“My tip is to keep doing what you’re doing. You’re onto a winner, Ella. Ride the wave, and well done. Congratulations. Have a very, very happy Christmas!”
I know I should let her fade away with ahappy Christmas, thank youbut I can’t play it that cool. Josh would be wiping his brow with aphew, easy peasy,but he’s not here to keep myurges under control. I stop Orla with aone secbefore she ends the call.
“I know my working name is Holly at the moment,” I say. “But it’s no real shocker that these new clients know full well who I am, is it? Not really.”
“No. It’s not,” Orla says. “A lot of them come to us very specifically, to track you down. We make sure the confidentiality practices are in place, of course, but yes. It’s very clear who they are looking for. Your reputation as one of the highest-class entertainers in London is bringing the high-rollers in. Your ex did you some good on that front. Every cloud and all that.”
“How about I embrace it?” I ask her. “How about I change my profile name from Holly and put a simple Ella instead? Would that be ok? Would it make any difference to how I’m ranked, or how you consider my account or anything?”
I wait for her answer with bated breath, strangely overcome at the thought ofHollydisappearing into the ether.
Except I’m not Holly anymore. I’m Ella.
I’m Ella at home, and Ella with my friends and family, and Ella at almost all of the proposals I’m going to be attending. I was even Ella to Santa at the mall.
“You can do that,” Orla tells me. “Your entertainer name is yours. Update it however you want.”
My heart thumps, and I get weird flutters.
Ella.
My name on the system could be Ella.
The ticks on the Naughty List would be mine to own as me…
That would make it seem like the Naughtiest List of all.
“Just one thing,” Orla says. “Whatever name you choose to go by, and whichever client proposals you choose to take on are entirely your business, so long as it goes through us. But our Agency identity needs to remain respected with the utmost confidentiality. Tell people what you do for a living, and goby Ella however you choose, but under no circumstances ever reveal the network you work for, or how those services work. Our clients need that respect and privacy as much as we do. And so do your fellow entertainers.”
I nod.
“Of course. I would never give the details of The Agency to anyone, Orla. No way. Not a chance in hell. That’s a promise.”
“Fantastic. Then good luck with your endeavours, sweetheart, and have a fantastic Christmas with your fantastic proposals. The Agency commends you highly on everything you’ve achieved this year.”
“You, too. Have a great Christmas, and thanks for all your help.” I stare at the black screen, wishing I could see the woman on the other side of it. It was magic to know she was there at my founders’ proposal.
I’m ready to sign off for real when another slammer of an urge hits me. It comes like a bolt from the blue, and my mouth blurts on autopilot without so much as a thought.
“Um, Orla. Just a quick question. About clients.”
“Go on,” she says.
“I was just thinking. I mean, what would happen if a client didn’t want to be a client anymore? What if they removed their account?”
“If a client wasn’t involved with The Agency and you were still wanting business through them? Could you track them down, you mean? Ask them to return? The answer to that is no, Ella. That is the client’s choice alone, and you cannot seek their business outside of it.”
I shake my head. “No, no. I mean if they removed their account, but we still crossed paths, outside of The Agency. Would that cause loads of shit and jeopardise my account? Is that completely forbidden? I mean it could happen bycoincidence even, couldn’t it? We could become… friends. Or something.”
Her silence practically kills me.
“It would be unorthodox. I can’t say it happens all that regularly, if at all. Clients are clients for a reason, and that’s primarily for the confidentiality of the no strings attached rule and the ability to indulge in their most forbidden fantasies. We aren’t exactly a dating site. If they wanted one of those with its own Naughty List, they’d be going through The Matchmaker.”
The Matchmaker.I’ve never heard of it.
I don’t let the confusion stop my flow.
“Yeah, I can imagine that would be unorthodox… but if it did happen. What would that mean? Would I get cancelled?”
