Filthy Lucre - Ryden

5

Holy shit! Brendon couldn't believe it.   

Just that morning, he'd been having a conversation about Ryan Ross with Jon and a few hours later, he was stood in front of him and his family, trying not to flush red under his gaze.

Ryan Ross was attractive – Brendon had always thought that. He wasn't his usual type in that he looked nothing like Jon, but if Brendon was asked to describe his perfect man, Ryan Ross would be a pretty close fit – tall and skinny, with soft features and brown doe eyes. He was skinnier in real life than he ever looked in any of the photographs Brendon had seen – probably the endless amounts of cocaine he took... The guy looked high just sat with his parents having lunch.

Brendon stood there behind his client, trying not to catch his eye. He had to remain professional after all; he was still on a date - but when Ryan Ross acknowledged him and he had to return his greeting, Brendon felt himself blush. He couldn't even look at the man. He never met anyone famous before and it was oddly unnerving.

His client – yet another older, successful, stupidly rich gentleman – seemed a little embarrassed by the situation. He probably wasn't expecting to run into George Ross and his family when he was out for lunch with a male escort. Having to tell the rather obvious lie that Brendon was a "business associate" made the man's face redden and he mumbled his way through a few more minutes of awkward conversation before they sat down at their own table on the other side of the restaurant. While he stood there, Brendon hadn't missed the small, knowing smile that appeared on Ryan Ross's face. It made his stomach feel like it had been dropkicked across the floor.

The client fretted about the run-in for the first five minutes after they sat down. "I mean, I'm out but only to my family and friends. It's not public knowledge and nor do I want it to be. Christ," the man sighed, shaking his head. "This could really fuck things up for me."

Eventually Brendon managed to reassure him enough to turn the conversation around to the usual questions: Any upcoming vacations? Favorite Manhattan restaurants? Tell me more about Europe, please. I've never been. Talking about their job never failed either, most of his tricks could talk for hours about themselves, these rich businessmen with their inflated egos  but never ask about the family. Brendon learned that the hard way when he first started accompanying men on these dinner dates.

The dinner date had only been a recent thing. He'd only been on half a dozen; dinner was paid for and sex was never guaranteed, but four out of his six dates so far paid for the benefit afterwards. Some lonely men just wanted someone to talk to for an hour, an attractive young man to keep them company, but in all honesty, Brendon found them tiring. Back in the day of cheap blowjobs and quick fucks, it was easy – he was never expected to enjoy it or to make conversation or dress up smart and pretend like he was interested in these men - but when he was working the streets, he was often lucky to earn his full fee. He was hoping that date seven would follow much the same procedure as the majority of his other dates and his client would pay extra to fuck him – he'd been out of action for the past few days thanks to Marc's eager fists and the rough fuck he had to endure. Brendon and Jon needed the money.

One positive about the dinner date was that he got fed. He always felt a little out of his depth ordering food in fancy restaurants – they offered things like foie gras and caviar and white truffles, whatever the fuck they were. Today his client picked for him – which was a thing these kinds of men liked to do - be in control of everything, right down to the food their partners ate.

Today it was fillet of Atlantic monkfish, with applewood smoked bacon, new crop potatoes and clam glaçage, which meant glaze in French, his client told him, tucking into his own lunch – lamb with Tokyo turnips, steel-cut oat croûton and smoked Greek yogurt jus. Brendon would've preferred that to his monkfish.