Chapter 7: Waiting For The Call

Daniel Waring was halfway through the week's duty. Seven days on, two days off; that was the cycle. For the seven days he was on call twenty-four hours a day. Daniel was one of the small group of staff that provided the Gynarch's personal pampering services in the guest rooms. It was a skilled job in a hotel like the Gynarch and it had taken him a long time to become proficient. Now it meant that, as long as he did a good job, he could be reasonably certain of continued sponsorship.

The living arrangements weren't great, but he could put up with them. They were basic, a small dormitory for the staff on call and pretty simple washing and lavatory facilities. They were nothing like the hotels guest rooms, of course, but at least they were clean and heated. What he didn't like was the way they showed CCTV from here into the bar. He'd been up there when a bunch of Hooray Harriets had been whooping at the spectacle of one of his colleagues struggling out his corsetry at the end of a long day.

It looked like it was going to be a regular evening. Things seemed no busier than usual but no quieter either. The best thing was that it didn't look like there were any groups in. Hen Nights, Business Meetings, Clubs, Associations, all meant trouble. If you asked Daniel, when you got a bunch of women together and put some drink inside them and they got competitive about who can humiliate the help the most.

He heard footsteps on the staircase outside. Best to be ready, he thought, and got to his feet, head bowed, before the door opened.

"Hullo Daniel," a husky voice announced.

Daniel's heart sank. His hands nervously brushed imaginary flecks from his apron. He knew the voice, Julia Finch. And he knew what was going to happen next.

"Aren't you pleased to see me?"

Daniel nodded reluctantly. The fact that she was there meant that she was still interested in keeping his secret; the problem was that it meant she was also still interested in exploiting it. He still didn't know how she had discovered that he'd been employed in a pleasure bar – not at all the right credentials for someone working in one of the city's best hotels – but she had known enough about it to convince Daniel that he didn't want her discussing it with the Head of Housekeeping.

"Well come and give me a good morning kiss."

Daniel looked distraught. "The camera," he started.

Julia Finch shook her head. "Not if you come over here. Besides, why should you care? You're just doing as you're told. Isn't that what you do?"

Daniel shrugged. She was right of course. Nobody would be interested in one of the hotel staff doing what one of the hotel managers told them to. Even so, he had no wish to have his humiliation televised in the hotel bar, or played through the guest TV channel where it would be shown on the pretext of giving guests the chance to see behind the scenes in the hotel. He'd seen the sort of raucous response a group of guests with a few drinks inside them gave to the sight of one of the staff being punished or used. He didn't want to be the subject of it.

"Come on then."

Daniel knew that when Julia said she wanted a good morning kiss, she didn't mean on the mouth. He went across to where she was standing, leaning back against the wall of the room, hands on hips, and knelt down.