"Everything's agreed, then?"
"Agreed," Laura said in a low voice. "When do I start?"
"There's no rush. The end of the week, perhaps. I'll arrange for an
apartment for you tomorrow, and you can begin furnishing it right away.
My decorator will help you, and we can arrange any kind of payment
scheme you like. Also, tomorrow, you'll come here to be photographed."
"Photographed?"
"Like this," Spinelli said, taking a large flat book from a desk
drawer. He handed it to Laura. It was thick, printed on glossy paper.
It consisted of page after page of photographs of girls, all of them
nude, photographed from front and back and in several angles. Laura
reddened faintly, and gave the book back to him.
"Why?" she asked.
"Expensive stores have display windows for their goods. This book is my
display window. When a client insists on seeing in advance what he's
paying for, I show him the book. Your pictures will be in the next
edition." Spinelli laughed. "Don't worry though. The book has a highly
limited circulation. Only a very exclusive few ever get to see it,
and no copy can be bought at any price." He looked at his watch. "Run
along, now. I'll phone you tomorrow when your apartment is rented."
Laura felt dizzy as she stepped out. It was hard to believe that she
had two thousand dollars in cash in her handbag, harder to believe that
in a few days of rocketlike rapidity she had taken up and abandoned a
career as a streetwalker and had stumbled somehow into the glittering
and money-laden life of the call-girl.
She started to look around for the subway; then, remembering what
Spinelli had told her, she hailed a cab and took it to Columbus Circle.
She got out and looked around for several minutes before finding
Marilyn.
The slim prostitute was sitting glumly on one of the benches just
inside the park, obviously having a slow afternoon. But she brightened
the moment she saw Laura approach, running toward her and embracing her.
"Well?" Marilyn asked eagerly. "Tell me all about it. What happened!
What did he do?"
"I made the grade," Laura said simply.
"Great!"
"He took me to lunch--fabulous place--and he explained the setup. Then
he took me up to his apartment and sort of tested me out, and told me I
could have the job if I wanted it. For five hundred bucks a week."