A Complicated Favour

Rose Cohen’s heart was racing as she ran into the empty elevator and quickly pushed the button to get to the third floor.

What if she saw someone coming and they asked her to keep the doors open? She was regretting her decision and wished she had taken the stairs instead, because this was a life or death situation. There was no time to wait for anyone to get off at the first or second floor, so she prayed no one came to join her.

"Please close, please close already, closeee" she pleaded with the elevator doors.

She almost collapsed in relief when the doors finally obeyed her command. She really hoped she would make it in time.

"I should have called for help. Why didn't I call for help?" Rose asked herself as she slapped her forehead with her left hand in frustration.

She quickly took out her phone so she could immediately dial 911 if the situation demanded for it. When the elevator doors opened, she ran down the hallway until she got to the apartment door and quickly brought out the spare key Jessica had given her.

Rose fumbled a bit but managed to get it in the keyhole and opened the door. As she entered the apartment, and shut the door behind her, she screamed "Jessicaaaaa," in terror.

"What?" A startled Jessica asked as she turned from the TV she was watching and faced Rose.

Jessica was sitting on the couch with a huge green blanket wrapped around her. There was a packet of Smith Crackers and a can of Sprite on the coffee table next to her; both were open. She had been watching Smurfs 2 when Rose had burst in, and the blue creatures were still dancing on the screen.

Her chin length pink hair was tucked behind her ears and her blue eyes were wide with surprise from Rose's entrance. Her face was a little pale with dark circles under her eyes, but aside from that, she looked perfectly alright. She certainly did not look like she was at the point of death.

"What? I don't understand" Rose said as she stood frozen at the door.

"Ro, I am so glad you are finally here. I have been waiting forever."

"Jessica, you don't look like you're dying," Rose said pointedly as she walked further into the apartment.

"Why would I look like I'm dying?"

"When you left a voice mail asking me to come over, you said you were dying!" Rose said as she stomped her right foot on the floor in frustration.

"Well, I'm sure I didn't mean it that way Rose. Maybe you misunderstood me." Jessica said with a gentle smile.

Rose unlocked her phone that was still in her hand in case she had to call the paramedics to save her dying friend; and she played out Jessica's message.

"Ro? Ro? I need your help, please come over as soon as you get this message. I'm dying, please help me..." Jessica's words were interrupted by the sound of her throwing up and then screaming in agony. This went on for about fifteen seconds as Rose held out the phone with a raised brow.

The message finally ended and Rose folded her arms across her chest as she stood over Jessica.

"Tell me; was there any other way to interpret that message?" Rose asked as she tapped her right foot on the floor impatiently. "I thought you were really dying or something. That's why I rushed here as soon as I listened to the message! It's 7am on a Saturday morning Jessica. You know how much I enjoy sleeping in on Saturdays."

"I'm really sorry if I made you worry Rose. But in my defense, it really felt like I was dying when I recorded the message." Jessica said as she made her lower lip quiver and gave Rose her signature puppy dog eyes.

Rose sighed and rolled her eyes as she plopped down on the couch next to Jessica. Jessica gave her a big hug and a peck on the cheek, and then pulled her under the green blanket as well.

"Thanks for being the best, best friend," Jessica said as she rested her head on Rose's shoulder.

Jessica Ryan had been Rose's best friend for about twenty years now. They had met on the first day of kindergarten when they were five years old; and had been inseparable ever since. They both didn't have sisters, but that didn't matter because they had each other. Jessica had a wilder side than Rose and had been the one to drag her to parties when they were in high school.

They always had each other's backs and there wasn't anything they wouldn't do for one another. So it was no surprise that Rose barely had time to brush her teeth and get dressed before rushing down to make sure Jessica was okay.

Looking down at her feet, Rose realized that in her haste, she had worn mismatched slippers.

Nice work Rose, half of Manhattan probably thinks you have a few screws loose, Rose thought dryly.

"So what's going on Jess? What was the big emergency? Why did I have to rush down here?"

"Well, last night after work I was soooo hungry. I picked up a steak from The Ricardo’s and started wolfing it down as soon as I got home. By the time I realized it had been seasoned with cinnamon, I was almost done. Chef Sam must have forgotten or maybe someone else prepared it.”

"Oh no, Jess," Rose said with sympathy.

Jessica was allergic to cinnamon; her body apparently couldn't digest it properly or something. But whenever she ate it, her stomach hurt really badly and she would end up throwing up chunks for hours. Drugs didn't help that much, but she would feel better after she got it all out of her system. She would be really weak and dehydrated after and that's why she was looking pale with dark circles right now.

It had been a while since this had happened to her. Rose would have immediately noticed the Smith Crackers and can of Sprite when she walked in; if she hadn't been so preoccupied with worry. The combination of Smith Crackers and Sprite was Jessica's antidote in times like this, she threw up anything else. They helped to calm her stomach down and make her feel less shitty.

"Yeah, I was up through most of the night, heaving my guts out. This is the longest I've been able to go without throwing up since this morning.”

"I'm sorry about that Honey. Do you need me to get more crackers from the store or something?" Rose asked as she stroked Jessia's hair.

"No, thank you. I'm all stocked up; I just need to ride out the storm."

"You need to rest Jess; you can't go to work tonight. You should call in sick."

"Well, you see, that's the main reason why I called you up here."

"What do you mean?"

"I need your help with something Ro."

"What do you need Jess?" Rose asked with her voice laced with suspicion. She already had a bad feeling about this.

"Please don't say no."

"Tell me what it is first," She had an absolutely terrible feeling about this now; Jess was taking too long to get to the point.

"I need you to fill in for me at work tonight."

Rose felt her mouth fall wide open, there was no stopping it. Jess wanted her to take her place tonight?

Jessica was a stripper at a high class club; The Pink Glass. It wasn’t a club that just anyone could walk in; there was exclusive membership and if famous musicians were in town, that was the club they went to. The girls were well taken care of and assured of their safety. They were free from any form of harassment or unwanted attention; their job was just to dance and strip.

The Pink Glass operated a “Look but don’t touch” policy, so unless it was consensual, no one was laying a finger on any of the girls and the pay was really good. Aside from all these reassuring factors, stripping was something Rose never thought she could do. She wasn’t just comfortable with showing off her body in public to complete strangers; and she felt that she lacked the confidence that Jessica had.

Jessica was the kind of person who did not honestly give a damn about what other people had to say about her and Rose admired that.

“Earth to Rose, I’ve been snapping my fingers in front of your face for minutes now. You still haven’t said anything.”

“Jess, I’m sorry, but I honestly don’t think I can do this. You know I love you so much but I can’t help with this.”

“Please Ro, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t very important. I really don’t want to lose this client. You don’t have to worry about stripping at the club; it’s going to be at a private birthday party.”

“Jess, I really can’t.”

“Wait, just hear me out. The client is Wayne Blackstone,” Jessica said with excitement.

Rose’s mouth fell wide open once again. Wayne Blackstone? As in, the billionaire Wayne Blackstone? He was CEO of Blackstone Corp; a major finance corporation in America. There was no one in Manhattan, New York, who didn’t know how rich he was.

He was number one on Glam Magazine’s “Most Successful Under 30 Businessmen.” Wayne Balckstone was the definition of filthy rich and Rose had seen enough pictures of him to know that he was easy on the eyes also.

“From your silence once again, I can see that you know exactly who I am talking about. He requested for a stripper at his twenty ninth birthday party tonight and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity Ro. He could connect me to so many great people if I impress him and I don’t want to miss this chance. I would have absolutely gone but my tummy won’t be fully settled by tonight.

You know I wouldn’t ask you to do this, if it wasn’t really important to me. Plus I am willing to give you half of the payment; I know how much it would help with your search for Victor. The amount is $10,000 Ro.”

Rose’s eyes went wide with surprise, $5,000 seemed like a really tempting offer right now; and she desperately needed to find Raymond.

Was she really going to do this?