What a difference. From being a little kid playing on the street in the '90's, where no one stood on the corner because they were up in the building hiding from the law but everybody, even the kids, knew which units to buzz if you were looking to score some dope, then whose mamas would let you in for awhile once you had it, knew who would take a forty for something equally cheap and tasteless and which ones only took cash.
Twenty years later you could stop on the corner to buy legal weed from a sparkling glass case and a site on the internet would find, screen and schedule your dates for you.
Calling it a new millenium seemed pretty accurate, she thought, lighting up and logging in. Requests for dates with established clients were all processed automatically; all she had to do was click accept if she was free, and respond with a short regretful decline if she was unavailable- with a referral to one of her 'girlfriends' she thought he'd have a good time with, of course.
New clients were handled a bit differently, but it was still unusual to have a message from Evie: call me, cherie.
Ugh. Phone calls made her anxious, and mystery phone calls with unknown subjects were the worst. It was still early, she told herself. She'd call Evie at some point between making herself a cup of coffee and three hours from now- 9:30 wasn't too late to call a madame, right?
Her roommate came home while she was still in the kitchen. It was a relief to have someone to interact with, to dissipate the anxiety that felt like static on the surface of her skin. The apartment instantly felt warmer, more occupied, with someone else in it.
"I'm supposed to call Genevieve," she blurted as soon as the other girl appeared, catching her like deer in the headlights on the way to her room with her own dispensary bag. "Sorry," she said awkwardly, stirring her coffee. "Do you want a cup?"
Angie's face reanimated at the prospect of coffee and she nodded. She didn't need to be told why having to call Evie for a mystery reason was nerve wracking to her roommate, and that was why she definitely deserved the last vanilla-maple-nut coffee pod.
"I didn't get a message like that, so it's probably nothing. You haven't been out with anyone weird lately, right?" The last question came over her shoulder as she finally headed into her room.
Angie was gone long enough for the anxiety of not knowing what the message was about to outweigh the phobia of calling for a moment, and she tapped 'Call' before she could talk herself back out of it. Evie answered almost instantly, which hardly helped.
"Hallo, my darling, how have you been? I see in the system you are keeping yourself busy! You are following your studies, yes? Do not neglect-"
"Evie, you're making me nervous. It's not something bad, right?"
"Oh, no no do not worry my dear..." Evie was a babbler, but luckily Angie reappeared, having changed into what she called 'house clothes'. She held up a slender blunt and raised a questioning eyebrow. Karin nodded enthusiastically and passed her the lighter she had in the pocket of her sweater, pointing at the cup of coffee on the counter. Angie took a drink and rolled her eyes in mock ecstasy, lighting the blunt and offering it on one knee as though proposing. Evie was getting around to her point, so the happy couple would have to seal the engagement another time.
"...he is a new client and he is special so I knew it should be you..."
"What do you mean, he's special?" She and Angie both did well for themselves, but they were generally "town" dates... they knew there were certain girls who handled the ultra rich clientele, but it wasn't them. If she was getting an upgrade, she must be doing something right...
"You will see, ma cherie, I know you will be just fine with this client, I think there is nothing to worry about. I'll put it in your log book, when? Saturday, are you available? No, I see that, o-kay, Tuesday, hmm? When is your school? Can you meet him at six?"
Surprised to finally be offered input, Karin stuttered a yes, which in her mind was only to the question "can you meet someone at 6 given your school schedule on Tuesday?" and accepted the blunt from Angie with more enthusiasm than she felt about this blind date. Normally they were allowed to view a client profile and decide privately whether to accept a client who was new to the service.
"Hokay my darling it is all set up now, you'll see. Brush your teeth after that ceegar, keep them white." The motherly advice snapped like a rubber band, the sting and incredulity coming only after the call had beeped to a close.
"He's special," she told Angie, who looked a bit like Alice's caterpillar, sitting on the kitchen counter with her brow furrowed and smoke swirling about her.
"Okay..." said her friend. "Well, shall we finish this on the balcony and then avoid our problems by playing video games?" She asked, holding up the blunt horizontally between them.
"Definitely," Karin replied gratefully.
Despite her extreme desire for it to not happen, Tuesday came anyway. The date notes were vague and the address was for an apartment building, which was... irregular. First dates usually began on more neutral- and anonymous- territory. The text that her driver was downstairs was more typical, but it didn't come from the number that the service usually used, which was saved in her phone. Fending off the chills, she texted Angie: leaving on special date. He sent his own car or something. Weird?
Her text came back fairly quickly.
I've done that b4 but maybe weird. Let me know if you're okay.
Her message was followed by an automatically generated one: Roommate_Angel has requested access to your location, do you wish to share your gps data? She selected yes so Angie would know where she was, hit a bowl and checked her makeup one last time, stopping for perfume before hurrying downstairs.
"Sorry," she muttered to the driver as he held the door for her. He fended off her apology courteously and then drove in silence, a small miracle she was largely thankful for.
The building he let her out at was modestly upscale. She stopped to text Angie before heading upstairs to the unit number from her notes. She noted the doorbells next to each number as she walked down the hall, hoping a simple knock would suffice because loudly chiming her arrival was not her style.
She didn't even have to knock, presumably the doorman had called up because the door opened just as she raised her hand to it. She was taken aback by the man who answered it. He was younger and frankly more stunning than the men she usually dated, not to mention taller, some kind of islander with bronze skin and glossy black hair...
"Hi, you must be Karin," and, oh em gee, his accent made him pronounce her name perfectly, and his smile was just about dazzling.
"I'm Eli," he said, taking her hand and leading her in the door like a skilled dance partner, so subtly she hardly noticed him doing it. They all joked about the rich silicon valley guys that would sweep you off your feet, for a second Karin was thinking her ship may have actually come in, and then he continued, "he's in here. I'll introduce you."
OMG she thought, already drafting her text to Angie in her head. 3some maybe? One of them is super hot so maybe I don't mind...
She followed him down the hallway and into the dining room, where a large picture window commanded attention.
"Rick, this is Karin," bless Eli for facilitating the moment, she thought. "Karin, Rick" he inclined his head toward the man, who did not rise from the table.
