Upgrading - A Novel

Informationen zum Autor Simon Brooke was born in Yorkshire, England, but now lives in West London. His checkered employment history includes a stint as a male model and work as a political spin-doctor. Eschewing the possibility of getting a proper job, he now writes for The Times, The Sunday Times, and The Telegraph. His first novel, Upgrading, is also available from Downtown Press. Klappentext If you've got it, flaunt it...Young, ambitious, and pretty damn good-looking, Andrew Collins knows that the workaday world is not enough for him. He wants more than a boring job and a mediocre life. Mostly, though, he wants more money. So when he answers an ad for male escorts, Andrew figures he's just found the perfect way to make a buck -- with a "Sugar Mama." But he soon finds that his older paramour, along with her bizarre and somewhat sinister friends, may be taking him for what looks to be a very bumpy ride with no brakes on board.Just try not to lose it.But now that he's finally got the green, Andrew finds himself drawn to the plainest of Janes. She's a no-nonsense, deep-thinking shop assistant who's saddened to see the real Andrew being suffocated under a pile of fancy clothes and flashy frills -- not his type at all. So why can't he stop thinking about her? Maybe because life in the lap of luxury isn't what it seems -- or even what he truly wants? Caught between cold cash and a warm heart, Andrew must figure out what matters most: his love of money, his love of himself, or love, period.... Chapter One I consider pressing the bell for a second time but decide to count to ten and see what happens. Nothing. This is obviously a wind-up. God, how embarrassing. I polish my shoes behind my trouser legs and, in the process, nearly fall backwards down the steps. I steady myself on the railings and look round discreetly to see if anyone has seen this ridiculous manoeuvre. Fortunately they haven't. Come on. It can't take that long to get to the door. Unless she's on crutches. Or in a wheelchair. Or she's 105 but with the mind and libido of a twenty-year-old. What the hell am I doing? It's still warm outside and the last rays of the sun are playing gently on the back of my neck. The smell of my hair gel begins to blend with my Chanel Gentleman's Cologne. Oh, Christ! Perhaps it's all a bit too much -- less is more in these situations. She'll probably think I'm a poof. Probably thinks we all are. The smell will probably put her off. She'll be totally freaked by the whole thing and say "Er, listen, I've been thinking. Thanks but no thanks. Hope you understand." Course I do. Don't blame you. I've got dressed up, spent seven quid on a taxi because I was terrified of being late and all for nothing. Course I understand. Oh, come on. I do a quick nose and fly check and push my tie up again. Another ten seconds and I'm out of here. Forget this ever happened. Ring Jonathan when I get home and tell him. Call it thirty seconds. I've decided to be conservative in my dress and go for dark grey trousers, blue blazer (without gold buttons -- that would be too much), a pale blue shirt and a dark maroon spotted tie. Forget it. I'll just wander casually back along the road. Suddenly the door is opened by a woman with a mass of thick, back-combed hair. She has a drink in one hand and a phone in the other, the receiver clamped under her chin. She looks at me for a second through dark eye make-up while the person on the other end is talking and then she walks back down the hallway leaving the door open. That's it. I'm definitely out of here. Oh, Christ! What if she rings Jonathan and complains? I follow her in. The house smells of her perfume and her dog. I hear it barking madly at the back of the house and wonder whether it's on its way out to savage me and prevent its mistress from making a fool of herself with a younge...

Product details

• Authors: Simon Brooke, Brooke Simon
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.08.2004
• EAN: 9780743477628
• ISBN: 978-0-7434-7762-8
• No. of pages: 384
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), FICTION / Literary, Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general