Chương 5: Reality is Bitter

"Hi! Ummm… I hope... I didn't cause you too much trouble in my drunken stupor last night," Skyla's eyes fluttered to him and she stammered, seeing him awake. Bits and pieces of last night were coming back to her.

His face was still hidden under the mask. This was not what he was expecting from her. She was sitting up now and was closely watching him. There was this tint of strawberry on her cheeks.

"No," you were too cute, he thought to himself, the last sentence. Instead, he asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Hungover but I am not nauseated at least, my head hurts," how amazing he looks, those muscles, though. He looks exactly like Kakashi, what a dope cosplay, she thought.

Her mind reeled and flashes of last night began to burn in her memory. And she began to blush right down to her roots, she could no longer keep eye contact with him.

"You should drink some water, let me get you some," to make the situation less awkward he quickly climbed down from the bed.

Skyla shyly watched how he moved with such agility, he wasn't built like a wrestler but was rather lean and athletic and at least stood 6'4 in height. He wasn't tall, he was towering.

Pouring her some water from the jug, he fetched her a glass.

She tucked a lock of her stray hair behind her ear and took the glass with a hesitant coy look. Gulping it down in one go, Skyla handed the glass back and murmured.

"Thank you!" she kept her gaze lowered, he was intimidating and there was something dark about him.

Now that the effect of alcohol was gone, shyness took over as she remembered how he had pleasured her. She could never even imagine such pleasures existed.

The girl with Auburn hair was extremely thankful that he had bathed and dressed her up, the gesture warmed her heart. He had saved her from the awkwardness of waking up naked, drenched in her bodily fluids and blood.

He sauntered over and settled opposite her, where her bent legs were, near her joined feet. Sensing her timid behaviour and knowing this had been her first time, he could understand the regrets that must be hijacking her brain right now. So he contemplated his words very carefully.

"I am sorry, if I had known this was your first time, I wouldn't have gone all the way. Please remember I stopped after the first push. I wish it was memorable for you and not with someone like me," the hints of self-abhorrence were so evident in his words and it made Skyla jerk her head up.

Is that what he thought about himself?

"What do you mean by someone like you?" she couldn't help but ask, watching him closely. Trying to decipher something about this man in the mask before her, but failing miserably.

"You realise this is all a get-up now and I am just an escort. Women like you don't belong together with men like me. You shouldn't have been tainted by filth like me," the words were laced with pain, like a whip that slashed her.

And then she saw through the elaborate facade.

Behind those lenses were eyes holding immense pain.

Underneath that mask was a face that was laden with self-deprecation.

And that tanned skin of his was littered with scars that surely extended to his heart.

"Why would you say something like that? You are not filth and should never degrade yourself like that. You took care of me and provided comfort when most people just don't care."

Skyla extended her hand and lightly touched his shoulder. Calix had no clue why he said something like that to a client. He was paid to provide her comfort and not the other way around.

What if she complained about his bizarre behaviour? He was still contemplating when her thumb grazed the burn mark on his right arm again. This time she knew it was not a wound from some fantasy anime. This was real life.

"What happened here?" she abruptly asked.

Silence.

He only averted his gaze from her.

"Did someone hurt you? And here?" she lightly touched another torched reminder and he wondered why she bothered.

More silence.

"Please?" she pleaded, her soft fingertips lingering on his blazing skin.

"Not everyone is looking for comfort like you, some like to repeat what's done with them. We get paid, it's a win-win," his words shook her to the core and she retrieved her hand to cover her mouth.

How could people be this cruel?

Who in their right mind would burn innocent people?

"I am so sorry, no one has to go through this treatment. Can't you quit? Why put up with this?"

Skyla couldn't see another person being stuck, just like her.

"I can't, I don't have much of an educational background and not many skills. Just whatever I have learnt online. I have been saving though in hopes one day I might leave this life behind," he stared at the blank wall in front of him. His life was just like that wall, blank of purpose.

"How much? How much money do you need to leave this life behind?" her words made him finally side-glance at her, there was this dead seriousness on her face.

"This is not the type of conversation I thought I should be having with you. The time is up, you should go. I don't want you to get in trouble with your fiancé," he firmly told her, putting an end to this discussion.

Now that her mind was much clearer, she could assess the situation differently.

"Did you even want to do it in the first place? Or they thrust me in your arms because you were available?"

Women escorts mostly do it for money and not because they want to. Was it the same for men? Especially for someone like him who had been hurt at their hands. Who knew how many sickos had tormented him. Skyla was so tortured with these thoughts.

More silence.

He just stared at her as if she was an alien.

Who cared about consent when it came to men? Isn't it always assumed they want it?

Seeing him stay quiet she assumed the worst.

"At least tell me your name?"

"You should go now," he calmly answered and got up. Grabbing his shirt he began to put it on, turning away from her.

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