Silvie's story.
I assume you already know about me from Angela's story. Woops, sorry I keep forgetting to call her Angel as Mrs.B has renamed her. Anyway, I appear in that story in a very flattering light. So typical of Angel. She's always keen to praise others but is shy about taking any credit for herself. One thing she cannot deny is that she started this whole story writing idea. She wrote the first part and then involved Julie in her little conspiracy. Then she showed me both their efforts.
I read them and became intrigued, as well as more than a little aroused I admit. What I didn't realise was that I was to become part of their little plan. I gave her my critique as she had asked me to do and she listened attentively. I suggested one or two very minor changes and she made notes. I'm pleased to see, now that they have been published, that she made those changes. When she had listened to me, she sprung her trap.
"I want you to write the next part," she announced, in such a way that she didn't even consider that I might say no.
"But I'm not a writer," I protested, "besides I wasn't even there that night, although reading about it makes me wish I had been."
"Jewel and I have discussed it. We want to fill in some background, about how things started. You were there before Jewel and it was you who dragged me along and got me involved."
"Jewel?" I asked, wondering who this new girl could be.
"Julie," she replied, looking exasperated at my dim-wittedness, "Mrs.B thought it a nice change when she promoted her."
"Oh, okay," I said, a little taken aback by this news, "but can't one of the other girls do that?"
"No, we both want you to do it. You have to, please say yes," she pleaded.
And so here I am stuck with an unexpected task of filling in all sorts of blanks which I'm not sure any of you are interested in. Maybe its best to start with how I got to be part of the Agency. At the time I was working in a call centre. I don't know if any of you have done so but its one of the worst jobs in the world. There were eight of us crammed into a windowless room, each sat at a little cubicle with a phone and a computer. The truth is the company really needed about ten times as many of us to deal with the number of calls. The result was that people had to wait for ages to get through, so they were already pissed off when we finally answered them. I was sworn at and abused on a daily basis. After three months I was thoroughly fed up with it.
Three of us went out together for a drink one Friday after work. We intended just to wind down from a frenetic week and then go home. I was making a trip to the bar for my round of drinks and I nudged the arm of a girl who was sitting on one of the bar stools and nearly spilled her drink. I apologise profusely and she was happy to accept it which was a relief. She was about my age and we started chatting. Her name was Ruth and, after I'd taken my friends their drinks I went back and sat on the stool next to her. It turned out we had a lot in common. We were the same age and we were both lesbians. Okay, she had a proper partner that she lived with whereas I just had Angel, but it was very much the same. As we chatted the subject of work came up and I admitted how much I hated my current job. When I said that, she went silent and looked at me seriously.
She asked me how much I earned and responded with a "oh shit!" when I told her. that was when she dropped her first bombshell.
"I earn between five hundred and a thousand for an evening's work. I only do three or four evenings a week. Sometimes I get paid even more."
My eyes widened when she said this. She earned as much in an evening as I did in a week. My suspicions should have been raised with the mention of evening, but I was a bit naΓ―ve. I just knew I had to find out more.
I took a swig of my wine and then asked, "what on earth do you do?"
"I get taken out to dinner," she replied and grinned at me.
That grin made me think she was having a joke with me. "Stop kidding, what do you really do?"
"Its true," she insisted, "and sometimes I get put up in swanky hotels overnight or over the weekend."
I still couldn't quite trust what she was saying but a light was beginning to dawn somewhere deep in my brain. I have a bit of a reputation for being gullible, Angel will attest to that, and I was half congratulating myself with not being caught out for once when she went on.
"Let me explain. I work for an agency whose clients are all well off successful women. Mostly in business but there are a few lawyers and even a judge. Some live here, others are just here on business. They want to go out to dinner but not on their own. They are happy to pay the agency a fee to be introduced to a young woman, such as myself, who can be expected to know how to behave in a posh restaurant."
"They are willing to pay five hundred for an evening?" I asked incredulously.
"They pay Mrs.B a fee for the introduction. She's the woman who organises everything. They pay me separately at the end of the evening."
"And they are happy to pay that much just to take you out to dinner?" I still couldn't quite believe it.
"Some are," she said and then leant towards me and lowered her voice, "and some will pay more for a few extras."
Suddenly the light, which had been slowly getting brighter, burst into its full glory.
"You're an escort!" I said almost as an accusation.
"We are known as companions," she replied defensively.
I picked up my drink and took a large gulp, trying to make sense of all this information. When I turned back to her she was still sitting, looking pretty and smiling. She certainly didn't look like a girl hired for sex by bored rich women.
"Are they all old?" I asked.
"The clients? No not at all. They range from mid-thirties to mid-fifties mostly. There's one who's getting close to sixty but she's the exception ... she's also one of the most generous."
I nodded as I began to understand. I don't know where it came from, but a tempting thought entered my head, "they don't sound too bad." I pushed it aside quickly.
"Listen, I have to go. I have a 'meeting'. I think you'd be perfect so let me give you my card. Think it over and give me a ring."
She slipped a card across the bar towards me and stood up. after wishing me a pleasant evening she walked out of the pub. I glanced down at the card in my hand. It simply gave her first name, a mobile number and an e-mail although the last was that of the agency she'd talked about. I was slowly brought back to reality by the quiet hubbub of the pub. I picked up my drink and went to join my two colleagues. They were about to leave so I let them go, thankful not to have to answer any awkward questions. I sat at the empty table mulling over the events of this evening. Eventually, with my glass empty, I got up and left the pub to catch the bus home before the city centre got too rowdy.