Donna closed her eyes and lit herself a cigarette. Never had she had cross words with Maeve before. But her saying all those things about Georgio hurt Donna, because deep down she knew they were all true. Now Georgio wanted to drag her into the mire with him, and after yesterday she knew in her heart she was going to let him.

Stephen was in his office when Donna turned up there. He was interviewing two girls from Manchester who had decided to take on TS, as it was known, as a sideline. Telephone Sex brought Stephen in nearly eight thousand pounds a week. He was forever buying new airtime and changing numbers, because Oftel caught up with him, but the legislation was no problem. It was only a warning and maybe the threat of a fine. Within twenty-four hours they were up and running once more. The regular clients had a landline phone number where they called, gave their credit card number, explained what they wanted and then were given a number to ring. A lot of the girls had phones at home; others had mobiles. It depended on the girl’s situation. Some worked from their local park, chatting into the phone while they watched their kids on the swings. Others worked from pubs and clubs. That was the best thing about it: you could do this work anywhere. One thing all the girls had in common was that they despised the customers and joked about them shamelessly.

Della Markham and Josie Whalley were both young prostitutes who wanted to take on TS as a way of making extra money. They could average ten pounds from each call, which meant up to a hundred pounds a day tax free.

Donna sat outside Stephen’s office and waited while he finished his interview. His secretary Carmel was an austere woman in her forties who took her job seriously. She made Donna a coffee and then went into the office to announce her arrival. Donna was amazed to see the two girls who were interviewed. They didn’t look like escorts any sane man would want to be seen with. She picked up a magazine and flicked through it. Stephen’s offices were white, almost clinical. Two large prints were on the wall, both of women in high-fashion poses. Carmel’s desk was practically clear with only two phones and a large ledger. A fax machine stood inside Stephen’s room. It seemed very sparse to Donna but she didn’t really give it much thought.

This was only her second visit here, and the constant ringing of the phones amazed her. She had never realised escorts were in such demand. Georgio had gone to great pains to assure her this wasn’t anything to do with call girls, but after looking at the two young women in Stephen’s office, she was beginning to wonder.