Eloise - the secret behind the mask

Chapter 4

The night went by rather quickly.

Apart from that mysterious man I did not have other clients,and this was something I appreciated.

Despite the fact that every client meant earning money, Ipreferred returning home without money in my pockets.

There had been occasions when I had watched cars approach and Ihad hidden behind the trees to not be seen, but if I did not bringanything back home for two nights consecutively I had to cope withMark's anger. So in this way I understood that it was better toscrew strangers and return home with a few Euros.

I spent the rest of the night until the morning at six o'clocksat on that stool, with my hands on my knees. And my eyes staringat them.

Caroline did not try to talk to me very often. She tried acouple of times, but as soon as she saw that I was not in the moodfor conversation she left me in peace, occasionally giving me acurious and questioning look.

Despite the fact that I had snubbed her for all those hours, atfirst dawn she bade me a warm farewell and walked off with a firmstep.

I watched her walk off and as soon as I saw her disappear on thehorizon I decided to leave as well.

I grabbed my handbag and opened it to make sure I still hadeverything.

The croissant was still there, I had totally forgotten to eatit, above all I had totally forgotten to be hungry.

I moved it out of the way to check the rest of the bag, when myeyes were drawn to the condoms.

There were three, still unused and in good condition. The exactsame number I had when I left the house.

"Fuck" I thought. Things had happened that night.

I shoved everything back in the bag and almost ran home.

I felt the cold morning air mixed with the light warmth of thesun's rays, my hair moving loose on my head, without being tied back,without being held back.

I took less than twenty minutes or so to reach the entrance ofmy apartment, but I decided not to go in straightaway.

I sat nearby with my elbows on my knees and held my face in myhands.

What was happening to me? What odd occurrence had happened to meduring the night?

I had to think rationally. I should go to the hospital and getchecked up.

How could I have been so stupid?

I had always taken great care to use condoms, however, thatnight I had not even realized that I had not used one.

Who was this awkward man who had somehow made me forget myselfto the point where I had not even noticed that I had not used acondom?

I did not want to think about it for a while. I needed to relaxand be calm, perhaps with a cup of hot chocolate. Then I would giveit some thought.

I stood up and headed for home. The apartment was silent, emptyand dimly lit. A clear sign that Mark was still asleep.

Usually he did not get up before 1 pm. Except in exceptionalcases, so there was not much chance of finding him up at 7 o'clock inthe morning.

I had decided not to tell Mark about the 'extra' money thatLukas had given me. I wanted to keep the money to myself, so I usedthe fact that Mark was still asleep to hide the money somewhere.