Chapter 1 Her Only Reason

• [Three Months Earlier...]
• 'Money or Fame?'
• 'Fame!'
• It was the same set of questions. Same two friends. Todd and Ben. The rules were still the same too. Two choices. Pick an answer. No wasting time.
• The only difference was they were now fifteen minutes away from their destination. The bus driver had just informed them of their ETA, pretty much the same way a pilot gives a weather update before making a descent.
• She wouldn't have ordered the ham and cheese sandwich if she knew how close they were. She wasn't hungry anymore.
• 'Batman or Superman?'
• Of course, now and then, they switched things up a bit and threw in a random question or two. It was the only way to pass the time without slitting each other's throats. Eight hours in a stiflingly hot bus was enough to turn anyone into a mass murderer.
• To stay sane, she'd spent her eight hours on the game between the two friends across the aisle and the serial killer paperback she'd picked up on a whim at the bus station. A hundred pages in, she still had no idea where the missing women were.
• 'Why is that even a question? Batman any day!'
• Obviously. Who wouldn't pick a guy with an arsenal of cool gadgets and luxury cars?
• She liked Ben. He made smart choices. Most of the time.
• 'Money or Sex?'
• The entire bus surged to life, and a few passengers drifting in and out of heat-induced sleep for a large part of the trip were wide awake again. This was their favourite part of the Todd & Ben Show.
• She also sat up and casually glanced outside her window, pretending to be taken with the view of the skyscrapers rolling by. She'd been eavesdropping on their little game since they left Sparrow Beach, but she didn't want to make it so obvious.
• Was it eavesdropping, though, if they were speaking so loudly?
• 'So? Money or Sex?'
• It was the third time, maybe fourth, the question had come up. And Todd almost always picked money. He looked like he could use it too. Ben, though, was a wild card. She never knew what he'd choose. Sometimes he went for the money. Sometimes sex. He was a little fickle if you asked her. But who wasn't now and then?
• 'Sex, of course.'
• 'Dude. If you have money, you can have all the sex you want.'
• She liked where Todd was going. Money got you lots of nice things. And she liked nice things. But sex wasn't high on the list of things she'd spend her money on. Todd would probably get all the sex he wanted and then some with his money.
• 'You don't need money to have sex. You only need a willing participant.'
• Gosh, she was so torn now. She liked Ben's answer too. Consent was so sexy.
• "What would you do?"
• The question was so out of the blue that she didn't even think they were talking to her, so she continued staring at the scenery, zooming by.
• "Hey, Tina Turner!"
• Turning to the snapping sound of Ben's fingers as he tried to get her attention, she found two pairs of eyes on her—one as dark as the bark of an old tree, the other pale and calm like the ocean before a storm.
• Did they know she was listening in and silently weighing in on their little game all this time?
• "What would you do?"
• "Me?" she ran a self-conscious hand through her mass of black curls, feeling a little triggered by the name-calling. Sure, Tina was iconic and all, but still—
• "Yes, you," Ben nodded, slurping the last bit of his coffee, his red knockoff Spider-Man t-shirt straining over his ample gut. He squeezed the paper cup gleefully, rejoicing as it squeaked in his gigantic hand.
• All wired up after his last cup of tepid coffee and unable to sit still, Todd bounced one leg. A big toothy grin spread across his face as he leaned across the seat and rested his chin on Ben's stomach, his eyes shining with expectation.
• "Money or sex?" he asked again.
• She stared at the cup in Ben's hand, fascinated by how he'd turned it into a tiny brown ball fitting snugly in his palm.
• "So?" Todd pushed her for an answer. They were at an impasse and needed someone—her—to tip the scales. It didn't matter which way, just as long as she declared one of them a winner.
• The question had come up several times over the past few hours, but she never thought about her response if she was ever presented with the choices. And now, they'd sucked her into their little game, and she had to choose. But she couldn't, so she stared at them, unable to decide.
• "Come on. It's not complicated. Don't overthink this," said Ben, pushing Todd's head out of the way so he could rest his hands on his tummy, his interest in her response waning fast.
• He was right. It wasn't complicated.
• "Neither," she decided.
• The duo turned to each other, confusion written on their faces. Her answer wasn't part of the script. But they weren't about to let her off the hook.
• "Why not?"
• She had to make a choice. Pick one. That was the game. Those were the rules.
• "Because I don't want either."
• They fell silent again for a moment, processing her response.
• It seemed odd to them that someone in this entire universe didn't want money or sex.
• She finished her ham and cheese sandwich and sipped her now-cold tea. It tasted exactly like the one she made at home. Hers didn't cost so much, though. But sometimes, when your world was suddenly turned on its head, it was nice to drink tea made by someone else, even if it was overpriced and served out of a flask by an unsmiling hostess.
• "So, what do you want? There must be something you want. Everyone has something they want!"
• The gears in Ben's head were slowly working again, already tweaking their game a little, perhaps adding her answer to the pool of possible choices. He was clearly the brains behind this operation.
• Pulling into the depot, the bus screeched and shuddered, coming to a complete stop in the parking bay with one final groan.
• Chaos erupted around them as passengers, eager to be reunited with their loved ones waiting in the sweltering heat, scrambled out of their seats and grabbed their bags.
• Natalie reached for her luggage stowed in the compartment above her head, a trickle of sweat running down her back as she hauled it down and placed it in the empty seat beside her. The brown suitcase passed down through the years had seen better days and way more places than she had.
• Turning to the mismatched couple she'd never see again, she announced. "A new kidney. That's what I want."
• And it was her only reason for moving to Rock Union.