her makeup was thick, and appeared garish under the bare light globe that was the only illumination in the room. But her look was direct, and honest.
‘What’s the problem?’
‘Her mother is dying, but her ‘boyfriend’ won’t let her take the night off. He insists on his money first.’
Jade looked at the girl. Her eyes were raw from crying. ‘Which one is your ‘boyfriend’?’
‘His name is Tony. He’s the handsome one, wearing a red tie, at the bar.’
‘What’s your name?’ Jade asked the girl.
‘Colleen,’ replied the sobbing girl.
Jade nodded, and left the toilet, making her way toward the bar. The girls followed her out, but maintained their distance, not wanting to incur the wrath of their pimp.
Among the pimps lounging against the bar, she noted one who matched the girl’s description. He was tall, with dark curly hair, with the face of a Hollywood actor. Around his neck, he wore the brightest of red silk ties. Jade had seen him many times before, and had pointedly ignored the self-satisfied grins he often aimed in Jade’s direction. Despite his good looks, the man’s reptilian smile made her skin crawl.
Tony looked up as Jade approached, calculating how much he could earn from her, if she could be persuaded to work for him. Mentally he undressed her.
Jade stood before the man, looking him in the eye. Tony tried to meet her gaze but failed before her stony resolve.
‘I want to hire Colleen for the night.’
A cruel sneer crossed his face, as he looked at his fellow pimps beside him. He gave them a wink. ‘You’re a dyke, are you? I wouldn’t have thought it, to look at you, but I suppose they come in all shapes. Don’t know if Colleen will want to turn herself upside down for you. It’ll cost extra.’
‘How much?’
Tony looked at her well-made clothes, and calculated. ‘A hundred.’
‘Rubbish! Ten.’
‘No chance! Eighty.’
‘Fifteen.’
‘Seventy. Nothing less.’
‘Twenty,’ replied Jade taking the notes out of her pocket, and holding them out to him.
The pimp looked at the notes. It was as much as Colleen usually made on a good night, and, with the cold weather, tonight was going to be slow anyway. Licking his lips, he grabbed the notes out of Jade’s hand.
‘Thank you,’ said Jade sarcastically, ‘it was a pleasure doing business with you.’ She turned, and waved to Colleen, who had been waiting near the far wall. Colleen waved back, and made her way toward the front door, moving quickly, and trying to avoid looking in her pimp’s direction.
Jade returned to her seat.
‘What was that all about?’ asked Walter.
‘I just bought myself a girl for the night,’ said Jade proudly.
‘Well you’re not going to get much use out of her,’ said Rani, ‘she just disappeared out the front door.’
‘Oh well,’ shrugged Jade, ‘I’ll just have to make do with you instead.’ She smiled at Walter.
Walter blushed deeply again.
The band took a break, and Jade noticed the barman leave his place at the bar, and make his way to the public telephone. He spoke on the telephone for a time, before returning to the bar. He waved to Jade.
At the bar, he passed Jade a small piece of paper with a name and address on it.
‘The job you will be offered will be far below where you believe you should be, but, if you wish to be taken seriously, you must, first and foremost, learn the basics of art recognition. That job will help you do just that.’
‘What gallery is this? I thought I’d seen them all,’ asked Jade.
‘It’s not a gallery. It’s an auction house run by a friend of one of the band members. Not the most well known auction house, and, for that reason, it will be good for you. You’ll see objects of art, mixed liberally with a great deal of rubbish. It will be up to you to learn to separate the two. Then, when you have learned the secrets of the trade, you will be of far greater value to the great art studios and galleries. Learn first, work second.’
Jade regarded the barman, and saw him in a new light. Ignoring his job, Jade realised that he possessed a keen mind, and had solved her problem with speed and efficiency.
‘Thank you very much. I’ll contact them first thing in the morning.’
‘See that you do; I’ve spoken highly of your talents, and I’d hate for them to be disappointed.
‘I won’t let you down,’ she promised him.
‘Good. Now go back to Walter, and let me get back to work, and listen to the music.’
Jade awoke the following morning, luxuriating in the feeling of goodwill that a night of animated sex had induced.
Walter had, for some reason, been almost reluctant to return to their home. But once they were alone in Jade’s bedroom, with her naked body before him, he had overcome whatever his initial misgivings had been, and set to, with a will.
It was fun, and that was all Jade wanted from Walter.
Sated, he insisted on returning home, even though Jade would have loved for him to stay the evening.
‘Perhaps next time.’
Rani joined her at the breakfast table. ‘You two certainly enjoyed yourselves last night. I felt the walls shake.’
‘We weren’t that loud, besides the walls are thick. They don’t shake.’
‘Says you! I must have a go at this sex thing some time.’
‘Wait until you finish your studies. Then I’ll help you let your hair down.’
‘I think I’ll wait for marriage. I’m not like you; I don’t have a big dowry.’
Jade looked at her watch. ‘Well, I’d better get ready to go. I don’t want to let the barman down after all the trouble he went to for me.’
* * *
Jade located the premises of Haskins and Green, Auctioneers, in a great barn of a building, tucked off the main road, in a dusty alley.
The area had, at one time, been the hub of the city, but now consisted of small manufacturing firms, sharing the streets with shops, that fought for a few customers, with cheap office space on the floors above.
At a small, cluttered office, located just inside giant metal roller doors of the warehouse, Jade found Mr Peter Haskins.
He was a middle-aged man wearing a cheap suit, his tie askew and badly scuffed shoes. Welcoming Jade with a cheery grin and a firm shake of the hand, he led her into the heart of the vast space.
‘It will be good to have a woman work here for a change. It might raise the tone of the place,’ he laughed. ‘Our friend says you’re well qualified. What can you do?’
Jade looked around at the piles of goods, stacked nearly to the ceiling of the factory. She felt totally intimidated by what she saw around her, it was like nothing she had ever seen before, an Aladdin’s Cave of seemingly decrepit goods.
‘I have a degree in accountancy, and a degree in art history.’
‘Shit! Oh! Excuse me!’ exclaimed Peter Haskins. He took a deep breath, and continued, ‘Well, let’s go for a wander, and I’ll explain some things to you.’
He led her between the towering stacks of goods of all description. ‘This is the receiving, and storage area