Belle tells people she's a legal secretary, because it's so boring that no one ever asks for details. And even her best friend Ben doesn't know what she does. Speaking of Ben, here he is now, being suspiciously excited about the handmade crust on his custard tart. His girlfriend Vanessa has put him on a diet so he has to sneak out if he wants to eat anything but tofu. More London Streets intervene before Belle and Ben arrive at a real estate office and go off to tour a house that I believe they have no intention of buying. They amuse themselves by guessing what sort of person owns the house, and by occasionally goosing each other. Belle plays a hesitant Chopsticks on the piano and then they run away.
Later, Belle profiles her upcoming client based on the hotel bar. It's his first time with a Professional Seamstress, so she expects him to be recently retired and looking to feel powerful. She congratulates herself on being good at her job just as the client comes up. He is young and, judging from the T-shirt/Sport Coat ensemble, has stepped directly out of 1987. In the hotel room, he seems stiff (har har!) and uncomfortable during the experience, so she tries to loosen him up by using a vibrator on herself. He can't even look at her and scuttles off with a towel around his waist. He thanks her and apologizes, several times each, and runs away. That's the second paragraph in a row where someone's run away from something.
Sitting around a table in a restaurant, Belle, the agent, and the other Ladies of the Evening discuss business. The agent encourages everyone to refrain from dessert and harasses the one named Rachel about how much Rachel owes. The details aren't important, but the point is that the agent emphasizes that she has books and records and charts and graphs, while all Rachel has is dyed roots so she can shut up. Next on the agenda: someone with fake money. He is Eastern European, which generates an argument over the difference between racism and prejudice. The argument ends, as such arguments always do, with Belle wishing she could be more pixelated on the website so that her parents won't find out what she does. Then everyone's sent of to do their jobs because it's the holiday season.
Belle takes a moment to talk to the agent about what her panicky client didn't like. He's booked another appointment -- now, wait. That didn't sound right. How about this: he's made another assignation, but this time, he's specifically asked for "the girl next door. Jeans, no makeup." Belle is sad that she didn't deliver what he wanted, but maybe not everyone wants "high class".









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