The Armoire Ch. 04

Wendy corrected him, "No, actually it's twenty six women...at...five thousand each...for a two to three day stay."

Tommy was absolutely flabbergasted, "Five thousand! But... how much time do we have? And how do we go about..."

Wendy interrupted, "I've taken the liberty of drawing up some ideas about conducting interviews, setting up an account, payments, etc. Maybe Ally and I could go over them and then run them by you at dinner... assuming I'm invited."

I said, "Of course...but you should get a commission, right?"

Wendy said, "Oh, absolutely. I'd settle for...two free sessions a year."

Tommy and I looked at each other then he said, "We couldn't consider this for any less than four."

A very happy Wendy said "Deal!" Then she added, "You were a big fan of that sci-fi show on TV weren't you, Tom?"

Tommy replied, "Yeah, I was why?"

"Do you remember the tall blonde?" said Wendy.

"Oh you mean..."

She interrupted, "We're going to refer to her as 'Teri'... She doesn't want to use her real name... in fact, none of them do. Anyway, she's your first client."

A very excited Tommy said, "Far freaking out!"

Speaking to Wendy I said, "Shouldn't Tommy use a pseudonym too?"

She agreed, "Yes, I think that would be a very good idea. We must be very discreet in all things. It is part of the deal that the women will and should expect. The farm is perfect; long private lane; the fences; all of it. But Tom should use a fake name in anything that has to do with the operation."

I looked at Tommy and said, "So, sweetie, what name do you think would be à propos?

A perplexed Tommy replied, "All that comes to mind now is 'Goofy.'"

We had some more coffee and bandied about a number of really stupid names until Wendy suggested 'Marquis de Sade.'"

We laughed a bit then Tommy protested, "Well, first of all, I don't consider myself a sadist and, secondly, it might scare some folks off."

I interjected, "Of course you're not a sadist! .In fact, you're probably the exact opposite but, the name kind of fits... maybe a variation... an anagram maybe..."

We started throwing out variations of the name; Marq Suidesade; Midas Quiredes; Red Maquissade. Then it suddenly jumped out at me so I wrote it down and showed it to them.

They both kind of liked it and after some arguing, and,because it looked more European,repositioning the 'e' in front of the 'd' instead of after, we had his new name...Sam Darquesied.

* * *

Wow... you guys really are soul mates! How long ago was all this?" I ask.

Alyssa answers, "About seven years ago, Sylvia. I was thirty then and he was fifty."

I was fascinated by all she had told me; it was like finally finding the combination to a mysterious padlock, but I had a thousand more questions, "So Teri was the first 'client?" She's been going for seven years?"

"That's right," answers Alyssa, "And then Malsa; then Isabella...most of the women at the party have been clients almost since we started. Lilly has only been coming for about a year because Malsa wouldn't let her... 'til she was twenty-one."

"Mother and daughter...boy, I bet there's a good story about them! Oh...and Kendall...what about her?"

Alyssa smiles and says, "They all have pretty good stories, Syl, and Kendall's is one of the best, but it'll have to be another day."