The Doctor's Fake Nanny(35)

She wasn't scheduled to work at the café for the next two days because  of her other job. Ron knew about it. He encouraged her to go for it. He  was aware of her personal difficulties and was decent enough to  understand that she needed to supplement her earnings from the coffee  shop.                       
       
           



       

Most of her coworkers at the café didn't know that she'd taken a job  with an escort service agency four months earlier and was employed by  them twice a week. They assumed the two days she was away were her days  off, but Cassidy hadn't enjoyed a day off since she started her second  questionable job. She was lucky the agency agreed to two days instead of  the regular five working days.

Her job mostly consisted of answering phone calls from potential clients  and taking down their personal information. It was important for the  agency to check a person's background against a blacklist database for  the protection of the girls working there. There had been several  instances when an escort complained of being beaten and abused by a  client, and it was her duty to ensure it never happened again. She also  answered e-mails and handled a bit of advertising via social media.

When she'd first applied for the job, the manager had been skeptical of  her skills. He tried to convince her to work as an escort instead. She  had the looks, he said, but Cassidy was adamant. She knew the extent of  the services the girls offered the clients, and it usually lead to some  form of sex. They could refuse, but most didn't and Cassidy didn't have  the guts to do the same.

The escorts themselves were all young, beautiful, and basically had the  same story to tell. Money was the primary incentive for becoming an  escort, and it was classier than being a street prostitute. She had made  friends with some of these girls and had grown quite fond of them.

Cassidy often wondered how she could keep her focus, given what her  duties entailed at the agency. Her entire being was at different ends of  a pendulum, her moral compass being in diametric opposition to that of  the agency's. Her mind was back at the coffee shop, where she wondered  if Tristan had returned to look for her. She immediately tossed this  thought away, hoping he hadn't because she wouldn't have been there to  see him.

The hours at the agency crawled incredibly slowly and she was often  assailed with an urge to call Ron and ask if anyone had come in looking  for her. However, she knew Ron would see right through her no matter how  casual she tried to appear.

She just had to grin and bear it until Saturday came around. The agency  manager could sense her unease and was giving her strange looks like she  was a cat in heat.

The escort service office was on the outskirts of Forest Hills, not that  far from her modest apartment. She entered the discreet front door - no  signage, only a number - and climbed the steps to the office. Her  lackluster setup was located in the very back: a small room, an oak  desk, a worn out leather office chair, a beige phone, an outdated  computer, and one tiny window. That was it.

She hung her coat on a hook and settled into her familiar seat. Before  she could boot up her slow computer, her manager casually strolled in.

"Cassidy, I need your help. Between calls, you enter these new  guidelines onto the website, yes?" He handed her a printout from his  computer.

Cassidy breathed a sigh of relief. Another mindless task. This job  wasn't hard; it was just the business. She felt so uncomfortable here.  She knew she was conflicted, and it was all about money. There was no  getting around it.

"Sure thing, Mr. Horvat," she smiled politely.

"Cassidy, how many times have I ask?" he said in his thick Eastern  European accent. "It's Edgar. Ed. Just call me Ed. We're friendly here.  Happy family. Girl friendly. Edgar friendly."

"Alright, Ed. I'll get it done today. No problem."

"You still sure you don't want other work? Make more money? Have good  times?" Edgar asked with a hopeful grin. Edgar's family had immigrated  to America from Croatia when he was just a boy, yet his English was  still quite broken. Cassidy found it oddly endearing.

"No, I'm fine," she replied flatly. "This suits me just fine. I couldn't be …  I couldn't …  I'm not … "

Edgar shrugged his broad shoulders. "Okay. Just ask. You make good money."

"Ed," Cassidy began firmly. "No. Don't ask again, okay? I'll come here help in the office and go home. That's all I'll do here."

"Okay, okay. You do good work. You good girl."

After he left Cassidy took a good look at the guidelines:

Do not ever use her working name at the buzzer, and do not ever use it  at her door. Providers generally want it to look like an old friend is  coming to visit, so they need you need to be discreet. Buzz up and say  something simple like, "Hey it's me."

More directions like that, then:

If you do not ask her for what you want and end up disappointed, do not  write a negative review. That is very unfair to her as she is not a mind  reader. If you do not ask for what you want and end up disappointed it  is not her fault.                       
       
           



       

Cassidy felt a shiver run down her back. This gray area, the crossover  to sex, is what made her uncomfortable. She knew it was unrealistic to  expect men to go out with a beautiful woman and then …  just end the  evening. How did they do it?

She got back to answering phone calls and within a couple of hours she  had the new guidelines posted on the website. She decided to send a  notice to all the girls to check the updated rules so they would be up  to speed.

"Hey, Cass," a southern drawl called through the door.

"Hi, Kim. How's it going?"

"I'm fine, but I need to take a couple of days off. Can you take me off  the schedule for Monday and Tuesday? It's my little brother."

Cassidy realized the girls had lives and problems outside this world  where they dressed to entice and wore makeup to enhance. She didn't  agree with what they did, but she was able to look past that had  befriended the majority of them.

"What's going on with your little brother?" she asked with sincerity.

"Well, it's a mystery. First the doctors thought it might be ALS, but  that's so rare in children that they decided he needs to go in for some  other tests. I want to be with him. All the hospital stuff and the  doctors and crazy machines and needles. He gets so scared."

Cassidy could see Kim was close to tears. Unexplained nerve diseases, cancer. The world was filled with tragedies.

"Oh, Kim. I'm so sorry. My Mom has cancer. I know how you feel." She  fiddled with the computer. "There, you're off the schedule."

"Thanks, Cass," Kim drawled. "How about you? How are you doing? I didn't know about your mom."

"It's why I'm here. Making money to send home."

"Yeah. Money makes the world go round."

Cassidy nodded agreement. "Yeah, it sure does." She paused, not knowing  how to go about asking the question that was really on her mind. She  knew Kim was one of the girls who offered extra services privately. "Um,  Kim …  I …  How do you? I mean …  The strange men? Umm … "

Kim laughed her familiar infectious laugh. Cassidy could see why she was  popular. "Cassidy, you sound like one of the guys trying to ask for  more than dinner and conversation." She looked at the wall for a moment,  eyes going distant. "At first, it is uncomfortable. You have to get  used to being frank and direct. But the real thing is you have to change  your thinking. If you think sex is bad, it's not going to work. Plus,  it not really about sex, it's about pleasing. About offering the best  service. You know, we all have our own limits and we discuss those  before agreeing to any extra service. You have to believe that what you  do not only uplifts your clients but uplifts you, too. You have to enjoy  the job for what it is."

Cassidy tried, but she just couldn't get her head there …  not even for a  few seconds. "Thanks, Kim. I guess it's just not for me. I'm okay doing  this office stuff. I'll stick with that."

Kim nodded in agreement. "Yeah, some girls just can't get there. You  have to be okay mentally to make it work. Can't argue with the money,  though." She let out another great laugh.

"Um, so, how money are we talking? Oh, my god, that's so blunt. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

"Hey, that's okay. Just don't tell Ed how much, okay? He knows we do it,  and he knows it gets him more clients, but we never tell him how much.  Deal?"

"Sure, Kim. I won't tell Ed. I was just curious."