Chapter 12

Ellie spent the next two days exploring Atlanta. She made no attempt to sell herself on the street, having decided to look things over first. She walked certain sections of town in the evening, and saw quite a bit of streetwalkers plying their trade. Yet it had no real appeal to Ellie.

It was on day three, that she sat on the bed of her room at the Renaissance Hotel, worrying about her immediate future.

She had the room through noon the next day, but her money was running low.

"I've got to sell my body, but not that way, those girls are mostly crack-heads, and at the mercy of their pimps. She thought about calling home and picked up the phone, then replaced it back in its cradle. 'Maybe later, ' she told herself, 'I've more important things to figure out first.'

Nibbling on a crust of pizza left over from the night before, she recalled her friend Vivian telling her about women working as escorts, and that as young as she was, that she could command top dollar for her services if she found the right escort service.

As naive as she was, Ellie was into the third of the five telephone books available in the room for Atlanta and its environs, before coming to realize that what she wanted was in the Yellow Pages. Finding that directory, she thumbed through it until locating 'Escort Services.'

She washed the last of the crust down with a final gulp of Sprite, and carefully dialed the first escort service to have an ad as well as an ad.

Ellie listened as the phone rang three times before being answered.

"Hello," a husky female voice answered. "This is Sondra. I'm busy at the moment, but will call you right back. Please be patient, it will be worth your while."

Biting her fingernail, Ellie hung up and sat cross-legged on the bed and waited for the phone to ring. It never entered her mind to call a second or third service. She placed all her hopes on this one call.

Ellie was peeing in the bathroom when the phone rang. She stumbled pulling her panties up and reached the phone on the third ring, mentally cursing her stupidity at not having taken a second to wipe herself.

"Hello," she said, as she felt, and then saw, a smallish trail of urine coursing down her thigh and onto the bedsheets.

"Hi," a strange voice replied, having changed its tone in mid word on realizing that Ellie was female. "AAA Escorts returning the call from this number."

"Yes, I called you," Ellie said, rushing the words and hating herself for doing it. "I understand you might want another girl as an escort."

"Well, we're always looking for new talent. Did you want to come by and interview with us? By the way, my name is Sally."

"Um, can you tell me something about your service?" Ellie asked, and discovered that she had bitten her fingernail to the quick.

"Certainly. I want to see what you look like. I need to see some proof of age and address, and the like. Would this afternoon be convenient?"

Ellie thought quickly, 'Where could she get proof of age and an address? Of course! Rachel and Mel!'

"Um, Sally?"

"Yes?"

"Can I get back to you; say in twenty minutes or so. I have someone at the door and don't want to lose ... I mean miss them."

"Of course ... but I'll need your name..."

But Ellie had already hung up on her, and was searching for Mel's number in her purse.

Fortunately, both girls were home and happily agreed to provide Ellie with the necessary identification and place of residence along with a phone number.

"Bunk with us ... at least until you can afford your own place," Rachel told her.

"You can pay us back..." Mel started to say, and was interrupted by Rachel, who finished the sentence with, "The use of your body!"

"It's a deal!" Ellie laughed delightedly and then all of them were laughing. Ellie agreed to come over that afternoon around five.

"Or after I finish my interview."

"No," Rachel said, "You need to come by us first, remember? You have to get some ID and stuff for the interview."

"God, where are my brains?" Ellie giggled. "I'm so excited about this opportunity that I forgot everything."

"Come on over now, we'll eat you out, give you the ID and you can call from here, so they see the telephone number matches the one you give them."

"See, I never would have thought of that," Ellie confessed.

"You'll learn fast enough," Mel said, "now get you're ass over here."

"I'm on my way!" The delighted teen chirped.

Later that afternoon, thoroughly satiated after having sex with both girls, Ellie called the service back and asked for Sally. Sally gave her an address and told her to be there in an hour.

AAA Ava's Escorts was in a high-class business district of Buckhead, on Grandview Avenue. It was not what Ellie expected, not at all. To Ellie's inexperienced eyes, it appeared to be a southern mansion. In this, she was not that far off. For it had been until two years earlier, the home and office of one of Atlanta's most prominent criminal attorney's. There were flowers galore out front, leaving Ellie to marvel at what must be in back.

Taking a deep breath, Ellie rang the ornate doorbell, an Ivory carved lion's head, which was activated by pressing the lion's tongue.

Moments later the door was opened by a woman in her forties, who could have easily passed for a woman in her late twenties.

"Miss Cooper? Miss Rachel Cooper?" the woman said warmly in greeting. Ellie had selected Rachel's identification and was now using her name.

"Yes," Ellie answered demurely.

"Please, come in. My name is Ava. Ava Gardenia. This is my home and place of business."

"Yes, ma'am," Ellie said, and followed the woman through a large foyer and into what appeared to be a library, but was actually Gardenia's office.

"Please be seated, make yourself comfortable," she told Ellie as she herself sat behind a large ornate desk.

"Tell me, Miss Cooper, how old are you?"

"I'm eighteen, almost nineteen," Ellie replied.

"May I see some proof of it, please?"

Ellie offered Rachel's driving license to her.

Gardenia studied the license, and started hard at Ellie for some thirty seconds.

Ellie began to squirm uncomfortably in her chair. 'She knows I'm not Rachel.' She thought, and almost wet her pants as the fear of exposure coursed through her body.

"Tell me, Rachel, where are you from originally?"

Since Rachel's license was with the State of Georgia, she started to say, Atlanta, but something in Miss Gardenia's eyes told her to name another place. Savannah," she answered.

"Savannah," Miss Gardenia replied. "A lovely city. And how long have you been in Atlanta?"

"Not long. I'm enrolled at Georgie Tech. I need to earn more money to pay for my tuition text books."

Miss Gardenia's eyes arched at this, and Ellie saw that she had scored a favorable point.

"Are you familiar with Atlanta?"

"No, not really. I can find my way around, but..." she paused, thinking 'Tell the truth.' "Um, I haven't been situated here very long. I've visited Atlanta a few times with my parents and all ... but other than the landmark places like the stadium, and the underground, I rally don't know my way around. However, I'm resourceful enough. I can get a map or Google an address, and find it easily enough."

Miss Gardenia nodded, apparently accepting her answer.

"Tell me, why do you want to be an escort?"

Ellie shifted her behind in the chair and leaned forward, toward Miss Gardenia. "I have. I need money to cover the cost of tuition and other expenses."

"Other expenses? Are you on drugs, Rachel?"

Shocked at the unexpected question, Ellie, stammered, "No, no, of course not."

"I'm puzzled, Rachel, why aren't your parents paying for your college expenses?"

"Rachel had already decided the interview was a failure, and angrily replied, "Not that it's any of your business, Miss Gardenia, but my father is deceased. He didn't leave us all that much. I had good grades, but not good enough for a scholarship. I don't want to be an escort, per se. But I do need to earn good money without spending eight hours a day slaving over a job with no future while trying to keep my grades up."

"Whoa, girl," Miss Gardenia said, holding up both hands defensively. "I didn't mean to insult you. I was only trying to get a feel for you. After all, you are here seeking employment. And should I hire you I would be your employer. I'm entitled to ask these questions. Is that understood?"

"Yes, it's understood," Ellie replied, "but if you're not going to hire me, I'd rather not be insulted any further." Ellie stood up, ready to leave. Her face was red with both anger and embarrassment.

Miss Gardenia laughed. "Please sit down, no, wait. As long as you're standing, why not disrobe and show me your body?"

"What?"

"I'm thinking of hiring you. You have a certain fire that men like. I certainly like it. You're good-looking, but I need to see your body, so please, remove your clothing ... all of it."

"You mean..." Ellie was already unbuttoning her blouse.

After she was standing before Gardenia in the nude, the older woman said, "You have a lovely body. So, yes, you're hired. Oh, there is one last provision."

"What's that?" Ellie inquired as she absently rubbed her breast.

"A physical. You must pass it. I cannot have any of my employees passing any sexual diseases to my clients."

"What about your clients? Are they free to give me the 'clap, ' or worse?"

"I'll admit that is a possibility. They are for the most part, very careful themselves. Most have wives and families. Most take precautions. But there is always that possibility. That is why I want you to start off with a clean slate. It's only some blood work, and when the results are in you can begin working."

Ellie sat down, still naked and apparently unconcerned about being so.

"Tell me something about the work. I mean, what exactly does an escort do, or not do?"

"I charge the client $500 an hour. He or she..." Gardenia paused at that to note Ellie's reaction, "will have a hotel room. There will be occasions when you're invited to their homes. There will be times when all that is required of you will be to go with them to dinner, or an affair as, surprise, their escort."

"What about the sex?" Ellie asked.

"There will be all types of sex, dear. I take it for granted you do oral. Are you available for anal?"

"Yes, to both," Ellie replied.

"Some clients have ... different tastes, but I won't go into that now, for you won't be seeing any of them until you've gotten used to the job."

"But I'd like an idea of what you're talking about," Ellie said.

"At the worst, orgies; more likely it will involve twosomes, threesomes, or more. And then, there are those who prefer their sex with a taste of S&M. Do you know what that means?"

"Yes, I do."