Copyright: lagneaublanc
Many thanks to JonB1969 for the editing and corrections and to Angela from Douala for the inspiration.
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"Hi, are you lonely?"
"No, I'm just thinking."
"What are you thinking about?"
"Just work."
"Do you want some company?" She seated herself very close to me, her arm almost brushing mine.
I sighed and shifted my look from gazing at the Atlantic to check her out. She was very pretty, a lighter dark skin, more Ethiopian than Cameroonian, big eyes made bigger by the exaggerated make-up. Her painted lips smiled coyly and invitingly. I sipped my beer and leaned back on the plastic chair, thinking how I could make her go away. It was almost dark already; the fishermen's small boats were paddling to their night rest in the small harbour.
Trying to revive the conversation, she asked, "What's your name?"
I looked at her again. She was vulgar, though sexy as they can be. Her dress resembled mostly an extra large T-shirt, covering only one of her shoulders, hugging her breasts and waist and ending on the top of her tights. Her bra (or was it a swimsuit?) strap was peeking on her bared shoulder. Small face, pretty nose. She was a hot little thing, supported by some extra centimetres of her improbable stilettos.
I lied, "I'm Henry."
"Nice to meet you, Henry. I'm Fleur."
We shook hands; it seemed inevitable. She flashed her shining teeth at me and arched her back, pushing her breasts forward.
"Where are you from, Henry?" Her English was very good, but with a slight French tang, like most south Cameroon.
"I'm from London," I lied again. "And you?"
"I'm from Douala."
"And what are you doing here in Kribi?"
"I came to have fun with some friends." She never lost her smile.
I drank some more local beer and shifted my gaze back to the sea.
Fleur was silent for a minute, clearly not happy with where this was not going. But she grew bolder and, leaning forward, letting her hair brush my cheek, whispered in my ear:
"Do you want to go spend some time together?"
Relieved to see that I destabilized her with my role reversal, I turned and found her face a few centimetres from my own. But I resisted the temptation to kiss her, and only smirked.
I asked with fake innocence, "What do you suggest?"
She smiled and leaned back, like a successful fisherman, letting my gaze naturally slide from her face to her provocative bare shoulder.
"We can go and dance, or maybe go to your hotel..." She let the suggestion linger.
The fatigue and deception came over me. I wanted to be alone and reflect on my loneliness. Looking the other way, I smiled sadly and said, "It's very tempting, but I don't think so."
Fleur was clearly disappointed. She moved uneasily in the chair, trying to show some more flesh, but I didn't react.
"You don't like me?"
I looked back at her and smiled sadly. "No, you are very pretty. But I just don't want to be that person."
She looked puzzled. "What person?"
I shrugged. "Oh, you know, the white expatriate with the amazingly sexy young African girl."
"What do you mean?" She sounded annoyed.
"You know the type I mean. These people who work for big companies, or the UN, making a lot of money here. And they always have pretty young girls like you hanging around them. I just don't like it."
She sneered as if to mock my innocence, and unfamiliarity with the basic facts of life. Then we both drank in silence, trying to reel back from a too honest moment. Fleur then caressed my forearm with her long painted nails. I moved my arm away.
"You are very sensitive."
"I'm sorry. I think I'd rather be alone."
She removed her hand, but didn't get up.
She whispered, "Tell me more about these men, what are they like?"
"I'm sure you know what I mean. They are like in their fifties or more probably have a wife or ex-wife somewhere. But they come to Africa for work, and end up in a place like this, checking out the girls like..." I couldn't finish the sentence. All the possibilities seemed too offensive.
"And what would they do to me?"
"Oh, I am sure they would love you. You are very sexy."
"Thank you. Would they buy me a drink?"
"For sure." I smiled, refusing to rise to the challenge. "And then they would suggest you come with them to their hotel."
"Which hotel are they in?" It was clearly a loaded question, different hotels probably standing for different cliental.
"I don't know. What's the most expensive hotel here?"
She thought for a moment, and then said, "The Palm Beach Resort."
"Is it nice?"
"Very."
"So they will take you there. That's where they're staying. The company's paying anyway. Money isn't the issue."
"Are you in that hotel?"
"No."
Silence again. I was actually enjoying this, though I didn't quite see what she was getting from it. Surely she understood by now I wasn't game.
"So this man would ask me to come to his room?"
"Yes." I wetted my lips. My mouth felt strangely dry. "Actually, he will probably invite you and another girl, to have a party."
"Who?"
"I dunno, what about that one, standing over there?"
I gestured with my chin to a girl walking by the pier to be looked at by the group of French expatriates drinking Pastis. She was shorter than Fleur, and of darker complexion, her body was curvier and rounder as well, with a proper African ass. Like Fleur, she exuded sex.
"Monique?"
"Whatever. He would invite you both with him to the room."
This idea needed to sink in, and we both had to drink, before she launched me again.
"So we go the room?"
I swallowed my spit and continued, "In the room, he will give you a drink on the balcony, and watch how you move your asses a bit. Then he will tell you both to go and shower. And he will finish his whiskey."
I was picturing the image in my mind. The balcony, overlooking the beach, the girls, leaning on the rail, their asses hugged by the stretchable fabric of their cheap clothes, the wind softly blowing their hair extensions.
"Why shower?"
"I guess he wants you clean. And then both you and Monique will come out wrapped in big towels."