I'm trying something a little different here with a series of loosely connected stories focusing on different interconnected characters. I hope you guys enjoy, and remember comments and votes are appreciated.
"Yes sir, Dianne will be there at nine pm sharp," Cleo said, marking the appointment in her calendar.
"Fantastic. I look forward to it," the man on the other end said, a smile in his voice. "Thank you so much dear."
"You're welcome, sir. We hope you enjoy your night," Cleo said, hanging up. Checking the schedule for the night, she could see it was shaping up to be pretty busy. Fridays were generally busy, but this was exceptional even for them. "Busy night," she said to Adelle.
"Oh?" the older woman asked, looking up from her own bookkeeping.
"Uh-hm," Cleo said, pulling up the main calendar page. "Eleven dates, plus three doubles and that party at Verve... Yeah, I think we actually have everyone out tonight," Cleo said, double checking just to be sure. "That's a first for me."
"It's probably all the snow," the older woman replied in her clipped British accent. "If you're forced to stay in, might as well stay in fucking, hm?" Cleo blushed and laughed, and Adelle allowed a small smile at the younger girl's embarrassment. "I remember during that big blizzard two years ago, as soon as the weather reports started coming in we were booked solid."
"Snow's good for business then," Cleo noted, returning to her business mode. Adelle watched the younger girl closely for a moment, remembering hiring the girl four months previous.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, Ms. Miller, may I call you Cleo?" Adelle had asked, hoping to put the girl at ease.
"Please do," Cleo said, pushing her glasses up on her nose.
"So Erica has told you about our business here," Adelle stated simply. "What do you think?"
"Well, she didn't tell me at first, but I had sort of figured it out," Cleo explained.
"Really?" Adelle asked, surprised. "How do you know Erica, exactly?"
"I've been rooming with her for almost six months now, but before that I was a friend of a friend. I was looking to move closer to work, and she had an open room, so... It's been working pretty well."
"And how did you figure out that Erica was a call girl?" Adelle asked, amused when the younger girl blushed. Imagine if I had used the word whore, Adelle thought.
"Well... Her schedule was odd, and although she never talked or complained about work, she always seemed to have money. And she would talk about 'dates,' but I knew she didn't have a boyfriend. And the way she would dress for these dates was sometimes a little, well, whorish. So a couple weeks ago I just asked her, and she admitted it."
"Were you disgusted? Shocked? Titillated?"
"Maybe at first, but... I mean, she's never gotten hurt or anything, and she seemed to enjoy the dates, most times. Once we started talking about it, she made it seem a little glamorous, actually."
That'll pass, Adelle thought. "Glamorous how?"
"Oh, I don't know... Dashing men paying thousands of dollars for her companionship, y'know... I could see it was a bit of an ego boost for her, for the girl," Cleo explained. "I mean, I don't think it's for me, but I don't look down on her or anything for it. I mean, she's getting her master's degree, I'm not going to judge her on how she's paying for it."
"I see," Adelle said, appraising the young woman. She was quite pretty, even if she didn't know how to show it off. Long dark hair, pulled back into a simple ponytail, her pale skin unadorned with make up. Her delicate features, coupled with her glasses, gave her the look of a librarian, and her drab clothing did little to indicate at her body. Luckily I'm not hiring her to work with clients. "What did Erica tell you about the job?"
"Well, she said that you needed an assistant, someone to answer the phone, book the dates, keep everything straight. And, I mean, that's pretty much what I do now, so she thought I could..."
"If that's what you do now, why change? Whatever your current job's shortcomings, it's still legal," Adelle countered.
Cleo shrugged. "My current job is a deader than dead dead end. My boss is an ungrateful, foolish, demanding pig, and I'm sick of watching his back and covering for him. And, well..." Cleo foundered, not wanting to look foolish.
"What?" Adelle asked, leaning closer.
"I thought... I thought it would be a bit of an adventure. Exciting," Cleo said quietly, looking down. "I know it's stupid, I'd only be answering phones, but..."
"It's alright," Adelle said, placing a hand on the younger woman's knee. She liked this young woman, her resume more than qualified her, and Erica's recommendation weighed heavily in her favor. "The job's yours if you want it, but you should know: I can be a bit of a demanding bitch myself." Adelle quoted a figure that made Cleo's eyes widen, and with a handshake the job was hers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cleo snatched up the phone on the first ring. She hoped it wasn't another client, as she'd already had to turn down two for want of any available girls. "Adelle's, how may I help you?"
"Cleo? Oh thank fuck. It's Sheila."
"Hi... What's wrong? You sound like death."
"I don't know, but I'm definitely sick... I've got a hundred and two fever and I'm shitting a goddamn fountain," Sheila groaned.
"Sheila, Christ, that's disgusting."
"I'm sorry, I'm just a fuckin' mess. Is Adelle there? I was hoping I'd get better before my date, but I'm just getting worse, ugh..."
"Adelle's right here," Cleo said as Adelle returned from the front room. "It's Sheila, she sounds really sick."
"Oh hell," Adelle said, taking the phone. "Sheila? How are you feeling... That good. Sheila, dear, is there any chance that you'll be able to rally for tonight, because I don't know if we even have anyone in reserve... Ugh, lovely imagery dear, thank you." Adelle quickly checked the night's bookings, flagging Sheila's date and reading the relevant information. "Hm. Well we'll see what we can do here. Hm? No, no of course not. Stay warm, drink lots of fluids, and for god's sake never tell me about the state of your bowels ever again. Yes dear, please feel better. Bye." Adelle hung up.
"Well?" Cleo asked, looking at the date's details. Mr. Dunn had booked Sheila for the whole night three weeks ago, so she knew Adelle would be loathe to cancel it.
"Well I think we need to try and find someone to fill in for Sheila, clearly. And we have, oh, only two hours to do it." Cleo was worried that Adelle would say that.
"Adelle... We're already using some of our back-up girls as it is. I mean, I could call Danielle, but-"
"I told you to burn that slut's file," Adelle said bluntly. Danielle had broken a cardinal rule of Adelle's: she tried to snake clients and go independent. All she had managed to do was get sacked and lose the access she was hoping to use. Adelle was a great boss, but Cleo quickly learned that you didn't want to cross her.
Adelle looked closely at that calendar pages, saw that Cleo was right: They were already stretched to the breaking point, and she just plain didn't have any other girls to send. As she turned to tell Cleo to call Mr. Dunn, she considered the young lady again. Cleo had come a long way in the four months since she started working for Adelle. At Adelle's gentle urging, Cleo had started dressing better and doing her hair a little differently. Her hair was now in a stylish French braid, accenting her long neck and delicate features. Her clothing no longer hid her body, but took advantage of it, displaying her slim figure to excellent effect. Well, Adelle thought, it's worth a shot.
"Cleo... Perhaps..."
Cleo glanced up and saw the look on her boss's face and quickly deduced her thoughts. "No. No. No way. No. Absolutely out of the question!"
"Dear, you know I wouldn't ask if it wasn't an emergency, but-"
"But nothing!" Cleo said, flustered. "I'm not one of your girls, Adelle. You'll just have to call Mr. Dunn and cancel the date! I won't do it. I won't."
Adelle's eyes narrowed. She knew the young woman who called what Erica did "glamorous" would have at least some curiosity about it. She decided a different tack was needed.
"Mr. Dunn is a long time client, and I would hate to disappoint him so," she began, taking a seat at her desk and pulling up his client records. "He travels a great deal for business, but he finds himself in New York for a few days each month. He stays at the Waldorf and has a date with us whenever he's in town. I understand that he is quite generous, both in bed and out of it."
Cleo glared at her employer. She knew what Adelle was doing. "Oh really?"
"Quite. His desires are rather tame, compared to some of our other clients. But while tame, they are substantial. I understand he's quite the charmer. He would be a good client, if someone was having their first job."
"Fascinating," Cleo said, hoping Adelle would drop it. Unknown to Adelle, she had pulled up the same information on her screen. Adelle kept extensive records on her clients, which helped her to meet and anticipate their desires. Cleo could see that Mr. Dunn had never gotten anything but glowing comments from the girls assigned to him. She saw that three of the girls had indicated he had a proclivity for anal sex, but nothing too extreme. All of the girls gave him a star, indicating that they'd enjoy a repeat booking. This was in fact Sheila's fourth date with him. "Besides, I couldn't pass for one of your girls. He'd feel short changed."
"Cleo," Adelle said, and the force of her voice made Cleo look to the older woman. "Don't short change yourself, please. You are a striking young woman, and any one of these old codgers would gladly pay to get between your thighs." Cleo blushed at the compliment, and Adelle's eyes narrowed. Almost got her, she thought. "I'll give you the full fee if you do it. Plus a ten percent bonus, for sacrificing so nobly in the service of the house."
Cleo's eyes widened. The full fee alone was almost five grand, plus a bonus. Hold on girl, she said to herself, are you really ready to fuck a man for money? Well, a darker part of her mind snickered, it's not like you're fucking anybody for free either. Cleo straightened imperceptibly.
"Alright, I'll do it," she said with authority. She glanced down at her clothes. "But I think I need to change." Cleo went to the walk-in closet where she knew Adelle kept some spare clothes for emergencies like this, and went about finding something sexy to wear.
