I got dressed as provocatively and with the sluttiest make-up that I could manage without looking like a transsexual, slipped on my heels and tottered my way to the interview. They had been so secretive, and I amused myself by twiddling with my cellphone and imagining things they would give me to do. I sat there in a small ante room while a man came and took some details, smiled and said he'd get back to me, and then politely ushered me out the door.
I was devastated, I didn't know what to do. I thought I would impress them, but they barely gave me a second glance. I couldn't go back home, I couldn't bear thinking about the face I would lose if I turned up again within the week I had promised I would be in the note I left for my mother. I stood, hesitant, on the street, my long black dress billowing in the summer breeze. My luggage was all back at the hotel, I would have to at least pick it up there, but it had been quite expensive and with no job on the horizon seemed now too expensive. I decided I would have a look around the area I was in for a cheaper hotel.
It certainly had all the hallmarks of being a cheaper area. I had counted at least three sex shops and a sex cinema on the way here. On the corner of the street opposite the underground station a couple of whores chatted to an old guy in a pork-pie hat. As I walked along a car drew up alongside me. 'You open for business, darling?', a man inside called. I shook my head no. I had rejected this line before, and it still didn't look any more appealing, though I couldn't blame him for thinking I'd be available. He shrugged and pulled off.
The cinema stood just behind me, down a side street, and I seriously considered the idea of calling in and servicing the patrons for free, just to give me that rush again. I rejected the idea only because it was not going to make me any money. Supply and demand, you can't go giving it away, even if you want to, I told myself.
Next to the station there was a hotel which looked fairly clean, and was a good deal cheaper than mine, so I caught the tube, picked up my things and headed back. I booked in quickly and paid for tonight with a booking for tomorrow, so I could be sure I could stay another day. I decided to take it a day at a time, in case anything better turned up.
As I showered myself off I calculated with food as well I could afford to stay for a full nine days; enough to easily see me through the week. Seven days from today, if nothing better turned up, I would head home again. I decided to ring my brother and at least let him know I was ok, in case my mother was panicking.
I stepped out of the shower and lightly dried myself off with the towel. I wrung my hair out, but left it wet to cool me off: the day was stiflingly hot, even for late afternoon. My whole body steamed in the air as I walked over to where I had left my little purse. I looked through it, but my phone wasn't in it. I looked around the room, slightly annoyed, but still couldn't find it. Think, I thought to myself, where did I last have it?
Shit.
I threw on my jeans and a t-shirt, slipped on my trainers and ran to the lift. The clock on the wall said 4:40. If they kept normal office hours that gave me twenty minutes to run over there and see if they still had it. 'Come on!' I muttered to myself at the lift doors. They seemed to take forever at the second floor. I was on fifth. Finally I couldn't wait any longer and slammed my way down the stairs. My hair was getting in my face, and fortunately I had a bobble in my jeans pocket, so I paused to fasten my hair loosely back at the ground floor. The clock in the lobby said it was just after quarter to.
I ran across the road and down the street, until I got to the interview address. It gave away no clue of being a business address with the door closed. I tried the handle. Locked. I was too late.
I knocked on the door, and waited. It was a solid, blue door, and I couldn't tell whether the property was open or closed, but I thought it was worth a try. No reply. I knocked again. Still nothing. I was about to give up when I thought I heard voices. I was in the process of knocking a third time when the door opened a crack, before stopping on a chain. A woman's face peered through.
'Yes?', she said. 'Hi,' I said, 'I was here earlier. I think I may have left my phone. It's got a silver cover on it. Would you mind having a look?'
She paused. 'Are you alone?', she said.
'Yes.'
'You were the girl this afternoon?'
'Yes. About two.'
'Ok.'. She paused. 'Wait there.'. She closed the door again. I shivered a little, as I was still a little damp from the shower, and the yard where I was waiting was in shadow.
The door opened again, this time all the way. The man who had seen me earlier stood before me, and he looked me up and down. 'Hello again.', he said.
'Hello, sorry to bother you again, it's just thatβ¦'