Lilly

One thing I hate is being taken for a fool.  Ok, there are a lot of things that tick me off.  Being lied to, and then continuing the lie once confronted, both in the top five.  Lilly was a sex worker who'd forgotten we'd worked together before. 

Our first encounter was short and sweet. I only got to know her well because her wallet had been found in our car park, which was returned to her intact. I was shocked to see the date of birth on the first card I pulled out to see who it belonged to. The shock was from how much younger she presented.  She kept mostly to herself spending her down time on shift studying to be a court interpreter.  

Approximately five years later Lilly was the new lady working on my shift at a different brothel.  She is still working as Lilly and looked exactly as I remembered her but now had a whole new persona.  The one who once studied as a court interpreter now didn't speak or understand English too well. Though she was Asian I knew for a fact her English was flawless.  What was with the dumb act? Our second encounter was also short, but definitely not sweet. 

Girls on shifts is essential to this business.  It's all about selection. You could have the most beautiful creature on the planet be the only one available and still get asked “what else have you got?”  One lady rarely sells. Even with only two it can be difficult. Still better than one, naturally.

Most brothels are fair to their sex workers when it comes to shifts.  Ladies could choose to work day or nights working 6 to 8 hour shifts. Longer if they choose.  Although, there are only a certain number of ladies allowed on each shift. Too many to choose from can overwhelm the client.  Too much choice and some sex workers miss out and not make any earnings at all. Not enough sex workers and the client walks and no-one makes money.   A delicate balance, indeed. 

Brothels need the ladies to cooperate also. “Only put yourself down on shift if you're going to show up and stay the whole shift”, words that now come naturally.  Of course, if it is known that one needs to leave early they are generally accommodated. The rules are the same in most brothels. You don't respect the rules, you don't get shifts.  If you constantly show up late, or not at all, you don't get shifts. One is allowed to call in sick, naturally. We then have time to replace you. To call into work sick or because you're running late is a requirement of any job.  In this industry this presents as a major problem for some. 

A huge role of the manager was answering queries of who was working, both by phone, online and in person.  If a client showed up and the expected girl wasn't available it was the manager who copped the frustrated anger.  Rightly so, too. I'd do my best not to let this happen. Another important part of the job was to entice the clients by a quick description of the lovely ladies currently available.  Even though I had only two available that day shift, I was grateful both had completely different looks. I get a query for a threesome. I approach both ladies to ask if they are willing before I take the booking even though he won't be in for a couple of hours. 

Lilly starts sprouting, in her fake broken English, that she only works four hour shifts.  She has an agreement with the owner so she won't be available when the client is due in, she claims.  I call that owner to find no such agreement exists. She continues that she's only ever worked four hours in other brothels.  No problem before. She even turns to the other sex worker for support. 

“Is true some places have four hour shifts, yes?”

“Not on this planet”, the other girl responds. 

Ha!  Although, Lilly is relentless.  She claims she is leaving in an hour when her four hours are up whether I like it or not.  It's too late to replace her. Only two staff had put themselves down for that particular shift.  Her departure would leave me with one. She refuses to listen to reason, still playing dumb, and continuing to insist she was not the person I claimed I already knew. 

I tell her she can leave that very second to never put herself down on my shifts again.  She refuses to leave until her made up four hour shift is over. I proceed to grab her belongings and turf them out the back door towards the car park. 

I stand guard in the doorway watching her collect strewn belongings from the car park ground. All the while she's calmly threatening she is going to make “big trouble” for me with the owner.  I tell her that her disrespect and bullshit created this. That’s when I call her by her real name. I comment how odd it was that Asians kept their age so well till they hit a certain age then seemed to age dramatically, and drastically.  That wallet ID sure came in handy. Racist, obviously, but pleasantries wasn't the mood here. 

“It's like they age overnight.  Just like that”, I say, as I click my fingers.  “I mean, look at you, Mary. No way do you look 58.  I suggest you make the best of it while you still can, girl”.  I shut the door behind me and lock it.  

A short time passes when Petra, the other girl on shift, comes up to me and asks, “what's up with Lilly”?  I'm puzzled by her query. She'd witnessed the whole event. “I mean what happened when you were both outside”? 

She continued, “She's still out there.  I can see her through the window, stamping her feet and shaking her fist at the car park camera, cursing”. 

I hadn't realised and look up at the video.  I smile to myself as I watch her antics on the screen.  I love that knowledge is power. Truth hurts bitch. I knew it was you. 

“Me no understand English”.  My arse.