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Christina
I driveto Frankie’s Tiki Bar, a favorite meeting spot located off of the Las Vegas strip and away from the throng of tourists. I promised to meet Thomas for a drink and discuss the night's new client. I tried to leave this business behind for good last night, but ultimately changed my mind. After encountering one asshole client who refused to pay her in full, having second thoughts about continuing in this line of work, it feels surreal to be going to discuss another John. But this is my life now, and I can’t actually say that I don’t likeit.
I enter the dark, smoky room of the bar. A steady stream of exotica, grind, surf, and garage rock play from the jukebox, and I find Thomas sitting in his usual booth at the back of the bar, deep into his second drink, the rings on his fingers clinking against his glass.
"Just enough primitive with a splash of kitsch," he says when I approach. "This place is the perfect escape. Just look at these tikis. Do you agree?"
I nod. ”What are you drinking?" I ask as I slip into the booth.
"This here is the Nakalele Knockout," he replies, twirling his green swizzle stick with a plastic head on its tip. "It's a drink that is supposed to pay tribute to the thousands of Hawaiian human sacrifices. You drink your first cocktail, and then you count your blessings, and then you drink your second cocktail, and you start to count your steps or fall into your own fierypit."
Thomas laughs, twisting his swizzle stick and continues, "Are you ready to sacrifice your body tonight, Chris?"
I light a cigarette and allow the smoke to curl around my face. I give him a long, hard gaze and say, "No more bullshit clients, Thomas. I can't go through that again."
"I'll think you'll be pleasantly surprised tonight," he replies with a shrug.
"Why is that?" I ask, raising one eyebrow.
"Because Mr. M has requested your company," Thomas says and smiles.
I let myself remember my last meeting with Mr. M. He is the only client allowed to touch me, and he’s the only one that I want to. He owns a palatial home, if it could even be described as a home—it was more like a mansion, with an olympic sized pool, and tennis courts, and a place where he threw parties with some of Las Vegas's wealthiest men. He is an alpha male who knows what he wants and when he wants, and he carries himself with a great deal of confidence. What he desires, he gets, without exception. There is something that I find irresistible in his personality and achingly familiar. I feel like if I am able to see his face, I’ll know him. Like…honestly, he makes me think of my darkest desires with David, crazy as that sounds. David left right before I went to see Mr. M, and that’s because he had to get back to Stanford.
I feel a twinge of guilt inside me now. I think I’m falling for David, to be honest, so why do I have to have such strong feelings for Mr. M, too, whatever those feelings are. I don’t know and I don’t know if I want to explore them. Why do I have to gravitate toward the two most inappropriate relationships in my life, my stepson and my client? I just don’t see either road ending well for me, yet I seem to want to bang my head against the wall for both of them and see what desires and longings stick. How do I manage this without gettinghurt?
"Well, I better get ready for the evening," I say, almost too eagerly. "I'll let you know how it goes. If there is even the scent of trouble, you'll be hearing fromme."
"Don't go falling for your clients," Thomas laughs, seeing right through my words and knowing the conflict that is probably radiating off me at this point. "Because that's nothing but trouble."
I give him a final wink and leave, but I’m grateful that Thomas truly does seem to look out for me. I think about telling him so now, but maybe I need to not sound so desperate so soon after I threatened to quit the whole business.
