“Yep,” Cyrus says, popping the letter p.
“Twenty bucks says he lasts less than two hours,” Octavia calls.
“I say three,” Leo shouts. “His ego will make him eke it out that long, but he’ll be squirming from an hour in.”
“I’ll be kind. Three and a half hours, but I bet he’s crying by the time he taps.” Betty laughs.
“I give the fucker less than an hour. He’s a skinny little runt who thinks he’s a gangster and that walking like he’s got a limp makes him a badass,” Cyrus growls.
“Is Etta in tomorrow?” Octavia asks the room.
“Yeah, the guys are on shift in the morning, so she’ll be manning the desk for four days,” Betty confirms.
“I have a few appointments tomorrow, but at least one will be a runner,” Leo says with a wide, excited smile.
“Let me guess, dick piercing?” Octavia asks with a chuckle.
“Yep. I bet his poor little dick will crawl back inside of him the moment he sees the needle.” Leo cackles.
My own dick and balls twinge in sympathy at the thought of having any kind of needle anywhere near them.
“Knight, you’re looking a little pale. I take it you don’t fancy some new jewelry down there?” Leo asks.
“No. I’m not much of a jewelry fan,” I tell her.
“From what I hear, he doesn’t need it,” Betty whisper-yells.
“Well, is that so?” Leo drawls, arching her eyebrow at me.
Ignoring Leo, I turn to Betty. “My associates will be here in a couple of days to do a full security assessment of the building.”
“So soon? Are they going to be able to do it while we have clients in?” she asks.
“Yes, their visit won’t be invasive,” I advise her.
“Okay, well, cool. Are you guys heading home?” she asks Octavia.
“Yes. I need to draw up some stuff for my clients tomorrow, but I can do that on the sofa,” Doll says, leaning into me and letting me hold her up.
“Cool. Well, happy first day. I’m doing things the same way Suede did. You can cash out your tips at the end of each day, but appointment costs are split seventy-thirty, and everyone gets paid on a Saturday. Full transparency, the split is the same for everyone, and even though I know you don’t expect it, I’ll tell you the same as I’ve told everyone. It’s not my job to find you clients, or Etta’s job to manage your socials. I expect all prebooked appointments to be put in the main date book, and if you accept a walk-in, that has to be entered in there too, or you won’t get paid for it. I’m going to get an online booking system sorted soon, but I just haven’t had a chance, so we’re old school for the moment,” Betty says, flashing me a smile before turning her attention back to the guy whose leg she’s tattooing.
“That all works for me,” Octavia says airily, clearly not perturbed by Betty’s rules.
“I can recommend a booking system that can be adapted to the studio fairly quickly,” I advise her.
“You can?” Betty asks curiously, turning and looking at me.
“I’ll send you the details.”
“Awesome. Have a good night, guys. I’ll see you both tomorrow.”
Taking Octavia’s hand, I lead her out of the studio and toward the car, grateful that we should be home in time to eat on schedule at 1900 hours.
“I’m exhausted,” Doll whines after I start the engine and pull away from the curb. “I can’t believe just having a couple of months off has left me so out of shape.”
“We can have an early night. What time is your first client tomorrow?”
“Eleven a.m., then I have a full day until about seven thirty tomorrow night,” she says, flashing me an apprehensive look.
