Sophie
I contemplated the idea for the moment, but there wasn’t much to think over. I’d found myself on the street without any knowledge of what to do, and here above me was a smartly dressed man who would give me some shelter for the night, for what I thought would be a few moments of his pleasure. I greeted the query with a simple “Okay” as I got up from the floor.
I was wearing sweatpants covered by an old coat, and flat shoes that were giving me no protection from the elements. It was a cold night, not freezing, but cold enough that I was going to be extremely uncomfortable through it.
I started walking and ambled by the side of this man, my head bowed and arms crossed. I was excited, scared and nervous at the same time. I didn’t know what to think.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“Very,” I replied with a snorted kind of laugh, indicating that hungry was a bit of an understatement. I had hardly eaten for a week.
We stopped by a nearby burger place, ordered and sat down. It was a very surreal scene, a smartly dressed man accompanied by myself, who looked every bit like the homeless girl I was. I tried not to eat my food too quickly, but I was desperate for each bite.
“What’s your name?” he asked as we wrapped up our meal and exited the restaurant.
“Sophie,” I replied quietly. It felt odd giving personal details after the offer he just gave me. “What’s yours?”
“George.” His reply was a lot more confident than mine.
“I just couldn’t get it out of my head,” said George. “How does a girl as pretty as you end up on the streets, begging for change?”
I was closed. I didn’t want to be in this situation, selling my body for a roof over my head, but I was only here as it was a better option than sleeping out in the wet and cold. I was a girl of dignity who was a victim of circumstances out of my control. I just wanted to get this night over with and tackle the next day.
“I got kicked out of my house,” I said, though there was a lot more to it than that, but I didn’t exactly want to pour my heart out to a man that wanted to use my body for sex.
A taxi was driving past and he called for it. I couldn’t wait to get to the warmth of the building.
I still wasn’t in the mood for a conversation, but questions were ringing around my head. I had presumed I was being taken to a small studio apartment, but this was one of the city’s newest skyscrapers. Nothing about George’s appearance screamed immense wealth, and of course, neither did the fact that I’d encountered him twice walking the streets. He dressed in nice clothes, but there were many pretentious men in the city who liked to make it look like they had a great job.
I was quite bewildered, and wondering why such a man would pick up a girl from the street. So many thoughts were racing through my mind—this felt like a dangerous situation, but no less dangerous than spending a night out on the streets. I was desperate, and this seemed like the lesser of two evils.
While the building had the feel of luxury, as I walked in, I did wonder whether he was maybe renting one of the smaller apartments, or had the use of it by some other means. I felt so out of place, I had tried to keep myself as clean as possible on the streets, but there is only so much you can hide. Thankfully it was late and the only people around were security staff. They must have thought I was his tearaway sister or something. Hopefully they didn’t think the truth of the situation. I didn’t want to think about it myself.
Into the elevator, the conversation was non-existent. I had no idea what to say and it seemed like he no longer had an interest in speaking with me. The warmth of the building was starting to comfort me, no wind and no rain... it was the most comfortable I’d felt in a while. Well, physically; I was still feeling very mentally uncomfortable. This all seemed a bit too good to be true. It was not like this man looked like a creep—far from it. He was the type of guy I’d happily date under different circumstances.
My preconception that he’d be living in the worst apartment in the building was quickly blown away, just by how many floors we were going up.
“Nearly there,” he said with a smile. A quite charming smile, actually; for a moment I felt like I was coming back from an actual date. For a moment, I felt human. From that point, I decided that’s how I was going to treat the rest of the night, if he’d let me pretend like this was all perfectly normal and we were just a guy and a girl coming back from a date.
I wondered if he’d try a move in the elevator, but he stayed well away. He probably wasn’t interested in the current state I was in. As we ventured higher and higher, my mind wondered to just how nice this apartment was going to be. I was starting to get excited. As soon as we left the elevator George quickened the pace. He seemed to be in a hurry to get into his apartment as soon as possible—not because he wanted to fuck me as soon as possible, though, I just think he didn’t want anyone to see me.
As soon as I walked in I was blown away. It was luxurious, spacious, clean and contemporary. I was expecting a bachelor pad of sorts, an untidy boys' den, but this was sleek and spotless. He must pay a cleaner, but still, I was impressed, especially when I delved deeper into his home. There was a panoramic window with a view over the centre of London, a view I had only ever seen in pictures. It was beautiful and could have sat there the whole night, watching the city beneath me. I was lost in my own little world for a moment.
“Your bedroom for the night is through here, and there is a shower with everything you need. Get yourself clean and I’ll see you in 20 minutes.”
That was music to my ears. I was still scared and nervous, but more pressingly my clothes were cold and damp. The flat was warm, but I couldn’t wait to have the warm water of the shower wash over me and then get myself dry. George walked me through into the room, where the bed faced out onto a window that went from floor to ceiling, without any blinds.
“Aren’t you worried about people seeing you get changed?” I asked. I didn’t know if I should be speaking, but I was curious.
“Ha, no,” George swiftly replied. “It’s a one-way view, people can’t see in. It does take a bit of getting used to.” I was slightly put at ease and slightly disappointed at the same time; it’s quite erotic to be seen.