The Billionaire's Favorite

“Tiara! What are you doing here?” Chichi asked incredulously when she opened her front door and saw that her friend was the visitor who’d been knocking frantically on her door a few seconds ago.

“Please Chichi, let me in. I’ll explain everything to you, please,” Tiara panted. Her eyes darted around fearfully as if she was expecting someone to jump out of the walls and grab her.

Chichi opened the door wider to let her friend in. She couldn’t help but wonder who or what Tiara was running away from at this ungodly hour. It was a few minutes past 1 a.m. and Chichi had been watching a sci-fi movie on Netflix before she was interrupted by the loud knocks on her door. She noticed that Tiara looked disheveled in her rumpled oversized T-shirt, stained denim shorts, and dirty sneakers. Even her curly wig was askew and messy. The only accessory she had on was her knockoff Chanel fanny pack.

She stumbled over to the couch and sat down heavily on it before taking off her wig to reveal her neatly done cornrows.

“Do you want some water to drink?” Chichi asked.

“Yes, please,” Tiara replied almost breathlessly.

After she’d taken a generous drink of water from the glass, she heaved a sigh of relief.

“So, you want to tell me what all of this is about?” Chichi inquired.

Tiara’s lower lip quivered when she tried to speak. “I had to run away, Chichi. I had to run away from it all.”

“Run away from what?”

“From the madness that is my life. I can’t do it anymore, Chichi. The debts keep piling up and I don’t have any means to pay up. Now I must be on the run like a criminal to avoid being caught by my creditors. I just want to be a normal girl, go to school, graduate, and move on with my life. Is that too much to ask for?”

“No, it’s not,” Chichi replied. “Who do you owe?”

“Everyone—a bunch of women at the hostel that I borrowed money from, my cousin, and even the school. I still haven’t paid my departmental fees for this semester, and we’ll be starting exams soon. You have to help me, Chichi. I don’t know where else to go. I need help!”

“What about your parents?”

“Dad has been out of work for months now and the little money my mom makes from her small business goes into the upkeep of the home and taking care of the younger ones. I can’t go to them for money right now because they don’t have any to spare. I can’t continue like this. One of my creditors sent some thugs to come and beat me up at the hostel. Luckily for me, they went to the wrong room, but I found out that they were looking for me, so I ran down here. I know I can’t hide here for long, so I need you to help me out.”

Chichi sighed. The lack of adequate security at the off-campus hostels was disturbing but the university management didn’t seem to care. “What do you want me to do then? I don’t have money to lend you because I know there’s no guarantee that I’ll get it back any time soon,” she said bluntly. “You know I’m putting myself through school, so every single dime in my bank account is very precious to me. Plus, there’s also my family to consider. They depend on me for their upkeep too.”

Chichi’s mom was a widowed civil servant who could barely take care of her three children on her meager salary. Thankfully, Chichi had been able to help her family stay afloat with the regular cash she sent to them monthly.

“I know,” Tiara acknowledged. “And I’m not here to ask you for money either.”

Chichi was surprised. “You’re not? What do you want me to do for you then?”

Tiara looked at her friend dead in the eyes and said, “I want you to show me how you make your money. I want to be financially independent like you. I want to be able to afford a nice apartment like yours. I want to make enough money to take care of myself and help my family too. Please, Chichi. Don’t say no. I desperately need your help.”

“If I remember correctly, you once said that you could never sell your body to make money,” Chichi said.

“Yes, I did. But what has that got to do with this?”

Chichi smiled. “What do you think I do to make money?”

Tiara was a bit confused. “You said you were into customer service, right?”

“Right, but do you know the kind of customers that I service?”

“I don’t know,” Tiara replied sincerely.

“And did you ever ask me?”

“Stop with the suspense, Chichi. What are you getting at? Who are your customers?”

“Men. My customers are men,” Chichi answered matter-of-factly.

“Men? I don’t understand.”

“My dear Tiara, I sleep with men for a living. I am an escort.”

Tiara gasped. “A what?”

“You heard me, Tiara. The customers I service are men, and they pay me very well for what I do.”

Tiara was shocked into silence. She couldn’t believe that her soft-spoken, well-mannered, decent friend was a hooker. The same Chichi that couldn’t stand it when people swore around her, went to church regularly, and was even an active member of the youth fellowship on campus. The same Chichi that was always so properly dressed that you could barely see a peek of her creamy light skin underneath her clothing. It was so unbelievable!

“I can almost see the wheels in your head turning and I understand your surprise, but you wanted to know how I make money and I needed to tell you the truth from the get-go, so you don’t have any false hopes.”

“To be honest, I’m shocked,” Tiara admitted. “You don’t look like a prostitute.”

“Escort,” Chichi corrected.

“What’s the difference?”

“Prostitutes are those raggedy dressed urchins that stand by the roadside at night waiting to be picked up by random men. An escort is a lady who has a list of high-end clients that she meets with on an appointment-only basis. An escort can even travel abroad to meet with a client if needed. Does that sound like the same thing those girls on the streets do?”

Tiara shook her head slowly. She was mystified by this straightforward explanation that Chichi had given her. When explained like this, the whole escort thing didn’t sound so bad. If she was honest with herself, she had to admit that she’d always admired Chichi’s composure—the way she spoke eloquently and carried herself with so much dignity. Her school fees, house rent, and other bills were always paid on time. Her house was always stocked with food, she had the choicest pick in clothes, shoes, and handbags—some of which were even original designer pieces. Tiara had naively assumed that her friend was able to afford all that luxury from her generous salary as a customer service rep at whichever company she worked at.

“So?” Chichi asked. “Are you interested, or do you still think sleeping with men to make cool cash is disgusting?”

Tiara checked her makeup for the last time in front of the floor-length mirror in Chichi’s bedroom. Her friend had loaned her a snazzy cyan jumpsuit with a semi-sweetheart neckline. It hugged her body perfectly, showing off her impressive figure.

“Are you ready?” Chichi poked her head into the room from the doorway.

“Sure,” Tiara said. “Let’s go.”

Chichi adjusted her bright red bodycon dress before picking up her silver purse that matched her high-heeled sandals.

Twenty minutes later, they were sitting in Mama J’s living room in her palatial home in the suburbs of Lagos. It was nearly 4 p.m. and the ladies were eager to get things rolling, especially Tiara. She was curious about this new world she was about to enter.

Mama J walked into the room with a dominating cloud of expensive perfumes trailing her. She was a plump middle-aged woman with glowing skin and a smiling face. She was dressed like a politician’s wife in her extravagantly adorned oxblood kaftan. A gold bejeweled turban covered her hair, and she was dripping with an assortment of gold jewelry. Her makeup was flawless, giving her a doll-like look.

“Welcome, Chichi,” she greeted. “Sorry I kept you waiting. I was on the phone with a client.”

“No problem,” Chichi said with a smile.

“Is this your friend?” Mama J asked.

“Yes, this is my friend Tiara. I already told her how things work here.”

“Good,” Mama J smiled. “Stand up, Tiara. Let me have a good look at you.”

Tiara obliged. She wasn’t a shy person, but she felt self-conscious when Mama J continued to study her as if she was an alien.

“Walk across the room and then return to your seat,” Mama J instructed.

Tiara did as she was told and couldn’t help but notice how the older woman’s eyes followed her as she walked. When she returned to her seat, she saw Mama J nodding her head in approval.

“She’ll do,” Mama J told Chichi. To Tiara, she said, “I believe your friend has explained the basics to you, so I’ll just give you a quick recap. I am the matron in charge here. I supply you with your clients and your job is to impress them, get some good cash, and pay me my dues. Normally, you are to pay me ten percent of everything you make, but being that you’re a newbie, I’m taking 20% off your first pay.”

Tiara cleared her throat nervously. “May I ask why?”

Mama J smiled. “Of course, you may. The additional ten percent covers your registration fee and NDA signing.”

“NDA signing?”

“Non-disclosure agreement. It will be drafted by my lawyer, and you must sign it before you get your first client. Don’t worry, it’s nothing too serious. It’s just me making sure that you won’t leave here and start running your mouth about my business. Our clients are very important people, so we can’t take the risk of having them exposed by loose lips. Do you understand, Tiara?”

She did and she nodded her head in response.

“Excellent,” Mama J said with a grin. “I’ll have my lawyer bring the papers shortly. In the meantime, why don’t we go to the garden for some light snacks and drinks?”

“Of course,” Chichi said politely.

As they snacked in Mama J’s garden a few minutes later, a dashing young man showed up, holding a large brown envelope. He was dressed in a blue and white checkered cotton shirt under a navy-blue jacket and skintight blue jeans. His black shoes gleamed in the sunlight as he walked. When he took off his sunglasses, he smiled first at Tiara before focusing his charm on the other women.

“Greg!” Mama J exclaimed excitedly. “Welcome, dear. Please have a seat.”

“Thank you, Mama J,” he replied with a wink and pecked one of her round cheeks. “Hello, ladies.”

“Hello Greg,” Chichi replied.

“Hello,” Tiara said.

“This is my lawyer,” Mama J explained to Tiara. “He has brought the NDA for you to sign. Are you ready?”

Tiara glanced nervously at Chichi who nodded at her encouragingly. “Yes,” she said.

“Great,” Mama J exclaimed. Her mood had suddenly elevated since Greg showed up.

Tiara quickly read the two-page document which simply explained what Mama J had said earlier in legal terms. She was not to speak about the job or disclose the identity of her clients to anyone. If she did, she’d have to pay Mama J the sum of $20,000 in damages or risk being sued for breach of contract. She was also mandated to remit 10% of her gross earnings to Mama J after every job she did. She signed the document with a shaky hand, hoping that she wasn’t making a huge mistake with her life.

“Now that we have finally gotten that out of the way, I can now officially welcome you to the family,” Mama J said. “I am about to give you the key to open the doors to the life of your dreams, Tiara. This may not be the easiest job to do, but it is extremely profitable if you do it passionately.”

“That’s true,” Greg agreed with a grin. “It’s the passion that makes all the difference.”

He got a playful jab in the ribs from Mama J in response. “Naughty boy,” she said with a girly giggle.

Tiara could tell that the relationship between these two wasn’t just professional but intimate too. She could feel the sexual current crackling between them like electricity.

“Without further ado, let’s send you to your first client, Tiara,” Mama J said. “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” she nodded. All she had to do was sleep with some rich guy and make sure he had a good time, right? How hard could it be?