Chapter 4 #2
This admission caught me off-guard – I’d assumed that this was his full-time gig.
‘Oh! So, you have a full-time job outside of this? That’s dope – what do you do?
’ At this, the smile lines around Jericho’s eyes faded slightly, and his sleepy smile had been replaced with a quizzical one.
‘This call is supposed to be all about you, my love,’ he started.
The goosebumps sprouted up again at his term of endearment to me.
‘I don’t normally kiss and tell until I meet people in real life, I’m afraid, but also, try and see it like this: it only adds to the mystery.
For the most part, I tend to keep my “online” life and my personal life separate when I can – that is, unless I strike up a bond with someone I suppose, d’you know what I mean? ’
I nodded, though a little too aggressively, and felt a small tugging of one of the muscles in my neck. Girl, calm down!
‘You mean, I’m gonna need to pay more money to see or speak to you again in order to get to know you more, huh? It’s a good scheme, I have to say.’
Jericho laughed in response, clapping his hands enthusiastically, which for some reason, made my heart flutter.
It made me feel good to know that I at least amused him.
‘You caught me! Hey, if it ain’t broke, and all that.
But in all seriousness, these phone sessions are all about you; you tell me what you want to talk about, I’m here to fulfil your desires and fantasies.
It’s your world, I’m just a squirrel trying to get a nut – metaphorically,’ he added hastily after noticing the sly grin I had been trying to hide.
‘I understand all that,’ I replied, aching to know more about him.
‘But what if my fantasy was to know more about you and have an equal back-and-forth conversation, instead of just ranting on about me? I’m not that interesting of a person, to be honest.’ That last part wasn’t true – I am, in fact, a very interesting person, but the British trait of self-deprecation took over at the last minute for some reason.
Jericho paused, looking pensive. I was hoping I’d said enough to convince him. I took a nervous sip of my drink as I glanced again at the clock. Not much time left.
‘I’ll tell you what, Cassie. We’ve got ten minutes left, ask me whatever you want, and then if you want to have another chat at a later date, we can carry on where we left off.
As you’re new to this, I can probably go through how these arrangements typically work too.
’ He grinned wolfishly and leaned back, his straight, white teeth gleaming.
‘OK, cool,’ I said in mock defeat. I decided to get the main questions out of the way. ‘I’d like for you to answer the following questions – in the same order – and if I’m satisfied, I’ll think about maybe booking another phone call. Deal?’
‘Gotcha,’ Jericho replied, looking amused.
‘OK. Answer the following please; one – what’s your skincare routine?
Because your face is flawless and I can’t honestly believe you’re thirty-four.
Two – you’re a gorgeous man, why are you here?
Three, which is kinda related to two – do you have a girlfriend outside of this?
Four – are you looking for said girlfriend?
Five – who’s the oldest person you’ve had sex with on here?
And six, do you honestly find me attractive?
’ I exhaled and leaned back, allowing the lapel of my robe to gape slightly, showing a little cleavage.
Jericho caught onto this and grinned his wolfish smile again.
I was enjoying this little game of tennis we were currently playing.
‘Oh, we really went in, didn’t we? OK. One; it’s just pure soap and water, I’m afraid.
All of this—’ Jericho points to himself cockily ‘—is genetic, baby. Second question, that’s really an answer for a much longer conversation but, to cut a long story short, I’m using the money I earn here to save towards my future and to supplement my current income.
Three, no. I’m single. I’m not really sure how it would work if I had a girlfriend while doing this job so I’ve stayed clear of that for now.
Four. Wouldn’t you like to know? Five. Again, wouldn’t you like to know?
And six. I think you’re beautiful, Cassie.
Given the nature of our interaction, I can see why you’d find it hard to believe, but you’re a cutie. ’
‘Thanks for answering,’ I replied, smiling awkwardly. I leaned back even further into the sofa, pondering his answers. We had four minutes left before he had to go and I wasn’t really sure where to go from here, so I just asked the first thing that was on my mind:
‘So, um, I saw on your menu thingy that you don’t have a text option. Is that something you’d probably consider doing in future? You seem really nice and, I have to say, I like the cut of your jib. It would be cool to chat to you again sometime.’
Jericho smiled at this dozily, and scratched his perfectly square chin, as if pondering.
After a moment’s silence, he responded. ‘You know, you’re the first person to ask me that?
I’ve never thought about the text thing because it seems silly to charge for a few messages back and forth each time – I wouldn’t really know how to price it really.
For now, I think I’m gonna stick to my current price list but if you ever want to talk again, you can always book another call, or—’ at this, he took a dramatic pause and I held my breath ‘—or you can book a date night and we can talk some more – if you can afford me, that is.’ At this, Jericho leaned back and burst into laughter.
‘You’re a bit of a cheeky shit, aren’t you?’ I baulked, also breaking into a chuckle at his insolence. ‘I’ll have you know I can definitely afford you … CHALLENGE-FUCKING-ACCEPTED, MATE.’
‘Iight, cool. Well, until we speak again, Cassie. This is truly one of the strangest phone dates I’ve ever had.’ He again stared at the camera intensely, drawing me in.
‘Meaning?’ I replied, a tinge of disappointment arising in my tone.
Hopefully I hadn’t offended him. ‘Meaning,’ he replied, ‘this is the first time I’ve had a chat with a woman via the app who hasn’t tried to accost me for phone sex or dirty talk.
You seem like somewhat of a wholesome woman. I like that.’
I grinned, excited to have differentiated myself from the rest of the women he talked to. At that moment, I almost knew that I wanted to speak with him again.
‘Well, I’m glad about that. I wouldn’t count myself as wholly “wholesome”, but that may be something you get to find out in time perhaps.’
His coy, wolfish smile returned as he looked into the camera hungrily. ‘Game on. Goodnight.’ He winked, as the phone cut dead.
I fell back onto my sofa, allowing the exhilaration to take over in that moment.
I could feel my heart pounding a million miles a minute as I went over the last hour’s events.
Maybe it was just me overthinking, but I had felt an undeniable sexual tension in the air throughout that entire phone call – the kind I hadn’t felt in who knows how long, even when out on a date.
Usually, I’d fake a connection just to bring a guy home for some boring, passionless, mediocre sex.
But this? This was different. This felt real, somehow.
Maybe it was simply lust. Or maybe I was just a delusional single woman desperate for an ounce of passion in whatever form that came in.
I was leaning more towards the latter. Whatever that was, I knew one thing for sure: I needed to fuck him at some point.