Pleasure Extraordinaire 1 (PURSUIT)

by Liv Bennett

  I shrug my agreement.

  “In that case,” Alexander says. “I’m between seven and eight. Eight for her sex appeal and seven for her beauty.”

  I guess Alexander’s grading is more objective compared to JJ’s, but I can’t help but feel disappointed after having been rated a ten by JJ.

  All eyes turn to Mr. Ice for his rating, and he clears his throat and shifts in his chair before stating his opinion about my appearance. I have no idea what kind of women he prefers—if he prefers women at all. After my shock with Michael’s, I don’t trust my abilities to guess men’s sexual preferences anymore. For all I know, both Mr. Ice and Alexander are both homosexuals.

  “Four,” Mr. Ice says, and my mouth plops open in surprise. “I think she’s a four.”

  “Out of five?” JJ asks.

  “Out of ten,” Mr. Ice replies.

  “Oh, man. You definitely need glasses for missing what a catch she is!” JJ laughs, shaking his head.

  “Beauty is a personal taste, but I can break down my rating for you if you like. She’s on the shorter side of the height scale. What’s your height, 5”2, 5”3? Her breasts are barely b-cup. Yes, she’s slim but not in an athletic way. A couple of extra pounds will immediately show around her belly and hips. Her hair can use some trimming and styling.”

  “Cut it out, will you?” JJ interferes, probably having seen the shock on my face. I know I’m not the prettiest girl out there, but to be criticized about my small breasts, which I don’t think are that small, and none-athletic body by a man I met only a few hours ago makes me want to hurt someone. “Those aren’t the things to say to a lady,” JJ adds.

  “You asked for it.” Mr. Ice turns to his computer and types on the keyboard.

  “What the hell?” JJ’s mad voice echoes my own thoughts. “This isn’t the way to speak in the presence of a lady.” JJ stands and approaches me, holding my hand.

  Mr. Ice continues typing while he says, “Would you have preferred discussing it behind her back? I’m taking two points from your rating because you aren’t objective in your judgment.”

  Mr. Ice inhales deeply and looks up at me with his ever-neutral face, simply ignoring JJ’s attitude. “I added Alexander’s rating as 7.5 so the average is six point five.”

  That’s actually close to how I think I look. I always thought I’m a six. Well, despite Mr. Ice’s low rating, the average turned out to be close to the truth.

  “That’s absolutely wrong.” JJ doesn’t seem to be giving up any time soon.

  “Different men, different tastes.” Mr. Ice pushes his chair to stand and walks toward me. “I have no doubt you’ll have a lot of my men interested in you.”

  JJ grabs my other hand, too and pulls me toward him for a kiss. I feel extremely self-conscious while opening my lips to let his tongue slide into my mouth in front of two other men, but he has this magical touch that I want to savor as much as I can. “You don’t need other men. Just let me know you’re in, and I’ll come out and give you the pleasure you desire.”

  I giggle, like a little girl, despite Mr. Ice’s presence just two steps away from me. JJ kisses me on top of my head before letting my hands go. “I’ll see you around,” he says and leaves with Alexander.

  I stay, watching them go, feeling awkward beside Mr. Ice, now that I know his low opinion about my looks. It shouldn’t matter, anyway. He wouldn’t make it to the top of my list of men I’d love to have sex with either, with that cold attitude of his.

  “Like I said before, you should avoid hooking up with the same man unless you’re sure you’re in total control of your emotions,” Mr. Ice says, making me pull my gaze away from the door. I hesitate to glance up at his face, but when I do, I see concern on his expression. Why? “It’s better for you to spend time with as many men as possible to avoid confusing physical pleasure with love and affection. We strive for pleasure, but romance should stay far away from our business. JJ is an experienced escort. He knows women better than women know themselves, and he uses his knowledge to get the best out of his clients. He’s a master manipulator when it comes to getting as many women as possible to have sex with. It’s not bad for business, but money isn’t everything. I wouldn’t want you or any of my clients to get hurt in the process.”

  “I won’t.”

  “I do hope so.” Another rare smile brightens up his face, and I find myself forgiving him for giving a low rating for my looks. Why should I be mad at someone for being honest with me, anyway? Honesty is what I treasure most. “I’ll send a memo about your participation into our enterprise to the external employees and let you know about the interested ones. You’ll receive a password and with that, you can log in to our database and review the profiles of my men who want to pleasure you.”

  I grin, picturing myself going through the profiles of L.A.’s gigolos. Considering the nature of their jobs, they must have lots of X-rated pictures in their profiles. Which will be actually fun to examine. “I have a question.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “How much is the usual price for a night with one of your employees? How much would you have charged me for the few hours I was with JJ?”

  Mr. Ice inhales deeply, lifts his hand to undo the first button of his shirt, a clear sign of the discomfort he must be feeling at my question. “I have about three-hundred external employees, and their fees usually start from two-hundred-fifty for a three-hour meeting. We charge about a thousand dollars for a beginner, permanent escort. JJ is one of the most wanted men I have, and a three-hour hook-up with him costs five grand. Ten if you want to hire him for an entire day.”

  Holy fuck! JJ wasn’t lying about having saved enough money to live in luxury for the rest of his life. Seriously, though, are there women delusional enough to pay that much money for a few hours of pleasure?

  As if reading my mind, Mr. Ice says, “don’t let the money confuse you. I have over two-hundred regular clients who come here at least once a month. JJ alone serves close to ten percent of them.”

  Is he telling me that to make me jealous? Because it’s working. JJ has twenty women in his harem, throwing bags of money to feel his beautiful cock throbbing inside them. For several hours long? The jealousy that’s spreading through my body and making me feel physical pain isn’t a good sign. Mr. Ice is right. I’m confusing sex with romance.

  “I see,” is all I can say with the turmoil going inside me. As I walk toward the door, Mr. Ice hurries and opens it for me.

  “Miss Doheny, before you leave, I must ask you another question. Which alias should I enter for your profile?”

  “What?”

  “You need an alias for your prolife in our database. I can’t use your real name. Would you want to keep the alias JJ chose for you? Beauty in white?”

  I snort. That alias would be misleading, since I’m barely seven on the beauty scale. “Seven,” I say. “My alias should be Seven.” Since it’s clear I’ll encounter nothing but disasters here in the Pleasure-Extraordinaire Ville.

  Outside, Nick is waiting for me. I say my goodbyes to Mr. Ice and slide into Nick’s arm. When we arrive at the lobby, I realize I don’t have my handbag. I try to remember if I forgot it in Mr. Ice’s office, but no, I didn’t have it there with me. I must have left it at the suite.

  “Nick, I think I forgot to take my handbag from the suite, but I don’t remember where exactly the suite is.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll go get it for you,” Nick says.

  “I’ll use the restroom, while you’re on it.”

  Nick bows his head, with a sweet smile attached to his lips and walks me to the nearest restrooms before letting me go. I can’t say I’m bothered by the over-attention I’m getting here from everyone I’ve come across.

  After I freshen up and apply makeup, I leave the restroom and stroll toward the windows down the hall. The view is thick with luscious trees of various sorts. The grass is long and adorned with flowers. Everything is pleasure here, one way or another. Even the landsc
ape.

  I hear the murmurs and giggles of a woman on the other side of the hall. It must be another client with one of the escorts here. I shouldn’t look their way, I know, but I’m curious to find out what kind of woman comes here to satisfy her sexual needs. Would it be too judgmental of me if I think usually older, uglier women must choose to be here rather than chasing uninterested men outside, in real life?

  Not just judgmental, but wrong too, because the woman walking beside one of the boys I saw at the entrance is neither old, nor ugly. If anything, she’s beautiful enough to appear on the cover of Hustler with her curly, blonde hair, long legs, and ample chest. She’s coming here while probably a dozen men outside must be waiting for their turn with her? That’s unthinkable and outrageous.

  I swallow hard and turn around to hide my gaze from her, looking in the direction Nick left. A familiar sound startles me, and my eyes search around for the source of that velvet voice. Sensual laughter erupts and I realize it’s JJ’s, and he’s standing before the beautiful woman, kissing her hand, the way he kissed mine not long ago.

  I feel the same physical pain pinching at my chest at the sight of the two eyeing each other intimately, revealing hints of the imminent passionate minutes, or hours, ahead of them. Why? Why does it have to be him and not another one of the hundred permanent escorts, wrapping his arms around that woman? Not even a full hour has passed and he’s already preparing to get another woman beneath him.

  Mr. Ice was right. Physical pleasure doesn’t come alone for most of the women. Feelings get attached to it. This is the downside of being a woman, I guess. While a man fucks and moves on without even remembering the name of his fuck-body, a woman has sex and immediately starts envisioning walking down the aisle beside him. It was stupid of me to think of JJ for more than who he was. A professional gigolo who has only fucking as many women as possible in his heart.

  Simply disgusting.

  I should get out of here and forget the afternoon with JJ ever happened. I run toward Nick, as soon as he appears with my bag in his hand. He notices the sudden change of my mood, I guess, but doesn’t ask anything and wishes me a great evening before closing the passenger door.

  I was right in picking Seven as my alias. The disasters have started right on my first day and won’t stop if I remain a client.

  9 - The Game

  The day after my visit to Pleasure Extraordinaire, I call Michael’s cell to inform him about my decision. I’ll sign the contract. I might not do it for the right reasons—I don’t think there exists any logical reason for choosing to be some wealthy guy’s fake girlfriend, including money—but I’ll sign it anyway.

  I’m both thrilled and panicky about the next twelve months. It’s been only a few days since Michael explained the contract to me, and I’ve had some very unusual experiences. I can’t even begin to dream how these upcoming months will turn out. I don’t think it’ll be anything less than exhilarating, and I desperately need some exhilaration in my mind-numbing life.

  The phone beeps several times before Michael finally picks it up. “Hello, Lindsay. How have you been?”

  “Great so far. Thank you. How are you?”

  “I’m good, too. I’m about to fly to Russia in a few minutes.”

  Russia? I could have been boarding the same plane with him for a fascinating trip in Russia, if I’d signed the contract sooner. “I just wanted to let you know that I paid a short visit to Pleasure Extraordinaire and now I’m ready to start our fake romance.”

  He laughs into the phone. “That’s fantastic, but it’ll have to wait a couple of weeks until I come back from my business trip. Would that be okay for you?”

  “Yes, I suppose.”

  “You just go ahead and sign the contract and hand it to Edric so we can start paying you.”

  “All right. Will do that.”

  “I’ll see you in two weeks.”

  “Have a safe flight,” I say and disconnect.

  I send Edric an email about my phone conversation with Michael and my decision, and receive his reply in just two minutes from clicking send. He wants me to drive to the company to go over the details of my salary and the car I’m going to have. Oh, the car. I don’t have the slightest idea about which car I should pick, but that alone is enough to keep me excited for several weeks.

  I drop my phone on the vanity table and head to the bathroom for a quick shower. I have the feeling that I’ll see more of Edric than Michael, so it won’t hurt to look my best for my appointment with him.

  Just when I leave the shower, I hear the doorbell ring and wrap my wet body into my bathrobe to get the door. A delivery man carrying a large, brown package in hand offers me a friendly smile. “Miss Doheny?”

  “Yes.”

  “This package is for you. Please, sign here.”

  After I scribble my initials on the device he’s holding, he hands me the package and leaves. I stop dead in my tracks when I look at the sender on the package. Mr. Ice, himself, from Pleasure Extraordinaire sent me this mysterious box. I shake it to get an idea of what’s inside, but hear no noise. It’s feather light, too.

  Feeling curious and irritated in equal parts, I slam the door, place the box on the table, and look for a knife to rip it open. I get a little disappointed, when all I find inside the box are papers. I don’t know what I was expecting, maybe some sex toys?

  The papers look like a contract. I groan loudly and throw the stash of papers on the table. Not another set of rules and regulations that I should read carefully and adhere to from first to last.

  I enjoyed those sexual hours in JJ’s arms, but I’m not sure whether I’ll ever be able to be strong enough to perceive it just as sex and nothing more and be fine with the fact that the men there are whores and care only about the hours they have a girl under them. Maybe, all my mind needs is fucking another man or two to become one of them. To distinguish feelings from casual sex. To feel no pain if I see my temporary lover kissing another woman after I’m done with him.

  The handwritten letter on the top of the stack grabs my attention, and I lift it to read.

  “Dear Lindsay,

  Your blood results came out to be all negative for STDs. Also, I received Mr. Hawkins’ signed confirmation that he’s taking over your expenses. You’re now officially a member of our exclusive club. My hearty congratulations. Welcome to our family.

  Your profile in our database is all set. You can find information about how to access to your profile and our database together with your password in the package I’m sending you.

  Let me politely remind you to keep this information to yourself. Please, start using contraceptive pills and avoid shaving to prevent razor burn and get waxed instead for your next visit to Pleasure Extraordinaire.

  Sincerely,

  Ace Preston”

  Waxing instead of shaving? I toss the letter back to the stack and go back to putting on my clothes. A part of me wants to go back there and take full advantage of the pleasures offered, but the other part of me, the sensitive side, tells me I won’t be able to distance myself from the emotional variability of the equation called sexual intimacy.

  I take a cab to the company headquarters and find Edric in his office. He stands when I enter his office and sits on the sofa with me. “Mr. Hawkins is very pleased that you agreed to sign the contract. It was getting harder and harder finding a reliable person suitable for the job. Although we have all other previous girls sign an NDA, the danger of one of them spilling information was still there. You know how famous Mr. Hawkins is, which is also a disadvantage, because if the word gets out that he’s gay and has been hiding it for all these years, his image and entire business will be endangered.”

  “I’m well-aware of the magnitude of the problem and happy to help in any way I can.”

  “That’s fantastic.” He gets up to bring a folder, which I assume has the contract in it, and hands me a pen. “Please, sign this so we can authorize your employment with us.”

&
nbsp; I sign the entire set of papers and get my copy of the contract with Michael’s signature on it. Once everything is done with the contract, Edric places it back on his table and hands me an envelope. “There’s a blank check in this envelope so you can buy yourself the car you wish to have. The limit is seventy thousand, which is, I guess, the right amount. But if you find something a little over that price, just let me know so I can give you another check. You’re also given a company credit card with the monthly limit of twenty grand. That’s in addition to the salary you’ll be receiving. So, don’t be stingy about using that money on luxury items. I also opened an account for you at some of the designer clothing stores so you can shop for clothes for the events you’ll be attending as Mr. Hawkins’ girlfriend.”

  I’m not sure if Edric’s words are real or the product of my imagination, but each word has the happy-making effect of chocolate and candies on me. I listen to him as if I’m a little girl, listening to my favorite fairy tale from Taylor’s mouth. I didn’t think I was a materialistic person, but here I am, thrilled by the fact that I’ll be boosting the economy with several shopping sprees in the upcoming months, and it’ll be part of my job duties. Who would have thought that?

  After going through a few details about my duties, Edric escorts me to my new office and introduces me to my future colleagues in the marketing department, where I’ll be working as a chief data analyst and have my own project. Everyone seems friendly and welcoming. I know looks can fool, but with my dedication and hard work and Michael’s support, I shouldn’t have anything to worry about regarding work. I’ll officially start the beginning of next week and can’t wait.

  At the end of the brief tour, Ryan instructs his secretary to arrange a company car with a private chauffeur for me until I buy my own car.

  I can easily get used to being spoiled like that, and the best part is I’ll have a ton of money saved after completing the full year, a funding I can use to build a financially secure future. When the secretary confirms the driver assigned to drive me around is waiting for me at the parking lot of the company building, I thank both of them and head out.