I raised a brow, but didn’t question it. It was her time, not mine.
“I’m Teagen, by the way,” she said. Soft brown hair, green eyes. “What brings you to the Dahlia District?”
A harp necklace was draped around her neck. Teagen had an innocent look about her, and seemed relatively normal. Or perhaps, that was her approach. The impression of the girl next door.
“Aldrich and I have known each other for years,” I said.
“Ah. A referral, then,” she said.
“Tell me what you know about Haley.”
“Haley keeps to herself. She’s nice, but I don’t know much about her. None of us do.”
It could have been a line she was trained to feed members when they asked questions about any of the servers. Rehashed for the purpose of privacy.
I tried again: “What can you tell me?”
“She’s like me.” I waited, knowing there was more to that response. “My dad sold me to Dahlia. Well—I should say, hegavemy services to the Dahlia District. And Haley is in a similar situation. Her mom worked here before she did. Haley had to take over her contract.”
“What happened to her mother?”
Teagen sighed and took the seat next to me. “When you hit thirty, you’re no longer allowed to work entertainment. You can still work on-site, behind the bar, doing janitorial work, stuff like that. But the pay drops. Dahlia says it’s less about age, and more about motivation. If you only have twelve years to work off your debts, and five-year penalties for breaking the rules, you understand how precious time is. You work your ass off.”
That was a long-winded explanation. “Her mother aged out?”
“Rumor has it she went to a strip club after that. She still had debts to pay and Haley wasn’t old enough to take over yet.”
A strip club. That explained Haley’s aversion to the pole. It had to do with her mother. And it was very likely that they weren’t on the best terms.
“How is their mother and daughter relationship now?” I asked.
Teagen shrugged. “Hard to say. Haley doesn’t really talk to us.”
Teagen’s lips were pressed together, as if she was physically withholding information. “How’s your relationship with your father?” I asked, hoping it would give me clues.
“Strained. But he’s my dad. Neither of us can change what happened. Not now, anyway.”
I turned to look at the door leading to the Greenhouse. I had watched Haley on the live stream every day since I had met her. It was true. She rarely spoke to the other servers.
Haleywashiding something. And it had to do with her mother.
“She must be a liar,” I said. “Hiding secrets.”
“She’s not.” I turned towards Teagen. “I might not know Haley, but I know that much. You can be honest and still have secrets.” She shrugged. “It’s just that those secrets aren’t your business.”
It was hard for me to reconcile secrets. Secrets meant lies, and even the most innocent of lies could ruin a person. I didn’t trust anyone. Each person had a hidden agenda. Teagen wasn’t talking with me innocently. She was attempting to plant a seed in my mind so that if it didn’t work out with Haley, I would remember her. And Haley would do the same to her co-workers’ clients. Like Aldrich betrayed me with Isa. Like I was using Haley.
As long as it wasn’t me who was on the receiving end, it didn’t matter who fell in the destruction.
But what Teagen said struck me. Could Haley be honest, even if she had secrets she kept close?
I shook my head. Haley wanted nothing more than my wallet. Like Teagan, and Isa. They were all the same.
At least Haley was interesting. It wasn’t a chore to play with her.
Haley emerged from the Greenhouse in a maroon set of lingerie, a sheer robe on her shoulders doing nothing to hide her gorgeous figure.
“I’ll leave you two to it,” Teagen said. “Nice to meet you.”
