The Little Black Book of Secrets

The Little Black Book of Secrets…

By Bex Callow

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The phone rings on the table.. “Hello?” I answer… “It’s me Ellie! Let’s catch up for some drinks after work tomorrow! I’ve had a shitty week and need to let off some steam!” I think about the week I just had at work and could use some girl time too. “Sure! Sounds great! What about 8pm? Where do you want to go?” Ellie responded with “let’s try that new adult bar that just opened up down on the river? I heard they do amazing cocktails!” “Sounds great. I’ll meet you there!” I hang up and give out a little happy cheer. I know it’s only Thursday but having a plan for tomorrow night sounds great and being organised is right up my alley. Plus, I can’t wait to let my hair down with my best friend!

Friday afternoon rolls around and I’ve pulled one of those cute little dresses out of the wardrobe. It’s one of those ones that I bought as impulse buy and haven’t even had the chance to wear it yet. I throw my hair up and throw on some makeup to try and hide my tired and weary eyes. I throw a pair of heels on and I’m out the door in a flash. I’m excited for a girls night out, it’s been ages since we went out and danced and drank cocktails all night. Tonight should be fun! I’m excited!!!

Ellie is my best friend and she’s always fun and bubbly. She’s very outgoing and always looks like she’s a movie star. She’s absolutely gorgeous and I feel so comfortable around her. She’s bat shit crazy but I love her to bits. I haven’t seen her in ages as she’s always busy with work and hardly ever wants to catch up for drinks.

I arrived at this new bar that Ellie had picked out and when I walked in, I could see that Ellie was talking to this older gentleman at the bar. He would’ve been in his late 70’s and his hair was whispy grey and he had a blue checked shirt on and he meant on the bar whilst he sipped on straight whiskey. He seemed sweet and harmless. I walk over to Ellie and this old man and give Ellie a hug and introduce myself to her new older friend. She has always made friends easily and can talk her way out of a crowd so this was nothing out of the ordinary for Ellie. She had always attracted lots of different people and never missed an opportunity to strike up a conversation.

She had already got a head start on the cocktails before me so I ordered 2 cocktails to catch up. We sat talking to Ben, our new friend. He was a veteran who had had no family and had taken a rather sweet liking to Ellie.. she was young enough to be his daughter in a weird creepy way! After talking about our lives and jobs etc for about 2 hours, I started noticing that Ellie was getting a bit tipsy and was getting very flirty with her new found friend. She had started to slur words and had accidentally knocked over her drink. I helped clean it up and kept a close eye on her as I had started to drink water so I could look after Ellie. (I told Ellie it was vodka so she wouldn’t shame me!) I didn’t mind being sober, we would both take it turns so it just seemed right for it to be my turn tonight.

She said she had to go to the bathroom and insisted that I come with her. As I was helping her off the barstool, I noticed the old man’s hand had fell off her thigh. He just shrugged it off as if nothing was happening and kept drinking his shot of whiskey. I must have given him this death stare that he wiuld have not wanted to mess with me, let alone my drunk friend..

I helped Ellie walk to the bathroom and on the way there, I asked her if she was ok and if she noticed that Ben’s hand was on her thigh. Ellie got a little embarrassed and then pulled out this little black book from her handbag, handed it to me and said have a read of this...She said that “Ben” is one of her “sugar daddies” and that they had planned on meeting up here tonight.

She went into the vacant cubicle and I could hear her fumbling the lock on the back of the door. I was standing near the vanity flicking through this book and was absolutely shocked to read what was written in there. After all these years I did not know that she lived a double life and had sugar daddies who paid for everything. I knew she was working high up in a world-renowned company and just assumed she was bringing in the big dollars because of her job role. Never in a million years would I ever suspected that my best friend was funded by creepy old men who had bottomless wallets and cheque books.

Ellie had finished in the bathroom and came out to wash her hands. Meanwhile I was still flicking through this little black book of secrets. I was flabbergasted and wasn’t sure if I was upset that I didn’t know or if my face still had signs of shock and surprise. I had so many questions for Ellie and couldn’t think of which one to start with first. Ellie had interrupted my browsing and said “did you find one for you?” To which I stuttered … “mmm mee?” She said, “yeah I’ve got heaps of them, and I can’t keep up with them all!” I curiously asked “you don't sleep with all of them do you?” And she laughed and cracked a smile. She responded with “no I haven’t slept with any of them. Most of them just want company or for me to send some photos”... “photos?” I asked nervously. “Yeah photos. No nudes or anything like that, some of them just want photos in jeans, dresses, costumes or lingerie. There are never any nudes sent.”

I was still trying to get my head around all of this and how this sugar daddy thing worked. I start questioning Ellie with a million questions. She said “sometimes they are just lonely and just want someone to talk too, others just want photos and some affection. And they all pay me well, and buy me whatever I want.” “What do you mean? Whatever you want?” I asked with a sense of jealousy. “Well the other day I had said to (sugar daddy - couldn’t remember his name) that I would love a pair of diamond earrings and the next day they turned up to work with a massive bouquet of red roses and $2000 cash.” “What?! That’s crazy!!” I exclaimed “what did you have to do in return?” Ellie said “oh I just had to send him a photo of me wearing the earrings and holding the roses.” “Oh right. That’s easy” I said with a concerned look on my face.

She said “that’s nothing, Ben just gave me a cheque for $20,000 for tonight.” “Are you serious?!” I blurted out with rage! Ellie assured me it wasn’t serious but Ben was her main sugar daddy. She said that he would’ve been at least twice her age and that he was just happy to pay for some company from Ellie. She kept apologising and saying “I’m sorry I didn’t want to tell you because I thought you’d get mad with me and wouldn’t want to be friends with me anymore”. I just shrugged it off and said it was ok.

I must admit I did feel upset that she didn’t tell me but I was more in shock that she was “flirting” with these older men to receive gifts and huge amounts of cash in return. I had heard about these sugar daddies but didn’t realise that my best friend was involved with this secret double life. And not to mention but she had kept everyone’s name, phone number, address and “wants/needs” all filed in alphabetical order in this little black book. I didn’t care, in fact I was happy for her because she was radiating and was living the best life she could and had everything she ever wanted.

She was happy and it shone through her face and her smile lit up the room. I was still coming to terms with her secret life and jokingly said, “well we better get back to your date. He’ll be wondering where you got to. Oh and by the way - it’s your shout ya rich bitch!” She laughed and said, “tonight it’s Ben’s shout! So you better drink up bitch!”

She tucked the little black book back safely away in her handbag, applied some pink lippy and went back to the bar where Ben was eagerly waiting to see us. “I’ve ordered you another round of cocktails ladies!” “Thanks Ben” I murmured. Giving him a sheepish thankful grin. Considering I just death stared this old man like 10 minutes ago, and now that I know their secret I was a bit more understanding and didn’t want to call the police on him. I thought to myself, You’re alright old man. I’ll allow it. You make my best friend happy and she deserves that! I know if I’m ever short on cash, I know who to hit up for a loan!!