It’s a horribly vicious circle – the reader automatically hates the male character just for wanting to exploit this woman’s desperation, but at the same time, she couldn’t get by without his custom – what do you do?
I’m not sure I understand the first sentence of the sixth paragraph, and towards the end of the same paragraph you slip into present tense as opposed to the past you’ve used throughout.
Other than that though, this was a really affecting read, sadly, blurring the lines between fiction, and reflection of our world – I saw you made a brief appearance here on Ficly about a month ago and then vanished – I hope this time you stick around… MH :)