Chapter 10 #6
I sighed and backed away, returning to my drink.
Suddenly, I was ready to go home. But after a couple of awkward minutes, another thought struck me; something I had wanted to delve deeper into on our first date, but wasn’t sure it was appropriate at the time.
I had nothing to lose by asking him now, plus I wanted to change the tone of our conversation.
‘So, I know you said that you got into this whole game ’cause you’re trying to save for a house,’ I started, smiling meekly.
‘But is there more to that? Not trying to get in your business or anything, but I find the whole industry fascinating; I wonder what drives people into the lifestyle I guess, and whether it satisfies them. I mean, I’m as sexually liberal as the next person, but doing it as a job – I dunno – it seems like it must get physically exhausting after a while? ’
Jericho shifted in his seat before facing me again, studying me with exaggerated suspicion. ‘You’re not some kind of investigative journalist doing a piece on escorts, are you? I’ve never had anyone so intrigued about my work before – it’s new.’ He broke into a grin, making it clear he was teasing.
‘Sir, I promise you, I am but a homely medical secretary who earns a modest living in order to care for my feline son,’ I said innocently, making the Scout’s honour hand salute. ‘It’s not often I encounter these kinds of situations, plus I’m really nosy and—’
Jericho raised an eyebrow and giggled at that part, which I responded to by giving him the middle finger.
‘—Oh, whatever. You don’t have to answer of course, but I am intrigued!’
‘Well,’ Jericho began, taking another sip of his drink.
‘When I started, I was a little nervous, I won’t lie.
Getting paid to have sex was not on my bucket list by any means, but when the opportunity arose, I thought I’d only do it a couple of times, just to say I’d done it.
A little life side quest, you could say.
But then I saw how lucrative it could be and … well, the rest is history.’
I cocked my head to the side as he spoke, wanting to know more.
‘So, it’s just about the money then? Nothing else?’
‘For the most part, yeah,’ Jericho replied, fully facing me now. His eyes were locked onto mine, and he was barely blinking. My ovaries squelched at the intense eye contact; it was hot.
‘Even though I make a decent amount at the design firm,’ he continued, ‘it’s not “zone two London mortgage”-decent, so it’s been one of those instances where I’ve had to learn how to compartmentalise when I’m on dates and … overnight stays and stuff, and think about my end goal.’
‘And how do you compartmentalise?’ I nudged. ‘Does it ever take its toll on you? Are you … are you compartmentalising now?’ I asked the last question before I could decide whether I really wanted the answer. Jericho flashed that wolfish grin at me again, never taking his gaze from me.
‘Well, it’s easier to compartmentalise when the women that often book me are either significantly older, or just not my type appearance-or personality-wise; it makes it a lot easier to not develop feelings or crushes that way.
You’re probably the first woman I’ve gone on a date with in this capacity who is my type; both physically and chemistry-wise, so yeah, I guess you could say that I’m having a bit of a shitty time trying to compartmentalise that right now. ’
I smiled, a wave of bashfulness falling over me. I was his type, but I had to be cautiously optimistic here. I couldn’t allow myself to get too excited. I couldn’t deny that it did feel nice to be the exception to his rule though.
‘Oh, Jerry,’ I said playfully, matching his intense gaze. ‘I’m not the kind of girl you’d ever want to compartmentalise or forget, I’ll have you know. I’m quite frankly wonderful. Nothing but five-star reviews, me.’
He laughed, his eyes twinkling in the low light. ‘Oh, don’t worry, Cassie. You’re not someone I think I’ll be forgetting in a hurry. I’m enjoying this.’
After a few more moments of coy flirtation and banter, I eventually picked the bill, and we made our way to leave.
‘Shit, I just clocked, I’m not gonna be able to drive,’ Jericho mumbled twenty minutes later.
We were both slightly tipsy, and were walking through the Power Station to get to the car park when he realised.
‘I’m going to book us an Uber that’ll drop you off at your place first, and then I’ll just pick the car up tomorrow after work. ’
‘I’m sorry,’ I said, as we made our way to a small side road near the car park so he could book the Uber. ‘This was my fault. I shouldn’t have suggested a bar when I knew you’d be driving. My bad.’
‘Nah, it’s cool!’ he replied, sliding towards me. The biting frosty air seeped through my coat, chilling me to the bone. He wrapped an arm around me, and I melted into him. ‘This was really fun. I enjoy spending time with you.’
‘Yeah … for a fee …’ I muttered under my breath, low enough to not be heard.
We spent the next seven minutes in silence as we waited for the Uber to arrive.
I burrowed further into his chest as the bitterly cold winds tore through me, with him holding me closer to him in a bid to share some of his body heat.
He really knew how to do all the right things when it came to performing the role of the ‘perfect’ boyfriend; how many dates like this had he gone on per week?
I also wondered how many women he slept with per month.
A dozen? Thirty? Why did I even care? It wasn’t like I was catching feelings or anything like that.
I needed to remember that I was in charge here, and that this whole experience was transactional. On my terms.
We both hopped into the Uber as it pulled up to us moments later, with Jericho slightly leaning into me, his head lolling about lazily as he tried to sober up.
‘Well, this has certainly been fun. Informative, even,’ I said eventually, staring out of the window as we turned onto Vauxhall Bridge. Jericho took my hand and kissed it lightly. Ugh. Such a gentleman. He was making this really fucking hard; I couldn’t help but swoon slightly.
‘What do you mean by informative?’ he asked, his normally piercing stare suddenly becoming doe-like in comparison. He sat up straight, body turned towards me. I had his full attention now.
‘Oh, just … you know. You letting me know about your boundaries and stuff – which I completely understand, by the way – you’re absolutely entitled to boundaries and I get the whole “not shitting where you eat” thing, so yeah …’
Jericho edged closer to me; so much so that I could feel his breath on the back of my neck.
He then ran one finger down the length of my arm, ever so lightly that I immediately broke into goosebumps.
I looked back at him briefly, then turned away again.
I refused to be seduced by his gaze yet again.
Ever so gently, he whispered, ‘I appreciate that you understand, Cassandra. For what it’s worth, if this were under any other circumstances, I wouldn’t hesitate to take you out on a few more dates … and then some.’
At this, I turned back around, meeting his gaze, because at this point, why were we playing games?
‘… And then some. So then, let’s arrange things so they can fall under “other circumstances” then, no?
’ Nothing wrong with trying my luck here.
Jericho laughed and fell back into his seat, his mouth formed into a half-grin.
I lay back into the seat with him, wary that I would be getting dropped off home in mere minutes.
I didn’t want this strange, fun, peculiar night to end.
‘Mmm,’ he murmured at last, his tongue grazing his lips as the arm closest to me slipped lower, his hand resting against the small of my back.
The touch was deceptively casual, but I knew better – this had to be page one of the How to Enchant Your Female Clients sex worker manual.
My body betrayed me instantly, heat coiling low in my stomach, every nerve ending sparking like he’d flipped a switch only he knew existed.
I clenched in response, frustrated at how easily he could unravel me.
It was infuriating, really – because while he might have had the upper hand, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to wrestle it back … or just let him keep it.