The Emperor's Club VIP, an international prostitution ring, markets so-called high-class call girls in cities around the world. The escort agency claims that the girls are well-educated, sophisticated and able to carry on intelligent conversations. The pictures are typical cleavage and legs, but the advertising text includes vague references to the girls' successful careers and great personalities.

The reality, though, turns out to be just a bit different.

Ashley Dupre, the 22-year-old assigned to Client 9, New York's now ex-Governor Eliot Spitzer, was called "Kristin." Instead of being well-educated, she is a high school drop-out who ran away from an abusive home situation at the end of her sophomore year in high school. Rather than being sophisticated and having impressive career credentials, Ashley speaks of herself as someone who knows what it is to be "broke and homeless." Her clients, of course, don't know the real Ashley, nor do they care to know her problems. Ashley claims that she is a prostitute because her dream of a singing career hasn't gotten off the ground. She and her latest boyfriend split up when she discovered that he had two kids. She finances the perks of a big city lifestyle by being a prostitute. While $1,000 an hour sounds like a lot of money, at least half of it goes to the prostitution ring, plus it takes a lot of money to keep up appearances - not to mention supporting a drug habit. She worries that without the connections of the Emperor's Club she won't be able to pay the rent on her expensive apartment in Manhattan.

The marketing pitch to clients from the booking agency promises girls like Kristin, who are younger, bustier, sexier, and wrinkle-free versions of the powerful man's wife (who shows the effects of having had his children and shouldering her share of the family responsibilities); it all sounds like high-octane fun with no demands and no strings attached - all this, wrapped in the illusion of no consequences. The john pays his money and takes what he wants without giving anything but the money that he can easily spare and won't even miss - just the ticket for the self-centered, power-tripping, irresponsible, overgrown adolescent.

In reality, the john risks his health, his reputation, his family and his soul for a few hours of pretending that he is footloose and responsibility-free … all the while being conned by the notion that he's sexually irresistible. He sacrifices his honor and his character, forsakes his moral duty and violates ethical standards of behavior by cheating on his wife and exploiting a foolish, self-centered and reckless young woman who has emotional and psychological needs buried far below the surface confidence. There are ample reasons why so many prostitutes abuse drugs and alcohol, high-end call girls and streetwalkers alike.