Free The Blue Room: Vol. 1 by Kailin Gow Page B

start with mimosas,” I say. “After all, it's not even
brunch.”
              “You know what they say.”
He grins. “It's five-o-clock somewhere in the world.”
              His task, he explains, is
to teach me drinks. Not just how to make them – that would be too easy. But how
to identify wine and fine spirits by their taste, and how to identify men's
tastes by just looking at them.
              “The idea is that a good
bartender knows what the customer wants before he orders it,” says Ben. “My
ex-boyfriend, he used to say he could tell the cocktail order before the
customer entered, just by the perfume his female companion was wearing. But
that's pretty rare. Still, it's a gift. And learning about fine wines and
liqueurs makes you that much more desirable as a companion.” He looks
apologetic.
              “Sorry – that's kind of
gross, isn't it?”
              I laugh out loud. For the
first time, someone in The Blue Room is talking like a real, normal person, not
a character out of Eyes Wide Shut.
              “What?”
              “You're the only person here
who hasn't acted like this is normal.”
              He rolls his eyes. “I'm not
going to pretend I'm not in that world,” he said. “But it's easier for me if I 
hold onto myself in the process.” His gaze turns dark. “You know – everyone is
for sale here,” he says. “Whether they want to be or not.”
              I wonder who has sold him,
and when.
              “I'm prepared to accept
that,” I say.
              “Why?”
              He's so nice, so warm, so
trustworthy-seeming, that I almost tell him about Rita on the spot. But I think
better of it. I can't trust anybody just yet. Not Ben. Not Terrence. Not even
myself.
              “There are worse things
than sex,” I say. I think of my mother in her hospital bed. “There are worse
ways to sell yourself.”
              He nods, and for a second
his stare grows melancholy.
              He's seen things , I think.
              “Come on,” he says. “Let's
start with the wines. Maybe if we get tipsy by the afternoon, it'll make your 5
pm. more appealing.”
              I look at the schedule. 5
pm. Basics of the Global Economy.
              “My community college never had this
stuff,” I joke. “Guess I'm finally getting an education.”
              “Careful, Staci.” His voice
is low. “There's some things here nobody ever wants to learn.”

 
    Chapter
10
     
     
              I t is going to be a special night. That much I learn from the
handwritten note Mrs. Walters slips under my door at 7 pm. There is to be no
client tonight. Instead, I am going to be going to the Blue Room to learn how
things worked as, as she puts it, a “silent observer.” I understand at once
what she means. No more punching and kicking like last time. I'm going
to learn how the other girls – the real girls – perform. I'm going to
know my place and keep my mouth shut.
              “Don't worry,” Ben smiles
gently at me. “I'll be there. Serving drinks. That's all I do...now.” The now is final and I wonder how much of Ben was really for sale. “I'll keep an
eye out for anyone sketchy.”
              I'm not sure how to feel.
Part of me is nervous – it's one thing to be one-on-one with a client, quite
another to be peacocking around in front of several of the Blue Room's most
important, most notable clients. Trying to compete with the other girls there.
Who am I kidding – I'm nobody's competition. These girls have been in the
business for months or years. They've been whipped into shape by Mrs. Walters –
and those that haven't have been kicked to the curb long-since. I'm going to be
the newbie. The bottom on the totem pole. Fresh meat. It's been like that every
job I ever worked in Vegas and LA