Superior service

Sophia drove reluctantly to the cafe diner. She had worked there for the last few years while she studied and the weekend income was invaluable.

She tested her limits by reaching for the blinker to change course but her hand wouldn't allow it. Her body was her own, but as soon as she tried to deviate from her route, she'd lose control until she was back on course.

She thought, as she drove, about how different it felt to actually live out the fantasy she'd harbored her whole life. She contemplated how the exciting moments defined the mundane moments, and how in reality she'd spent a lifetime assembling a reputation and building a life on having agency. And here she was, putting it all at risk.

Finally, she pulled into the parking lot behind the cafe. She moved to get out, but her own arm yanked her in the other direction. She watched as she reached into her passenger footwell for her makeup bag.

"Shit. Fuck shit." She was scared to think what 'sexy makeup' and 'flaunt them' meant for her.

Sophia could take the stares from the men, but the glares from the women stung. She always tried to look nice, but never tried to draw attention at work. The mission, after all, was to get in, make money and get out. She had only a sense of how she looked from the glimpse she'd managed in her car's mirror, but she knew it was attracting attention from the customers.

Katy was unimpressed. She was at the coffee machine watching Sophia take orders at the counter until she burnt her hand. She leant over, "You know your nipples are showing..."

'I fucking know,' she thought to herself. Sophia felt embarrassed. Her instinct was to slouch and slacken her shoulders but she felt her body lean back further, pushing her chest out even more. 'Flaunt them,' she heard Liam's voice in her head. She didn't have anything to say to her colleague: she couldn't explain her behavior, and even if she could, she was offended by Katy's prudishness.

After lunch, their manager took over the counter, sending Sophia to run drinks and wait tables. The customer interaction was different up close, especially when her body was fighting any attempt at modesty. A group of freshmen boys called her over about a stain on the table. Obligingly, she did her best to get rid of it, involving an unusual amount of rubbing. She felt her breasts sway inside her top, teasing her nipples hard. Her cheeks stung as the boys stopped talking to watch her. She tried not to make eye contact with the boys after that.

During a bathroom break, she paused to look at herself in the mirror. This was certainly the sluttiest she'd ever looked in the daytime. Thick makeup, her dark hair in a messy bun and breasts stretching her cream top, begging for attention. And then she remembered who she was doing it for.

In her reflection, she saw Katy step into the bathroom behind her.

Katy rolled her eyes when she realised Sophia was at the mirror. "Checking yourself out, huh? You better share those tips. The rest of us are doing real work while you're flashing all the customers."

Sophia was disappointed by how quickly Katy had gone from "work bestie" to "wardrobe Karen." She knew she couldn't explain herself (and didn't really try), and her change of wardrobe was understandably confusing, but she thought she was owed a bit more kindness than this.

The rest of her shift was no better. She was even chastised by a middle aged woman. Sophia had already clocked the woman's frustration at her husband staring at her walking around the cafe, and the last thing she wanted to do was provoke it, but it turned out to be something she had no control over. As she carried drinks over to an adjacent table, she found her legs stiffening until she couldn't walk. She looked down to see herself putting the tray of drinks down before performing the most sensual back stretches right by their table. The woman was irate.

Luckily Darren was around to calm her down and apologise.

The worst part of her day was sitting in her own car after her shift had finally ended and watching her own hands venmo half of her tips to Liam.

Her phone buzzed with his reply. An indecipherable bunch of emoji followed by "I didn't think you'd actually do this! You are a gooood girl lol" She wretched at the thought of him saying those words and started her car.