It was midnight when she found out what the stage was for. The orchestra began to play an Arabic tune and the curtains opened to reveal an Egyptian belly dancer. Kiah had heard of such people but had never seen one. This woman wore an extraordinarily revealing costume. At the end of her dance she somehow slipped off her halter top to show her breasts, and a second later the curtains closed. The audience clapped enthusiastically.
Kiah did not know much about city life but she suspected that not all restaurants had entertainment of this type, and she began to feel uneasy.
She checked her tables and a customer waved at her. It was the man who had put his hand on her hip. He was European, heavy-set, wearing a striped suit with a white shirt open at the neck. He looked about fifty. ‘A bottle of champagne, chérie,’ he said. ‘Bollinger.’ He was a little drunk.
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Bring it to me in the private room. I’ll be in Number Three.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Bring two glasses.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Call me Albert.’
‘Yes, Albert.’
She put ice in a silver-coloured bucket and got a bottle of champagne and two glasses from the barman. She put them on a tray and the barman added a small bowl of dukkah, blended seeds and spices, and a plate of cucumber batons to dip. She carried the tray to the back of the restaurant. Another big guard in a black suit was standing by the door to the private corridor. Kiah found room Number Three, tapped on the door, and walked in.
Albert was sitting on the sofa. Kiah looked around the room but no one else was there. That made her nervous.
She put the tray on the table.
‘You can open the champagne,’ said Albert.
Opening bottles of wine had not been part of Kiah’s training. ‘I don’t know how, sir, I’m sorry. This is my first day.’
‘Then I’ll show you.’
She watched carefully as he stripped away the foil and loosened the wire closure. He grasped the cork, twisted it a little, then pressed down on it to let it come out slowly. There was a sound like a breath of wind. ‘Like the sigh of a satisfied woman,’ he said. ‘Only you don’t hear that often, do you?’ He laughed, and she realized he had made a joke, so she smiled, although she did not see what was funny.
He poured two glasses.
‘You’re waiting for someone,’ Kiah said.
‘No.’ He picked up one of the glasses and offered it to her. ‘This is for you.’
‘Oh, no, thank you.’
‘It won’t do you any harm, you little idiot.’ He patted his meaty thigh with his hand. ‘Come, sit on my lap.’
‘No, sir, I really cannot.’
He began to look annoyed. ‘I’ll give you twenty bucks for a kiss.’
‘No!’ She did not know whether he meant dollars, euros, or something else, but in any currency it was a ridiculously large payment for a kiss, and she felt instinctively that more than that would be demanded of her. And she feared that, even though he seemed nice, he might become insistent and try to force her.
He said: ‘You drive a hard bargain. All right, a hundred for a fuck.’
Kiah ran out of the room.
Fatima was right outside. ‘What happened?’ she said.
‘He wants sex!’
‘Did he offer you money?’
She nodded. ‘A hundred. Bucks, he said.’
‘Dollars.’ Fatima took Kiah by the shoulders, leaning close, and Kiah breathed in her perfume, like scorched honey. ‘Listen to me. Have you ever been offered a hundred dollars before?’
‘No.’
‘And you never will, unless you play the game. This is how you earn tips, though not all our customers are as generous as Albert. Now go back in there and take off your panties.’ She took a small, flat packet from a pocket. ‘And use a condom.’
Kiah did not take the condoms. ‘I’m very sorry, Fatima,’ she said. ‘I don’t like to go against you, and I really want to be a waitress, but I can’t do what you ask, I just can’t.’ Kiah was determined to keep her dignity, but to her dismay tears began to flow. ‘Please don’t try to make me,’ she begged.
Fatima’s face took on a determined look and she said: ‘You can’t work here if you don’t give the customers what they expect!’
Kiah found she was crying too much to reply.
The security guard appeared and said to Fatima: ‘Is everything all right, boss?’
Kiah realized that if they decided to force her, the guard could hold her down with little effort. The realization changed her mood. The worst thing she could do now was look helpless, an ignorant village girl who could be pushed around. She had to stand up for herself.