Escort Neighbour Pt. 04

"It was. I got out a little."

"Lucky you," she replied absently, and we ate in silence.

I finished my meal and grabbed the empty packaging and threw it out. "Thanks for lunch. You home for the rest of the day?"

"Yup. Anything you want to do?"

"Not really. It was a long trip. I'm beat."

"What's that in your back pocket?" asked Nancy freezing me in place.

I pulled out my iPhone. "A new iPhone."

"Where'd you get that?"

Thankfully I had discussed exactly that on the flight home with Jennifer. I couldn't just show up with a new phone. She suggested I tell Nancy my agent gave it to me and that she was annoyed with trying to get in touch with me.

"My agent gave it to me."

"What, really? Why?"

"She's tired of trying to get a hold of me through emails. Said the company paid for it. It comes with a free cellular service for a year."

"How nice! Lucky you! How is April?"

April is my agent. She lives in Toronto and I rarely see her. Everything was done through email these days. April was the one who convinced me to try writing erotica. She also knew my wife didn't know about that aspect of me. I explained it to her once: Nancy wasn't that way. Something about sex repulsed her. I didn't know how she would react to what I did to make the real money around here.

I then remembered Betty had sent me fifty thousand dollars. It was a significant amount of money. I made more than that a year, but a sudden windfall like that was going to be impossible to explain. Thankfully, Nancy cared little for finances and left it all to me to manage. I would need to squirrel the money away somewhere. Then I realised it was probably fifty thousand in US dollars. That means its closer to sixty-five thousand dollars Canadian. Jesus.

"April is fine. She flew in for a day and left me with the company execs, mostly."

"What was the meetings about?"

"Promotional stuff. Marketing. They want more books. Same old stuff."

"That's exciting."

"Yeah. Things are looking good right now."

Nancy smiled. "Do you want a cup of tea?"

"No, thanks."

"I'm going to have one."

"You go right ahead. I'm going out for a smoke."

Nancy wrinkled her nose at me. "Go ahead."

I escaped outside with a new pack of smokes. I opened it and lit one and took a deep drag. I blew out and heard Jennifer's patio door slide open. I looked over and she was peeking out at me from inside her house.

I smiled. She held up her phone and pointed at it and then disappeared back inside.

I sat and opened my phone. She had been texting me.

[whats happening?] she had texted.

[All okay.]

[thank god]

[Your hair was everywhere, by the way.]

[oh no]

[I think I got it all.]

[you better have - sorry about your back how is it]

I didn't like that texting didn't use proper grammar. [You scratched me good. And my lower lip is bruised and cut.]

[omg im so sorry]

[It's okay. I'll survive. You should sleep. You need it.]

[I will. I can now tks to you]

[Okay. We should talk. We need to figure this all out.]

I waited for a reply. I finished my smoke and then looked up at Jennifer's window. She was looking down at me, holding her phone. She looked upset.

[I know we do. Not now okay? I'm not ready]

[Okay.]

[love u]

[I love you, too.]

I looked up and she blew me a kiss. She moved back and her drapes covered her window. I sat outside and smoked a few cigarettes and then went inside and put my clothes in the dryer. Nancy was watching the soaps on TV and drinking tea. I looked around my house and wondered what I had missed. I was hopeful I had pulled this all off without a hitch.

I should probably check for more hairs, I thought and wandered upstairs. And then I think I'll be okay.

* * *

I was wrong. So completely wrong, but not for what I expected.

After I checked the upstairs, I pulled the duvet back to air out the bed. I sniffed the mattress and couldn't smell much. Eventually I just removed the sheets and remade the bed. I popped the sheets in the washer and saw Nancy was completely engrossed in her soaps. She called them her stories.

I made her more tea and then felt tired. The relief of having escaped detection of my dirty weekend was now turning into fatigue. I wandered back upstairs and lay in bed. My phone felt like a lump under my ass, so I pulled it out and plugged the charger in.

I fell asleep for a few hours and woke feeling much refreshed. It was late afternoon and I could hear the TV on downstairs. My phone pinged and I realised that was what had woken me.

I sat up and grabbed my phone. I could already see how demanding the damn things were. I opened it and saw I hadn't closed the messenger app. Jennifer had texted me again.

[Bill we need to talk. Just got off phone with betty. shes been trying to contact you]

[Answer your stupid phone]

[dummy answer your phone!]

[bill jesus christ text me back!]

I frowned. Why would Betty want to talk to me? I typed in a reply to Jennifer.

[Hi, Jennifer. Sorry, I slept. What's up with Betty?]

[omg Bill. Text betty. shes been texting you for two days! She had news about the night club. Remember? The speaker girl who outed you?]

I felt my blood freeze. Betty had taken Jennifer and I to a fancy nightclub in Saint Thomas. While there I had told a girl my pseudonym for my erotic fiction. She had known my novels. She bragged about it to the other women at the club and they hit me like a paparazzi gang. I had been nervous about it, but Betty had told me she would take care of it. Later, Jennifer made me realise that no one knew who I was in real life. I was a face and a pseudonym. I had mostly forgotten about it.

[I remember. Let me see what Betty wants.]

I backed out on the app and saw the number of texts from the unknown contact had risen to over thirty. I tapped the contact and a list of texts appeared. I scrolled up to the top and started reading. At first they were just texts thanking me for a wonderful weekend. Then I saw Betty had sent me pictures of her pussy with captions added as if the pussy was speaking to me with lude suggestions. It was funny, but I kept reading.

Betty then said she was looking into the night club incident. A couple more saying not to worry, it appeared to be a dying story. Then her tone changed. She had texted me last night while I was sleeping.

[Bill. Contact me. Things are not good] 12:05 AM

[Bill. Contact me. The story is going to break] 12:10 AM

[they figured out who you are not sure how] 12:30 AM

[jesus Christ bill answer your fucking phone!] 12:45 AM

[fuck you bill] 12:50 AM

[my husband reminded me you don't use phones - sorry about my last] 12:59 AM

[hmm I do want to fuck you though] 1:00 AM

[you really need to contact me] 1:05 AM

[okay night call me in the morning] 1:15 AM

[bill contact me] 9:37 AM

[im contacting Jennifer you suck] 9:53 AM

[bill? You there? Jennifer just told me she got a hold of you. Bill?]

The last text was a minute ago.

I typed a reply. My heart was racing. She said they had figured out who I was. That's wasn't possible.

[Hi, Betty. What's going on?]

[bill thank god. Can you call me, talk? Too much to type]

[I can. Give me a minute.]

I didn't wait for a reply. I went downstairs, grabbed my smokes and walked out the front door. A small park was a short distance from my house, and I walked there. I found a bench, sat down, lit a smoke and then opened the messenger app.

[Okay, I can talk. I don't know your number. What is it?]

[FFS. Hold on, calling you]

I had time to wonder how she knew my number when my phone started playing strange music. I looked at it in surprise and saw the phone displayed 'Unknown number' and had a green and a red telephone symbol. I pushed the green one and the phone stopped making music.

I looked at my phone and then heard a little voice. Shit, it's Betty. I held the phone up to the side of my head like I had seen other people do. Her voice was loud in my ear.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Bill. Put the fucking phone to your head. You are so stupid!"

"Hello? Betty?"

"Oh, thank God. Jesus, Bill. How have you survived this day and age? I mean, seriously, we're the same age and I get all this stuff!"

I frowned. "I never had the need. Why would I text my wife when we live together? And I have email. That works great."

Betty made an exasperated sound and then spoke to someone near her. "Yes, its Bill, Elsa. I will. Bill? Elsa says hi."

"Um, great. Hi Elsa."

"He says hi back. Yes, yes. Shush, Elsa. This is important."

"Where are you, Betty?"

"In my bedroom. Elsa and I just fucked for a few hours. God I love Norwegians. She's delightful."

"Oh."

"That's not important. Bill, there's no easy way to tell you this so I will just say it. They figured out who you are. The girls in the nightclub went apeshit over you. Turns out you are something of a celebrity in the erotic fiction world, did you know that?"

"Of course I did. It paid for my house."

"Right. Well, I didn't know. I don't read that stuff. I live it! Ha! Anyway, turns out one of the bitches in the bar had a friend at the airport. They managed to get your name from the airline. Don't ask me how, the damage is done."

I sat stunned in the park. My cigarette forgotten until it started to heat up between my fingers. I cursed and tossed the cigarette away and sucked my fingers.

"Bill? You alright?"

"Yes, yes. I just burnt my fingers with a cigarette. Okay, so what's happening? What are they doing?"

"Right now the island is buzzing. Social media is lighting up with it. It appears to be mostly contained to Saint Thomas, but Bill, it won't be long. This story is interesting because you are a man, do you see?"

I did and nodded, not remembering Betty couldn't see me.

"You are very well known, through a pseudonym. There's a whole community that talks about you being a woman and how you just have to be to write such perfect erotic stories. They want to know how you could write the male mind so well. That you're a man is going to blow this story worldwide, do you understand? You are a man, who writes erotic stories that appeals to women."

"Yeah, I understand." I knew about the search for who I really was. My publishing house was inundated daily with requests and probes. Only a handful of people knew who I really was: my agent April, and four people at the publishing house. April was always trying to seduce me. It annoyed me because she wasn't my type. At all. "How bad is it so far?"

"Hard to say, really. I've contacted my lawyers. They say there is nothing they can do. Pseudonyms aren't protected by any laws, here in the US or in Canada. Or worldwide for that matter. The storm is coming, Bill. I suggest you run and hide."

"Run and hide? Where would I go?"

"I can think of lots of places. Are you ready for media trucks parked outside your house? It's only a matter of time."

"You can't be serious?"

"Oh I am. Trust me. This is newsworthy. You've been outed. The media is gonna gobble this up and spit you out."

"Fuck."

"Exactly. Now. You have a couple of options. One, run and hide. Two, own it. Three, do nothing and hope for the best."

"One is out. Three sounds like it's bound to fail. What's two?"

"Step out and own this. They are coming for you. Own it and brag about it. Go on talk shows. Embrace the attention. Honestly, now that I think about it, this is probably your best option."

I thought of Nancy then and groaned.

"What is it?"

"Nancy. She's not going to survive this."

"Why not?"

"She knows nothing about my other writing. She thinks I make all this money through my fantasy novels."

Betty snorted. "She's an idiot. Unless you're George Martin or JK Rowling, it ain't going to sell."

"Yeah, how'd you know that?"

"Bill, sweetheart, I research everyone who enters my life. When Jennifer told me about you I looked into you. I admit it made little sense to me until you told me your pseudonym. Your fantasy novels don't sell well. Your erotic novels are all the rage. Hmm, I just realised your fantasy novels will sell like hotcakes now. I wonder if I can invest in that..."

"Betty! Betty! Focus. Okay, so I own this. I step out. I'm going to need help with that. I have no idea what I'm doing here."

"Thought you might say that. I have good news and bad news."

"Good news first."

"I know just the person to help you."

"Great! What's the bad news?"

"It's Jennifer."

I froze on the phone. Jennifer? How was that possible? "Jennifer? H-how?"

"My dear man, she's been manipulating and marketing for years. She's a pro. You don't get to be world-renowned by being bad at it. You need a marketing agent. Someone to get you through this. Guide you. Bring in the right people to help you. You can turn this into an explosive marketing campaign. You can make a fortune off this, if done correctly. Now, I can find others equal to the task, but Jennifer loves you, Bill. She'll do this right."

"Um, okay."

"On another note, do you own the rights to your fantasy novels?"

"No, the publishing house does."

"If you want, I can secure them for you."

"Why?"

"Because they are going to sell, Bill. I'll have my lawyer contact you in the hour. It's Monday, we can get the rights by close of business. Your publishing house is in New York, correct?"

"Yes."

"Good, I have lawyers there, expect a call on this phone. Answer it. You'll give verbal authority. Now that I think about it, we need rights to your name as well. So much to do. I'll be in touch. Ungh..."

"What was that?"

"Elsa, Jesus. She just drove a dildo into my pussy. Elsa, I'm on the phone! Stop it! No, stop moving it! I didn't say take it out! Bill, you still there?"

"Um, yes."

"Good. Listen do you trust me?"

"I think so."

"Better question, do you trust I love Jennifer?"

"Yes, I do."

"Okay, I would never hurt her. Hurting you would hurt her, and I would destroy that trust she has in me. Do you follow me?"

"Yes."

"So trust me. Give me and my lawyers the power we need to steer you through this."

I relaxed. I could see the sense. "Okay, done. Thank you, Betty. I don't know what I would do right now without you."

"You're welcome. I'm fond of you, Bill. I love who you are with Jennifer. She was so lonely, Bill."

"Just yesterday you were telling her to run from me."

"Yes, to save herself. But now you need her. Maybe this will focus her better. I don't know. It's probably a bad idea, but I've trusted my instincts for too long. This feels right."

The image of Nancy floated before me. "Dammit, I need to talk to Nancy. She needs to know."

"Yes, she does, before this all hits the front page."

"Okay, thanks Betty."

"Good luck." She hung up.

I sat on the bench and thought hard. I used the little browser on the phone to research things but found nothing that helped. I was going to have to throw myself to Betty and her lawyers.

My phone rang and I answered. It was one of Betty's lawyers. She asked me several questions about my novels, the publishing house, agents and rights. She said she had everything and hung up.

My phone buzzed. I looked at it. Jennifer had texted me.

[Bill, are you home?]

[No, I'm at the park up the street.]

I waited for a reply, but nothing appeared. I looked up when I heard running and saw Jennifer running toward me. She landed on the bench and kissed me. I looked past her toward my house but knew Nancy couldn't see anything. I kissed her back.

"Oh Bill, I just got off the phone with Betty. It's a great plan. Are you sure you want to hire me?"

I looked into her gorgeous green eyes and nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. Who better?"

Her face split in a gorgeous smile and she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. "I'm so happy!" she gushed. "This is going to be hard, but stay with me, hon. We'll get through this."

"What can I expect?"

"Oh, baby. You wrote pretty dirty stuff. People are going to expose that. Try to drag you down. We have to step out in front. Take the higher ground. We need to figure out the attacks and be ready."

"Why would they attack me?"

"Some people hate success. They attack it and try to tear it down. It makes them feel special. Superior. Some others hate smut. They hate people like me, whores, prostitutes, anything sexual. The religious nuts will be waving placards and saying you're the devil. It's gonna be nuts."

I hung my head.

Jennifer reached over and lifted my head with a finger to my chin. She kissed me. "But I will shelter you from all that. You'll hold your head up high and own this. Be you, the man I love. People will see you for who you are, in time. This will start rocky, but we'll find calm water on the other side. Trust me, baby."

"I do trust you."

"Good. Betty's lawyers are already at work. We will have to meet with a proxy lawyer in town and sign stuff. Probably tomorrow morning. Can you drive?"

"Yes, can't you?"

"I don't drive. Never learned. Never had to. We need to do this together. We're gonna spend a lot of time together, Bill."

I smiled at her. "That's the only positive thing about this."

Jennifer grinned and kissed me. She grew serious. "You need to tell Nancy."

"Yeah, I know. I've been sitting here wondering how to."

"Just walk in and tell her the truth."

"What, that I was outed in a night club in Saint Thomas when I was supposed to be in Washington?"

"Oh, shit, right."

"Yeah, right."

Jennifer looked at me in sympathy. "Leave that out for now. Just tell her about the books."

I nodded. Jennifer gave me a quick kiss and walked back to her house. I had one more smoke and then walked home. This was not going to be pleasant.

* * *

I could give you all the details, but it would bore you. The condensed version is I walked in the house. Poured some wine for Nancy and me, sat her down and told her where the real money was coming from. She didn't believe me. I showed her the novels online. Then I showed her my manuscripts. And the royalties.

She ran from me crying. I didn't know why she ran, but I assumed it was just the shock. It turned out to be worse than that. She packed her bags and left me and went to live with her mother. Oddly, I barely noticed she wasn't in the house anymore. The house felt the same.

She wouldn't even talk to me about it. I tried calling her, but her mother, a screaming religious idiot, screamed at me and hung up. I was a little confused. Nancy hated how religious her mother was. As it turned out, she was just as crazy.

The story of who I was broke one week after I landed in Saint Thomas and outed myself to a skinny girl in a bar. It didn't take long. Media parked in front of my house and watched every window. A clip of the skinny girl played non-stop on the tv and internet. She bragged about how she blew the author of my erotic series in the bathroom. She was hitting the talk shows. She signed up to do porn for Pornhub. She was getting her twenty-seconds of fame.

Everywhere on the media were experts debating the story. Some refused to believe a man had written the novels. Some women's groups were angry I was a man. Some others were calling me gay and worse. It was all sensational and none of it true. I was seeing the fake news for the first time and it was scary.

Jennifer, working quickly in the background, and had already started pulling miracles out of her hat. She had talk shows lined up for the next three months. I would hit all the big shows, all primetime. She then became the face of who I was. She gave a press release and I was impressed watching her. She deflected questions and managed to push through the narration she wanted the public to hear. She painted me as a gentleman, whose wife had left him, I was distraught and trying to deal with a fame I never wanted. She was right about everything except about being distraught about Nancy.