Tales of a sour baby

Chapter 3

They were talking and drinking, and she felt herself getting tipsy after the third gin and tonic. She had definitely lost some of her tolerance the past few months. She was broke and cut out all non-essential expenses, and that included leisure.

She got up and excused herself to the bathroom. She felt his gaze on her back all the way to the bathroom. When she was done, she washed her hands, arranged her hair in the mirror and reapplied some lipstick before going back to the table.

“I'm getting you new shoes” he smiled and said out of the blue.

She shot him a practiced interrogative look.

“I saw the state of your boots when you were walking, my dear, and I'm not letting you walk in these. I'm getting you new shoes.”

She smiled, eyeing him seductively.

“What if I like these ones.” She said, playing with her hair. She knew what she was doing.

“Well, we can call that one of your personal quirks, but not having money doesn’t mean you should go without the main necessities and some human dignity.”

She smiled again, ignoring his accidentally condescending tone laced with a sliver of pride.

She knew she had him where she wanted. She recognized his type at once. He was a savior. He wanted to take a poor hood girl and turn her into a lady. If she played her cards right, she could get whatever she wanted from him. She needed to look innocent and helpless. If he believed it, he would do anything to help her. He had already promised to take care of her next semester’s tuition on their previous date. If he felt like he could elevate her, he would feel good about himself and that would drive him to do what she needed from him. Those men were so easy to read…

Kevin had ordered food for the both of them: charcuterie and cheese. Those were expensive and reminded her of her home country, so Guinness wasn’t going to pass down the opportunity. She had never let anyone she was dating buy things for her before. Money had always been tight, but she didn’t want to owe anything to anyone… but this was different. She wasn’t actually dating these sugar daddies, or not genuinely, at least. Plus, it was expected in these kinds of relationships, so she played her part and let the men play theirs. After all, that was the reason she started looking for a daddy in the first place. She needed money. Any meal she didn’t have to pay for was already a win in both of their books.

She was on her fifth gin and tonic and was finally starting to relax, when Kevin looked at her seriously all of a sudden.

“Do you want to get back to my place? I would love to show you the countryside and my garden.”

So much for relaxation…

His question was made to sound innocent, but she could see his gaze struggling to lift to her eyes. She knew she had to think fast about a solution. She did like his company. After all, Kevin was educated and funny, but something was off about him, not in a creepy, perverted kind of way. She didn’t get that vibe from him, although he was perverted to some extent, just no more than most of the men she had encountered before. But more in a weird, uncomfortable way, like she knew him from somewhere and couldn’t place it. Guinness was terrible with names, but she never forgot a face. Once she looked someone in the eye, their facial features would forever be imprinted in her mind. Maybe they had met before and had a bad experience? But she would remember that. No. It was something else, and she would need to figure it out, and fast. Before she made a mistake.

She plastered an innocent smile on her face before she answered.

“Of course, I would love to meet your dog, the one you showed me in the video you sent the other day.”

She wasn’t naïve, she knew what he wanted to show her was neither the house, the greenery, nor the dog, it was something much, much smaller… but she had to act like she didn’t know what he was talking about. It would reinforce her character and probably get her out of having to sleep with him.

She downed the remnants of her cocktail for courage and picked up her purse from the floor before following him outside. He placed his hand on her lower back, so lightly he was barely touching her, as if he didn’t want her to notice. She let him do it, acting oblivious, but cringing internally. It wasn’t until they were in the elevator and two other men walked in as well, that she made a small step to her right, distancing herself from Kevin. It looked innocent enough, like she was trying to politely make more room for the others, but Kevin wasn’t stupid. He noticed but didn’t say anything, still acting like a perfect gentleman, although his mind was full of inappropriate thoughts about what he could do to her tiny body.

“So, what are you guys doing out here tonight?” One of the men asked in an attempt to make small talk. Both looked like they were in their late forties, they were well-dressed, polished, and clearly intoxicated.

Guinness tried to find a suitable answer that would be appropriate to give to two strangers but also didn’t offend Kevin. She glanced at him and saw that he was ready to answer. She let him take the reins. On the one hand, he could take that opportunity to brag to his peers about his twenty-something “girlfriend”, but on the other, and that was what she was counting on, he was this close to bringing her back home and he – hopefully - wouldn’t dare to offend or embarrass her at that time. It was a gamble to let him speak about their relationship, but she knew he had to maintain his gentleman attitude and the stakes were low. Those were strangers that they would probably never meet again and who were too inebriated to even remember them. It was a test of some kind, one that amused her.

“Just enjoying a free Saturday night.” He answered plainly but with a friendly smile. “What about you gentlemen?”

His statement didn’t let anything transpire, and he immediately diverted the two men’s attention back to themselves. Guinness knew he had dodged the question, but she managed to fake the grateful smile that appeared on her face. She noticed how his eyes were darting to her lips and back to her chest and did her best not to acknowledge or react to that.

She looked in the mirror in the elevator. Without Kevin’s lustful gaze, they would look like a father and daughter spending time together.

The three men were still chatting happily when the doors opened, taking Guinness out of her reflection, and they parted ways. The men were going down the street, towards the clubs, while they were headed up the street to the parking lot.

Once again, Kevin held the door open for her before circling around the car to his seat. The ride was uncomfortable. Guinness was thinking hectically about a way to get out of that situation. She knew that, even though Kevin was a hungry man, he wouldn’t force her into anything. He wasn’t the type. However, she couldn’t just leave him frustrated without a good reason, she still needed him. Thankfully, Kevin was talking most of the time, and he didn’t notice her annoyance with the whole situation.

She could say that she was tired. It wouldn’t be a lie after all, she had barely slept the past couple of days, but then he would insist she spent the night.

She could say she had to work the next day, which was also true, but he already knew she only had to work in the afternoon.

Pretend she was drunk? No. He would probably take it the wrong way and still try something.

The young woman was deep in thoughts and only dignifying his conversation with short answers when he pulled up on a dirt road. They followed the bumpy trail for a few minutes before she saw a huge, square, all-white house, sitting in the middle of the fields she had seen before in pictures and videos. It was bigger than a classic suburban home and looked like a big white block of stone. As much as she was reluctant to be here, she had to admit, this house was intriguingly beautiful.

Kevin parked the car in the garage and went to open the door for her. She stepped out of the vehicle and followed him inside. The interior was as plain as the exterior. All the walls were a pure, immaculate white. There were very few decorations, and the little that were there were also very basic items. A black and white painting here, a small black and golden figurine there. It looked as though no one lived there, like it was some kind of expo house. When she inquired about it, he explained that he didn’t have much of an eye or taste for decoration, and most of it was done by his ex-wife, who was also a sugar baby. Now that she didn’t live there anymore, she had taken most of it with her, and he had thrown away the rest.

She sat down on the sofa while he went to the wine cellar behind the kitchen.

“Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc?” she heard his voice in the distance.

“You can never go wrong with a chardonnay.” She screamed back to him.

She was still thinking of how to get herself out of the house and back into the city when she felt something wet on her hand. Looking down, she saw a cute little dog rubbing its nose onto her. He looked like a spaniel, the fur on his back was white, and his belly was white with black stains on his legs. He looked like he belonged there along with the decoration.

“Hi.” She said while petting the dog. “You must be Phobos.”

Distracted by the dog, she hadn’t seen her daddy come back with two wine glasses and a bottle. He poured the wine and gave her a glass. She sniffed it discreetly out of habit, even though that wasn’t one of her concerns right now. As she brought the glass to her lips, she noticed that Kevin had taken off his jacket and unbuttoned the first buttons of his white shirt. She knew that if he got too comfortable, he wouldn’t let her leave without a good reason.