Chapter 22

"Well well! No longer the naturist, m'dear!" jeered the Director, as Ana was sheepishly escorted back into the room by Bezaffa whose arm was firmly round her waist.

"Don't mind Mr Madir," said Khedra soothingly, frowning at her colleague. "We're both very grateful that you have agreed to come back. This won't take long. I've just been setting up a video for you to watch, so make yourself comfortable in the sofa next to Bezaffa and we can watch it."

"Video?" wondered Ana, obediently sitting down and thankful for Bezaffa's continued support and reassurance. She glanced at the video disc player underneath the television where an open plastic case lay by the carrier bag Khedra had brought along with her. The television showed a blue screen, blank except for a little number in the bottom right-hand corner.

"A training video," Khedra explained. "We show it to all our new recruits. It's part of the training routine and not normally shown to the public..."

"Although export sales are very healthy!" the Director remarked with a grin.

"Export sales?"

"Yes, Ana," Khedra continued. "The Brothel is proud to be able to sell its products abroad. We are happy for institutions like ours to benefit from our high quality of training product..."

"And not just brothels," interjected the Director. "The private market is very healthy."

"And indeed it is," agreed Khedra, "but Ana isn't here to learn about the Brothel's export initiatives. This video, and others like it, should reassure you that the services the Brothel provide are of a professional nature and we take a professional's pride in proper training, employee care and customer satisfaction. This video is called A New Life and it will show you what the life of a working girl, whether full or part time, can be like."

She picked up a remote control and pointed it at the video player. The disc began to whirl and the screen crackled into a chaos of interference. After a few seconds, the screen reorganised itself into an image of a smiling woman in her early thirties wearing an elegant jacket and skirt, carrying a briefcase and with the title of the film appearing over her head.

"A New Life," she echoed. "And that is the exciting challenge you have chosen. A life of great rewards - both material and social - but one which needs to approached in the right way. And that is what this film will help you do, by outlining how to get the best out of your new career and at the same time provide your clients with the satisfaction they crave."

The video continued in this vein, as the woman, Muhathila Idrus, explained such important aspects of a prostitute's work as Courtesy to the Client, Being Prepared and Proper Hygiene. In all of this there was little to hint as to the actual nature of the service the prostitute provided. The only suggestions were the dress the prostitutes wore and the fact that all their clients seemed to be men: ones, in fact, astonishingly courteous, well-dressed and surprisingly good-looking. Ana had rarely seen clients such as these in the foyer of the Brothel when she came to work in the morning or when she went home. Most clients she saw were unprepossessing: badly dressed, often overweight, frequently balding and most often middle-aged. They were usually far less courteous or thoughtful than those in the video who would unfailingly shake hands with the prostitute and smile in a welcoming way that made it seem as if it was the client who was providing the service rather than the prostitute.

The advice provided gave no insight into the concerns Binta expressed. Indeed it seemed more like common sense than anything else. The novice prostitute was advised to shower herself after every client's visit, tidy herself up and remove any off-putting odours that might trouble the next clients.

"After all," said Muhathila, standing by a shower with a girl wearing a towel quite as large as the one Ana was wearing, "your next client doesn't like to think that he isn't the first to have made your acquaintance that day. It's only courtesy. And as we have said before, courtesy is critical for success in your new career."

The video finished after nearly half an hour, with Muhathila once again repeating the film's key points. The Director looked extremely bored, preferring to thumb through the promotional literature rather than view the film itself. Khedra had a fixed expression on her face. She'd obviously seen the video many times herself, but kept a watchful eye on Ana.

"So what do you think?" she asked as synthesised incidental music twiddled over the credits. "You can see that the profession is really not so bad at all."

Ana sighed. "I know what it's like. I've spoken to people. I know people who work as prostitutes. It's nothing like what the video says it is."

"Of course, it is, Ana dear," Khedra insisted. "All the points made in the video are absolutely valid. As a prostitute you'd be a fool not to follow them."

"But I'm not a prostitute. And I never will be!" Ana insisted.

The Director sniffed. "She's right, you know," he said to Khedra. "It's not all like that. Show her some of the harder stuff."

Khedra glared at Mr Madir. "Not yet." She turned back to address Ana. "Life as a prostitute isn't all work, you know. There are plenty of fringe benefits." She walked over to the video player, removed the video disc and replaced it in its case. "And you will be making a lot of money." She selected another video disc from her bag and slipped it in the video machine. "This will tell you about the career prospects and advantages of the profession."

"But I already know about them..." Ana protested.

"No harm in hearing about them again," smiled Bezaffa, squeezing Ana's arm affectionately. Ana nodded, but still believed she would feel happier when this ordeal was over and she could go home.

Khedra sat back on the sofa next to the Director, pointed the remote at the video disc and let it play. This one was called In The Money and featured another smartly dressed woman, this time in her early forties and with a habit of pulling documents out of an attaché case she carried around with her. Amongst other things, this video featured information on the classification system used in the Brothel, and how prostitutes could progress up to higher grades and better pay by paying sufficient attention to their appearance and performance.

A very pretty girl was featured in the Brothel gym practising on the equipment and then turning obediently to Mrs Zhunia, the presenter, to explain how through exercise, skin care and Brothel-sponsored surgery she had enhanced her rating from a Gamma Plus to an Alpha Minus, and how much difference it had made not only to her income, but to her self-esteem. Ana had never seen this girl in the Brothel and didn't believe she was an actual employee, but even so she doubted whether it was humanly possible to make such a leap in one's PAR. The general pattern was more often downwards through the grades, rather than upwards. Part of her function as a secretary was to forward complaints from prostitutes bitter at dropping a grade or so, and demanding reappraisal.

Other advantages of working as a prostitute were the facilities at the Brothel ("Free to employees but so expensive elsewhere!"), the pension scheme, staff discounts and favourable mortgage loans. Each one of these advantages appeared to give Mrs Zhunia a frisson of delight: "I really can't understand," she remarked at one stage in the video, "why I hadn't chosen this career myself!"

Ana was pretty sure, or felt she was sure, that she knew why she'd never opt for the career. The video made no reference at all to the kind of work the prostitutes did to deserve such good remuneration, and those featured were dressed in ways that were more appropriate for working in an office or walking in the park. The nearest suggestion was Mrs Zhunia's occasional reference to "working hard" or "not giving up", which implied that there was indeed some effort involved in attaining these lovingly specified luxuries.

"Well, did you learn anything from that?" asked Khedra hopefully as the video disc slid out on its drawer.

"Not really," admitted Ana, hoping that this was the last of her ordeal.

"What do you expect?" scoffed the Director. "She knows all that stuff. Show her the real thing, for goodness sake!"

Khedra sighed, but selected a video entitled A Loving Profession. "The Training Services Division of the Brothel tries to do the best for its trainees and part of this is to provide practical training for its recruits. We don't believe in just sending out our working girls with no practical knowledge of what is expected from them. Much of this training is necessarily theoretical, particularly for those who are intact as you are, Ana dear. Videos are an invaluable tool for this, though of course we also provide demonstrations and some class work. This video is one of those we use to demonstrate techniques of customer care and is, I warn you, rather explicit."

At first, Ana wasn't too sure what Khedra meant by this last remark. The video began very much like the last two except that the woman presenter was an anonymous figure who wasn't seen at all, but had a gruffness that suggested that she was neither young nor inexperienced. This time the prostitutes were featured in the kinds of work clothes Ana was more familiar with: a bizarre collection of underwear, stockings and lace. The clients were again untypically young and handsome, and when they bared their torsos, which they did fairly early on, revealed a musculature which few actual clients could ever lay claim to. It came as a shock though when the video proceeded towards its actual subject matter, as the clients removed all their clothes and the prostitutes removed their knickers and opened their legs.

Ana became aware that she was watching film of actual sexual intercourse. She had never seen videos which even featured nudity: the Alif government had made pornography illegal and possession of it was a serious offence. The display of genitalia or breasts was explicitly banned and even the hint of nudity would be excised from any film that dared to include it before it reached the cinema. Now Ana was seeing not just nudity but sexual acts which were explicit and graphic, filmed from angles that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. Curiously enough the prostitutes themselves could hardly be described as naked. Throughout the filming they retained their stockings, even their shoes, and it was rarely that their breasts were revealed. But the breasts were not the main object of the camera's attention, as groins were pushed together in repetitive, even monotonous, thrusts.

There was a soundtrack over the top of this activity as the anonymous presenter explained exactly what was going on, how the prostitute was achieving certain effects and the results this provided for client satisfaction. Ana hardly heard it at all. Her eyes were transfixed at the horror at what she was seeing. At least it was horror when she first saw these images. So, that was what men and women did together. She was even more determined never to participate herself. However, after a while, she became inured to the sight of such physical sex. It was tedious, predictable and not at all erotic.

Bezaffa squeezed her arm tenderly. "See, cherry, there's nothing to it!"

Despite Ana's original disgust, she found she was beginning to agree with Bezaffa. There really didn't seem very much to it. She could even envisage herself, lying back, with her eyes closed, gritting her teeth and thinking about other things (just as Binta sometimes described it), while from a remote distance a man whom she might not even have to look at would do his humping backwards and forwards, until he lost his ability to continue and then leave. Perhaps, she thought with contempt, her fears were rather exaggerated. It was probably nowhere near as painful as she'd imagined, although the video didn't suggest to her that she'd ever actually enjoy it however much the women in the video seemed to be, by the evidence of their loud cries and simpering grins.

The Director watched the video with a disgusting leer across his face, clearly enjoying specific moments such as when a woman was first penetrated or took the client's organ into her mouth. Khedra wasn't even watching the video, being more interested in reviewing a list of video titles she had on her lap. Ana looked round at Bezaffa, who grinned conspiratorially at Ana.

"It's great fun, isn't it? Don't you think?" she said, hugging Ana affectionately across the shoulders and looking more at Ana than the current scene of oral sex filling every part of the video screen.

"Tempted now, m'dear?" asked the Director with a leer when the video finished, lighting the cigarette in his holder with his lighter.

Ana looked at Mr Madir contemptuously and shook her head adamantly. "Not at all!"

"But there's nothing to it!" Khedra remarked. "There really isn't! Just think how much you'll be earning for really no effort at all."

"It's just not something I ever want to do! It's horrible! Can't I go now? I've seen more than enough. I just don't want to do it!" She faced Bezaffa. "My clothes must be washed now. Can't I just put them on and leave?"

"They're still wet, cherry. You wouldn't want to catch pneumonia. And anyway I'm sure that Khedra has more that she wants to show you."

"I don't want to see it. I haven't changed my mind at all. All I want to do is go home and forget all these horrible things I've seen."

The Director sighed loudly. He drew on his cigarette holder and emitted a large cloud of slightly bluish smoke. "I told you, Khedra m'dear, that soft sell wouldn't work on our little virgin. We'll have to switch to harder sell. A stick may work where a carrot fails."

Khedra nodded, and knelt in front of her carrier bag where she pulled out a video tape. She turned on Bezaffa's videotape player and slid the tape in. With a series of clunks and whirls it adjusted itself and the screen reorganised itself into the view of a prostitute's room, very similar to the one Binta lived in. There were no introductions or synthesised music. There was just a view of a woman whom Ana vaguely recognised with a client who in terms of age and physical attractiveness much more closely resembled those who actually came through the Brothel doors.

The Director leered and puffed out more smoke from his nostrils. "As you know, Ana m'dear, the Brothel provides each prostitute with a two-way mirror which enables potential clients to view those who are available at any time. This mirror is connected to the Brothel's intercom system and enables us to record the girls at work. This is invaluable in the appraisal of the girls in their work, and is a requirement by the government should there be any dispute in the award of grades. As a bonus this provides the Brothel with an additional source of export income in selling the film abroad to a market that likes to see actual, authentic footage. This video shows Jadida at work. She seems to be enjoying herself, don't you think, m'dear?"

A cold tremor passed through Ana's body. What did this portend for Binta and her? The film was very static, featuring none of the camera angles and close-ups which typified the previous videotape. Bezaffa grasped her more tightly, as if to prevent her leaving the room.

"Jadida's a pretty girl isn't she? Much your age, probably much the same grade as you'd gain, and a good example to us all. Now, Khedra, show our little friend tape of someone more familiar to her."

Khedra nodded. She ejected the video tape from the machine, which had only a handwritten sticker to identify it. She then slipped in another tape, which when it began showed a much larger white body, with legs high in the air being penetrated by another unprepossessing client whose trousers were down to his knees and still wearing a shirt. Ana stared at horror at the client's hairy bottom, the prostitute's folds of fat and a face that repeatedly ejaculated cries clearly meant to express great joy and abandon. She then frowned at Bezaffa who smiled at her in a curiously conspiratorial way.

"Yes, m'dear," the Director affirmed. "Your latest belle, Bezaffa, at play. Or should I say, at work. Watch and learn."

Ana watched in horror, blood draining from her face as she contemplated the repeated thrusts and then the horror and disgust as Bezaffa, still apparently enjoying all that was happened lowered her head to a lower part of the client's body and proceeded to exercise her mouth in a way that was explicit and frightening.