1. The Prospect
I was almost late for my appointment but I paused -- actually,
hesitated
would be a more accurate word, I suppose - to recheck the address. I was sitting in my mom's car, parked in a tidy, tree-lined office park, looking up at the squat, mirrored box of a building in front of me. It was numbered 9951, just like the email had said, but I decided to check the website for "Paragon Companions" on my phone's browser, just to be extra sure. Sure enough, the address was listed as 9951 Elm Crescent Parkway, suite 333. Yup, I was at the right place. And I was three minutes late... so far.
But still, I sat in the car, gulping air and fighting back panic attacks for five more minutes. Not for the first or last time I carefully considered my plan and acknowledged that it was probably an awful idea. However, I had my goals and, as my dad said, "the reason people fail to meet their goals was because they weren't willing to do whatever it takes to achieve them". So I thought of Princeton University, my future alma mater - if I could just get the money to attend. (And it was going to take
a lot
of money, let me tell you.) My options, which were always pretty limited, were now down to one and only one and it led through 9951 Elm Crescent Parkway, suite 333. Finally, I got out of the car and walked to the entrance, my mind screaming for me to turn away.
I paused at the building directory and confirmed the suite number. As I waited for the elevator I smoothed my cute little back dress against my thighs, abdomen and ass, pressing out any creases I'd picked up on the drive over. I felt the firmness of my flesh and the definition of my muscles. My recent yoga obsession and years of competitive gymnastics and had really paid off. If only my boobs hadn't gotten too big I might have even had a shot at a gymnastics scholarship. However, when the elevator arrived the confidence I sought from my own body rapidly evaporated. My hand was shaking again as I pushed the button for my floor.
I stepped out on three. There were doors to the offices to a dozen or so companies opening off the long, professionally bland hallway. I followed the ascending numbers to the very end of the corridor. There I found a set of incongruous double doors padded in quilted pink leather. "Paragon" was written across them in cursive, chrome lettering. Suite 333 read the brass placard mounted on the wall to the right.
I delayed one last time before entering; looking back over my shoulder, terrified one of my dad's friends might spot me and ask him what his little girl was doing going into a place like
that
. But there were no witnesses. The coast was clear. Nothing was holding me back but me. As I pushed inside I thought of the tree-lined campus of Princeton and its gothic stone buildings full of knowledge and success. And I thought of money: lots of money.
I entered. The foyer was sheathed in slabs of pink marble, furnished in pink leather furniture the same color as the double doors and softly lit with chrome lighting fixtures. A shapely brunette in a tight blouse and tiny skirt sat at the reception desk - an arc of tempered glass on twisted chrome struts. The receptionist was closer to my mom's age than mine, but more attractive than both of us put together. She raised her eyes from her computer monitor and looked a question at me.
"I... I have an appointment with Ms. Montrie," I said. My timid voice echoed around the pink stone room.
She nodded towards one of the pink leather doors that flanked her desk: the right one. "Go on in," she said.
I did. Inside was another reception area. A beautiful blonde sat at a similar desk, dressed in a slinky white dress that showed much of her ample cleavage. She looked me over dismissively for a brief second before asking: "Are you the four O'clock?"
"Yes."
"You're late," she told me. I could see she didn't approve of me for not being as tall or beautiful as she. I felt my spirit sink. If these were the girls they hired to work desk jobs how much more beautiful did you have to be to work as an escort? If it wouldn't have been so humiliating to retreat before those judgmental goddesses I would have backed out right then. But I didn't. I still hoped my preternaturally youthful appearance and my c-cup chest would be my saving grace. Some guys liked that combination.
"Go ahead, she's waiting," said the blonde impatiently. I obeyed and pushed through the last pink leather door.
Inside was a large, corner office. It was bigger than the two previous reception areas combined. It too was clad in pink marble and furnished in pink leather. A burbling fountain and soft, spacey music filled the echoing space with gentle sound. At a large teak desk in the corner formed by the two walls of tinted windows sat an older woman with faded red hair shot through with streaks of white. Her face was too smooth; stretched and softened with plastic surgery and Botox no doubt. She wore a scarlet dress that flaunted, rather than concealed her small chest. I felt relief that my boobs were at least bigger than the boss'.
That relief didn't last long.
"Oh for Christ's sake!" she grumbled as she looked me up and down. I felt myself blush.
"I'm..."
"I know who you are. Let me see your driver's license, kid. I'm not saying another goddamned thing until I know you're really old enough to even be here. You sure as hell don't look it."
That had been the exact reaction when I'd tried to "interview" at Tiggle Jitz, the strip club. The manager, a creepy old guy with some kind of obscure accent, had laughed in my face and told me to get out. He'd said I was too young looking. A girl like me was "like a red fucking flag to a motherfucking bull" he'd told me. He said that even though I was legally old enough, I looked too young; every state, county and local commissioner and "pain in the ass" moral guardian would be harassing him with recurring demands for documentation on not just me but
all
his girls. "I look at you and all I see is a lot of paperwork for myself," he'd said. However he gave me Ms. Montrie's email address and suggested she might have something for someone like me. I was not feeling encouraged as I dug my driver's license out of my little purse and handed it over.
Ms. Montrie looked the license over carefully, opening the blinds and turning it this way and that in the sunlight. Finally she handed it back, saying, "OK, looks real. So what do you want kid?"
"Mr. Arrentolf said you might have a job..."
"He's gotta be fucking kidding me. You look fifteen. How tall are you?"
"Five foot."
"You're too short, that's one problem. Plus you're meek as hell: oozing discomfort like a kid at a recital. I provide classy sophisticated companions for well paying clients. You? I wouldn't be surprised if you were still a virgin."
"I'm not," I said, which was true, if only barely. Cliff and I had finally done the deed on Prom Night a couple of months ago and three more times since. I'd meant to find other partners after we broke up - it was mutual, he was going off to work as a busboy at some mountain resort all summer and we figured we should call it quits - but I never got up the nerve to go trawling for sex partners. Now here I was trying to get a job as a call girl. I had honestly never expected my inexperience would be an issue, it's not like sex was difficult or anything.
"Well honey, I don't care if you were the biggest slut in the school marching band, you just ain't right for me. Sorry, kid."
I started weeping -- damn it. This was my last chance. "But I really need the money. I've been accepted to Princeton..."
"Good school," she said. "But it's hardly the only school. Can't you go somewhere cheaper?"
"Princeton is... I've always..." I paused to sob.
"Oh God, a
goal
," she said with derision. "Watch out for goals kid. They'll fuck you up. Once upon a time, I was going to be a great Broadway actress
no matter what it took
." She barked out a harsh laugh. "'Course, I'm doin' OK now, but this line of work ain't nobody's first choice. And do you
really
want to be a whore kid? Do you? Because, to be perfectly blunt, that's what we're talking about here."
"I'll do anything," I sobbed. "I need a lot of money. I don't know what else to do."
"
Anything
covers a lot of ground kid," she said, looking at me sadly now. "Yeah, I know what Arrentolf had in mind for you."