Five

ZOEY

All the while she walked home, she was zoned out.

It was a wonder how she didn’t get hit by an automobile.

As soon as Zoey got home, her brain resumed all its functions, primary and secondary. She could think, feel, and sense again.

She stood in the center of the living room of her small apartment, amazed, furious and fascinated all at once. She blinked a couple of times, hoping to wake up from her slumber. She pinched her skin, jumped and even slapped herself.

When she didn’t wake up from any dream, it was then she realized that it was all reality. It was still unbelievable.

The one professor who hated her guts and was out to get her had kissed her.

Not only did he kiss her, but he handed his keycard to her.  Was Professor Beaumont drunk?

When he kissed her, she could taste the alcohol, but she didn’t think that he was drunk.

She shouldn’t be one to talk, though. What did she know about alcohol and getting drunk? Her first taste of alcohol was the night professor Beaumont promised to make her life a living hell, and that exactly didn’t go well. If not for him saving her, she would have been so violated she would never be able to forgive herself.

Undressing right in the middle of the living room, she walked into her bathroom, and examined her lips. They were swollen, as though they’d been manhandled. The kiss didn’t even last long, and it already had that effect on her. Closing her eyes, she began to image how things could have played out had she not ended the kiss so abruptly. 

Would he have..?

Zoey shook her head in disbelief and what she imagined before she got into the shower and scrubbed her body clean.

She got out of the shower, towel wrapped around her body and went to pick up her tote that she left in the living room.

Once in the bedroom, she took the towel off, found the key card in her tote and began to examine the details of it.

Then, her eyes landed on his name ‘Simon Beaumont’ inscribed on it.

She shut her eyes, and without thinking, she began to kiss the spot where his name was inscribed, clutching the card with her two hands as though it was so delicate that it should not fall. She opened her eyes and licked the spot before sighing.

Gently placing the card on her bed, she walked to the mirror and stood in front of it. She stared at her reflection and wondered if there was anything wrong with her. She looked at her breasts. They looked different from the breasts girls her age had. Theirs were petite, cute and perky while hers were soft, almost saggy and big. They had some stretch marks on them as well. Her areolas were wide and her nipples were too pointy. Her hips were wide. She was too curvy for a woman her age. She wondered if Clinton noticed something and he didn’t like it. She wondered if she was conventionally attractive. She wondered if when her towel dropped back at Professor Beaumont’s house, he liked what he saw. Maybe he was disgusted, and so he left his house. That must have been his reason for abruptly leaving. She wasn’t attractive at all.

After she’d come to that conclusion, tears began to fall down her cheeks.

Why was her life the way it was?

While she was thinking about all the bad things that had happened to her recently, she got a notification from W******p on her phone. Checking who it was from, she rolled her eyes. It was a notification from her church back at home, reminding her that the weekly service was starting soon. She had no plans to join.

Shortly, her phone began to ring. It was her mother calling.

“Hi, Mum.” Zoey said, smiling as she pressed the phone against her ear.

“Zoey. I hope you are well? I called to check up and ask you why you haven’t been attending the online service. Pastor Nathan told me he texted you the other day to follow up, but you didn’t respond. Hope everything is well?”

Zoey paused, not knowing what to say.

Her parents were not the understanding type.

“Mum, you know it has barely been a month since I started this Master’s program. I’m still trying to settle in and get accustomed to the country. Also, I have been so busy with school. The Professors have been bombarding us with assignments.” She lied.

This was the first time she’d lied to her mother. Ever.

The truth of the matter was that Zoey did not know where she stood with God. She was going to have to make a decision eventually, but currently, she was stalling.

“Zoey, we are never too busy for God. After all, He is the one who made it possible for us to live and breathe. Please, find time to attend the service and follow up with Pastor Nathan. I don’t want to hear any more stories of you being busy.” Her mother said to her.

“Yes, Mum.”

“Goodbye, Zoey.” With that, she ended the call.

Zoey dropped her phone on the bed and stared at herself in the mirror a second time.

Since when did lying to her mother become so easy?

Deciding that sitting in her apartment and wallowing in self-pity would not solve her problems, she put on a T-shirt and baggy jeans and decided that she wanted to take a stroll.

She’s been in England for some time and not for once had she come out to check her surroundings and new places in general.

After fifteen minutes of aimlessly walking around, she decided that it was time to go back to her apartment.

Turning around and heading back, she heard loud laughter right on the next street. Two women who exited a building were conversing.

Curious, Zoey decided to see what it was all about, and so, she made her way to the next street.

She stood in front of the building they walked out of, staring at the huge neon lights signage at the top. The words ‘Compagnon Incognito’ were emblazoned. Underneath, the motto ‘leave all your worries behind and have a good time’ was written right underneath.

Was this place new or had it been there all the while?

Zoey would never know because she never left her apartment. The only place she went to was school and the grocery store.

Zoey wanted to have a good time, just like the motto said. She dropped her worries at the exit door and made her way into the building.

“Good evening, madam. How may we be of help to you tonight?” The receptionist asked right as she sighted Zoey.

Confused, she looked around.

For the life of her, she could not put a finger on what type of services they rendered here.

Was it food, dance, music? She wanted to know.

“Um, I saw the motto. It said to leave all my worries behind and have a good time. I’m going through so much, and I just want to forget they exist even if it’s for ten minutes.”

“Oh, we can totally help you with that, miss. What would you like to discuss with your companion?” She asks her, typing away on her computer.

Confused, Zoey stared at her.

“I don’t have a companion.” She muttered.

The receptionist laughed at her naivety before clearing her throat.

A woman dressed in a seductive maid outfit walked up to Zoey.

“Amaya here will assist you with everything you need. I hope you have a nice time here.” The receptionist told Zoey.

Now, she was even more confused.

“Come, come.” Amaya told her as she led her into the corridors.

Zoey wanted to ask her what was happening.

After Amaya walked for a few minutes, she opened two large doors. Zoey gasped at the sight before her.

There were over a hundred chairs and tables with phone booths.

She couldn’t even react properly when Amaya led her into the large room.

They walked forward until they got to the booth numbered ‘29’.

“Make yourself comfortable and use the phone,” Amaya said before she turned around and walked towards the exit.

By now, Zoey was trembling.

Still, her hands reached for the phone.

She pressed the button and pressed the phone close to her ear.

“Hi, Zoey. I’m your companion for today, and I’m here to make you feel good.” A sharp male voice said into the phone, and Zoey shivered

“I-I-I” She stuttered.

“There’s no pressure, darling. Don’t be tense around me.” The voice said.

“I hate myself.” Zoey blurted out.

“Why?”

“Because I’m not like girls my age. Girls my age are so hot, sexy, they have boyfriends that are so in love with them.”

“Oh,” The voice said, urging her to continue speaking.

“Yes. I also hate the family I’m from because a lot of these things stemmed from them. They were always about religion and the church, and Bible study that I grew up and didn’t experience so many things my age mates did during our formative years.”

 “Wow. Zoey. You seem to be so bitter about it, and from your tone, it sounds like you are done being the girl who follows the rules and you want to experience these things.”

“Oh my goodness, yes. You took the words right out of my mouth!” Zoey exclaimed and the voice chuckled.

“You know that we live our lives simply for ourselves and  not anybody. I think you should find a way to effectively communicate with them. Tell them you have evolved. Tell them you don’t want to live the life they want you to live. You want to live the life you want to live.”

“I think they will be disappointed. If they know about something I indulged in recently, they’ll not see me the same anymore.”

“What did you indulge in, if I may ask?”

“Look voice, I don’t think we have established that mutual trust between us yet. I wouldn’t give you the nitty gritty details of my life, but all I am going to say is that as a woman in my twenties, I don’t know shit about my body.”

“What do you mean?” Now, the voice sounded intrigued.

“I think I’m unattractive.” She told him.

“Oh wow.”

“Yes, I stared at the mirror today, and I wondered if there was just one person on earth who looked at me and thought I was sexy.”

There was no response from the voice.

“My family is also to be blamed for this. I never took Sex Education classes while growing up because they said it was too obscene for Christian children. My first period was the most embarrassing thing ever.  Thinking about it makes me want to pray for the ground to open and just swallow me whole. I wish I can forget the whole experience.” She said.

“Wow, Zoey.”

“Yes.”

“So, how do you think we can fix that? You’re a grown woman now, and you deserve to explore you sexuality to the max.”

Zoey went mute. She didn’t think he was going to ask her such a question.

“I think we should start with…”

“Your free trial is over. If you’d like to have full access, come back in a week’s time and pay for the monthly subscription.” An automated voice interrupted her before the line went completely silent

“Hello, can you hear me?” She asked, but got no response.

Frustrated, she got up and made her way out of the building.

SIMON

It had been a couple of hours since the kiss happened and Simon was still hot and bothered.

This was a novelty for him.

He’d kissed countless women, had his tongue down their throats, fucked them senseless, and used them in the worst ways possible, and yet, he had never spared them another thought once the encounter was over.

Yet, here he was, still buzzing off a kiss that didn’t even involve tongue. Why the fuck was he acting like a goddamn seventeen year old?

Simon parked his car in front of one of the cafes that he owned and stepped out into the café.

With where his head was, there was no way he could go home. If he went home in this state, unclean thoughts would flit across his mind. He’d wonder if her mouth would feel even better if it was wrapped around his…Oh fuck.

He shouldn’t be having such thoughts.

He took a seat and turned on his laptop, ready to get to work and delete all thoughts of Zoey Prince from his mind.

He collected all the data of the psychology students; both Bachelor’s and Master’s from the student portal.

He wanted to begin the process of deciding which students to select for the France trip.

He ordered a coffee, and stared at his screen absentmindedly for almost five minutes.

When he snapped out of his reverie, he stared at his screen again, and saw that it was the details of Master’s Student, Zoey Prince he was staring at.

He’d stared so long he had committed her every detail to memory. How she was too young for him to have even kissed her. How she was too innocent. How their worlds would never mesh.

He was in too deep in his thoughts when he stared at the building across the café and saw a familiar figure exit the building.

Immediately, he picked up his phone and dialed a number.

“Sir,” The female voice on the other end of the line said.

“There’s a young woman with blonde hair who just exited the building. I want to know the details of everything she told her companion. Send me the full recording.” With that. Simon ended the call.