Hers is a life in the fast lane, where sexual favours are traded to seal the deal.
That life has seen her go from driving a Toyota Wish to a BMW 7 Series sedan.
It allowed Agnes and her then-husband to move out of his parents’ four-room HDB flat to a unit in Caribbean At Keppel Bay.
But it was also a life that eventually sent her marriage crashing, with her husband filing for a divorce last year.
Agnes, who asked that we do not use her full name, is a group sales director. She started work in this new company “not too long ago”, after an ugly showdown in the previous company.
She recalls: “A client’s wife came to my office and kicked up such a fuss that the management opted to sack me.”
That was not all.
“Apparently, the stupid man’s wife hired a private investigator who had incriminating evidence of us making love,” she adds.
“His wife was so resourceful that she found out where my husband worked and had the photos delivered to him by hand.”
Agnes’ husband moved out of their home that night and filed for separation.
She says: “I was hurt. I was furious. I was upset with everyone over everything, but there was nothing I could do.”
The slim, petite and attractive woman, who is in her late 30s, says people often mistake her to be in her mid-20s.
She says: “It’s the result of a healthy diet, a regular beauty regimen and consistent workouts at the gym.”
All of which are important to ensure that she keeps in good form.
“Sales (in any business) is competitive and demands not just savvy and sweet-talking skills,” Agnes insists.
“You have to have the looks. Who wants to sit opposite an ugly hag and hear her try to pitch her product or services?”
Agnes claims she can tell if a client is lusty just from the first handshake.
She says: “I take my cue and work from there. I don’t offer sex, but I don’t mind giving it if that’s an underlying clause. Sex and sexual attractiveness are powerful tools in sales and marketing.
“You can choose to use that as a strategy or ignore it and be offended. Ultimately, you lose.”
And sex, maintains Agnes, does not have to end up with intercourse.
Even as Agnes now claims her strategy has caused her to lose the man she loves and a happy marriage, she says she has “moved on from the nights of crying”.
“My ex (husband) said I was no different from a prostitute, but he forgot how happy he was to let me pick up the tab.
“He forgot who paid for his convertible or the trips to Europe. He forgot how he could proudly give his parents monthly allowances of $1,000 each even though he was drawing only $3,500 as a web designer.”
She adds: “I know not everyone will agree with my selling techniques, but I don’t see what issue there is with a consenting adult who trades sex for a good work opportunity.”
While Agnes has now “refrained from such services”, it does not mean that she has stopped completely.
She says: “There must be mutual consent and, of course, mutual gratification.”
But she insists there is a limit: She will never consider affairs with married men with children.
“If married men want to behave like jerks, it’d do their wives good to find out about it eventually. But if I know a client has a child, especially young kids, I’d drop the contract, however big the bucks are.
“It’s fine for men to lose their wives, but not for children to lose their father.”
This article was first published in The New Paper.
