Chapter 3

• Two days later, not only did the book he mentioned arrive, but also the next 3 books in the series from the one on her nightstand. And he was right, she did like it.
• After a few months of that, after he had given her nearly ten thousand dollars, and in the process boosted his ranking to a platinum VIP exclusive member, he sent her a private message that, for the first time, made her wish she could talk to her friends about the situation. She didn’t know what to do.
• *I completely understand if you don’t want to answer this question, and no matter how you answer, it will not change my behavior. There is something I would like to request of you, and you need to be 21 or older. You don’t have to tell me your exact age, but are you over 21?*
• 200$
• Two hundred dollars for a question, and she didn’t even have to tell the truth. She had realized a while ago that Nathan didn’t pay her to try and guilt her into answering or doing what he wanted… He gave her money as a courtesy as if to pay for the act of asking.
• But she wanted to tell him the truth. Wanted to know what he was going to send her. Even if he didn’t pay her, Kelly wanted to give him her trust. He had been kind, and helpful, and the way he messaged her made her feel soft and taken care of. Made her feel like he paid attention to her, not just her body. It was lunacy. This was a porn site. There wasn’t any real trust between them or any sort of friendship. This was a transactional relationship if they had any relationship at all. But somewhere along the lines, Kelly had developed feelings for Nath.
• “Stupid, stupid girl,” she muttered to herself, even as she clicked reply.
• *I’m 22.*
• Kelly blushed furiously, looking around her closet of a bedroom as if someone was going to pop out and scream “Gotcha!” No one was there of course, but it didn’t change the way a hint of chagrin tickled over her. Telling strangers on the internet personal information was a big no-no. Kelly knew better.
• His message the next day made it more clear why he felt he needed to know her age.
• *I will send you a package and would like to know your rates for special requests. I am interested in a private stream, a specific outfit, and a girlfriend’s experience involving alcohol.*
• The little light next to his name said he was online when she checked her inbox and saw his message, so she wanted to hurry. Doing a quick Google search was not helpful. Camgirls set rates depending on their popularity, and each one did different things or had different rules. She could do a flat fee for a time-limited session, a la carte menu where he paid for each thing and activity, run it like her regular stream but make it invite only so he was the only one watching… Too many options. Googling ‘Girlfriend experience’ was much more helpful and seemed kind of sweet. They hadn’t chatted much in general, it was mostly him sending little requests and instructions in chat during the stream, so Kelly wasn’t sure how to respond.
• *I would do a private show for you. I don’t know what to charge but Google says to charge similar to what I earn from a show. How about a flat 200$ for an hour? You usually pay more than that, but it would be a relief for me to only be streaming for one person, and I’ll include the outfit. I’ve never done a girlfriend experience, but if you don’t mind that, I’m willing to try.*
• Kelly bit her thumbnail, watching the little green light that showed him as online, waiting for his reply. It only took a few minutes for his text to pop up.
• *I don’t accept your price.*
• Kelly’s stomach plummeted like she was on a rollercoaster, and she got hot with embarrassment… until she read the next part of the message.
• *Never put a discount on yourself. I will pay you 200 for the outfit request, 500 for the hour, and 500 for the girlfriend experience. I would also like you to buy a bottle of wine at my expense for 200, but if you choose to drink grape juice instead to stay more alert or for any other reason, I understand. Please pretend that it is wine. Is that agreeable?*
• Swallowing, barely keeping her mouth from dropping open in shock, she nodded. “Holy shit, who is this guy?” Tapping out her reply, she hit send and then covered her face.
• *I don’t particularly like wine, I prefer rum if that is acceptable?*
• Kelly didn’t drink often, a combination of not being able to afford it, not wanting to get hammered while she had an empty stomach (which was always until he entered her life), and not having time. But when she had tried alcohol at a rare party or night out with her friends, she had liked rum.
• *I would love to relax and drink a glass of rum with you. Please let me know when my package arrives, and we can set up an appointment. I look forward to hearing from you.*
• “Who the fuck are you?” Kelly whispered, absolutely shocked. In less than five minutes her phone dinged with a notification that 1500$ had been deposited into her account. Kelly was studying math and could do basic addition even if she wasn’t in love with numbers. That was wrong. Quickly checking over their messages again to be sure she hadn't missed anything; she knew he had overpaid her.
• *Mr. NathRoth, you overpaid me. We only agreed to 1400.*
• *I like rounded numbers. You can call me Roth if you like. May I call you, Sunny?*
• Most of the messages from random men had called her sickeningly sweet names; Sunflower, Flower, Sunshine, Beautiful, Sweetheart, Baby, etc. Too familiar for people she had never spoken to. She wouldn’t mind too much if Nath- err if Roth had called her those things, but she liked that he chose something different. Less predictable and, even though he probably chose it because it was the first part of her account name, it suited her better.
• *I would like that.*
• Then, to calm herself down and stop crushing on a guy she had never even seen, she closed her aging laptop and called Damien.
• “Hey Damien, this is going to sound strange, but I need to make sure I’m not crazy.”
• His voice on the line was tinted with laughter, and she could easily imagine his face as he smiled, probably tucking the phone between his ear and shoulder as he did something else. “Ok, this will be good. What’s going on?”
• “It’s nothing weird!” That was a total lie because if Damien or any of her other friends knew what she was doing, they would try to talk her out of it. Instead, she had told them she was making money by doing online tutoring because although she wasn’t acting like a high roller or waving numbers around, she was obviously doing better than before.
• “No, it’s just a stupid thing from my tutoring group. 1400 is a round number, right?”
• There was silence, then a laugh. “Uh, yeah?”
• “That’s what I thought too! But this guy said he liked round numbers and preferred 1500, so I was second-guessing myself.”
• “You have really weird online friends…”
• “You have no idea.”