 4 months. Though they weren't rich, they spent the little they have on the illness. And even Elsa had stopped going to her acting business since her mother had been admitted to the hospital.

The woman who had been lying on the bed for 120 days couldn't say anything. Her once chubby face had turned pale and lean. Her neck was deep and long and her lips had become dry and white.

She blinked her eyes twice, signaling to Elsa that everything is fine. A hot tear dropped from Elsa's eyes and she quickly wiped it before her mother could discover her.

She rushed out of the ward when she couldn't control her surging emotions. She went to a corner and cried her eyes out. Afterward, she dialed her friend's number on her phone and the receiver picked up the second ring. 

   "Hey! Elsa. What's up?" A tiny female voice rang on the phone.

Elsa sniffed and wiped her tears, "Can I do that today? I think I don't have any other choice," 

    "Good for you. You finally realized the quickest way to get your mother's medical bill," Lauren Hamilton uttered in sarcasm. 

Elsa sighed, "Stop that, Lauren. This is not the time to be funny,"

   "Okay, babe. I am sorry," She went silent for a few seconds and continued, "Orange Hotel. Suite 01. Wait for him there," 

Elsa hung up as soon as Lauren finished saying that. She heaved and rested her head on the wall. Another stream of tears fell from her eyes. She didn't want to do this but she had no choice. She needed money to take care of her mother and the only way to do that was to sell her body for a night.

   "A night, okay? A night won't hurt, Elsa. You got this. You can do this," She assured, patting her head.

*. *. * 

Elsa opened her eyes slowly and the ray of the morning shone brightly in them.

She went to the Orange Hotel like Lauren had instructed the previous day. And when she got to suite 01, a man dragged her in and didn't give her a breathing space before lunging at her. Also because of the dim fluorescence, she couldn't see his face clearly. 

 She tilted her head and looked at the man who had pounced on her without any pity last night. Absent-mindedly, her lips curled into a smile and her cheeks turned crimson - red. Strangely, she was satisfied with the sex.

She was still lost in her thoughts when the man revered around and his face came into view. 

Elsa widened her eyes and mouth. "What!" She shouted, but quickly covered her mouth with her hands before the noise could get out. 

    "How!," She silently got off the bed and tiptoed into the bathroom. 

    "How did this happen? Why is he in there?" She asked no one particularly. 

She glanced at her unclad body which was covered with hickeys in the vanity.

She tiptoed back into the bedroom, took her phone without making a sound, and went back to the bathroom.

She hastily dialed Lauren's number. 

   "Hey! El....," Lauren tried to talk. However, Elsa interrupted.

   "I am in trouble, Lauren," Elsa muttered worriedly. Anxiety and tension were vivid in her voice.

   "What! Calm down, Elsa, and tell me what's happening," 

   "I... I... We... I.. I... I think.. I... I think it was Chester," She stuttered.

   "What happened to Chester?" Lauren asked calmly.

Elsa bit her lower lip, unsure of how to tell her the man she sold her body to the previous night was Lauren's boyfriend. She scratched the back of her head uneasily.

   "He was the one I had sex with last night," She responded in a low tone.

Surprisingly, Lauren burst into laughter at the other side of the phone. She laughed so much that her stomach began to hurt.

   "Is that the reason you've been stuttering?"  She asked.

Her question sounded inappropriate to Elsa. Did she even know what she was talking about?

   "I mean, I slept with your man. Your fiance," She uttered clearly.

   "So? I know. I was the one who sent you to him last night,"

The statement hit Elsa like a bomb. Her eyes were broadened in shock. 

   "What!" She managed to speak.

    "Yes! I know he was the one you are going to sell your body to,"

   "How could you do something as despicable as this?" Elsa's voice was already rising with anger. She couldn't believe her friend would be so unreasonable to do this. How did she want him to face her fiance? How would Chester regard her? Isn't he going to think she was a betrayal who slept with her friend's fiance for money?

   "It's nothing new, Elsa. Don't stress yourself. I had to go to work last night and needed to send someone to Chester to stand in for me. I am not angry, I swear," 

    "Can you listen to the jargon you are uttering? Do you even love this man? How can you send another woman over to him?"

    "Don't try to make a hill out of a stone, Elsa. It's not as bad as you think. Chester was horny,  I needed to do something at work and I sent you over. In case you forgot, this is not for free. You didn't do it for no fee," She explained justifiably.

Elsa had been hearing things since she was born but she hadn't heard statements as bad as what was coming out of Lauren's mouth. 

    "Oh! You think I don't have a choice since I need the money as soon as possible right? You think I had no option. What do you think Chester's reaction will be when he finds out? What do you want him to think of me? He's definitely going to think I am a snitch,"

    "But we both know you are not," Lauren retorted almost immediately, "And don't worry about Chester. He's not going to do anything. We've been together for the past 5 years and nothing is going to come between us. I am sure he's going to understand once I explain everything to him. I own Chester and I am not complaining, so don't try to make things complicated," She continued nonchalantly. 

Elsa scoffed and glanced at her phone so that she would be sure she was still talking to the same Lauren she knew.

   "I will pay you for it. Send me your bank account details when you leave and I will send you a reasonable amount,"

Elsa hissed and hung up without responding. She dropped her phone on the small wall cabinet in the bathroom and placed her hands on her head. She didn't know the next thing she was going to do. "I shouldn't have gotten involved in Lauren's mess," She told herself, stomping her feet on the ground.

She washed her face and opened the door to step out so that she could wear her clothes and leave the room before Chester woke up. 

However, her plan failed because as soon as she opened the door, she saw Chester standing, wearing a stoic and straight-laced face as if he had heard everything.