Jaylen POV

  "Wake up!" Someone yelled as they slammed their hand against the door. "Make me fuck you up bitch." Someone else said as they followed behind them. Groaning,  I slightly opened my eyes to see that it was still dark outside. "Sorry to have woken you. A hoe gets a little bonus and she acts like she's Oprah Winfrey." She said as I weakly laughed. "You have a good night and I hope you feel better." She said as she patted me before leaving the room.

  The thing about being in the "upper echelon" rooms was that people rarely got along. You almost wouldn't notice it by how they acted though. There were basically two cliques here, I never really bothered for the names of them. If you didn't match, you were basically on your own. Me, I was practically begged to join both groups but I decided to turn it down. Had no interest in talking or fighting people I barely knew.  So, if you were cool with me, you were basically in the gray area.

  I slowly laid up and stared into the darkness. The pain seems to be subsiding but it was still there. I looked at my alarm and saw that it was 2:30 in the morning.  "Damn. Thank God tomorrow was Saturday." I said as I groaned. I turned the lamp on and looked in the drawer to see if I had any pain relieving medication.  Yes, two tablets left.  The one thing about getting my ass beat was that Bryheem wouldn't me work unless I was 110% healed. 

  He wanted me to be his little perfect doll. I am his bread and butter for the most part. I looked under the covers to see if the ice packs were still frozen and to my surprise, they actually were. They must stuck these at the bottom of the deep freezer. "Hey Jay? You woke?" Darren said as he knocked on my door. I'm guessing everyone must've been finishing up clients at this time. Me and him became friends as soon as I got here. He's definitely like the big brother I never had. "Yeah." I croaked. "Are you still sore he asked? "Just a little bit." I said. As soon as I even said that,  I had this intensive surge of pain course through my body.

  I hissed at the feeling. "Come on roll over." He said as he unwrapped the blanket. See Darren gives great massages. Hell his massages were the one of the reasons why he never had to do anything sexually. Of course his clients never told Bryheem that and always made sure to cover theirs and his tracks when they left. He racked in hella dough, which caused him a few enemies as well. One girl actually tried to steal his money but was salty because he put it in the safe in my room.  See Bryheem didn't know Darren got huge tips from his clients.  Darren always made sure to fluctuate the amount he gave.

  If he gave Bryheem more money one week, he made sure to give him less then next.  He'd change the pattern too. He'd give more for two weeks and less fire two weeks. That way, it wouldn't seem obvious. One of the girls tried to snitch on him about his payment amount but her plan failed because like me, Darren was also well liked.  "Give me a minute" I said as I slowly rolled over. He closed the door and turned my lamp on. "Imma jump straight into the massage. You need it." He said as I nodded. The sound of him rubbing his hands together to create warmth was the only sound being made.

  "Take a deep breath." He said and within a few seconds, he placed his hand right on the right side. I immediately hissed as he did that.  "Nigga stop moving. It'll only hurt for a minute. " he said all calm. He's not the one currently in pain. After a few more seconds,  that pain started to subside and the pleasure kicked in. "Looks like you definitely needed a deep tissue." He said as he kept going. The pain was still there but definitely not as intense as before. "There you go. Here put this on your bruises." He said as he handed me a stick of coca butter. Most of his clients were either doctors or herbalist so he had an endless supply of materials.

  Especially ones that helped heal bruises. "How are you feeling?" He asked as he sat beside me. "Better now.  Thank you so much for that. I just hope these bruises heal fast." I said as I laid back down on my stomach.  "Keep applying that and it should." He said as I nodded my head. "I just got a reup from Roman." He said. "Why don't snatch him up. It's clear that man is in love with you. He rarely acknowledges anyone else here besides us." "That's what makes em mad. A fine ass man like that tuning out everyone but the object of his desire." He said smiling. They would really make a cute couple.  Roman is the only guy Darren kisses. Hell that's the only one hes affectionate around.

  I only saw them interact twice but it was so beautiful to watch.  "Honestly,  it would never work. I'm here and he's out there living free.  He thinks he can 'buy me out' and I can just up and leave but we all know you're never really free.  Besides I don't want Bryheem dumb ass to do anything to him." He said as his facial expression dropped. I honestly didn't know what to say as he really had a point. Bryheem always found a way to make an "unfortunate accident" to occur, thus causing people to come crawling back to him. Besides I don't think Darren will ever recover from that anyway.

  A cold silence filled the room after that.  "How about you Jay? Any guys or girls catch your attention?" He asked changing the subject and mood. "Honestly no. Everyone that comes in here looks at me like I'm the forbidden fruit and they're dying to get a taste. While they only get to look at me sometimes, its an extreme turn off. I just want to be treated like a normal person not an exotic fruit." I said sighing. "I understand. I hope one day you get your chance at happiness. I'd love to see who can make you smile." He said as we both smiled.  All we could do is hope and dream here. We continued conversation until sleep finally came over me.

  The Next Day

  "Get up!" One of Bryheem's goons said as he slammed on my door, staring the shit outta me in the process.  What the fuck is up with these people and slamming shit? I just sat up and looked at the door and saw a toothbrush and toothpaste. This is the normal morning routine. Bryheem would always throw our toothbrushes away when the week is out. He said it was to prevent infections/bacteria from spreading. "You can just chill until later. B said he doesn't want you up just yet." Another one of his boys said, scaring the shit out of me.

  I just nodded my head as he left the room. I can only guess why. I couldn't bother with being nice to them niggas because they would ALWAYS want something in return.  I've seen it happen multiple times. I went to do my morning hygiene before returning back to my bed. "How you feeling?" Darren said standing in my doorway. "Way better now. Thank you so much." "Not a problem. At least you get to chill out today." He said as he handed me a some creams. "So do you. Roman's coming soon right?" I said as I watched his expression change. "No. He said he would be out of town for a few weeks. Never really gave an estimate for how long so I don't think he's ever coming back." He said with his head down.

  "Hey. Don't be like that. Who knows? Maybe he won't even be out that long." I said sending him a weak smile. "I told you it wouldn't work...." he said lowly before leaving the room.  Looks like someone is love, bad. I think I should let him be for the moment.  I started applying the cocoa butter and the herbal cream to my bruises. I fanned the area so that it could dry faster. "Lemme see the bruises" I heard as I jumped. I turned around to see Bryheem and 3 of his boys standing in the doorway. The anger and embarrassment from that night came back to me as I pulled my shirt down. 

  "Move the fuck on." He told them as they left. "Let me see the bruises Jaylen." He said in a more calmer tone. I slowly lifted my shirt up. "Shit. There's no way I can let you work like this.  They ain't going for that." He said. This motherfucker really only cares about money.  He placed his hand on the bruise near my rib cage,  which strangely started to hurt. "This one right here being the main reason.  Listen Jay, imma need you to fall in line with the rest of them,  otherwise you'll continue to cost me money and you know I don't like losing money." He said as he removed his hand. "Rest up. We'll see you later on". He said as he closed the door. I've never despised someone so much.

  I just rolled over and went to sleep after that. 

Darren POV

  I know I shouldn't have been so cold to Jaylen earlier, but he had a point. I was actually falling for Roman but I had to keep my feelings in check for me and his safety. "Get ready. You're client will be here in an hour." One of Bryheems boys said. I just looked at him like 'the fuck you think I was doing?' Before sitting back on my bed. I noticed Bryheem going into Jay's room but payed it no mind because the nigga was only checking on his bruises to see if he could make money. I got tired of waiting and fell asleep.

  When I woke up, I felt a familiar presence wrapped around me. I turned around to see Roman laying right there. "You missed me?" He said smiling as I kissed him.  "I thought you were leaving town?" I said as I broke the kiss. "I mean I was but then I thought about you and another nigga touching you and couldn't have that. I don't want that and I doubt you did either." He said as I smiled. "Ya lil girlfriend know you here." I said being petty. "Why you doing that? I told you I'm not talking to nobody but you. Every since our first encounter,  all I can do is think about you. Don't do that." He said kissing my neck.  Its funny how he knew exactly what I was doing. 

  "Hey Roman." I said as he removed his face from my neck.  "Wassup." He said looking at me. Here goes nothing. "Remember that thing you asked me a few days ago?" I said as he raised his eyebrow. "I have my answer. Yes I'll be your boyfriend." I said nervously. It was deathly quiet after I said that. I looked at Roman and saw a huge smile spread across his face. "Yo stop playing with me. You dead ass cuz I know how you play." He said still smiling. "Yeah I am. After the conversation I had with Jaylen, it just made me realize how much I like being around you and how much I'll miss you." I said as he kissed me.  "You definitely know how to make my day." He said as I smiled.

  "I can say the same. There's one thing though." I said as my smile dropped. "The other part you told me? I got it. I'll keep it between us and settle for you staying here. You're really worried about me huh?" "Yeah. I don't want anything to happening to you so swear to me." "I swear baby.  Though I'm not worried but if that helps you sleep better at night,  I won't disobey. No nigga can touch this though." He said as he grabbed my ass. Hearing him calling me baby made me feel all warm. So this is what love feels like? "So, you gonna give me my massage?" He asked as he pulled me on him. I turned around to see that not only did he close the door,  he put my dresser in front of it.

  "Sure." I said smiling.  He took his shirt off as I admired his body. I sent him a confused look. "I wanna see your face while you work so gone head and get started." He said smirking. I did exactly as he said. He let out a breath of relaxation as soon as I started.  I did his abdomen first since I was literally right on it. Then I moved in to his arms. "You're super tense today." I mumbled. "They've been working me this week. Sorry about that." He said nervously laughing. I leaned down lower so I could do a better job. "Riiiiiggghhhhttt there" he said as I got to the crook of his neck. He bit his lip as he kept his focus on me. "You look so good." He said as he lifted up to kiss me.

  "Lemme work." I said laughing. "Nah you did enough, it's time to play." He said pulling me down. I definitely can get used to this. 

Jaylen POV

  I woke up to the sound of loud music playing. "Oh you already up. Get dressed and come to the party. You'll need this." He said as he handed me a mask. A masquerade party huh? I guess. I nodded my head as I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and make my self presentable.  Once I was dressed to my liking, I put the mask on and walked out the room.

*Cues Come Through and Chill by Miguel*

  Everyone's attention immediately came to me as I walked down the steps.  The fact that I was walking perfectly to the song only enhanced that.  Once I made it to the bottom of the steps, the whispers continued. A couple of people tried to talk to me, only to be snatched smoothly away by Bryheem's people. You'd think I was going straight to him but I didn't. I walked right into the kitchen to get something to drink. "DJ turn the music back up.  Let's get this party started." He said as the DJ did just that.  Way to take the attention off me.

  I poured me something to drink as I watched everyone enjoy themselves. Well everyone except the people that lived here. This was basically a recruiting mission in disguise. I watched as everyone enjoyed themselves. I noticed Darren dancing with some guy. I noticed him because that was the shirt I picked out for him the night before. I stared a little harder and noticed that the guy he was dancing with was actually Roman. Looks like his surprise actually worked. I just hope they're careful.  I poured me another cup before walking back out to party area.

  I bumped into some one along the way. "Excuse me." "You good." "Did I spill anything on your clothes?" "Nah you didn't." He said as I breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry again." I said apologizing once more. He didn't say anything after that. I wanted to leave but for some reason,  I wasn't. I stood there watching the party while taking a glance at the guy. He didn't seem to be interested in the party at all because every time a lit song came on, he still stood there.  I tapped him on his shoulder.  "You don't seem interested in the party." "Yeah.  It's not really my thing." "Oh. Not the partying type?" "More like my friends dragged me here without telling me." He responded. 

  "You want to sit down?" "Yea. Thanks." I said to him. "So do you like the party?" "It's cool. Everything looks nice but I'd rather be studying for my test." "You're in college?" "Yeah junior year." "Nice. Makes sense why your mind is preoccupied." "That and the fact that I don't want to repeat this class again. Shit is expensive." He said as we both laughed. "What you going to school for?" "Engineering." "Oh wooooooooooww. Okay big money!" I said clapping. "Something like that." He says laughing.  "Want something to drink." "Sure." I said as I got up and followed him to the kitchen.  We continued to make small talk. 
 
  That is until gunshots broke out. Chaos erupted as everyone scrambled to make their way out of the building.  I wonder who Bryheem managed to piss off this time.  I looked everywhere but the mystery man was gone too. Damn.

  I didn't even catch his name.

Sorry you guys. Character searching is painful. I'm still looking.

Thoughts?

Jaylen?

Darren?

Roman?