He stood there holding the trash bag, pondering the implications of what she said. The third token meant he could- what? Sleep with her? But only after he slept with Martha? Okay, that sounded awesome, he was a guy after all, but he wasn’t this guy. He wasn’t spending his summers bedding one woman after another like prizes to be won.
Lux grabbed the bag out of his hand and threw it over the open lid of the bin. “Well? Don’t leave a woman waiting.”
“I can’t, she’s an employee and I’m the manager.”
“Exactly,” Lux said with a tease. “She's been dying to screw you since you showed up the other day. A woman knows.”
Seriously? Horace thought about his interaction with her. They seemed friendly and she seemed to want to make a good impression. But wasn’t this from the whole manager-subordinate dynamic? He honestly didn’t know. He had no frame of reference for this. “So, you mean if I ask her out, then you’ll make out with me?”
Lux leaned close and rubbed her shoulder on his chest. It was something that no other woman had ever done to him, it was like a cat’s simultaneous rub and indifference. He caught a whiff of her aroma and felt dizzy for a moment. “Making out, da, for starters. I like starters.”
Okay, he had to admit he’d never imagine getting propositioned by the hottest woman ever next to trash bin.
He nodded like an idiot and walked back inside, Lux coming beside him. She broke off and went to the girls’ table.
Chapter 23: Horace
“Can we talk?” he finally said to Acedia, kneeling down next to her.
She turned her eyes to meet his and gave him a bony smile. “Yes, Horace?”
“Not here, like, over there? Alone?” Horace glanced around. The others weren’t paying attention to them, Gula was eating Acedia’s unfinished ice cream, Lux was reading a fashion magazine and Ira was having a serious flame war with someone online, cursing and typing on her phone. Ava had joined in at some point and she really stood out, looking all posh and rich like that, talking on the phone about investments and money. Horace waved at her and made sure to thank her and greet her properly afterwards, he just didn’t have any time during the shift.
Acedia turned her head slowly to the spot where Horace suggested and looked as if you asked her to step foot in a furnace. “Over there?” she said lazily, dragging the words in despair.
“Okay, fine,” Horace whispered, “let’s talk here. Your sister suggested that at some point they may...” He hesitated.
She looked up at him, smiling softly. “Yes?”
“That they may... Well, you know, want to come to bed with me? Did you know that?” Horace braced himself for the reply. He instantly regretted bringing this up at his place of work. This could go badly, but he never expected the tame Acedia to ever make a public scene. But Ira might step in for her sister and the thought made him shudder.
“Wow! That would be lovely!” she chirped.
“What? Lovely?” Horace’s eyes widened. “It doesn’t bother you?”
Acedia shrugged imperceptibly. “Why should it bother me. After all, I sleep with other men all the time.”
He frowned at that. Well, they hadn’t said they were exclusive, not out loud. But Horace assumed...
“Wait.” He smiled. “Which men are you talking about?”
She counted with her bony fingers. “Wow, let’s see. There’s a black cop, a vampire viking, a half-robot detective...”
“Are you talking about the guys in the TV shows?” he asked, deadpan.
“Yes. Wait, there’s more...”
“You’re making fun of me.”
She beamed at him and kissed him on the lips. “Of course. You’re being silly. Part of the game is gaining the appreciation of my sisters. They reward that with sleeping with you. Though, not all will want to, and we all want different things. We’re different women, you know.”
Horace blinked at that. How could she talk about this so casually? Then again, it seemed they had done this before, so the elephants must have been ushered out of the room between the sisters. He took a moment to look around the table. They seemed relaxed, cooling off, lounging about. They spoke to each other, full of inside jokes and hidden meanings in every thing they said. They were fine with each other and Horace was just their plaything for this summer.
Somehow, that made him feel better.
He decided to have fun with the whole situation.
“Acedia, just to be absolutely clear, you don’t mind me dating other women?”
She chuckled. “Wow! No, silly.”
“Okay. You’re the best,” he said and kissed her back.
Horace stepped in for George to go to the bathroom, and he served the last couple of customers. Martha was finishing up a waffle order. He scratched his nose. This was it, the chance he wanted. They were alone but it wouldn’t last long.
“Martha?”
“Yes, Horace?” she looked up at him, minding the waffles.
“Do you wanna go out with me?” he blurted out before he had a chance to think about it and trip himself.
She blushed and turned away. Then she looked at the table full of women outside. “Um, like on a date?”
“Yeah. How about tonight? Or, if it’s too soon, tomorrow night?” He was already regretting this. She was gonna say no and he knew it.
“Thanks, Horace, but I already have plans.” She nodded once with a forced smile at him and turned back to the waffles.
Horace just said okay and went back to silently cleaning the ice cream bar. This was awkward now. But it wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t like he’d made a move on her, he politely asked her out. No need to make this feel worse than it was.
It wasn’t like she was the prettiest girl around, she was rather average. She just had a nice, perky ass. So what? Lot’s of women had a fine ass. It didn’t make her special.
And what about that stupid expression? I have plans? What was that? Horace hated that expression, it was a vague rejection. The girls didn’t say, I don’t like you, or, I’m dating someone. They left nothing open, no possible windows of opportunity for the future. I have plans. And they don’t include you.
He suddenly felt angry and dropped the scoops with a CLANG into the kitchen. Martha flinched at the sudden noise.
He walked out.
Chapter 24: Lux
Luxuria tsked at the young woman.
She turned around and opened her palms, politely pushing her away. “Please, madam, no customers are allowed back here.”
Lux said, “Of course,” with her thick Russian accent and turned away. She made sure no one was looking from outside and he grabbed Martha’s head from her ponytail.
She squealed and shuddered under her grab, but was powerless to resist Luxuria.
The young woman’s face was two centimetres away from the scalding hot waffle maker.
“Listen carefully. You are going to offer yourself to Horace.”
“O-Offer my what?” she stuttered.
Luxuria tsked again. Another stupid one. “Your womanhood. Or I will press down and your average face will become nice and squared,” she hissed at her, pressing down a millimetre.
“Okay!” Martha said, hands out in surrender. “Please, don’t do this! Let me go. Please.”
She cried and the tear sizzled on the burning iron.
“You’ll do what? Say it!”
“I’ll offer myself to him.”
“Today. Now!” Luxuria snarled, squeezing the mortal’s neck.
“Yes! I’ll do it, immediately madam!” the young woman sobbed.
“Excellent,” Luxuria said with her thick accent and let her go.
Martha frantically touched her face. It was reddish but not burned.
Luxuria pointed at the ice cream bar. “Bring us another round of the same order, and a waffle.” She grinned at the young woman.
Martha looked at the waffle iron, confused.
“Yes, the one seasoned with human tears,” Luxuria said, sho
wing her teeth.
Chapter 25: Horace
Horace found the time to thank Ava. “I wouldn’t have this job if you hadn’t pushed me to it,” he said, sitting across the table from her.
They had moved to a separate one so he could talk to her.
The rich Asian waved a dismissive hand. “Whatever. This will do, for now. But don’t make yourself comfortable in this dead-end job. There are things out there for you, heights to achieve, money to grab.”
She made a thin, wiry fist and her jewelry tingled.
Horace blinked at that. “Wha-How? Wait, you mean there’s more?”
She scoffed like a rich person. “Of course there’s more! Look around you. Cars, clothes, jewelry. Money.” She said the final word like Danny DeVito in the movie Heist.
Horace felt weird hearing her. He wanted to laugh, but her words somehow grabbed at his insides and made him go for his wallet. He felt it around. It was light. He felt greed. He wanted more.
No, he was worth more.
She must have seen his expression and she gave him a satisfied smile of her own. She leaned back and grabbed her clutch. “I see we’re on the same page. Wonderful.”
“Yeah, but... What do I do?”
“That’s for you to figure out,” the Asian woman said as she put on her sunglasses. “It’s still early but do want you thirsty for more. Now, I’m off to my spa appointment, then a facial, then a massage. Not the Asian variations, I’m tired of those. I’m gonna try a Mediterranean massage from a tall, dark and handsome young man full of muscles. I’ll come around tonight, I expect some accommodations will be ready for me?” She hmmed and stood up.
Horace mumbled for words. “What? Uh, I expected you’d also come over, but I don’t have anything close to a five-star hotel. I mean, it’s just a normal apartment.”
Ava raised a manicured finger. “I don’t need luxury. I like it, but I don’t need it. I simply expect the barest of amenities, somewhere to sleep, somewhere to have a foot massager, you know, the usual.
“Right. Well, I can offer you that, the apartment is quite big. Normally I’d worry with all the others around but you girls seem to get along well.”
She turned to the others outside and sneered. “Right. We do get along in general. I hope this won’t drag for too long,” she said, mostly to herself. “I won’t let it, we’ll have you up and running in no time or I promise on your bones I’ll squeeze it all out of you.”
“Um, what?” he asked, incredulous.
“Oh, nothing. I’m late for my spa treatment. Toodles.”
The day went on, and Horace actually had work to do so he focused on that. The next couple of exchanges with Martha were chilly but professional. The girls went out for a bite at a fast food joint across the street and Horace gave them money for lunch. He wasn’t that full of cash but he felt like he needed to give back to them for all the things they’d done for him these past few days. He actually felt good.
For some reason, he thought about Evie again. He checked his phone, still no reply.
There was a lull in the customers. They were all served and there was no spillage anywhere. A much needed respite.
“Horace,” Martha called from the storage area.
“What?” he asked, absent-minded. He was still her manager and they still had work to do.
“Can you help me with something back here?”
Horace sighed. He walked towards the back, leaving George at the ice cream bar. “What happened? Mixed up the barcodes?”
“Something like it, yeah,” she said, yelling from the back.
Horace frowned and located her. She was behind a stack of crates. They weren’t the ones that went to the fridge, rather the cones and dough. Cones, in particular, needed enormous amounts of storage space because they were basically empty cones of nothing but still needed padding to carry around in one piece. Half their storage was taken up by cones and they went through them like a tornado. Martha was behind a stack, fiddling with a transport paper.
She looked... weird. Fidgety.
“What is it, Martha?” he asked and tried to be friendly. The woman was obviously hesitant about something. “If something got messed up, don’t worry, it happens. Just tell me, all right.”
“No,” she fidgeted with her apron, “nothing got messed up.”
“Then what is it?” He leaned on the crates. Then he got it. “Oh, about earlier. Look, I’m sorry, I put you in a difficult position. I shouldn’t have done it.”
She looked up at him, biting her lip. She was flustered and her eyes were wet. Was she crying back here? Was she bracing herself to tell him something? He hadn’t been that pushy, had he?
Then, to Horace’s surprise, she knelt down on her knees and pulled his zipper down. Martha grabbed his cock and began stroking it. Even the cock was too surprised to get up.
“What are you-” he began to complain, then thought better of it and moaned. Her fingers felt cold on his skin but she stroked it well. She kept on with it, and he finally got a semi-erection. He looked around, nobody was coming at the back and George was manning the front. Noise came from outside, people talking, children screaming. Nobody could hear them back here if they were relatively quiet.
Martha looked up with her brown eyes. She took off her Zillions hat and pulled her ponytail once.
Horace loved it when girls did that just before a blow job.
She started to lick his tip, then gulped it as much as she could, eagerly. Horace had questions, like what had changed her mind? Did she really want to do this? Was he in any way pressuring her to give him head? Had she thought she’d lose her job otherwise?
All those questions evaporated when he felt her tongue on his tip and the gentle suckling of her mouth. He couldn’t think straight, he just leaned back on the crates and enjoyed the moment.
She wasn’t really good at it. Too many teeth. She sucked it well, but every time her teeth scratched him he grunted and it wasn’t from pleasure. Also, for some reason she seemed she wanted to be done with it, like she wanted to deepthroat him and make him cum in the next couple of minutes.
Horace felt angry. Lustful. No, bitch, since you’re already down there I won’t let you get off that easily. He pulled her head away from his cock and stood her up. He unbuckled her beige shorts and bent her forward, her perky ass towards him, the only thing that was memorable about her.
Looking down at her panties, her ass was indeed nice. He grabbed a handful and squeezed, feeling it all over. She flinched but stayed in place, offering herself to him. Horace pulled her panties down and fingered her. She wasn’t wet but by the time he was done with her, she was ready to receive.
He pulled down his pants and put on a condom. Martha turned back to look, her face hesitant, but she was biting her lips and she looked flustered. Plus, her pussy was dripping wet by now.
“Do you want me to do this?” Horace asked in a moment of clarity.
“Yes,” she croaked, her throat stuck by the previous blowjob and her current awkward position.
Fine. Horace took her from behind, his dick feeling the scalding warmth of her insides. He grabbed her nice ass and pummelled it hard. She wanted to be done with it after all. He would do exactly what she wanted, but by taking her on all fours. Martha propped herself with her hands on the crates and pushed back against his powerful thrusts.
She moaned and moved her head around as he fucked her, leaning it from side to side as if she enjoyed the exchange.
“Ah! Ahh!” she grunted. “Yes. Aaa... Deeper,” she breathed out.
Horace pummelled her harder. He fucked her pussy and slapped her ass. She tensed, squeezing his dick but she seemed to like it. He was close now. One, two more deep thrusts and he pulled out.
Martha looked back at him, breathing hard, her hair a mess.
He thought about it for a second and then decided to do as he had fantasised about her. He pulled his condom off and jerked the final few strokes he needed, then came on Martha’s
glorious buttcheeks. He panted as he looked at the droplets of cum holding on to her skin, or dropping from the side.
The light bounced on the crates and gave her skin a brownish tint. As she knelt there before him, her sweaty skin glinting dark and golden like that, just for a moment he could swear she looked exactly like...
No. Don’t be silly, Horace.
The release felt amazing. Spent, he took a step back and sat on a crate. She too looked spent, and sat down on her side, panting. She met his eyes once, they looked wide, surprised, even hungry. Then she averted her gaze and looked down at the floor.
Horace took moment to catch his breath, then zipped his pants back up. He pointed around, said with a firm tone, “Clean this up,” and walked out of the storage area. He left Martha there, half-naked and stunned on the concrete floor.
Chapter 26: Evie
Evie promised herself she wouldn’t do it. Nope. Uh-uh. Not, ever.
She bit her lip and logged on to Agora. There it was, Horace’s profile. She scrolled frantically and went straight to his timeline.
There were pictures posted there. Fresh ones.
He was over at Zillions, wearing the brown employee blouse and beige pants. And he wasn’t alone.
The girls from earlier were with him, sitting in a table outside. The chubby girl with the pretty face and the anorexic one. And there were even more with them. The Russian whore, a dwarf, she saw to her surprise, and one more lady.
A stunning Asian with a fancy black dress that Evie could recognise was from a high-end fashion designer. She was middle aged but Evie could only wish to look this good at her age.
Fuck, she looked down at herself, she didn’t even look this good now.
The Asian wore fancy golden jewelry around her neck and wrists. What was she doing with Horace? She definitely seemed to know the rest of the women, because, despite avoiding the selfies, at the background of one pic she was frowning at the angry dwarf lady, a frown that came only from knowing someone well.
7 Deadly Roommates Page 7
