Red Collar Read Free

replied with a feigned smile as she briskly surveyed Kate with her eyes. “Would you like to leave a message?”
    “Would you tell Madame Madge that Kate Ripley’s at reception? I think she would be quite interested to hear the news I have for her.” Kate gave her a curt smile and strolled away towards the lounge by the large windows overlooking the gardens.
    She took slight pleasure in watching the woman’s smile melt as she stressed on the term Madame. She readjusted the belt of her coat. It was a fiddly habit she had whenever she tried to suppress her excitement in public. She would look nervous and tensed instead.
    She heard the woman’s hushed tone behind her as she relayed the details of her presence to someone over the phone. The receptionist was now evidently aware that Kate knew all about the façade masking the real operations of the business.
     
    *****
     
    Kate first heard of Madame Madge four months ago. She was then still secretary to the sleazy Russell Wilder at Miller’s Furniture Designs. In her three years of service, she had successfully managed to brush away much of his sexual innuendo with a tight smile. However it was obvious that his patience for her to take his bait was slowly wearing thin. When rumors of another set of redundancy began surfacing, she had inkling she would be heading that list.
    She was biting her nails over her options one afternoon when Bridget Lantz dropped her ass on her desk.
    “Well, have you decided what you’re doing when you get the sack?” she said, twisting her pencil in her fingers.
    “We don’t know if I’m getting one yet,” Kate smirked.
    “Come on Kate. Everyone knows Wilder’s been trying to get your knickers off for years. All you’ve done is get him mad instead.”
    “What do you suggest then? Take them off to save my job.”
    “On the contrary, darling, quit.”
    Kate looked up at her, befuddled. “You’ve lost it Bridget. You’re not making any sense.”
    “Listen, hon. If you try and sleep with the big boss now, he’ll know you’re doing it only for your job. He’s a dick, babe but he ain’t that big a dickhead. He’ll use you and then dump you just as fast.”
    “Do you have a point in any of this, Bridget?” Kate sighed, tiredly.
    “Well…yes. There is this place. An escort service. Really professional. They pay well too. As a matter of fact, extremely well. I’ve been trying them out for two weeks now. The best decision I’ve ever made. I’m just waiting to end my term here with Wilder. Like hell, I’m gonna risk my redundancy package.”
    “That’s good for you, Bridget,” Kate said, rolling up her eyes. “So you finally realized your potential in the whoring business. I wish you the best. But no, thank you. I have no interest in joining you on this venture. Now if you please excuse me,” pushing Bridget off her desk. “I still work here.”
    “Kate, please…,” Bridget protested. “You’ll make a great escort. You have the curves, the etiquette, the skills. If you’ll only give a damn about making yourself beautiful once in a while, men will kill for you. You know you have it.”
    “It’s a …,” Kate dropped her voice to a harsh whisper. “It’s a brothel.”
    “A high-end escort service,” Bridget corrected quickly.
    “Does it matter?” Kate almost shouted out in frustration. “It’s prostitution. You give sex for money. It’s just been given a classier label. High-end escort service, indeed!”
    “Kate,” Bridget started.
    “Not another word,” Kate warned. “You’re out of your mind, Bridget. I have my values. If I wanted to do something like that, wouldn’t I have fucked Wilder a long time ago?”
    “That’s different!”
    “How is that different?!”
    “Wilder would have fucked you. Not the other way. As an escort, you call the shots. You get to keep your values and get paid for it. Tell me Kate, what did you get out of sleeping with all those loser boyfriends of yours? Didn’t