"And you're sure no one will know it's me?" she asked.
"My dear Ms Clark," the lawyer began, removing his glasses and massaging the bridge of his nose, "Let me assure you that members of the Hillingdon Club are extremely wealthy and influential and can therefore afford to pay to ensure their - and your - privacy. Although I myself am not, nor have ever been, a member, I have seen documents dating back more than two hundred years which list the great and the good of Cambridge University amongst its ranks: politicians, police offices, titans of business, Lords, poets, three members of the Royal family and at least one Archbishop of Canterbury." He replaced his glasses and looked at the woman sat opposite him.
"They work on the assumption that if they cannot identify you, you cannot identify them. You will not see their faces and likewise they will not see yours. Besides," he sighed, leaning back in his plush office chair, "Anonymity often precluded unfortunate requests for paternity if there was an... ah... unfortunate accident."
He paused again. "That, and the large sum of money of course."
It was this large sum of money which had bought Joanne to the offices of Mr Lipton. Days before, she had broken down in tears on her estate agent, frustrated by the fact that she could not afford to move into the area close to the secondary school she desperately wanted her eldest son to attend. She was already mortgaged to the hilt, her nurses wage and her husband's income from security work meant they were comfortable but not rich. Certainly not rich enough to move from her current house, which would probably mean her son either being bullied and beaten to a pulp or turning to life of drugs and crime to appease the peer pressure he would encounter at Scumbag High. The estate agent, a pretty blonde with red lips and blue eyes, had looked on uncomfortably for a few seconds as Joanne snivelled before writing an address and phone number on a scrap of paper and pushing it over the desk towards her.
"Go and see Mr Lipton," she had said. "He can help you make some money quickly just... just don't judge me, OK?"
So here she was.
Andrew Lipton studied the woman in front of him. She was not the usual "client" for this side of his business; he was used to dealing with young and naΓ―ve women who had found themselves in unfortunate circumstances. But Joanne was different, perched nervously on the chair with her hands clasped in her laps. Although undeniably pretty, she was middle aged and dowdy: a dark cardigan covered a nondescript flowery dress hung limply over her small breasts and clung to the paunch of her stomach, dark leggings stopped mid-calf to reveal thick ankles. She wore no make-up and her dark wavy hair was pulled back I a bun. He could see how she would have been an attractive 20-year-old who would have got a lot of attention in pubs and clubs, but that must have been a quarter of a century, 2 or 3 kids and before a lifetime of hard work and stress had taken their toll. When she had initially walked in his mind had registered things: wide hips, large bum, sallow skin. And now she was sitting biting her lip trying to decide whether to sell herself to a bunch of over-privileged teenagers.
He sighed. "I must tell you, Ms Clark, that what we are discussing is of dubious legality to say the least. I have also deduced, by the small numbers of women who return for a second booking, that it is not the most life affirming experience you will have."
Go home, he thought. Go back to your husband and kids and forget this nonsense. "To be frank, you will be used by others for their own sexual needs in a way that many will find degrading."
A pause.
"I'll do it," she said. "I need the money."
Mr Lipton sighed, and pushed the contract over the table. "You will need to sign this non-disclosure agreement before we continue. You will find that its terms and conditions are deliberately quite draconian in order to ensure you do not discuss the Clubs activities with anyone outside this room."
For the first time, Joanne made sustained eye contact with the lawyer sat opposite and smiled. "Do you know what? I don't think that will be a problem."
****
"I'm here to see Dr Hillingdon," Joanne announced to the Porter behind the desk.
It was 10 days since her meeting with Mr Lipton. Earlier that evening, she had kissed her children goodnight and left the house, telling her husband that she was off to spend the evening with one of her friends. She had driven into town and walked to Anne Summers to buy the sort of lingerie she had last worn as a broke student wanting to pull on a Saturday night: cheap, sheer black hold-up stockings, a lacy bra that pushed her small boobs together and a pair of lacy knickers. Could the Porter tell what she was wearing? Could he tell that, as she got changed in the Next changing rooms down the road (she couldn't bear the thought of changing in Anne Summers itself), she had felt aroused? Turned on by the act of rolling stockings up? That she hadn't felt this sexy in at least 7 years of marriage?
"Miss Clark?" A voice interrupted her reverie. She turned to be greeted by a smiling woman, roughly her own age but skinnier and with long dark hair in a ponytail. "Welcome to St Cedd's! If you'd like to follow me..." she said, before briskly turning on her heel and leading out into the college's Great Court. She led the way through a rabbit warren of corridors and courtyards giving a tour guide along the way ("Coleridge had rooms here when he was studying...) before ascending a flight of stairs. At the top were an innocuous looking pair of double wooden doors which opened onto a large room.
Joanne looked around. To all intents and purposes, it looked like a luxurious library or a swanky gentleman's club: plush leathers sofas were dominated the centre of the room whilst bookshelves crammed with leather bound volumes covered large sections of the wall. Her eyes, however, were drawn to the wall directly opposite: cut into the flock wallpaper were four holes at waist height, two large ones with strips of black velvet hanging over the front and what looked like cuffs hanging either side, two smaller ones the size of a small plate. The wall itself protruded a good two meters into the room and was flanked either side by large, floor to ceiling windows.
The room was empty apart from three women sat on the sofas. On one was a small grungy looking red-haired girl with a nose ring, black leggings and large Dr Marten boots who sat picking nervously at her fingernails. Next to her was a very large brunette, at least 16 stone but with a pretty face, red lips and an infectious smile. Finally, a tall muscular black woman with a shaved head glared intimidatingly at everyone in the room but seemed to have a special sneer reserved for Joanne as she walked in. " What the fuck?" she asked aggressively, looking Joanne up and down.
"Now we're finally all here," the woman with the ponytail began, "Let's make a start. Miss Jones and Quince, "- the black girl and the large brunette both looked up - "You will be in booths one and four, the smaller of the holes. There are cushions to kneel on. Miss Clark and Miss Hannigan, you will be in booths two and three. If you would like to disrobe in the booth and lay down, I will complete the formalities."