Mattress Actress (14 page)

I had a number of regulars but my favourite was a man whose name was Sam. He reminded me a lot of Ben, probably because he was Eurasian and because he was so well-mannered. Sam spoke Japanese, Greek and English. He told me that he ran a translation and chauffeur company, but was very cagey about the details. He always gave me huge tips. He didn’t like talking about himself but seemed very interested in my goals, family, pastimes, friends—basically everything about me.

He told me that he lived in Point Piper, an exclusive suburb on the harbour. He also boasted that he owned a large boat that he had moored off the jetty at the back of his mansion. I found this slightly hard to swallow because he was no more than thirty. Like many clients, he eventually asked me to see him outside of work, but he asked me in a way that seemed really odd. He told me that he was good friends with the owner of Felicity’s, and that I should never mention to anyone that he had invited me out. He even told me to keep it a secret from the other girls, indicating that some of them were not as trustworthy as they appeared.

I had to admit I was intrigued. The idea of spending a day with a handsome, wealthy, well-travelled man excited me, but after my last episode with Paul I was cautious. We made a plan to meet in a café in Paddington for lunch. I couldn’t wait but something in my gut told me to be alert.

After the first half-hour I started to relax. He was so interesting. We talked for hours, once again mainly about myself and my family. He showed what appeared to be a genuine concern about the fact that I had come to Sydney with little to no support.

Every time I tried to steer the conversation back in his direction, he would simply say, ‘No, no, no, I want to know everything about you even if it takes twenty years.’

I told him how I didn’t really have any contact with my parents and that I hadn’t seen my brothers in some time. I didn’t think my life was at all interesting but he seemed enthralled. At the end of the lunch I told him that I had to go and get ready for work.

He said, ‘You won’t tell anyone of our little rendezvous will you?’

I assured him that I wouldn’t, then left on a bus just in case he decided to follow me like Paul had.

That evening I was busting to share the news about my exciting date with Sam with the other girls, but instead I kept my silence as I had promised.

At about one am Sam walked in the door, and within minutes I was called to his room, where he was sitting with three Japanese businessmen.

They were speaking among themselves and then Sam said, ‘I’m just here tonight to accompany my associates. I recommended you, he finds you very attractive, I think we both have impeccable taste.’

I escorted his client upstairs, all the while wishing that I was dragging Sam into my lair.

I delivered my client back to the waiting room where Sam was still waiting patiently all on his own. He stood up and discreetly handed me a hundred-dollar bill. I gave him a kiss on the cheek but instead of kissing me back, he whispered, ‘Call me.’

So as not to show favoritism I kissed my client and said, ‘Sayonara,’ then left.

The following day I called Sam to thank him for the recommendation and tip. In truth I just wanted to call him, I wanted once again to bask in his intelligent and suave company. He was glad to hear from me. He told me it was a bad time to talk right now and could he call me back? I certainly didn’t want him having my home number in case Ben answered the phone, even though Ben wasn’t due back for four days. I told him that I wasn’t going to be near a phone all day as I had rehearsals. I was proud of how quickly I could come up with half-truths and make them sound so convincing yet not insulting to Sam’s pride. Instead, I agreed to meet him at his palatial house after dance practice.

For reasons only I was aware of, I danced up a storm and my creativity seemed ablaze. I changed routines, tried out new moves, and my enthusiasm was so contagious nobody wanted to go home. I checked my watch to see if I was running late.

The address Sam had given me was on the same street as a friend of my brother’s, who had dropped by a few times at the strip. I rang Charles, the oldest brother, who was three years older than I was.

‘Charles, it’s Annika, I have a date up the road from your place this evening, but I’m running late. Could I pop over to your house and get dressed there, because if I get a cab back to my unit, shower and change, then jump another cab I will be really late?’

‘Hey, you know I’m always happy to see you, come straight over.’

Charles had two brothers, Mike and Todd, and both were delinquents. At only sixteen and fourteen they were both practically alcoholics, much like their father, Craig. He was incredibly wealthy, but a complete cretin. The four bachelors lived together in a mansion that backed on to the harbour. Craig had employed two girls to be maids, cooks, bartenders and live-in ‘sex-on-tap’, to quote Craig. I thought they were all sexist pigs but one couldn’t help being entertained. Charles was the only sane one, mind you, I think he was gay.

I had to drive past Sam’s house on my way to the bachelor pad and was surprised to see a number of cars out the front. One incredibly well-dressed Asian lady, who looked to be around forty was walking into the house. I thought that was odd, as Sam had assured me we were going to be alone. As I was pulling into Charles’s driveway, Sam passed me in his car—I waved but he didn’t see me.

Upon entering Club Mayhem—as I liked to call Craig’s house—I was invited by the family for a drink on the veranda. I had OJ, while everyone else was served fancy drinks with cherries and umbrellas by Ming, the maid. Ming wore no shoes and lots of make-up, she was very touchy-feely and always giggled, no matter what you said.

From the veranda, I could figure out which house was Sam’s as it backed on to the harbour as well. I could see a boat docked off the jetty with about four Asian men standing beside it. I started to feel very uncomfortable. In about forty-five minutes I was meant to go to Sam’s for a quiet, private evening. I recalled Sam saying that he owned a boat but I was starting to doubt the address I had been given. Craig let me use the phone so that I could set my mind at rest.

‘Hi Sam, this is Annika.’

‘Hi, are we still on for this evening?’

‘Sure, I may be about ten minutes early, is that all right?’

‘Well, I’m still in my car, about fifteen minutes from home, but that should be fine. I look forward to seeing you,’ he lied.

‘What have you got planned for tonight, maybe it would be easier to meet you at a restaurant?’

‘No, I want to be alone with you and have a quiet dinner. I’ll have you know that I’m a pretty good cook.’

‘All right then, I’ll see you shortly.’ I hung up.

I went to the front sitting room, which offered a full view of the street, and saw cars leaving Sam’s house. Something was definitely wrong with this whole scenario. I had seen Sam at his house yet he denied being there. The men by the boat were now out of view. I walked to Craig’s front yard and popped my head over the hedge. There I saw two Asian men walking from a parked car opposite Craig’s house back into Sam’s house. Now there was only Sam’s car in the circular driveway. Sam was not alone but he wanted me to believe he was. The driveway may have only consisted of Sam’s car but I’d counted at least four people in the house and another four on the boat.

There was no way that I was going to enter that trap, so I didn’t even call to cancel, I simply didn’t show. I told Ming to crack open the vodka, then hung out in Club Mayhem for a few more hours to observe what would happen next. An hour after my arrival time the men hidden in the boat emerged and went back inside the main house.

I found out what he was up to weeks later. I was called into work because two ladies rang in sick. I hadn’t seen Sam since that fateful evening, but there he was kissing Grace at the door as he left. He hadn’t seen me, thankfully, and once I knew that he was gone, I took my client to the door, gave him a peck and rushed back to the ladies’ lounge and the smiling Grace.

‘Wow, you look happy with yourself, wouldn’t have anything to do with that gorgeous man that I saw you escorting out, would it?’

‘No, he’s a regular but tonight he gave me a hundred-dollar tip.’

It hit me—Grace and I were similar in appearance except that she was taller than me and not as busty. I wanted to warn her not to use the number I was sure was written on the back of her tip, but I didn’t want to pry. She might’ve told management that I saw clients outside of work. She might’ve thought that I was jealous, since Grace always believed that she was in competition with me. She was fairly upfront with her animosity towards me.

The next shift we worked together was the following night. We began every shift with a coffee and a gossip. I offered Grace a biscuit but she declined saying she’d had a huge late lunch. Once again my ears pricked up, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. How could I warn her not to pursue this relationship?

‘Oh how nice, where did you go?’ Erica inquired, taking the words right out of my mouth.

‘Paddington,’ was all she said, but it was all she needed to say.

One week later I got a phone call from Louise: ‘Kate, could you please come into work, we’re short on blondes.’

‘Why, what’s happened with the others?’

‘Well, Grace has probably checked in to Betty Ford, no one has heard from her in days.’

I had to talk to the other girls. I was deeply concerned about Grace.

The other girls who knew Grace better than I did told me that Grace had a sister. After much cajoling they gave me her number. The following day I rang the number incessantly until I got an answer. Her sister was distraught—she hadn’t heard from Grace in over a week and there were no clothes missing from Grace’s room. I arranged to meet with her that day.

Sharon was only sixteen and depended entirely on her sister for support because their mother was a heroin addict and their father had not been heard of in years. The similarities between Grace’s life and mine were striking. Had Sam chosen us because we had no strong family ties? I wasn’t sure what exactly Sharon knew of her sister’s occupation, so I had to be slightly cagey. I told her that I worked with her sister and had knowledge about a man I suspected she’d been seeing. I told her about my night two doors up from Sam’s house, and she burst into tears.

We went to the police station together. She had already filed a Missing Persons report. The police were undeterred by my occupation, and they took lengthy notes and seemed sincerely concerned by her disappearance.

Then one officer asked, ‘Do you still have his pager number?’

‘No I threw it out, I’m sorry.’

‘What is Sam’s surname?’ asked the same officer.

‘God, I never thought to ask.’ The officers looked at one another in annoyance.

‘Thank you, ladies, for coming in and offering your information, we’ll check it out. If anything comes of it we’ll contact you straight away.’

But nothing did come of it. I never did hear from Grace again and neither did her sister. Two months later, Sharon called me to give me her new phone number. She had been evicted from her apartment and got a job in Target. Completing school was no longer a priority. What else could she do?

Sydney had brought nothing but pain to me, all the death, violence, drugs and sadness. I had to get away from it. Why was I hanging around? Ben was flying small charter flights from Cairns to Brisbane. I desperately needed to feel real love and safety again. I felt I didn’t need support—I had a house full of things and a small nest egg—so I wouldn’t be a burden on my family or Ben. I called Ben to make sure that he was happy to have me until I got on my feet, and to my delight he was rapt to have me in arm’s reach. Lickety-split, I put all my worldly possessions in a storage unit and made tracks for sunny Queensland.

I wanted no part of the sex scene. Even if I had to work at Kmart, I would not sell myself again in a hurry. I never wanted to hear the name Kate for as long as I lived. I was very happy and, in time, I learnt to stop anticipating the worst, I learnt to trust again. Ben was happy to reconnect with me, and thankfully he thought I hadn’t changed. I had missed him so much, letters and the occasional visit he made to me while in Sydney had always kept the flame alive for me. So I took time to enjoy seeing old friends, walking on the beach, going to aerobics and even getting driving lessons and basically just being normal for a change. As the saying goes, I was happier than a pig in mud.

My youngest brothers had decided to move back to Mum now that she was without Jeffrey. Mum was so overjoyed that her family was close again that she moved near to Ben and me in Brisbane. I could see no harm in it. Ben, on the other hand, could smell trouble looming.

I found a lovely three-bedroom house to rent within Mum’s budget. It was ten minutes from where Ben and I lived. I put up the deposit and paid rent in advance to try to help her. For the first two weeks we went over almost every night for dinner. Once Ben even cooked for her at our house.

Mum had begun treating Ben with a bit more affection now that she could see he was a permanent fixture in my life. But Ben refused to forget the past, even though it was my past not his. All the animosity and siding with Jeffrey were still so raw in his mind. He insisted on holding a grudge.

Norm, my old friend from Gala Records, had proved to be very helpful in finding me work. I started as a public relations person at a night club, hilarious considering I was still only seventeen. During the day he would take me to a music studio where he had a friend who taught me how to work sound boards and mixing machines. At the nightclub my tasks were very simple: I had to make sure everyone in the members’ room was having a good time and I had to coordinate special functions. For example, celebrities’ birthdays or a night where football players could let their hair down after a game. I loved my job. Whenever Norm had a big name band in town he would bring them into our club and he would introduce me as his daughter. I got to meet anyone and everyone, then the following day, Norm would take me away with the band on his yacht.

Life was good for me. I wish I could say the same for Ben—he didn’t seem as happy-go-lucky any more. I put it down to the fact that his brother came to stay for what started out as two weeks but ended up being two months. When I couldn’t stomach his cradle-snatching jokes any longer, I went and stayed with my mother. Mum was also happy for the financial support and groceries I gave her, as she was trying to survive on Dad’s and the government’s handouts to raise my brothers.

My colourful life gave Mum something to be proud of. I knew Mum was sleeping with Norm, but I knew it wasn’t serious. But then again so were all his other indiscretions and most of his followers were my age or younger. His theory was a bottle of Jack Daniel’s can make a girl look a lot older.

One evening some of the big wigs from the local radio station came into the club with Norm. I sat in on one of their conversations, and learnt they wanted to interview an American band that was touring, and were trying to organise some promotions. Norm seemed to ignore their question.

‘Have any of you met my gorgeous daughter, Annika?’

I entertained them for the rest of the evening with drinks cards and all the other perks of my job. I always went out of the way for any of Norm’s contacts, which is why he always brought his big name people to our club. I even made it a point to dance with every single one of his friends, which went over very well.

Norm could see how naturally I slipped into the role of hostess with his VIPs, so he decided to start paying me to do his job. As prestigious as working at the nightclub was it barely covered my expenses, so the idea of paying me to do what I was already doing for free was a giant bonus.

While I loved hanging out with Norm and the crew at Gala, I was really only there to meet musicians so that I could get some dancing gigs to pay the bills. So Norm’s offer was a straight salary to meet, greet and entertain visiting entertainers. I played friendly and showed them around but left the seedy stuff to Norm. It was a perfect job for me, and it worked well for Norm’s liver as well. I never did drink, so I could be relied upon to stay in my right mind and last the distance when bands wanted to party into the wee hours of the morning. Unlike Norm, I could then get up again in the morning with a fresh head to take them to early morning radio appearances and interviews, now that I was old enough to have a driver’s licence.

These were definitely my halcyon days beyond the red door.