She handled it like a pro, though. There was no sound on these live feeds, but June could tell that Grace was putting on the show of her life as she pretended to be enthralled with a client’s complete lack of charisma. It must have worked, because that bozo looked so damn proud to be there, beautiful woman in his presence. It was either watching Grace or Holly, though. They were the only two currently with clients, with the others waiting for appointments.
Who wanted to watch Holly?Not. Me. She was the epitome of overacting. Lots of clients liked that, but June always wanted to roll her eyes until she choked on them in her throat.
That was until she saw something that unnerved the shit out of her.
June didn’t know the man Holly was with. He was new, from out of town… and beyond, probably. Right in front of the black and white camera, he backhanded Holly so she crashed into her bed, hand on her cheek, and not in a hurry to get up.
Toes half dried, June grabbed the keys and hit the panic button on the wall.
Holly’s room was only a few doors down. June pressed her ear against the door and heard the muffled sounds of a man threatening to do worse if Holly didn’t do what he wanted.
Why, I’m gonna…
June lightly knocked on the door.
“Go away!” Holly called.Yeah, right. June pulled out her ring of keys and thumbed through them until she found Holly’s.
No one in her business wanted to deal with this shit. Clients like whoever this was already had violent tendencies, and being a woman – no matter how seasoned she was – June was at a distinct disadvantage, but nobody was assaulted on her watch, and that kind of “play” was absolutelynotallowed. The man got the boot the moment he laid a rough hand on Holly.
Nevertheless, the next few minutes were tough to digest.
Yelling. Threats. The meeting of an ex-Navy SEAL and a heavily pregnant madam who knew every law on the books. Before Holly could cry out again, everyone was in the room, tackling the guy, dragging him around, throwing blankets on top of Holly, and threatening to call the police and lawyers. Peter, the bouncer, was enough to get the guy scrambling out of there. He left behind his wallet, but nobody was in a hurry to run it out to him. Peter offered to chuck it at his head and knock him unconscious.
“Gracious,” Monique muttered. She had stayed at Holly’s side the whole time. Was she grateful? No! She crawled from beneath her blanket, red on her cheek and anger in her eyes.
Anger at June.
“What the hell!” she cried, while the bouncer left the room to make sure the guy was gone from the premises. That’s what the backup security team on the outer grounds was for. “I was working! Do I barge into your room when you’re with your clients?”
June’s mouth dropped open. “Are you seriously trying to tell me that wasn’t what I thought I saw and heard?”
“Fuck off!”
Monique got up. “You and I will talk later.” Who was she saying that to? Probably anyone who would listen. “I’m going to check on what’s going on out there.” She put a hand on June. “I trust you will take over from here?”
“That’s my job, right?”
“Fuck your job,” Holly mumbled as Monique left and closed the bedroom door behind her. “What about mine?”
“Yeah, what about it?” June turned to her the moment they were left alone. “You want your career to end now… let alone your life?”
“It wasn’t that bad!”
“Let me guess… you had control over the situation.”
“Yeah!”
Typical. Typical naïve brat who was probably too immature to be working at a place like this. “You didn’t. The moment that guy put a hand like that on you, his time here was over. Nobody hits you. Do you understand me? It’s not acceptable!”
“Says the woman who has the richest fucks around lining up to be her patron. Do you know how long I’ve had to wait for you to finish your stupid game so I can get a patron? I’m making the least amount of money here because of it! A girl does what she has to!”
I’ve heard that a million times, coming from my own mouth. Time for some real talk.
“I’m sorry you’re not making as much money as you want, but you won’t be making any money at all if that shit happens. You’ve been given a panic button for a reason. You’re lucky I saw that happen on the cameras.”
“Nothing gives me job security like knowing you’re watching me work.”
“Shut the fuck up. Even if it wasn’t my job to keep an eye out for that shit, I would do it anyway. I won’t stand for those types of clients coming around here. It is not allowed. Full stop.”
