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It’s been two weeks since losing my job at the aluminum casting plant and I’ve still not been able to find another position. There just aren’t that many places hiring right now, especially as skilled professions are concerned. Things aren’t looking so great at the moment as I sit down with my wife on the front porch of our home.
“You might have to take a lower-paying job,” Chastity tells me as she looks over at me. Her smile is still soft and encouraging, but I can tell that even she has begun to have her doubts about our future.
“I’ve been looking for those, too,” I reply. “I even applied at Applebee’s for the position of cook, but I’ve not heard from them. I don’t think they are really looking all that hard for guys my age to come into the kitchen. It’s mostly college kids who work there.”
“That might be the case,” she agrees. “Still, you need to take whatever you can get, Lane. Don’t give up.”
“I’ve not given up,” I tell her with a sharp tinge to my response. There is immediate regret at being so quick to answer her in this way. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m just tired.”
“I know, baby. It’s alright. I know things are hard for you right now, and I support your attempts to find a new job. You know that I’m behind you, right?” Even now, after responding to her in a way that wasn’t exactly kind, Chastity is trying to keep me from falling into the abyss of despair. I truly am a blessed man.
Shaking my head, I tell her, “I wish I had finished college. Maybe there would be a job for me somewhere if I had a four-year degree.”
Chastity smiles as she nods her head. “Well, I have a four-year degree, but I failed to make that turn into anything profitable.”
I turn to look at her. “What is it you did right after college, again?” I’ve never really asked my wife this question before. Either that, or I’ve never really gotten an answer when I have asked.
Chastity’s face blushes a little as she looks out across the lawn. “I didn’t follow my chosen career path, if that’s what you mean.”
“Do you mean in English and drama?” My wife graduated from the university with a degree in English along with a minor in drama. She had planned to teach at one time, but she has never actually tried to pursue this dream. Though I haven’t asked her directly, I have wondered why this has been the case.
“You know, it just wasn’t for me. Besides, I had a job.” Chastity suddenly shakes her head. “There’s something you don’t know about me, Lane. Something from my time in college and for a few years after.” Her blue eyes stare out at the lawn as if there’s something there that she’s keenly observing. However, there’s nothing there. She appears to be avoiding my gaze.
“It’s alright, honey,” I say to her as I understand that whatever she’s hidden from me is bothering her terribly. “We agreed in the beginning that whatever we had done in the past was in the past. There isn’t any reason for you to share anything with me unless you just want to. There’s no judgment from me.”
My wife sits quietly for a few seconds longer before speaking. “I was arrested a couple of times in my twenties and that’s kept me from actually going and getting a job as a teacher. You can’t have certain misdemeanors on your record and keep a teaching license at the same time.”
I raise an eyebrow as I’ve never heard Chastity mention an arrest record before. “Okay. Well, um, I almost got myself arrested for skinny-dipping in a creek one time when I was about sixteen. There were about six of us there, and the sheriff...”
“I was an upscale escort, Lane. They arrested me for soliciting prostitution.” She turns to look at me and her blue eyes lock onto mine. Something has changed with her demeanor as she studies my face. Chastity is likely eager to see my reaction to this news.
“Seriously?” I say at first, as I wonder whether she is joking around with me. However, I soon see that she’s very serious. “Shit.”
She nods her head and looks away. “I have tried to forget about all of that, especially after I met you. Unfortunately, I can’t forget. Not now that we are running out of money and it looks like our next rent payment might not be paid on time.”
“Honey,” I say as I attempt to wrap my mind around what she’s telling me. “How long did you do that?”
Chasity shrugs. “From the time I was twenty until just after I turned twenty-three. I wanted to clean up my image and just move on from it all. I had made a lot of money doing that, but it wasn’t what I wanted to be known for. Besides, the younger girls were getting more of the business and it seemed like a good time to bow out.” She turns her eyes back to me. “It started out as a way for me to finance the last part of my college costs, but then I became addicted to the money and kept doing it. When I walked away from it, I tried to become a teacher, but they turned me down for a license because of my arrests. The state doesn’t want reformed escorts teaching in public school classrooms.”
“Shit.” I say it again, as I have no clue what else to say at this point in our conversation. This is a tremendous revelation for me. Not once have I suspected that my wife was ever a paid whore. How could I have thought anything like that about her? She’s perfect. She doesn’t even carry herself like a prostitute.
“That’s behind me,” Chastity says to me as if to settle any concerns that I might still have. “I have had nothing to do with that life since I quit nearly seven years ago, Lane. I swear to it. I’ve been faithful to you.”
I nod my head. “Oh, I know you have,” I say as I attempt to offer a reassuring smile. “You’re my wife and you’re literally the best thing that has ever happened to me. I don’t care what you did before we met.” Reaching over to her, I pull my wife closer to me on the two-person patio seat. Chastity embraces me tightly, and I can feel her heart pounding so hard within her chest. By telling me about the escort thing, she has shared with me what is likely her deepest, darkest secret. She didn’t have to. Chastity did so for my sake, and I appreciate that deeply.
“Maybe I should try prostituting myself out,” I say with a chuckle. “How much did you make back then? If you don’t mind me asking.”
She sighs. “On a good weekend, about five grand. I think on most weekends, which is the time that I did most of that sort of work, I made a couple of thousand dollars. It was good pay when considering it was usually with only one or two clients.” Chastity shakes her head. “I’m not the delicate virgin that you had hoped I would be, huh?”
“Why would you say that?” I reply while smiling softly at her. “You’re my wife. Whatever you did back then doesn’t really matter. You are mine now. Besides, now that I know this about you, it’s a sort of turn-on for me.”
Chastity laughs. “A turn-on? Seriously, Lane?”
“Sure,” I reply. “You know how men can be. We like the taboo stuff. The thought of you servicing another guy is pretty cool.”
I’m sure my wife thinks that I’m simply attempting to smooth this out for her. However, I honestly find the idea of her sucking or fucking another man completely arousing. As a matter of fact, I probably wouldn’t be too against her taking up that sort of work again. Heaven knows that we could use the money.
“I did it for money and now I think I’m finished with that part of my life.”
“There are women older than you doing that,” I tell her. “You can find them all over the internet.”
Chastity shakes her head while grinning. “And I suppose you’ve been looking up that sort of thing online?”
“It’s all over the place. You don’t have to look very hard,” I say in my defense while chuckling. “It probably wouldn’t bother me if you did that again.” This comment slips from my mouth before I have had a chance to filter it. Worried about what Chastity might think, I quickly add, “I’m sorry. That’s probably a little crass.”
She’s silent for a moment before asking, “Should I do it?”
“Um, the escort thing? Honey, I didn’t mean it.”
“Yes, you did,” she says, while putting her arm around my shoulders. “Be honest, Lane. Would you be okay with me doing that? I mean, just until you find a decent job to help fill the gap?”
I swallow hard as I consider the question. “Well, I don’t know. Is that something that you would do? Would you want to do it?”
“You first,” Chastity counters. “Would you be okay with me taking on clients for a while until we get back on our feet?” Her eyes gaze at mine. I can see that she’s intensely honest with her question as she awaits my response.
I slowly nod my head. “I would be okay with that.” My heart pounds hard inside my chest as I look away for a moment.
“Only for a while, right?” she says to me. “It’s not the sort of thing I would have to do for long, Lane. And I know how to be very careful and not get caught.”
“You’ve been caught before,” I tell her. “Those arrests.”
“I know. But I learned from those times and I know what to look for. I can be very careful when I do background checks on the clients. There might even be a few that I knew a few years ago who would want to get back together.” Chastity’s mind is now working to develop a sort of business plan as she thinks about becoming an escort once again.
“Don’t do this for me,” I say to my wife. “You don’t have to take on being a prostitute just to make things easier on me. I’m happy to work whatever job I can get.”
“I know you will do what you need to do to get a job, Lane. The thing is, so will I.” She thinks for a moment before asking, “You really are okay with this? You’re not testing me, are you?”
I laugh nervously. “You know, I thought at first that you were testing me, honey. If you’re okay with this, then I am, too. You’re a professional, right? This is business, not some sort of love that you’re going after.”
“And we really need the money for now.” The two of us appear to be talking ourselves into an agreement. However, we already have that agreement between us.
“Do what you need to do,” I tell her. “But I think we should discuss some specifics. Such as how you’ll be kept safe.”
“Safety. Yeah, that’s important.” She nods her head.
“I can take you to your appointments.”
“Are you sure you want to be tied to that? If I get arrested, Lane...”
“You just said that you know how to avoid that now, right?” She nods her head. “Then we’ll be just fine. I don’t want to leave you without some kind of security, though. I’m not working at the moment, so I can do that for you. What do you think about that?”
Chastity smiles. “Okay. We can do this. You’re my security, then.”
“And I’ll keep you safe, no matter what.” We embrace each other tightly, our love clear in how we cling tightly to each other. This is a decision that we have come to mutually, and therefore we will both be responsible for it.
“I’ll start making some calls to my old friends from that life. Maybe they will have a few tips to give me before I jump back into that life.”
“Yeah, they might.” I do not know what I’m talking about by agreeing with her, but I want to support my wife. Chastity has friends in her past that I’ve never even heard of, which is likely a good thing. They can help us get this thing started. Though I’m nervous, I am excited as well. This endeavor could bring us much-needed money right when we need it. It could also bring me plenty of sexual fantasies to go along with that money.
