Page 64 of Sold to My Ex's Brother
“Is this…?”
This is the Pakhan, yes,” Luna replies, gesturing back to me. “The man who saved you.”
The woman presses her lips together for a moment, like she’s almost too overwhelmed to know what to say, and then she begins to gush.
“I... I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you enough for all of this,” she tells me, her voice bubbling over with emotion, speaking quickly like she might think better of it if she isn’t speedy. “When I first started working for Artem, you have to understand, I never thought that something like this would happen. I was just desperate, looking to make any kind of money I could, and then I was caught up in all of this shit and I didn’t know how to get out of it and?—”
“You don’t have to thank me,” I tell her, lifting a hand to steady her. “I’m only putting right what my brother should never have been allowed to do in the first place.
“Still,” she replies, twisting her hands around themselves. “I... thank you, Pakhan.”
“Anton, please.”
She smiles slightly. “Anton.”
“Would it be okay if they had a look around your apartment?” Luna asks. “I know Maya wants to get a feel for this place...”
“Oh, of course,” she replies, stepping aside at once. “I’m sorry, it’s kind of a mess, I’m still getting used to living in a place this big...”
As we head inside, I glance around; there is nothing more than a few items of clothing strewn around here and there, a coffee cup sitting out on the table, hardly any mess to speak of. But, I suppose, a woman like this, one who has been taught to make herself small in every way she can, must feel like her very presence is an imposition she has to make right.
“You’re way tidier than me,” Maya remarks, with a slight laugh, and Olivia begins to untense slightly.
“Really?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m a mess,” Maya replies breezily. “You should see the state of my wardrobe, I just can’t keep on top of it.”
Olivia bites her lip.
“It’s just that this is the first real place I’ve had of my own,” she admits suddenly. “And I...I want it to look nice, that’s all.”
Her voice is laced with sadness, and Maya frowns, shifting towards her slightly.
“You never had a place of your own before?”
She shakes her head. “I got kicked out of my foster home when I was fifteen,” she explains. “And I just... had to figure it out from there.”
Figure it out.
Those words hold a whole lot of weight, even if she does not seem to realize it. My chest aches for her, thinking about the shit a young woman like that might have had to go through on the streets just to survive. I can tell that Maya’s mind is in the same place, that she knows better than I do what it takes to make it in this world that seems so set on destroying so many of the young women who pass through it, but I don’t pry for more.
“Well, you’re here now, and that’s what matters,” Maya tells her firmly. “Anything you need, just let us know, and we’ll help, okay?”
We.She talks about us like a unit now, and I guess we are. That connection between us has only intensified in the last few months, as I have offered her more and more freedom, seeing her come back to me each and every time.
“I know, thank you,” Olivia replies. “Luna—she’s already been such a help to me, I don’t think I would have been able to make it through if it hadn’t been for her...”
“Oh, you’re stronger than you think, Olivia,” Luna replies, shaking her head.
“You really are,” Maya agrees. Olivia glances over to the small kitchenette, as though something has just crossed her mind, and perks up at once.
“Can I make you coffee?” she asks proudly, as she heads over to gather some cups. Luna goes to help her, and Maya glances up at me, giving my hand a squeeze.
“She’s going to need a lot of help to get back on her feet,” she murmurs, and I shrug.
“Anything she needs, it’s here.”
She looks around for a moment, nodding, as though something is lingering at the back of her mind.
