5. Chapter 5
Spyridoula
Iglanced at him, watching the sun set behind him, and smiled.
“You know, you can bring out the laptop I know that is stashed while I put this book to good use.”
“You think I would do that to the good company I have with me?”
“Of course. Because I have my scope with me. If I was coming out to a spot where there’s no lights, you can bet your ass I’m going to check things out. And since someone was so nice to get me this beautiful book, well, I just have no choice.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as he smiled, because even though it had seemed like forever and a day since we’d been together, it was as if some things just didn’t change.
I remember many a night where we would be out in my backyard. He would have a notebook, and I would have my ‘scope, ready to talk about anything while I looked.
“Okay, fine, you win. I do have my laptop.”
I grinned as I got up to get my telescope, setting it up.
“Why did you have writer's block?” I asked as I looked through the book for the summer stars.
“You make it sound like it’s something I wanted.
I didn’t. But when you get it,” he paused, and I looked over at him.
“When it comes, when someone is so unlucky to have it, it sucks.
For some, nothing comes to mind. But for others, like me, I can write and write, create things time and again, and end up hating everything.
“Even my agent and editor would send it all back to me with big red letters on it saying crap, or write something else. My favorite was always; this isn’t you. I was stuck. Even I knew that. I was forcing my pieces, and that's not a good thing.
“Writing should never be forced. Your plot, your characters should flow of their own accord. It should be a world built up in your mind, and flow from that and through the screen so that when a reader is reading it, they’ll feel as much of the world as you were.”
I stared at him, my eyes opened wide.
I didn’t think I would hear that.
“Guess you’ve come a lot farther than when we were kids, and you would tell me stories all the time about whatever came to mind.”
He glanced up from his laptop, a smile on his face.
“Those were some of the best times I ever had, honestly. I tried to make those stories into something bigger. Some worked, others were a little too childish. But I loved those times too. They meant so much to me. Learned far more about you than I thought I would.”
I paused in my search and turned to him.
“Likewise.”
“Can I ask you something, Spy?”
I smiled to myself, already having an idea of what that was.
“Sure. You know you can ask me anything.”
“How did you get into being an escort?”
“I just knew that you were going to ask that.” I crossed my arms, glancing up at the stars that were starting to appear, and shrugged.
“It’s a really simple story. I had a friend who was doing it.
She didn’t do it often but made some really good money and made decent connections.
She liked the stars too, but they don’t pay as well.
“She was also my roommate. And one day, I was struggling to make my share of the bills when she told me about The Network. I had all kinds of questions, but she never brought a man home and never smelled like sex. When I told her that, she laughed and said that wasn’t the business.
“So, I looked into it myself. I couldn’t deny how well it ran or how it was something legit. I applied and within a week had requests coming in.”
“So, no sex?”
“No. And I’ve never had a guy hit on me. I have regulars, mostly the high-end clientele, but no, no sex, no kissing.”
“What’s been the oddest request?”
“Coming on a boat to celebrate a birthday?” We both shared a laugh, and I shook my head.
“Honestly, a wedding. One of my regulars got an invite to his ex’s wedding, and on a previous evening he had told me about it and how he wanted to one-up her.
I told him that the girls were gorgeous at the business, so to take one of them.
“Well, he partially took my advice. He asked me. I couldn’t tell him no. About six months after that, he told me about the wedding, that the ex had messaged him a few days later and was floored by his date, about how beautiful I was. It was priceless, and he loved it. He was a judge.”
“Anyone I know?”
I lifted a brow. “I can’t discuss my other clients, sorry.”
He rolled his eyes before he went back to his laptop.
“Anything good you’re writing?” I asked, watching him as his fingers flew over the board.
“Oddly enough, yeah. It’s been flowing since the first time I saw you. Guess you’re my muse.”
“Been called lots of things, but that’s a first,” I tossed out, looking back at the sky. My attention would bounce between that and the book, making little marks in it about what I was finding or if something seemed off.
“Have you had boyfriends?”
The question came out quietly and I slowly turned to look at him.
“One serious one, actually.”
“What happened?”
“He wanted me to stop being an escort.”
I watched as a frown appeared and I smiled, bracing myself for the next question.
“Would you not stop it?”
“Maybe, if it was for the right guy and we were serious. It was the lack of trust that bothered me so much. I would never sleep with a guy while on a date. I wouldn’t even kiss a guy on a date. That’s very much off my rule book.
“If you can’t trust me when I say I wouldn’t hurt you, that’s purely just business, then we have problems. And it’s not like I go out on boats in just bikini’s.
Those requests are usually ones I turn down.
But I guess for me, I had the best friend, and he showed me what trust really looks like and I can’t and won’t settle for anything less these days. ”
“That’s good for you. You know your worth and your boundaries.”
“I do. And it’s very important for me. Being an escort is a job, not any different than being a writer or being a lawyer. I just happen to go out on dates and get paid for them.”
“Do men know you won’t sleep with them?”
“It’s the first thing I tell them when I get requested and they’re newcomers. That’s not what this business is. I won’t say that someone might, but we’re really not supposed to, and it shouldn’t even be asked.
“If men still want to take me out, I’m fine with it. But I hardly drink when I’m out on dates, and it’s more an act than anything else. At the time, he couldn’t see that. Other than you and these dates, no one sees the real me. When I’m working, it’s truly an act.”
“You’re supposed to be working now, you know.”
I threw the pillow at him, making him laugh.
“If you were anyone else, I would have declined the request. I saw this as a chance to reconnect, AJ, and I’m glad I did. But just know, don’t expect to get anything in the future.”
“At least on a request.”
He wiggled his eyebrows and I felt my cheeks flame up, because I wouldn’t go there, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t think about it for another time.