My 3 Contract Lovers

[Bianca] Bianca Fellam Convocation Organization Cordially invites you to attend the annual Consort Ball Friday, the second of January Starting at six pm At the luxury hotel in Ethine Formal attire is requested I read and re-read the fancy invitation before I scoffed and threw it on the coffee table. I think they must have gotten the wrong address. There was no way I had been invited to some ball at some fancy hotel. I wasn’t even sure where the hotel was. I also didn’t own any formal attire. I glanced down at my old torn jeans and the plain white t-shirt I wore. I scoffed again as I set my bare feet on the edge of the coffee table and sighed loudly as I closed my eyes. “Really Bianca?” my eyes shot open as my feet hit the faded carpeted floor. “What?” I snapped as I eyed my aunt suspiciously. She was dressed up in her ‘formal attire’ so I knew exactly where she was headed. “Why must you put your feet on the table?” she questioned as she moved around the tiny living room. “Over there,” I said as I pointed to the pile of shoes that lay by the front door. Vivian turned to look over her shoulder before she hurried over to the shoes and dug around until she found the glittering silver pair of stiletto heels she had been looking for. It matched the skimpy dress she had on and once she had the shoes on her feet, she stood up and looked at herself in the mirror. Her long blonde hair had been teased and fluffed around her scrawny face and I scowled as I looked away. She was checking her make – up and that alone was enough to make my stomach turn. “When are you going to join me?” she then asked and I slowly turned to look at her. She was facing me now with her slender hand on her hip. “Never,” I ground out. “Well, that silly little job you have at that disgusting takeaway place isn’t paying you enough and we need money,” she explained rudely. I clenched my teeth together as I tried not to say anything. “I’m serious, Bianca, if you don’t start bringing in some real money…well, then you need to get out. I can’t afford to support you and your mother anymore,” I flinched at that. My mother, April, had been diagnosed with cancer a few years ago and we had turned to her sister, my aunt, for help. Since my aunt lived her life the way she wanted to, the dingy apartment was the roof over our heads. It wasn’t great, but at least we weren’t on the streets. The open-plan living room and the kitchen was small and always felt cold to me. The bedroom I shared with my mother was not even half the size of this living space and the bathroom always made me want to hurl. However, this is now my life. Before my mother had been diagnosed, we had lived a few streets away from my aunt. We weren’t well off, but we had managed. Things had changed and my eyes fell on the invitation that lay – mockingly – on the coffee table. I kept referring to it as a coffee table, but in reality, it was just a plastic crate. One that I had managed to convince my boss to give me a few weeks ago. The couch I was seated on was lumpy and smelled like it came from the dumpster. Probably because it did. “Ahuh,” I simply rolled my eyes as I got more comfortable on the couch. It wasn’t easy and I knew I would never be comfortable. “You know…George wouldn’t mind hiring you…even part-time,” she then offered and my whole body went rigid and tense. She was referring to her boss and I didn’t even want to think about the man. He always made my skin crawl and that had nothing to do with him giving me a job. “I don’t want to be a stripper,” I snapped as my annoyance took over. “Erotic dancer,” she hissed out in response. “Whore,” I added. “Escort,” she corrected, but I simply shook my head and muttered out a low ‘whatever’ as I continued to stare up at the yellowing ceiling. “I’ll put in a word for you…unless you can bring in more money…?” “I’ll let you know in the morning,” I growled out as I finally stood up. “I’ll speak to Frankie tonight,” Frankie was my boss and I already knew what would happen. It had been a miracle I had even gotten the job in the first place. I headed over to the kitchen before I opened up the bar fridge and peered inside. It was, as always, empty and my stomach growled rather loudly. “Here,” I turned around to see her digging around in the purse she loved to think was gorgeous. She pulled out a twenty and slapped it on the counter. “Get a pizza or something,” “Do you want any?” I asked as I snatched the money off the counter. “No, and don’t wait up,” she sang out and I watched her leave the apartment. I sighed loudly as I pocketed the money and went to the bedroom to check on my mother. She was lying on her back with the covers unmoved as she slept. I made sure that the room was warm – as warm as it could be – before I headed for the door. I stuck my feet into my favorite pair of sneakers and left the apartment. Since I was due to start work in the next hour or so, I decided to have my dinner at my workplace. Tasty Choice was owned by Frankie and the place was a hot spot in this part of town. It was already busy, and I hesitated. If they were this busy and Frankie spotted me, he might expect me to start early. Then again, if I did, it meant he would owe me some overtime money. With that thought in mind, I pulled open the glass door and headed inside. The once-upon-a-time white tile was now a creamy yellow and although it looked gross, it shone brightly under the fluorescent light. I knew how clean this place was, especially since I cleaned it at least four times a week. Casey Donovan spotted me from behind the counter and she smiled in relief. Little did she know that I wasn’t going to jump in and save her before I had eaten. However, as I joined the queue, Frankie came out. “Bianca?” he called out and I groaned softly. “Thank fuck,” I heard him mutter and I reluctantly left my spot in the queue and headed his way. “I have never been so happy to see you,” he stated and I rolled my eyes. “I only came in earlier for dinner,” I told him grimly and he frowned before he smiled. “Right, well, what if I give you a few minutes to eat a burger and fries before you help poor Casey out there?” a burger and fries were more than the twenty I had in my pocket and Frankie took my hesitation as a no. “On the house,” he quickly added. I perked up at that and nodded. I followed Frankie to the back and down a short hallway. He entered the kitchen like a bat out of hell and beamed at the workers. I smiled and waved at Joe, who managed the grill, Jess, who was too busy busting her ass to even look up at the interruption, and Lyle, who was putting orders together. “Get Bianca a burger and fries, will ya?” Lyle nodded and I stood there awkwardly waiting for them to get my meal together. In less than five minutes, I had a plate in front of me and I wearily headed to a relatively quiet and clean spot to eat. I didn’t bother taking my time, I was also starving, so ten minutes later I was in the locker room putting on my uniform. I headed to the front and Casey smiled warmly at me in greeting. We worked well together and I liked her, but it wasn’t until the queue had finally died down that we were able to actually talk to each other. “You are a lifesaver for coming in earlier,” she said to me and I shrugged. “So, I have some news,” she suddenly gushed out, and I scanned the front of the restaurant before I turned my attention back to her. “Oh yeah? What?” “Check this out,” she exclaimed as she pulled something out of her pocket and thrust it at me. I opened the folded note and froze. Casey Donovan Convocation Organization Cordially invites you to attend the annual Consort Ball Friday, the second of January Starting at six pm At the luxury hotel in Ethine Formal attire is requested “What the hell?” I asked as I handed the invitation back to her. “It’s the consort’s ball,” she said excitedly, and I frowned. “So?” “So? So, this is my chance to get the hell out of here,” she stated firmly, and my eyes went wide. “What do you mean? What is this consort ball thingy?” I questioned, but before she could answer me, the doors opened and another flood of customers came in. We spent the next half an hour helping customers before she could answer me. “Don’t you know about the consorts ball?” she asked and I shook my head. “Do you know anything about the convocation organization?” “If I did I wouldn’t be asking you about it, now would I?” I ground out as I rolled my eyes. I was losing interest but Casey just nodded knowingly and I frowned. “What?” “I mean, you didn’t finish school…so I don’t suppose you would know about it,” “Casey…just spit it out,” I demanded, but she shook her head. “It’s not that easy…um, how about I buy us a cup of coffee and we can talk after we close, huh?” I nodded and checked the time. We still had four hours to go but it went relatively quickly due to the fact that we had been so busy. I followed Casey out of the restaurant and we walked over to the small café that was located down the street. It wasn’t even a café, it was more like a hole in the wall. They only sold coffee and I watched as Casey bought two coffees. We then wandered over to a nearby park and I quickly looked around to make sure that we were alone. “Talk,” I snapped as I hugged the styrofoam cup to my chest. “Ok, so…this is probably going to sound crazy and I bet you’ll wish you finished school,” she started, and I was tempted to bitch slap her for taking so long. “Get on with it,” “Ok, just keep an open mind, ok?” I nodded. “The Convocation organization is basically like our government,” I frowned at that. She clearly wasn’t all right in the head. “No, listen…they control the immortals and how they do things around here,” “What the hell are you on about?” “Immortals, Bianca…I’m talking about vampires and werewolves and other things that go bump in the night,” I stared at her for a good minute before I burst out laughing. She scowled at me but I couldn’t help myself. Surely, she was high or something. “Vampires? Werewolves? Things that go bump in the night? Are you serious?” “I’m deadly serious and if one of them chose me to be their consort, my whole life will change,” that made me sober up as I stared at her and she smirked. “And I am dead set on becoming a consort,” well, I’ll be damned. I suddenly wanted to become a consort too. Then again, I wasn’t sure if consort was just another fancy word for stripper or whore. I had some digging to do and I had three days to do it.