Love & Prostitution Ch. 10

Back at eBaapoo and eMaa's family home, eBaapoo asks Emily to come into his study. He says that he is so sorry, but he won't beat about the bush. The news of her abduction and the sexual nature of her experiences has somehow been leaked to the Kolkata newspapers. One rag of a newspaper referred to her having become a prostitute and poses the question of how crossing such a line could possibly be reversed. Emily gasps: "My good reputation is ruined. This will hurt my family too much for me to bear". He apologises and tells her that certain solicitors have already indicated they will have to brief other barristers for trial work, i.e. move their business elsewhere, while she remains a member of his chambers.

Emily composes herself thinking 'I loved working in the brothel, and now I dream of being a career prostitute. This news of me being publicly branded a prostitute is the ideal solution to my problem on how to leave the law profession'. Genuine tears of sadness run down her face as her old life ends. She tells eBaapoo that she can not, and will not, be the cause of any further discomfort to him and to the family and respectfully, with great regret because he and eMaa have been so kind to her, she will cease working in his chambers forthwith and take steps to move away from Kolkata. He nods, understanding her pain, they stand and hug each other.

Emily joins Sansa in their suite and tells her the news. Their joy and relief must remain hidden until they have left the house. Calling their servant, they instruct her to pack all their belongings ready for their departure. Sansa telephones her parents on her mobile and tells them the news. Her parents are delighted and ask them to come over with all their possessions as soon as they wish. Their plan has already commenced its execution. Emily goes to eMaa and tells her all the news. They weep wrapped in a deep embrace for a while. eBaapoo enters and Emily tells them both that Sansa's parents are already preparing a room for them. They are both relieved that in the short term they will have a roof over their heads at least.

All their clothes and possessions are packed into suitcases and loaded into the large boot of Baapoo's Mercedes V Class. Emily and Sansa come downstairs for the last time and embrace eBaapoo and eMaa for farewell hugs. Baapoo secretly slips a folded envelope into Emily's hand and whispers that the envelope contains some recompense that will help her to restart her life wherever she chooses to go. It is jointly from eBaapoo and eMaa here in Kolkata and from her parents in England. Emily thanks him for this and for all the love they have shown her, she pops the envelope into her bag and tearfully she and Sansa take their leave. As usual there is a bodyguard and chauffeur in the front seats and the ladies get into the rear seats holding each other's hand. As they secure their seatbelts, the car pulls away to take them to Sansa's home. Their new life has started.

On the way, Emily opens the envelope and is amazed by the staggeringly huge amount of 'Rs 1 lakh crore' (about US $1100 million) written on the cheque. Feeling unsafe with such a cheque in her personal possession, she decides to say nothing until she has thought about the implications of receiving such a sum. She simply asks the driver to take her to the family bank where she, accompanied by the armed bodyguard who stands at the appropriate distance to protect her privacy and allow him to protect her if necessary. She pays the cheque straight into her personal bank account. Her fingerprints and retina are recorded and in about 15 minutes she exchanges her ordinary debit card for a newly prepared special debit card issued only to holders of large accounts such as hers. She has $1,099 million transferred to a special, no risk, high interest savings account that are for those that maintain a large balance. She returns to the car with $1 million available in her cheque account to get their Exclusive Escort Agency set up in a most excellent way.

(The currency of India is the Indian Rupee (INR). Each rupee is currently worth approximately one British penny. There are 100 Paise (singular is Paisa) in one Rupee and the lowest current denomination is 50 Paise (half a Rupee). The expression "Rs 1 lakh" means 100,000 rupees, "Rs 1 crore" means 10,000,000 (10 million) rupees and used together "Rs 1 lakh crore" means 1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion) rupees. Sums larger than this are counted in crore, e.g. 350 crore. Sums under 1 lakh use the western nomenclature: i.e. tens, hundreds and thousands.)

On arriving at Sansa's home, they go straight upstairs, while the bodyguard hires 3 porters to carry the girls' personal possessions up to the apartment for them. The bodyguard says that eBaapoo instructed all the costs of removal be at his expense. Emily wonders if such a huge sum from her parents and from eBaapoo are a full and final payment of any inheritance they had planned for her. eBaapoo might also be dealing with his guilt at involving her in the possible adverse risks of a female being involved in the defence of the trial of human traffickers. Either way she feels that she has been disowned by her family. Her eyes well up and a single tear runs down her cheek, leaving a line of mascara to betray her emotional state. Sansa notices and cuddles her. Emily whispers that it is okay, she is just so happy. Either way she is now a wealthy woman in her own right and she will see that Sansa's future is assured as well. Their welcome feels so genuinely loving, even when sBaapoo holds her to him by cupping her bottom. In her happiness and her sorrow, she thinks nothing of it.

sMaa shows them to their room. It is decorated in the style of a 1900s Paris high-class brothel, suggesting that sMaa has entertained in-call clients before giving up prostitution. It is sumptuous, luxurious and exudes an atmosphere of unbridled decadence. sMaa tells the girls that the room has been locked up for some time and if they do not like the decor, it will be redecorated. The girls both smile and shake their heads, even Sansa didn't know about this room, and say it is perfect. It is especially so, given the new lifestyle on which they are embarking together. Their luggage is brought into the room and eMaa directs the porters to put it all in the en-suite dressing room, through which is a shower and washbasins etc. It is hard to imagine such luxury lies inside of the shabby and neglected exterior of the apartment block.

Returning to the family lounge, they sit and take tea, allowing Emily to recover her emotions in peace and quiet. Thinking it unnecessary to relate the details of their departure, Emily says that she wonders if they might briefly discuss whether it would be advantageous or not for her to change to an Indian name. Baapoo replies first, suggesting that if their target market is the exclusive rich of Delhi, it might be more advantageous to retain her western name of Emily. This will give clients the opportunity to choose between a beautiful sophisticated English lady and a beautiful exotic Indian lady as their main point of contact. Maa suggests that the making of such decisions could very well wait until the family is settled in Delhi and they have all gained further insights into the pros... she quickly corrects herself with a giggle to say: advantages and disadvantages.

Baapoo (no need to specify which one now unless eBaapoo returns to the story at some stage) suggests that a tour of their Kolkata operation might now be a useful thing to do. The girls agree Maa's suggestion that things that require research in Delhi be postponed until the family is based there. They also agree that it would be a good idea to extend their knowledge of how their own Escort Agency could be organised. Emily says she will take notes on her computing tablet, that might help in the planning of their Escort Agency.

The first stop on their tour is a room where escorts can, if they wish, await the allocation of escorting appointments issued by a lady telephonist. Emily makes a note on her tablet that girls gathered here might provide evidence of prostitution in the event of a police raid, at the very least, the girls will give the police more people to interview. She also wonders if the escorts in the room get preferential treatment over those waiting more discreetly elsewhere. They watch as she operates the switchboard, on occasion asking a caller to wait on the line while she completes another call. They are impressed when she emphasises to a caller that the agency only ever charges for an escort's time. Emily is making notes on her tablet and adds how important a friendly phone technique and a nice female voice must be to callers who need to be put at ease quickly. She also notes that she needs to be able to assert agency policy that sex is not on sale.

Next they look at security. After her abduction, Emily is only too aware of the need to keep up to date with technological developments and employ a system of inspections to identify any loopholes, including back up power generation. She notes down these thoughts on her tablet and asks about security staff, shifts, oversight by a manager and routine but unannounced inspections. Baapoo explains that since: the apartment is operational 24/7, clients do not enter the apartment, escorts only usually visit for interviews and financial transactions, and finally it is the family home. So far the security has not been thought a priority. Emily nods and enters all this information to her tablet.

They seem to have completed their tour, so Emily asks about the mechanism employed to match known and expected client requirements to the... erm... social... talents of escorts. Baapoo and Maa shake their heads and Baapoo says they have not felt the need to formalise process and generally allow the telephonist to make such decisions. Emily asks if the telephonists are provided with any standardised training in this respect and is told again that such a need has not yet become evident. Emily notes this information in her tablet, smiles and thanks them both for their answers. Sansa looks on with a smile, confident that Emily's professional approach to things will make their service special and all the people involved much safer. Emily, intent on protecting themselves and employees from prosecution, adds to her tablet notes that the possession of all such paperwork would act as supporting evidence that the agency does not, in any way, condone prostitution.

Emily says she is going to ask a series of rhetorical questions about the recruitment of escorts. These questions are mostly to stimulate discussion about how their new Escort Agency will work: "Okay, here we go: How do applicants to be escorts learn about your agency? Do applicants understand the role of an escort and how it differs from that of a prostitute. Is there a particular type of escort that you look for in applicants and what principal attributes in your opinion makes a successful escort? Does the agency check that applicants do not have a criminal record and particularly that they have no convictions for prostitution or any kind of sex work? Finally, are there any applicant screening procedures in place and what documentation of the complete recruitment procedures of an applicant, is kept, if any? Here she notes in her tablet that disciplinary records, particularly those of dismissals in the event of disorderly conduct would be evidence to support that the escort agency is run within the law.

Silence is a response Emily half expected after all she'd seen and been told so far, but ever the optimist she had hoped there would be some contributions. Emily smiles warmly and says: "Please don't feel concerned, this is just to identify what we can start discussing here in Kolkata. We don't want to arrive in Delhi unprepared. It is quite possible that, for various reasons, we decide that not everything needs doing, but the important thing is that we decide together. May I propose that we pause for tea and afterwards start to gather our thoughts, perhaps starting with the recruitment of our personal staff and purchase of vehicles?" Everyone shows signs of relief and make their way to the lounge. Maa arranges that tea is served and the smiles start to return to their faces.