Cherry Lipps

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 7

Scarlett placed a large washed onion on the chopping board and placed a clean knife on it.

She began dicing, taking care not to cut her hand as she did so. On her left hand side by the kitchen sink was an electric stove with a pot of boiling rice.

She had bought rice from a Japanese food store a few blocks away from her home.

Ever since she started living on her own, she had tried learning how to prepare different continental dishes.

Daisy was upstairs, doing her homework. In about an hour dinner would be ready.

Scarlett’s face was screwed in a frown as she reflected on what Craig told her hours ago before she arrived home.

” Would a million dollars be alright?” He had asked suddenly.

” A million dollars?”

Craig stood up and leaned even more closer to her. ” Yes. A million dollars. I’m willing to pay in cash right here, right now.”

He paused, his eyes serious and bright. ” Quit pórn and become my secret personal pórn star.”

Scarlett stopped dicing the Onions and walked away towards the window. She peered outside, watching the busy streets alive with folks walking up and down the sidewalks.

A million dollars and all found if she would quit pórn. She had thought he was bluffing until he told her who he was.

•••••••••••FLASH BACK•••••••••••••

” I’m Craig Cage,” Craig said. ” Son and heir to Larry Cage, the Steel billionaire.”

Scarlett could only look at him with a doubtful expression. She had heard of Larry Cage.

Larry Cage owns one of the largest Steel refinery companies in America. No one knew if he had a son nor a wife although she had read in the papers years ago he had buried his third wife after she was brutally murdered by a black thug.

Larry Cage was a powerful wealthy businessman. He doesn’t have a son. This boy has got to be pulling her legs.

Craig bowed his head, regarding his nails with a sly smile on his cold colourless lips. ” You don’t believe me, do you?”

Scarlett scowled at him. ” You bet I don’t.”

Craig glanced up at her, his eyes serious. ” I don’t expect you to believe me, Scarlett but that’s neither here nor there. Anyways, I want to buy you. Name your price, I’ll pay.”

Scarlett kept quiet because the Bar man had returned with their orders. He set a bottle water for Craig and dropped her whiskey as well.

Once he had gone, Scarlett made a stiff drink for herself and washed it down her throat.

Craig watched her, waiting for her response. He knew she was nibbling on the bait. All he had to do was wait patiently when she’s close enough then he’d sink the hook into her.

He was the fisherman, she was the fish.

Scarlett, getting her nerves back turned to the boy in front of her. ” You mentioned you’d pay me a million dollars right here, right now?”

” Yes I did,” he said confidently.

She still didn’t believe he was Larry Cage’s son. ” Alright, then get it.”

Craig stood up instantly. ” You’ll be here till I get back?”

She nodded, fishing out another cigarette from her gold cigarette case. ” I’ll be here. Get the money but be snappy about it. If you ain’t here by three o’clock, I’ll leave.”

Craig wore his bag and began walking away. ” I won’t be a moment. Just stay here.”

She watched him slip out of the bar, waving a taxi down. Once he had gotten in and raced away, she let out a deep breath.

She had been holding her breath ever since he was seated before her. There was something cunning and strange about him.

He looked just only a sad pathetic kid but underneath that pale white face she could sense tension, plots, anger, calculations and darkness.

She had a lot of bad things to say about this boy. She hadn’t paid much attention to him till now.

Gradually, she was getting the full picture. It was just a matter of time before she uncover the mystery behind that face.

Lighting a match stick, she fed her cigarette butt with fire and drew in smoke.

Her mind was busy and when she smoked, she was able to think more clearer.

But what if he’s actually Larry Cage’s son? What if he actually had a million dollars in cash? Would she take the money? Would she accept it? Would she become a private pórn actress for only him?

But why?

Why does he want to buy her? It’s not like she’s for sale but a million dollars is a hell load of money. With a million dollars she could say bye-bye to pórn and XHUB forever. She could start up a lucrative business. With a million dollars, she doesn’t have to worry about the bills and her daughter’s education.

She’d be free.

A million dollars would be a dream come true. She had been Working as a pórn actress at XHUB for five years.

Five fúcking years and she still hadn’t saved a dime for her future. She’s just twenty-four. She had a long life ahead of her. Even if she work for ten years at XHUB, she would never get a million dollars.

And now a psycho high school kid claiming to be Larry Cage’s son is offering her an opportunity of a lifetime.

Letting smoke drift off her nostrils, she became lost in her little world of imaginations as she thought of all the sufferings, the struggles, the abuses, the curses and the crises she had passed through as an orphan and a single mother.

Her daughter’s father is in jail. She hadn’t heard a word about him nor did she ever cared. Maybe he’s dead for all she knew.

If this was true and Craig did bring in a million dollars, would she take it?

” Sorry I came late,” Craig said suddenly, waking her from her thoughts.

Scarlett turned sharply to see him standing before her. He had disappeared and reappeared like a ghost.

” That was fast,” she said, removing her cigarette from her lips. ” I thought you just left.”

” The bank ain’t far From here,” he said, sitting down on his seat. ” Also, the money’s in one of my personal savings account. The bank knows who I am so I wasted no time in sorting everything out.”

” Right,” Scarlett sounded bored. She looked him over, seeing no baggage. ” So where’s the money?”

Craig slipped her a note. ” This is my signature with a hand written note from me to my bank. Let them have it and you’d receive the money.”

Scarlett collected the note, frowning at the paper. It was his handwriting stating a note from him to his accountant. She also saw his signature.

” Is this a hoax?” She demanded. ” Are you tryna make fun of me?”

Craig sighed. ” You don’t expect me to carry a suitcase full of money walking around, do you? Brooklyn’s a dangerous place. You never know when a thug might hit you on the head.”

He had struck a point there but she wasn’t taking that talk from him. ” I still don’t trust you.”

” Just go to the local city’s bank,” he said. ” Only then can you tell if it’s a hoax or not.”

Scarlett glanced at him then at the paper. She gently folded it and kept it in her purse.

” So what now?”

” Quit pórn,” he demanded.

Scarlett returned back to her cigarette. ” Why?”

” Because once you accept the money, you are all mine. You would screw no body else but me.”

Scarlett raised her eyebrows. ” You make it sound as if I’m something to be possessed.”

” That’s right,” Craig smiled. ” You’re my possession.”

Scarlett let out smoke towards him. ” So what does a billionaires son want with a pórnstar?”

Craig crossed his legs. ” It’s pretty simple but that’s something I’ll explain to you later. For now, I want us to get down on this deal.”

” I wanna know your reasons for this first.”

” That would be later, CHERRY,” Craig insisted. ” I want to see if I can trust you. A million dollars is a lot of money. You can be tempted to leave at any moment and leave me stranded.”

” What’s that supposed to mean?”

” It means I want you to be serious about this as much as I’m serious. The money is all yours for the taking. You just have to do two things. One, quit pórn and two, be my personal pórn star.”

Scarlett tightened her mouth. ” That’s the second time you’re mentioning that name, personal pórnstar. What makes it Soo personal?”

” Because this deal has to be a secret one,” he said quietly. ” My dad’s a strict man and he…well, he hates black women. But I find black women very attractive. I’ve been following you for four years ever since I came across your videos and I’ve been nursing these séxual fantasies about you. My dream was to have all these fantasy become reality.”

Scarlett flickered ashes on the ash tray. ” Stop talking bullshít. Just tell me you have wet dreams. You fúck me in your dreams don’t you?”

Craig pulled a face. ” Well, sometimes. But those are just dreams, aren’t they?”

Scarlett closed her eyes, feeling embarrassed and hot. ” Listen kid, I don’t know what’s your problem but I think I’m getting the hang of where you’re headed. You want me to fúck you, right?”

” It’s not just about the séx, CHERRY,” Craig said smoothly. ” It’s deeper than that. I just…I Need you.”

Scarlett held her breath.

I NEED YOU.

That was what he said.

I NEED YOU.

It’s not because of why he said it but how he said it. He said it in such a gentle way that caressed her. He spoke as if she was something fragile.

No man has ever spoken to her like that. As a young adult, she had had numerous experiences with men.

She had also had several heart wrecking relationships.

I love you, I love you, I love you was a word she had heard soo many times and a word that made no meaning to her now.

Fúck love.

There’s no love in the street. All a man ever wants from a woman is séx. Once he’s gotten that, she’s nothing more to him that a piece of shít.

Acting pórn had taught her many lessons. It had even developed a new character for herself.

Just fúck the man and get your àss off his life.

That’s her life now. No more relationships, no more heartbreak. Relationships had done her no good. It only tore her apart.

Now here was a nineteen years old kid paying her a crazy amount of money to become his personal pórnstar or something.

Men are wild animals. Aside séx, nothin else matters to them.

But he said, I NEED YOU.

It made her feel somewhat different. No man had ever said those words to her.

Looking at Craig now, she felt she could trust him. ” Alright.”

Craig looked bright. ” For real?”

” That is, if I see the Money.”

” You will get it,” he said. ” Just go to the local bank. It’s a five minutes drive from here. Give my accountant the note and the money is all yours.”

Passing a tongue over her lips, she studied him. ” So how do we go about this personal pórnstar stuff?”

Craig stood up to his feet. ” I’ll meet with you here by twelve at noon. Then I’ll tell you what to do. By then I suppose you might have quit.”

” I’ll quit,” she said, her eyes hard. ” You don’t have to worry about that.”

” Cool,” Craig wrote his number on a piece of paper and slipped it to her. ” Call me whenever you can. I’ll be expecting you tomorrow. Same place, noon.”

” I get it,” she said curtly. ” You don’t have to repeat yourself twice.”

Craig scratched the back of his head, grinning. ” Yeah you’re right. Was just making sure.”

Scarlett didn’t say anything.

Outside the bar, she saw a white Rolls Royce pull up by the window side.

An immaculate uniformed man got out from behind the wheels and stood under the sun, waiting for someone.

Craig began moving away towards the door, waving at her. ” Be seeing you, CHERRY. Have a great day.”

She stiffened when he walked out the door towards the Rolls Royce.

” What the…” Her eyes widened.

The uniform man bowed slightly before Craig, ushering him to the back seat.

” Oh my God!” She exclaimed sitting up straight.

The uniformed man closed the door gently and returned back to the wheels. The Rolls Royce start up and raced away into the highway.

Scarlett felt her heart slamming hard against her ribs. She still couldn’t believe her eyes.

He had driven off in a Rolls Royce. Could he be?

*

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” Craig Cage,” the accountant said, studying the paper note which Craig had given Scarlett.

Scarlett nodded. ” That’s his name.”

The accountant was a middle aged woman with a bítchy face which she found it difficult turning to a smile.

She took her time to study the signature more clearly as if it were a diamond. When she was Satisfied, she grunted to Scarlett. ” If you would follow me, miss.”

Scarlett knew all bankers are rude but this woman was the rudest of them all.

She followed her until they came to a partitioned office that had a big fat man seated Behind a busy desk.

He was the bank manager.

The moment he saw Scarlett with Craig’s accountant, he knew she was the one to be handed the money over to.

He stood up, smiling his best smiles. ” Welcome, miss Cherry.”

Scarlett frowned. ” My name’s not Cherry.”

The man’s smile remained fixed. ” Oh is it? Craig mentioned you to be Cherry.”

Scarlett flushed red. It dawned on her she still hasn’t told Craig her real name. ” The name’s Scarlett Mason.”

They shook hands and the bank manager decided to go straight to business. ” Craig left an instruction to have a million dollars deposited in your account.”

Scarlett sat down on the chair, facing him. ” I was told to have the money in cash.”

The manger nodded the accountant to leave. The moment she had left, he got up and walked to a steel safe where he put in some combination numbers and opened it.

Inside was a heavy burlap bag. He returned back to the desk and drop it before Scarlett. ” Here’s the cash. A million dollars. You can count it if you like.”

Scarlett stared at the burlap then at him. She was in two minds wether to open the bag or not.

But she didn’t open the bag. She was scared to. ” I think I’ll take it home with me,” she said.

The manger shrugged. ” Your choice. Here are some papers. I want you to sign here and there.”

When she was done signing, he had asked her if she would like to have the money deposited in the bank.

Scarlett refused. She was taking the money home with her by all means.

She had left the bank, caught the six o’clock train home and had dumped it in her room.

•••••••END OF FLASHBACK•••••••

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Standing over her kitchen sink, she washed her hand against the running waters and dried it.

She still hadn’t opened the burlap to check how much was inside.

Dinner would soon be ready. Hopefully, Daisy would have been through with her homework.

Meanwhile, upstairs in her room was a big burlap bag containing a million dollars that she hadn’t even set her eyes on.

She immediately walked up the stairs to her room. She opened the wardrobe and took out the burlap.

The bag was heavy and scary to even carry about.

Why does it feel Soo scary to even touch the bag? She wasn’t sure if this was some hoax.

The moment she had the bag on her bed, she shot the bolt of her door and turned to the bed.

She stared at the burlap, the burlap stared right back at her.

Sitting on the bed, she slowly opened the bag.

She didn’t know what she expected to see, but certainly not what she was seeing right now.

The bag was crammed with money: thousands and thousands of dollars; more money than she had ever seen in her entire life.

For a long moment of time, she sat staring. Then very carefully and with shaking hands, she lifted the fat, neat wads of money to the bed until the bag was empty.

There was nothing else in the bag—just money.

A million dollars in thousand-dollar bills!

She suddenly felt horribly faint, and she put her hands on her knees to steady herself from falling as she rose to her feet.

For one moment, she never took her eyes off that money.

A million dollars!

A whole fúcking million dollars! Was she really going to fúck a high school boy for this? Was this Craig’s price to buy her?

To become his personal pórrnstar?!

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To be Continued…..