“Have you heard of that app, Tickle?” he asked. I paused halfway off the bed towards my clothes.
“Yeah. Why?” I turned back to look at him. His cheeks were red, and not just from his recent orgasm.
“Well, if you want to make money, anywhere in the world, I mean … like, without needing a work visa … you could always create content.” He slipped his T-shirt back over his head. “I have an account—not even a very good one—and I make a couple hundred bucks a week. It’s not much, but it’s enough to supplement my income from the swim school. I reckon you could make so much more—women do crazy well on it, from what I’ve heard.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What sort of content do you make? You’re not secretly filming your fuck buddies, are you?” I was only half joking as I exaggeratedly scanned the room for a concealed webcam.
He let out a shocked chortle. “Jesus! No! I never show my face … it’s mostly just me jacking off, cum shots on my abs, that sort of thing.”
I tugged my bag closer to the bed with a toe, reaching in to find my phone. “And that gets you followers?” I pulled up the app then looked over at him. He was beet red, but nodding.
“Lots of blokes seem to like it.”
I shrugged. “Lots of blokes like dick … and a lot of them will only admit it when they’re hiding behind a screen.” I opened my profile, eyes flicking to the icon at the top right that saidbecome a creator.
“Yeah, well, I’m not gonna complain. If they want to pay me to blow a load on my own stomach, who am I to judge?”
“Right?” I agreed, thumb hovering over the button. Before I did something rash, I locked my phone and stuffed it back into my bag.
“Exactlyhowanonymous are you, on there?” I asked. I shouldn’t be considering this … it was very risky, not only because of my impending illegal immigrant status. I couldn’t help thinking about who back home might end up seeing me on there when I wanted more than anything to disappear without a trace from their crosshairs.
Gus shrugged. “Well, I don’t show my face, and my username is SoggyAbs69 …” I hadn’t thought he could get any redder, but apparently I was wrong. “And you can set your location to private, so they don’t know where I’m from. I feel comfortable that no one will know it’s me … unless I tell them, of course.”
I nodded, standing and pulling on my clothes. “And … it definitely doesn’t need a visa …?”
He shook his head. “Why would it? It’s an international app. You can work and earn from anywhere in the world.”
“Well …” I toed on my sandals and tightened my ponytail. “Thank you for the advice. I’ll think about it.” I headed for the door. “And thanks for the orgasm.”
Gus snorted. “I didn’t have anything to do with that.”
I managed a small smile as I let myself out of his dorm room.
Later that night, once Kat was well and truly tucked into bed, and the apartment was silent, I opened my internet banking. My account was by no means empty—I’d been very careful with my spending over the last four years on the off-chance that I had the guts to do what I was about to do.
I’d been given an allowance from home, a fairly generous one, since I came to Australia. But they didn’t know about the other account I’d opened, or the ATM withdrawals I’d been making and depositing into that other account. There were people I was trying to avoid back home. They thought they had me on a long leash, but really, I only gave them the illusion of financial control. They trusted I was obedient, convinced their money meant that if I ever stepped out of line, they could cut me off, and I’d be on the first flight back to Bucharest.
They were wrong.
But the money I’d squirrelled away would only last me so long. All too soon, I would be in a situation where I’d have no choice but to admit defeat and return to the shitshow that was my life back in Romania.
But no one was counting on me doing something absolutely crazy … and my family back home, they really had no idea just how outrageous a desperate-for-her-freedom Irina Rusnac could be.
I took a deep breath and lifted my phone, opening the Tickle app. Before I could think twice, I tapped the ‘become a creator’ icon.
And when I was done, I sent a message to Gus.
Ri: Officially a Tickle creator. No idea how to make content though
Ri: Want to do a post together? You owe me an O …
Gus: I dunno
Ri: Oh, come on!
Ri: We can film it, and you can decide if it goes up or not.
Ri: Either way, we both get our rocks off.
