Chapter 4: Getting To Know The Foreign Men
"You see that wasn't so bad was it?" said Sharon.
"You did well. You looked quite professional actually," agreed Charlotte.
The meal was over. There was a dancefloor. The lights went much lower and music which had been present in the background was turned up louder, but not so loud that conversation could not occur. She wondered what sort of music Far Eastern businessmen were listening to these days? She expected Chinese music, strange calming harmonic pieces which would serve well as background music, but without demanding attention from the listener. But no, it seemed the businessmen present, keen to find western women for casual sex, wanted music to set a more urgent and sexual western tone. The recordings were largely familiar disco and soul hits of yesteryear, laced by smooth rock ballads and guitar rock from over the years.
In fact she had not heard a lot of this stuff for some years herself, as music players and computers of all kinds cost money most of the British could no longer afford, even though they were cheap by historical standards. If you or your man couldn't fix it yourself, or the parts were no longer easily available as technologies were repeatedly outdated and replaced in the shops, then you had to suffer without. There were just more important things to do these days than spending large amounts of precious time trying to find parts you could hardly afford. The problem was that the Brits weren't buying leisure equipment any more, hadn't been for years, so there wasn't much of the stuff floating around any more. If there had been more foreign workers from the economically booming states in the UK then there would have been more equipment so the Brits could have had the cast offs, the secondhand goods. But the Brits on their own just weren't a market anymore. Nobody, from the far east or wherever, bothered selling good things to them any more, because none of them had any disposable cash. There were far more lucrative markets elsewhere in the world. Britain was only useful for cheap labour, when it was needed, and even cheap labour was not always needed. So if Brits hardly earned anything there was little point in trying to sell them much. They no longer counted as a market.
It must have been much like this in Africa in Charlotte's youth, where many people had gone without, and many products were unavailable. Even Africa was well ahead of Britian now, thought Charlotte. The roles had been reversed. How it had happened like this she could little understand. All she knew was that somehow it had happened. Africa was a booming growing economy, or set of economies, while Britain, and the US and other parts of Europe generally were economic backwaters. They had given or sold their own skills away, and their peoples were poor and underemployed, unwanted.
The Chinaman came around again, smiling and coaxing. He spoke Mandarin to the men. At first she wondered what he was asking them to do. It was as if the Chinese men had been given orders for there was an immediate response on the tables their host visited. The men began to rise and approach the women mixed amongst them, reaching out their hands in what seemed to be polite formal requests.
"Ladies," exhorted the Chinaman, "Allow the guests to ask you for dance. They are your customers, remember! I do not want to see refusals. Let them choose, without your resistance. It is time to dance. They may swop partners whenever they choose so it is your duty to be willing and flexible. If any look shy or you are not chosen I like to see you encourage our guests to dance."
"Well that explains that!" said Sharon, who had been wondering what was intended. "I like a good dance." As the Chinaman disappeared past the next table she was instantly accosted by the two Chinamen nearest. Having seen her naked already this evening Charlotte was sure her friend would not be short of offers. The problem for Sharon was who should she dance with? Would she upset the one she did not accept? She looked for the Chinaman for guidance but he was off. The problem was solved by the two men themselves.
"You go first," said one gentleman, "I shall request the next dance."
"Okay," said the other lucky winner, kindly speaking in simple English so Sharon could understand the gentleman's agreement. He said something to the chivalrous man in Chinese also.
Charlotte wondered how these seemingly polite business people spoke about the British women between themselves. Were they crude or respectful? It occurred to her that it did not matter which way they thought about them. The Chinese wanted something from them and were prepared to do business with them. For that to take place lust was essential. If the Chinaman was to be believed they would make good money tonight, the first good money she had made in a long while! She worried only that perhaps she would not be seen as attractive as her friend Sharon, who everyone could see was remarkably fit and desirable.
Charlotte need not have worried. The Chinese man sat nearby who had put his arm on her leg earlier renewed his efforts now, following the Chinaman's instruction. "Will you dance with me lady?" he asked. Charlotte had inwardly recoiled at first before. Chinese men had hardly been her ideal for a sex partner in the past, hardly the subject of her old fantasies. His haircut was just too unfashionable to be cool, but these were her attitudes of the past. What British man now cared for fashion today, in the face of economic reality, and it was so long since she had been offered sex by a stranger that the mere thought was becoming exciting as the prospect approached. The man's teeth appeared rather yellowed, his nose rather too flat, neck a little too thick and stocky for her tastes. But he was big and strong and she was able to imagine the excitement of having a strange man's cock between her legs. He had spoken politely to her before and with good humour so she found she did not feel too uncomfortable.
