The Seducer : Part 1 of 3

It was a horribly cold day in New York. Snow was coming down like there was no tomorrow and the wind made the already single digit weather feel even lower. Normally, I would have walked home after work since my apartment was only a couple blocks away but I had no intentions of doing so in this weather. As quickly as possible, I rushed out the door, ducking my head to keep snow from blinding me, and hopped into a cab.

"Cold night isn't it?" The cab driver asked.
"Freezing." I replied back before giving him my apartment's address.

The driver started to tell me about the last time he had seen snow come down like this or something like that. To be honest, I was exhausted and all I really cared about at that moment was getting home and falling into bed. Thankfully, it only took a couple of minutes to reach my apartment and I quickly paid the driver and dashed to the entrance.

The door man, Andy, must have seen me coming and opened the door quickly. The warmth of the apartment building hit me like a wave in the ocean, washing over me. I stood there for a couple seconds with my eyes closed, just soaking in the heat.
"You gonna fall asleep right there?" Andy chuckled, heading back to his desk.

"I just might." I said before finally opening my eyes and stomping the snow off that was clinging to my shoes and jeans.
"You know…" Andy started, a joking grin spread across his face. "If you got a normal job that actually let you out while the sun was still up, it wouldn't be this cold coming home."
"Says the man who works as the night doorman!" I shot back at him, flashing him a sly smile as I made my way towards the elevator.
"Hey, I don't get glares from my neighbors for my profession." Andy quipped back.

"All my neighbors are rich snobs anyway, Andy." I laughed, just before pushing the button for the ninth floor. Just as the doors were closing, I caught a glimpse of Andy howling in laughter at my last remark. Good Old Andy. I thought to myself, a smile spreading across my face at the light hearted banter that was our tradition anytime we saw each other. Coming back to the apartment after a hard day's work or hard night's work, in my case, wasn't always the most pleasant thing to do but Andy's jokes were one of the few reasons that I continued to do so.

It was difficult, no matter how much I got used to it, having almost everyone in your apartment building hate you. It hadn't always been that way. When I first moved in a couple years ago, people didn't really care one way or another about me but then someone started snooping. I guess, I couldn't blame them. These apartments were some of the nicest around and were not cheap. It would have seemed a bit odd to me too if some 20 year old kid moved in.

I sI quickly stepped out and nearly collided with Jack, my next door neighbor.
"Up a bit late aren’t we?" He asked with a quick look of disgust in my direction.
"Nope… actually got done early tonight. How about you? Your up late too." I said with a forced smile on my face.

"Not up late… early. Remember, Isaac? Most people work in the day." He said, patting my shoulder like I was a kindergartener. With that, he pushed the button in the elevator and the doors closed. A shiver ran up my spine and I clenched my hands into fists. I hated the way he spit out my name like it had a bad taste. Spinning on my heel, I briskly walked to my apartment and let myself in. Slamming the door behind me in frustration, I nearly yelled but bit my tongue when I remembered that it was 6:00am. As I hastily took of my hat, gloves, and coat, and thrust them into the closet by the door, my neighbors words echoed through my head.

"Remember, Isaac? Most people work in the day."
"Up a bit late aren't we?"
"Isaac!"
"Remember, Isaac?"

Enough! I told myself. I didn’t need to mope over something someone like Jack said. He was an arrogant, proud, and a rude businessman, who liked to put others down to build himself up. I decided just to put it out of my mind and get some sleep.
"But first… I need a shower." I said out loud, though there was no one to hear me.

I walked into my bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. After removing all my clothes, I stared at my reflection, inspecting myself. I don't why I did this, it's not like one day I was going to change drastically or something but it was just a weird habit I did before each shower. It probably had something to do with my slight OCD problem. My apartment was very neatly and stylishly decorated and arranged. This was due to the fact that I liked interior design but also because I couldn't stand an apartment that wasn't color coordinated and arranged with style.

Every little thing matched and had its place and that's the way I liked it. Even my clothes were meticulously put away and organized. I guess if I had OCD about everything else that I couldn't make an exception for my body, although most of the requirements, that I held my body to, were because of my profession as well. I started my inspection from the top of my 6'2" frame and worked my way down. My hair was light brown and trimmed neatly and stylishly. I had green eyes and a smile that could coax a cookie from even the grumpiest of old ladies. Moving downward with my inspection, I gazed at my chest and arms in the mirror.

I kept myself in the best of shape due to my profession so my pecs were very clearly defined and perfectly smooth. I didn't have much chest hair to start with but I shaved off what was there, again, due to my profession. My eyes traveled down my six pack to my dick and balls which was all shaven smooth as well. Turning around, I quickly looked over my butt which I kept smooth like everything else. I flexed my leg muscles as I ran my eyes down the length of them, watching my calves bulge. Some might say my little habit of inspecting myself was vain but I didn't see it that way at all. I was proud of my body.

If people who knew me now had seen my senior picture… they wouldn't believe the change. I was a sickly little scarecrow when I graduated high school and the first thing I bought with some of my graduation money was a copy of P90X, a popular work out system that was advertised on TV. It had been hard work but the thing actually worked and today no one would ever compare me to a scarecrow.

Satisfied with my inspection, I climbed into the shower and let the steamy water run over me. Well, there was one thing that Jack couldn't be arrogant about, his body. I laughed at the thought of my neighbor doing my habit, inspecting his body in front of the mirror. At the rate that his stomach was growing, He wouldn't be able to look down at his feet pretty soon.

"Who cares what he thinks?" I asked myself. "I don't care what he thinks about me or my job."

If my neighbors wanted to hate me for what I did, then they could go right ahead. Their snide comments and pompous looks weren't enough to make me move out. I liked my apartment and they were just going to have to get used to living next to a stripper.
I awoke later that day to the shrill cry of my telephone. "What the heck?!" I spat, rolling over. "Who in the world is calling me?"

Throwing off the covers, I tried to figure out who it could be on the phone. The only people who call me are my friends and they all knew that I slept until the afternoon. I dug my phone out of the pocket of my jeans that I wore last night only to realize that it wasn't that phone that was ringing.

"Shoot!" I spat, the phone had rung five or six times now and since it was my business phone that was ringing and not my personal one, it meant that it might be a potential client. I dove across my bed and grabbed my other phone off of the nightstand, hoping that the person hadn't hung up yet.
"Hello?" I said after hurriedly putting the phone to my ear.
Hello." A deep voice said on the other side of the line. "Is this Seducer?"

"Yes, it is. What can I do for you?" I replied. The Seducer was my "stage" name. It wouldn't have been my first choice of names but it was the name given to me the first night I had performed at the club and it had kinda stuck since then.
"I'd like to hire you." The man replied.

I thought it strange that a man would call asking for a male stripper. I had a regular gig in a club but sometimes I would get request to perform at bachelorette parties and things like that on the side but normally it was a female planning parties and events that were in need of male stripper.

"For what kind of event?" I asked.
"I'd like to meet with you and I'll share all the details with you in person. Could you meet for a late lunch?"

The request took me off guard. Never in my three years of stripping had anyone asked to meet me for lunch. I was suspicious because of all the oddities of this situation but I was also curious.
"Uhm… this is a little unusual. I mean-"
"Trust me, Seducer." The man interrupted. "I will make this worth your while. All I am asking is that we meet for lunch, you can pick the place, and if you don't like the job I have for you than you can say so and I won't contact you again. I'll even pay you for your time even if you decide you don't want to take the job."

I ran the guy's proposal through my head and came to the conclusion that I didn't have anything to lose.
"Ok…"

We decided on a place and agreed to meet a half hour from now. After ending the call, I quickly got up, showered, dressed and was out the door. I had picked a café a couple blocks from my apartment building that I often went to. A lot of people knew me there and I was fairly certain that I would be safe if this guy turned out to be a creep. As I came to the café, a man standing just outside the entrance met my gaze.

He was probably in his late 30s or early 40s, dressed in an expensive gray suit with a light blue shirt and navy tie. As I approached, the man smiled and offered his hand. "You must be… The Seducer?" The man asked, lowering his voice when he said my stage name. I was a little shocked that he knew me well enough to pick me out but then waved off my concern, figuring that he must have been to the club if he knew my stage name.

"Yes… that's me." I replied, flashing him smile. "You can call me Isaac, though. It probably would be a little weird for the others in the café to hear you call me "The Seducer."
The man laughed at my joke and we entered together.

Amanda, the waitress, quickly came over to take our orders when we were seated. I ordered a club sandwich but my lunch "date" declined.
"Your not going to eat?" I asked.
Shaking his head the man said, "You eat and I'll talk."
"Suit yourself." I replied, settling back into my seat.

"My name is Daniel and I want to start off by apologizing for the… odd circumstances. I think it is safe to say that you don't normally go about things in this way?" I nodded before Daniel continued. "I'm sure once I explain myself, you will understand."
"Well, explain away." I said when Daniel didn't continue. He was looking around the café like he was searching for someone.
"Yes… Well, this job is a bit different from what you normally do. You see my employer is a very…" Daniel paused as if searching for the right word. "...Wealthy businessman. His business is doing very well."
"What business?" I asked.

"I'd rather not say. You see, it wouldn't do so well if it was to ever be made known that my employer hired someone of your profession. Please, don't take offense but you understand that it wouldn't look well for a distinguish businessman to higher a stripper."
"I understand." I assured him. I was used to this. It was why I was paid in cash. People wanted a stripper for parties and such but they didn't want the whole world to know so they paid in cash.
 

"Good." Daniel seemed pleased that I was cooperating. "As I said, my employers business is doing quite well… except for one thing. He has competition-""And what does this have to do with me, again?" I interrupted.
"I'm getting there." Daniel reassured. "Recent events have made certain secrets of this competition come to light. My employer's competition lost their spouse a couple of years ago and they are now in need of companionship."
"Companionship?" I asked, a little confused as to what Daniel was implying.

"Yes. This is where you come in. We want you to live up to your name and "seduce" our competition." Daniel paused, raising his eyebrow in a sly way. I felt heat immediately rush to my face and looked around self-consciously.
"I think you got something wrong, mister." I replied once I found my voice. "I'm a stripper… I dance a little, take of some of my clothes, maybe hump a couple of pretty girl's butts, and they stick money in my leather underwear. That's what I do and that's ALL I do. I never actually have sex with them. What you need is a male prostitute not a stripper."

I started to rise to leave but Daniel held up a hand.
"Sit down, please." He asked. "I know why you never "actually" have sex with anyone."

My heart lurched and glanced over at him. He was looking directly at me smugly.

"What? What do you mean you know why?" I asked, hoping my voice didn't sound as weak to him as it did to me. A knowing smile spread across Daniel's face and my pulse lurched again at the sight of it. There was a reason why I was a stripper and just a stripper but how could this man, who I had never met before in my life, know? Only my closest friends actually knew my reasons for never actually coming home with a girl from the club and trust me, if I had wanted to, I could have.

"You never actually have sex with anyone because you work in a straight club…" Daniel's grin widened. "But would that still be true if you worked in a gay club?"

Daniel's words hit me like semi truck. Even though he didn't do anything of the sort, it felt like he had physically hit me. How did he know? How did he know my secret? My heart started to pound right out of my chest and sweat started to bead on my forehead as I tried to comprehend how this man had figured out this secret that I tried to so carefully burry. Before I could recover from the shock that he had given me, Daniel spoke again. "What if I told you that this "competition" that I have been telling you about is not a women who is yearning for some male companionship but a man who might be yearning for some male companionship."

I blinked. Again, the only rational thought that was in my mind was a question… How did he know I was gay? How did he know my secret?
"Well, since it seems you are incapable of caring on our conversation, I will be on my way." Daniel said, and started rise.

"No…" I finally forced my mouth to work. My throat was dry and scratch and I could hardly form words I was so confused and shocked. "How?"
"How did I know about your little secret?" Daniel finished for me with a wicked chuckle. "Don't worry your little brain about that… My employer has his ways. All you have to worry about is seducing our competition."
"Why me?" I asked, recovering some from the surprise. "I mean… why not higher a gay escort or something."

Daniel flashed that grin, again. I was beginning to despise that grin. "Our competition is in need of companionship but he knows his reputation is at stake. He isn't going to hop into bed with any random guy on the street. He needs to be... seduced." Daniel raised an eyebrow and looked at me expectantly. Heat flushed my face but this time it wasn't because of embarrassment. I didn't like the way he looked at me. He was taunting... teasing. It was like he thought all I was good for was sex and seduction. "This is why my employer chose you… seducing is one of your talents, Mr. Isaac."

"So what if I… or someone seduces you competition? I mean, it's not going to ruin his reputation unless word gets out."
"Yes… we need you to film you seducing."
"What?!" I shouted but immediately regretted it for several people in the café glanced over our way.