Chapter Text
As a general rule in his life, Laurent did his very best to not view any situation as desperate. Everything could be approached as a puzzle, and no matter how convoluted or difficult they may be, there was always a solution to puzzles. There were always new angles to approach and ideas to reexamine. But even Laurent, stubborn as he was, had to admit he was well and truly fucked this time. He glared down at the phone in his hand, the small red numbers mocking him from the screen.
“You know, staring at it isn’t going to make it change.” This statement was punctuated by a rather obnoxious slurp next to his ear. Nicase leaned heavily on Laurent’s shoulder while he worked on his third vodka cranberry of the night, looking down at the overdrawn balance on the bank app. Laurent continued his one-sided staring contest.
Across the table from them Ancel rolled his eyes. “I don’t know why you’re trying so hard to make yourself upset, we’re supposed to be out having fun and ignoring our problems like normal college kids.”
Laurent sighed heavily, but relented and clicked his phone off. “And how, exactly, am I meant to fund this fun night out when I literally do not have a cent to my name currently?”
Ancel scoffed, “Don’t give me that shit, you know what you look like. You don’t have to pay for anything yourself, just flirt with some dumbass by the bar until he buys you a drink and then ditch him.” He reached for his own overpriced Pina Colada, which he procured using that exact method, and sipped languidly.
“Nonetheless, I can’t exactly relax and let loose when I’m about to be kicked out of school.” Laurent replied grumpily, yet he still plucked the half-finished drink out of Nicase’s hand and downed the rest before slamming the glass on the table. Nicase made an offended noise and raised an eyebrow.
“Your bitching is even more dramatic than usual tonight. So your stupid trust fund money ran out, you can get a loan or some shit like the rest of us.”
Laurent rubbed his eyes, the loud music of the club was doing nothing to help the headache he could feel steadily progressing. The money he’d had was hardly comparable to his real trust fund, which he was meant to be allowed to access when he turned 21, but was now pushed to 25 at the suggestion of his Uncle until he could prove he was more responsible. Instead, he had been given an account with barely a year’s tuition to ‘establish himself’ and sent out the door on his 18th birthday. He had managed to stretch out the money out until now by working part time at the library on campus and a family owned ice cream shop nearby, but the University of Marlas was a renowned and respected institute, which roughly translated to ‘expensive as fuck’. That wasn’t to say there weren’t programs and scholarships in place to help lower income students afford their tuition; it was just that Laurent couldn’t use any of them.
“It’s not that simple, the school has to look into family finances before approval for a loan or financial aid, I won’t be able to qualify for anything even if my Uncle won’t let me have access to any of it.”
Ancel tapped his nail rhythmically against the lacquered tabletop. “Can’t you emancipate or something? Cut yourself off from him and then you can get approved?”
“That’s not an option.” Laurent doesn’t reply further, and his friends know better than to ask based on the familiar icy tone.
Despite Ancel and Nicase’s jibes about him being a trust fund kid, it really wasn’t an insane amount of money. His parents and Auguste had made a comfortable living and left almost everything to him when they passed away in a car accident almost 8 years ago, but his uncle had been withdrawing from it for years to ‘cover expenses’ for Laurent. He loved any excuse to take out money and spend it on things that didn’t actually benefit Laurent; like the daily car service that would take him to and from high school and cost more monthly than the full price of a basic used car. What pissed him off the most was that his uncle hardly had his own money problems; whatever investments and dealings he was involved in gave him quite the luxurious lifestyle. Laurent’s trust fund was hardly worth peanuts compared to his Uncle’s income, yet it was lorded over him just to prove a point. And he had thought about leaving before, he relished the fantasies of knowing he’d never have to deal with his Uncle again. But it would give up his claim to the trust, the money his real family had worked so hard for, had left for him to build a life out of when they couldn’t be there, and leaving felt too much like giving up for his taste. There were solutions to everything, and Laurent had to believe there was a way for him to get his family’s rightful money back one day.
Unfortunately, his personal troubles were of no interest to the school, who were expecting tuition payments for the upcoming quarter. Laurent knew if he went crawling back to his Uncle for more money it would only be spun to make him seem even more irresponsible to the board that controlled his trust, though dropping out before he was even done with his 2nd year wasn’t a much better option.
Laurent hadn’t realized he’d zoned out watching the dance floor until Nicase started snapping his fingers right in front of his face.
“Hellooo, earth to asshole! I asked you what you’re going to do about it then.”
Laurent put his elbow on the table and rested his chin heavily in his hand.“There’s not really anything I can do at this point. At best I can take some time off and hopefully earn enough to come back year.”
Nicase widened his eyes comically, mouth agape, before settling into a vicious glare. “Bullshit! You’re Laurent fuckin’ DeVere, you’re so stubborn you could talk a starving lion out of eating you! There’s no way you can give up that easily.”
“I’m not a fucking magician, I can’t just pull ten of thousands of dollars out my ass every few months.”
“Hmm…” Nicase and Laurent turned their attention across the table where Ancel was tapping his nails against his glass while eyeing Laurent as if considering something.
Laurent lifted an eyebrow, “Is there something you’d like to add Ancel?”
Ancel just continued to watch him before grabbing his drink and taking a long, slow sip. Laurent did his best to resist the urge to roll his eyes at his friend’s theatrics. He did not succeed.
Once he finished his sip, Ancel smacked his lips together and started tracing the rim of his glass with his finger. “Well, I was just thinking about how maybe there is a way you could get the money. Although, I’m not sure you’ll like it.”
Laurent folded his arms on the table and felt his jaw clench. “I’m not doing anything illegal.” The last thing he needed was a criminal record for his Uncle to discover.
The redhead chuckled and shook his head “No, don’t worry about that, it’s all perfectly legit. I just meant, what if your ass really could get you thousands of dollars?”
Laurent raised his eyebrows “I’m not sure how to break this to you, but prostitution is, in fact, a crime teachnically.”
Ancel let a cat-like grin slice across his face. “Perhaps so, but what isn’t technically a crime is an arrangement.” He let his R’s roll on the last word, making it sound like a purr.
Confusion ghosted across Laurent’s features, it took a moment for the pieces to click into place in his head. Once they did he blinked in disbelief. “Are you genuinely trying to suggest I find a fucking Sugar Daddy?”
The smug look on Ancel’s face increased and he shrugged casually. “Why not? We’re in one of the best cities on the continent and you’re attractive enough to reel in a big fish, it’ll be easy.”
“Except for the part where I have to let some old man fuck me whenever he pleases.” Venom dripped from Laurent’s tone. Surely he wasn’t that desperate yet.
...Right?
“Not everyone on there is looking for something sexual you know.”
Laurent rolled his eyes. “You seriously think somebody is going to shell out that kind of money and not expect me to put out?”
Ancel crossed his arms and pouted defensively. “Fair point… but you’ve done Tindr dates and hookups before, just think of it like that, but with money at the end of it.”
“This is still sounding a lot like prostitution to be honest.” Laurent shot back.
Ancel groaned in exasperation at Laurent’s complaints and slammed his palms against the table.
“Look you ass, you’re the one who said you were out of options and I’m just trying to help. If you’d like to spend a year working some minimum wage job then I wish you luck, but if you really want to stay and stick it to you uncle, then you’re going to have to nut up and suck some dick.”
Laurent clenched his hands and opened his mouth to retort, until Nicase, who had been watching the two like a tennis match, cut in.
“Alright look, it’s not actually the worst idea in the world. How about tomorrow we meet up at your place and help you set up a profile and we can look at some of the guys and just see if anyone sticks out. It’s not like you have to commit to anything right away. If they’re all too gross or weird you can just delete your account, no harm done.”
Laurent bit his lip and leaned back against the soft leather of the booth as his friends awaited his answer. He could sense the real concern underneath their bitchy demeanors, they didn’t want him to leave anymore than he himself did. That didn’t change the fact that it was still a stupid idea in his opinion.
But, Nicase was right that he didn’t have to make a commitment, he could always back out if it was too much for him to deal with. Plus he really did want to stay at school, stay with them, even if it meant putting his pride away for a while.
“Fine, whatever, let’s try it. I don’t have much to lose at this point.”
Nicase looked surprised but grinned and elbowed him playfully, Ancel’s sour mood melted at his words and he let out a cheer.
“Wonderful! Now let’s celebrate with a round of shots!”
“I can’t-”
Laurent was interrupted by a waiter already setting down a tray with six ruby hued shots onto their table. He looked at Ancel incredulously, whose attentions were focused on a small group of men at the bar. He winked and blew them a kiss before turning back to the table and smirking at Laurent.
“It feels good having someone else pay for things, doesn’t it?”
Laurent huffed a laugh. “What even are these?”
“It’s called a red headed slut. I get sent them a lot.” Said red head grinned proudly at this statement.
Laurent rolled his eyes and lifted a glass. “To red headed sluts.”
Ancel and Nicase raised theirs as well, “Hear, hear!”
The trio knocked back their drinks and let the buzz of liquor wash away their worries for the night.