The Escort

1 - A Happy Birthday

Rain was pouring out of the sky. A typical April shower.

Though we were almost mid spring, the temperature was still unpredictable. The wind was chilly and the combination with the rain made my hands feel cold.

I pulled my jacket closer and gripped my umbrella tighter, as I crossed the street. Cars lined up like ants, their eyes dimly lit in the gray mist. One of my heels slipped and some muddy water splashed on my bare toes.

What a great birthday.

I had started the day relatively good. I had done my usual morning routine - a refreshing morning run, a cold shower and a delicious cup of tea - and made myself ready for my breakfast date with my sister.

When we sat at our usual places at our usual cafe, it all started to go downhill.

I loved my sister, don't get me wrong, but she could be sometimes a little too enthusiastic and impulsive. She always had these great ideas. They popped up in her head like bubbles. However, when she found one to be interesting enough, she could put her mind to it and make it happen. Nothing was too big, or too difficult. Actually, it was a special talent of hers to make these ideas even profitable. It was the reason she had built a lucrative business imperium at just the age of thirty-one. Which was the reason she earned a whole lot of money and sometimes I had the feeling she didn't know what to do with it. Anyway, it would certainly explain why she had felt the urge to buy me an escort for a night at an expensive hotel.

Maybe it wouldn't have felt that humiliating if it wasn't for the reason to lose my virginity. Flora meant well. In fact, she was just trying to help out her little sister, who was still a virgin at the age of twenty-seven.

I didn't know how I got to this point, but it just happened. Before I knew it, I had turned twenty-one, then twenty-three and here we were. Still keeping the flower intact after twenty-seven years.

I wouldn't have felt that bad if people, especially friends and family, hadn't made comments about it. Some tried to reassure me that I was just waiting for the perfect man, but they didn't know that the pity that dripped from their words only had the opposite effect. Sometimes I forgot that I was a virgin - life is not all about sex - but other days, I could worry myself into oblivion, always wondering if I could ever possibly find a man to have an intimate relationship with. Was it my fault that I hadn't been in a relationship, like ever? Most of the time the answer to that question was 'yes'. Other days, the better days, I could calm myself with the thought that my perfect prince walked out there, waiting to meet me. He just took his time, I guess.

Flora, on the other hand, couldn't even wait for a second. She had taken fate into her own hands a planned a birthday date for me with an unknown but experienced man. His name being Don André.

I groaned.

If I could, I would have just skipped this appointment and binge watch romantic comedies until the birds chirp again, announcing a new day. My sister had thought of everything, though. There was now way of getting out of this.

She would watch me go inside the hotel from a hidden place she didn't want to tell me anything more about. If I didn't enter, she would cause a scene in front of the city's richest citizens. Also, she would tell our grandmother that I still had my virginity. Everyone knows that a secret told to Nanna Grettle, could only be kept for a total of 10 nanoseconds. Before I would even blink, my whole family and their families and friends would know about my little secret. And, I know, there's is nothing to be ashamed of, but still, I wouldn't want to know their opinions about it. They were in no position to judge my life, so if I could prevent that, I would do that. Besides, what could possibly go wrong? My sister paid a man to break my hymen. Nothing weird. Nothing too crazy.