Sydney Sweeney in a locker room

Jose looked at the message with shock. Sydney Sweeney? Hollywood starlet Sydney Sweeney? He couldn’t believe it. His first conclusion was that this was some sort of prank. He popped his head out of the room to see if he was being punked. The agent was already long gone and the hallway was empty. He wondered if one of his work mates would be crazy enough to pull such an elaborate con on him.

The location he was sent made things seem even more dubious. It was a local gym with instructions to meet in the ladies locker room after hours. There was an added instruction that made him nervous. “Don’t be seen.” If he was already having trepidations about his gig, this was only adding to it. The last thing he wanted was to be caught and be branded some sort of perverted sex predator!

Just as he was starting to think this whole endeavor was more trouble than it was worth, his phone indicated that his account just received a hefty downpayment for the job. He stared at the generous sum and debated sending it back. It would involve some embarrassing apologies for backing out, plus it would hurt his rep if he wanted to continue with this new line of work. The aspiring escort sucked it up and decided to go ahead with it. If all else failed, at least he got paid.

Evening at the gym, Jose scoped out the establishment. It looked like a decent fitness center that boasted a variety of martial arts practices over the full length storefront windows. Right now those windows were blocked off with interior blinds, so Jose had to peek through a crack to see inside. From his limited view, he could make out gym mats, boxing speed bags on one wall and a couple of boxing rings. From what he could see, there didn’t seem to be any people inside. It was well past open hours, so that made sense.

The escort was a little relieved he wouldn’t have to run into anyone out here, but it made him question the legitimacy of this meetup even more. Jose looked around. The streets were empty save for cars passing by every so often. No one would notice if he went in the front. He tried the doors. Locked. He sighed inwardly and walked around the building, checking his phone. It was the right location and the right time. There were no further instructions. Was he supposed to break into the place? He didn’t have any breaking-in skills.

Behind the building, he spotted two cars in the back, an SUV and a sedan. He approached and looked inside. The SUV was well kept with the flashing light of an active alarm on the dash. In the back seat was a pile of folders with thick stacks of paper and a couple of magazines underneath. The sedan was a mess of bags, clothes and random receipts on the floor. .

He thought back to the instruction about not being seen. If Sydney really was here, she was not alone and didn’t want to be caught with an escort. That meant he shouldn’t go knocking on the doors to get in. He went to the back door of the gym and tested it. It was unlocked!

Slowly and quietly, he opened the door and peeked in. He wandered down a nondescript hallway until he heard people on the other end. He flattened himself to the wall and listened. There was movement and then some chatter.