“Fine,” Dominic said aggressively, like he was already tired of the escapade. “But who are we going to get for tonight if both those guys are taken?”
“There’s Daniel and Shane, but if Laura doesn’t like long hair than Daniel is out. However, I don’t think Shane is such a bad choice. He’s blond with big honest eyes. He looks like the boy-next-door, so he’s probably had plenty of women cry on him before. I’ll bet he knows all about healing a broken heart.”
“But is he available?”
The receptionist, obviously listening to their conversation, smiled and said, “Yes, he is. Would you like me to put a request through to him?”
“Right away,” Dominic said impatiently.
“We need to talk to him though,” Helen interjected as the receptionist started dialing. “He’ll be dating a girl with really specific needs and so he has to be careful in the way he treats her.”
“How does he need to treat her?” Dominic asked curiously.
Helen thought for a second before she responded, “He needs to know that she’s upset about Mark and feeling bad. He needs to pay attention to her body language and look carefully into her eyes when she talks about what’s wrong like he really wants to hear. Then when he gets a chance to say what he thinks of everything Mark did, he should be noisy about how he would never treat a woman that way and give a length, descriptive explanation about how he would treat someone he cared for. And he should bolster her confidence by complimenting her and letting her know how desirable she is.”
“Wow…” Dominic mouthed.
“Then after Shane,” Helen continued, “if it works out to your satisfaction, you should get Gregory, but his instructions should be different. He shouldn’t be comforting her. If she’s constantly being consoled than she won’t be able to stop thinking about Mark, so her date with Gregory should be all about distraction. You should know the kinds of things that interest her and would get her mind off Mark.”
“What about her date with Michael? What should that date be like?”
“Well, I don’t think you should double date that night. I think she should go on her own. Michael is smart. By the end of the night he’ll probably have her purring. He should wake her up to the idea she could be happy and attracted to someone who isn’t Mark.”
“So, what do I do when those three dates are over?”
“Set her up on a date with a guy who isn’t an escort and see how it goes.”
“And what if she falls in love with one of the escorts and is furious when she can’t have him?”
Helen sighed. “That’s a risk,” she stated baldly.
“Okay,” the receptionist said. “Shane’s booked.”
Dominic got up and made the final arrangements. He also booked Mindy, so everything was settled. When they were finished, Dominic said he had to go. He still had some things to do before the date that night.
“Wait,” Helen said, calling him back with only her voice. He was such a decisive guy she wasn’t sure if he’d stop, but he did. He carefully turned and looked at her through his yellow tinted glasses. He stood there waiting patiently for what she had to say. “I just wanted to know if you meant what you said earlier.”
“About?”
“The photo shoot,” Helen stammered.
“What about it?”
“It sounded like you thought Mark wouldn't be able to handle watching me model, or manage me.”
“I meant it. There’s no way you’ll still want him by the end of it. I promise. See ya later, Vera,” he said coolly as he disappeared onto the street.