Joanne took her coffee and cake and found a secluded seat in a corner of the café, as far away from anyone else but still with a clear site-line of the door. She shrugged her coat off onto the back of the chair, emptied the sachet of sugar into the cup and stirred it before taking a sip. Just how I like it, she smiled to herself, strong and black like my men. It was an old joke from years ago, when she was young free and single.
She loved coming to Michaelhouse; it had been a regular meet up place with other mums when the kids had been younger and served a mean slice of cake. From the outside, it looked like a small gothic church, but it had been converted into a bright airy café with a balcony and spiral staircase, a hidden gem in the centre of town. Unfortunately for Joanne, it was also close to St Cedd's College. It was just three days since she had passed through its arched gateway and allowed herself to be used and abused for a large cash pay-out. She had blushed at the memory as she had passed, looking down at the pavement. Every time she saw a young male student, she could not help wondering whether he had been inside her, filled her with cum. Had he been the one to fist her? The one who had sodomised her? Worse still, she was terrified of meeting the austere woman with the ponytail who had escorted and paid her, the only woman who knew what she had done. Well, not the only one, but she doubted the three other women who had gone through the same experience would want to stop and make small talk.
All of which bought her back to the reason she was here. She put down the coffee cup, removed her purse and took the small strip of paper out of it. Written on it, in small neat handwriting, was a mobile phone number. Joanne had found it in her bag the morning after and felt physically sick when she saw it - members of the Hillingdon Club were supposedly barred from making contact with the women they "employed", and she had signed a contract stating that she would not discuss her activities that evening with anybody. She had no idea how it had come to be in her possession. Had Ms Ponytail put it in as she went by? Had one of the students followed her through the college as she left? How else could it have got in there? Who did it belong to?
There was, of course, only one way to find out the answers - call the number. Did she need to know the answers? Should she call the number? Her head spinning in confusion she had, she had dropped the kids off at school and left her husband snoring after a night shift before coming into town, paying in the cash she had kept hidden in a drawer.
And now she sat with a phone number, a slice of cake and a cup of black coffee.
Call? Don't call?
What should she do?
All in all, she decided, the best thing to do was eat the cake.
Having delayed thinking about the problem for two minutes but feeling better for consuming 470 calories, she made her choice. And dialled.
"Hello?"
She didn't know what she was expecting (maybe a Bond villain drawl or horror movie cackle?), but it wasn't this. The voice that answered sounded normal, youthful. Like someone who had just been woken up. She was momentarily flustered, dumbstruck.
"Hello." Damn! Was that the best she could come up with?
"Erm... who is this?" The man on the opposite end of the farm had obviously picked up without checking who was calling and was now ever so slightly confused.
"My name's..." Should she give her real name? What should she say? "Jo. My name's Jo and I... found your number..."
"Found it?"
"Yes. I found it. In my bag. On Tuesday evening..."
There was a pause as the man thought back - what had he been doing Wednesday evening? Joanne's self-worth began to plummet further: was an evening of debauchery really so normal that it didn't stand out as being unusual? Or was this anything to do with the Hillingdon Club at all?
On the other end of the line, the penny finally dropped.
"Shit!! It's You! Wow! Erm... I never expected... Wow! Where are you?"
The question, like the voice, took her by surprise; this wasn't the way this conversation was supposed to be! She was so shocked by his pleasant tone, by his puppy-dog excitement, by the way he was talking to her like she was an old friend, she spoke without thinking.
"I'm in Michaelhouse but..."
"Opposite Caius?"
"Yes, but..."
"I'll be there in 10!"
Joanne stared at her phone in disbelief. What the fuck had just happened? And more importantly, what the fuck was she going to do? She could call back but what would she say? Leave, she thought, just get up and go... but then she realised that she had now given her own number away. What if he kept calling? What if he called when she was at home? What if...?
Reluctantly, she accepted her fate and ordered another coffee.
It was more like 15 minutes later that he walked through the door. Joanne knew it was him instantly; he was younger than the usual clientele, more casually dressed He was also, she thought, drop dead gorgeous: tall and muscular (the St Cedd's Boat Club hoody he wore explained how he had got that physique) with a mop of unruly brown hair and pale blue eyes that scanned the room. When they settled on her, he smiled and began to walk over to her.
"Jo?" he asked, and she nodded before taking a sip of coffee.
"Wow! I'm Dan! It's good to..." He began before she interrupted him.
"What do you want?" she asked coldly. "And how the fuck did your number get in my bag?" Good looking or not, she wasn't going to let his boyish charms stop her from getting answers. His eyes flicked away from hers, and he looked sheepish for the first time.
"Well... I think I may owe you an apology... I was a bit drunk and I... I..."
"Fucked me up the arse?" She enjoyed the way he squirmed in his seat at the crudity of her words.
"Ermm..."
"Fucked me up the arse when I'd asked you not to?"
"Err... I suppose..."
"Fucked my arse and came inside me. Can you even guess how much it hurt?"
"Look, I'm sorry!! I used lube and I thought it would be ok but I know..." He paused and looked around helplessly; this was obviously not going the way he'd planned. "I'm sorry." he repeated lamely.
Joanne paused for a few seconds, taking another sip of coffee. "So how did I get your number? I thought it was all supposed to be anonymous."
"It is but I..." He paused again, looking for the right words; it was clear that this was not going the way he had expected and know what to say next. "I had it already written out and slipped it into your stocking tops while..."
"While you anally raped me." Joanne finished for him matter of factly, and she could have sworn he turned green. She was beginning to enjoy this! She thought about the long list of improbable events that had lead her here: the number being slipped inside her lingerie and going unnoticed as she was released from her restraints; the fact he has given it to her and not one of the other women; the fact she hadn't noticed it when undressing; the way it had fallen into her bag and not onto the floor; and that she had noticed it, rescued it, before the prying eyes of her family. And, of course, the fact that she had called him. Maybe this was meant to be? She sighed and relented.
"To be fair, I was spread-eagled and on offer, and I suppose you had paid enough money to fuck me wherever you wanted to." She smiled ruefully.