Future Parts

Orange Juice

The man sits at the table, and he says, “I bought this bottle of orange juice that was the single greatest bottle of orange juice I’ve ever had… sold by the actual farmer who made the oranges”, and he looks at the girls’ smiling faces and he says, “no really, you don’t get juice like that any more”. The girls look up at him through thick lashes, and one girl says, “I’ve never tasted orange juice”, and he looks at her and he says, “Yeah? I drink that stuff all the time”, and the other girl leans towards him and smiles, and she says, “you should buy us some”, and he laughs and leans back into the booth. “This stuff here’s not even worth drinking. It’s farm of nothing, seriously”. He looks over their heads, knee dancing. “I’ve got to take you girls out to the farm sometime”, and the girls nod and say “yeah”. “Bet you haven’t even seen the night sky before now”, and one girl laughs, but the man looks at her seriously. He picks up his fork and waves it at her. “Sky’s not even real below the 50th floor. Can’t even see the stars”. He picks up his knife and cuts savagely into his steak. “I’ll take you girls higher sometime. You know…” he fills his mouth with steak. The girls watch him grind it down. “Not straight away though. All you girls ever want is to get on a higher floor. But you know,” he swallows. “There needs to be a real connection”. The girls nod. “Yeah”. The man grows confident. “It’ll change your life” he says. “Really puts a bit of perspective on things”.

Rising

The glass is so clean she felt like if she pressed her nose against it she’d fall through, and the city starts falling below her like “woah”. She wants to lean against something, kind of lowers herself to the floor of the elevator and sits down. The lobby was so clean, white tiles on the floor and no dirt like rich people must float everywhere. Or never leave the hotels. Not like anything on the lower levels worth seeing. Grey and grime. She watches the smog layer come closer. She’s gunna see the sky. She searches the city for her grandma’s house, can’t find it. Gran said it used to be blue. Sounds so freaky. The numbers rise and slow. 39. The girl jumps to her feet, dusts her bum. The doors slide open. The woman looks at her, walks in. The girl looks at the woman. She looks good. Her skin looks clean and warm. Her dress looks like it’s holding her all in. She eats, for sure. All the time. Yeah, she looks really good. The woman looks at her looking. Their eyes meet like a flash. The girl feels it shoot through her, like her heart got skewered and it’s fluttering like a fish. The woman says “Hey”. “Hi”. She looks at the woman’s chest. There’s a small gold locket with a green gem in the middle. The woman sees her looking. “It draws the eyes”. The woman looks her up and down. “You should think about wearing something a little more alluring”. She thinks the woman looks alluring. The woman glances outside. They rise into the smog. “Are you new?” She says “yeah”. “You can tell”. They breach the cloud, and suddenly the sky opens out. The girl’s mouth drops. “Don’t worry, they like that”. She reaches a hand to touch the glass. Clear black night and tiny gems in the sky. The glass feels cold.

Girl’s Room

“How’d you go?” “Yeah all good”. She picks up the blanket from the couch and sits down, drapes it over herself. “Ugh, it’s so dark in here. I’m sleepy already”. “It’s so good though”. She slips her heels off, slides down on the couch, puts her head in her friend’s lap, looks up at the television. “When’s this show from?” “Pre-war 90s I think”. “Everyone’s so white”. “Yeah freaky”. The doorbell rings. The girl groans. “I can’t be bothered”, then laughs coz money’s not a bother. “Shifts pass so slowly if nobody comes in”. She gets up and they both slip their heels back on. “Yeah, and this Friends show is whack. Imagine having nothing to worry about”. The girl walks out the door and down the hallway. She pauses and makes her body language say warm and horny. She opens the door and the man sitting down raises his eyes, takes in her body. “Hi gorgeous”, she sits down next to him, touches his knee. “What are you in the mood for tonight?” “What do you like?” “Ooh, that’s a good question, um”, she tries to think of her most expensive extra. “I love it when guys make me squirt. I do a pornstar experience for an extra $250”. “You like that?” “Yeah I love it”. “You like this job?” “Oh I love it, I get to fuck at work”. She looks into his eyes and laughs until he laughs and then he says “Yeah haha, I should be charging you haha”. She laughs and they keep laughing together. “You’d make a great hooker”. “Nah, I’d never do that. I couldn’t fuck an ugly person”. “Haha, oh my god right?”. “You must get all kinds of weird guys wanting to fuck you”. “Omg right? Hahahahaha”. “What’s the weirdest thing anyone’s asked you to do?” “Oh, I like it all”. “Nothing’s too far for you?” “No, I love all sex, it makes me hot”. “Yeah, I bet you do”. “Hahaha”. “Bet you’ve fucked a hundred people”. “More”. “You liked that?” “Yeah, I love it”. “Ever fucked a *&$%#?” “Oh, um, are you a *&$%#?” “Fuck no, this shirt cost like $500, do I look like a *&$%#?” “No, not at all, I love your shirt”. “Yeah”. “Yeah”. Thigh rub. “Well I’ll let the other girls come say hello then. Hope I see you later”. “Yeah, me too”. More thigh rub. “Ok gorgeous, see you later”. She walks out of the room, sways her hips as she leaves. Stomps back to the girls’ room. “He’s a cleanser”. “Fuck”. “Go take his money”.

Strip Club

“Hey, can you see my tampon?” “Come here”. She leans down and the girl spreads her cheeks. “Nah you’re good”. “Cool see you out there”. “See you in a sec”. She counts the last 20 and puts the stack of money into her bag, checks her makeup in the mirror. It’s a busy night. She walks onto the floor, enjoys the view, the club like a floating platform, flawless windows connecting them to the night sky. Her manager walks up to her. “That guy at the bar’s been sitting on his drink for an hour, go see if you can get any money out of him”. “Yeah sure”. She walks up to him, leans on the bar. He looks at her, downs his drink. “Hey honey”. “Hi”. He seems salty. She pouts. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you having fun?” “I’m doing fine”. “Is that right? Want to take me for a dance then?” He laughs. “Bit eager”. She laughs “haha. That’s what I’m here for”. He turns towards the bar. “Yeah, nah. I don’t get that delayed gratification thing. Just works you up for nothing”. “That’s not part of the fun?” He laughs. “I’m good”. She fills the silence, “Want a drink?” “You gunna buy me one?” “I thought you could buy me one”. He laughs again, leans back. “Yeah sure, why not. That’s one thing I can do tonight”. He orders her a champagne. Doesn’t ask her preference. She takes it dryly. “Thanks”. She takes a sip, looks at him. “Nothing for you?” “They don’t have the whisky I like”. “What do you drink?” “McCarthy”. “Fancy”. “For you maybe”. “Right”. She fills the silence. “Now you’re just trying to make me mad”. He laughs. She says “I actually have a bottle in my apartment”. He looks at her. “For real? You’re not ground level?” “Not any more”. “Good for you”. She rolls her eyes. She fills the silence, “What you’ve never visited the street?” “Not much to see”. “Because there’s so much to see up here”. “There’s women at least”. “There’s women everywhere. You just can’t pay them to talk to you”. “I haven’t paid you”. “You should”. He laughs. She finishes her champagne, just fizzy water. She glances at her manager watching them, gives her a look. Manager walks away. “Right, well, thanks for the stimulating conversation”. Catty, they like that. She starts to walk away and he says “wait”. She turns, slowly. He leans off the bar and reaches into his jacket pocket, brings out a wad of cash. Peels off a note and hands it to her. “Well done”. “Yeah thanks”. She watches him leave the club and looks down at the note. Five hundred. She looks for the manager and stuffs it quickly into her underwear. Walks back to the changing room. She sits next to her friend and pulls it out. “Nice!” “Yeah, from that wanker at the bar”. “What! I talked to him for like an hour, didn’t give me shit”. She reaches into her bag and takes out her cash. Puts the note in and takes out 250. “Here”.