PART 36: KATIE

May 2021, Melbourne

So I think I'm just having one of those mornings. I woke up after letting myself sleep in a bit. Just a bit. A reasonable amount. Then started getting ready to go to the Broth. Had my shower. Scrubbed everything. Hairs looking good, feeling fine. Sat down to have a coffee and watch some quick YouTubes before going in and, God fucking damn it, cramps! Just cramps. Why? Why? Fucking sucks.

I only get them randomly. I'm pretty, pretty lucky that I don't get them every single period. Normally I get them like maybe every third period. I get really bad ones at the end. And I'm like Cool, light flow, I don't even have to think about it anymore. Probably can get away with not using a sponge. Like we're looking good. And then it's just like, ah, no, we'll give you pain instead. That'll be fun. Oh well. I mean I get to hang at home with my dogs. So it's not too bad. I’ll just sit in front of the heater all day with the heat pack on my tummy. Just do fucking nothing. I mean, I am exhausted but I was ready to work. No, no, of course not. Oh well, shit happens.

Yeah, this week's been pretty good. Pretty chill. Started a Minecraft server with my friends. And like, I remember playing Minecraft when it first came out when it was free, so bloody 10 years ago or even longer, and playing it by myself all the time. But playing it with friends is fantastic. I’m playing with my housemate and another mate, and I didn't even know how long we were playing it. Hours and hours and hours. I don't normally have the attention span to sit there and play a game for that long. But it was so good being able to play it with other people. We’ve already got our base set up, we're ready to bloody go. It's so cute. And so fun.

I'm so glad I've gotten back into gaming. Because of lockdown really. I actually had a chance to save money because I always just spend, spend, spend. On going out and doing stuff, rather than items that I kind of need. So all I had was a crappy tablet that I got when I was like 13. I had been using that. Which doesn't really cut it for most things. So happy that I've gotten back into gaming and started playing Minecraft. It's just so relaxing, but also stressful. It's the best of both worlds.

The other night I went out with the guy I’m seeing, it was really fun. Went out on a Tuesday night in the city. I was pretty worried that everything was going to be closed. I think I went out for dinner on a Sunday a few months back with my housemate and it was just…dead. We ended up having to go to north-side to find a bar that was open because there was just nothing going on at all. All the places, even like the classic late-night places, were just shut. So it was great going out on Tuesday night. We bar hopped a fair bit all around the city. Just people watched, talked absolute shit to each other, stayed up far too late.

Made a lot of friends. Whenever they ask, “Oh, what do you do?” I'm always just like, “Well, I'm a hooker” and they’re like, “What? Like, actually?” and I’m like “Yeah, I'm a sex worker.” And they're like, “Ah, oh, cool.” And then they ask questions and I end up just talking at them for like, 20 minutes about sex work. They're just sitting there listening thinking This is a lot of information to process. I was not expecting this. I'm probably not going remember it in the morning. But hey, hopefully that's good sex worker representation.

I always whip out my ads. I always whip out my ads. And am like “Look, this is me. This are my professional photos. This is what I wrote about myself. I'm really proud of writing this bit.” And they're just like, “Oh, yeah, cool. All right.” I haven't asked them one thing about themselves. I haven’t even asked their name. I didn't even know if they care. But I can't help myself. I can't help myself. Especially after a fair few drinks. I just, I just word vomit. I mean, I'm pretty proud of my job and you can't shut me up about it. Anyone that knows me will say that.

But yeah, it's been a nice week, except for the cramps. I'm feeling pretty good about life. I do need to start working more. I’ve just been working one shift at the Broth and then an occasional out call here and there, but not really enough. Not really enough to be super stable and steady. Oh, still above the poverty line, but you know, not too much above it at the moment. But I'm having a good time. I do really love the downtime, so it's been good.

Tonight one of my best work mates is I want to go on away thing. Fucking hell, I'm going to miss her so much. I'm going to be an absolute emotional wreck. The bonds we make at work are just ridiculous. Just sitting in the back room. You just get to know someone so well without even knowing their real name. It's insane. So I've got to emotionally prepare for that today. So I'm so excited for it, but I'm sad.