The Fall of Laura

Over the years I have told many stories in my head, and written some down in part or in full. But this is the first that I have published. Constructive criticism welcome.

This tale began as a sub-plot in another story. I thought it deserved more space and could stand alone. This is part 1, there are more to follow.

Prologue

I studied English at a redbrick university, got a good degree, and landed a job with a small but prestigious literary publishing house in London. Once I had found a handsome, wealthy husband and had a couple of kids with him my dreams would be complete.

It didn't work out that way. Does it ever?

I think of it as 'my fall from grace', which sounds as if I regret what happened. I don't. I enjoyed the journey and the people I met along the way and, yes, I found a handsome, wealthy man to marry.

New Job

The job turned out to be awful. Basically, I was there as eye-candy - or 'hot totty' as I overheard one of the senior staff describing my role - to charm grumpy authors and pander to cantankerous staff. The pay was rubbish, and I could not see any prospects. That might be OK for someone whose parents had paid for their education, but not me, I had student loans to pay off. I was sharing a squalid apartment with two other girls. Most of my pay was going on rent and other expenses so I had nothing spare to fund visits to fancy night-clubs hunting for Mr Right. The only thing that pleased me about it was the name of the company "Moreton and Weiss"; I smiled every time I answered an outside call.

Other than that, I was miserable.

Most of my friends who had moved to London after uni were miserable too. Their complaints were much the same as mine: poor pay, high costs, debts. A couple had jobs with prospects, but future rewards don't pay current bills.

The exception was Anna. She was an old school friend who had also done an English degree, albeit at a different university. She also had a job in publishing, but her employer specialised in weighty tomes by serious academics. It sounded like the authors were easier to deal with, but her bosses were worse than mine. Several had commented on her breasts, and another had grabbed her arse ... twice; the second time earned him a slap which cooled his ardour and elicited a huge bouquet of flowers and a snivelling apology.

We discussed the situation over lunch one Saturday. Anna wanted out, and I could not blame her.

So far, her story was much like mine, but I noticed she wasn't complaining about money, and, despite my protests, she had insisted on paying for my meal too. So, I asked how she was doing financially. She went strangely quiet. Thinking that I had offended her I scrambled to apologise but she shut me up.

"It's OK" she said "I have a second job which pays well. In fact, I was wondering whether to tell you about it."

"A well-paying second job, sounds amazing! Do you get a company unicorn to ride to work? And more importantly, do they have any vacancies?

She glanced at me, clearly uncertain. "Er, haven't been offered a unicorn yet, but yes they do have vacancies. However, I don't think you are going to like the work."

By now my mind was racing. What could it be: stripping? prostitution? drugs mule? It turned out that I was close to the mark. Anna looked around to see if anyone could hear what she was about to say and took a deep breath.

"I met this woman who organises parties for rich businessmen. They are usually in private suites at posh hotels in the West End. I get paid £50 an hour to carry around trays of drinks and snacks, chat with them, that kind of thing. The parties last a while, so I usually earn £250 to £300 per night, sometimes more."

"Wow" I gasped, "that's way more than minimum wage! There must be a catch."

"There is. I have to be completely naked. All night."

She laughed, "do you think you can stop gawping? You look like a goldfish with lockjaw."

I managed to close my mouth.

Anna continued, "you don't have to have sex with them or anything, but inevitably there are comments and wandering hands. Not unlike the day job really, but the pay is much better and, in a strange way, most of the guests are more respectful.

"What do you think? Could you do it?"

"Um, dunno, I, er, well, gosh" I burbled incoherently.

Anna laughed. "Take a moment. Breathe. Think. Ask me questions."

I took a moment. I breathed. I thought. I formulated questions.

"Why are you telling me this now?"

"A couple of reasons" she replied. "Firstly, you asked about my second job. Secondly, Stella, the organiser, had asked if I knew anybody that might be suitable, and I immediately thought of you. But I decided not to in case you thought less of me. Then you asked, and I wanted to be honest.

"You know me, always decisive."

"Fair enough. I don't think less of you; I might even be in awe of your bravery. And thanks for the honesty, I appreciate that.

"Next question. How often do you do this?"

"Two or three times a week now, but I started with once every few weeks, when they were short-staffed. It is a bit of a head-scrambler so probably best not to rush it at first."

I did some maths in my head.

"Holy shit, that's a lot of money!"

"Yup" she said. "My student debt is almost gone, and I am hoping to move into a decent flat."

"Nice" I replied. "Do you pay tax on it?"

Anna hesitated, "some, but Stella has this great accountant who deals with that side of things. Basically, there is an official payment that gets taxed and another off the books, which doesn't."

"Gotcha. Sweet.

"Next. Are you sure about the not having sex part?"

"Sure. I mean you can if you want, and you'll get paid extra for that, but it's not necessary."

"Do you, er ..." I trailed off.

"Sometimes. It's worth £500 every time, Stella makes sure of that, and it's off the books, so no tax.

"To be honest, that's where the real money is. A couple of pops per night and, well, goodbye student loans." She grinned.

"Fuck!" was all I could manage.

"Fuck indeed" she responded.

I collected my thoughts for a moment.

"Right, is it dangerous?"

"Definitely not. Most of the guests are professionals, they have reputations to protect. Plus, Stella is very on the ball, and there is always a gorilla in a suit around just in case somebody gets carried away. I have never seen him need to get involved and never heard of any trouble either."

"Sounds good. Do you think I have got what it takes?" I asked.

"Physically, no question" she answered "mentally, I cannot be sure. You are smart, determined, self-aware, so I think probably 'yes'."

"Thanks."

I hesitated.

"Do you have an application form?"

"No" Anna laughed, "you'll need to meet Stella. I can set that up."

And she did.

Interview

The next day Anna and I met Stella for lunch. It was a flashier place than the day before. Anna had told me to dress stylishly so I was wearing my best work outfit - OK my usual work outfit - consisting of a modestly cut, dress, in black. I had grey and dark blue versions of the same design that I wore in rotation. But I had switched my usual tights for hold-up stockings, and comfortable shoes for my highest heels. Dressing nicely for an interview about a nude job seemed rather counter-intuitive, but I wanted to feel good, which I did. But I felt wildly over-dressed for a Sunday.

Lunch went well. Stella started with questions about my background, my job, and my living situation. Then she moved on to more personal stuff: how I felt about nudity, my attitude to sex, and so on. She explained the job pretty much as Anna had done but skipped the details about 'extras'.

"Are you interested?" she asked. I nodded that I was.

"Great, I think you have potential" she announced.

"Good recommendation" she nodded at Anna, who blushed.

"The final thing is that I need to see the goods."

"What?"

She looked at me as you might a rather dim child asking a particularly stupid question.

"I need to see you naked. It won't take long. My apartment is in the next building. I do all interviews here for that reason."

On reflection, it was an obvious requirement, but at the time I felt angry at Anna for not warning me explicitly. Stella paid the bill, and we left the restaurant.

Her apartment was on the top floor of the adjacent townhouse. She led us through to a lovely, light-filled, lounge area and simply told me to strip. Obviously, this was not the time or place for shyness. I maintained eye contact with Stella as I unzipped my dress, wriggled so that it dropped to the floor, unhooked my bra, and pushed down my panties.

I couldn't resist doing a flourish with my arms, "Ta-daa!"

Anna giggled but Stella was not amused. She walked around me, studying me from every angle, then handed me a tray that had been resting on a coffee-table in the middle of the room.

"OK, walk to the door and back as if that was full of drinks."

I did as she instructed. When I passed her on my way back she grabbed my arse. I was expecting something like this and concentrated on keeping the tray level.

"Very good" she purred. "You're hired! Can you do next Friday, 6pm?"

I nodded that I could.

"Right. The heels and stockings that you have on are fine. Please wear earrings and a necklace; nothing trashy. For consistency I like all the girls to be wearing the same perfume so don't put any on yourself. Dress conservatively on your way to the suite, there'll be a room where you can get ready. I will text you details that afternoon.

Anna is also working that night, so I suggest you meet beforehand. She will show you how to get upstairs.

"I have things to do. See yourselves out."

With that she turned and headed deeper into the apartment.

I looked at Anna and giggled "very business-like".

"Yup. That's why she has made a lot of money, I mean, just look at this place" she gestured around us. "It is also why we are pretty safe."

I nodded.

"C'mon, get dressed. I will buy you a ridiculously over-priced cocktail to celebrate!"

I did. She did.

First party

Anna and I spoke several times during the following week. I suspected that she wanted to make sure her 'star recruit' was not going to back out, but I was glad of the encouragement. So, just before 6pm, we met outside the designated hotel.

Anna held my hands, "you'll be great" was all she said.

I nodded and followed her inside. Anna went to the reception desk and, after a brief conversation, received two envelopes. As we headed to the lifts, she handed one, with my name hand-written on it, to me and opened the other. Inside was a magnetic keycard that she used to take us to the top floor.

At the appropriate door she used it again to let us inside where Stella was directing various hotel staff as they prepared the room.

"Laura, so pleased that you are here," she smiled before instantly switching straight back to business mode "the changing room is down the hall, last door on the left. I will be there as soon as these imbeciles have done their job."

Anna led the way.

Three others were already there. All naked. Things were getting real.

They introduced themselves as Kate, Liz, and Rod. I swallowed a laugh at the latter's name and tried not to stare at his considerable member.

Anna was already undressing, "C'mon Laura, show time!"

Seemingly indifferent to their nudity the others chatted easily as they finished their preparations. Reluctantly I began to get ready too: clothes off, stockings and heels on, make-up refreshed, and hair brushed. A trip to the loo and I was ready, just in time too. Stella had arrived to brief us on the evening, who the guests were, what she expected of us and so on. She applied perfume to each of us as she talked. After that there was a quick tour of the suite: where the bathrooms and bedrooms were, the location of the kitchen where a tiny Asian woman named Sunny supplied food and drinks, and were introduced to Gerald, the heavily muscled security 'gorilla'.

Stella glanced at her watch, "the guests will be here soon. Get ready. Anna, Laura, I want you here by the door with drinks. The rest of you be ready to take coats and generally make our guests comfortable."

It was only as we waited by the door that my situation sunk in. I was completely nude in front of a bunch of strangers, and I was going to stay that way for hours. Worse, I was I turned on. My nipples were hard, and I was feeling a bit wet. I blushed.

Anna noticed my discomfort, "don't worry, the first time is always a bit weird. You'll be fine, I'll make sure of that. I have hosted a party with this group before and they were all well behaved."

I nodded my thanks.

There wasn't long to wait. There was a knock on the door and a couple of smartly-dressed guys entered. Stella greeted them like old friends, introduced Anna and I, and urged them to have great evening. Before long there were a total of ten guests chatting with the hosts and amongst themselves. Stella prowled around, making sure that all the guests had what they wanted.

Anna and I kept up a constant flow of food and drink. I noticed that occasionally Kate, Liz and even Rod led a guest towards the bedrooms. I wanted to ask Anna about that but there was no opportunity.

Finally, it was over.

I staggered back to the changing room, in agony from my feet and calves. Six hours on your feet is bad enough but doing it in high heels is another thing entirely. Anna helped me get dressed. As we left Stella handed an envelope to each of us.

She smiled at me, "Well done. I hope you will join us again soon".

A hotel bell-boy called a taxi for us and Anna took me to her place; I was exhausted.

I awoke in her bed next morning.

"Hello sleepy head" she greeted me. "Get your act together while I make us some breakfast".

I grunted my assent.

A few minutes later we were sat in her kitchen eating muesli. Inevitably we spoke about the previous evening. She asked for my impressions, and how I felt. It was too soon. My responses were monosyllabic.

"Still processing?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'm not horrified but my thoughts are a whirl at the moment."

"Understandable. How about we meet up in a few days' time. Have a proper talk."

I agreed.

Back for more

In the following days I thought a lot about the party. Somewhat to my surprise I did not regret what I had done. Apart from the heels of course, I was still feeling the effects of wearing those. I told Stella that when she called me on the Sunday evening.

"You'd better get used to that" she laughed. "Happy to do another party next Friday?"

"Too soon to be sure, but probably. Can I call you?"

"Great, I'll pencil you in. Please confirm by 5pm Wednesday in case I need to find someone else."

"That's fair," I said, "will do."

~~~

Anna and I met at a cosy little restaurant close to our offices. Sitting in a corner booth we talked at length, speaking quietly so that we could not be overheard.

I told her that I was comfortable with the idea of doing more parties. The money was main reason, but the attention was a bonus. Being naked in front of clothed men had been unexpectedly thrilling. My favourite vibrator had been on overdrive since.

The thing I really wanted to ask about was what happened when one of the hosts took a guest back to a bedroom.

She looked at me pityingly "what do you think happens?"

"Yeah, stupid question. I guess what I wanted to know was how the guests knew to approach the willing hosts but not to trouble us."

"Thinking of doing it then?"

"I guess I am."

"Good.

"Well, it's pretty simple really. The hosts that do extras wear a bracelet on the right wrist if they do men, left for women, both if they are flexible. There are condoms and lube in each bedroom. Each session is supposed to last a maximum of half an hour, but we don't watch the clock too hard, Stella allows some leeway. She puts the payment, £500 per session, in an envelope at the end of the night."

I thought about what she had said.

"You didn't do any, er, sessions on Friday."

"No, Stella and I agreed that I should focus on you."

"Thanks."

"No problem. So, are you in?"

I thought for a moment.

"I am happy to do another party as a regular host, but not ready for extras ... yet. Maybe later. I will let Stella know."

Anna gave me a broad smile. "Great, it feels really good to have you as my partner in crime."

I smiled back.

On the journey home I texted Stella.

There was an immediate 'thumbs up' emoji in reply.

~~~

A few days later I was at another West End hotel. This time I arrived by myself, collecting my own key from the reception desk.

The set up was like the previous evening. A large suite with multiple bedrooms, one reserved as a changing room for the hosts, a kitchen with Sunny in command, and Gerald looming by the door.

The team of hosts was the same too, except that we were joined by another guy, apparently called Dick. A stage name I guessed.

This time I paid attention to the hosts wrists. Everybody, including Anna, had a bracelet on their right wrist. I was the only one without.

Anna noticed where I was looking. "Don't worry. There will always be somebody helping with serving. You'll be fine."

I nodded but I could not help feeling like odd one out, a 'wallflower' at a disco. I smiled at the ridiculousness of that comparison; I was going to be stark bollock-naked all evening."

Once again Anna and I were on welcome-drinks duty. This time the guests were a group of Arabs, eleven by my count. I was a bit apprehensive, a tabloid tale too many perhaps, but they behaved as well, or badly if you will, as the previous group.

Apart from a few straying hands I was not troubled. The other hosts, including Anna, all took a guest back to a bedroom at least once.

At the end of the evening my envelope from Stella should have been as satisfying as before, but I could not help noticing that it was slimmer than the one the others received.

Unlike the previous week I got a taxi alone, heading back to my own flat. I could not help wondering about Anna's new place which was bound to be an improvement on mine. But, I did not feel ready to go any further than I had so far.

A surprising offer

Next morning I received another text from Stella, "Thursday?"

"Yes" I replied, thinking that I was going to struggle at work the following day, then I realised that I did not care.

~~~

Thursday came and I was back at the hotel where the Arab party had been.

This time the guests were Japanese. There was a girl, Jessica, who I had not met before but no sign of Rod or Dick, Kate was missing too. When I arrived, Stella took me aside.

"Laura, I am very sorry to spring this on you, but Kate has called in sick, so I am short of a girl that does extras. There's only Anna and Liz and, that's not enough. Do you think that you could do it? This party is for an important client, so I'll give you a bit extra."

I hesitated, but not for long, "OK."

She pressed a bracelet into my palm, "put this on your right wrist. If ... when ... somebody asks you to join him in one of rooms, you are in charge. Make sure they wear a condom. Don't let him come in your mouth unless you are willing. Anal, if you are up for that, costs extra but make sure they know that in advance. If it happens give me a nod when you return to the main room. Scream if there is any trouble, Gerald will be there ASAP."

It was a lot to take in. I nodded my agreement.

Jessica, it turned out, was a newbie. She looked like a rabbit in the headlights. I suspected that I had worn the same expression just two short weeks before. Whoever had introduced her was not present, so Anna was on 'new-girl duty' once more. That meant I was a greeter for the first time. My role was to make sure that guests were entertained, their needs were met promptly, stories appreciated, and so on. And, if they wanted, that they were fucked.