Helen thought honestly about Mindy and how she compared. Mindy was shorter than Helen unless she was wearing battle gear. When she was all dressed for work, Mindy wore ten-centimeter heels. She was tanned and pierced and tattooed in all the right places and Helen was simply nothing like her.
Helen didn’t even have long, pretty hair. Her hair was that unfortunate color that was neither blonde or brown, and to top it off, it was cropped so short that it was almost boyish. She had no figure to speak of. She was pale and… ordinary. Couldn’t a guy get a girl like her anywhere?“Don’t you think I’m plain?” Helen asked when Mindy broached the subject a second time.“Plain?” Mindy asked skeptically. “Plain? What do you mean? If you think you’re ugly, think again. It’s true, you need help, but your problems are nothing that can’t be solved with makeup and a little extra attention. Basically, if you give me permission to do whatever it takes to bring you up to snuff, you’ll look like a fox promptly.”“Really?”Mindy snuffed, “Everything is fake anyway.”“No one is naturally beautiful?”Mindy rolled her eyes and said caustically, “Even Cinderella needed a glass shoe.”“Then I’ll do it,” Helen said. She was too desperate to pay her bills to think rationally.“Okay then. You asked for it,” Mindy said, picking up her car keys and heading for the door.Mindy took Helen to her agency where she introduced her to the boss and told her they could use her for the busy season. No one wanted to be alone around Christmas time, so there was always more than enough work. The woman in charge didn’t seem very interested in Helen, but assigned her the working name of ‘Vera’ and told her she’d work with Mindy the first few times just to make sure she was trained properly. Then Mindy took her to the back for her makeover.The first thing Mindy did once they were alone was pierce Helen’s ears. She’d never had it done and it felt like her head was going to explode it hurt so much.Mindy groaned when Helen whined. “Look, I’m not going to brand you. It’s a miracle you managed to make it to nineteen without having it done anyway. This isn’t a big deal.”But, it didn’t matter what Mindy said, Helen still felt sore as Mindy busily gave her a facial, manicure, pedicure, plucked her eyebrows and did her makeup.When Mindy finally left her alone, she felt sure she’d made the wrong choice. Beauty was too painful for her. She didn’t want to be beautiful when the price was getting your eyebrows plucked—hair by hair. She even considered bolting… but she did need the money. Ugh! She had to endure it.Mindy brought her back a long honey colored wig and plopped it on her head happily.“It’s great that your hair is so short. This way we can do whatever we want with you,” she said with a smile. “You’re going to be super hot.”All in all, by the time Mindy was truly finished with Helen she was living a double life. By day, she was mild mannered college student Helen Paul and by evening she was Vera, an extremely beautiful and elusive escort who would never be seen past Christmas.Or so she thought.Mindy was right. Christmas was busy. Vera went to six office Christmas parties, three charity auctions, one ball, two shopping excursions, a dinner party, and a performance of The Nutcracker. By Boxing Day, her first day off, she looked at how much money she’d earned dating interesting men, and she was still four hundred dollars short on tuition, not to mention January’s rent, and additional expenses. She crunched the notice in her hand and knew exactly what it meant. She would have to work on New Year’s Eve. And who would be her partner that evening?So far, the guys she had dated hadn’t seemed that bad. Most of them were in their twenties or thirties. They didn’t have wives and weren’t likely to. They had just gotten in the habit of phoning for a date when one of these once-a-year awkward occasions came up. Some were more embarrassed than others, but she worked hard to make them all feel like she saw them as real people instead of just a customer. One of them even phoned and requested her again. Mindy thought that was great and gave Helen smiles and cheek pinches to congratulate her on her first return client.When the end of the night came with one of these men, they’d call a cab for her and put her in it without asking for so much as a hug. More than one of them had even told her that she was much too good a girl to be working as an escort and she’d be better off giving it up.But by Boxing Day, she hadn’t earned enough money and she’d have to work New Year’s Eve—terrifying.Mindy’s words still haunted her. “New Year’s Eve,” she said with a wink. “Everybody’s date gets a kiss on New Year’s Eve. Don’t even think of trying to skip out.”Helen gulped. If she worked that night, she’d definitely have to kiss her date!***Helen popped her purple bubblegum and tried to work out some of the tension in her back. It was the dreaded night—New Year’s Eve. Rats! She was dressed like two billion dollars. Her dress was deep red, the color of the season, and she was wearing a long black coat with fur trimming Mindy had loaned her for the occasion. All her clothes were borrowed from Mindy, except for the inserts in her bra (those were a gift). To complete her look, Helen wore long dangling earrings with rhinestones inset in them and a choker to match. The wrap she would wear once the coat was hung up was black with deep red blossoms scattered across it in a gorgeous array. Helen thought it was prettier than the dress. The wig she wore that night was sandy blonde with bangs that fell slightly into her eyes.That night she was supposed to meet Mr. Mark Lewis in the lobby of the Grand Morton Hotel—downtown—uptown—a really good part of town. There was a party there in one of the ballrooms and she was his insurance that he wouldn’t be going stag to the biggest party of the year.She pushed through the revolving doors just before eight o’clock hoping she’d find him quickly. She was supposed to wait by the courtesy phone in the lobby. Phase one of the date wasn’t a big deal. She’d been meeting men that way all along. Even though it had barely been a month, she felt like a seasoned professional. The reason sweat was forming in the space between her shoulder blades was that she couldn’t stop thinking about the cold fact that she was going to have to kiss her date. Of course, Mindy was right. Having someone to kiss at the stroke of midnight was the whole purpose of hiring an escort on New Year’s Eve. It was socially embarrassing to have no one to kiss. Helen just needed to pull herself together. She’d been kissed before. Lots of times… she thought.She rolled her eyes and looked around for a place to spit her gum before her date got there. But she was so nervous she accidentally started to blow another bubble.“Looking for something?” a deep male voice said coolly.Helen’s gum bubble deflated as her eyes met those of one of the most handsome men she had ever seen. Helen didn’t even get a chance to examine him closely when she realized he was holding a silver dust bin in his hand, poised to catch her gum.Helen reached into her pocket and quickly pulled out a tissue. There was no way that guy was her date, but her date was probably in the lobby (if he was on time) and she didn’t want him to see her spit a wad of purple bubble gum directly into a waste bin. She already felt like she’d tripped up by being majorly outclassed in the fancy hotel. She rolled her gum up in the Kleenex and dropped it into the bin.“Thank you,” she said, trying to cool her cheeks and manage some sort of composure.Then she moved away and stood closer to the courtesy phone. She leaned against the pillar and tried to look for her date.But the guy with the trash can wasn’t leaving. He set the bin down near a chair, came around, and leaned against the pillar beside her. “Was your gum grape or raisin flavored?”“Those are the same,” Helen said, still scanning the room and not looking at the man next to her. “It just depends on whether or not the French side of the package is showing.”He laughed. “Are you waiting for somebody?” he asked, flirting.“I have a date.”“Is he handsome?”“Who?”“Your date,” he answered, chuckling.Helen looked around nervously. She had never seen the man. How was she supposed to answer? The stranger was clearly playing with her. If she said her date was gorgeous, she’d be in trouble when the short, bald guy rolled in. After scrambling for a moment, she answered, “I like the way he looks.”“Hmm,” the brown-eyed stranger said, as he suddenly turned around the corner and put his arm by her shoulder, nearly pinning her against the pillar. “And you’re friendly with him no doubt?”She nodded and said testily, “That’s why you shouldn’t be putting the moves on me.”“Mark!” someone suddenly called from the other end of the lobby. It was a silver tinkling voice, exactly like the sound of Christmas ornaments jingling.Helen turned her head to see who had called her date’s first name, when suddenly the stranger in front of her closed in and whispered, “Sorry for the late in
All in all, the evening was oceans more fun than she expected. She danced with Mark most of the time, and when he was called away by someone else, she danced with one of his friends. He had nice friends. They were good looking, young, successful, and didn’t have wandering hands when they danced with her. The food was excellent and Mark was a good date. He was clearly popular both in his profession and with his friends, because he introduced her to at least fifty people, if not more. He had a good sense of fun and knew how to dance. He told her about his interests in a way that none of her other dates had bothered to. It was almost like he wasn’t sure how to date an escort and so he was dating her in the same way he would date her if he was really interested in her. By the end of the night, she thought more than once that it was a pity her date with Mark was just for her job; otherwise, she would have loved to find herself in a more long-term relationship with him.A
Two Requests?After New Year’s Eve, Helen went back to washing dishes in the back of her pub for the month of January and tried not to think about what she could be missing working as an escort. After all, not every date had been like the last one with Mark Lewis. Yup! She didn’t think about what Mark’s kiss had been like or how he held her while they danced. She didn’t think about his eyes or the way his hair fell into them. Nope! Not one bit!Best of all, she didn’t think about the money she was missing out on while she worked her honest minimum wage job. At least, not until her January paycheck came in. When she saw the numbers and did the accounting in her head, she computed just one fact—she was in trouble.Mindy was reading a magazine in her recliner when Helen limped into the apartment after getting her pay stub. Mindy instantly flipped the glossy cover shut and took her headphones out of her ears to ask Helen, “So, how
Valentine’s Day.Even before the date, Helen felt sure she was already dead and roasting for her sins in hell, but how could she have known that Dominic would take her to the same restaurant as Mark that night? Bah!Helen hadn’t been the one to call Mark to tell him he had been outbid. Helen fed herself all kinds of good reasons why she had turned him down. She was doing it for the money, so why not do it for the money? If that was her philosophy, then it didn’t matter who asked her. The sooner she could pay off Mindy and her credit card, the better. It wasn’t like she wanted luxurious living. Mostly what she wanted was a reasonable meal. Eating cheap Asian noodles two meals a day was hardly nourishing, but she didn’t have money for anything better.She also told herself maybe it was better if it didn’t go any further with Mark. It wasn't like he was going to fall head-over-heels for an escort, and the last thing she wanted was to f
When their food came, Helen thought for sure Dominic would send his steak back to the kitchen. It didn’t even look like it had been cooked. When his knife bit into it, his plate practically filled with blood. Was he going to put something that raw in his mouth?He chuckled when he saw her face and offered, “Would you like to try some?”Laura laughed outright at Helen’s screwed up nose and horrified expression. “You should try some.” The other woman laughed. “You’re so fond of 'enjoying the moment!'”Helen pretended she didn’t hear the dig while Dominic took a slice of the steak and put it on the tip of his fork.Crap! Helen thought. I only know one way out of this. She took his fork and as she was about to place that red, raw meat into her mouth, she flipped it around and fed it to Dominic instead, allowing her hand to rest on the back of his neck.“You’re very kind,” he said when
Working Nine to FiveHelen got on the bus and took a seat near the front. She pulled out her iPhone and put her headphones in her ears. She could finally afford a cell phone plan.It was April and she had just finished her last accounting exam. It was nice to have it off her shoulders. Her course at the college had been in administrative assistance. Now it was finished, she could go look for a real job instead of escorting guys. Helen wasn’t sure, but she thought the punk band in her headphones sounded like the hallelujah chorus.As a bonus, there was one other reason she was excited about quitting her job as an escort. Once she had her evenings free again, she could maybe try to find a real boyfriend. She’d given up thinking there was a way for things to work out between her and Mark. It had been two months since Valentine’s Day and he hadn't made a request for her since then. Helen kept telling herself it didn’t matter. She had paid off Mindy
Helen raised her fist to knock when Mark himself came around the corner.“Oh hello,” he said cheerfully. “Are you Helen Paul?”Helen smiled and put out her hand to shake his. Hers was suddenly sweaty. She hoped desperately that he wouldn’t notice. The inside of his palm was like warm silk.He shook her hand warmly and reached into his pocket to get the keys to his office. “I’m Mark. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for your interview, but I was extremely impressed with what Elizabeth told me about you. It’s so rare to find someone who doesn’t mind working overtime—evenings and weekends. Working in PR is very exciting, but it’s hard to find someone who wants to dedicate themselves to the proper representation of a company. I hope you’re up to the challenge.”She had agreed to work evenings and weekends? What else had she promised?“I am!” Helen claimed energetically.
He was a gem! He had to be an absolute gem! Not only did he not recognize her from before, but he was honestly happy to have her working for him. He said he’d been working his job for the past seven months and he’d been promised an assistant when he was hired. But it was only recently the budget was approved for him to finally get one. He was delighted.“Now my office will be clean,” he said jubilantly. “And that’s so important in our line of work. I have to invite people into my office all the time and it’s so painful when it’s a mess, but I don’t have time to clean it.”Helen’s first day of work was incredible. Working for Mark was going to be awesome!And he’d never find out she was Vera. If she had to protect her secret to her grave, she’d do it, because as soon as he found out, she’d probably have to leave. It would be a pity. The job had been too hard to get to simply cast it off