It's alright for you guys, if you want sex you just go out and chat up a few women and after a few rejections and possibly a slap or two, you get laid. It's not that easy for us women as we just get labelled, at best, 'easy' or at worst, 'slut'.
After having been made single my whole life changed, and sex was the last thing on my mind. Days ran into weeks and weeks into months and before long it was almost a year. I was making a new life with, mostly, new friends and had slowly started thinking about sex again. Inevitably I fingered myself and even bought a small vibrator but its effects were shallow and only relieved the immediate tension, but it was not satisfying in the greater scheme of things.
One day, I was meeting my good friend Gill who had just come back from a holiday on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, the Costa del Sol. She was always great fun and cheered me up and we had got through a bottle of wine as we nattered. The conversation turned to men, which neither of us had, and being distinctly tiddly I asked her how she managed. We were old friends so there was no real embarrassment in the nature of the conversation and she admitted she had the occasional fling, but that when she really wanted it, she went for a break on the Costa as she had a contact there who could really satisfy her. I was really intrigued and asked more, but all she said was that some time ago someone had given her a phone number which she had rung to meet up with a guy which is why she now went on occasional breaks using cheap flights. The added benefit was that it was far enough away that nobody knew, and she swore me to secrecy.
In the days and weeks after I thought about what Gill had said and as I hadn't had a holiday in ages I decided I would go to Spain, but I really wasn't sure about meeting a man I didn't know. I spoke to Gill and told her that I had decided to go to Spain and, as there was no subtle way of putting it, asked her if she had that phone number. She was really happy for me and gave me the number with the local dialling code. She told me to ask for Raul who was her contact. She had no problem with me meeting her man and told me that the arrangement wasn't exactly cheap, but it would be worth it! I asked how it worked and she said to just ring the number and tell him what I wanted! He was very clean and careful so there was no need to worry, and I should just go and enjoy a good time!
A couple of weeks later I found myself in a hotel on the Costa del Sol enjoying a glass of wine in the warm sunshine on my hotel room balcony. I had been going over the idea in my mind time after time and was really unsure if I could do it, but after a few glasses of wine I summoned the courage and reached for my mobile.
The number rang a few times and then there was a click and a woman's voice said 'Ola.'
I was a bit taken aback but managed to ask 'Can I speak to Raul please.'
She answered quickly in English 'I am afraid Raul is away on holiday at the moment, can anyone else help?'
I was stumped and did not know what to say, and was on the point of cutting the call off when the voice asked 'Are you looking for a friend?'
I managed to mumble a 'Yes' in response.
'Philippe is here this week if you would like to meet with him,' said the woman.
I stammered a response 'Err, yes, that would be OK.'
'Please tell me when you would like to see him,' she asked.
Knowing if I thought about it for too long I would probably back out, I asked 'Is it possible for tonight?'
'You would like for the night?' she asked. 'That is OK. Can you tell me where you are please?'
I gave her the details of my hotel.
'That is OK, some hotels know us and do not let us in, but yours is OK. There is a café/restaurant on the beach nearby your hotel, do you know it?'
'Yes, I know it.' I said.
She asked 'What will you be wearing so he can recognise you?'
I hadn't thought about that and hurriedly looked at my wardrobe and said 'A blue top and carrying a grey shoulder bag.'
'That is good.' she said, 'Please put the bag on the table so he can see it.'
'OK, I understand.'
He will meet you at nine o'clock at the café. Would you like to pay by card now or cash when he meets you?'
I asked how much it would be, and she told me for the night it would be 500 Euros, so I agreed to pay him cash when we met and she said she would let him know.
'If there are any other costs, such as drinks or a meal, it is expected that you will pay' she added.
'That's OK, I understand.' And with that she rang off, leaving me sitting, shaking slightly, still not sure what I had let myself in for.
A few hours later I was sitting at a table at the café watching people going by, trying to spot which might be Philippe. Any number of fit Spaniards walked by but I didn't really take much notice of a man who approached my table until he spoke to me.
'Hello,' he said in accented English, 'I am Philippe.'
I looked up in surprise, and saw he was quite tall, and fairly muscular. And black.
I stared open mouthed at him until he said with a dazzling smile, 'May I sit down?'
I stammered a greeting as he sat down, trying to hide my surprise that Philippe was a coloured man. Gill had said nothing about it, but perhaps her Raul was Spanish.
Philippe asked 'Do you have something for me?'
I assumed he meant the money and I handed over the agreed fee in an envelope. Without any obvious movement he slid it into his pocket out of sight without even looking at the contents. A waiter came to the table and I asked Philippe if he would like a drink,which he accepted. I had recovered my composure and we chatted away on inconsequential matters for a while.
After a while he asked if I would like to go back to the hotel, a question I was dreading as I was getting more and more nervous and thinking I couldn't go through with this. I mean, sex with a total stranger! He said not to worry as first time nerves were not unusual, but it was entirely up to me, but unfortunately, as he had been arranged for the night, he was not able to offer any refund.
'Do you have a mini-bar in your hotel room?' he asked.
I said that there was, so he suggested we go there and have another drink.
'Do you have the code for the door from the beach to the hotel?' he asked as we got up.