I didn’t even think to ask about money. The only question out of my mouth was whether I’d be assigned to Mr Brown again.
Mr Brown will get first refusal, Claude told me. Standard practice.
I’d nodded. Smiled. Tried to keep my cool, even though my knees were knocking under the desk.
Three grand an evening, that’s what Claude offered, and I’d stared mute, trying to gather my dropped jaw from the floor.
The money was insane – dwarfing my monthly cleaning salary in just one evening, so much for a poker face – the overwhelm was written all over me.
“Yes. Thank you!” My words tumbled out before Claude could rethink his offer.
“I’ll be in touch with Mr Brown. Please keep your weekends clear, he prefers a Saturday evening.”
And so I waited.
I scrubbed his kitchen until my fingers were sore. Pressed his clothes to perfection and hung them so neatly in his dressing room.
I took Brutus on an extra-long walk and gave him an extra fish treat.
I replenished the orchids before I left for the weekend.
And then I went home to Joe and Dean.
Alexander
“I’ve had a lot of interest,” Claude tells me with greedy eyes. The man is like a pig in shit, leaning back in his chair with a grin on his face as he tells me he’s contemplating another auction for Amy’s next appearance.
“Fuck the fucking auction,” I snap. The very fact I’m in his fucking saleroom at close to midnight on a Friday evening – dressed in fucking denim in my haste to get this shit negotiated – tells him everything he needs to know.
The slimy cunt has me over a barrel, and we both know it.
He offers me a whisky from his desk drawer. I wave it away. “Exclusivity is going to cost.”
My stare is ice-cold, practiced and pointed from years in court. “Don’t dick me about, Claude. I’m open to negotiation.”
“Twenty grand,” he tells me. “Twenty grand a session, exclusivity assured for a six-month initial term.”
I laugh out loud. “Twenty fucking grand a session? I could hire Elena ten times over.”
“And Elena is average stock,” he tells me. “We both know it.”
“That’s not quite what you said when you presented her.”
He shrugs. “Elena is Elena, Candice is Candice. Amy is…”
“No longer a fucking virgin,” I finish.
“In demand,” he tells me. “I’ve had five enquiries already this week.”
I’d normally call the cunt’s bluff, but not this time. This time I’m worried the prick is serious.
“Ten grand,” I tell him, because I’d lose all self-respect by accepting his first offer.
“Fifteen,” he says. “And that’s generous. An extra twenty-percent cash tip on the night, compulsory.”
If looks could kill he’d be dead already. “Twenty fucking percent? It was a five percent compulsory cash tip last time.”
“It is what it is.” His eyes are so fucking smug. “If you don’t like it…”
I should walk. The number one rule of negotiation, never be afraid to walk away, never accept the weaker position.
But I don’t. I don’t fucking walk.
“And how much does she make from this? Amy?”
He laughs as though the question is absurd. “Seventy percent as standard. One hundred percent of her cash tip, of course.”
“Of course.”
I contemplate the prospect of signing away the best part of twenty grand to sweet little Amy every weekend, contemplate how likely she is to stay a six-month course. But it’s pointless. My heart is already pounding in my temples, frantic beneath the surface of my poker face.
“Fine,” I tell him. “Delaney’s. Weekly. Right through until breakfast, at my pleasure.”
He holds out a hand. “I’ll set it up.”
It makes me cringe to shake it. “Six-month term, Claude. Don’t fuck me about.”
He nods. “It’s done.”
Melissa
I can hardly breathe when the email pings.
Dean calls up the message and clears his throat.
“Well?” I quiz. I try to read his face, but he’s still scanning the screen.
He smiles at me. “It’s good. Really fucking good.”
My heart thumps as I leap from my seat and join him on the sofa. I grab the handset from him, my eyes hungry for detail.
Six month exclusivity. Weekly schedule. Saturdays from eight at Delaney’s Spa Resort.
Small print about referring to the original sale paperwork, more small print about accepting absolute exclusivity as a condition of sale.
And then finally, the piece of information I’ve been waiting for.
Your client is Ted Brown.