Secrets of a Gigolo

6

Zachary had taken a quick shower before bed and then passed out in a pair of sweats all tangled up in his blankets hugging his pillow. He’d fallen asleep quickly but not soundly. When his door opened late the next morning, Zachary opened his eyes but didn’t move. His back was to the door. A smile curved his mouth as he listened to the soft pitter-patter of little feet grow closer to his bed. Then he felt the mattress shift under Eliza’s weight, and he rolled over and grabbed her making her squeal as he pulled her in his arms and tickled her.

“What are you doing sneaking up on people?” He said as she squirmed and laughed.

She escaped his grasp and crawled to the foot of the bed out of his reach. “It’s ten o’clock. Esmerelda says it’s time to wake up.”

“So, I suppose you think I should get up?” She nodded her dark curls bobbing. “Ok, I’m up.” He said unravelling his blankets to free his legs. He climbed out of bed and rubbed his hands over his face to further wake himself. “What do you want to do today?”

“Can we go to the beach?” She asked bobbing in her seat excitedly.

“I suppose so.” He said lifting her off the bed and bracing her on his hip. “Is breakfast ready?” He asked carrying her to the door.

“Esmerelda says you have ten minutes.”

“Ok.” He said putting her down at the door and guiding her out into the hall. “I’ll be right down.” He then shut his door and changed for his day. Coming downstairs in his red swim trunks and a white muscle shirt he happily took a cup of coffee from Esmerelda. As soon as his coffee touched his lips, Chino was at his side telling him about all the calls he’d missed and all the reminders of dates, and all the calls asking for further dates. He knew he had to schedule his week, but he’d just gotten up after another long night, and he hadn’t even finished his coffee. “Has anyone woken our guest for breakfast?” He asked taking his seat at the kitchen table where they always ate breakfast with Milo laying under the table at his feet.

“They have,” Brianna said coming into the room. “Good morning everyone. It smells great in here.” She said taking a seat but not before noticing how Zachary was dressed. “Are we going out?”

“We’re going to the beach,” Eliza said happily as Esmerelda placed a small stack of pancakes on the table before her.

“I don’t suppose you brought a swimsuit?” He asked sipping his coffee.

“I did. I noticed you had a pool so I brought one in the hope I might be able to take a quick dip.” She admitted.

“How’d you sleep?” Esmerelda asked placing a plate in front of Brianna.

“Like a rock.” She smiled.

“Señor,” Chino said and leaned over to whisper in Zachary’s ear. “We must address the Judge she’s been calling four times a day for the last week. She wants to see you again.”

Zachary frowned. Now that their affair was public the Judge had become clingy and possessive. From what he read in the news her husband had left her, and she was free to do as she wished, and it would appear she had high hopes that Zachary would be willing to take their relationship to a more private level. He hated when this happened.

“She’s become obsessive.” He whispered back. “Time to cut her loose. Send flowers and a card.” It was time to break things off, and when he did, he always sent a big bouquet with a Dear Jane card.

“Si Señor and a Señora Aker called this morning and was hoping you would meet her later tonight.”

Ah, yes Amelia, his new conquest. “Did she leave a number?”

“Si.” He stood up, and the two men left the room. Chino gave Zachary the number Amelia left, and he stepped out on the deck and returned her call. With a little flirting he set a date for later that night. A few drinks at the Oasis and then they would see where the night went from there. He hung up and returned to the kitchen where everyone was finishing their meal. He sent Eliza off with Esmerelda to get ready while he ate his own.

By the time he was finished Eliza had rejoined them in her swimsuit and shorts. Brianna had also gone up and come back down in cut-off jeans and an orange bikini top. The sight of that body had him thinking about last night. He’d been so worked up. She was so beautiful and so receptive to his touch. Inhibitions to the wind she had been far more fun than he’d expected, and he was thinking about paying her another visit. It had been a lifetime since the last time he’d had s*x just for the fun of doing it. Though he slept with many beautiful women, it was always a calculated business strategy and not because he was genuinely excited.

Esmerelda had packed a lunch and some drinks and snacks for their day out. Then the five of them piled into the town car and headed for the beach. Sunbathers and volleyball players littered the beach. They staked out a spot with a cabana. Even at the beach, he preferred luxury. The cabana tent offered shade from the sun and a comfortable, clean place to lounge with plush lounge chairs. There was a picnic like a table where Esmerelda set their things while Zachary chased Eliza into the water.

***

Brianna slipped off her shorts and stretched out on a lounge chair in the cabana. It was hot, and the tent offered a relief from the blistering sun. From her resting place, she watched as Zachary played with Eliza in the water while Milo splashed around them trying to get in on the playtime. They were all smiles, and it was a heartwarming sight. He was so good with her. She watched them play for an hour and then Esmerelda brought out the beach toys she’d brought and she, Chino, and Eliza got down in the sand and started to build a first-class sandcastle.

While they constructed the Taj Mahal, Zachary made his way back to the cabana and dropped onto the lounge chair next to the one Brianna was relaxing in. “Not going to build the castle?”

“I’d rather chill here with you.” He said with a smile.

“Well isn’t that sweet.” She giggled. “How’d you sleep?”

“Well enough.”

“So, I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation with Chino and breakfast. Are you cutting someone loose?” She asked.

He sighed and folded his arms behind his head. “Yeah, things have taken a turn for the worse with Judge Donald. She’s becoming possessive and clingy. That’s too much drama for me. I don’t need that.”

“I find it hard to believe most of your women don’t get possessive.”

“I make it clear from the beginning that I’m not in it for the long haul.” He said as Milo trotted over and jumped up into his lap making him grunt and shove the large dog off the lounge chair only to have him try to get back up.

Brianna laughed. “He thinks he’s a lap dog.”

Zachary pushed Milo down once more and then twisted in his seat and grabbed a chew toy and tossed it sending the dog running after it. “So, I got to ask, how did you get into this way of life? I mean I don’t think you grew up with the intention of becoming a kept man.”

“It just happened. I was eighteen when I realized women would give me gifts for spending time with them. I grew up in the projects, and we needed money. I had nothing when this older wealthy woman picked me up on the side of the road. I was just supposed to show her how to get home, but one thing led to another, and I wound up in bed with her. When we were finished, she wrote me a cheque and told me if I wanted more, I’d have to see her again. It was a lot of money, so I came back. She introduced me to her friends, and things just snowballed from there before I knew it, I was living in a swanky apartment with cool toys, and nice clothes and I decided I could do this. God knows I wasn’t good at anything else.”

“How does your family feel about what you do?”

“They’re not in any position to judge me. My brother Jacob is in prison. My sister Addie is a junky. My youngest sister Ansley is on the fast track to a jail cell herself. Don’t even get me started on my mother she’s a fall down alcoholic ex-prostitute. The only reason she doesn’t still turn tricks is that she’s so used up and destroyed no one would pay to sleep with her. Besides, she never complains so long as the fridge is stocked with beer and there’s vodka in the cupboard. She blows all her welfare cheques on booze. The only reason she and Ansley have a place to live is that I pay the rent and all the utilities. I also flip the bill every time one of them gets arrested. Be it bail or lawyer fees.”

Wow, he just took care of everyone. She hadn’t realized he was the sole supporter of his entire family. “And you can afford all this by getting gifts from women?”

“Yes. Plus, I invest my money well. RRSPs, GIC’s, government bonds. I have a savings account where I stash the extra money I’m not presently using for those times when I’m between women. Kind of like a safety net.”

“How often do you have dry spells?”

He smiled cockily. “Not too often but it does happen from time to time. I’m usually pretty good at keeping my cash flow.”

“How do you find these women?”

“Same way anyone does. I pick them up in clubs and coffee shops.”

“And spies.” She said recalling the bartender from the Oasis.

He grinned wickedly. “Yeah, I got a pretty good relationship with various bartenders. They keep a look out for me, and I slip them some money if they call me with something interesting. It’s like a finder’s fee. It’s a symbiotic relationship. When I make money, they make money.”

“How long does it take you to bag a new woman?”

“My record is twenty minutes. Long enough for greetings, flowery words, a smile, and flashing a hotel key.”

That was insane. “You can get a total stranger into bed in twenty minutes? That’s imposable. How do you do it?”

Zachary got up and came over to her lounge chair pushing her long legs to the side making room for him to sit down next to her. He took off his shirt and tossed it over the chair he’d just vacated then he placed his hand on her thigh and looked her in the eyes. “First I make physical contact and gaze into their eyes like this. I tell them how beautiful they are and how foolish their husband is to neglect them so terribly.” His hand moved up, and his fingertips grazed her cheek as he captured her chin between his thumb and forefinger tilting her face up to his. “Then I look them in the eyes and tell them ‘I don’t know you but you don’t have to be lonely tonight. Give me one night, and you’ll be a new woman’.” The fire in his eyes and the heat of his touch made her pulse race and carnal images of their night together flooded her mind. He then pulled back and smiled. “Then I show them my room key and things progress from there.”

She could see how that would work. She was ready to give him anything he asked for. Brianna forced herself to look away trying to get a grip on her composure. “Do you ever feel bad lying to these women for profit?”

“No. Who says I’m lying? The women I see are usually beautiful. A little older than me but still nice to look at. Women reach a certain age, and their husbands start treating them like they’re expired milk. All I do is make them feel sexy again. Just because you hit forty doesn’t mean you should be put out to pasture. I make them feel alive again, and for that, they give me anything I want.”

“What’s the oldest you’ve done this with?”

“Um…fifty-two.”

“And the youngest?”

“Thirty-three.”

“You said some of these women introduce you to their friends. Has that ever gotten awkward?”

“Well it certainly has the potential to, but I think I manage it well. Sometimes it can be fun. I’ve had a few threesomes with the friends I was seeing.” He smirked as if the memories were found. “With a little coaxing, I can get women to do some shameful things.”

“What’s been your longest relationship?”

“I’d have to say the first one. I saw her for two years. Four to five times a week for two years. She was more of a mentor than a mark. She taught me to do so much. She taught me how to talk and walk and dress. She taught me things in the bedroom an eighteen-year-old kid would never think of.”

“How old was she?”

“Thirty-eight.” Brianna was stunned that a woman that old would seduce and corrupt a teenage boy of eighteen. “I liked her. I didn’t have to be good I just had to be willing.” He then smirked again. “Between her and her friends, I got a lot of practice.”

“What’s been your shortest relationship?”

“Three weeks. I was in Mexico on vacation, and I hooked up with some wife of a fortune five hundred company. The husband was on business, and while he was in board meetings, I was in the hot tub with his wife. We called it quit when the vacation ended. I think she was from New York.”

“What’s been the longest dry spell you’ve ever had?”

“Three months.”

“How many women have you been with?” That question was more for her interest than it was for the article. He stopped to think, and it looked like he couldn’t come up with an answer.

“I’m not sure. I stopped counting a long time ago.”

“Do you ever date?”

“I date all the time.” He said as if her question was ridiculous.

“I mean have you ever had a girlfriend that wasn’t paying you to be with her?”

He shook his head. “No. I can’t see that sort of thing ever working out. I don’t think a genuine girlfriend would be able to handle my lifestyle. And I can’t do anything else. I have no employable skills. It’s this or Wal-Mart greeter, and I doubt very much that Wal-Mart can keep me in the lifestyle I’ve become accustomed to.”

“But you can’t do this forever. You look great right now, but one day you’re going to get old and then what?”

He shrugged. “I marry rich?” He chuckled. “I don’t care if she’s eighty-one, I’ll go to bed with her so long as she keeps me wealthy. All I know is I am never going back to the ghetto. Not for any woman.” She could see in his expression that he meant what he said.

“That sounds like a lonely life. Never having anyone that loves you.”

“I don’t need love. Love doesn’t make the world go around money does.”

At that moment Eliza ran over and took Zachary by the hand trying to pull him to his feet. “Come to see our castle.” She insisted.

“Ok, I’m coming.” He said getting up and letting Eliza drag him to the structure she’d just built. Brianna watched him, and she felt sympathy. What a cold senseless way to live never being with someone that would love him. He had everything but what he needed. She felt pity for him.