Nash pushed open the door of Black Rose Brew, Rei followed close behind. They walked side by side to the curb where a beat-up auto-cab idled.
Nash opened the passenger door for her, who slid in without a word, the leather seat creaking under her weight. Nash gave the driver a quick indication, Level 7 dorms, and shut the door.
Rei pressed her forehead against the cool window, watching Nash's silhouette shrink in the rearview as the cab pulled away.
She hugged her arms tightly across her chest. Her heart still beat fastly from the conversation. She had walked in expecting him to laugh, to demand her body on the spot, to treat her like another notch.
Instead, he listened. He asked questions. He looked genuinely pissed about the debt. He didn't touch her, didn't leer, didn't promise anything he couldn't deliver.
She was expecting the monster she had imagined, and she was greeted with a good life lesson.
