Sly was suffering stoically from a miserable cold.
Of course he, being a big, tough, raised-in-the-streets male, it was impossible for him to admit it. So he sat amid a crumpled mess of Kleenexes, staring at me through red, watery eyes.
"Are you taking anything for that?" I asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.
"What, this? Fuck no. It'll go away by itself. I just gotta outlast it."
"Can I get you some Coricidin, or maybe make you some tea with lemon?"
"Ain't got no tea. Don't need no medicine."
"Fine. More Kleenexes, then." I really felt sorry for the big guy.
"Princess, will you for Christ's sake just shut the fuck up! Let it go, for God's sake."
I shut up. Thing is, I really did want to help him. I mean, he's been good to me ever since we became partners. I know, that'll sound strange if I've never told you the back story. After all, he mocked my upper-class background, sarcastically calling me a princess, and then blackmailed me into having sex with him and later with several strangers. But when I had paid off my debt we both realized that I was damned good at it, and, after he made me face up to that fact and that I rather enjoyed it, he offered to partner up, with him getting clients and me satisfying them. Yeah, I know there's a word for that, but I insist that we always refer to him as my 'agent' and our clients as 'clients.'
I consider myself a professional, after all. And I I've kept my job as a copy editor for a very respectable law firm in the city. I love the secrecy and adventure of my night job; it makes the tedium of the day one more bearable.
Oh, and he still calls me Princess, but I've earned his rarely given respect, so it's just a name, now. I like it.
"All right, all right," I reluctantly said. "Suffer, then."
"Better. Look, I ain't just been sittin' here, Princess. I got somethin' lined up for you that I'm bettin' you're gonna like. It'll appeal to your screwball sense of adventure. Plus, it's worth a nice chunk of change, and things have been a little lean lately."
Sly knows me pretty well. Having been involved in the sex trade before, he has a remarkably practical empirical sense of women. He can tell when I'm getting a little stale. He's exceptionally good at handling me, and I don't really mind it, so long as I'm aware of it. Besides, I know his concern is genuine and for me, not just for what I can do for him.
There was a pause while he blew his nose.
"Pirates," he said when he'd recovered.
"Pirates," I dumbly repeated. "What about pirates? There's all kinds of pirates. Remember, I work for a law firm."
"Jesus," he said in exasperation. "What do ya think I mean. Sex-mad software pirates? Horny music pirates? C'mon, Princess."
"OH-kay, enlighten me then, agent mine. What's this between me and pirates?"
"Bunch of spoiled rich bastards, wanna spice up their tired little sex lives. They pretend to be pirates. Like little kids, but with sex."
"Which is where I come in," I said. "Sounds intriguing. Do go on."
"Not much more to tell. They need women to dress up like pirate wenches and be accessible."
"Hmm. I haven't been a wench since the opera job. That was fun. Okay, I'll do it. Set it up."
"Yeah. That's my girl."
"You're supposed to say 'Aye, me pretty.'"
"Fuck."