Craving Her Pt1

Ann - Chapter One

Standing, I look around myself, just waiting for my next client. I don't like my job, but I have no choice with my father being who he is. So, I sit and wait, waiting for who though I don't know. He never sends men to me. He never has. It was always women who failed to pay on time. It was women who came to me, who I told they either paid, or they would face the consequences. My dad had always dealt with men, but not now.

I wonder why he isn't seeing this man himself, telling this man if he doesn't pay up soon, the consequences will be deadly. No man will take me seriously. I am a woman. I can threaten them, but no doubt they will just laugh and tell me to get my daddy. It wouldn't be the first time. However, it will be the first time it is a man saying it.

I watch as the door opens, my eyes following the man as he steps into the room. Pointing to the seat, I stay quiet. Not talking, just waiting for him to sit. I don't even know his name, I asked, but my foolish father isn't answering, so how can I find out how much he owes?

"So, I am guessing you know why you're here?" I look at him, hoping he does because if not, I am fucked.

"Yeah, I am not dumb, love, so come on." He sits waiting, almost as if he is ready for his punishment.

"Why do you think you're here?" I ask.

"I am three months behind on payments, six hundred a month. I ignored your father's warnings. Hid from him, spent the money and tried hiding more. I shut down and sold my store, so I could have paid him back but chose not to." He smiles at me.

I know him, now I know who he is. "Mr Elson, selling your shop. Getting all that money and refusing to pay off the debt that kept your shop open for the past year wasn't a good move. You still owe quite a lot. What is your plan for paying it back?" I remember him. I haven't heard of him before this morning. I just saw the giant red warning triangle with his name. There were others, but he was at the top.

"I don't plan to pay it back." He says simply as he smiles at me. "I'm surprised, Ann, right? Why your father would send me to you and not himself. He will be the one sending out punishment, right? For me not following the rules of his city."

I don't answer, unsure of how to because he is right. I do it with women, not men, so I have no idea. I also don't know this person, so I have no leverage over him. I click his account and find that useless, no family, nothing, I have nothing to use. My way of getting them to pay won't work with this guy.

"You seem lost Ann, I am guessing you weren't expecting me today either?" He smiles at me like he is winning.

"I am only lost, Mr Elson, because I don't understand why you wouldn't pay back the six thousand you owe and clear yourself? You sold your shop, which was significantly more than what you owe." Anyone else would have paid her father off to get free of him.

"What if I make a deal, Ann?"

I look up at him, confused. "A deal? Mr Elson, you are not in the position to make a deal right now. you owe money and haven't been paying it back." A deal won't work.

"You haven't heard it yet. Hear me out." He grins at me.

"I will listen, but I won't agree." She can't do deals. She was warned by her father never to make deals.

"You agree to come out on a date with me. I will happily pay back what I owe in full while we're on our date." His smile grows.

I laugh. Is he serious? "Mr Elson..."

"Please, call me Jake. I would rather another name, but for now, Jake." He continues to smile at me. "You want your daddy to see you won, right? To see you got a man to pay up, to prove you can do what your brother does. A date and he will see you as more worthy."

Sitting, I look at him. It would help. It would be really good. Going on a date, though, I am not sure about. Hell, if my father finds out, it will cause a war. "My father isn't one to be happy if I date someone before his approval." He isn't.

"Your father will never know. There are places in your city that even your father does not know about—actually, Ann. While there, you could get information more information, then you can hand that over to your father and please him. Tell him you forced me to submit to you, to tell you secrets of the city that he doesn't know." Jake smiles at me, waiting.

"When?" I can't believe I am asking. What the hell is wrong with me? This is one of my dad's men, one who owes him money, who has hidden and avoided him.

"Tonight, I will pick you up at seven. You know Elena's court, right?" He looks at me, and I nod. Elena's court is a small outside restaurant. "I will pick you up from there, Ann, a date, and I can guarantee my debt to your dad will be paid off and gone tonight." He stands, holding out his hand.

Maybe I am stupid, foolish, or just craving approval from my father, but I reach out and shake his hand. Accepting that I am making a deal, a date in return for him paying my father to help me look good. He walks out, and I just know tonight will end in my dad's approval or disapproval.

PART 2 COMING 19/06/2021