wasn’t. She hadn’t bought his reasoning, either. In fact, she was gleefully using the F-word right now to punctuate the destruction of his watch.
Harry smacked his palm on the desk to get her attention, which sent cold coffee splashing all over the notes he’d made for the article that was due on smoking for the Vancouver Health Unit. He scowled ferociously at Sadie and shook his head no, but the kid knew when she had him. She gave him a sweet, coy grin and went right on banging and cursing.
"See, Harry, I wanna go at this phone sex thing from a human interest angle, a firsthand encounter, that kind of approach.”
Harry figured sex of any sort was definitely interesting to humans, but Sullivan was finally on a roll, and there wasn’t any point in interrupting. If he did, he’d be here with his ear glued to the phone for the rest of the day.
"Does this sound like a thing you’d want to explore, Harry?”
Harry assured Sullivan it was. He was interested in exploring any damn thing this side of the law that would bring in a few extra bucks.
"Good. Excellent. Now, I’ll tell you how I want to go about this. I want you to find somebody local who’s in the business, an’ I want you to do me an expose with lots of human interest, plenty of detail. Readers are gonna want detail about this here subject, you understand, Harry. And I want it from the customer’s POV, like it was actually happening. I don’t want an interview with some little gal who’ll give you a shined-up version of what really goes on in this business. I want it to be authentic; I don’t want her to know you’re doing a story on her. Get as up-close and personal as you can. Readers are gonna wanna know what makes these sorta women tick, if you get my meaning.”
Harry thought so. "You want me to be more than just a onetime telephone customer. You want me to develop a personal relationship with the lady?”
"Within reason, Harry. I don’t want you to get us sued for slander, or compromise your honor. Or your body, neither, old buddy.” Sullivan gurgled and coughed, and Harry waited.
"But yeah, I want you to get to know her away from the job, if you can. I, for one, would like to know just what these women really look like, and if I’m curious, you can bet our readers will be too.”
Harry frowned, considering. "That might be tough, Oscar. I’m pretty sure they don't make a habit of meeting their customers face-to-face. It could be dangerous for them, for one thing.”
"You’re a persuasive guy, Harry. Talk your way in.”
Harry broached the other reservation he had about the assignment. "These services charge by the minute, don’t they?”
He had no experience with telephone sex. He preferred the real thing, although lately he’d have taken whatever was offered, in any form available. He’d been celibate, much against his will, for longer than he cared to recall. The combined demands of single parenthood and the stress of earning a living as a writer for hire had practically turned him into a monk. Well, not quite. But closer than he’d ever wanted to come.
“This is going to take time, Oscar, to build up a relationship, get a woman to tell me details about herself and her business, maybe get her to trust me enough to meet me. At God knows what per minute, expenses could get pretty steep.”
There was a prolonged and pained silence on the other end, and Harry grinned. The sure way to put a crimp in Sullivan’s tongue was to mention expense money. The Star paid well, but Oscar had a thing about keeping expense accounts down.
“Daddy, I gotta go potty.” Sadie’s voice was loud and urgent, and Harry hastily covered the mouthpiece.
“Can you go by yourself, tiger?"
“Unh-unh. I gotta go poo. I need you, Daddy.”
Sullivan was back, sounding reluctant. “I’ll advance you something to cover phone expenses, but don’t go hog-wild on me here, buddy. You gotta consider this’ll likely be more pleasure than actual work,
Harry smacked his palm on the desk to get her attention, which sent cold coffee splashing all over the notes he’d made for the article that was due on smoking for the Vancouver Health Unit. He scowled ferociously at Sadie and shook his head no, but the kid knew when she had him. She gave him a sweet, coy grin and went right on banging and cursing.
"See, Harry, I wanna go at this phone sex thing from a human interest angle, a firsthand encounter, that kind of approach.”
Harry figured sex of any sort was definitely interesting to humans, but Sullivan was finally on a roll, and there wasn’t any point in interrupting. If he did, he’d be here with his ear glued to the phone for the rest of the day.
"Does this sound like a thing you’d want to explore, Harry?”
Harry assured Sullivan it was. He was interested in exploring any damn thing this side of the law that would bring in a few extra bucks.
"Good. Excellent. Now, I’ll tell you how I want to go about this. I want you to find somebody local who’s in the business, an’ I want you to do me an expose with lots of human interest, plenty of detail. Readers are gonna want detail about this here subject, you understand, Harry. And I want it from the customer’s POV, like it was actually happening. I don’t want an interview with some little gal who’ll give you a shined-up version of what really goes on in this business. I want it to be authentic; I don’t want her to know you’re doing a story on her. Get as up-close and personal as you can. Readers are gonna wanna know what makes these sorta women tick, if you get my meaning.”
Harry thought so. "You want me to be more than just a onetime telephone customer. You want me to develop a personal relationship with the lady?”
"Within reason, Harry. I don’t want you to get us sued for slander, or compromise your honor. Or your body, neither, old buddy.” Sullivan gurgled and coughed, and Harry waited.
"But yeah, I want you to get to know her away from the job, if you can. I, for one, would like to know just what these women really look like, and if I’m curious, you can bet our readers will be too.”
Harry frowned, considering. "That might be tough, Oscar. I’m pretty sure they don't make a habit of meeting their customers face-to-face. It could be dangerous for them, for one thing.”
"You’re a persuasive guy, Harry. Talk your way in.”
Harry broached the other reservation he had about the assignment. "These services charge by the minute, don’t they?”
He had no experience with telephone sex. He preferred the real thing, although lately he’d have taken whatever was offered, in any form available. He’d been celibate, much against his will, for longer than he cared to recall. The combined demands of single parenthood and the stress of earning a living as a writer for hire had practically turned him into a monk. Well, not quite. But closer than he’d ever wanted to come.
“This is going to take time, Oscar, to build up a relationship, get a woman to tell me details about herself and her business, maybe get her to trust me enough to meet me. At God knows what per minute, expenses could get pretty steep.”
There was a prolonged and pained silence on the other end, and Harry grinned. The sure way to put a crimp in Sullivan’s tongue was to mention expense money. The Star paid well, but Oscar had a thing about keeping expense accounts down.
“Daddy, I gotta go potty.” Sadie’s voice was loud and urgent, and Harry hastily covered the mouthpiece.
“Can you go by yourself, tiger?"
“Unh-unh. I gotta go poo. I need you, Daddy.”
Sullivan was back, sounding reluctant. “I’ll advance you something to cover phone expenses, but don’t go hog-wild on me here, buddy. You gotta consider this’ll likely be more pleasure than actual work,
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