Maxine wasn’t supposed to end up this way.

She was intelligent.  She worked hard.  She was going to make something of herself.  She had vowed to claw her way out of the poverty of her youth.  She listened to all the advice and did everything that she had been told.  She earned scholarships to afford college, picked a sensible degree, studied her ass off and graduated with honors.  She left everything she’d ever known behind to accept what seemed to be a once in a lifetime opportunity in Liberty City.  She’d flourished there.  She’d climbed the ranks.  For a brief period, she had everything she’d dreamed of. 

All it took was one scorned man to strip all that away.

His threats should have scared her.  She thought her place in the corporate world was secured.  She believed her work was valuable, that her skills would speak for themselves.  Maybe she was never as intelligent as she had always been told.  How was she supposed to know that his word meant more than hers?  That his reputation extended further?  That his connections would get her blacklisted from the entire industry?  Looking back, her naivety sickened her.  Had she known she’d end up like this, she would have just sucked it up and slept with him.  She was just a whore either way.  She supposed now she could pretend it was on her own terms.

This wasn’t how she pictured her life, yet here she was.  Her corner office was replaced with a street corner, her high-rise downtown with a cheap room in a seedy hotel, and her tailored suits with whatever slinky, skin-tight dresses she could find secondhand.  Carcer City was terrifying compared to what she had known.  The wail of sirens were always in the distance.  The smog of long closed factories still clung to the skyline like a shadow.  Still, it felt like more of a sanctuary than the risk of being caught dead in Liberty or having to face anyone back home.  A scummy, lonely sanctuary, but she survived…  Rather, she thrived.

Maxine didn’t lose her drive just because she lost everything else.  In fact, she worked harder than ever.  She was always considered the smart one growing up, not the pretty one.  Back then, she was more focused on her studies than being popular or flirting.  It remained her focus through college and even as she entered the workforce, evolving to a trait that men found desirable.  It hadn’t occurred to her until after she’d secured her career that just because she was “brainy” didn’t mean she was unattractive.  Unfortunately, that attention came at a price.  Men at the top didn’t care for competent women.  They preferred the hourglass figure and fiery auburn hair.  They didn’t want a bitch that challenged their position; they wanted a subordinate they could manipulate.  When they didn’t get that out of her, she had to go.  Her assets may have cost her that career, but she was still smart enough to use them to build another one.  Did she enjoy it?  Not at all, but a job was a job at the end of the day and this one paid better than hospitality or retail.  She had humiliated herself with corporate ass-kissing long before she’d sold her body.  Sweet talking a desperate man was no different than swaying a tough client.  In her mind, she remained a business woman, only now she was also the product.

Ashes crumbled off the tip of Maxine’s cigarette and disappeared before they could hit the grimy pavement.  Though it had gotten late, she was determined to get at least one more sale before turning in for the night.  The weather was supposed to get bad over the next few days and she wanted to make enough to take a couple nights off, if necessary.  She strayed from where the other working girls made their money, so this side of town wasn’t particularly lively, but things seemed slower than usual.  Maybe Schaffer’s boys were scaring off the clientele.  She’d heard rumblings that CCPD had been especially busy lately, not that it showed.  Carcer was still as big of a slum as it had been, though maybe there was enough merit to the rumors to keep the weak-willed at home.

Headlights bled onto the brick wall across the road.  A tilt of her head and she spotted a dark sedan as it turned the corner.  Feeling confident, she took one more drag before flicking the lipstick-stained butt and crushed it beneath her heel.  Gravel crunched under the tires as it inched to a stop beneath her streetlamp.  The mechanical whine of the window descending greeted her as she approached the passenger side.  She leaned in, tits first like she had done with countless strange vehicles lately. 

“Kinda cold out here for a pretty girl like you, hm?” a rough voice asked.  The darkness obscured any details of the driver’s face.  Frankly, she preferred it that way.

“Little bit,” Maxine replied.  Her voice lacked any emotion.  She couldn’t afford to show any, though she could fake it for the right price.  “Interested in warming me up?”

There was no verbal response; just the click of the car unlocking.  Her fingers curled around the handle and pulled it ajar.  A cloud of stale smoke and cheap cologne passed over her as she slid onto the worn vinyl seat.  It hadn’t even occurred to her how chilly the wind had gotten until she was shielded from it.  She didn’t think twice about the window ascending or the door locking behind her.  She threw one leg over the other and smoothed the hem of her dress, ready for business.  Only when she turned her head to get a better look at her client did she realize something was off.  She saw movement out of the corner of her eye, but couldn’t swivel her head fast enough to see what was back there.  An arm quickly snaked around the other side headrest and clasp a rag against her mouth. 

Maxine screamed despite the attempted gagging.  Her nails dug into the forearm restraining her.  Her legs kicked against the dash and floorboard. She threw her head back, but it only hit the back of the seat.  With every desperate gasp, she breathed in the chemical scent of the rag.  The world was beginning to spin.  Her head was getting light.  Controlling her limbs grew more difficult.  Her weakened state was promptly subdued.  The arm holding her pinned her back against the seat.  Another gripped her wrist to pry her claws out of the first.

“Goddamn bitch has got some fight,” the voice behind her said through audibly gritted teeth.

“Good,” the driver cackled, throwing the car into gear.  “Sure Starky’s got plenty work lined up for her.”