For Igor Conti

[doesntsing]

Susie Meyerson is not going to make it out of Europe alive. Midge is going to kill her and throw her body in the river.

The European leg of Midge’s tour has not been going as planned. Perhaps the people of the Old World don’t understand her humor, but even Midge can admit that it’s not that. She’s been off her game lately. Last night, she forgot to set up a punch line for one of her jokes and it was a disaster. Midge is distracted. She’s jet-lagged in a foreign country where she doesn’t speak the language, isn’t a fan of the food and is missing her kids back home. She’s stressed, and it’s showing in her work. An offhanded comment to her manager about how it’s been a while since she’s had sex sets into motion the events that are about to take place tonight.

Susie ultimately wants to make money, and if Midge’s reviews are bad, ticket sales will go down. In her mind, there’s a simple solution: Midge needs to get laid. Fortunately, they already know someone who can help with that.

Midge had met Igor after one of her shows and learned of what he did for a living. It’s intriguing, but Midge would never dream of hiring a gigolo for herself. Susie has no such hesitation, at least when it comes to Midge. She hires Igor for Midge for the whole night and tells Midge about it 30 minutes before he’s set to show up at her hotel room.

After calling Susie every name in the book, Midge runs around in a whirlwind trying to spruce herself up. She’s not going to have sex with him. No. That’s ridiculous. But they don’t have to! They can just talk. Igor will still get paid and everyone will go home happy. Once she’s satisfied with her appearance and the state of the hotel room, Midge pulls a small bottle of vodka from the mini bar and practically chugs it down. She’s reaching for the next one when there’s a knock at the door.

“Oh God,” she says aloud to no one. Susie dropped her bomb and then wisely fucked off.

With a deep breath, she opens the door.

Comments

[contigor]

For the person who you met casually to hire you through a third party was not unusual. Not in Igor Conti's time working as a gigolo, at least. Plenty of times has the manager of a celebrity discreetly asked for some companionship for their pent up stars -- be it simply to release tension, to go on date or what have you. Sometimes it would go catastrophically wrong, with the managers hiring someone when the star was already married or dating, without their permission, or intoxicated, which was a definite 'No' in his book. He didn't run that kind of business, and he stressed that to Midge's manager. Now, all he knew was to ask for consent when he met the lady face to face and proceed as planned if given.

Igor quietly prepared for his client with rehearsed precision, knowing he would be in front of that door sharply in time. Properly showered, properly groomed and smelling like the man of the highest order. He looked like one too, beautifully tailored suit, exquisitely picked shoes and a regal, polite posture and demeanor to top it all off. It certainly turned some heads with curiosity when a man of his demeanor walked into the hotel, even if they didn't know what he did. A glance at his watch told him the clock was ticking, but he was in good time. Calm and without a hurry, he met with Susie Meyerson who seemed like she had just been called every name under the sun by a very creative woman -- a look that was hard to read but that Igor has been aware of for a while.

He was shown to her room and he, of course, gave Susie reassurance that Midge is in good hands while they stood outside. Should anything happen, he will let her know immediately. With that said, he stood in front of the door and sharp as a clock he knocked on that door.

The moment that door swings open, he's standing there with posture straight and with a vague knowing smirk on his features. To break the ice immediately, and with the confidence of someone who already is acquaintanced with the client, he says: "What have you told Susie to make her look like that?"