Pink Rainforest
Part 5 in my serialised short story. For those who haven’t read part 3, or want a recap, I’ve attached a link below. Hope you enjoy.
I turned a corner into a backstreet, stopping outside a drab love hotel. After smoking another cigarette, I walked through the sliding doors and went to the reception where a bland, middle aged man glanced up from his phone, rubbing the bags under his eyes with the slow movement of someone in a permanent daze.
The type of man perfect for this job, I thought.
“Room 505,” I said.
The man glanced over a monitor and replied in a weak voice, “Someone’s already there.”
“My boyfriend,” I said.
The man didn’t seem to care. He pointed down a hallway and returned his attention to his phone.
I walked down the red carpeted hallway, passing doors outlined in a velvet mesh, imagining the girls inside and wondering how many of them were paid. I came to the elevator, pressed the button and watched the numbers on the monitor descend. When it reached the ground floor, it opened with a jolt.
I stepped inside.
The doors closed.
I applied chap stick to my lips, dabbed perfume on my neck, had a gulp of whiskey from a flask I kept in my handbag, and popped a breath mint. My palms began to sweat and a tightness crept into my chest and around my neck, making it harder to breathe. How long could this elevator ride be? I wondered, watching the rise to the fifth floor.
“You’re okay,” I told myself, wiping my palms on my dress. I removed my coat and folded it over my arm, the elevator finally coming to a juddering halt.
“Hello,” the man said, opening the door seconds after I’d knocked. He wore gold-rimmed glasses and I immediately knew he was rich.
He stepped aside, bidding me in before closing the door with a click. Moving to the centre of the room, he inspected me with a stone-like seriousness. I stood with my arms limp at my sides, unsure what to do. Finally, seemingly satisfied, he removed his blazer and put it on a hanger.
“Fifty thousand yen is on the table. I was told that was for thirty minutes — Am I correct?” he said, speaking without ever looking me in the eye.
“Yes,” I replied, taking the money and stuffing it in my wallet.
“Good,” he said, slowly unbuttoning his shirt, revealing a tanned, athletic body. With his shirt off, he folded it and began stretching.
“There is gin and vodka in the refrigerator if you wish to have any,” he told me. “However, I do not have much time and would need to begin in five minutes. Be ready by then.”
I closed the bathroom door behind me, sighing, relieved. I preferred this type of man. They were the easiest to handle, even if they appeared cold. They only wanted sex and I only wanted my money, not some slobbering loser moaning about how much he loved me. I looked in the mirror and brushed a strand of hair from my face before returning to the room.
It was over in fifteen minutes.
The man dressed, said, “I will be going now,” then left.
I always felt repulsed after each encounter, but it varied in scale. On this occasion, it wasn’t so bad. The man seemed more concerned with getting a workout, flexing every now and again, barely paying me any attention. I understood that I was nothing more than an object to him and felt no need to satisfy him. I lay motionless and thought of places that were warm like Hawaii and all the beaches where I would wear a bikini instead of my coat, which lay creased on the floor.
I lit a cigarette and blew smoke towards the ceiling before pushing myself up from the hard mattress. The digital clock on the bedside table read a little after midnight. I went to the bathroom where I showered, scrubbing my body in the hot water and cloaking myself in the warm steam that filled the room. I dried off with a towel and slipped into my dress, wrapping into my coat before I left.
The hallway was eerily quiet, the corridor extending in both directions. I headed the way I came and took the same slow elevator down, down, down to the ground floor. The man at reception didn’t look up when I passed.
Outside, the night cold chafed. I put my hands in my pockets and started for Pink Rainforest.
