"You know what I love best about you?" Christopher nuzzled Juniper's temple.

"No, what?" She lay next to him, numb in all the right places.

"Mmm, this."

He kissed the skin below her clavicle, which she assumed was in reference to her breasts.

"Well, I already knew you loved those."

He laughed. "That was supposed to be a kiss for your heart."

Juniper laughed too. "Oh, sure."

"And I love this." Another kiss at her temple. "And this is now my favorite." Christopher lifted her hand to kiss her gold wedding band.

"According to state records, a woman named Violet Rampling is your favorite," she said.

"You mean I can sleep with her and you, anytime I want?"

"According to state law, yeah."

"Sweet."

He smiled lasciviously, and she didn't like it.

An unspoken joke hung in the air about Juniper sleeping around, but Christopher would never have been so cruel as to say it aloud. You're imagining things; he's not even thinking like that. The major emotion emanating from him was love. Underneath, she sensed zero doubt.

Juniper snuggled closer to her husband, never dreaming that in three months she would be bunking regularly at the Coach Inn.

~*~

"Oh God. Jesus. You're freakin' amazing."

Mr. Needy rocked back and forth on the bed, hips thrusting. His hands clutched the air in front of him.

From the bathroom, Juniper scrolled on her device, rolling her eyes. Lines like his were a dime a dozen, and she had memorized the script.

"You're so big!"

She struggled to sound as enthused as possible. Keeping their emotional connection was a struggle, but she had plenty of practice. Years earlier, she had accidentally connected with a man while kissing him. The longing and tension had flowed inside of her, filling her like an alien invasion. Though she had invited the kiss, she wasn't prepared for the sexual expectations and images forced inside her head. Out of revulsion, she had rejected the feelings and images. Like a transmission rebounding, they returned to the source. Juniper had pulled away from the kiss to watch the man moan in pleasure, groping at the air. Return to sender. She realized his own feelings, hopes, and fantasies had been reflected back, somehow playing out like a virtual reality experience.

The discovery had saved her from having to touch her clients. For the most part. She often kissed them to get them going, waited for their inevitable flood of horny expectations, then hit Return to Sender.

Mr. Needy was no different.

Her faux encouragement helped him to finish up seconds later, making his total time equivalent to five minutes. And $300 for five minutes of work was well worth it.

Juniper slipped out of the bathroom back into the main room. She buttoned the shirt she had undone and zipped the pants she had unzipped. Mr. Needy smiled dreamily at her from the bed, never realizing the scope of her ruse.

After recovering, he got up and tugged his clothes back on, asking Juniper her age. She sat on the bed, contemplating how long she had to keep pretending to like him so he'd pay her. Even without tapping into her power, she knew the answer hinged on a lot. If she told him twenty-five, he would never be a repeat customer.

"Eighteen."

"Ohhh," he breathed. "Really?"

Before getting down to the serious business, Juniper had fashioned her hair into pigtails. She could pass for younger than eighteen.

"Really, mister."

Though he had just finished himself, he was ready for a second time. The way he lusted for her youth repulsed Juniper.

Mr. Needy plopped back on the bed. His intentions of leaving blew away in the wind. Goddamnit. I'm tired. Too tired to fake it for the additional five minutes Mr. Needy required. Also, the thought of kissing his dry, small lips made her ill. But, money was money so she decided to see where this was going.

"Why aren't you in school, young lady?"

"Duh, it's nighttime! Plus, I graduated. Good thing too because most classes around here are canceled." You damn pervert.

"Did you ever fuck any of your teachers?"

She broke from the falsetto voice and back into hers. "Okay, you wanna go again? No problem. But you have to pay me the other half of what you owe, plus another $350."

"Why $350?"

"$50 extra for the role-playing."

Mr. Needy looked less than willing to comply. "How 'bout zero?"

"No free-throws. You'll pay what we agreed to."

"I don't pay girls who get me outta the mood."

Mr. Needy bent to pick up his shoes, clearly intent on ditching his bill.

"Whatever crazy ideas you have otherwise, you're paying me."

Juniper reached around the side of the bed to find what she needed taped to the back of the headboard. Unfortunately, the duct tape held a little too well. When she tugged, the gun stubbornly resisted.

"The hell you doin'?" Mr. Needy asked as he slipped one shoe on.

A second tug and the tape slackened. "Getting what I need."

"I told you, I don't pay for sub-par service. You--,"

One last tug and the gun wrenched free of the tape. Juniper pointed it at Mr. Needy's face.

"I'd better what? Think you're the first guy to try and not pay me?"

Mr. Needy backed away with both hands up.

"I'm sorry. Let me go."

He glanced from her to the door.

"Gimme your wallet." Juniper wasn't going to let him leave without paying her double. No, triple.

"C'mon, lady."

"Give me your wallet, asshole."

He reached in his back pocket for a black leather bill-fold.

"Toss it to me," Juniper said.

It landed next to her leg. With her empty hand, she picked up the wallet and flipped it open. Instead of a license, a work ID was the first card displayed in the clear casing. "Hillcrest High School: Staff Member", it read, right underneath a smiling Mr. Needy. Only his name was Jedadiah Monroe.

"Mr. Monroe, you're a goddamn teacher?" Juniper asked.

"No, a bookkeeper in the library."

His eyes were glued on the ground.

"Still close to the students. Close enough to dream, and one day touch?"

"I would never--,"

The combination of guilt and lust hit her hard. It was difficult to separate her feelings from the tangled web of lies and the disgust merging in his gut. The intensity of his feelings projected the image of a young girl, probably fourteen or so. She carried a stack of books, and as she got closer, Mr. Needy's feelings strengthened. The girl forgot her pink fuzzy sweater in the library, and he took it home. He laid it on the bed, imagining all sorts of bad things.

Juniper released the images. She didn't need to know anything else.

"You would never, huh?" She motioned at the door. "Get the fuck out of here. You're disgusting."

"Can I have my wallet back?"

"Are you kidding me?" A click resounded from the gun as she cocked it. "G'bye, douchebag."

"Okay, okay."

At the door, he fumbled with the knob. He whimpered and checked behind him. Juniper sighed. Finally, he unlocked the door and ran. His fear lingered in the air, tasting like pennies on Juniper's tongue. She spit into the wastebasket next to the bed.

Her telephone rang.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hey, babe." It was Larry the hotel manager on the line. "That last john ran past here threatening to call the cops. You better make like a tree."

"Thanks for the tip." And the corny reference, she thought.

"Who the fuck you callin' 'babe'?" Jolie screamed in the background.

"Nobody!" Larry screamed back.

"Is that your nine-year-old whore again?"

"She wasn't nine-years-old!"

"So eleven is the premium age you prefer for fuckin'?"

"Catch ya later, June."

Larry hung up.

****

A/N: Where could Juniper head to next, and what's going on with The Boy? All questions to be answered later, and if you're feelin' generous, don't forget to vote :D

Also, explore a new writer named cupcake_mauve_pastel. Her story My Personal Batman is a narrative account of the main character, Skye as she navigates the harsh reality that comes with being a teenager:

https://www.wattpad.com/story/58176308-my-personal-batman