Page 44 of Jaked

Embarrassed, I tucked the money into the pocket of my too-tight skirt and tried not to think about it. Good thing we had never had sex. I'd feel like a hooker for sure, especially in these clothes.

Bianca gave Jake a pretty little pout. "What about me?" she asked.

"Put it on the card," Jake said.

There was a card? Was she on retainer or something?

Before I could give it much thought, Jake's cell phone chirped. He answered with a crisp, "Yeah?" He glanced up and said, "The driver's downstairs."

There was a driver?

That particular question was answered ten minutes later when Bianca and I slid into the backseat of a long, black sedan. Up front, the driver said, "the usual place?"

I glanced at Bianca. How often did this do this? And, she did she normally do it alone? Or did she make a habit of shopping with Jake's new, well, whatever I was? When Bianca answered in the affirmative, the driver pulled away, leaving me staring out the window as the doorman gave us a professional-looking wave.

Sitting next to me in the back seat, Bianca pulled a cellphone from her designer handbag and started tapping away at the screen.  I was dying to ask her about Jake. There were so many questions that I almost didn't know where to start. What exactly did he do for a living? And why did everyone in the world except me seem to know who he was?

I mean, it wasn't like I lived under a rock. I watched TV. I went to the movies. Hey, I even vaguely knew about the Kardashians. So why was Jake such a mystery?

I slid Bianca a sideways glance. She was making an obvious point to ignore me – trying to make me uncomfortable, no doubt. The sad thing was, it was working. She had the upper hand and then some. She knew who Jake was. She knew his driver. She had his credit card, or least some sort of card.

Was she a friend? A girlfriend? Or maybe she was one of those friends with benefits? I bit my lip. Did she work for him? And if she did, what exactly did she do?

I had a few ideas, but none I wanted to dwell on.

The drive passed in absolute silence. I watched out the window as the cityscape changed with every block.

Obviously, he knew the city well – a lot better than me, that's for sure. Soon, we were on the interstate. The highway signs told me a lot more than Bianca ever had. We were heading out toward Troy, one of Detroit's most affluent suburbs. Well that solved one mystery at least. Finally, I knew exactly where we were going – to Somerset.

To call it a mall didn't do the place justice. The place was huge with nearly 200 stores. Brand names skittered across my brain – Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Tiffany, and more.

I'd been to Somerset exactly one time, and had vowed never to return. For one thing, looking at luxury goods when you had almost no money was only entertaining in the short-term. In the long term, it just made it that much harder to smile when I paid the bare minimum on my student loans.

In the front pocket of my obscenely short skirt, Jake's money burned against my skin. He'd given me a lot. I didn't know how much, exactly. At the time, I figured it was too much. But now, given our destination, I wasn't so sure.

I wanted to reach into my pocket and pull it out. I wanted to count it so I had some idea of how much I should be spending. Next to me, Bianca was still focused on her phone. And yet, somehow I knew she'd be completely aware – and beyond delighted – if I did something so crass.

Inside the first dressing room, I would be definitely be counting it. There was something else I planned on doing – calling my sister. Thinking about it, I pulled out my own phone and tapped out a quick text, telling her it was me and asking if she was available to talk.

Almost immediately, my phone rang. I glanced at the display. It was her. I winced. I wanted to talk, but not this instant, not with Bianca around. Fearful of missing Selena later, I answered anyway. "Hello?"

"Where the hell have you been?" she said. "And what happened with your old number? I keep getting a disconnection notice."

"Oh hey," I said, in my best cheery tone. "It's good to hear from you too. Can I give you a call in a bit?"

"No," she said.

Oh crap. "Why not?"

"Because," she said, "I've been trying to reach you forever. I have some news.AndI've been worried sick about you."

"Oh, that's nice," I said.

"What?" Selena said. "No, it's not."

"Sounds good," I chirped. "Talk to you later. Bye."

I disconnected the call and silenced my ringer. Glancing down, I was entirely unsurprised when Selena called back almost immediately, and then five times after that. I couldn’t exactly blame her. For girls who liked different things, we were surprisingly close – or at least wehadbeen.

But distance and time had taken their toll. She'd moved down South five years earlier, and I'd moved on to guys like Rango, who had a way of consuming all my free time. Suddenly, I missed my sister in the same way I missed summer at the end of a long Michigan winter.

If I were being honest, I'd been missing her for a while, but the news about her engagement it was making me heartsick for the relationship we used to have. She'd be planning a wedding soon. Would I even be involved?

With an audible sigh, I tucked my phone back into my purse. 

I snuck a sideways glance at Bianca. She was still tapping at her phone. But now, a faint smile played across her full lips. Had she heard more of the conversation than I thought? I decided not to think about it.

After all, I had way too many other things to think about.