The Penn Friends Series Books 5-8: Penn Friends Boxset Read online

  “If you are suggesting what I think you are, Banks, I’ll have you barred! I warned you the last time you tried peddling drugs in my pub, and I won’t warn you a second time.”

  “Relax,” he said, brushing off the comment. “I wouldn’t dare,” he added, giving Penny a wink as he took away the drinks.

  “You okay, love?” the landlord said, turning back to Penny.

  “Fine,” she smiled, before moving across to take another customer’s order. Clive returned to his table, though kept glancing across at Penny all night.

  At nine, her shift was over. The landlord and his wife would finish the last couple of hours, with business a lot quieter by then.

  “Penn!” Clive called, as Penny was starting to put on her jacket. “Come join us.” The group by that point was a mixture of men and women, most of whom Penny knew. She got on well with a couple of the women. She took her jacket back off and went to join them, Clive pulling up a chair next to his before making room for her. “What do you want to drink?” He was already on the way to the bar.

  “It’s okay,” Penny called. “I’m fine.” He went to the counter anyway.

  Five minutes later he was back with two pitchers for the table––one was apparently beer, another something sweet, from which both ladies immediately started to refill their glasses. Clive dropped a clean glass in front of Penny.

  “In case you change your mind,” is all he said, as he took his seat.

  By half nine, both of the two litre jugs were empty, the glasses spread around the table that contained one of either liquid down to the dregs, Penny’s included. She’d succumbed to the offers eventually, and had laughed for the first time in weeks. Penny had missed that aspect of the group. She’d enjoyed herself. The older company, for a few years already, had always been of more interest to Penny than her age group. College life was proving this only too well, though she couldn’t mention that to this particular group, seeing as a few present were the cause for her latest isolation.

  As they were finishing up, the conversation had moved onto holidays. Some of the group were contemplating a week in the sun, probably heading for a Spanish island.

  “You up for a bit of sun, Penny?” one of the women asked.

  “Don’t think my budget will get me that far,” she said, before emptying her glass. It had been at least the fourth money related comment Clive had heard from Penny that night. As the conversation moved on, Clive bent in a little closer to Penny so that what he had to say was between just the two of them.

  “Things a little tight at the moment?”

  “You could say that.”

  “Why don’t you work some more hours here? I’m sure they’d be up for it.” He would much prefer to buy his drinks from Penny than the grumpy gits who owned the place.

  “I can’t; I’m doing as much as I can manage. Besides, I’ve checked. I’m working all the hours they can spare me at the moment. There’ll be more over Christmas.”

  “Christmas is more than five weeks away.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “Do you need something to tide you over?”

  “Clive, I’m fine.” She wasn’t going to borrow money from him. Besides, without earning anything more, she would not be able to quickly pay him back, anyway, regardless of the extra hours she might work in the run-up to New Year. He backed off for a moment, taking a call on his mobile. The group around the table were starting to stand, a few of the men popping into the gents before returning and putting on their jackets. Penny began to walk out with the group, glancing back to Clive who was now finished with his phone and was following them out.

  “I’ve got some work for you, Penny,” he whispered, pulling her gently to one side. Penny put up her arms as if to say enough already; I don’t have the time. “You can do it from home,” he added, having understood her response.

  “From home?”

  “Yes, from home. One hundred pounds, in your purse right now.” He pulled out a wedge of banknotes from his back pocket and handed them to her. Five crisp twenty pounds notes.

  “What is this?” It was the same as a whole weekend’s earnings doing bar work.

  “Payment up front. No strings attached.”

  “What do I have to do?”

  “That’s the easy bit. You don’t have to do anything, though that doesn’t mean there isn’t more to earn. That’s up to you.”

  “More?” She already felt good at being one hundred pounds up.

  “More, if that is what you choose.”

  “And what do I have to do, exactly, for this one hundred pounds?” She suddenly sounded suspicious.

  “You ate dinner?” She hadn’t, and they both knew that. She’d been working since five. She was starving.

  “No.”

  “Then get yourself home, throw on something nice and I’ll collect you in twenty minutes.”

  “You’re taking me to dinner?”

  “In a nutshell, yes.” It was a little bit more complicated than that, but it would suffice for the time being.

  Twenty minutes later the doorbell rang. It was already ten. Penny was starving. She ran down the stairs having pulled on a dress and some boots and opened the front door. Clive was standing there and grinned when he saw Penny. He wasn’t overly smart himself.

  “Very nice.”

  Penny grabbed her bag and then pulled the door shut behind her.

  “So where are we going?”

  “You’ll soon see,” he said, opening the door for her and then going around to the driver’s side. They pulled away seconds later. As Clive approached the final destination, he’d dropped the bombshell with Penny about the precise nature of her night.

  “An escort?” she exclaimed seconds after Clive had finished explaining.

  “It’s just dinner. Someone I know needed a classy date for the night. It’s a business function, the conference element just finished, the fun part about to start. You just have to attend the after-event with him, laugh when he tells a joke and eat some great food. There’s nothing to it.”

  Penny remained silent during the final couple of miles of the journey. She already had the money in her purse––to give it back now felt like losing money, which was something she couldn’t afford to do––and she was starving. Now, parked just around the corner from the venue, Penny could see the restaurant in question was an expensive one. All along the street outside, and in front of the place, flashy cars were arriving and dropping off black-suited gentlemen with a glamorous looking woman, usually on one arm. Everything about the function spoke of wealth and power.

  “And I just need to be some guy’s date for the night? Nothing physical?”

  “It’s an accountancy firm’s annual conference. How bloody physical do you expect it to get?” It wasn’t what she meant, but taking in the scene before her, she didn’t ask him a followup question. It certainly looked legit.

  Thirty seconds after pulling up there was a knock on Clive’s window.

  “This is the man,” Clive said, turning to Penny, before getting out of the car and shaking the man’s hand. The man in question was wearing a tailored suit, and was probably already in his forties, though looked good for it. Penny, regardless of being dressed up, still couldn’t pull for much over twenty. The difference was obvious. She could have been his daughter.

  “Graham, this is Elizabeth,” Clive said, referring to Penny. He’d not mention he was going to change her name, though she went with it. It was a one-time thing, so what did it matter what the guy called her?

  “Pleased to meet you, Elizabeth,” Graham said, taking her by the arm and strolling towards the venue. Clive watched them go for a moment but soon got back into his car. His part was over. He drove off as Penny was about to go in through the entrance. “I’ve never done this kind of thing before,” he added, though Penny didn’t believe him, and thought Clive had said something about the man’s usual girl not being able to make it, though could have misheard him. Her mind had been on
other things during the car journey.

  Inside the venue, coats and jackets were taken by a staff member. Graham was introducing Penny to another gentleman, probably older still, with another young woman on his arm.

  “Michael, this is Elizabeth, my date for the evening.” Michael eyed Penny keenly, a little too much given the fact his partner was right next to him, though it dawned on Penny immediately that the other woman was probably in the same position as Penny now found herself. Penny wondered how many other escorts were present that night. She would make it her mission to try and figure that one out.

  By one, the speeches finished, the dessert dishes of a splendid three-course meal had arrived. Penny hadn’t eaten so well in months. She’d refused a second glass of wine. Not long after dessert had been served, groups were beginning to leave the function, something that Penny was happy to see. She was tired from the day.

  Graham said farewell to a few colleagues as they made their way out of the venue. Penny figured she had identified at least five other escorts present, but she couldn’t be sure. When asked about how they knew each other, Graham had answered all the questions for them both. He’d apparently thought it through. She was a friend of a friend, and they’d been set up on a blind date and hit it off right away. They’d been seeing each other for two months. Penny didn’t think anyone believed it, but Graham seemed to be a senior figure in the company, and no one would speak back to him. Penny just smiled and nodded away.

  “I’ll order you a taxi,” Graham said, reaching for his mobile phone. “Unless you want to share a cab?” He sounded more hopeful than anything. Penny shook her head. Thirty seconds later his app showed the taxi was only a couple of minutes away. Graham moved in a little closer towards Penny.

  “I’ve enjoyed your company tonight, Elizabeth.”

  “It was a lovely meal,” Penny said. That had been the best part of it. She now understood why accountants had such a dull reputation.

  “I’d like to see you again,” he added.

  “Look, Graham, I don’t think that is going to happen. Clive said it was just the meal.”

  “Clive, yes, of course, and I’ve paid him for that. But I can pay more!” He seemed eager now. The app showed the car just around the corner.

  “Pay more?”

  “For the night. For tonight.”

  “Tonight?” Then it dawned on her, her young eyes going wide with the realisation.

  “How much?” he asked.

  “Look, I’m sorry Graham, I don’t know what Clive has said, but,” and the taxi was there, so she didn’t end the sentence. Instead, she reached for the door and got in. She waved at Graham as the car pulled away––it didn’t hurt to be polite––and they soon turned the corner. Her mobile phone rang. It was Clive.

  “Yes?”

  “So, how did it go?” he asked. He’d been waiting around the corner and had seen Penny leave.

  “It was fine.”

  “You didn’t want to take him up on his offer; I take it.”

  “His offer? Were you watching me?”

  “Just keeping a safe eye on you, Penny, that’s all.”

  “He wanted to sleep with me, right?”

  “He wanted sex, yes. Would have paid you for it.”

  “You said that wasn’t what tonight was about!” She was fuming.

  “It wasn’t. You had a good time, right?”

  “Yes, I suppose.”

  “And you have one hundred pounds you didn’t have earlier, true?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I don’t see the worry. Besides, you should be flattered that men like Graham take a shine to you. He pays well.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “I mean, Penny, if you want to earn five times what you did tonight, you might want to take him up on his offer next time.”

  “Five hundred pounds?” She sounded exasperated for a moment before coming to her senses. “Who do you think I am, Clive? I’m not a bloody whore!” She couldn’t help but raise her voice, though if he had heard, the driver made a good impression of pretending he didn’t.

  “Penn, I think we both know that’s not entirely accurate, don’t we,” and before she could respond, he’d hung up.

  5

  I know some of you will wonder what the fuss was all about. It had been nothing more than a dinner date. No harm done, right? And that would have been the case had it been any other man involved than Clive Banks, as well as any other girl than myself.

  Clive was bad news.

  But I needed the money. Five hundred pounds for one night with a guy. It took me a whole month to earn that at the pub.

  What started as a seed planted during that phone call from Clive on the taxi home after that first night, became something I wasn’t able to control. I needed to know more.

  Over that next week, Clive would engrain me into his little empire, and I was to be his star asset.

  It was Monday early evening when Penny called Clive once more. A considerable bill had arrived through the letterbox that morning. The extra hundred pounds from the weekend was already a distant memory. He promised to come straight around, saying he had something to show her first. He’d been expecting her call.

  Clive pulled up onto the drive not long before six that evening. He seemed to be in jovial spirits.

  “Have you ever chased the dragon before?” he said as Penny closed the front door and followed him into the kitchen.

  “Sorry?” She’d never come across that phrase before.

  Clive was already reaching for the box of tin foil from the drawer. He broke some off into a sheet and pulled a packet of powder from his inside pocket; taking his lighter, he cocked the flame underneath the foil. The white powder soon started to smoke. Using a small straw, Clive followed the smoke, breathing through the straw and into his nose.

  “That, Penn, is chasing the dragon,” he said after he’d finished and taken a moment to compose himself. The effects of the heroin were already affecting him. He pulled out another sheet and proceeded to add another small amount of the powder.

  “What is it?” Penny asked.

  “Nothing harmful.”

  “I don’t do drugs.”

  “Relax, Penny; it’s nothing but glucose syrup.” He held up the foil towards her, passing her the straw, and after she’d taken it, he reached for his lighter. “Put the straw to your nose and chase the smoke.” After a few seconds, the vapours once more started to appear. Penny took in about half of the amount; the inhale having an instant effect so that she stopped before it was finished. The sensation felt different. She didn’t know what to make of it. Clive finished the other half, the bit Penny had left. He then rubbed his nose.

  “Good, right?”

  “Yeah, I suppose,” Penny said, reluctantly agreeing with him as the full effects of the heroin were beginning to take hold. It was some rush, an experience she could only compare with the impact her gift had on her. Penny felt alive. She was also now confident it wasn’t glucose syrup that Clive had just given her.

  They moved into the lounge. Penny’s head was starting to spin a little, bright lights flashing across her retinas as every object seemed to become more vivid than it had ever been before.

  “Graham is looking forward to seeing you again tonight, Penn,” Clive said after a few minutes. “You’ll accompany him to a chamber of commerce meeting which starts in an hour. Go upstairs and freshen up. Put on something beautiful. I’ll wait down here for you while you get ready. I’ll drop you off.”

  “Thanks. And the money?” Clive dropped a little bag of the white powder onto the table.

  “Nothing upfront this time. You’ll earn plenty on the back end.”

  “If I sleep with him, you mean?” She had stopped at the doorway after his last response, suddenly wondering if this was the right thing to do at all. “You gave me one hundred just for escorting him to the meal last time.”

  “That was then. Besides, that bag would cost you
twice that if you bought it on the open market,” Clive said, pointing to the bag of heroin he had just given her.

  “I didn’t agree to that.”

  Clive stood to face her. “We didn’t agree on anything, Penny. It's how it goes. You want to earn that kind of money, you escort this gentleman and take things from there. Whatever you choose to charge is up to you. Just don’t get greedy. These men don’t like feeling exploited.” That was rich coming from him at that moment, given the situation into which he was pushing Penny.

  “What’s in it for you?”

  “For me?” he asked. Penny nodded at him. “Graham pays me upfront, and I provide a service. I earn nothing on what you might later agree with him. Besides, I’ve been very generous with this little lot,” he said, again referencing the drugs. “You remember how to do it?” Getting her dependent was crucial to having control over his girls. It was how he had been working for years. They would work for him so that he could keep them in their drug habit. Penny said nothing, going upstairs and getting herself smartened up for the night ahead. If anything, Penny now knowing there was nothing in it unless she went through with something, made it all the worse. She felt like a prostitute and didn’t know if she could even go through with it.

  By the following morning, Graham had long left. He’d stayed until three. Penny had six hundred pounds in cash in her purse. She would take the day off college the following day. After he’d gone, Penny had showered herself, though still couldn’t feel clean. Then she’d gone downstairs. She needed to feel better about herself. The bag of white powder was sitting on a kitchen worktop. Penny reached for the foil, breaking a sheet off in the same way she’d seen Clive do it hours before. She dropped the powder on, picking up the same straw Clive had left from earlier and after flicking the lighter, waited for the dragon to appear once more. The rush was a welcome escape this time.

  Back upstairs, and in her room––she’d used her parent's double bed with Graham––she was soon dead to the world, sleeping deeply, hovering between reality and drug-induced bliss.