Mandy gets a call from an old friend. She needs her to help her out. Her boy friend agrees the cash might come in useful, but he doesn't know the whole story.
I tossed the holiday brochure back onto the table as the phone rang. I couldn't afford those prices anyway. I looked at the phone. I didn't recognize the number. I pressed the receive button. "Hello?"
"Mandy, is that you?" a breathless voice at the other end asked me.
"Yes, who's this?"
"Christine."
"Christine! My God, where have you appeared from?
I thought you were working abroad."
"Yes, I was, but I'm back, and I was wondering how you are and if maybe you could help me out."
"If it's doing what I think it is, no way."
"You haven heard what the job is."
"I don't need to hear. If it's one of your jobs, it will mean either one or a bunch of guys seeing me naked at some stage."
There was a giggle at the end of the line. "Well, you used to enjoy it."
She was right, I thought to myself. I did enjoy those days, but they were all over when I met Cliff and we settled down together.
"Sorry, Christine, but I couldn't do it; not now; I'm with Cliff. He's not that sort of guy."
"Look, think about it. There's £500 in it. Let's meet up for coffee tomorrow."
"Okay, I'd love to meet you, but the answer's still no."
She sounded crestfallen, but said okay. "Let's have coffee then, and chat about old times."
"Okay, I'll see you at eleven tomorrow in Starbucks in the precinct."
I clicked off the phone and dropped it back on the table on top of the holiday brochure depicting a lovely beach with palm trees and golden sands. And the headline: Special offers from £500.
Cliff arrived home from work looking sullen. He kissed me on the cheek and gave me a hug.
"Bad day?"
He nodded. "And it's going to get worse. If we don't get that order from Bishops, we will be on short time," he said sitting down at the table.
His tea and steak were ready and I placed them in front of him. He nodded. "Thanks, darling; looks wonderful. He picked up his knife and fork and dug into the steak.
He ate in silence for a while, then looked up. "What sort of day have you had? Any replies from your job applications?"
"No, nothing yet, but I did get a call from an old friend: Christine. She's back in town."
He looked up. "Christine? Isn't she the one you used to work with? Didn't you do stripper grams or something like that?"
I nodded, my face reddening slightly.
"What did she want? Not offering you a job, was she? I hear there's very good money in that game."
I looked at him. Was he serious? "Well, she did offer me a job, but I said no. That is all in my past."
He sliced off and ate another piece of steak and chewed on it thoughtfully. "What's the job and how much would you get for it?"
I looked at him. "You are saying I should do it?"
"Depends on what its worth and what it is. If this Bishop contract falls through, we are going to need every penny."
"I don't know what the job is. I didn't ask her, but she said it was worth £500."
"£500!" he said, almost choking on a piece of steak. "With tax off and other deductions, that's more than I get for a week's work. I think we need to talk about this."
Over coffee and dessert, I told him about Christine's job. "Promotions, she called it. She works for companies at exhibitions and promotions by adding a bit of glamour to the proceedings which usually means displaying her body. As a side line, she also does strip-a-grams for bachelor parties and such like."
"Does she get naked?" he asked.
I shrugged. "That depends on the client, but, yes, it does mean naked, or just about."
"And how do you feel about that? You've always quite liked showing yourself off."
I grinned. "That was in the old days. Now that I'm with you things are different."
He smiled and nodded. "That's okay, and I appreciate that, but things change. I guess it's a way of getting us out of a situation. We can't even afford a holiday this year."
I looked at him, surprised. "You wouldn't mind me showing myself off naked to a bunch of strangers?"
He wiped the last dregs of dessert off his plate before he spoke. "Of course I would mind. I love you! You know that, but if you've got something you can sell, and it's going to get us out of a situation, then we all need to make sacrifices."
I was slightly stunned by all this. I had been with Cliff for over four years. We had a great relationship, and I would never in the world have thought he would agree to any of this, but here he was almost persuading me.
In bed later that night we tenderly made love, and afterwards we lay on our backs holding hands, allowing the air conditioning to cool our bodies.
"If you would rather not do it, I will understand," he said quietly.
"Do what?" I asked.
"Work with Christine."
I squeezed his hand. "It's you I'm thinking about. How are you going to feel about other guys seeing me naked?"