After waking up the next day, Anika had already left before I could tell her to take care of herself and give her a tight hug. It was a sad start to see Anika gone. Even having my mother part ways with me, was a fact that I could never accept. I needed to see her, but this need would never be heard or attended to by anyone and neither could I let myself brood over it for too long.
The kind deeds of the man named Athelio were deeply embedded in my mind, and never to be forgotten. After he left early in the morning, I realised I may or may not ever see him again and that put me in a strange situation as I never usually bothered whether clients would return or not.
Delilah seemed more cheerful today than the whole of last week, even as the number of clients who visited today were lesser. Maybe it was the number of requests for escorts that made her cheerful, which made me lucky as I wasn't needed for escort service. My body felt a little better, but my mind was still in a contorted state; confused and lonely.
Today I spent most of my time cleaning the rooms, or helping Delilah with some task or the other. There were very few girls left, and those few were at their day jobs so it left just two other girls and I to help her. She was burning up cigars and lighting the neon tubes as if in celebration for how well this brothel was finally doing because of all the calls for enquiry.
"Camilla dear, I've got two clients booked next week for Celine; write their number and names on this sheet please."
She kept using affectionate words and gentle gestures with me whenever I was asked to do something.
I nodded and took the sheet of paper from her and a pen. Holding the pen felt strange to me, making me almost forget how to hold one as I hadn't used a pen for as long as I can remember. Using it reminded me of school-or the last years of it. I can still clearly remember having to drop out of school, as there was no more money to continue. My father had sold me to Delilah and left to strive for a life of betterment, as having to keep me would bring him more responsibility. My mother however, was more compassionate. After she found out what he had done, she was livid and came to me immediately. But she could not take me back as her job as a caretaker and maid was stressful, and she was becoming extremely sick, so she was forced to quit, which resulted in me working for Delilah to sustain the both of us.
I wrote dates, durations, names and numbers of clients and girls. Delilah had several phone calls to attend to, so I and the other girls just sat together.
By the end of the day, there was only one man who came to me, having no one for the night shift which meant I could sleep peacefully tonight. I was grateful for every hour of rest I had gotten.
The next day had the same, slow paced routine. Since all the rooms were cleaned, I, Olivia and Monica helped Delilah with her other work of arranging papers and taking down important notes. I had wondered why business had started doing so well all of a sudden and why there were so many calls for escort agencies. Monica had told me that some escort agencies had now recently put Delilah on a public list online, which now reached a larger clientele. But this list didn't have the high end escort agencies; they were the cheap ones and cheap prices brought a lot of business within minutes of advertising.
The high end escort services used girls who only worked for that agency and not brothels, I'm guessing clients paid more because they weren't used as much or have as many clients like us girls in the brothels.
Multiple times during the day, I found myself missing Anika and wondering how she was coping, or how she would be at a particular moment.
"Camilla take down another name for Rina, she has to go for a trip with him for a fortnight," came Delilah's voice which broke my flow of thoughts.
-x-
By the end of the week, she had returned. She was exhausted, not just by her physical state but herself as a whole was exhausted, as if her heart and mind were tired too. There was a nice wad of cash in her hand that Delilah had taken on seeing her. She had split the money and given Anika some to keep for savings. It would seem that escort service paid far better than in a brothel, or at least, a brothel like ours.
The girl had her chin-length brown hair all ruffled up, her blue eyes having dark circles under them to add to the little mess that she arrived in. I hugged her tight, showing her how I missed my younger companion; I felt her lethargy pass through me and I thought while I had had a light week, she had had a hard one.
Some of the other girls had returned and were all smiling at Anika, giving her hugs and patting her on the back. She only nodded politely in response, too tired to talk.
"Ah now we've got one for you," Delilah said while looking at me, removing her reading spectacles that she had recently gotten for herself.
I looked at her in confusion, frowning a bit, while she announced what was in store for me the following Monday.
"Mr. Athelio has asked for you; escort service for five days."
Silence broke through everyone, and I did not know what to make of hearing his name again. The girls then looked at me and grinned, knowing that this was my chance to make some money, while Anika looked at me with a pained expression.
"Now," Delilah said, her voice suddenly turning stern, " this is for strictly sexual activities, understand?"
"Yes ma'am," I replied, lowering my head.
Later during the day, Anika and I sat at the back of the brothel at the base of the stairs that led to the next floor which only Delilah was accessible to. It was rarely visited by anyone except Delilah herself as it was right at the back. She didn't mind if anyone was at the base of the stairs, it was only if anyone climbed up the stairs would she get angry.
"Camilla, escort service—it's terrible. I've never felt more isolated before in my life," she said in a sad voice. It was soft, yet it spoke so loudly of how unsettled she felt.
"I have to go this Monday, I don't know what to expect." I held her hand tightly and squeezed it.
"It is with the man named Athelio, no?" She asked, looking at me.
I nodded, "yes."
"Oh, last week he left telling Delilah that you pleased him well."
-x-
Done with the eighth chapter!!
Finally, I can write and there is some stability in my updates :D
BẠN ĐANG ĐỌC
Alleviate
Tiểu Thuyết Chung"I started to find a sadness that governed the place where men came to fulfill their satisfaction, hidden behind the playful and happy smiles of the people here," he said. - As long as the never ending bruises and scars will keep forming on my frail...
