Dear Diary,
I'm delighted to finally be able to write in your pages. I'm Aline, 24 years old, escort-girl for a few months now. And your mission, if you accept it, is to keep secret the story of my good and bad adventures with my clients. The juicy anecdotes, my feelings and my states of mind.
I hope you'll keep all my secrets well hidden. Okay, promise? All right, then!
You're probably wondering how a shy girl like me ended up choosing this business. I'm not particularly prettier than the average girl, yet here I am, getting paid $1,000 a night for cuddles and more.
I became an escort in the most unconventional way: by getting a girl fired from my job. Six months ago, if you'd told me I'd become a "highly selective prostitute", I'd have laughed in your face. It's amazing how little can change our lives and our view of the world.
I had worked for over three years in a large company in the human resources department. In this job, we sometimes have to deal with emotionally difficult situations, such as when we have to announce the dismissal of an employee.
The CEO challenged me to tell three people they'd been made redundant. A rather brutal way of testing my resistance. While I'd managed to break the bad news to the two young people for whom I had no worries about their chances of finding a new job, I found myself at a loss when it came to Emma. She's older than me, full of life and always positive. She had worked hard to get this job. As a young mother about to move in with her partner, the announcement I had to make to her meant that her plans for home and marriage were in doubt. It was like taking away the light that made her shine in the halls.
It was beyond my strength! I was terrified of crying in front of her, of her begging me to save her. I finally did some administrative acrobatics to reschedule the appointment.
I couldn't sleep that night and arrived at the office in the morning looking like hell. I went to knock on the door of my colleague Julien, ten years my junior, with whom I got on well. I walked into the office and he immediately knew something was wrong. I sat down in front of him and explained that I couldn't tell Emma about the terrible decision. He listened sympathetically and leaned back in his chair, taking a deep breath. He looked at me and announced in a very natural tone:
- You've got to do it, Aline. But if it's really beyond you because you're close to Emma, I'll do it for you this time.
He paused for a moment, then added:
- But you'll owe me a favor.