"Well I thought I'd see what you have in mind for her" I said.
"Do you know where she is, can you have her come in and see me?" Mike asked.
"She's five feet away" I answered "and yes we can come see you too." I said.
"Great I can put her to work right away tonight even."
I told Mike that we would come see him about 11:30 that morning but that we were trying to figure out whether we would be leaving L.A. or staying around for a while, but we would listen to what he had to say.
I informed Ann that we were going to go to Mike and discuss with him whether she would go to work for him in his foxy boxing/mud wrestling troupe. I did not give Ann a vote in the matter and she just nodded as I told he r of my plans.
After I finished reading the morning papers and the Wall Street Journal, I saw that it was approaching 11:00 and I told Ann to get changed in anticipation of our visit to Mike's office. I told Ann to wear the same skirt that she had on the night before and I picked out a polished cotton blouse for her to wear. I told her to leave her bra off. I also told Ann to use a little more makeup than she would usually and to use a red lipstick.
Without comment, Ann complied, and the package, when all put together, was not one of a refined, polished woman.
Mike's office was on the second floor of a two story building on Pico Boulevard. A real estate brokerage storefront was on the ground floor. Mike was very enthusiastic about the prospect of having Ann come to work as pa rt of his troupe. He explained that he and his girls worked the circuit of a number of clubs in the L.A./Orange County area and that some of his girsl worked as few as two or as many as five or six nights a week. He sai d that he paid each girl $50 a night and that they kept their tips. He said that the matches were staged and that he had a wardrobe of costumes and props that the girls were free to use.
Ann did not speak. I told Mike that Ann was something special and that she would have to be paid more. I told him that Ann would require $200 a night plus her tips and that he would have to pay for her to have a taxi t o and from wherever they were working. I found this whole arrangement to be amusing and I wanted to see how far this whole thing would go.
Mike reacted like a stuck pig. "I can't do that. All the other girls will kill me. Maybe later if she gets a reputation and I get a bigger take from the club owners, but not until she proves herself and gets a followi ng."
"Look Mike" I negotiated "You saw what reaction she provoked last night. That's the deal, take it or leave it."
"O.K., pal" Mike said, but then looking at Ann he added, "you can't tell any of the other girls what I'm giving you, got it?"
Ann nodded her understanding.
"Alright," Mike said "we're back in Carroway's the day after tomorrow. I'll tell them that you are coming back by popular demand."
"That's fine," I said "but you told me over the phone that you could use her tonight."
"I don't have anything tonight" Mike said. "I forgot."
Just then Mike's secretary/receptionist stuck her head in the office. "You know who is on the phone" she said "he wants to confirm that the girls will be there tonight by 9:00."
Mike turned beet red as he was caught in this obvious lie. "They'll be there at 9:00 he answered" and then motioned for his secretary to leave.
I did not understand what was going on, but I thought I'd press the point. "What gives? First you tell me you can use Ann tonight, then you tell me you don't have anything and now I hear that you do. Maybe we should j ust forget about the whole thing."
I paused for a moment and then motioned for Ann to leave with me. Mike saw this and spoke up: "Don't go, I just didn't think this one was the right way to get started."
"What do you mean I asked?"
"Well sometimes we do private parties too and that's what's going on tonight. I don't really know you guys and I thought maybe the private parties we could deal with later."
I played dumb. "What's so special about the private parties?"
Mike was obviously uncomfortable explaining his business, but he was also plainly constrained by the commercial potential he saw with Ann. Groping for euphemism Mike told us that from time to time he would provide the e ntertainment at private parties in homes or in clubs where he said, the show was "stronger." Tonight, there was to be a party at someone's home in the Hollywood hills and he was responsible for bringing four girls there for the entertainment.
"Don't get me wrong, I don't pimp my girls" Mike went on, "but my clients expect more from these girls than you saw at Carroway's the other night." I was satisfied with Mike's explanation and I was prepared to leave wit h Ann. My interest in Mike's plans for Ann had been amusement enough for the day and I did not expect to follow through and actually enlist Ann in his group. Ann had a different idea.
Speaking up for the first time Ann said, "Mike you saw what I can do. You either put me to work tonight, or you can forget about me."
It did not take long for Mike to agree with Ann. He gave Ann the address of the home and told her to meet him there, outside the main gate at 8:45.
"One more thing" Ann added. Gesturing to me Ann told Mike "And Bob will be there too. You can say he works with you."
Without further comment we got up and left. Once again Ann had taken charge at an unexpected moment. It seemed to me that she was determined to take some action for my benefit.
When we got back to the hotel, I told Ann that I was going to take a book and sit by the pool for a few hours. Ann asked if I would mind if she took a walk along Rodeo Drive and did some shopping while I rested at the p ool. I had no objection.
I spent the afternoon dozing on and off by the pool. I made a dent in the Robert Ludlum novel I was reading and, at the point I got a little hungry, I took advantage of the waiter service available at the pool to get a sandwich. There were not many people by the pool that day, although I could not help but take notice of a particularly lithe young lady whose bathing suit, cut high on each hip, accentuated her long, dark, tanned legs.
About 4:00 I sensed that someone was nearby and looked up from my book to see Ann standing with severla bundles of packages under her arm. She seemed to have a particularly broad smile. She told me that her afternoon e xcursion had been productive and she asked me how much longer I was planning on staying out by the pool. I asked her to wait for a second and that I would accompany her back to the room as soon as I had a chance to take one more dip in the pool. While Ann watched, and while those around the pool admired my companion, I dove into the water and cruised through several laps of the pool.
Ann deposited her packages on the bed once we returned to our suite. I asked her what she had purchased and Ann asked me to wait to see "a little later." Neither of us were hungry for dinner and we decided to order som e light snacks from room service. I was waiting to see what was going to happen that evening and kept my eye on the clock waiting for Ann to start her preparations.
At about 7:30, Ann took her purchases in to the dressing suite and, out of view, changed in to the outfit she was going to wear that evening. Ann came out of the dressing area to show me what she was planning on wearing . Ann's blouse was an orange and black print material that was, despite its dark colors, essentially sheer. Its transparency was not immediately obvious, because of the dark colors of the blouse, but as soon as Ann emer ged from the shadows, the limited ability of the blouse to hide and obscure was evident. The ends of the blouse were tied in a knot right right over Ann's sternum. The effect was to create, with the rest of the blouse, two slings each supporting and carrying and tightly encasing one of Ann's breasts.