The smell of packing tape and cardboard clung to Elijah’s nostrils. It was the type of scent that Elijah had become so used to that he didn’t notice until he had stepped out and come back in the following day. The rented studio space was small, cluttered, and running hot. The portable AC unit Val had purchased ran in the corner of the room, barely keeping the space bearable to work in. They’d talked about upgrading to a warehouse, but that was a far way off. For now, this was home. Three people with hundreds of orders to fill amid an Easter flash sale. It was the kind of pure chaos Val and Jackie thrived in.
Elijah did his best to keep up with their fevered pace, folding another graphic tee and sliding it into a branded box with several stickers.
Across the folding table, Val held her phone between shoulder and cheek, voice firmly sugar-sweet as she boxed several pairs of shorts.
“Yes ma’am, I understand. But if we overnight it, it still has to pass through your local facility… yes, that means it will still take about a week to arrive. No, we can’t control processing times.”
Elijah glanced up at her. Even irritated, Val was beautiful. Black hair tied into a loose bun, olive skin glowing underneath the harsh fluorescents. She wore a cropped tank top with high-waisted pants. While she wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty in their shop, she still dressed like a gallery opening was always thirty minutes away. Listening to the drama unfold, Elijah had lost track of his work, a mistake Val quickly pointed out.
“Oh, Elijah, use the Easter labels. The little pastel bunnies.” She pointed toward the labels stacked on a spindle nearby.
Elijah nodded, sliding the spindle towards himself. The rabbits were grinning with suspiciously sharp teeth. A design decision graciously given by Jackie. He peeled one off and slapped it onto the finished box.
“Yeah, Elijah,” Jackie piped up from the other side of the room. “What the hell?”
She was crouched over a stack of printed invoices, sorting by zip code like a high-functioning goblin. Her outfit consisted of platform Converse, ripped tights, and a ringer tee with the logo of a punk band she insisted she no longer liked. Her tattoos peeked from every edge of visible skin. Her look was completed by a nose ring, chipped black nail polish, and micro bangs that perfectly framed her face.
“Packing was never my specialty,” Elijah muttered, flicking the bunny label once to smooth it.
“Yeah, yeah, numbers and spreadsheets for you,” Jackie shot back. “Quit complaining.”
“I’m not complaining.”
“You’re whining.” Jackie corrected. Elijah squinted in frustration.
“I’ve literally been packing in silence this entire time.”
“But not with joy,” she said, pointing at him with a single finger. “Do it with joy.”
Val clicked off the phone and let it drop onto the table as she let out a frustrated sigh.
“I swear to god, I’m gonna design a sticker that says ‘We’re not fucking Amazon, bitch.’”
“We should slap it on every difficult customer’s box,” Jackie said, holding up a hand for an air high-five. Val happily slapped it from across the room.
Val turned her gaze on Elijah, and when he noticed her intense stare, he looked up nervously.
“What?” He asked.
“You gonna tell us about her?” She asked.
Elijah blinked. “Who?”
“Don’t play stupid,” Val said, reaching for a fresh stack of shirts. “This girl you’ve been seeing.”
“The one you left early for last Friday? When you claimed you were ‘meeting a friend’?” Jackie added.
His hands froze above the packing tape.
“Sorry about that.” He said.
“You’re allowed to have a life. I just want to know more about this mystery lady.” Val said.
“Yeah, like, what does she do?” Jackie asked.
“Uh…” Elijah froze. He hadn’t thought through how he would explain Evelyn’s profession. In truth, he didn’t think he would have made it far enough for these kinds of questions to become a reality. “She’s… a model…” he said, voice uncertain.
Val arched an eyebrow while Jackie’s mouth dropped open.
“Oh my god. You’re dating an OF model, aren’t you?!” She said.
He hated how clever they were. Elijah didn’t speak. He didn’t need to. Jackie let out an exaggerated gasp while Val crossed her arms and shook her head in disbelief.
“Elijah Godfrey…” She said.
“Look, it’s not as bad as all that… It’s not like-”
“Not like what?” Jackie grinned. “Not like she fucks guys on camera for money?”
“I didn’t say that.” Elijah countered hastily.
“But does she?” Jackie pressed.
“I’m not getting into it.” Elijah went back to his work, praying that they would drop it. He felt their eyes burn into him.
“Listen, I won’t judge,” Val said with a tone of someone who was absolutely judging. “But I do want to know what her deal is. What kind of OF model is she?”
“You know… just the typical stuff… nothing crazy,” Elijah lied.
Jackie broke into a wide grin. “Holy shit… it is crazy stuff, isn’t it?”
Before he could respond, his phone lit up with a soft ping.
Val’s eyes dropped to it. “Is that her?”
Elijah hesitated. “Yeah.”
Val nodded slowly. “Well, don’t keep us waiting. What does she have to say?”
He picked up the phone and tapped it open.
A video thumbnail filled the screen. It was Evelyn, bent over in dim lighting, her dress hiked up to the waist. Her round ass was centered and flushed. A man’s hand grasped her waist from behind, fingers digging into her flesh.
Elijah quickly locked the phone and looked up at Jackie and Val, his face turning red.
Jackie let out a low whistle. “She’s sexting you, huh? And with original content? Wow.”
“I… did you see?” He stopped when Jackie and Val laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I didn’t expect that.”
“You never do with girls like that,” Val muttered with low concern.
Jackie laughed. “You’re just jealous you didn’t think to monetize your ass.”
“Please,” Val scoffed. “If I wanted to, I would be the ultimate vintage dominatrix.”
Jackie gasped. “That should be a new design.”
“Already making mockups in my head.”
Elijah let out a quiet breath. The box in front of him sat half-sealed.
Val eyed him.
“Do you like her?” She asked gently.
He looked up and gave a nod.
“I do.”
Jackie beamed.
“See? I knew you were one of the good ones. Forward-thinking, accepting of women’s liberties. Love that about you.”
Val wasn’t as quick to smile. Instead, she stared, searching to see how true Elijah’s words were. He knew the look. She often turned into a mother bear when it came to him and Jackie.
“And she’s not… pushing you into anything you don’t want to do, right?” Val asked.
“No,” Elijah said firmly. “It’s not like that.”
Val stared. Long enough for it to border on interrogation.
“Can we see her?” She finally asked.
Elijah hesitated. Jackie leaned in with bright eyes.
“Yeah… I wanna see what girl you kinda pulled.” Jackie was always unabashed in her bisexual curiosity. It was a healthy counterbalance to Val’s unspoken role as volunteer older sister.
“I’m curious too,” Val said.
He sighed and unlocked his phone again, scrolling through Instagram until he found her profile. Then, after looking at her for a moment, he turned the phone and showed it to them. Jackie and Val lurched forward like two school children in a museum.
Jackie’s eyes widened.
“Holy fuck, Elijah. What the fuck?!” She snatched the phone and swiped through Evelyn’s grid. “Good for you. Holy shit!”
Jackie promptly handed the phone to Val, who took it skeptically. Her eyebrows rose slightly. She glanced up at Elijah, then back to Evelyn’s profile. She didn’t say anything at first. Just scrolled with a delicate finger. Then handed the phone back to him.
“Just be careful,” she said. “Pretty girls like that know how to play people.”
“You’re a pretty girl,” Jackie said.
Val smirked. “And sometimes I play people.”
Jackie rolled her eyes.
“No, you don’t, you just wish you did.” She dropped into a seat next to Elijah and stared.
He locked his phone and put it in his pocket.
“She’s not playing with me,” he murmured.
“You sure?” Val asked.
He felt his confidence waver under her scrutiny. Truthfully, he didn’t know. In fact, he didn’t know much about the world he was entering. He shifted in his seat and shrugged.
“I want to believe she isn’t,” He said.
Jackie flicked one of the many paper footballs resting on the table at him. “Hey, even if she is? It’s a journey you’ll never forget. Not everyone gets to experience something crazy like this, so just enjoy it.”
Val crossed her arms again. “But if that isn’t what you want, just make sure she’s being real with you. You’re too innocent for this world. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“I’m not innocent,” Elijah countered, sounding like a defiant child. Val raised one eyebrow while Jackie grinned.
“Kinda are, though,” Jackie said.
Elijah sighed and stepped away from the table. “I’m taking five.”
“Uh-huh… take ALL five,” Jackie said, making a jerking motion with her hand. Noah pointed at her.
“That’s workplace harassment.”
“I’ll take it up with HR!” She responded. Val laughed and softly slapped her on the back of the head.
“Get back to work, gremlin…”
“Ugh! Fine…”
The two went back to their business as Elijah walked toward the studio’s front door, glancing down at his phone as he exited into the hallway.
It was quiet except for the low buzz of the overhead lights. Elijah stepped out of their studio and closed the door behind him. Down the corridor, an older man in slacks and a polo passed by, nodding politely before disappearing into a space labeled Knox Legal Consulting. Across the hall, the lights were on in Vesta Yoga, soft ambient music coming from under their door. Just beyond it, the employees of Retro City were working through their latest shipment of old video games.
Elijah leaned back against the wall, still holding his phone. The concrete floor felt cool even through his shoes, and the hallway had a faint scent of pine-scented cleaner. His pulse ticked behind his ears as he put on his earbuds and tapped the screen.
The video played almost instantly. Evelyn was bent over, hands on the wall of a dim room. It looked to be a private club. Elijah’s eyes quickly scanned the surroundings. Dark paint, gold fixtures, plush leather in the background, and LED lights trimming the corners.
His eyes returned to Evelyn and what was being done to her. A man, faceless, held a camera as he pounded into her hard from behind. His free hand gripped her hips greedily as his thrusts caused Evelyn’s ass to jiggle. Her moans were perfect and unapologetic.
Elijah’s stomach knotted. He couldn’t tell if her pleasure was a performance or if she liked it.
She looked back at the camera over her shoulder. Her dark, silky hair trailed across her neck, eyes charged with lust. She bit her glossy black lip. Looking into the stranger’s eyes with a gaze that would melt any man.
The stranger pushed his fingers between her lips. Evelyn sucked them in hungrily as she shut her eyes. He shoved into her with a grunt. Her body jerked forward, her cheek pressing into the wall as his pace quickened. She gasped, but didn’t stop him.
“I’m gonna fucking cum…” The man said in a strange accent.
“Cum for me, baby,” Evelyn said seductively.
He shoved his full length into her, then pulled out quickly, spraying across her ass and the dip of her back. The camera shook as Evelyn slid down without being told, knees perfectly posed as her lips parted. She took him in her mouth effortlessly.
She looked into the camera.
Elijah watched her lips wrap around the man’s cock, as she swallowed him, as his girth expanded her throat. The sound of her sucking filled his ears.
She didn’t stop until he softened. Until the man pulled out his half-hard cock and slapped it against her face.
The screen turned dark.
Elijah exhaled. His erection strained against his waistband, making him turn uncomfortably as a group of yoga students passed by. He prayed it wasn’t too visible.
His chest felt tight as he stared at his phone’s black screen and realized how different this video had felt.
The man in the video wasn’t new. Elijah felt it.
He was certain it was the same one from the blowjob video she had sent before. His mind began to race. Perhaps this meant that they were more. Others like him. Perhaps it meant she was playing games.
She said she wasn’t seeing anyone.
Elijah clung to that. He had to believe Evelyn hadn’t sent this to toy with him. She had done it as a gift. To turn him on.
And for the most part, it had worked.
Elijah scrolled down to the message Evelyn sent with the video.
Evelyn: You like it when I’m bad?
His thumb floated over his phone hesitantly. He was a man split between emotions, none of which he could fully name. His mind burned with equal parts jealousy and arousal as his fingers moved across the phone screen.
Elijah: Yeah. I did.
He was surprised when her reply came almost instantly.
Evelyn: Glad to hear it. What are you doing next Saturday?
He blinked. The arousal began to mix with an undercurrent of dread.
Elijah: Nothing. Why?
Evelyn: Good. You and I are going to a party. Pick me up at 8:30, I’ll be at the Clara. Dress nice.
He looked at the message, heartbeat racing.
Then another one came.
Evelyn: Oh also, I should warn you…
Elijah: Yeah?
Evelyn: I’m probably going to get fucked 😉
Elijah’s grip on the phone tightened. The hallway around him buzzed dimly as distant voices echoed through the stairwell.
Elijah couldn’t move. He was stuck in a state of dissolution and excitement. All the while, Val’s voice rang in his head.
Pretty girls like that know how to play people.
He looked down at the screen again.
Evelyn was different.
She had to be.
He texted back slowly.
Elijah: Noted 😉
He swallowed, adjusted himself against the strain in his pants, and turned toward the studio door.
Everything was going to be fine.
It had to be.