I WAS QUITE anxious when I returned to the brothel. All the girls were there. To my surprise Isa, who was preparing her trip to spend Christmas in Ecuador, took me by the arm and told Susana we were going out for a minute to have a coffee. She wanted to talk to me.
‘You know everybody’s crazy, don’t you? Men who pay to go to bed with women are crazy, but we women who agreed to go to bed with men for money are worse.’
‘Yes, of course. But what are you getting at, Isa?’
‘There are things the crazy girls in there have been saying about you, because they’re jealous.’
‘Like what?’
‘Like that you’re stealing all their clients, that you see them outside the apartment. For example that Pedro who comes every week, and who came back while you were ill, that Italian, and lots of others.’
‘What’s Pedro got to do with it?’
‘Well he came and hooked up with Mae, and she’s a real snake. He said he was madly in love with you and you would have nothing to do with him. She turned it round and said you were seeing him outside. Mae’s trying to get rid of you.’
These confidences seemed strange to me, especially coming from Isa.
‘I knew this would happen one day.’
‘Mae also says you’ve given the Italian your phone number.’
That was true, but Mae was only guessing, because she had no proof.
‘Obviously she can say what she wants about me.’
‘Yes, but Mae’s been here longer than you have, and it’s her Manolo will believe. You’re going to have problems.’
I’d already seen that Manolo could be violent, and what I was most afraid of was that he would do me harm.
‘There’s also a rumour that you’ve got AIDS.’
‘That’s a lie!’
That really was too much. In his snivelling to Mae about his unrequited love for me, Pedro must have told her about the torn condom episode. And she had embroidered the story to suit her own ends.
‘Who said that?’
‘Who else but the same crazy blonde? She’s trying to scare the clients so they don’t choose you any more.’
I was thinking of a thousand insults to hurl at Mae, but I had to control myself or I could be in still worse trouble.
‘If you tell them what I’ve just told you, they’ll think I’m an informer, so please, don’t say a word,’ Isa begged me.
‘Don’t worry, and thanks for telling me everything!’
We went back up to the apartment. Mae, who was dressing up to go out with a man old enough to be her father, shot cynical glances at us from her mirror. I pretended not to notice. Then Manolo appeared, followed by Sofia, who was on duty overnight.
‘Can I have a word with you?’ Manolo said, looking as grim as if he had just committed a murder.
‘Yes, of course,’ I said, determined to deny whatever he said against me.
I could see Mae’s face light up when she realized how angry Manolo was. She left with a final barb, ‘There’s going to be hell to pay,’ as she closed the door.
‘Is it true you see Pedro outside here?’ Manolo asked me.
‘No, it’s not,’ I said, speaking the truth. ‘Who told you that?’
‘The client himself.’
I was paralysed by shock.
‘Well, he lied to you. He tried to arrange to meet me several times, but I always refused.’
‘What about the Italian?’
‘I’ve seen him three times altogether. That’s all. Besides, he doesn’t live in Spain, so I don’t see how I could visit him outside the apartment.’ This time I was surprised at how well I could lie.
‘I’ve heard rumours that say different.’
‘Mae must have invented them to do me down.’
‘Why would she want to do that?’
‘How should I know? Because she’s jealous, I guess.’
‘Just remember that here we don’t like people trying to fool us. You’re lucky, because I don’t have any proof. But I’m going to keep an eye on you, and if I have the slightest doubt, you’re out on the fuckin’ street, get it?’
He was already waving his arms about and threatening me. Sofia was watching from the kitchen doorway, gesticulating at me to tell me to stay quiet or things could get really serious.
I didn’t feel I’d broken any rules of the agency, because I hadn’t seen Pedro outside, and I hadn’t charged Giovanni a cent. So I didn’t in any way feel I’d taken something that wasn’t mine.
In the end I said nothing to Manolo, because I wanted to go on working over the end-of-year holidays, although after the episode in the dacha in Odessa with little Yana, the whole business was beginning to revolt me.
The end of the century seemed to have awakened everyone’s libido, perhaps because of everything that had been said about it, that it would be the end of the world, that a war was bound to break out, that all the computers in the world were going to crash. People were afraid, and wanted to live their last hours fulfilling their wildest dreams.
Tonight we even had women coming in couples to live out those dreams. I was working all the time, with Cindy.
My mobile was switched off most of the night. When I put it on again I saw I had lots of messages, and started to listen to them.
Giovanni had tried several times to get in touch with me. He had left messages on my voicemail wishing me a happy New Year. He had also sent a text message, which was the greatest surprise of all.
‘It’s wonderful to talk about love, but it’s hard too. I think I love you . . .’ He wrote the last words in English, because he doesn’t know enough Spanish. That was the last thing I had been expecting.