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Amsterdam, February 2, 2022
Roxanne
I barely sleptthose past two nights, thinking about Patricia and wishing it was an event I could be there for her. I’m not usually so overbearing of a boss that I need to see everything that is going on, but the fact that she knows Elise and that Andries is so put off by her completing this job makes me want to crawl out of my skin.
Andries had voiced, out loud, the same concerns I had. Why was Karl so insistent that the escort be a virgin if he wasn’t going to try and sleep with her? I didn’t get too much detail about the event itself, so maybe having an eighteen-year-old virgin was just some sort of status symbol for older men like Karl, but that didn’t make me feel any better.
If something went wrong…if Karl messed with that girl…it’d be very difficult for me to live it down in a professional sense. Not to mention, I don’t know if I can ever forgive myself for taking such a risk when it’s someone else’s body at stake, not mine.
Escorting is a risky business, I just hadn’t realized how much harder it would be working behind the scenes and not in the thick of it myself.
Once I get to the office this morning, I head straight to my desk, giving Poppy a brief wave. My stomach is churning, and I need to find out everything that happened once and for all. There had been no middle of the night calls from Karl or Patricia, and all my girls know they can call me any time of the day, so no unspeakable disasters had occurred. But that wasn’t what I was worried about, anyway. I have no reason to ever think Karl would be physically violent with one of my escorts. It’s the more insidious, lecherous problems that he can cause that I’m frightened of.
Being a man that had been pushy with me in the past, Karl may get mad when he’s denied, but he knows that my wrath would know no bounds if he did something to my girls. While our meeting at Charlie’s New Year party had ended tensely, he didn’t chase me down or treat me badly afterwards, so I had been sure at the time that I was making the right decision with Patricia. Now, though, Andries had sowed doubts into me, and I can’t seem to get rid of them.
My iPhone beeps with an SMS letting me know that I have received a new voicemail, and it’s from Karl himself. Why am I so reluctant to listen? Is it because I’m afraid of what the potential bad news will put into motion?
I close my eyes and take a slow, steadying breath.If Karl has hurt this girl in any way, I will do right by her. Legally, monetarily, emotionally… I will pay for whatever she needs. Lawyers, therapists…whatever. I’ll do it.
I’ll have to take the hit, either to my business or to myself personally, but I have to maintain my integrity. If my other escorts see me let such a young, naive woman like Patricia suffer,I’ll never have their full trust again. And, honestly, I shouldn’t if I did something like that.
With my heart in my throat, I press the “play” button, and listen to the voicemail that comes through. It’s from Karl, who seems pleased, if a bit vague. Nothing he says should set any alarm bells off, but something about it does anyway.
“We had a better time than I could have hoped,” he ends the message with. “And I think she’ll tell you the same. Thanks again Roxie.”
Lips pursed, I go to delete the voicemail, but at the last second think better of it and save it instead. Just in case.
I try to focus on the rest of my daily work, but it’s all just wasting time until Patricia arrives to give me all the information about her first gig from last night. Some girls think they’re cut out for escort work, but once they actually try it for themselves they discover that it isn’t something that they are comfortable with, or that they aren’t able to separate sex from an emotional connection in their minds. I never have a single issue with new hires that don’t want to stick with it, but it’s always better to find these things out before they take more gigs that they aren’t enthused about working. All that does is leave the woman feeling unsettled and her client frustrated that they paid for a warm companion but instead received an uncomfortable ice queen.
Patricia finally arrives about an hour after I do, looking fresh faced, but wearing a neutral expression, her blonde hair pushed in a high ponytail. I have her payment already written out, but I want to soothe my nerves and get a rundown of her experience before I send her on her way.
“Come in and sit down, Patricia,” I tell her, waving her toward one of the chairs across from my desk. She sits with her back as straight as possible, but what sets off alarm bells in my head is the wince she does before sitting fully, as if she is sore.
Oh no,I think.No, no, no.
Keeping my expression blank, I ask her how everything went. Patricia is a small, fair blonde, and it’s easy to see the slight blush on her cheeks.
“It went fine,” she says simply.
I take her paycheck out of my desk and slide it across the glass surface toward her. She takes it with careful fingers, looking at it for a long moment before sliding it into her purse. She doesn’t meet my gaze, or initiate conversation, so I press on.
“So you didn’t have any problems with Robert, right?”
Patricia chews her bottom lip eyes darting around the room. I can feel my blood pressure rising. She looks ashamed, and I can’t let her leave until I know the whole of the truth.
“Yeah, he was nice,” she replies, twisting the hem of her shirt in her fingers.
I sigh heavily, rubbing my temples. “Patricia, I’ve been in this business long enough to know that something is bothering you. What’s going on?”
She hesitates before shaking her head. “Really, it’s nothing. Can I go home now?”
“If you just didn’t enjoy the experience, that’s completely fine. You never have to do it again. But I’m sensing that it’s something more than that, and the second you signed that contract you were under the umbrella of my business. So, I’ll ask again, and this time I want a real answer. Did you have any problems with Robert?”
“I don’t want you to be mad at me,” she admits meekly.
I soften my tone and look her directly in the eye. “I won’t be mad at you, I swear. I just need to know what went on. I can’t protect you or my other girls if clients are acting foolish and it’s not being reported.”
Like a puppet on strings, Patricia folds her body inward, burying her face in her hands. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I messed up.”
