by Ashlee Price
I felt the manager’s breath on me and I turned around to see him too close. Was he smelling me?
“Is there a problem, sir?”
“Does that look clean to you?”
He was talking about the fryer, and I could see what he was referring to. Was it wrong that all I could think about was pushing his face into it, with or without the grease in it?
“It won’t all come out. When I shoot more grease into it, it just fills all of the crevices back up.”
“That’s why you have to put your hands in there, princess. You’re not afraid of getting your hands dirty, are you?”
The nickname irritated me bigtime. I wasn’t going to be able to do this anymore, and the longer I thought about it all, the more I questioned what I was doing there to begin with. Was this any better than what Sasha was doing? She at least liked some of her job. I couldn’t think of anything about the restaurant that made me want to get up and go back every day.
When the manager came back around to watch me work, that was the last straw. When he mentioned the grease again, I told him what he could do with it. I took off my french-fry-smelling hat and walked out. It was the single best moment that I’d had in a month, but it didn’t last long. That euphoric feeling was coupled with the fact that I was now unemployed again, and that quickly brought me back down to earth. This time though, I had an idea. One that had been planted weeks ago. After seeing what else was out there, I was ready to go over to the dark side.
When I got home, Sasha was just getting up. She commented that I didn’t have my hat on. “Where’s your chicken hat at?”
I made a face at her and told her that I quit.
“Again?” She found it funny. So did Kimmie. But me being the broke friend was no longer that appealing to me. It never really was.
“Yes, again. I just can’t clean another drop of grease out of a hot machine.”
“I told you that it wasn’t going to be that great.”
“I thought I would be cooking.”
Sasha just grinned. Her look said she’d told me so. She didn’t even have to say it out loud. It was unnecessary.
“So what are you going to do now?”
It was becoming a pattern, and it was one that I wanted to change. I wanted to make some money and stop worrying about everything.
“I think I’m ready to go over to the dark side. Do you think your boss would still talk to me?”
Sasha was a bit surprised, but she nodded her head that he would. “I didn’t think you ever wanted to meet him, though.”
“Desperate times…”
“Yeah, I know that feeling. He’s a little abrasive and all, but if he says that you’ll make money there, you will. You’ve always been the pretty one, Mariah, with that blonde hair and come-hither innocence. You’ll make a lot of money.”
That was what I had to focus on. I wasn’t going to focus on the job. The job might not be any better, but it paid more. I was trying to stay positive.
“I hope so, Sasha. I’m sick of being broke.”
Sasha just smiled and told me that I wasn’t going to be that way for long. “You’ll make more in a day than you have all month.”
It sounded good, maybe too good, but there was still a question of what I was going to have to do to get that kind of money. Would it be worth it like it was for Sasha?
Chapter 4 – Elie
“What exactly is she willing to do?”
Sasha was looking good, but she was a little confused at what I was asking. It shouldn’t be that hard to comprehend. I wanted to know what her pretty little friend was willing to do for me. It was the same question that I’d asked her almost a year ago. It had evolved, of course, it always did, but there was always a jumping-off point, and I was trying to find out what it was for her.
“What was her name again?”
“Mariah.”
I liked it, short and sweet.
“I don’t know what all services that she wants to provide. You might have to give her some ideas and see what happens.”
She was beating around the bush and I didn’t know why. I knew Sasha quite well, and there was something that she didn’t want to tell me.
“What is it?”
“This isn’t her choice really. I mean, it is, but she just needs the money.”
I motioned to the small room we were in. There were cameras set up in all of the back rooms, and each one had some sort of illicit activity going on in it.
“Do you think that anyone picks this place because of the work atmosphere?”
“No, I mean… some of us find it rewarding in some ways.”
“Of course you do now, but in the beginning, I remember a very nervous young woman who came to see me. In no time at all your friend Mariah will be the same.”
She looked away, and I knew that I’d said too much. We were together, or rather she was with me, but I was still working on her obedience. She had too many questions and too many opinions for my taste.
“Thanks for seeing her, Elie.”
“It’s no problem. What time is she supposed to be here?”
“Another ten minutes or so.”
I smiled at her and leaned back in the chair, pushing it away from the desk a little. “Come here, Sasha, so you can thank me properly.”
There wasn’t any balking at my request. She knew what I wanted, and that part of it was not a problem for her. She was one of the many here that liked it, and while her lips wrapped around my hardness, I thought of the new blonde girl that I was going to meet soon. It was about time to get some new blood in here.
***
“Glad that you decided to come down and see me, Mariah. I’ve been telling Sasha for a while that we need someone like you in here.”
“Thanks for having me. What do you mean by someone like me?”
This girl was every man’s fantasy, and the very fact that she didn’t know it proved my point. Mariah had long blonde hair and a small physique that still managed to support a large rack. Her face was pretty and her big blue eyes were ones that anyone would want to stare into while she looked up and begged. She had sex appeal, sure, but it was the lack of wile that made her so tempting. What I’d said before I meant: I was going to make a lot of money off of her. The fee was going to have to go to a percentage. A straight fee would close off the ability for it to grow.
“You’re the perfect kind of girl for this place.”
She looked around the dark interior. I could tell that she was uncomfortable. Everyone had that thought about working here in the beginning. It was a whole other world, but that was the point. I wanted clients to be able to get away from their lives for a while. This was the fantasy, and Mariah was the one who would make the clients keep coming back. I was already working out her profile in my head. She was going to be a money maker.
“I am?”
“Sure, it’s all about variety, and you’re one of a kind, Mariah. You look like a doll, perfect.”
Mariah was still looking at everything a little wide-eyed, and I decided that maybe my office would be a better place for the meeting. We had a lot to talk about, a lot of personal things, and I couldn’t have her being this way when we were trying to have a conversation.
“Why don’t we go into my office where we can talk?”
She agreed readily, and it was clear that she was still rather nervous. I hoped that a drink or two would calm her down. If she didn’t look the way she looked, I wouldn’t have bothered with her, but Mariah was a woman that I didn’t mind putting a little effort into. She was going to pay me back in spades.
“Do you want something to drink?”
Mariah thanked me and told me that it didn’t matter what it was. That was a good sign. At least she knew how to get over her nervousness.
“So tell me about yourself, Mariah?”
“Well, um, there’s not much to tell. I’m from a small town up north and I just moved to the city about a month ago.”
“How do yo
u like New Orleans?”
“I love it, but it has been hard finding something that will pay the bills.”
I nodded sympathetically like I understood. I hadn’t actually had that problem ever in my life, but I’d heard it all before. This was how I got women like her to do the things my clients wanted. It all came down to the money that made the world run.
“That’s understandable, especially the way the economy is. My girls here make well more than anyone else around. The income potential is very high.”
Mariah asked a couple of questions about the fees that Sasha had told her about.
“I thought about that, and instead of doing a flat rate like Sasha does, you can always just pay me a percentage. That way when you’re first starting out, you won’t have to pay so much.” What I didn’t say was that she would soon be booked non-stop, so she’d be paying me a lot more in the end.
“I understand the money part of it, Elie, but I don’t know about the job itself. Sasha showed me the website, but what would mine look like? Would I have to show my face?”
“With a face like that, you would be crazy not to. Think about it as a way to sell yourself. The more bookings you get, the more money you’ll make. If you’re serious about it, you need to show as much of yourself as possible.”
“What about the rest of it?”
This was the tricky part, but the options were always changeable, and I knew that as time went by, there wouldn’t be anything that she wouldn’t do. All girls had morals, to start with, but the money would talk and that would all change. Like the man said, every harlot was a virgin once. Soon she would be just as eager on her knees as her dark friend was.
“The rest of it’s up to you. This is a fetish club, so I’ve made a sheet. You go through and mark off what you’re willing to do and I’ll put it on the website. You should expect clients within 24 hours. That’s how much time you’ll have to prepare for it.”
“So I just mark some boxes and that’s it? You take care of all of the rest?”
“Well, sweetie, there’s a big part of it that you’ll have to take care of.”
Her pale face turned red and I couldn’t contain myself. That was the type of look that I needed for her picture. Pulling out my digital camera, I took a quick picture and smiled at the result. She was perfect.
“I know, I just want to make sure that there’s nothing else that I have to do. I’ve never done this kind of thing before. This is all new to me.”
“I’ll show you the way. Don’t worry about it.”
She made a nervous laughing sound, and it seemed like she was about to vibrate off the chair any moment. I gave her the paperwork and the sheet that would tell me how much she was going to make me. Before I left the room, I turned back around and asked her if what Sasha had told me was true. “Are you really untouched?”
Mariah’s face turned pinker still and I smiled to myself. Yeah, she really was.
***
I waited a while before I went back, giving her time to come to grips with her new reality. The list in and of itself was a lot to take in. I’d listed everything that I knew was marketable, though not all of them had been filled yet. If she’d seen the options and wasn’t gone by the time I got back, there was a chance she would work out. I just had to see, and I really hoped that she was still there.
She was, and I sighed in relief. I hadn’t been sure with this one.
“Did you get everything filled out?”
Her cheeks were the same color as before. That was a good sign, and I had to stop the urge to take another picture of her. I didn’t need it for the file. I wanted it for myself, but then I remembered the cameras. I was getting ahead of myself anyway. Now it was time to see what kind of kink she could handle.
It was more than I expected. “Pain?”
Her cheeks must have been a hundred degrees when she finally met my gaze. “I have a high tolerance for it.”
She was going to have to tell me more than that. “Do you get off on it?”
Mariah looked away and nodded her head a little. “Yes, it’s the only way I can.”
She didn’t strike me as the type. Mariah was a puzzle, one that I was more than willing to figure out. She was a certain part of sweet and then a bit spicy as well. I went through the rest of the checked boxes, raising an eyebrow a couple of times, but I tried hard to keep it to myself. My comments were not going to be helpful right now.
“Are you sure that you’re able to do all of this?”
“Yes, but nothing with penetration. I’m a virgin and I would like to keep it that way.”
“Can I ask why?”
“I want my first time to be special.”
God, how much I wanted to be the one who deflowered her. Even if she wasn’t going to make me a dime, I would have kept her around for that chance alone. Didn’t she know what she did to a man? I had a feeling that if she didn’t know she was going to find out soon enough.
“Well, with what you’ve agreed to, I can guarantee that you’ll have work tomorrow.”
“Can I refuse anyone?”
That made me pause. I told her that she could. “Of course you can. It’s your choice, after all, and we’ve got great security staff if you need them.”
“Do you think I will?”
“You’re safe here, Mariah. Don’t worry about things like that. That’s my job.”
She thanked me and I pointed her in the direction of Jamie, the photographer. She would find Mariah something perfect to wear to show off the rest of her body. I could already see how well this was going to work out. This was going to be the start of something good.
Chapter 5 – Mariah
“You’re going to be fine Mariah. Look how hot you look. Those outfits that Elie sent by were not a joke. I wish I could get into this.”
I was looking at myself in the mirror. I did look hot, in some dark and indescribable way. This was what the client wanted, apparently, though I hadn’t gotten a whole lot of information. I didn’t know which of those checked boxes I was going to have to perform. When I was filling them out, I’d known this time would come. I just hadn’t known that I was going to be so nervous.
“I’m fucking shaking here, Sasha. How do you do this?”
“I do a few bumps before I leave for the night. It helps me, numbs it all just a little bit.”
I shook my head. I was already in unfamiliar terrain. The last thing that I needed to do was get in any deeper than I already was. I was already further than I wanted to go. I didn’t need to add drugs to the mix as well. It just didn’t seem right.
“No, I think I’m okay. I just don’t know what to expect, is all.”
She hadn’t asked me what I’d agreed to, and it wasn’t something that was a talking point. Sasha knew how I was.
“Just take a deep breath. It’s all going to be okay. You won’t have to worry about money again by the end of the week.”
That was a bold promise, but it was already looking good. Elie had told me that I would have clients by the next night and I did.
“Does it get any easier?”
Sasha nodded and told me that it did. “Yes, it gets a lot easier.”
I wasn’t sure if that was true or not. It didn’t feel like something that was going to get better, but I’d already come this far. If I wanted to stay, I was going to have to do something. Feeling the leather on my skin, I had to admit that it did feel badass. The brassiere was studded with tiny little diamond-cut pieces of metal, and I liked the way the pants felt on my skin. They were tight and showed off everything. It wasn’t an outfit to be modest in, but Sasha had told me that the hotter I looked, the quicker the men would be done with me. That sounded like a good idea in theory, but I wondered if it was going to work now.
“I hope so. I feel like I’m going to puke.”
Sasha smiled and said that she actually had a couple of times in the beginning. “It’s never as bad as you think that it’s going to be.”
***
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Elie was the first person I saw when I got to the club. It was already past ten, but the club ran on late hours. I didn’t know if that had more to do with the legalities of it or the theme of the place, but I was thankful that no one saw me go in. I had a jacket on, but it didn’t hide the tall boots and stockings that he’d had me wear.
“Let’s see the outfit. I thought you would go with the other one. It was tamer.”
“I can go change if you want.”
I pulled the jacket open and looked down a little as the older man looked at me. His dark eyes smoldered with need, and I tried not to be too bothered by it. That was the whole point of the outfit, after all.
“Don’t change anything. You look great.”
As I thanked him for the compliment, a large man in black came from somewhere behind me and took my coat. “You don’t want to hide that beautiful body of yours, Mariah. Everyone should see how good you look.”
I wasn’t ready for all of the attention. I still wanted to know what I was doing tonight. Elie had been short on details when he’d called earlier.
“So what am I supposed to do?”
“Well, tonight you’re going to do a little training. I need to see how you respond to certain stimuli.”
“You?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll pay you well and the fee is waived tonight.”
I finally looked at Elie as a man, instead of a boss. He wasn’t bad looking, not in an obvious way, but there was something about his smile and suggestive eyes that made me more than a little uncertain. I was worried about what would happen with him. He knew everything that I was willing to do, and that made it worse. What had I gotten myself into?
“Okay.”
He led me into one of the back rooms. I could tell immediately what it was for. There was a bed in the corner with a small table next to it. Two of the walls were mirrored and a small bathroom was attached. It looked like a normal hotel room, save for the colors and the hardware on the walls. There were also straps already fastened and ready to go on the posters of the bed. It was clear what was going to happen in here.