‘She’s from the Philippines,’ explained Precious. ‘Every penny she earns here, she sends home to her husband and her little girl. She used to be a cleaner, but the pay was lousy.’
Layla thought about that – the reality of being parted from all that was familiar, having to clean other people’s toilets to scrape a living, then the hell of realizing it wasn’t enough, would never be enough to feed your loved ones on the other side of the world, and having to do this – table dance for strangers – instead.
‘And this is Destiny,’ said Precious.
‘Hi,’ said Layla, and Destiny smiled. She had sad eyes and seemed quiet, Layla thought.
Destiny looked older than the others, maybe in her mid-thirties, but she was still ravishing. White-blonde and deeply tanned, she looked more Scandinavian than true-blue Brit.
‘They seem nice,’ said Layla when Precious came back to her room later.
Layla was ashamed of it now, but she had prejudged Precious. Prejudged all the dancers. She’d thought they must be dense to do a job like this one. But that wasn’t the case. Talking to Precious soon convinced her that there was a pin-sharp brain working away inside that beautiful head.
‘They are nice,’ said Precious with a sigh. ‘I feel sorry for China, though. She’ll never get out of this game. She’ll always have to be funding her family.’
‘What about you?’ asked Layla, curious.
‘Me?’ Precious’s eyes lit up. ‘Oh, I won’t be in it for much longer. Let me show you something.’
Precious ran off out of the room and returned minutes later clutching a textbook and a large wad of paperwork.
‘What’s this?’ asked Layla, turning the textbook around so that she could read the title.
‘Clinical Psychology?’ she read in surprise.
‘I’m studying for my finals, and supporting myself with the dancing,’ said Precious. ‘I’ve covered bereavement counselling, now I’m doing stress management.’
‘My God,’ said Layla, laughing. ‘You’re full of surprises.’
‘I’m doing couple counselling next.’ Precious pulled a face. ‘Maybe Destiny could benefit.’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘D’you think she does this for fun?’ Precious got up and gently closed the door. She lowered her voice. ‘She’s got three kids to support. She was stinking rich once, you know. Her husband was a banker, but he lost his job.’
‘That’s tough,’ said Layla. A lot of City jobs had gone down the drain since Black Monday, the previous October. It had hit the market like a tornado, and the fallout had dragged on and on. Fearing for her own job, she could well understand the trauma Destiny’s husband had gone through.