The Whore's Tale

A Whore´s Tale

Here you go, nicely chilled. That new barman´s a bit of all right, isn´t he? So, where were we? You were telling me about ... oh, had we?

What, me? My favourite client, eh? Oh, no question about it. It must be over twenty years since I first saw him, our first meeting in our long and, I´m pleased to think, mutually satisfying business arrangement. I can remember it as though it was yesterday. I was barely twenty, but a professional, while for him - it must have been close to, if not actually, his first time and barely legal at that! In fact, I got the distinct impression that I was a birthday present. Yes, that´s right. The other lad had visited the house a time or two and vetted us all thoroughly, the rascal, before making his choice. Flattering, eh? He, the other one, was waiting in the hotel lobby when I arrived, gave me the room number, paid, in full, in cash, said "Be gentle with him won´t you," and off he went. So I went up and knocked on the door. And that was the first time I saw him - Remus Lupin! I ask you! Couldn´t you have thought he´d come up with a better name than that!

Skinny as a rake but with broad-shoulders and hands and feet he´d got to grow into, if you see what I mean - he filled out nicely but hasn´t changed that much over the years - and with a shaggy mop of brown hair and worried, golden-brown eyes. All the boys were wearing their hair long then, his friend´s was halfway down his back, but it suits some more than others and this suited him really well. It still does, though it´s greyer now. He let me in, closed the door, then stood, dithering until I took control. After all, it was what I was being paid for. Take it easy, I thought, you know what these young lads are. Two minutes and it´s all over, and that´s if they manage to last until you get them unzipped! So I led him to the bed and sat him down, sat down beside him and went into my patter - you know the soothing kind of nonsense they like - all the while, very gently, undressing him.

What? Of course he did. Like a bloody fountain. I´d barely laid a finger on him. And you know what - he thought that was it - he thought that was all there was to it and that I´d want him to go. I know, sweet! He couldn´t believe it when I cleaned him up a bit and put him to bed and got in beside him. And then I got my big surprise. I thought it would be a little while - you know - before I could really get down to business but no, there it was raring to go. And again, and again. He hasn´t changed in that respect either, thank heavens. Quite amazing.

Oh, but he has a lovely body. Pale and strong and hands like - well, like a musician or a painter or a - yeah, OK, brain surgeon, though I had one of those once and he had hands like a navvy! But the scars are dreadful. He said they were from an accident when he was a kid but over the years he´s got some others. I once wondered if he was into the rough stuff - and if ever he´d suggested anything of that sort I´d have been out of there - but he´s the gentlest person. Well.... one thing.... when he´s really, you know, really getting close he likes me to bite him. No, just hard enough to leave a mark but not break the skin. And he likes to do it back but never - no, honest - he never once left a bruise.

So, there we were, until the landlord threw us out after breakfast. I offered him a lift but he said he was meeting some friends and then I didn´t see him again for six years. By then I was working for an agency and it was sheer fluke that I was in the office when the call came in. As soon as I heard the name I recognised it - Lupin - it sticks in the mind. Oh and how he´d changed! Ok, yes, six years is a long time at that age but he´d done more than just grow up. Before he´d been happy, laughing, with that glossy look they have when everything´s still new and fresh and exciting. Kids don´t look like that now - they´ve seen it all before they´re of an age to understand it. Now he looked ... he looked as though the worst possible thing that could happen had happened to him, and that it would again tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that, forever. And he looked - poor. He´d paid up front, no problem with that, and the accommodation was fine but he looked as though meals hadn´t been too regular and his clothes were years old.

Yes, he did recognise me and for a moment I thought that was it. He went white. So I asked him what was wrong, was he ill, did he want me to go and after a minute he shook his head. So I stayed and I think he was glad of it. No... I know he was.

He was angry. Not with me but I know he was angry, I could feel it in him, spending his fury on me but he cried when he came. Afterwards, I just held him until he slept and in the morning he asked for my address.

So, that was that. Three, maybe four times a year, I´d get a call and I´d go, wherever, whenever. Sometimes he paid in dollars or francs, once he even paid in zlotys, so I think he must´ve been working abroad. Sometimes he looked well fed and comfortable, as though money was no object, and we met at a really plush hotel, other times he looked as though he didn´t know where his next meal was coming from. Yes, it was sad but hell - such a buzz - too poor to eat but he´d still pay for me! Made me feel like a million dollars. You know, there was one time when he looked so desperate that I almost offered him a refund but - well, he´s proud, you can see it.

Yes, I did find out why he´d been so upset, though not for years. I had my call and went to a tatty flat on the south coast and this time he met me in the lobby and told me all about it. That lad, the first one I mentioned? Apparently there´d been a murder done, someone they both knew and that boy got put away for it. When he got out my friend found out it had all been a fix up - and we know all about those don´t we? All those years he thought he´d done it! Anyhow, we stayed there for almost a week. Yes, the two of them - no, not like that. The other one was sick and tired, could barely talk, God knows what´d happened to him in chokey and - I don´t know - maybe "Lupin" thought he couldn´t cope alone with him or maybe he was just lonely. So we talked and cooked - don´t look so shocked, I was a dab hand with a frying pan - and did it very quietly while his friend was asleep, until the other one began to show signs of life. Then I went home and .... No, I´ve no idea where they went. I went back a week or two later but they were gone.

I think maybe he works in the UK, now, because I see him a bit more regularly but never the same place twice so he must move around a lot. He looks better, happier. No, he doesn´t know it´s my agency. No, I don´t usually...but there´s times when the personal touch is best - he´s a valued client and, over the years ... I suppose I´ve come to care - a little.

Yeah, it´s become a bit of a routine. I did suggest he might like someone younger but - well, they get comfortable, don´t they. He knows I won´t ask questions and if he decides he just wants to sleep I let him but if he wants more than that - well, that´s fine too. No, it´s better than fine. You know how some of them just lie there and want you to do everything for them and others - well, least said the better ...Well, he likes results! No, you can fake it for ninety nine percent of men, ninety nine percent of the time but never for this one - he must have radar or something. But with those hands and that mouth and that - well, he can make you think you´ve died and gone to heaven.

I remember one time...no, you don´t want to hear about that. We shouldn´t really talk shop, never know who´s listening! Well, alright then...it was quite funny, really. I hadn´t seen him for over six months... no he didn´t say where he´d been.... Now usually he´s very formal, courtly almost. He opens the door and bows me in, offers to take my coat, offers me a drink, that kind of thing. This time the door was already a bit open and when I stepped inside - well, he just pounced and boy was he pleased to see me. That had been a long six months! Oh, up against the door with my legs round his waist. Lucky I wasn´t wearing underwear or he´d have drilled his way through it! No, he was in a bathrobe and I think he´d been - thinking about it - while he waited for me to arrive. Either way, it didn´t take long and when he - yeah - he said "Nngggghhhoh, God, I needed that!" Yeah, still makes me laugh, bless him. Oh, yes, it did a bit, but you get used to it, don´t you. And, any way, he made it up to me. "I hurt you," he said, he´s got a voice that´ll give you goosebumps. "I´m sorry, let me kiss it better." And he did...for hours! That time we spent the whole weekend in bed and only got out to collect the room service. He´s a funny bundle, old Lupin. Must spend a lot of time alone, poor man. He likes to - well, watch me. Likes me to say that I´m imagining him doing what I´m doing and say what I´m imagining doing to him. Says it gives him ...something to think about in between times..... You know, it makes me so angry! What´s a man like that doing hiring an old tart like me? He shouldn´t have to be paying for it - god, he should be beating them off with a stick. He´s so - so nice, and so kind that ...

No, of course I don´t. Christ, you know what love gets you - love gets you shivering on a street corner waiting for passing trade while some bastard sits at home waiting for you to come back with the cash so he can score. So, no, never. That would be unprofessional ....but there´s nothing in the rules about caring - just a little bit. What?.... If I never saw him again, you mean?........I don´t know..... I´ve no way of finding out - he always gets in touch with me.....Look. I´d rather not think about that, if you don´t mind. No, no I´m not angry. And no, I don´t, he´s a client, no more, a valued client, that´s all. He calls and I go. Should be soon, in a week or two,maybe. Of course I look forward to it - he´s a really sweet man.

An introduction? You must be kidding!

You´re empty. Want another one? Pass me my bag across then....Nasty looking tattoo, that. I never fancied getting one myself. Right, Chablis was it? I´ll be right back and you can tell me about your favourite client.