Chapter 7
Adeline woke with a feeling of intense sadness. She didn't want to look at the clock-didn't want to know exactly how many hours they had before it was time to leave. She looked at Rob sleeping beside her, realizing that it was becoming a very familiar thing to do, that she'd done it so many times during the past few days. She suddenly remembered Mandy, and in that instant knew, without even raising her head, that she had not returned to the suite.
Strong, hot sunlight was filtering through the curtains and bathing the room in a bright, shiny glow. The sheets beneath her naked body felt a little sticky and funky from the sex they'd had before falling asleep, and she thought back to it, feeling her cunt beginning to tingle at the memory.
What was happening to her, she wondered. In a matter of only three days she seemed to have changed quite a bit-she no longer felt so shy and inhibited, no longer felt she had to hide her sexual desires. Now that there was Rob, she could express those needs whenever she wanted to, confident that he would take care of gratifying them.
She thought of her sexual relationship with Mandy, knowing that it would never happen again, that she would probably never even see her after today. That knowledge saddened her, but she was glad that they'd been friends and lovers. Mandy had taught her a lot, and she felt grateful for it, just as she was grateful to Mandy for handing Rob over to her.
She tried not to think of Rob as an object to be given from one girl to another, yet that description suited him perfectly. He was handsome, rich, had a big, fat cock, loved to fuck, and made few demands. In fact, when she thought about it, it seemed that he had a virtually nonexistent personality, which, she realized, made matters so much easier. When Mandy had first started seeing him, Adeline remembered, she had wanted to love him and often had complained that there was nothing to love, that all he did was fuck and be agreeable, but as time went on Mandy had come to be grateful for that, and only now did Adeline understand why.
Lying there motionlessly, her eyes fixed on the wall opposite the bed, but not really seeing it, she tried to understand what Mandy was doing now. Prostitution was something she had always felt was wrong-dirty, that only low, filthy women did it. Mandy was neither of those things. She merely liked sex and money.
There seemed to be no question as to Mandy's motivation, as far as Adeline was concerned, but she had mixed feelings. She would miss Mandy very much back at school, both the talks and friendship and the sex. Mandy being her first female lover, she did not want to give her up so easily. She wanted more sex from her alone, more nights with the three of them-Rob, Mandy, and Adeline. She wanted....
Mandy woke slowly, her eyes opening very gradually, trying to adjust to the bright glare of sunlight. It took her a moment or two to get her bearings and realize where she was....
When she did, the activities of the day and night before-all the activities, with Rob, with Adeline, with Tony, with her client, as she thought of him-came back to her. The force of her remembrance brought her to full wakefulness. Not until then did she look around and know where she was and what she was doing here.
She was lying on a couch, velvet-upholstered. The room in which she lay was a soft green, pale but intense. To her left was a door that led out to the hall. To her right was another door, which led to the suite's bedroom. She searched her mind, trying to remember whose suite this was, who she had finally gone to bed with ... gone to bed with? she repeated to herself. She thought back, her head still a little fuzzy from sleep and last night's liquor. She clearly remembered Mr. Franco, her first client, but then what? ... Oh, she thought, then she'd met some of the other girls working at the hotel....
Now she remembered, feeling happy as she did. There was one girl-Sandra-who had reminded her a little bit of Adeline. She'd felt drawn to her, and they'd shared coffee and rolls in the early, early morning hours, then Sandra had invited her to sleep in her suite for the night, or, if need be, for a week-however long it took Tony to get Mandy a suite for herself.
Had she played around with her? she wondered. Had she come on to Sandra? No, she finally recalled, she had not ... but they'd talked about it, and in a way which had both surprised and pleased Mandy. They'd just brought it right out in the open, and she could envision Sandra's auburn hair and sparkling green eyes as she'd said: "I like girls, but I never mess around on off hours. When I'm with a client who wants a three-way, or wants to watch me and another girl, I'm happy to oblige, but I never, absolutely never, have sex of any kind when I'm not working. A sort of pay-for-play principle-no money, no cunt." Mandy remembered how she'd tossed back her head, laughing.
Well, Mandy thought, she had only had one client so far, and she had a lot to learn, but if she could stay around girls like Sandra, she'd learn fast. She wasn't as mercenary as the girls she had met early this morning, and she felt that was bad-they would make more money. She decided, as she slowly sat up on the couch and rubbed her eyes, that she would have to spend a lot of time talking with Sandra.
She got up and crossed to the window, standing there naked, gazing out across the desert, her eyes picking up all the blotches of color as here and there flowers stuck up out of the sand. The sun was almost tropical in its heat and strength, and her mind traveled up the four floors to Rob and Adeline's suite. She wondered what they were doing now, what they'd thought last night when she didn't return, what they'd do when she didn't go back with them. She had already told Adeline, last night, about what was happening, but she walked away before Adeline had a chance to react. She hoped she didn't feel betrayed, but deep down, she knew that Adeline would accept it, and would not condemn nor make judgments of any kind. Rob, on the other hand, was quite a different matter. She wondered just how much she cared. Did it really matter what he thought? What could he possibly do if he didn't like it? She thought he would be unable to influence her in any way. At this point, she told herself, even his money didn't matter. She wanted to stay in Vegas ... and she would not change her mind even if he offered her more money than she could make in a year at the hotel.
She turned from the window, suddenly aware of a grumbling hunger. She glanced at a small clock on the table before the couch, noted that it was almost noon, and wondered what to do. She really wanted to get some breakfast, then sit by the pool, sunbathing, but that would mean she'd have to go back to Rob's suite, and she ruled that out immediately. She did not want to see him, nor Adeline, until it was almost time for them to leave for the airport.
She sat alone beneath a sun umbrella by the side, sipping a bloody mary and admiring the bikini she'd stopped to pick up when she'd passed the boutique on her way through the lobby. She hadn't awakened Sandra, remembering her request that Mandy leave quietly whenever she wanted to and let her sleep till late afternoon.
She was relieved that she hadn't had to return to Rob's suite, and wondered where Tony was. She had a lot to discuss with him, and she'd stopped by his office, where his secretary had informed her that he would be out for another hour or so. Her thoughts drifted lazily from one thing to another as she casually watched the hotel guests around the pool.
As her thoughts returned to Tony she again wondered about him, and about his business dealings with Rob. She knew instinctively that Rob was in no way involved with Tony's business with the girls at the hotel, but she could not imagine what else it might be. She concentrated hard, her mind turning over the facts that she knew about each man, trying to draw some conclusion.
Suddenly Tony appeared beside her, his handsome face smiling as he pulled up a chair and sat under the big striped umbrella.
"Well?" he said to her.
"Well what?" she replied, smiling back at him, remembering the sex they'd shared the afternoon and evening before.
"Well, how was last night with Mr. Franco?"
"It went fine," she answered, "but there are still a lot of questions on my mind."
"Such as?" he prodded.
"Such as what is my salary?"
"What would you like it to be?" he asked jokingly. "Come on, be serious."
"Okay. Your salary, to start, will be seven hundred per week-that's for five nights of work, no more than two men per night."
She was pleasantly relieved. It was about what she had expected, maybe a little more.
"Now, tell me about last night. What did he want?"
"Well, Tony," she said, "I can't compare it to anything because this was the first time I ever did it for money, but I liked him, I liked having sex with him-he didn't make any unusual demands ... in fact, he was pretty easygoing. He just wanted me to suck him a little and then sit on his cock."
"I know," he said softly.
"How do you know?" she asked, curious.
"I make a point of knowing all my customers' preferences. I gave him to you because he's such a pussycat. I thought he'd be a good choice for your first night."
They talked on, Mandy growing more and more curious about his business dealings with Rob but somehow knowing not to ask because her question would be evaded.
Finally he excused himself, saying that he had some work to do, but would see her later, in his office, if she'd stop by in a few hours.
They got dressed slowly, packing their things, both trying hard not to look at Mandy's suitcase beside theirs. Adeline was relieved that Rob had not asked where Mandy was because she knew she would have told him despite Mandy's request that she keep her mouth shut.
It seemed to take forever to pack the few things they'd each brought, and when they were finally finished Rob stood in the middle of the bedroom, looking around almost forlornly. He wanted to know where Mandy was, and he wanted to know now. He left the bedroom, closed the door behind him and, alone in the living room, he picked up the phone and asked for Tony.
"Mr. Lazzeri's office," said a sexy female voice.
"Rob Petersen. Is he in?"
"One moment." The phone went dead for a minute, then Tony picked it up. "Rob?"
"Hi. Look, I've got to catch a plane in two hours, Mind if I stop by your office now?"
"Come on down," he answered, then hung up before Rob could say anything more.
He reopened the bedroom door, told Adeline that he'd be back in a little while, and left the suite.
In Tony's office, with the door closed, he confronted him. "Where's Mandy?"
"Hasn't she seen you this morning?" Tony asked, surprised. "No."
"Well, I saw her out by the pool a little while ago," Tony said, hoping that Rob would not want to discuss Mandy with him.
"Okay, I'll check out there. ... Ahh, Tony, did you and Mandy...?"
"Oh, we had a few drinks together, if that's what you mean," he answered, wanting more than anything to avoid a hassle with him, knowing what that hassle would cost him in terms of the plan they'd been working on to build a hotel of their own in Vegas. After all, he reminded himself, Rob was taking care of the financial end of things, speaking to prospective backers, raising funds. They'd already purchased the land-now all that remained was to acquire enough money to start drawing up blueprints and sending out the contracts for bidding on the construction. When all that was done, he and Rob would be very, very rich men, and Tony didn't want to jeopardize it in any way, especially over a girl-even if that girl was Mandy.
He looked at Rob, trying to read his face, trying to find some anger there, expecting it. But there seemed to be none. Rob opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and walked out of Tony's office, heading for the pool.
He saw Mandy and approached her, his face showing his jumbled emotions.
"Mandy!" he barked at her, the anger in his voice surprising them both.
She looked up. "What?"
"The plane leaves in an hour and a half-we've got to get to the airport....Are you all through with your little fun and games?"
As he spoke he found himself feeling more and more angry, hut each time he looked into her eyes and saw the determination there he weakened.
"So?" she said, trying to sound snotty, knowing that it would make it easier for them both if she came on cold.
"So?" he echoed. "So come upstairs and pack your things."
"Sit down," she said, pointing to the chair beside her. He sat.
"Look, Rob, I'm ... I'm ... not going back to Vermont."
"What?" he exclaimed. "What do you mean?"
"I'm staying here. Tony gave me a job."
His eyebrows shot upward. "He gave you a job!" he exploded, his hands curling into tight fists. "He-"
"Take it easy," she said. "I asked him for it, he didn't recruit me-it was the other way around."
He sank back in his chair, the anger dissipating. "But why?" he said, his voice almost a whimper.
"You know why," she replied.
He sat in silence, staring at her.
Suddenly she felt like running from him. It was over-she'd told him, and now she just wanted to get away. She didn't want to see the hurt in his eyes, nor the questions, nor the recriminations, nor the anger.
She just never wanted to see him again, never wanted to be reminded of what he'd meant to her, or of her life in Vermont. She felt like a new woman, with a new identity, and seeing Rob before her made that identity sketchy, undefined.
"Please," she said softly, "just go."
"But-" he began.
"Tell Adeline I said goodbye and that I'll write to her in a few weeks. ... Oh, Rob, please, do me one last favor, okay? Don't bring Adeline by the pool on your way out. I don't want to see her."
He rose silently, stood looking down at her for a long time, trying to understand the change in this young woman with whom he'd shared so much over the past months. She looked different, older now, not so easily impressed.
He turned around and walked away. She did not look at his retreating form, but cast her eyes out to the desert, feeling the hot sun on her body, waiting for nightfall, waiting for Tony ... waiting for her second night as a Las Vegas prostitute.