“I guess so . . . You wouldn’t think in a city like Caldwell, with so many people and all, that a person could be so lonely.”
“You don't come from Caldwell?”
“No. I come from downstate. A little town called Birchville.”
“I never heard of it.”
“Neither did anybody else. It’s so small cars sail through it before they can break the speed limit.”
“I see. Claude’s words were calculated. “You know, you don’t seem like a small-town girl.”
“What’s a small-town girl supposed to be like?”
“Well, you know, sort of rough around the edges. Unhip. Not sophisticated. You seem more like a chick that knows her way around.” Inside, Claude was laughing at the words; nothing could have been further from the truth.
But they made the girl brighten up visibly. “Gosh,” she said, “that’s the nicest thing anybody’s said to me since I got to Caldwell. I was beginning to think I had ‘hick’ written all over me in big red letters.”
“Not at all. If there’s anything written all over you, it’s ‘big time’.” Claude chuckled. “But I can’t call you that, can I? What’s your name?”
“Llona Mayper.” She held out her hand.
Claude took it. She had a strong grip, and he winced under his breath. “I’m Claude Roseberry,” he told her.
“Glad to meet you.”
“Ditto . . . Say, whadda you say to a cup of coffee, or something? A hamburger, maybe. You hungry?”
“Famished!” Llona’s eagerness punctuated the word. She took his arm and they walked up the block.
Claude’s mind was working as they headed for the diner. He’d known from her first words that this kid was no pro. On the other hand, she’d definitely been looking for a pickup. Why? That wasn’t hard to figure. She was hungry, that was why. She’d been trying to promote a free meal. But how far would she go just for a feed? Claude’s interest was purely professional. Just how desperate was this chick? Desperate enough so there might be something in it for him?
The way she wolfed down her hamburger told him she must have been pretty desperate, all right. He ordered her a second one and set about feeling her out. “How long you been in Caldwell, Llona?” he asked.
“Exactly a week.”
“You got family here or something?” If she did, Claude would be out the price of two hamburgers. Girls with families close by meant trouble, and Claude made it his business to avoid trouble.
“No. The only family I have is back in Birchville.”
“I see. So how come you come to Caldwell?”
“It was as far as my money would take me, and still leave me enough over to live on for a week while I found a job—at least, that’s what I thought.”
“But it didn’t work out, huh?” Claude’s voice was sympathetic. This chick might be a live one.
“You can say that again. I’ve been here a week and I haven’t found a job and I have no money left. I was getting awful hungry before you bought me this hamburger. I really appreciate it.”
“My pleasure . . . What sort of work do you do, Llona?”
“Well, back in Birchville I was a salesgirl. I figured on finding something like that here in Caldwell. Or maybe a job waiting tables. I didn’t know it was gonna be so tough.”
“Yeah, it’s real rugged finding work if you don’t have any connections.”
“You can say that again. You know what killed my chances? The unions, that’s what. The salesgirls got a union and the waitresses got a union. Before anybody’ll hire you, you gotta show them a union card. And it isn’t easy to get one of those cards. They told me I had to have some kind of previous experience. The union for waitresses wouldn’t even talk to me. And the one for salesgirls! I tell you, they got real high-falutin’ when I told them about my experience behind the counter at the Birchville Five-and-Dime. Said they’d take my application, but that their own people would naturally get first chance at any jobs. Seniority, they said. And then they wanted a ten-dollar fee just to join. That was three days ago, and I didn’t give it to them. Instead, I ate the last of that ten dollars for breakfast this morning.”
Claude’s mind clicked off the fact that she was flat broke. “That’s real tough,” he said. “What would you have done if I hadn’t come along?”
“Somebody else would have.” She gave him a mischievous smile.
“I guess so. To tell the truth, you looked like you were looking for somebody.”
“I was. What else could I do? A girl's gotta eat.”
“That’s right, Llona. She does. But she has to be able to pay for what she eats, too.”
“Oh, I don’t know. If a girl isn’t bad-looking, some nice feller like yourself will always come along to buy her a hamburger.” She giggled. “That’s what’s so nice about being a girl.” Then she stopped laughing and her face grew troubled. “A bigger problem is where I’m going to stay tonight. I had this cheap room I rented when I came to town, but I was only paid up through today and I had to get out. I checked my suitcase with all my things in it down to the bus depot so I wouldn’t have to lug it around. It took my last dime to do it, and I really am up a tree.”
It was an obvious pitch, and Claude picked her up on it. “You can stay at my place if you want,” he told her.
“Gee,” she said. “That’s awful nice of you.”
“I’m just a nice guy.” He laughed. “Besides, it’s a pleasure being nice to you-—and you’re gonna be nice to me too, aren’t you?”
Llona gave him a long look. There was no mistaking his meaning. When she spoke, the words came slowly, thoughtfully. “I don’t have much choice, do I?” But the sigh which followed them was only half resignation; the other half was anticipation. “You might be disappointed, though,” she added. “I—I don’t have much experience. As a matter of fact, I'm a virgin.”
“Sure you are, honey.” Claude had heard that one before.
“No, really. I am a virgin.”
“And I’m Marie of Rumania.” Claude lapsed into his natural girlishness for a moment. “But, dearie, whoever asked you?”
“I am!” Llona didn’t know why his obvious disbelief should annoy her, but it did.
“All right. All right. So you’re a virgin. There’s no premium on that these days. It’s just an annoyance. You want my advice? Forget it.”
“Okay.” Llona shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll forget it.”
“Good. Anyway, it’s only temporary. After tonight you won't have to worry about it any more.”
“I guess not.”
“That doesn’t really bother you, huh?” Claude looked at her shrewdly. He still didn’t believe she was a virgin, but it was a talking point.
“No. Why should it? Being a virgin never did me any good.”
“Now you’re making real sense.”
“Sure. Besides, I have to sleep someplace tonight.”
“You’re selling it kind of cheap, aren’t you?”'
That brought Llona up short. “I didn’t think about it that way,” she said. “But what are you complaimng about? You don’t have to put me up, you know.”
“I know . . . It's just that I can see you’re wising up to the big city real quick like. You’ll do okay in Caldwell. But you’re still not hip all the way. What you’ve got to sell is worth more than a couple of burgers and a flop for the night. You’re still not wised up to just how much it is worth.”
Llona looked at him through narrowed eyes. His words made her feel vaguely frightened, but there was something thrilling in what he was saying, too. She’d made up her mind that she’d do whatever she had to do to make it in the big city, and this fellow seemed to know just exactly what that might be. “I’m listening,” she told him.
Claude pushed back his chair to get a better view of her. His eyes went up and down her lush young figure like a butcher appraising a side of beef. “What you’ve got is marketable, sweetie,” he told her. “Highly marketable. I know, because, you see, I’m in the business.”