I was half an hour late. Thirty whole minutes. I knew that my hatred for cars wasn’t baseless. Well, hate is a bit too strong of a word, more like general dislike? I understood the overall usefulness and the status aspect of it, of course. But driving them for fun? No way.

I could drive at a decent enough level, obviously, but I just preferred to leave the process to someone else. A trained professional who will be able to take me and mine out of the heat while on a… ‘Job’. An AI or a driver for day to day moving around, or when I’m wasted. To a woman of mine, and quite a few of them were even thankful for my apparent readiness to relinquish that degree of control to their hands.

I finally arrived at the address that Olivia sent me earlier. The non-franchise café, that really looked quite cozy through the window. Warm colors, muted lights. Comfy looking seats. Hm, if the coffee was up to par, this would be a nice place to chill at sometimes.

“Welcome.” A handsome guy in a fitted uniform greeted me. Considering that most of the customers here were women, a great choice indeed. “Would you like a table, or would you rather get your order to go?”

“I will join the already present company,” I gave him my response.

“Understood. Have a pleasant evening, sir.” I nodded at those words and went deeper inside the establishment.

The atmosphere inside was actually even better than what I imagined by looking from the outside. The smell of fresh coffee, with an extra of spices and something sweet, coupled with a relaxing jazzy tune, sadly not a live performance, brought my mind into a pleasantly relaxed state. Overall, this was a great choice on Olivia’s behalf. Enough to show off, but not over the top to be considered going out of the way to do so.

Speaking of my current interest. I looked around and found where she, and her friends, were sitting. A corner table, by the window on the opposite side from the one I was looking through previously.

The four girls were busy talking about something. Another interesting new side of Olivia, she looked a lot more carefree than when she was together with me. That made me a bit sad, but then, nothing unexpected really.

“Hey,” I called out to get their attention. “Sorry for being late. Traffic was an absolute disaster today.”

“Honey!” Olivia jumped into my arms, and I gave her a light peck on the lips as a greeting. Successfully reading the mood once again, she didn’t try to deepen the kiss and, instead, continued in a spoiled tone. “I was starting to think you won’t show up at all.”

“My bad, my bad,” I apologized. “Next time I will just aim to arrive an hour earlier, maybe then I will be on time.”

“You better be!” The beauty in front of me said in an angry tone, even glaring at me for a better effect. But a moment later, she just snorted and nuzzled deeper into my embrace. “I’m happy you found the time for me.”

“I’m happy to be there. It’s always a pleasure to see you,” I said, while stroking her back.

From the corner of my eye, I glanced toward the trio sitting behind the table. Bimbo was looking at us with a mild interest, while bitch made a good enough attempt to hide her displeasure. The strangest reaction, once more, was from the shorty. For no apparent reason, she just glared at me, yet again. The fuck did I do to you, girl?

“Olivia,” I said, patting her back to get her attention. “How about you introduce me to your friends?”

“Oh. Um. Right.” Muttered flustered girl. Then she turned towards her friends, without leaving my embrace, and continued. “This is Michael Roah. And he is, um…”

“Her boyfriend.” I smiled, watching with amusement how Olivia’s smile just brightened a bit. “Nice to meet you.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

I paused for a moment, leaving my words as a cue that it’s their turn.

“Heya. I am Satomi Tanaka,” said the bimbo. “My friends usually call me Mimi. You can call me whatever you want.”

“Isn’t it tiresome to always play this role?” I nodded towards her introduction, and asked the only question that came to my mind after seeing the mismatch between her attitude, body language and eyes. She looked at me with a clear surprise, but seemingly didn’t take offense.

“Ain’t we all playing some sort of role? I like this one quite a bit, in fact. So, no, I don’t find it tiresome,” was her reply.

“Nice to meet you, Satomi. I will try to actually remember your name.” I smiled towards the… eccentric girl, and got a laugh as an answer.

Next, I turned my head towards the bitch.

“Patricia Jones.” She tried to sound classy, but all I could hear was an empty arrogance.

I got a better look at her. Dirty blonde shoulder-length hair that was adequately styled. Her eyebrows actually were of the same color, so there was a decent chance it was her natural hair color. Pretty face with good makeup. If I recall correctly, she was a bit taller than Olivia. Her skin was a bit too pale. Coupled with her face and arms being a bit too thin. Most likely a strict diet to keep her weight under control. Her chest wasn’t all that big either, but her figure was well-balanced overall.

“Hey. If you don’t mind answering. How much is your rate per hour?” My question was a bit rude, yes, but I was curious.

“Four hundred.” She raised an eyebrow. “Interested?”

“Mmm, not really. Just an empty curiosity,” I shook my head. “You know, there is a difference between being a cold beauty and a bitch, and you really don’t act like the former. If you dial down the overdone attitude, there are plenty of people who will be ready to pay two to three times more for your service. Hm, I can even recommend you to a guy or two like that, if you please them enough, word of mouth will carry you into the big leagues. Who knows, maybe someone will be interested enough to keep you as their mistress.”

Her mask broke. Astonishment, disbelief and a fair bit of anger were painted all over her face. Satomi laughed once more, while Olivia went stiff in my arms.

“You seem to know an awful lot about this stuff.” I heard a new voice.

“I am a bit of a connoisseur myself. If you know what I mean.” I turned my head to answer the shorty.

“Lin Su. Or Su Lin in the western tradition,” she introduced herself.

“Charmed.” I just smiled.

A moment of silence. All four of the girls looked at me, as if waiting for me to continue. But I was quiet.

“Oi,” I heard the bitch calling out. “What the fuck. What is this difference in treatment?”

“Hm?” I was a bit surprised at the change in her speech pattern and behavior. “There is nothing in particular that I find weird about that girl. What, should I insult her about being short or something?”

“Hey, Pat, he really got you there,” said Satomi through barely held giggles.

“Stuff it, Mimi.” This was an answer she got. Then the blonde turned towards me again. “Hey, Liv’s boyfriend, was my mask really so obvious?”

“Yeah. Your face is a much too expressive for what you tried to portray,” I explained. “And, if there is something people in the big leagues hate with passion, it’s fake things. Though, if they were shown a glimpse of truth they liked, they would pay a lot just to keep the illusion going.”

“Any other advice, mister connoisseur?” she asked.

“Hm. Stand up and give me a spin.” P… Patricia did as I asked, and I did another once over of her. The second time only confirmed the accuracy of my previous assessment. “You have a pretty face, and both your makeup and hairstyle works nicely for you. I would recommend stopping dieting so hard and instead focus on exercising, as you look a bit unhealthy as you are now, but that’s my personal taste, there are people who would dig your current look more. As for clothes, no idea, ask someone who has better taste and actually has seen you wearing something other than a school uniform.”

“So, um, about those recommendations?” And another question from the blonde.

“I will ask around if someone looks for… a more permanent arrangement,” I replied. “While the thing I said before would work as well, not many people would settle on the known ‘paid escort’. And the circles above are pretty tightly woven.”

“Thanks in advance,” Patricia said. The blonde stared at me intently for a few moments, and then shifted her gaze toward Olivia, who was still frozen in my embrace. “Liv, where the hell did you find this guy?”

“Um, do you remember Camilla asking a week ago for someone to substitute her in some shady business?” Olivia started her story.