The Guide

Chapter 4

Nate looked up into the sky once again. The sun was moving towards the west. Danielle couldn’t stop thinking of the way he held her in the house of mirrors and how he was holding her hand right now. She was trying to make sense of the entire day, why was it so special and so perfect? One minute she was cursing her life and in another she was with the most gorgeous man she had seen, on a Ferris wheel with him.

“If I’m allowed to ask, what kind of jobs did you do before this one?” Nate looked at Danielle who was lost in her own thought.

“Not at all” Danielle politely replied, “I started off as a P.R agent. I lost that job because of recession cuts, then I tried working at something simple so I worked at the art gallery as an assistant to this really rude women, she was insane. She made me smoke because she used too and she made me get her laundry done and sometimes she made me mop the gallery. I quit, naturally and took up a job at rest stop on a petrol pump but that was too disgusting so after that I was pretty jobless for a while, till I finally got a job as a waitress at this hotel. It was really funny because the boss was an ass but when I met Macy yesterday, although I was two months into my job, he was one of the most subtle bosses to let me go easy. Macy is someone I barely know. I don’t even know the company’s name I’m working for” Danielle laughed at her silliness. “She said I was beautiful and probably capable for this job. The money she offered was good and I don’t have to sleep with anyone I serve plus she said there were no rules. It’s like I just had to have fun” Danielle began to realise she was opening up too fast. She thought about maybe toning it a bit down and smiled at Nate to keep quite.

“You met her just yesterday?” Nate’s eyebrows rose.

“Yeah, why?” she blushed, embarrassed at how naïve he must be thinking she was.

“I think you’re probably going to laugh at me but I met Macy yesterday too. Didn’t she mention I was a new client?” Nate looked at Danielle.

“Yea she did, but how did you meet her yesterday?” Danielle’s doubts were surfacing again.

“Um, well I was having dinner at the hotel after my long conference meeting. I was just about to be done when this blonde women, she was dressed in… in something I don’t remember but she wore a red hat. She smiled at me and then took a seat next to me. She asked me if I was new in town and I nodded. I told her I was on business and I had a few days to myself in this town. She seemed happy to hear that and handed me her card. Her name and her number were the only two things on it. No company’s name or address, nothing. I didn’t seem to trust her but she was convincing enough. She said she didn’t provide escorts or anything. They were a clean company that offered new guests in the town some company to see new places and gain new experiences. She told me it was kind of a government initiative. I had never heard of anything like this before and I wasn’t sure what to tell her but she had this charm to her, it made me feel it was a good idea to have some company, plus it was free of cost. That was the most surprising part!”

“Free? How the hell do they pay for guides like me then?” Danielle shouted.

“Maybe the government funds them. I thought about it overnight and thought of maybe giving it a try. Oh another thing she kept telling me to try, she said there were no costs or harms in trying something new -”

“That’s exactly what she told me!”

“Ah, anyways so I called her in the morning and here you are. The best thing that has happened to me till now.”

“I could say the same but this isn’t a date Nate. This is me being a guide and showing you around.” Danielle realised how he would be gone in a few days and she would have to face reality. Falling in love or leading her client on was wrong. Once he would be gone, where would she work if she got fired?