The Writing Conclave

Prompt: It’s midnight. Where the hell have you been?!

Honorée flopped down on the bed sighing. All of her body ached since she hadn’t been on a pole in weeks. It was almost as if she had forgotten everything she knew and if she hadn’t made up for it with with a good floor routine, her money would have been even less than what she made currently and that wasn’t much to brag about to be honest. But despite that, Honor smiled. Another night, another payday.

The woosh of the door opening grabbed Honor’s attention and she turned her head to see Cowen standing there. His eyes were blank but she could see the tinge of anger stirring behind them and his stance was rigid. She cocked her head in question and Cowen didn’t keep her waiting.

“It’s midnight, Honorée. Where the hell have you been?!”

Honor had a quick second to look back around at the floor in disbelief before she swirled back around with a defensive stare saying, “Hold up. What we’re not going to do is talk to me as if you’re my daddy, understand?”

Cowen didn’t back down, leaning against the door frame. “You going to tell me or not?

“Cowen…”

Cause if I know you and I do, I’m pretty sure you went to go work a shift at Luxurious Nights. At Honor’s silence, he held out a hand. “Correct me if I’m wrong.”

Honorée paused in her next words and could do nothing but stare at Cowen, giving him her answer.

He sighed, rubbing a hand over his hair. “Dammit, Honor. What’s the point of you staying here to be safe, huh? You need to shake your ass to feel big? To be on top?”

Honor scoffed looking out at the beautiful night landscape. “Wow, you really do think you know me, Cowen. But you are far from being correct. I could shake my ass just the same in front of you right now but I won’t be getting the money to save with, would I? I wouldn’t be able to send money to my daughters either, right?

Prompt: How am I supposed to forget like it never happened?

Aija just stared in disbelief as Yvone sat there wringing her hands. She couldn’t meet Aija’s eyes and for a moment Aija wasn’t even sure this was the woman that had raised her. But what her mother said to her next stunned her to the core.

“I’m just wondering if we can forgive and forget. Start over?”

Aija blinked. “You’re not serious?” She pierced her mother with a stare that told her to answer carefully. When Yvone gave her a just as serious stare back, Aija scoffed. The hits just kept on coming.

“Let me get this straight. You chose drugs over me when I was a kid. Then you decided not to get clean when I was a kid, got taken away from me when I was a kid, leaving me wondering where you were and when you were coming back to get me…every day afterward,”

Yvone winced at her words but Aija kept going. “Then not only did you not find me, you had a whole new life without me, complete with a new child and grandchild and somehow now that you’ve finally found me, without effort I might say, you want me to just forget the feeling of abandonment you left me with.

“How? How am I supposed to forget like this never happened? If this is how you think we’re going to be. You are sadly mistaken, Mama.”

“Aija…” Yvone started, but Aija stopped her, holding a hand up. “Look, you need to think about something better to tell me because right now this little get off easy card isn’t going to work. Now, I’m going to go and check on Natsuki. When you’re ready, give me a call. You know the way out.”

“I…Okay.” Yvone nodded, tears brimming her eyes.

Aija felt her own eyes stinging as she got up to go upstairs. She thought this would be a lot easier. Shame.