5 - Martin

I got changed out of my date clothes, taking great care to hang the dress so I didn’t mess it up. I got a shower and then threw myself on my bed and opened the date app. 

I took off my unavailable setting and immediately had a request pop up asking if I was free tomorrow night. I looked over the guy’s profile and it didn’t seem like anything too interesting. 

Four hours at a dance club from 10-2 am. Ugh, not only did I not dance unless drunk, I did NOT dance in heels. 

I was lost looking at the guy’s profile when I got another request, this time from Chris. I grinned like an idiot and went to his profile. I was curious to read it again now that I actually met him to see if it held up. 

Hmmm, seems just like him. I had to hope that other men wouldn’t be too bad, it’s not like I could afford to be picky with the kind of money I needed. I accepted both dates and turned off the light, putting my phone on the charger. 

I decided I would quit my retail job in the morning.

I was just drifting off into the darkness when my phone pinged. I picked it up to see another date request, this one for next Monday night. 

Whoa! Popular huh? I had to hope I could drum up some interest and maybe get some regulars.

I accepted it without much thought and turned my phone on silent. I had a class at 9 am and I was beat, anyone else could wait. 

I woke up after having an amazing dream about Chris, where I did go home with him. Damn this was going to mess up any hope for concentration today. 

I picked up my phone to turn off the alarm and immediately saw I had nine other date requests!! I quickly noticed that four were from Chris, scheduling things over the next couple weeks. 

I accepted all of Chris’ requests and decided the others would have to wait until after class when I could stalk their profiles. I wanted to give him first dibs to book me since I felt comfortable with him. If he had wanted to try anything sexual, he more than had the chance last night and he was a perfect gentleman.

After class I quickly remembered I’d taken a date for tonight and booked a salon appointment. I’d have to go return my stuff from last night anyhow. I ran to a coffee shop on campus and got breakfast, the perfect chance to stalk these guys on the dating app. 

Before I knew it, over an hour flew by and I had another class to get to. I accepted a few of the dates and flat out rejected two citing “unavailable.” The guys were obvious egotistical womanizers and desperate for money or not I couldn’t handle that. If a guy says the wrong thing to me, I might slap him. 

The rest of the day flew by as my mind seemed to drift all over the place. I glanced through my emails and happened to notice the email confirmation for my date with Chris tomorrow. He had booked me from 10 am until 10 pm. Holy shit!! 

I remembered vaguely that Haven said there were long date discounts, and discounts for day time dates. But I was making $600 for the whole day and evening. $600 to watch people play tennis, stare at a hot guy and then probably go to dinner?? 

Hell yes, sign me up!

The date for tonight just listed dress code as “club attire” … like I had any fucking idea what that meant. I was glad the guy hadn’t wanted to pick a specific ensemble. I settled on a dress that was a little shorter than I liked but I found some hot knee high boots that had a thick heel so it would hopefully be more comfortable than a pump. 

I was probably going to be hot in the boots but the dress didn’t leave much to the imagination and was strapless so I figured it would balance out. I had requested my hair be flat ironed and it was pulled into a high ponytail. 

I had a lot more make-up on than I cared for but it was too late to change it. I was supposed to meet this guy at a coffee shop that’s on the same block as the club. I stuck my ID and $80 cash in my bra, and was actually able to fit my phone in the back of my boot. 

I really didn’t want to take a purse and I damn sure wasn’t holding a clutch all night. I didn't know if they had a coat check but there was no way I'd leave my phone somewhere.

As I approached the coffee shop I noticed a very short pale blonde guy outside in a suit, smoking and on the phone. He was easily my height and I was 5'6. I prayed that wasn’t my date, I absolutely hated being around smokers, it was the biggest possible turn off for me. 

I slowed down a bit as I passed him and noticed he was wearing a black shirt with light blue tie, which is what my email confirmation said. 

Damn it! 

He quickly ended his call and I forced a smile, “hi there, I’m Eve.” 

I held out my hand as if to shake his, but instead he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me into him, tossing the cigarette to the ground. 

“Hey beautiful, I’m Martin. Damn baby you are … perfect. Hottest girl I’ve gotten from Haven by far,” he said, licking his lips. 

Oh jesus, was it too late to run? 

“Well, that’s quite a compliment, thank you Martin,” I said, trying to be as polite as I could stand while also backing up from him. 

He kept his hand around my back and began to walk me. 

“So tonight it’s my brother and his girlfriend and some guys we play basketball with, they’re always on my ass because I only do one night stands. I never hit the same girl more than once. They think I need to slow down and get serious, so I thought, what the hell maybe if I find a good enough girl, like a serious girl with brains that’s also hot I could just keep hiring her to come back and make a good impression, I don’t want a real girlfriend,” he explained. 

So he’s a whore and wants to stay a whore? Great, I hope he's as honest with them as he's being with me! 

I let out a nervous laugh and quickly tried to recover, “okay have you … said anything about me or how we met?” 

“Nah, nothing. Just said I met someone new and I was bringing her tonight. Maybe I don’t know, maybe we met at the grocery store, how about that? I like to cook, so I do hit up the store a lot.” 

He explained what neighborhood he was from and what store he’s normally at, and before I knew it he was grabbing my hand to hold and we were near the front of the club. Martin walked right to the front of the line and got a high five from the bouncer, all while pulling me behind him. 

Martin turned into my neck and spoke loudly over the music, “what’s your favorite drink, I should probably know that by heart.”

I gave him a couple options and he led me to the bar. I planned to slowly milk one drink all night if possible. While waiting on the bartender, he spotted his friends at a table and waived.

They were in a corner booth and I was never more grateful I wouldn’t have to be standing in these boots all night. They were better than heels but I wasn’t really used to wearing any type of heel and my feet let me know it. 

Martin grabbed the drinks and turned to me, “follow me babe.” 

Martin surprised me, he wasn’t as big of a creep as I thought, but I think he was also trying to show his friends he could be boyfriend material. The night flew by with him whipping me out to the dance floor a couple times. 

His brother was pushing for me to go skiing with them in Colorado in a few weeks and I seriously hoped I wouldn’t have to do that. I didn’t really sign up for dates in different time zones but if Martin wanted them to think we were getting serious, he would have to take me. 

I had been at the table with a couple girls while the guys were at the bar. Martin came back but the rest of the guys hit the floor and waved for their girls to follow. 

I began laughing as I saw how bad of a dancer his brother was and he was totally goofy. I leaned my head back toward Martin and said, “are you watching this?” 

He got close to my ear and said, “I’d rather watch you beautiful.” 

I kept my gaze straight ahead and felt him snake his arm around my waist. I felt his mouth near my neck and it was like he was smelling me. I immediately cringed inside and tried to figure out how to get out of this fiasco. 

I noticed one of his friends watching us and felt guilty ... like I at least owed it to Martin to look the part. How would I do that without leading him on?  

I leaned back into Martin just as the DJ announced it was last call. I suddenly felt the bulge in his pants as he shifted at my back since my dress was extremely thin. His face was still buried in my neck and hair, and he groaned. 

At that exact moment everyone came back to the table to say their good-byes and I shot up. The girls all hugged, even hugged me. His brother said it was great to see Martin with a nice girl, and hoped they’d see more of me. 

Martin took my hand and pulled me into him, “of course you will!” 

Thankfully once we left the club Martin didn’t try anything, we just made small talk while my Uber came which was only a few minutes. He only kissed my hand good night and said he really appreciated me coming out. I felt like I got off pretty easy.

I gave Martin a brief hug and got in the car as quickly as I could. Whew, this was … well what was it? I mean yeah, it was outside my comfort zone only because I wasn’t attracted to Martin like I had been to Chris … but really he was an okay guy and he didn’t do anything that crossed a line. 

I had to think about how far I really was willing to take things. 

Would it only be acceptable to kiss a guy or have heavy PDA if I liked him? I mean if I am going to date strangers I don’t really think I can have the luxury. 

Ugh, I had some thinking to do!