Richard, and he has a request. [Cypher’s Tales]

A tall well-to-do looking man walked in rather sweaty, wearing the same kind of robe that Harvey had worn. There must be a sauna somewhere in the club.

“Apologies, I lost track of time. You must be Dean,” Richard said, walking over to shake my hand. “Harvey has told me quite a lot about you, I must say. Rather impressed with you he is,” Richard smiled warmly.

Richard's gaze, as he looked me up and down, was far different from Harvey's. Richard gave me slightly more of the 'creep vibe' that Max had told me he was sure that all of them would have.

“Harvey says your hands can work magic. If that’s the case, I’m glad he found you.” Richard disrobed and for a second, I worried that this would be the awkward moment I would have an old man's penis staring at me, but I was pleasantly surprised to see underwear, even a loose singlet.

“Well, Harvey may have talked me up a little, but I’ll do my best,” I smiled at him.

Harvey speaking so highly about me and so much about me at all was rather strange, but I put it out of my mind.

I told Richard he could take the singlet off or leave it on and, strangely, and rather awkwardly, he was very undecided about it. After a moment he decided to take it off and he got onto the massage table. Richard was thinner than Harvey but not by much, and by the look of him a little bit older. His skin was more wrinkled and spottier than Harvey's was.

Knowing this man was some incredibly rich person and the owner of this club made the whole situation quite strange when he giggled and jumped as I tried to massage him. He too seemed to want more rubbing and less pushing, stretching or kneading but I felt like I was going to have to get used to the fact that here, I was more of a masseuse and less of a Physiotherapist. Either way, it was easy, and the conversation was engaging. Richard was very vocal when something felt good to him which was just as strange as it was helpful in making sure I knew I was doing well.

Notably, Richard talked a lot about Harvey. He told me that Harvey and his wife had been married since high school and that they—Richard and Harvey—had been friends basically forever. He kept bringing up Harvey's birthday in two weeks and how he was not surprised that Harvey had hired me. That: he had always needed a younger companion at the club and that I was somehow a 'good gift'. It was all very strange... and weird.

Richard was also a proud, somewhat boastful man who talked endlessly about the club and its prestigious members. He did however tell me that this group that I was seemingly scheduled to massage was the ‘inside group’ of the club. Richard and his best friends.

Later in the second hour Richard started talking more about Harvey. Saying things like: ‘I’m going to have to let Harvey know he has to share’, and that ‘now that he is introducing us, he can’t keep me all to himself’. I laughed it all off. This was too much of a good gig to care about what they said privately to each other. It was rather surprising that they spoke of me at all though. Harvey had been nothing but pleasant when I had been with him here last week, so I gave his strange comments little worry.

Richard also told me that Harvey and Jen's relationship was rocky when I politely changed the topic of conversation. It came back around eventually and not wanting to be rude, I humoured him as he talked about personal aspects of Harvey's relationship.

“That’s why I'm not surprised he’s so fond of you. When all he has to talk to outside of this club is Jennifer…” he scoffed. “Poor man. Not that any of our wives are quite the women they used to be,” Richard chortled.

I mused and chuckled at his jokes. Mostly to humour him. I was getting quite tired when he finally realised the time and hurriedly got up.

“I guess he was right. Quite a therapeutic experience,” Richard said, stretching and putting his robe back on. “Same time next week, yes?” he said, and I gave him a nod and a smile.

Richard pulled an envelope from his robe and handed it to me. “I won’t keep you waiting next time,” he said before looking to become deep in thought. “Would you mind terribly if I kept you for a moment?” he asked carefully.

“No, of course not,” I said happily, hoping that whatever it was wouldn’t be long.

“Ahh, very good. Wait here, I won't be a moment,” he said before leaving in a hurry.

Curiosity got the better of me, so I opened the envelope. $1000 in cash was contained inside.

I jumped around like a stupid kid for a moment, wondering how on earth I landed such a strange yet amazing job.

‘I won’t be a moment’ was apparently quite the understatement. It was past 1am in the morning when the door opened again.

No longer in a white robe, but instead sporting a handsome black suit, Richard walked back in.

“Apologies again. I have a request for you. Please think it over, you’ll find a letter inside. Either way, I look forward to next Tuesday.” Richard handed me another envelope, but it was immediately obvious that if this envelope contained money, it was much more than the other one.

I stared at him for a moment, and his eyes locked to mine with a serious look.

“Goodnight, Dean, it was a pleasure to meet you,” he said before turning and walking out.

I was shaking on the walk back to my car, and I didn't dare open the letter until I was home.

Sitting on my bed, I opened the envelope nervously. I had a bad feeling about this despite being certain that there was a considerable amount of money inside. Indeed, there was. $5000 in cash, in fact, and a handwritten letter.