London Dusk (A Dawn to Dusk Novella) (5 page)

I bit my lip
. "Do I have to sleep with all of them for that sort of money?"

Annalise shook her head
. "Definitely not. Ten grand is a base rate for simply being their date or companion. Some clients want genuine companionship, or a date for a function. You are there to accessorise them. If they change the terms of the contract, as in they want to take you to bed, they need to seek approval from us first as that changes the price." She patted my arm reassuringly. "You, my dear, would make a fine accessory. But if you do want to up your game and make more money, like say – twenty grand a night, you just let me know, and I can arrange for you to have clients with those needs."

I swallowed.
She meant sleeping with them. If I was just someone's date, I could earn a lot of money. But if I decided to sleep with them as well, I would get paid even more. And I really needed the money. I had come to the Agency expecting to provide sexual or companionship services. I was going to get in, do this, make the money, and get out. The sooner Luke was paid off, the better. "Do you mind if I up my game right from the start?"

Annalise shook her head
. "No, not at all. I know you're in a bind. If you want—" She looked at Jax, lightly touching her arm. "Since you are coming to me via a very dear friend, I'll start you on some of our higher end clients. That way, you'll get out of this pickle you're in faster. Then afterwards, if you want to, you are more than welcome to drop any sexual services for just escorting services."

I don
't know what made me do it, but for some reason I threw my arms around her neck. "Thank you!"

She patted my back awkwardly
, but laughed at the same time.

Jax was right
, I actually felt like I was going to be looked after at The Agency.

***

I thought that I would have more time to mentally prep myself
, but apparently Annalise wanted me to start straight away. I still didn't know if I could actually go through with this, but as Jax said – I wouldn't know until I tried.

I looked at my blurry reflection in the mirror. I couldn
't exactly see what this woman was doing to my face in terms of make-up, despite the awkwardness of getting poked and prodded, once I got used to it I found this part of the process actually felt quite relaxing. –

Jax was off with Annalise somewhere in the wardrobe area
, no doubt finding something that I would never wear in a million years to stuff me into. I really wasn't used to this sort of critical attention. Yes, I was blonde, and I had blue eyes, and yes, I was definitely taller than average. But I wasn't a model, or anything spectacular to look at, nor was I ever out to impress anyone. I always had Luke, and I thought that he loved me for who I was.

Even though it had been a couple of months
, I just still couldn't believe that he'd chosen Nicole over me… Nicole had been my closest friend. We had met at University. She had been studying art history and the classics, so naturally we were like two peas in a pod. Nicole, while loving the arts, could never remember the right periods or dates, so I used to help her with that.

She was gorgeous. She always had been. She had jet black hair with light hazel eyes. Her mother was half Croatian
, and had a dark, exotic look that she passed on to Nicole. Nicole's father was worth a lot of money as some sort of advertising business executive here in London.

She had
previously only had relationships with super gorgeous, rich men that treated her terribly, which usually ended with Nicole in tears over one thing or another. She'd told me numerous times that she wanted to marry into money. That was one of the annoying things about her and Luke running off together. Luke had no money. He might have been an accountant, and yes, he earned a decent wage, but he was by no means rich. Not like the men she usually chased. I just couldn't quite believe that she would ever see anything in Luke, let alone throw away our friendship and screw him behind my back.

"
You alright there, sweetheart?"

My make-up artist
's voice drew me back into reality. I tried not to snort with laughter at the realisation she'd called me sweetheart, like some twelve year old, when I was probably a lot older than her. "Uh, yeah? Why?"

"
You keep sighing, that's all." She laughed. "You ready for hair now?

"
I guess so?"

"
Just relax darling, and enjoy the process. When you work here, every day you get pampered. Enjoy it."

I tried to smile
, but I think it came out more like a grimace instead.

"
Oh, one more thing darling, you got contacts for those eyes of yours?"

I took a deep breath trying to remember if they were in my bag or not.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I have some in my bag." Before I could even bend down to retrieve it, she'd passed it to me. I unzipped it, and started pulling things out and dumping them on the counter as I searched.

She started laughing
. "Sweetheart, you're gonna have to vacuum out that bag one day. You have so much rubbish in there!"

"
Don't I know it," I muttered. Finally I found the contact lens box, and undid the caps. I carefully put the lenses into my eyes, blinked a few times, and focused on my reflection. I gasped. My face looked completely different. I mean, I was still me, but somehow… I looked more defined. I looked up at the make-up girl, and gave her a slow smile.

She grabbed my shoulders
. "You're beautiful, sweetheart," she said, her cockney accent wrapping itself around me. "And when we get your hair done, you're going to be even more amazin'."

I looked down at the messy pile of crap I had sho
ved all over their crisp white countertop, and winced. She was right. There was garbage all through my handbag. I reached out and swept the mess back into my handbag, wiping my hand over the surface area to brush off remaining debris, and crumbled parts of my handbag lining.

"
See, told ya, you need to vacuum out that bag of yours." She chuckled.

"
It's an old one," I said, trying to drop the embarrassment.

"
Plenty of new ones here for ya, sweetheart. Ah… here she is. McKenna, this is Doreen, and she'll be your hair specialist for today." She grinned, and I saw the reflection of a chick who looked kind of gothic and steampunk, with loads of arm tattoos. She had a number of piercings in her ears, and no doubt in other places too, and she was dressed top to toe in leather; a leather waistcoat that she was wearing as a top, a black lacy bra, and tight leather pants. To finish off her look, she was wearing some serious looking black and red stilettos with zombies painted on them. "Doreen is the best we got here, so you're in good hands."

Oh boy. I watched my make-up artists retreating figure in the mirror
's reflection and wondered what exactly I was in for with Doreen.

"
Hiya." Doreen smiled at me. "So." She pulled the rubber band from my hair, and threw it in the bin beside us. "What have we got here?" She was chewing gum. I grimaced. The last thing I wanted was for any of that stuff to get anywhere near my hair. She ran her fingers through hair that I had, thankfully, managed to wash this morning in my hung-over state, and hummed to herself. There were a few moments silence before she finally spoke. "Despite what you have been doing to your hair by stretching it and pulling it up in a rubber band for what looks like…years, it's actually in relatively good condition." She pulled some scissors out of her tool belt and snipped off a little bit of the hair she was holding between her fingers and analysed it closely.

I was starting to panic. This woman did not look like my usual hairdresser. In fact
, she looked so completely off the charts in terms of normality, I had to question if she was really someone I wanted to cut my hair let alone anything else. The last thing I wanted to do was start this job looking like David Bowie or Rod Stewart. My mouth was dry, but I refused to speak. I just let her continue doing her thing. I think I was too afraid to voice any opinions, just in case she pierced my ear with her scissors or something equally frightening.

"
Yep." She nodded. "I think its fine. Definitely needs a good trim, which I'll do for you right now, and then I'll style it, and you'll be ready to go on your way to wardrobe."

I bit my lip and nodded. It wasn
't like I had much of a choice. I had a feeling that if I jumped up and ran, chances were high that she would tackle me to the ground, zombie heels and all. Nerves streaked through me at the thought that I was embarking on this job very shortly.

Annalise had been quite clear that she had a client lined up already. She was going to show me his profile before I left to meet with him. I didn
't know if that was going to make this situation any better. In fact, it could possibly make it a hell of a lot worse, especially if the client was unattractive… and if he was too good looking I would probably fumble and fart my way through the evening.

I looked at myself again in the reflection
, and I had to admit that this chick was actually doing a good job on my hair. She was shaping my cut, which is something that I had never really had done before. Before I knew it, she was pulling straightening irons from her tool belt, and plugging them in beside me. And then she set to work.

Less than ten minutes later Doreen was finished. She placed her hands on my shoulders and looked at me in the reflection
. "Lovely, darling, just lovely."

I had to admit that she
'd done a bloody good job. My hair was glossy, falling in all the right places, and for the first time in my life, with my make-up professionally done, and my hair styled, I actually felt kind of elegant. I guess I was seeing myself through new eyes.

Jax walked up behind me with a big smile
. "You've done fantastic work with her, Doreen," she said. "You're almost ready to go now, honey. Just clothing and shoes."

I stood up
, giving Doreen a shy nod of thanks, and fell into step beside Jax as we made our way through to the wardrobe area. "This is a pretty serious business, isn't it?"

"
Yes, it is, but Annalise runs a tight ship here. She also has a couple of offices in other countries as well, you know. But this office is definitely her biggest."

"
Wow," I muttered. "So how do you know everyone here? Like Doreen?"

Jax laughed
. "Annalise throws a lot of parties, and I'm invited to them. Doreen has been knocking around here for quite a few years now. She's very good, and always a favourite hair-stylist among the staff." She steered me through a different door in the wardrobe area, and I found Annalise there, surrounded by an assortment of clothing.

"
Ah, there you are." She smiled, standing up to greet me. "And my, you're looking lovelier by the minute!"

I flushed
, partly with embarrassment, and partly with pride.

"
You're going to be perfect." She turned away from me, and selected a dark maroon dress, and held it up to me. "Hmmm, could be an option…" She put that one aside, and grabbed another dress, repeating the process. None of these outfits were items that I expected someone in this sort of business to wear.

"
Now, Darren usually like his women to have a certain styled flair, a little quirkiness, and definitely all class. Thank god for you, my dear, that we don't need to do any accent training. I can tell that you are well bred and very intelligent, and that makes it a heck of a lot easier to work with you."

"
Uh…thank you?" I mumbled. She was holding up a short white dress, with a cropped jacket. Something about it appealed to me.

"
Yes, I think this one will work," Annalise said, handing it to me. "Go try it on." She pointed to a changing area.

I took the dress from her
, and walked into the dressing room, closing the door behind me. Yikes, I was nervous. I was almost afraid to wear this dress just in case I perspired and wrecked it. But it was gorgeous. I looked at the label. Armani. I swallowed. I knew better than anyone that I had careless moments, and this dress cost a fortune. I stripped out of my clothes, and wiggled my way into the dress. It was tight, and I definitely couldn't zip it up by myself. I left the room, and walked out to the others.

"
Belle," Jax whispered. "You look…stunning."

I turned my back to her
, and she zipped me into the dress properly.

Annalise held out a thin silver belt
, and wrapped it around my waist, quickly fastening it. "There you go. Outfit complete." She brushed her eyes over me critically.

"
She needs new underwear," Jax stated.

I cringed. She was dead right. I couldn
't go out in my cotton knickers and a ratty old bra.

"
No problem," Annalise said, disappearing for a moment. She walked back in carrying two different sets, and held them out to me. "I think the white and grey would work better, instead of just dreary old white."

I swallowed and nodded. The underwear she was holding out was nothing
like what I would normally wear. First of all, it had lace. Secondly, it didn't leave much to the imagination. At all. The g-string had hardly anything to it, and the bra looked uncomfortable. I pursed my lips together. I was in this for a good reason, and I just had to suck it up.

***