I keep waiting for her to ask me for help with something. My old admin assistant was always asking me for directions, never taking any initiative. But Willa works with the quiet competence of a woman who’s used to doing everything herself. She doesn’t let up. Even with the dark circles under her eyes and the tired slump of her shoulders. Even though this is her third job and I still can’t figure out how she’s finding time to sleep.
Maybe she isn’t.
The thought lodges in my chest. I can’t fucking stand it.
“Willa.”
She looks up when I say her name. “Yes?”
“Go take a break. Twenty minutes.”
“Uh, are you sure? I’ve only been working for an hour.”
“You get a twenty-minute break every shift,” I tell her. “At least one. Mandatory. Don’t worry, you’re still on the clock.”
“Okay…well, thanks, Flint.” She smiles a little uncertainly. “I guess I’ll go stretch my legs.”
“Sure.”
Willa stands up and heads out of the office. I swivel my chair around to face the window, watching as she walks down to the creek and takes a seat on the bank. She pulls out her phone, looking at something on the screen. Then she raises it to her ear—making a call.
It’s none of my damn business who she’s talking to. I know that. I also know that listening in on my employee’s phone calls is unprofessional.
But I don’t give a fuck.
Instinct has already propelled me from my seat, and I follow Willa’s path out of the office, closing the door behind me. I can hear her sweet voice drifting from the creek, still too far away to make out any words. I tiptoe through the undergrowth, using thetrees for cover until I’m finally close enough to make out Willa’s voice. She’s facing the water, her back to me, and I strain my ears to hear what she’s saying.
“—yes, I know that Everly. But what am I supposed to do?”
Her voice is different out here. The professional composure she’s been wearing all day has softened into something more unguarded.
“The site is called First Encounters,” she continues after a brief silence. “My listing is already live. The highest bid is nine grand…”
Another pause.
“Of course I don’t want to!” Willa says suddenly, her voice a half-sob that makes my chest clench. “I feel sick every time I think about it. But it feels like I’m all out of options. The debt collectors keep calling. They’ve started making threats.”
My blood runs cold as I process this snippet of information.
Threats. Debt collectors.
Willa is silent for longer this time, clearly listening to the person on the other end of the phone. Then she says, “Thank you, Ev. It means so much that you’re offering, and I appreciate it more than you know. I really do. But I’m not taking a dime of your savings.”
Another pause.
“I know, and I love you for offering. But you don’t understand, Ev. I owe eighty grand. Eight zero. And it just keeps going up.”
The number lands like a stone in my gut as I take in the reality of Willa’s situation. The reason she’s living on no sleep and working non-stop.
Eighty grand in debt.
Willa is saying something else now, something about her break being twenty minutes and how she has to head back soon. It snaps me back to reality, and I step back from my hiding spot,making a beeline for the office. When I reach it, I slump in my chair, running over everything I just heard.
Willa mentioned a site called First Encounters.
Something about a listing. A bid of $9,000.
Frowning, I open my browser and search for First Encounters. When I find the right website, it takes me a second to understand what I’m seeing. The page is covered in photos of young women, each one listed with a price. There’s a tagline at the top of the site:
