LISA

Sunday is my favorite day of the week. Jihyo and I decided to drive to Montauk with Lily and Cameron to get lobster rolls at 'Rolls', a little shack along the main road, just because we had a craving for them. It's a popular spot and we've come early to make sure we could grab a shaded table on their terrace. Families and millennials are crowded around their blue picnic tables under rickety bamboo canopies. As it's one of the few places where the rich and famous weekend crowd mingle with the locals, Jihyo loves to come celebrity spotting here. Although she's always denied it, she's a bit of a wannabe at heart, which is sort of endearing in a weird way. She reads all the gossip magazines, keeps up with scandal and intrigue surrounding the Hamptons' socialites and occasionally tries to drag me to the latest hotspots.

Jihyo closes her eyes and moans as she bites into her roll. She's got three in front of her, and I'll be surprised if she manages to finish them. "Mmm, I've missed this. So, so good. Why are they closed over winter? It's just not fair."

"So, so good," Cameron says, closing his eyes and mimicking his mother.

I laugh, noting he has it spot on, including the dramatic eye-roll at the end. "Are you guys excited to go to the pool later?"

Cameron nods. "I can already swim," he says, stuffing a fry into his mouth.

"Me too," Lily chimes in. "I can swim in the deepest of the deep." She's beyond pumped and is telling Cameron all about it, throwing in an assortment of imaginary scenes involving sharks, mermaids and a princess who cleans pools. More and more ketchup ends up on her cheek as she's talking and eating at the same time, to the amusement of people around us.

"Here we go, guys. Three lobster rolls, fries and a Coke." A woman puts down a tray with food and joins the couple who are laughing about Lily's spectacularly incoherent story. I smile at the woman and try to keep a straight face when I see it's Mrs. Ashworth. She stares at me for a moment, blinking as if she's processing the situation, perhaps doing an internal risk analysis. The people she's with are much younger; I suspect the boy might be her son as he looks like her. It's not the first time this has happened to me, so I turn back to my food and grab my phone, pretending to reply to a message. Bumping into a client seemed like a big deal the first time it happened but by now I've worked out that playing it cool is a simple way to avoid unnecessary stress. I don't want her to panic. She's married and obviously doesn't want anyone to know about her escapades. As soon as she sees that I'm chilled, she will be too, and everything will be fine.

Mrs. Ashworth turns to our table, equally amused by Lily. To my surprise, she doesn't ignore me, and she doesn't urge her companions to leave. "Is this your daughter?" she asks instead. "She's adorable."

"Yeah," I say, a little uncomfortable. I don't like clients knowing anything private about me, but I can't ignore them, pick up Lily and walk off either, so I put an arm around her and pretend to be amused. "She's got a lot to say today; she's not normally that talkative."

"She seems very bright for her age. She must get that from her mother." Mrs. Ashworth is giving me the eye, turning sideways so that the couple opposite her can't see what she's doing. So far, I've managed to keep my private life separate from my escort work, but this is getting too close to home and the look she's giving me is making me feel highly uncomfortable, especially with Lily here.

"She's clever all right." I give them a polite smile and turn to Jihyo. "How about we finish this on the beach?"

"What? That makes no sense. We came early because…" Jihyo falls silent when she finally takes her attention off her food for a moment and looks up to see Mrs. Ashworth staring at me. I'm not sure if Jihyo remembers who she is, she must cross-check many clients a week, but a subtle flinch tells me that she does. I'm grateful when she starts packing up Cameron's food, despite his protests.

"Do you live by the beach?" Mrs. Ashworth asks Lily. "If you're such a good swimmer?"

"No. I live in Sag Harbor. Number forty-nine Main Street," Lily says matter-of-factly, then starts rattling off the information I taught her to memorize in case she ever got lost. "My mommy is Lisa Manoban and her number is—"

"Okay, that's enough, Lily," I interrupt her. "Only if you can't find me, remember?"

The couple laughs, but Mrs. Ashworth seems fascinated. "Sag Harbor is nice," she says. "We went there for dinner yesterday." She gestures to her companions. "My kids are visiting for the weekend."

"How lovely. Well, you've certainly got the weather on your side." I try to sound casual as I close the cardboard containers and pile them up.

"Do you all live there together?" Mrs. Ashworth asks Lily.

"Mom, that's a bit intrusive, don't you think?" Her daughter shoots her a puzzled look, clearly confused as to why her mother is so interested in our lives.

"Yes, we do," Jihyo lies with a smile, rescuing me by pretending to be my partner.

I note that Mrs. Ashworth is now following Jihyo with her eyes. "Excuse us. We promised our kids we'd eat on the beach. Have a lovely day."

"But you said we were going to the pool," Cameron protests through the mouthful he's still chewing as Jihyo pulls him along toward the car. "I don't want to go to the beach. I want to go to the pool."

"Yes, we're going to the pool, don't worry." Jihyo whispers, strapping them both in while I start the engine.

"I'm so sorry about that." I glance in the rearview mirror as I drive off, half expecting Mrs. Ashworth to be following us like some delusional maniac. "I'll stop somewhere nice where we can sit down for a picnic."

"Don't worry. It's not your fault, that woman is—" She turns on the music loudly so Lily and Cameron can't hear her in the back. "She's creepy as fuck, even seemed a bit obsessed."

"Tell me about it. She wasn't like that when I last saw her. I mean, she certainly didn't ask me any personal questions."

"God, you just never know, do you?" Jihyo shrugs. "I can only check if they don't have a record and if they are who they say they are. I can't check for lunacy unfortunately. But I'll put a red-flag in the booking system, so she won't be able to book you again."

"That's probably for the best." Letting out a sigh of relief, I pull into the nearest beachside road where a sign tells me there are picnic tables. "Let's just forget about it and enjoy our lunch. I'm sure it will be fine."