Chapter 1
Chapter One
TWO WEEKS LATER
Chloe
“Cheer up, Chloe,” Sienna, my best friend, pouted as we sat and sipped coffee in the airport.
“I am cheery. See?” I displayed a fake smile.
“Did you bring your list?” she asked as she held out her hand.
I sighed as I pulled it out of my purse and handed it to her. She took a pen from her purse and wrote something on it.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“There.” She turned the paper around.
Narrowing my eyes at her, I spoke, “Have sex with a stranger in a foreign country? Are you crazy?”
“No. I’m not crazy. This is a list of things we planned to do and see in London. Take a risk, Chloe. Do something spontaneous. Haven’t you ever fantasized about having sex with a total stranger?”
“Umm. No!”
“Well, I have, and you should too.”
“You do have sex with strangers. How is that fantasizing? Half the time, you don’t even bother to get their name first.”
“That may be, and that’s because names are never important. But I’ve never had sex with a stranger in a foreign country.”
“That’s because you’ve never been to another country.”
“True. Just think about it for a minute. Sex with a man who is a mystery. No names, no getting to know each other first, not one bit of personal information. Just a couple of hours of pure pleasure, and then you leave and never see him again. It’s simple.” She smirked.
Of course, it was simple for Sienna. She was the queen of one-night stands. It was something she’d made a career out of. I’ve told her that she was a nymphomaniac. She laughed and said she wasn’t and that she was just a woman who loved having sex with different men. With her five-foot-eight stature, hourglass-shaped figure, long black hair, and bright blue eyes, guys drooled whenever she walked past them.
“You make it sound like prostitution.” I frowned.
Rolling her eyes, she spoke, “It’s not prostitution, Chloe, and believe me, you could use some mind-blowing sex. I know for a fact you’ve never experienced it. Remember Johnathan?” Her brow arched. “The one who could only finish off with his hand whether you had an orgasm or not? Oh, and that guy named Kirk. Remember him? The freak who hated foreplay and just always crammed his dick inside you, missionary style, may I add, without making sure you were ready. Remember how sore you always were and walked like you had a stick up your ass for a few days? He was only out to satisfy himself. I know I don’t need to mention sex with Corey. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t get into it with you. And you know why? Because he was gay and preferred ass over the vagina.”
I sat there, shaking my head at her in disgust.
“Oh, and let’s not forget Alfie. The guy who could never stay hard because every time you’d try to have sex, he thought of his mother and lost his boner.” She laughed uncontrollably.
“Hey. Alfie was a nice guy. He just had some mommy issues that he needed to work out. And besides, we had sex once.” I brought my coffee cup to my lips.
“One time, Chloe. One time in the six months you dated.” She held up her index finger. “See, that’s my point. You need to let go of the notion that you need to know a guy before you fuck him. It’s much better if you don’t know anything about him, like two strangers connecting for a brief moment in time who will never see each other again. It’s all about the thrill. Keep calm and fuck a stranger.” The smile on her face grew wide.
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Sienna. You are a sex addict.”
“I am not. I just like sex.”
“I like sex too.”
“You don’t even know what real sex is, Chloe.”
“YES, I DO! How can you say that to me?”
“I’m entitled because I’m your best friend. And as your best friend, it’s my job to make sure your lady parts are screaming with pleasure by a total stranger. So the next time you have sex, it will be with a mystery man in London.”
I rolled my eyes as they called our flight for boarding. This was our last layover, and now we were heading straight to London. Sitting on the plane, Sienna looked at the cute guy sitting across the aisle from her and elbowed me. I looked at her as she tilted her head towards him.
“What?”
“He’s hot, and he’s going to London. Maybe you can hook up with him.”
“Stop it! I’m not hooking up with anyone.”
“He keeps looking over at you. He’s trying to be sly about it, but he’s miserably failing.”
“He’s looking at you, not me.”
Suddenly, she did the unthinkable.
“Excuse me. Could you please settle a debate between me and my best friend?”
“Sure,” the guy replied.
“Are you staring at her or at me?”
I took in a deep breath and tried to hold it as long as I could with the hopes of passing out to avoid this embarrassing situation.
“I think you’re both beautiful women.” He smiled.
“Why, thank you. I’m Sienna, and this is Chloe.” She extended her hand.
“Nice to meet you, Sienna.” He reached over and extended his arm across Sienna. “Nice to meet you, Chloe.” He flashed a big smile and spoke in his English accent, “I’m Sam.”
I gulped over his accent. I wasn’t expecting that.
“You’re from England?” Sienna flirted and gave him an “I want to fuck you” smile.
“Yes, and you’re from?”
“We’re both from New York, but Chloe lives in Los Angeles now.”
“Ah. I see. So the two of you met up for a fancy vacation in England?”
“Yes. It’s a place we’ve always wanted to visit, and for good reason,” she spoke.
The two of them carried on a conversation before and after we took off. About an hour into the flight, Sienna slipped her eye mask over her eyes and went to sleep. She claimed she was tired, but it was no doubt due to the four whiskey sours she drank: two before we took off and two right after we took off. We had been planning this trip for over a year. Being an assistant art curator, I didn’t make very much money, and living in Los Angeles was expensive, but I made sacrifices and saved almost every penny I made, including the money my parents sent to me for my birthday. The highlight of this trip for Sienna was bedding an Englishman, which I was sure she was already planning with Sam. The highlight for me was visiting the art galleries and museums to see the paintings that I’d only read about in books. I could care less about the men there or any man, period. After this last breakup, it became clearer than ever that I had bad luck when it came to men, so I made a vow to concentrate on my career, advancing to an art curator and enjoying life on my terms and my terms only. Fuck men and relationships. The minute I stepped off this plane and my feet hit the concrete of London, England, I was going to become a new woman. Possibly a woman who was going to have sex with a stranger in a foreign country.