“Got it,” he said.
“We’re going to take it slow,” she explained. “The $600 you paid for the lap dance? That’s gone.”
“Alright,” he said.
“That’s my money,” Cassie said. “I’ve already earned it.”
“Cool.”
“That means I owe you $600 right now,” she said matter-of-factly. “If I leave here without charging you anything else, that’s how much money you’ll get back when I go home. Think of it like an account balance.”
Tony was intrigued. He wasn’t quite sure where this going but he liked it.
“We’re going to treat this strictly professionally,” she explained. “I am going to stay dressed and sit on this couch. You are going to sit on that chair and we’re going to talk. Just talk. When I tell you to—and only when I tell you to—you can take your clothes off. At that point, you lose $100.”
“Okay,” Tony nodded.
“When I feel comfortable, I’ll let you know or give you a signal and you can ask me to do something,” Cassie said. “I’ll tell you how much it will cost you. If you agree to the price, we do that. If you don’t, we wrap it up.”
Tony understood.
“The more we do, the more you owe.” she said. “When your balance is at $0, we’ll renegotiate.”
“Perfect,” he said.
“Do you agree to these terms good sir?” Cassie joked.
“Why, yes, I do ma’am,” Tony said, pretending to tip a non-existent hat and reaching his hand out to shake hers. “I look forward to doing business with you.”
“As do I,” Cassie said, shaking his hand. “As do I.”
=====
“Do you have anything to drink?” Cassie asked.
“I do,” Tony said. “I’ve got a few bottles of Gatorade, some soda, some water and a bottle of champagne if you’re interested.”
“Champagne?” she asked. “What does this look like to you? New Years Eve? Am I supposed to wait for Ryan Seacrest to welcome me to Time Square?”
Tony laughed. Admittedly, it was a pretty cliché drink to buy for this type of encounter.
“I don’t know, I guess I thought I hired a classy broad,” he replied back.
“Nah honey,” she said, shaking her head and heading over to the couch. “I’ll take the soda. I’m not that fancy.”
Tony walked to the fridge, got a can for each of them and made his way to the chair as instructed.
So far, so good.
“So how do we do this?” he asked.
“Like I said,” Cassie replied, holding the can in her hand but not opening it. “We talk. When I’m ready to move forward, I’ll let you know. You’re not stupid.”
Tony nodded. He hoped whatever signal she gave him was clear. He didn’t want to risk rushing her or ruining things.
“So what do you want to talk about?” he asked.
A moment passed. Cassie thought about what she wanted to talk about. There was only one thing on her mind.
“Did you finger Miranda?” Cassie asked.
“What?”
“You heard me,” she said. “I want to know. Did you finger Miranda? I’ve been wanting to ask you that for years. She said you did a long time ago and I called bullshit. No way you messed around with anyone back then.”
“Ahh,” he said. “So we’re playing truth or dare then?”
“Don’t be stupid,” she replied. “I’m merely asking you a question. We’re talking right? Let’s talk.”