Waiting for my order in Armin's Lebanese deli, I got to thinking that one really nice thing about working as an escort was that the money I was making let me eat a whole lot better. Working at below minimum wage and doing odd jobs, I'd eaten lots of oatmeal, bought day-old bread and carried a bag lunch to work. Now I could just bike over to a deli and order a pastrami sandwich and salad -- no sweat. After the session that morning with Maureen, I'd worked up a pretty good appetite for lunch and Armin's generous portions were welcome.
Eating lunch alone is a good chance to people watch. But today, my mind was going over too much stuff to concentrate on folks coming in and out of the deli. First there was reminiscing over the morning's fun with Maureen in the break room at the J&B office. Other stuff though wasn't quite so pleasant -- mainly the thing with Fatim and what the hell was Wasim up to. I'd have to come to grips with that if another date came my way.
Intending to go on a couple-hour bike ride that afternoon, I biked back towards home to change into shorts. Passing the J&B office, something seemed amiss, but I couldn't figure out what the hell it was. Jolene's Mercedes was there as usual because she would have to be back from her meeting. Maureen's Chevy was there and some other cars as well. I rode on a little further and it came to me: The black BMW sedan and a gray Chevy Suburban didn't belong there. I turned around and from across the street watched the J&B office for 15 or 20 minutes and snapped a few shots with my cell phone camera. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but I still wasn't satisfied. Somehow those cars had the look of trouble. I rang the office on the pretense of not being sure about the time to meet my Friday client who I was to escort to a party. Maureen answered. From the tone of her voice I knew that at least nobody was getting beaten up so I decided to let things go and write off my near panic to nerves.
Friday
There was no convenient bus line going anywhere near the TGI Fridays where I was supposed to meet the client named Kay, so I ended up taking a taxi. Kind of high class for me but what the hell, the $30 taxi was small change compared to what I'd get as a 'tip'. I walked in shortly before six and scanned around for a brown haired woman wearing black slacks and a white blouse and sitting alone. Maureen hadn't told me the client's age or if she had long or short hair or if she was thin, fat or in between.
Beyond that pretty basic description and that the client's name was 'Kay', Maureen had told me I was supposed to be her date for a party and to dress smart casual -- jacket but no tie.
Walking in, I told the hostess I was meeting someone and proceeded to scan around. Not seeing anyone likely, I swallowed my male-never-ask-for-help pride and went back out to the hostess. Based on the sketchy description of the client, the hostess, after asking my name, pointed out a booth occupied by a brown haired woman who appeared to be around 30. Apparently Kay had told the hostess she was expecting a guy named Ralph.
With good looking clients, like Audrey and Marilyn, it takes a while to find out why they'd ever need or want to hire an escort. Audrey, the Silicon Valley executive was an alpha type who loved having power over men, at work and at play. At the same time, she had a big need to let off steam. Marilyn, married to a gay senator, just needed a man to appreciate her lovely body.
With others, it's no surprise that they go the escort route. Like my first client, Denise, late 50's and carrying some extra pounds, her cardiologist husband preferred the juicy pussy of a young nurse. He couldn't service both and Denise had to do without. The bottom line is, there are women who just can't bop into a disco and get picked up. So when they really want to get serviced, they have to go to outfits like J&B.
Kay fell into the second group, but not for reason of age or fat. No, when I got closer, my initial impression of her age - 30ish -- was confirmed and she wasn't overweight. No way. Big boned for a girl perhaps, but not fat. She was one of those women who aren't ugly, but still wouldn't make many men turn their heads either.
Her long brown hair was pulled back severely to end in a pony tail, her complexion, while not blemished was on the ruddy side and her eyebrows were almost non-existent. Some women overdo the makeup business. Not Kay, she was just the opposite. She was dressed in a white long sleeved blouse and black slacks. The black matching jacket lay on the bench beside her. It looked to me like she had come directly from work. All in all, a plain Jane who wouldn't have a bunch of guys buzzing around her at a party.
Her blouse showed protrusions, not big, just big enough that they might get the attention of some really horny engineering student. Trouble is, for plain Janes like Kay, in a city like Baltimore, there's plenty of real classy looking stuff around and plenty of that classy looking stuff has nice tits too.
I introduced myself as Ralph, gave her the J&B card and asked if she were Kay.
She put on her dark rimmed glasses (that too) and turned to look at me and the card. "Yes," and after an awkward pause, "Please sit down," and with her hand indicated the seat opposite her.
I tried making some small talk -- like how crowded the place was, the traffic, weather, etc. but didn't get much more than a 'yes' or 'no', only occasionally a whole sentence. For me things were getting awkward and I pretty quickly realized that aside from her poor grooming, there were other reasons why she needed to hire an escort if she wanted to go to a party with a date. I was reminded of the story about Larry King trying to interview Robert Mitchum.
Patience and ideas running out, I decided to ask Kay that old favorite American opening line question: "What is it that you do for a living?" This question is frowned upon in polite society and really turns some folks off, but not Kay. Just the opposite, that's what made her finally open up.
A senior associate with a big law firm (I'll call it 'ABC Partners' for convenience.) in Baltimore, she specialized in defending corporations against health and personal injury claims. Having read lots of John Grisham novels, her being a senior associate in big law told me a couple things: Kay was indeed around 30 and she put in a 60+ hour workweek.
After she started opening up about herself, I hardly got in a word and mostly nodded my head and did my best to look sympathetic and admiring. In a nutshell, she had graduated 14th in her law class at Columbia and had passed the bar exam in New York and in Maryland -- on the first try in both states. She was hoping to become a junior partner before the year was out. It didn't surprise me when she said that her work week was generally over 70 hours.
With that kind of work load, her appearance no longer surprised me -- hell she wouldn't have time to work on that too. And of course, even if she were pretty, she wouldn't have much time to meet men. The time factor alone would just about explain why she needed to hire an escort to accompany her to a party.
I finally got in my sympathy line: "Gee, you don't have much free time for hobbies, socializing with friends and such."
Then the dam broke. Like some clients, she felt the need to explain in depth why Kay had ended up needing to engage an escort.