Page 31 of The Dicktionary Club

‘Hello, House of Fitness gym and spa, Patricia speaking,’ a posh older woman’s voice said on the other end of the line.

I cleared my throat. ‘Oh! Good morning, Patricia. You’re the very lady I was hoping to track down.’

‘Ah, lovely. And how so, dear?’

‘Well, the thing is, I just bumped into Mr Khan and he was telling me you were his right-hand woman,’ I said with an awkward titter.

Katy scrunched up her face, knowing those words did not come out of that man’s mouth, but I wasn’t opposed to a bit of flattery considering my career was on the line.

‘You see,’ I went on, gathering my confidence, ‘I was just discussing possible plans for my marketing firm with Philip and I have a few follow-up questions to ask. But I seem to have completely misplaced his business card. I don’t suppose you could remind me of his personal number just now, and I’ll give him a call?’

A polite chuckle followed. ‘I’m sorry, miss. I couldn’t possibly pass on that information.’

I sighed, noticing my two friends crowding around me to hear the call.

‘I do realise it’s unusual, but he does know me; I was speaking to him only an hour ago at David Lloyd’s and .?.?.’

‘I’m sorry. I could never share any private information, but if you leave your name and telephone number, I’ll be sure to pass it on to Mr Khan when I see him.’

‘And will that be soon?’ I questioned, feeling a sudden wave of desperation.

‘I’m not sure, he is a very busy gentleman, you see.’

I could feel my heart rate begin to pick up again. ‘I totally understand that. But .?.?. eh .?.?. roughly, on average, if you had to give an estimate, how often do you see Mr Khan?’

A sigh echoed through the line. I could tell poor Patricia was losing patience. ‘Mr Khan doesn’t personally frequent the premises very often at all, miss. If I had to give an average it would be once a month.’

I felt my body slump on the chair in defeat.

‘Now, what is your name?’

I glanced between my two friends and lowered my voice. ‘It’s Pilates.’

Grunts of muffled laughter came from either side of me, and I shooed them both away, covering the handset, urging them to be quiet.

‘Pilates?’ Patricia questioned delicately.

‘Yip. He’ll know who I am. And can I pass on my personal telephone number? He can call day or night, whichever suits him best.’

Patricia cleared her throat. ‘Of course.’

I finished up the call as graciously as I could.

‘I’m screwed,’ I sighed as soon as I’d hung up. ‘Totally fucking screwed!’

Chapter Ten

Zola

Later that night, Zola was sprawled out in bed, swiping through Ella’s Tinder matches and having fun answering each of them back as sexily as she could as the messages poured in. She lay there chuckling, wholly fascinated with her phone, having never experienced the Tinder life first-hand before.

Angus:You don’t often see girls like you on here, Bella! What’s the catch??

Bella:No catch, just new to the dating game, Angus. Wanna help?

Angus:I can help a wee beauty like you out anytime, darlin. Name the place and time??

Curtis, Zola’s fiancé, strolled into the bedroom and smiled. ‘And what are you up to?’ he asked, his deep Cockney voice tapering off as he wandered around the room. ‘Babe?’ he repeated when Zola didn’t immediately answer.

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