One evening Ron came round to collect the rent and as she often did she asked him if he wanted a cup of tea or a glass of wine. He accepted and they sat at the kitchen table chatting together. He could see she was not as cheerful as she usually was and asked her what was wrong. She told him all about her money problems and the lack of options she felt she had. She told him that some of the female students in a similar position to her earned good money working in the sex industry – lap dancing, strip tease, stripograms etc. She said she had even considered doing this herself, she was that desperate. She had actually gone to a club once with a couple of male students, just to see what they were like. She didn't really mind the idea of showing off her body, but the problem for her was that the whole thing seemed so degrading with the men shouting and making crude comments at the girls. This put her off the idea completely. It was even rumoured that a few girls worked in massage parlours, which were really brothels. But having sex with several strangers in a day was out of the question. She laughed wryly and said that perhaps what she really needed was a sugar daddy!
Ron then told her that he occasionally visited the massage parlours and they were indeed brothels and he had met a couple of girls who had said that they were students, so the rumours were true. Lisa looked surprised at this revelation. Ron said she shouldn't be surprised , his wife Elaine had died 7 years ago and, despite what young people often thought, men his age still had the urge for sex. Ron said with a little laugh that he would love to be her sugar daddy but probably wasn't rich enough, and she probably wouldn't want someone as old as him anyway. Lisa said that age didn't really matter as he was a nice man who she liked, and that was something that would be important to her if she ever found a sugar daddy. Although having money would be important too, she added! They carried on in this way for a while, talking about sex in a jokey, slightly flirtatious way, but both getting the impression that the other was maybe a bit serious about it too.
After their second glass of wine Ron drew a deep breath and decided to come out and say what he had been thinking. He owned a second house that had been divided into two apartments. A couple of years ago a young female tenant, Sandra, in her late twenties had also got into money difficulties. She was not a student but her job was low paid, she had borrowed on her credit cards to their maximum and her boyfriend, who had shared the apartment with her, had left . To cut a long story short , he said, they came to an arrangement whereby he would have sex with her twice a week in return for the rent. Then, rather tentatively, he said perhaps we could have a similar arrangement .
Lisa had had an inkling that the conversation was leading in this direction but actually hearing Ron say it was, in a way, a bit of a shock to her. Flirting a bit and hinting that she would consider sex for money with someone was one thing but being faced with an actual offer reduced to her a stunned silence. Ron thought he had upset her and immediately apologised, said it was the 2 glasses of wine and she should forget he'd said anything. Lisa shook her head, put her hand over Rons and said it was OK she wasn't insulted or upset but she didn't know quite what to say. It was something she would consider but needed time to think about it. Rons face lit up at this and said it's not a definite no then. Lisa agreed it was not a definite no, but suggested they talk about it tomorrow. Ron got up to leave and as he walked to the door Lisa could see from the lump in his trousers just how excited the conversation had made him.
After Ron had left Lisa sat there for a while longer thinking about what had been said. Certainly it would solve her money problems. The rent was £150 a week. She would have to work in the bar for 20 hours or more to make that much money. Instead she could make it in 2 hours having sex with Ron. The only question was could she do it? She pondered on that for a while. It was quite a step to take. Lisa was not promiscuous, indeed she had had very few boyfriends, but if she did this she would effectively become a whore. A discreet whore, a whore with only one client, but nevertheless a whore. Could she live with that image of herself? The answer she decided was yes, in the circumstances she could. Lisa was strong willed and confident and she had a life plan. The first part of that plan was to leave university with a first class degree, and she would do whatever it took to get it. Decision made she thought , "I will do it". She raised her glass in a mock toast and drained the last of her wine, "To whoredom and good times for Ron" she giggled.
