Page 3 of Hotline
"I don't know if I can do this," I say, wrapping my arms around myself. I suddenly feel very cold. I want to crawl into bed and never get out.
But that’s not an option. Ineedthis job.
If this doesn’t work out, I might not have a bed to crawl into at all.
Marilyn gives me a sympathetic look and comes over, putting her hands on my shoulders.
"Listen," she says. "You've got the one thing in Hollywood that no one else has."
She gives me a little smirk.
"What?"
"Your virginity.”
How could she know that just from looking at me?
She pauses for a moment, then breaks out into a laugh. "Just kidding. No one out here has their virginity. One way or another, this town will fuck you over."
I look at her blankly.
"Don't tell me," she says, eyes wide. "No. You're an actual virgin?"
I nod and give her a little closed-lip half-smile.
"Then why are you wasting your time here, girl?" she says. "Go out and sell that shit."
"Sell my virginity?"
"Yeah." She nods. "Rip the bandaid off. Get paid for it. Get the bill collectors off your ass.”
Okay. Maybe. She does have a point.
Just rip the bandaid off. Get it over with all in one fell swoop.
Talking to horny men every day will be death by a thousand paper cuts.
Selling my virginity would be like bludgeoning myself over the head. It’ll be a lot more painful, but at least it’ll be over quickly.
"How'd you know I have bill collectors on my ass?"
"Because you look scared." She shakes her head and squeezes my shoulders. "And you look like you don't really want to be here."
"No," I say, shaking my head. "I do. I really do."
She huffs out a breath and shakes her head.
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to," she says.
I nod gratefully. That's a huge relief.
"Of course, you won't get any big tips that way."
I frown. That's very disappointing.
"If you don't want to do this, maybe you can do one of those clairvoyant hotline things," she says.
"But I'm not clairvoyant." I shake my head. "Unless you count the time I predicted that my cousin's first baby would be a girl."
