The Ivy League (4 page)

“So?” Krista asked, her brows wiggling
up and down as she flashed Sara a wide grin.  “How was it?”

“It was…” Sara shrugged, sitting down at the small table of the roadside café.
  She wasn’t sure if she should tell Krista everything that had happened.  She was the only friend Sara had in the city, and the one that had gotten her this job.

“I kno
w,” Krista said, not even waiting for a response.  “I told you the first wasn’t that great.  But I’ve heard client #326 is particularly pleasant.  I’ve wanted him for a long time.  You are so lucky.  I’m jealous.”

The clients were given numbers, most of them not wanting to give names for obvious reasons.  They were all wealthy, powerful men with a lot to loose if their more peculiar preferences ever
became public knowledge.

“I guess,”
Sara said, her cheeks heating with the slightest recollection of him. His presence lingered in her mind, haunting her every waking moment with his utterly masculine aura.

“Y
ou know I expect you to tell me everything,” Krista said, leaning away from the table as a waiter began to fill the small table with dishes of food.  “I ordered for you.  I didn’t want to wait.”

“I don’t real
ly want to talk about it,” Sara protested, shaking her head.  Krista was in this business for a different set of reasons than Sara.  Krista was a sexually free person, and she enjoyed the opportunity to meet young, powerful men and bed them.  It was a game to her, and getting paid to play was just a bonus. 

“Your not getting off that easy,”
Krista said, picking up her fork and spearing a clump of pasta. “Besides, was it really that bad?”

“No,” Sara said, “It was just…”

“Awkward?” Krista interrupted, her fork hanging in the air by her mouth.  The Madame told Krista to be careful with Sara, to not tell her too much or push her too hard.  Madame Gwen saw enormous potential with Sara, but she didn’t want to scare her off before she had a chance to see the better side of this business.

“Yeah
,” Sara said.  She really just wanted to end this conversation, and she knew Krista wouldn’t let up until she was satisfied. 

“It can be sometime,” Krista said, “but the first time is always the worst.  For both things.”

“Yeah,” Sara said, “but I’m not doing it again.”

“I know, I know,” Krista said.  They had been round and round about this from the beginning.  Krista figured if you were going to do it once, why not make a living out of it.  She knew that society’s opinion of her trade was not very favorable, but she didn’t care.  Krista had found enjoyment in the work.  It’s not like any of her clients were ever unsav
ory.  On the contrary, Madame Gwen not only hand picked her girls, but her clientele as well. Madame Gwen specialized in fantasy, and it was that aspect that Krista enjoyed the most.  She had always had a diverse sexual appetite, and this allowed her to live out her own sexual desires while making a very good living off it.  She understood that it would not suit most girls, for the label of prostitute alone. 

“Madame Gwen
keeps calling me,” Sara said, looking down at her plate.  She had been avoiding the calls.  She had already received her payment and she really just wanted to leave all of this behind her.

“And?” Krista asked
, “What does she want?”

“I don’t know,” Sara said.
She picked at her food.  She hadn’t been able to eat much lately.  Too many unsettling thoughts floating around her head.  “I was hoping you could talk to her for me.”

Krista fought the strong urge to roll her eyes.  Sara was a great girl, but it was hard for most people to see the fire that lay beneath such a shy exterior.  Krista had only seen it come out of Sara on a few rare occasions, but it was enough for her to know the passion that was in her. 

“I’m sorry,” Krista said with a shrug, “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t.  Madame Gwen is a stickler about privacy and I’m afraid she wouldn’t allow me to speak to her on your behalf.  Your on your own with this one sweetie.” 

“I just want you to tell her to ple
ase stop calling me,” Sara pleaded, setting her fork down.  She knew that if she answered the phone, she wouldn’t be able to refuse seeing the Madame again.  Sara had only met her twice before, but she had learned how persuasive the Madame could be. 

Sara felt her phone shaking in her purse next to her and she rummaged through the
bag until she found it.  A scowl crossed her face when she saw the caller ID.

“Speak of the devil,” Sara said, waving her phone at Krista.  She wanted to decline the call, but she knew she had to face this eventually.
Sara took a deep breath and hit the answer key.

#

“How was the new girl?” Daniel Scott said., as he leaned over his colleagues shoulder.

“I’d rather not talk about it,”
he said without looking up from the papers he was reading.  He could see where this conversation was heading, and if he could avoid it he would.  Dan was a long time friendly rival of his.  They vied for many of the same positions and honors, and on occasion, the same girl.  The fact that he had won the night with the new girl wouldn’t sit well with Dan.  Payback would be coming soon.

“Well,” Dan
said, a smile twitching on his thin lips.  “Maybe I’ll see how she is for myself.”

He couldn’t explain why exactly
but he loathed the thought of Daniel with his hands on Sara.  Perhaps it was because he knew Dan had passions for a more brutal style of intimacy.  He just couldn’t see Sara doing that.  She was far too innocent and naïve to be in this seedy world.

“I don’t think that would be wise,” he said,
finally looking up from his work.

“Why is that?” Dan asked, an eyebrow cocked.  “Plan on keeping her for yourself?”

“No,” he said, quickly casting his eyes away.  The truth was he did.  He couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else having her, but he wasn’t quite ready to admit that, especially not to Daniel.  It would only fuel his rivalry spirit and spark a rush to obtain the girl as a trophy.  Unfortunately, that rivalry had already been triggered.

“Good,” Daniel said, “Then I’ll have to see her for myself.”

“Are you sure you don’t want anymore
work?” Madame Gwen asked as her butler poured the afternoon tea for her and Sara.  It had taken a lot of charm just to get Sara here. 

“No,” Sara said, shaking her head.
She hadn’t thought it would have mattered much to her, but she couldn’t stop thinking about it.  Thinking about him.  With every thought she felt an odd twisting mix of emotions.  There was something about him, something so captivating.  She just couldn’t get him out of her mind.  The smell of him still swirled in her nose.  “This just isn’t the thing for me.”

“I know,” Madame Gwen
said, with a kind smile as she plopped a cube of sugar in her cup.  She had been a Madame for almost a decade, and in that time, she had seen a lot of girls into this business.  It was important not to push them.  It really wasn’t for everyone.  But she had come to know the kind of girls it was for.  And although Sara didn’t realize it herself, she was exactly the kind of girl that belonged in this business.  But Madame Gwen would need her to come to that realization herself.  It was merely her job to guide Sara with a gentle push. 

“So why did you insist I come here,” Sara asked
, after some polite conversation over tea and little cakes.

“I have a couple items of business left with yo
u my dear,” Madame Gwen said, setting her cup down in the saucer.  “My company may not be legal, but I like to run it as professionally as possible.”

“Ok,” Sara said, forcing herself not to roll her eyes.  They were on the columned portico of an enormous mansion having afternoon tea.  Somehow she couldn’t imagine how this could be
in anyway considered professional.

“Client #326 came to see me personally,” Madame
Gwen said, picking up her fork and taking a last square of cake.

“Look,” Sara said,
raising a hand defensively.  “I did my job, if he wasn’t happy with it that’s his problem.”

“Actually,” Madame Gwen
said, pausing to enjoy her bite of cake, “he was rather pleased.  He wanted me to give you a bonus.”

“A bonus,” Sara said, shocked.  She had thought he was dissatisfied
.  He had been so cold to her when everything was over.  The Madame slid an envelope across the table to Sara, a wink in her green eyes.  It’s a good thing Sara wasn’t eating while she peaked into the envelope, because she would have choked.  It was a thick stack of hundreds, crisp and new. 

“I know it can so
metimes feel strange,” Madame Gwen said.  She dabbed at her lips with a corner of her white linen napkin.  “But if you can learn to treat this as a job, it can be very lucrative.”

“Is this normal?” Sara asked.  There was almost as much in the envelope as she had been originally paid.

“It’s not teribblly unusual,” Madame Gwen said.  “But client #326 has never given any girl a bonus.  He has also never requested the same girl twice.”

“I won’t do it,” Sara said, vehemently shaking her head.  She knew she had to get him out of her mind forever, and seeing him again would only make that much harder.  But the fact that he had not only given her another massive sum of cash,
but requested her again, did make her curious.  She had always thought that the men who partook in these sorts of services were seedy and deeply disturbed.  And while #326 obviously had peculiar fetishes, he didn’t really seem like the kind of man she had suspected would order a prostitute. 

“Would you take another job, for twice the price?”
Madame Gwen asked, her eyebrow raised and a smirk on her pouty red lips.

“No, I can’t
,” Sara began to protest.

“
It’s only dinner,” Madame Gwen interrupted. 

“Dinner?” Sara s
aid, “Is that some sort of code word?”

“Its not code, Sara,” Madame Gwen
said with a laugh.  “My business is to please my highly esteemed clientele.  Sometimes, that is something as simple as a dinner alone with a pretty girl.”

Sara’s
eyes locked onto the cash stuffed envelope in her hand.  She had been putting in applications everywhere looking for a job.  She may have been paid enough money to pay her tuition for the semester, but she still needed money to live on.  And then there was next semester’s tuition that would need to be paid soon enough.  She reasoned that the first time would always be the worst, and that hadn’t been completely horrible.  Besides, it was only dinner. 

Sara rode
in the back of the stretch limousine that had come to pick her up, watching the scenery of the city pass by as she tried to calm her nerves.  Her stomach turned with every tiny bump in the road.  Just the thought of seeing him again made her tremble.  The thought of having dinner with him made her dizzy.  The car came to a stop at the gate of a tall building and the driver got out to open the door for her.

Sara placed her gloved hand into the driver’s proffered grip and she slid out of the bucket seat of the limo.
She could barely walk in the floor length evening gown she was sent to wear.  It was a flowing red silk dress with a balconette corset top and a slit that ran all the way up her thigh.  Her hair had been swept back into a twist, revealing the long, slender curve of her neck.

She had to concentrate on every step as she was shown to the back of the property,
where a young man sat at a table set for two.  A candle-lit flower garden surrounded the little white gazebo where the table was set up.  Sara’s eyes focused on the man that sat at the table.  It wasn’t the man she was expecting it to be, and she let out a heavy breath that she had been holding way too long.  As quickly as relief washed over her, disappointment and confusion quickly followed.

“Please,” the man
said, standing with a wide smile when he saw her hesitation, “Sit.”

“I’m sorry,” Sara
said, shaking her head as she looked over the table set for two.  She had never seen anything more romantic in her life.  The man was once again young and handsome.  His blonde hair was trimmed short on the sides and gelled into a gentleman’s part on top.  His eyes were a soft blue that gave Sara a welcoming feeling.  He wore a classic style tuxedo to match her evening gown, and he wore it very well.  It was apparent he had gone to great lengths to put this dinner together.  “This was a mistake.”

“Oh,” the man said, his face dropping.  “You are leaving then?”

“Yes,” Sara said, “I just thought this was something else…”

“Did Madame Gwen not disclose the details of my request?” the man asked, his eyes pleading with her to stay. 

“She did,” Sara said, “But I assumed something else
.”