Preview:
After days of texting back and forth, culminating in Harper sending several pictures of herself that she used in her ads, the individual running “escort apartments” suggested that they meet. The man she was speaking with called himself Owen, and insisted that he’d worked with many sex workers over the years and that their system was safe. Beyond that, he wouldn’t give her more details until they spoke in person. In any other profession, that might have been a red flag, but Harper appreciated the precautions.
That was how she found herself outside of Bounds Green tube station one afternoon, waiting on the curb and triple-checking the last text over an encrypted messaging service, whilst she looked for the dark blue Sedan she’d been told Owen would arrive in. Harper had arrived early to minimize her stress as she waited, but Owen had just messaged to let her know he’d be a few minutes late. Those minutes were torturous. A police car drove past and she didn’t dare to breathe until it was out of sight.
Ten minutes after he was supposed to arrive, a car that fit the description slowed as it turned around the curb. A large tanned man waved at her from behind the window, gesturing for her to walk along the road. Owen drove slowly and pulled into a side road, then lowered his window just as Harper approached.
“Nicole, right?” he sought confirmation of her working alias, one well-groomed eyebrow raised at her.
“Yes,” Harper agreed. She slung her backpack off of her shoulder. Harper had decided to dress in her usual casual clothes, rather than her work ones, but from the way Owen was looking her up and down, she slightly regretted that. The idea that she needed to dress up and present a certain image of what a hooker looked like seemed ridiculous, when the person she was meeting already worked with them. Surely he knew that the look and the attitude were an act for the clients.
“Well? Get in, then,” Owen responded.
Harper tugged open the door and dropped her backpack onto the floor, then climbed into the passenger seat. Up close, Owen wasn’t nearly as intimidating as his broadness had made him look from outside. His hair was coiffed, and even including the volume of his hair, he and Harper were the same height when seated. When he grinned at Harper, while reversing the car, his teeth were just a little too white to be natural.
“Sorry about me being late and all. I got a little bit held up, had to pick up one of the girls from Alexandra Palace and drop her at the flat first,” he apologized.
“It’s fine. Not like I had anywhere else to be today,” Harper replied.
“Great, that’s great,” Owen said, then turned onto a new road that Harper didn’t quite recognize. She rarely had any cause to stray far from the station, when she visited the more northern parts of London. Her eyes darted back and forth between the road and Owen, keeping an eye on his demeanor as well as memorizing the turns they took as they got further from the station. He continued to speak, after a pause to focus on the road,
“I’m gonna take you to one of the flats we’re using, there’s only one girl there right now, and I checked that she’s not got a booking,” A left turn. “but we’ll just go there first, then have a look at a couple of others if they’re not too busy.”
“That sounds fine. Is it far from the station? You were vague over the phone. I get why, I just want to check if it’d be walkable.” Harper replied. Owen took a right turn.
“Literally a minute from here, now. You could walk it in twenty,” he assured, and true to his word in less than a minute they’d reached their destination.
The area they pulled into was residential, with two run-down looking blocks of flats followed by rows of houses, on both sides. Quiet and unassuming. A place multiple people could go missing from, before anyone would start to ask questions…
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Title: A Safe Brothel Set-up.
Summary: Harper starts working at a brothel, needing the extra funds, and finds the brothel owner showing her around to be very frustrating. The owner isn’t used to being the one who’s at risk, and doesn’t know what reaction might be in store from the sex workers he hires. (Warning: Mentions of sexual assault – though no-one is sexually assaulted in this story, descriptions of blood and gore.)
Word Count: ~3000 words.
Jack Talks About Sex Work 