by Hadley Knox
“I’ll handle that,” Greg said. “You start by telling them what you want, and then when you’re done, I’ll take over.”
“Okay,” I nodded.
We sat around and talked for a few minutes until the candidates arrived. I answered the door when I heard the bell ring. Both Jed and Braden stood there, and both looked more nervous than I did.
“Come in,” I said to them.
“Thank you for seeing us,” Jed said.
“Yeah,” Braden muttered as he passed me. He looked more nervous than his friend did.
“No problem,” I said.
There was no need for introductions as everyone had met already. I gave everyone a moment to say hello and make some small talk so that everyone else would feel at ease.
We decided to conduct what I considered the interview on the back patio so that we would have more room. The chairs were already arranged in their typical O-shape, so we all sat down in the circle. Jed and Braden looked like they were joined at the hip, and if one of them strayed too far from the other, we might all pounce like hungry lions. Betsy got them a beer and gave Jed a kiss on the cheek before she took her own seat. That seemed to relax the guys a little.
“Okay, so you two want to work for the Madam?”
They both nodded.
“The first question I have is why do you want to work for the Madam?”
“Money,” Jed said. Braden nodded his agreement.
“Do you plan on quitting at the Steel Hammer?” I asked.
Jed cleared his throat. “This conversation stays between all of us, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“I want to give it a few weeks,” Jed said. “If I can start bringing in some money escorting, then I want to quit at the Steel Hammer.”
“Me, too,” Braden said.
“So you haven’t talked to Lucas or Adam about this?”
“No.”
“Are you afraid of them retaliating?”
Braden pursed his lips. “Let’s just say that it’s a little awkward right now at the Hammer. With Hugh dying, it’s just turned into a mess.”
“How so?” I asked, trying not to sound like I had a personal stake in the question.
“It’s just weird,” Jed said. “We don’t hang out with each other, and everyone just looks at each other with suspicion.”
I could have easily broke this interview down by following that line of questioning to find out more about the Steel Hammer, but that was not why I was there. I had to ascertain whether the two young men would be good for business. Solving the murder was not the goal, although I would try to make time later to talk to the two of them more privately about the club.
“Are you familiar with the escorting business?” I asked.
“I saw a documentary on it once,” Braden said.
“I knew some people once who did it a few times,” Jed said.
“Okay, are you both clean?”
“I shower regularly,” Braden said.
“No, I meant clean in another context.”
Jed leaned over and whispered what I assumed was an explanation of my question to Braden.
“Yes,” Braden said quickly. “Very.”
“Me, too,” Jed added.
“Okay, do you have girlfriends?”
They both shook their heads. Suddenly another question popped into my head. It was one that I had never considered being a part of the business, but recent developments had made it a reality.
“Would either of you be open to seeing male clients?”
Braden looked mortified. I thought he might stand and run away.
Jed considered it a moment. “Is it more money?”
“Yes. Double the pay.”
“I would be open to that,” he said.
I heard Betsy squeal softly next to me. It wasn’t a good noise, and I could tell that she was a little bothered by the fact that the man she had slept with was open to sleeping with other men. Of course, the two of us would have to talk about that later. Finding out that Derrick had slept with men before bothered me for just a few seconds, but after a moment’s thought, I was over it. Looking back, I didn’t understand what the big deal was in the first place.
“I don’t think I would,” Braden said, trying his best to hide his embarrassment.
“That’s okay,” I said. “Most of the guys have the same position as you, Braden. It’s a great way to make more money, but it’s not for everyone.”
Suddenly I realized that I was done with the questions that I considered relatively appropriate. We had arrived at the area of questioning I was much less comfortable with.
When I looked at Greg, he could see my hesitation. Thankfully, he seemed to read my thoughts and took over.
“Okay, guys,” he said. “Tell me about some of the feedback you’ve been given about your performance.”
“Like dancing?” Braden asked.
Everyone chuckled.
“No,” Greg said. “With sex.”
“Oh,” he said. Braden’s face contorted into a grimace while he tried to think about the answer to that question.
“I can’t really think of a time when I’ve been given feedback,” he said. “Tell you the truth; I haven’t been with that many women before.”
“Really?” Betsy asked.
I shot her a look.
“What about you, Jed?”
Before he could answer, Betsy interrupted. “He is just fine in that department.”
“Am I?” Jed look at her, mildly surprised.
“Of course,” she said. “I don’t want to kiss and tell, but damn honey, you can work it.”
“Thanks,” he smiled.
“Are you open to learning new stuff?” Greg asked.
“Like what?” Jed asked.
“There’s a certain decorum that comes with meeting clients. You’ll have to learn first and foremost to respect them and their objectives for the visit. You must also find subtle ways in which to place boundaries on the meeting, but at the same time, you have to be flexible.”
“I don’t understand,” Braden said.
“Well, I’ll give you an example,” Greg said. “Let’s say you meet with a client and her husband is there. Are you okay if he wants to watch?”
“That happens?” I whispered to Greg.
“A few times,” Greg said. “Some couples are really into that. Doesn’t happen often, but most of the time, you don’t get a warning.” He turned back to the candidates. “Are you okay with that?”
“I guess,” Jed shrugged. Braden still had a look of shock on his face.
Greg continued. “Now what do you do if the husband comes closer and starts touching his wife?”
“I guess that’s fine,” Jed said.
“What if he touches you?”
Jed frowned.
“See,” Greg pointed. “Those are some of things you have to be prepared for. Set your boundaries at the beginning, and if the client tries to renegotiate terms, then you have to be prepared for that. If new terms require additional time, you have to be prepared to ask for more money, and you must also consider clients you might be meeting later. Most of the time if this happens; you don’t have much time to think about it.”
“I had a client one time that wanted her friend to join,” Derrick said.
“Well that would be really good,” Jed said.
“Maybe,” Derrick said. “But I had two more clients to meet later that night. You can’t burn all your fuel early in the evening if you have multiple appointments. That’s something to consider.”
“I don’t have that problem,” Mike snickered.
“Shut up,” Derrick smiled.
“I’ll be honest,” I said. “I don’t know either of you that well, so I’m placing a lot of trust in you both by considering you for this job. Jed, I feel more comfortable with you working here because I have a reference to back it up. But Braden, I don’t have any references, and the fact that you are relatively inexperienced
with sex might be a problem.”
“But what about that?” Jed asked. He cocked his head towards his friend’s groin.
“I’ve heard about that,” I smiled. “Is it true?”
“Yeah,” Braden nodded.
Greg cleared his throat. “Go ahead and strip to your underwear.”
“What?” Jed asked.
“I need to see you up close,” he said.
Both guys looked a little awkward by his statement. At first, I wondered why he was asking them this, but then I realized that if they were going to be meeting clients, then they had to look decent. I had seen them both from the stage, but it would be completely different once they were in normal lighting.
They complied and started undressing. I could see Pearl and Betsy shifting a little in their seats and both women had a look on their face like they were going to a buffet.
When they removed their pants, both guys stood in the center of the circle.
“Spin around,” Greg said.
I watched Jed first. He had a slender physique, but his muscles were still tight. He was a little more pale than most of the guys working for me, although not quite as pale as Ben. His legs were nice and muscular, and his bottom looked really good in his briefs.
When I shifted to look at Braden, I was staring at his back. His muscles were ripped. He wasn’t even flexing and I could see his nice deltoids and thick legs. He wasn’t as slender as Jed, but his frame was more in line with Mike’s. When he turned around, I had to cover my mouth to hide my embarrassment.
The rumors were true alright. He wore boxer briefs, yet they weren’t enough to hide it all. I fought the urge to hide my face, but I knew that I had to maintain professionalism. I turned to see Betsy and Pearl staring at the young man as if they were rabid tigers staring at a raw piece of meat.
“Well, I guess that answers that question,” Greg said with a chuckle. “You can go ahead and put your clothes back on.”
Once they were dressed, they took a seat back in their chairs.
“So physically, you both look fine,” Greg said. “Just make sure that you shower before going to meet clients. That is essential or you won’t get a repeat client. Worse, you might get turned away and not paid anything.”
“So what about Braden?” I asked.
Greg smiled at me. “Did you not just see the same thing that I saw?”
“Yeah, but – ”
“That’s all we need,” Greg said. He turned back to Braden. “With what you’ve got down there, you’ll drive clients crazy. That’s a definite. But you have to make sure that you are good. We’ll need to keep a close eye on whether your first few clients ever call back. That’s a good indication that they were happy. But you have to make sure that your techniques and all that are good as well.”
“Who gives a damn about technique,” Pearl said, waving her hand in front of her face in an attempt to cool herself down.
I chuckled and shook my head.
Chapter Twenty-One
Our little interview panel went for a few more minutes. We asked them other questions relating to their lives and financial situations. The two young men shared an apartment and were doing okay, but they both wanted to make enough money to purchase homes, nice cars, and Braden even wanted to go to college, but didn’t want to incur a heavy financial debt doing so.
I could appreciate those goals. It felt good knowing that I wasn’t hiring some drug addicted dead beats who were looking for their next fixes. I knew that in the industry that was a common thing. But so far, I had managed to keep guys who were just average, every day men who were looking for some extra money for some average, every day goals.
The others started arriving shortly after we concluded the interview. I made my first declaration of the candidate’s acceptance into the business by introducing them to Ben and Xavier as new employees. Of course, everyone was delighted that they were coming aboard, especially in light of the pick upswing in clients calling.
Mike got the grill going and the rest of us sat in the circle of chairs.
“So I want to officially welcome the new guys,” I said. That elicited a round of applause from the other guys. “I also wanted to let you know that Pearl has been booking appointments at a very fast rate. Most of you have every available slot filled up this week, this next weekend, and most of the next week. Having Jed and Braden will help us stay more current.”
“So booking that far in advance is not a good thing?” Hung asked.
“It’s a good thing in that you will all stay busy and make more money, but it’s a bad thing when we have to tell potential clients that it will be two more weeks before anyone can see them.”
“That’s great,” Ray nodded.
I didn’t have the heart to tell him that he was the only one who was not fully booked up. While he had more appointments that next week than he ever had, he was far from completely booked.
“I wanted to also give everyone an update on the horrible situation with Hugh’s murder,” I said. “The cell phone was returned to me this week, so the likelihood that we’ll be dragged into the investigation is very slim.”
“That’s great news,” Xavier said.
“Yes, very good news,” I said.
“Have they figured out who did it?” Ray asked.
“No, not as far as I know.”
“What did Adam say?” Hung asked.
What the hell was I supposed to say to that? I should have been prepared for the question, but the thought had never occurred to me. I could just be honest and tell them, but I didn’t want to worry them unnecessarily.
“He said that they don’t have any more leads than they had originally,” I said. It was true, but only as far as I was aware.
“Do you think we have anything to be worried about?” Ben asked.
“I don’t think so,” I said. My gaze shifted to Greg, silently asking him if he had an opinion on this matter.
He nodded slightly back to me. “Hopefully if something happens that might affect us, we’ll know about it ahead of time.”
That seemed to appease everyone. Just then, I saw the over-tanned Dixie Tittle stumbling her way through the kitchen and headed towards the back patio. I figured that was the best place to adjourn the official meeting.
Mike called out that the hamburgers were done on the grill. Everyone grabbed a bun and started fixing their plates. By the time Dixie came outside and said her hellos, her martini glass was empty, so she had to go back inside and get a refill. Greg and I looked at each other and smiled. He shook his head and then went to fix his plate.
After I finished putting together my burger, I sat down at the patio table between Derrick and Ray. We ate without saying much, our hunger taking over any possible conversation.
As everyone finished eating, they threw their trash into the large can by the door and started making their way to the pool. Greg and I stopped at the ice chest at the same time to get a beer. He reached down and grabbed one for me and one for himself. He was even sweet enough to pop the top for me.
Our hands touched as he transferred the beer to me. I loved the feel of his skin on mine, and I almost dropped the beer. If only things had been different, he and I might have been together. I knew that was foolish the moment I thought it, because if he had not been a gigolo, the odds that we would have ever met would have been slim. But still, the image of me and him together in a relationship cropped up from time to time.
But the occurrences had become more frequent since Adam had started treating me with indifference. I knew it was wrong to imagine Greg and me together while I was in a relationship, but I was also aware that a person couldn’t always control their own thoughts.
I took my t-shirt and shorts off, revealing my two-piece bathing suit, and stepped into the pool. I ventured into the pool until the water was just above my waist, turned around, and took a big drink of my beer. It was refreshing, especially with the hot sun beating down on us.
Greg splashed me a
s he practically ran down the steps. He smiled before taking a drink of his own beer. Even with all the others around us, it still made me nervous with him being so close to me. Despite our electric connection, we were both still spoken for.
Wait, I thought to myself, someone was missing. When he brought his beer away from his mouth, I asked him, “Where’s Chloe?”
He made a bizarre face. I had no idea what it meant, but his expression looked like something close to a painful grimace.
“She couldn’t make it today,” he said finally.
“Where is she?”
He paused for a moment. “She’s with her mother.”
I knew he was lying, but I didn’t want to press him any further. I don’t know why he would have lied about where she was, and I figured that it was none of my business.
“Thank you for all your help lately,” I said. “It’s been nice having you around more.”
“Good,” he said. “I like being around more.”
Like some sort of magnetism, I felt my body being drawn towards him. I hadn’t moved from my spot, but the power of that attraction was apparent. Judging from the lustful expression on his face, I knew that Greg felt it, too.
I snapped out of the daze and started for the steps leading out of the pool. There was no way I could continue putting myself in this position. Out of respect for both Adam and Chloe, I needed to put some distance between us. Will power typically came easy for me, but it wasn’t healthy to always put myself in that position.
Greg started to protest but we both saw the same thing. Adam was standing there in the kitchen, watching out into the backyard. He stared back at me, and I searched his face for some sign of what emotions were running through his head.
I set my beer down on the table as I walked to the patio door. I grabbed a towel off one of the chairs, wrapped it around myself, and then pushed the sliding door open.
“Hey, Adam,” I said.
“Hello, Lana,” he replied.
We rarely greeted each other with our first names. That was just another sign on the long list that something wasn’t right between us.
He drew in a breath, as if he were about to launch into some speech. “I wanted to come over here and apologize to you for the way I’ve been acting.”