Chapter 29 - a visitor

Red was stuffed to bursting. It had been several days since the visit to the coast and after a few nights alone had returned to see Carla who had stocked the flat with cakes, pastries, chocolates and cheese. A few days rest from stuffing had helped Red's appetite no end as he demolished the calorific treats left out.

Carla stroked his stomach. "Babe, i've got news for you."

Red pulled himself up. "Yes?"

"Sofi's coming over tomorrow night. There's a FL meet up this weekend. Do you want to come along?"

"Sure. Whats the plan?"

"I've no idea, guess we find out who lives nearby."

"We could just search the site." He suggested.

"Doesn't hurt to be sociable, right?"

The next day, work went quickly. Red was now used to feeling bloated and sluggish the day after visiting Carla, so managed to avoid being distracted by that. He worked on projects until lunchtime, before being called into a meeting for discussing a future client who was looking to purchase a large personal storage facility and wanted the site mapped.

He finished early that day and waited for Carla outside by her car. They drove to the bus depot around the same time a white coach pulled in, they got out and made their way to the entrance.

The bus emptied, Sofi was towards the back. This time her hair was a mix of pastel pink and turquoise, she was wearing a black t shirt and jeans with a leather jacket which was clearly unable to fasten.

Carla skipped over and embraced her. "You look great babe!"

Sofi slowly wrapped her arms around her. "Thanks hon."

Carla took her hand and walked her back to Red.

Sofi smirked at him. "Hey, whats up?"

"Not much."

Carla took his hand too. "Oh you both need a drink." and she guided them into the car.

They chatted on the journey and pulled into the supermarket.

"Okay guys, bare essentials now." Carla said to the two of them.

"That is entirely subjective and you know it." Sofi said.

Carla blew her a kiss, hopped out and held the back door open for her to leave. Red left the passenger seat to get a shopping trolley.

Inside, the store was bustling with families packing their weekend groceries. The three of them made a beeline towards the liquor aisle and Red grabbed two crates of cheap beer, under both Carla and Sofis orders.

"You know, i'm going to wait in the car to do my make up." Carla said, once the beers were in the trolley. She leaned in and whispered. "I want to see what two feedees come up with."

"Is that a good idea?" Red said.

Carla shrugged this off. "Don't care. Plus i want ypu two to bond." She waved and left the store."

"So. What do you do for a living?" Red asked, feeling awkward.

"I sell knitting online." Sofi answered with a straight face.

Red didn't know why he found that to be a surprising answer. "That's cool."

"You honestly think so? I make wooly jumpers, gloves and scarves for ebay." She took out her phone and showed him her store front. She used lots of bright often neon colours and tended to make patterns showing cakes and kittens.

"You have talent." He said, scrolling through the list and admiring a knitted dragon pattern on a scarf.

"Thanks, takes me days to do something like that."

Red spotted the reviews, her store averaged 4.6 stars citing great design and sizing, but often criticising late delivery.

"They seem popular. Do you make a good living from it?"

Sofi paused. "Oh God, no. I get most of my money as an escort."

"A sex worker?"

"Not sex. More other eclectic specialist stuff."

"Sorry, probably none of my business is it?"

"I have a website, not like its a secret. I usually take men back to mine, sit on them for a bit and let them jerk off into the sink whilst I eat whatever junk they bring me."

"And that pays better than your mittens?"

Sofi nodded. "Supply and demand. Fat bitch who sits on your chest for ten minutes is worth more on the open market than a pair of mittens which keep fingers warm for a lifetime. Lucky I enjoy both jobs."

Red nodded. "The economy is strange." He pushed the trolley again, subtly trying to notice if anyone may have overheard the conversation, he was glad nobody he recognised was looking for booze.

They went down the aisles in a sequential route, picking out piles of junk food, Red tried to at least match Sofi's choices in terms of empty calorie value, his inner competitive streak wanted Carla to notice his choices. By the checkout, they both finished with three bulging bags of calorific food each, not including the beer crates, which they pushed back to the car and unloaded in the trunk.