Call Girl

Erin took her job seriously. It wasn’t because she wanted to, but because she had to. Her dream definitely wasn’t to accompany rich men on luxurious dates for far too little pay, but her choices were slim, so she tried to take it as seriously as she could.

Her real dream was to be a history teacher, which was what she was getting a degree for, but university was expensive and there weren’t enough loans in the world to help her pay. She’d do the job she had to until she could do the job she wanted to do, and she’d do it with a smile on her face.

Sliding some red lipstick across her lips, she popped up the visor of her Pontiac and looked out at the restaurant in front of her. It was another posh place for another posh date that may or may not lead to things that she’d regret in the morning. It would pay her bills, though, so she hopped out of her car and tossed her keys into her purse.

Jack recognized her immediately, as they’d been on one date before, and he walked over to her with a smile. She greeted him back with a small hug and braced herself for the date to come. Her manager had given her a small briefing on her way over to the restaurant so she wasn’t going in completely blind.

Her job was to accompany Jack on the date, be as prim and proper as possible, and impress all his business partners. Whatever happened afterwards was entirely up to Erin, as it always was. She’d get her standard pay for the date and anything that happened after they left the restaurant would simply ensure that she got a good tip.

“Anything I should know?” Erin asked, as Jack put his hand on the small of her back. The touch was friendly and less intimate than actually holding her hand, so she was thankful for that.

“Well, Max has a moustache three times too large for his face. Dan’s wife talks about cooking far more than she should. And then there’s me.”

Erin chuckled, as she slipped through the door Jack had just opened for her. “What about you?”

“I’m probably going to bit more than I should.” Jack smiled down at her, giving her a small wink. “I hope you’re up for it.”

Erin gave a small laugh before mentally calculating all the bills she needed to pay. There was the water, the heat, and of course, groceries. She thought she’d get enough in her next pay check to cover it all, but a big tip from Jack could let her put a little in savings. She had enough time to think on it though, so she simply greeted his business partners with a smile, while pushing her worries out of her mind.

All through their dinner, she focused on being the perfect date for Jack. She tried to impress his partners with what little she knew about law, while flirting with him enough to make everyone else believe they had some sort of relationship. She was supposed to be as discreet as possible about what was going on and she thought she was doing a good enough job.

“Erin, love,” Jack cooed, grasping for her hand underneath the table. “Care to head to the bar to get a drink with me?”

Erin nodded while folding her napkin back on the table. She didn’t feel much like drinking herself, but she didn’t want to embarrass Jack by turning down his offer. She still needed him to give a good review to her boss and wanted to keep her options open in case she decided she did need a big bonus. He was one of the more handsome men that used her company’s services, so it wouldn’t be all bad.

When Jack and Erin slipped onto two of the wooden barstools, Jack ordered some scotch for the both of them and Erin had to force herself not to groan. Scotch was one of her least favorite drinks, and it would probably make Jack a little too drunk to handle.

The bartender passed Erin her drink – without bothering to check her underage ID – with a smile and she took a small sip from it, instantly cringing. It was one of the most awful things she’d ever tasted, but Jack had it downed in just seconds. He quickly ordered another for himself, but Erin stopped him from ordering anymore from her.

As soon as Jack chugged the second one, he slipped his arm around Erin’s waist and tried to pull her as closely to him as he could. Just as Erin had expected, the scotch gave Jack his octopus arms and he became a little too handsy for a public place. He was beginning to not only embarrass himself, but her as well.

She wanted to stop him and get him to calm down, but she didn’t want to piss him off. She could explain to her manager what happened – Rosie had always been an understanding woman, after all – but she still wanted Jack to give her a good tip. She had textbooks to buy and her car was running low on gas.

Being as subtle as she could, Erin tried to push his hands away, which only made him grab her more tightly. He slipped his fingers into the waistband of her skirt, which made her tense up in shock.

Groaning, she pulled his hand away before placing it back on his lap. “Jack, that’s enough.”

“It’s never enough with you, love.” The man chuckled, giving Erin a soft wink.

He slipped his hand back around her waist, grabbing her behind along the way. She cringed at that and hoped that no one else had seen. Things were quickly getting out of her hands, but she didn’t know what to do next. Her mind was going through its constant debate of what was more important: money or her self-respect.

“Not now, Jack,” she said, trying again to push her hand away.

“But Erin –”

“I believe she said that was enough.”

An elbow fell to the bar top in front of Erin and she followed the arm up to find the face that matched the voice. Her eyes met with the soft green ones of a boy who had the curliest hair she had ever seen. He was young, about her age, and not at all who she expected to see at that type of restaurant. He didn’t look like he was old enough to afford, but before Erin could give it a second thought, Jack was standing up from her place beside her, landing eye to eye with the boy.

“I’ll say what’s enough,” Jack slurred, stumbling a bit as he stood up. Erin knew exactly where the situation was headed. Even after her one date with Jack a few weeks before she had learned that he had somewhat of a temper.

“It’s fine,” Erin said, not sure which of the men she was talking too. She just wanted to calm things down. “We were just leaving.”

“You shouldn’t leave with him,” the green eyed stranger said, looking down at Erin with his eyebrows furrowed. She didn’t even bother to ask why she shouldn’t because she knew exactly why. He was going to end up in a bad place and she’d be better off walking away when she could, but there was certain protocol she was supposed to follow on her assigned dates and ditching them at a bar wasn’t part of it.

Jack was already walking out of the restaurant, clearly expecting Erin to follow behind him. In fact, he probably thought she already was.

“I can handle it,” Erin said with a smile. “I deal with this kind of stuff all the time.”

The stranger sighed, pursing his lips at her. He had one of the most curious faces she’d ever seen and she already loved the way he looked when he was thinking.

Shaking her head at her thoughts, she stood up, clutching her purse to her side. The stranger gently grabbed her wrist and spun her around to face him. His green eyes were soft and she wondered why he looked so worried for someone he had never met.

“Just be safe, yeah?”

“Yes.” Erin smiled, nodding her head at him, and with that he released her wrist. He looked like he didn’t want to let her go, but he did.

Her heels clacking against the ground, she walked back out into the parking lot to find Jack, hoping that he hadn’t driven anywhere. He wasn’t in any shape to drive.

Almost immediately, she spotted him leaning over his car, a puddle of his vomit splashing to the floor. She groaned to herself and hoped that he would be kind enough to give her a big tip for taking care of him when he was sick.

Taking care of drunkards was not part of Erin’s job description, but she often found herself doing things that she never expected.