The Offer

Things were going better than I thought they would. Chloe was better than ever. She had gotten more comfortable around Sophie and Daniel when we went out to dinner. Sophie was dotting on her and I loved the way Daniel was able to get Chloe to laugh—a department I was sorely lacking in. It was why I was pleased that things seemed to be going well between Alexis and her. She had nothing but good things to say about their lunch date and I noticed she was on her phone more as they texted each other.

Her noise was continuing to grow stronger as well. The more it improved, the more unwell I realized she had been. Quitting her business had helped, but the real reason for her quick improvement was the people surrounding her. Sophie, Daniel, and now Alexis. All of them were helping her heal in their own way and she was flourishing. It was comforting knowing I was helping to make it all possible. The whole thing reminded me how lucky I was to have great people in my life.

That wasn’t to say things were perfect. I knew Chloe was still sexually frustrated at times. I had no doubt she enjoyed our time together. The problem was if she got her way, we would be having sex every day. Pleasurable as it was, I had no interest in devoting that amount of time required to fully sate her. Our relationship needed more than sex.

Part of it came from the difficulty we had making love. It was the kind of sex that resonated with me. There was something empowering looking into her eyes and letting her noise wash over me. Her Gift was an issue. Being with her in that way was exhausting. We had tried it three times now and each one ended up with me immediately passing out and waking up with something akin to a hangover. That wasn’t including the pain I felt when her Gift blew out my mental defenses for those few seconds. I was able to keep that little detail a secret from her.

Oral sex was similar. While it didn’t knock me out like when we made love, her orgasm and the resulting explosion of her Gift crushed the numbness of my mind and allowed my Gift to run rampant, pulling in all the emotions from those near me. The pain was some of the most concentrated I’d ever felt before. It was like my mind was splitting open. It was getting better thanks in part to Chloe’s noise growing stronger and acting as an anchor, but it made me hesitate when the opportunity arose. I didn’t want that, but I was at a loss on how to fix it.

Then there was the sex that left her a heaping mess. Chloe seemed to be particularly fond of it. It was certainly enjoyable and had the added bonus of not knocking me on my ass after. Her Gift certainly tried, but it reacted the same way it had when she was with other guys resulting in a weak effect. Unfortunately, it felt a bit… empty. There was meaning when we made love to each other. Sex for the sake of physical pleasure was difficult for me to get behind. It wasn’t that I hated it or didn’t want to be with her in that way, but the drive simply wasn’t there.

I was confident that we would overcome these challenges in time. Everything was still new and we were figuring things out.

A familiar noise joined me on the roof. I didn’t move from my spot as I felt it growing closer.

“I was wondering when you would show up.” Turning, I found Adam’s cocky grin waiting for me.

“Come on, don’t be like that,” he said. He had a hand in his pocket, the other one ran through his golden bangs. “No reason we can’t be pals.” His Gift splat against the walls of my mind. “We have a mutual _friend _after all.”

“No, we don’t.”

Annoyance spiked in his noise. He already didn’t like me despite his friendly smile. The inability to affect me with his Gift only pushed me deeper into the dislike category.

With a fake laugh, he reached out with his free hand and lightly slapped my arm. “What are you talking about? You know Chloe. I know Chloe. The whole school knows Chloe—the male half at least.” Adam was far too reliant on his Gift to smooth over his asshole nature. He was used to being able to say whatever he felt like and let his Gift do the heavy lifting. Unfortunately for him, that didn’t work on me.

“You know nothing about her.”

His smile faded. He was slow on the uptake, but he was growing wise to me not being influenced by his Gift. “You’re right. Honestly? Don’t care either.” I said nothing taking a moment to take a closer look at his noise while he spoke. It was cracked in the areas where I usually saw Chloe’s Gift. It wasn’t anything major, but it certainly wasn’t normal. Withdraw was a bitch, especially for someone like him who had been getting a boost every week for a substantial amount of time.

“Look,” he said, drawing my attention back to what he was saying. “We can all be reasonable about this. I am here representing some… concerned… students.” Reaching into his jacket, he withdrew two stacks of bills. From the looks of them, each was filled with hundred-dollar bills. “Ten grand, right here. If you talk to your girlfriend about opening up for business again, it’s yours” Before I could say anything, he was already talking over me. “Of course, this is going to be for a much more select group of clients. Going rate will start at a grand. No more of this school infirmary shit either. We’ll arrange for a driver to discretely pick her up and take her to The Emerald Hotel. Business will be conducted in one of the penthouse suites there. When it’s finished, the driver will take her wherever she wants to go.” He grinned. “Not a bad deal, eh? Chloe gets to earn some pocket change and doesn’t have to deal with all the riffraff and rumors at school.”

I waited a few seconds to make sure he was finished before giving him my answer. “Not interested.”

“Jake. Think about it—”

“There is nothing worth thinking about. Chloe has made it clear that she is no longer interested in selling her Gift.” I took a step towards him. His initial response was to take a half-step back. “I suggest looking somewhere else.”

“Don’t be a fool. The amount of money—”

“The only fool here is the one who thinks everything can be bought with money.”

He snorted. “Everything can be bought. The only unknown is the amount.”

“If that was the case, why don’t you make the offer to Chloe herself? Why come to me at all?” He said nothing. The friendly mask he was giving me had long since been thrown away. “Because you have and she said no. Correct?”

“She’ll listen to you. If you talk to her—”

“It sounds like she made her decision. This conversation is over.”

“Twenty grand,” Adam said. “Twenty grand if you convince her to continue. We’ll also pay you five hundred each time she meets with a client. For the inconvenience.” When I didn’t respond right away, he pushed on. “And if a grand isn’t enough, we’ll pay her more if she wants.”

Adam was a terrible negotiator.

Something was off. There was something more going on. I understood Chloe’s Gift was powerful and made the individual feel great, but these people were throwing a lot of money around for this. Adam was making it seem like they would throw unlimited funds to secure access to her Gift.

Instead of outright dismissing this, I needed to find out more. “Why go through all this trouble? We are in the final year of school. Several more months, none of this will matter anymore.”

Anxiety spiked in his noise as he tried to keep his cool. “Who says it has to end after we graduate? My parents own two private jets and I’m certainly not the only one with access to easy travel.” He smiled as his confidence grew. “Hell, she might enjoy things more once we get out of this dump. Imagine traversing the world, staying at posh resorts reserved for the rich and famous; being showered with money and gifts most people would only dream of.” He chuckled. “I mean, think about it. She could live like a queen never having to worry about anything again. Yeah, she’ll be spending some of that time on her back and knees, but we both know she enjoys that sort of work anyway. What do you offer her? A life of nine-to-five grind, never getting ahead and praying you don’t fall behind? Pump a kid or two in her? Please,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “If you really cared about her, you would show her that her life could be so much better than it is now. You two still want to play lovers? Fine. You can join her. See the sights together. Enjoy all the luxury the world has to offer. Sure, you’ll have to spend some nights alone, but that’s a small price to pay for the lifestyle.”

A compelling argument. He was right on a lot of things. I couldn’t offer her anything close to what he and his mysterious benefactors were offering. Sophie and Daniel were quite comfortable, but they didn’t have the type of money where you could carry around the kind of cash that could buy you a car. However, what Adam failed to realize was there were some things money couldn’t buy. She had been making far more money than most people our age doing exactly what he was suggesting and it had been destroying her. Chloe had been miserable and no amount of glitz or glamor would change that. I cared about her. I wasn’t alone in that either. The Chloe now was a completely different person than the one I had met on this rooftop and I was confident that she wouldn’t trade what she had now for her old life—no matter how much it paid.

Adam had overplayed his hand. His Gift was a crutch and he had never learned the art of how to shut the fuck up. While he bragged about the wealth and luxury that awaited Chloe, all I saw was the desperation. I knew being with Chloe was incredibly pleasurable, but enough to spend upwards of tens of thousands a month for the experience? Even with the vast funds at their command, that was excessive. They could hire dozens of women that mimicked her Gift for the amount. The humorless joke here was that Chloe’s Gift was so strong, other’s were a pale comparison. If you were used to high-end painkillers, over-the-counter wasn’t going to do shit for you.

They had gorged themselves on Chloe’s Gift for so long that they believed they couldn’t go without it. I looked at Adam’s noise again. The cracks were there, but there wasn’t a hole in his noise. Chances were the cracks would get bigger and it was going to suck for a few months, but it wasn’t like the damage was permanent. It was similar to the type of thing I saw in **** addicts. Detox was shitty, but maybe he’d learn something valuable from the experience. Honestly, I was glad to see this was the extent of withdrawal. Adam would be considered a power user and he was only at this level. The more casual users had probably already weened themselves off and moderates might have a headache for a few days.

I offered Adam a friendly smile. The very same he always gave me. Plopping my hand on his shoulder, I gave it a squeeze. “As I mentioned before, not interested.” I made my way towards the door. It was getting colder outside as we got deeper into fall. Maybe it was time to find a new place for Chloe and I to eat lunch.

“Don’t be an idiot, Jake! You have no idea the kind of people you’re messing with.”

“If they’re anything like you, I have absolutely nothing to worry about.”

I didn’t even read his noise as I let the door close behind me.

Reaching out with my Gift, I found her easy enough. She was in a happy mood, quickly approaching the stairs to the roof. I hurried down to meet her.

“Jake!” She tilted her head in confusion.

“How about we eat somewhere else?” I said as I swooped in beside her to take her arm as well as my share of the lunch she was carrying. “It’s getting a bit cold out now.”

She let out a breath, relief flooding her noise. “Thank god. I wasn’t going to say anything, but the past few days have been miserable.” She made a swishing motion with her hips causing her skirt to spin from side to side. “Cute as the skirts are, really not a good winter uniform.”

“To warmer pastures then,” I said pulling her along. Giggling, she hopped along beside me.

Behind my stoic features, my mind was at work. I vowed to keep a better eye on her. The offer Adam gave me was the type used as a last attempt to maintain diplomacy. Now that diplomacy had failed, more direct action would be taken. What that looked like was anyone's guess, but I would be ready.