The party wasn't much to write home about. All the guests were part of His Lordship's work in some way and so it was a mix of businessmen, bankers and politicians that I didn't recognise. Thankfully none of them were clients.
His Lordship's work seemed to involve little more than schmoozing important people on behalf of some finance company, and it seemed that such was the allure of aristocracy that his presence alone was enough to provide a substantial benefit to the company that paid him for his time. Still, there were a lot of very influential, and wealthy, men and women present that night, and I only wished I had some way to surreptitiously hand out business cards while I was mingling.
It had required only a little background briefing from His Lordship for me to be able to converse on some level with those at the party, and since there were no relatives on the invite list the cover story that I was their niece was accepted without question. I got the feeling that my low-cut dress provided a little bit of spice to the evening in any case, and since part of my job was to converse it came easily to me. It also helped that, over the years, I've listened to many men talking (at length) about their work - a subject that most of them seemed comfortable with in an uncomfortable situation - and thus had picked up a small amount of knowledge about a large number of subjects.
From time-to-time over the evening I would catch His Lordship's eye across the room, but I spent more time making sure that Her Ladyship was at ease. I had a feeling that she was my main purpose for being invited, since he was busy most of the evening. Her Ladyship was just as skilled as I was in erudite, stimulating conversation, and was a beautiful and charming woman herself, but I think she felt comforted from seeing a friendly face across the crowded room.
I had discovered a much more sensual side to her than I had expected over the past few days. I now knew that she reacted well to touch, and each time I rested my fingers on her arm it was almost as if I recharged a battery within her. I wonder if she remembered what I was wearing, that beneath my short, tight dress was nothing at all. I would put money on her remembering it very well indeed.
The evening seemed to drag on longer than I had expected but eventually the last of the guests left, the catering company packed up their things and we had the place to ourselves. His Lordship slumped into an armchair and Her Ladyship sat opposite.
"I think that was quite a successful party," he assessed, "But I'm shattered."
I looked at the clock: it was nearly one in the morning.
"Me too," Her Ladyship agreed, "How are you still on your feet Camilla?"
I couldn't really say "because you're paying me for my energy", so I replied: "Plenty of water and not too much champagne." They smiled, and it was partly the truth.
"You know what I could do with now?" His Lordship said to no-one in particular, "A nice, quiet, relaxing drink before bed." He looked wistfully at the drinks cabinet. "Although I'd much prefer it if the catering company were still here to make it for me."
"I know a thing or two about mixing drinks," I said. It was another small part of my training back when I had plans of being a personal assistant, that and a very short stint working behind a bar before I fell into the escort business. "What would you like?"
"Oh, I don't know," he said, "Why don't you surprise me?" There was a touch of flirtation in his voice which was pleasant to hear, although he had given me the worst possible answer. I'd much rather he just told me what he liked so I didn't have to guess.
I looked over at the extensive drinks cabinet to see what they had. The possibilities were pretty large, and there was even ice and a shaker.
"Have you ever had a Negroni?" I asked him.
He thought for a second. "I don't think I have. Do you think I'll like it?"
I wouldn't have suggested it otherwise, I thought, and I'd seen His Lordship drinking gin and tonics and Manhattans so I felt I was on safe ground.
"You'll like it," I said with a wink, "Trust me." It was better that I retained some sense of mystery as to how I was so sure, but all those hours of drinking only minimally and paying attention to what my clients liked generally paid off.
"Mrs-?" I began to ask Her Ladyship.
"Oh, please," Her Ladyship said, "And call me Victoria, will you Camilla? I think we've known each other long enough."
It was said as if I'd been persistently refusing to address Her Ladyship by her first name, when this was the first time I'd been invited to use it.
"Victoria," I said with a smile, "Can you give me a hand? I don't want to risk the shaker coming apart and getting sticky alcohol all over this beautiful dress you bought for me."
I turned my back to her and presented the zip. I smiled to myself, wondering what kind of expressions they would have on their faces. Well, this was part of my job, wasn't it?
Victoria's fingers pinched at the zip and slid it down to the small of my back.
"Thank you," I said, turning back to them and smiling as I pulled the dress off of my shoulders.
I heard His Lordship's intake of breath as he realised I didn't have a bra underneath. Then I wriggled the dress over my hips, and there was another intake of breath as he saw I had no underwear at all. Her Ladyship - sorry, Victoria - also smiled, and I think she knew what was going to happen as soon as I had asked her to unzip the dress.
I stepped out of the expensive garment, folded it neatly, and draped it over the back of a high-backed chair. I would have liked to have finally taken my high heels off, but for all the show of relaxing I was very much still at work.
I walked carefully to the drinks cabinet, conscious that they would both be watching every step of my tall, olive-skinned, nude physique. Even something as simple as walking was something that needed to be practised if one wanted to become a high-class escort, and I had very much perfected it.
