The Start of things.
The whole thing started with a discussion among a group of us in the rest room at Hinkerman's, the company where I worked in the typing pool.
It was all about how far you would be willing to go for money. It had started with a reality TV program that had been shown the previous evening, where girls had been offered money to flash their boobs in public.
The shows presenter could have offered the girls up to Β£100, but it was surprising just how little he got away with. There was one especially attractive young lady who willingly showed her generous assets to the thousands of viewers for the paltry sum of Β£20.
The discussion went on for some time and it seemed that most of us around the table would be willing to do almost anything legal if the money was right.
Just then Mandy from admin chipped in. "What about actually having sex with someone, like in that Michael Douglas film, where he offered this guy a lot of money to sleep with his wife?."
We all glanced at each other. No one wanted to take the lead at this point, so I shook my head and smiled. "If the amount of money offered me was going to make a big difference to my life, I would certainly consider it."
What escaped my notice at the time was that sitting at the next table to us there was someone who was sipping slowly on his cup of coffee, taking a great interest in our conversation.
I was back at my desk later that afternoon when I received a call to go over to head office, which was situated a few blocks away from where I worked in the distribution office. I called and informed my head of section that I had to leave, but she told me that she had already been notified. It was a little worrying to be called to head office, as they did not say what it was about, just that I was to report to the main reception desk.
The very attractive receptionist who greeted me was wearing what I thought was a rather low-cut dress. She smiled, asked me my name, and then consulted her list on her desk. She informed me that my meeting was with the Chief Executive Officer's Personal Assistant, a Keith Mellor. She gave me directions to his office, and then handed me a pass.
"You will need this to get into the head office section," she said, flashing me a beaming smile.
As I rode up on the elevator, I was still a little worried, and wondering why I had been called over to head office. Emerging from the lift, I swiped the card in the unit at the side of the door. It opened to admit me into a rather plush section. An attractive man who looked to be in his mid 40's was waiting for me.
"Samantha?" he said, holding out his hand. "Pleased to meet you."
He took my arm and led me up the wide corridor with doors down both sides and ushered me into a spacious office. It was fitted out to a very high standard of luxury. It also had large picture windows that overlooked the river and the riverside walk.
"Take a seat, Samantha. Can I offer you a cool drink?" he said, indicating a tray on which was a large pitcher of iced orange juice.
I smiled and nodded. "That would be very nice. Thank you, sir."
He got up from behind his large desk and poured out two glasses of orange juice, handing one to me as he sat down. Then he began to look through some papers on his desk.
"Just want to go through a few things with you, if that's alright." He said. I nodded.
"I see you are not married." Again I nodded.
"Do you have a boy friend at the moment?"
"Not at the moment," I said with a slight smile. "I'm just between them." He smiled.
"Do you live on your own?" he asked.
I nodded and told him that I did, and that I had only a few weeks ago moved into a new apartment.
"Do you like working for Hinkermans?" he asked.
"Yes, I like it very much."
"Do we pay you enough?"
I looked at him, smiling. "Well, yes, the pay's not bad," I said, "but if you are offering me a pay raise, I can certainly put it to good use." He nodded his head knowingly, and smiled.
"What is your take home pay, about Β£1200 a month?" he asked.
"Around that, sometimes a little either way, depends on bonuses."
"How would you like to maybe double that?" he asked. "Say, Β£3000 a month?"
I looked at him in amazement. "For doing what?" I asked.
"Well, that depends on you, young lady. I have been informed that you would be willing to do almost anything if the money were right?" He looked straight at me.
I quickly remembered the discussion we had at lunchtime. How the hell had he found out about that so quickly?
I smiled. "That was just a bit of a laugh, sir," I said.