I was summoned by telegram to appear at an office building in downtown Los Angeles three days later. I had little time to prepare. The telegram gave away nothing, only the barest details—the time, day, address, and the directive that I was to be freshly bathed and wear no undergarments. I was to tell no one where I was going. For this, I would be paid one hundred dollars for half an hour of my time.
The telegram wasn’t signed. I didn’t dare call Aaron or Jack to ask them what I was in for. They’d been more than generous to me.
Aaron wasn’t a rich man, I knew, but he lavished me the best he could. Jack talked me into adding an extra day to his schedule, which I agreed to with the caveat that as soon as the tax bill was paid, we’d go back to our normal routine. Of the two of them, Jack was the most attached and I didn’t want to hurt him any more than he’d already been.
I pulled up to an imposing office building on Wilshire Boulevard. It reminded me of the building my father owned and ran his empire out of. I didn’t know what kind of business was done in this building, but it must have been very good. An immaculately dressed valet came around my car and opened my door. I was used to being treated this way, from my upbringing, but it had been a long while. I’d forgotten how convenient it could be.
I thanked the valet and headed into the building. A doorman held the door open and wished me a good day. I paused at the reception desk and gave the well-dressed woman behind it the code word I was given in the telegram—tangerine. She made a call and then told me to wait, that someone would come down to get me.
I took a seat in a plush chair and surveyed my surroundings. The outside of the building was a pale imitation of opulence compared to the inside. No expense had been spared. Daddy’s building came close to the splendor, but this building outshone it by miles.
After a few moments, a man appeared in front of me. I’d been so busy looking at everything that I hadn’t seen him until he spoke and drew my attention.
“Miss Ruby?”
“Yes.”
“This way please.”
I was led through a hidden side door and down a long hall to an elevator. Compared to the lobby, the hallway was utilitarian and basic to the point of being institutional. Was I being led through the back way?
The elevator was plain too. The man pressed a button for the top floor and we rode up in silence. A thousand questions danced on the tip of my tongue, but I held them back. I got one word of warning from Jack when he told me about the telegram I was to receive—do not ask questions. I knew neither he nor Aaron would lead me anywhere that was unsafe so I was content to follow the man down another hall and through a door marked with an H.
An office. But not just any office. If I thought the reception area was magnificent, this room was a palace. Two of the walls were nearly all glass, giving a splendid view of downtown Los Angeles. Chrome and glass furniture gleamed, but didn’t feel cold. Our footsteps were hushed by the plush carpeting that felt as if I were walking on one big pillow.
On the periphery and yet at the center of it all, a smartly dressed man in a suit exquisitely cut to fit his frame stood gazing at the view below, his back to us. Not for the first time since I’d arrived did I wonder why a man who could afford all of this would want or need services from someone like me.
“Sir,” my companion said. “Miss Ruby.” With that pronouncement, he left through another door that must have led to other offices.
“Have a seat, Miss Ruby,” the gentleman at the window said, his voice low yet unusually soft for a man.
I did as I was told, perching at the edge of a chair across the wide expanse of his desk with my hands clasped demurely in my lap.
“You’re the piano teacher?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“I’m told you handle special cases.” He gave the word special extra emphasis.
“I consider everyone to be special in his or her own way.”
“Do you?” He turned then and I couldn’t hide my reaction to him.
Pale blond hair framed a face that looked as though it had been fashioned by Gods on a particularly cheerful day in heaven. The pale blue of his eyes matched the sun-bleached sky behind him. He was tall and lean and even standing still he appeared graceful in an effortless way.
It took me a moment to find my voice. “Yes.”
“You find me attractive?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm, most people do. Of course, I find that my money improves my looks greatly.”
“You’re handsome regardless of your finances.”
“And you’re wondering why I would seek out your services.”
“Well…yes. I suppose I am.”
“I have very—shall we say—unusual needs that are rarely met.” He drew a case from his inside jacket pocket, selected a cigarette, and lit it. His face, with its beautifully sculpted features, became wreathed in smoke. “I understand you can satisfy them.”
“Perhaps if I knew a little bit about what your needs are, I could better answer.”
“Take off your dress.”
“Excuse me?”
“This won’t work if you can’t take direction. I’m paying handsomely for your time today, Miss Ruby. Do I need to repeat myself?”
“No.” I stood. “Can I at least know your name?”
“Henry.”
Lifting my chin in a small act of defiance, I unbuttoned my dress. It was the same one that I’d worn that first time with Jack, with the buttons all the way down the front. As I’d been instructed to wear nothing underneath there was no way to hide my nudity.
Henry did nothing as a revealed myself to him. He stood still, watching and puffing on his cigarette as though he was bored. The full walls of windows bathed me in unforgiving sunlight. If this was the audition, I wasn’t likely to get the part. I didn’t have perfect skin or the perfect shape. My breasts, while pert, were small compared to my hips and thighs. I looked nothing like the starlets on the movie screens.
I’d never felt more inadequate.
My dress pooled at my feet, leaving me bare as the day I was born. It took everything in me not to fidget under his stare, which roamed my body as though he owned it. And for this half hour, he did. That’s what I’d agreed to.
He made a circling motion with his hand. “Turn.”
I did as I was told, spinning slowly so that he could see me from all sides.
He pointed behind me. “Lie down on the chaise.”
I reclined on the lavish velvet and attempted to look seductive in my pose.
He stubbed out his cigarette and came around the desk. “Spread your legs. I want to see what I’m getting.”
I didn’t care for his words or his tone, but I opened my legs anyway, keeping my gaze steady and unaffected on his. One hundred dollars was a chant in my head. I needed the money. Desperately.
“Wider,” he demanded.
I complied, resting my arms across the back of the chaise, opening myself to him as much as possible. Spread eagle and nude, I waited for what he’d do next.
He knelt next to me and leaned forward. Inhaling deeply, he sniffed me from my mouth and neck to my toes, taking longer in some places than others. My sex was of particular interest to him. He spent several minutes smelling me there. He paused to visually examine my folds, then he resumed his scenting of me, finally moving on after several minutes.
When he finished, he sat back on his heels and met my gaze. “You have excellent hygiene.”
“Thank you?”
“Have you even been with a woman? Sexually.”
“No.”
“Would it repulse you?”
“I don’t know.” I’d heard of men’s proclivities for watching women have sexual relations. Is that what he wanted of me? Did he want to participate or just observe? I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Not repulsed as he’d suggested, but not particularly interested either. Curious. I supposed that was the best way to describe my feeling about the suggestion. “I am rather curious though. The mechanics in particular perplex me.”
He gave me a smile, the first one I’d gotten from him. “You’re honest. I appreciate that. We’ll get along well as long as you’re honest with me at all times.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I didn’t.
He gestured with an elegant hand toward my sex. “May I?”
I nodded, unsure of just what I was agreeing to. He’d been controlled if aloof with me, so I had a difficult time sorting him out.
He bent his head and put his hot mouth on me. I jolted at the contact, but he held me in place with his large hands on my thighs.
My Johnny had been forward with me like this. I’d grown to love having his mouth and his tongue bringing me to climax. Closing my eyes, I relaxed under Henry and let me legs fall farther apart. If I’d thought my Johnny had been clever about it, Henry was aces. I moaned and writhed on the chaise as he used his lips, tongue, and fingers on me. In short order I was crying out with a hand on his head, holding him down, crudely grinding his mouth against me like a wanton.
I was so caught up in my pleasure that it must’ve taken him several tries to rouse me because he finally had to grip my wrist and pull my hand away. Stands of his hair were trapped between my fingers and I flushed hot from head to toe.
“I like the way you respond. I think we’ll get along very well, Miss Ruby.” He smiled, his face shiny from my juices. He took a handkerchief from his pocket, shook it out, and wiped his face then his fingers. Eyes closed, he sniffed it, then shoved it back into his pocket.
He rose, smoothed his hair down, adjusted his jacket, and walked to his desk. “You may go now.” He lit another cigarette. “There’s an envelope on the table near the door you came through with money and further instructions. I trust you to be discrete.”
I nodded.
“We have a deal then?”
“Yes.” My voice came out wispy, with a lost sound to it that perfectly fit my reaction to this whole interaction.
“Excellent.” With that, he turned and resumed his post at the window, ignoring me.
It took me a few moments to get my wobbly legs under me. I messed up the buttons on my dress, making it take twice as long as usual to do them up. By the time I grabbed my pocketbook and headed for the door, I was a little steadier. On the table by the door was an envelope just as he’d said, with a red rose lying on top. I scooped them both up and departed, leaving Henry behind bathed in rings of smoke. In the elevator, I collapsed against the wall and opened the envelope. Inside were the promised hundred dollars and a note. I tucked the envelope into my pocketbook.
A strange liaison, to be sure. The whole business was odd. Yet as I brought the flower to my nose to smell, I had the strangest feeling that Henry, this very, very peculiar man with his beautiful features and artful mouth, would alter my life in much the same way as my Johnny had.