The Strangest People
By T.E Hodden
www.RoanePublishing.com
Copyright ©2016 Roane Publishing
A Roane Publishing Free Read by T.E. Hodden
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
It was either late night or early morning. Jet lag and nervous energy stopped me being sure. I couldn't face the city yet, so I was in the hotel closest to the airport. I sat at the bar, and watched the jets swooping down towards the runway. Each time they passed over the hotel, the bar shook, and the bottles on the shelves did a little dance. The ice in my tumbler shook and chimed. It was just me, my coffee, and my book.
“You don't mind if I sit here do you?” A woman leaned next to me. She was brown haired, caramel skinned, and had a smile in a shade of white nature did not supply. She wore a short leather skirt, under a tight red top, with a necklace that hung down towards her breast. Her build was slight and perky.
I gave her a shy smile, and shifted over a little.
She sat on the stall next to me, looked around her, and chewed her lip before meeting my eyes. “Okay, this is going to sound a little weird, but…any chance you would order me a drink?” Her eyes sparkled as she spoke. The woman saw my expression and furrowed her brow. She shut up, leaned close, and put a hand on my arm. “Well, sure. Mine would be a vodka and cranberry with soda please.”
I nodded to the barman, he raised an eyebrow, and made the drinks. Behind me, I sensed somebody moving. I looked to the windows, to the reflections. I noticed a burly man with a full beard and clipped hair, dressed in a plain, grey suit. He was far too interested in looking over my shoulder. His eyes were full of fire.
The girl gave me a look, her eyebrows wriggling as she tried to implore me. I took some cash from my wallet and paid for her drink, wondering why the barman was giving me knowing looks.
“I know.” The girl glanced at the floor. “You meet the strangest people at airports.”
“Yeah, that's me.”
“No. …I mean, I know all this seems weird.”
“Why did I just buy you a drink?” I felt myself turning red. “People don't usually want me to buy them drinks. And... Really not...”
“Oh.” She giggled a little. “You have such a cool voice. Is that English or something?”
“Welsh.”
She looked at me blankly.
“The other kind of British. Look...” I edged away. “I really don't mean to be rude, but...”
“You are sitting in a bar. A strange woman invites herself to sit next you, pretty much orders her own drink for you, and makes big eyes at you.” She sipped her drink. “Right now, you are thinking that I am a prostitute fishing for a job.”
“I wasn't thinking that.”
“No?” She smiled. You are too sweet? Too polite? Anyway, it is pretty much true. I'm a prostitute. I'm here to pick up lonely travellers.”
“Oh. I'm...”
“I know. You are the guy in here who looks the least interested in me. But that is kind of the point.” She nodded at the big bear of a guy with his grey suit. “Look, he is expecting me to be here picking up guys. And right now I am...” She didn't quite have the words, but there was an exhaustion behind her eyes. Maybe not physical exhaustion, but she seemed completely emotionally drained. A shell. “Just, let me pretend for a while. We have a drink, I drop hints, you think I am flirting, and when the penny drops, you see me away. Okay?”
I shrugged. “Okay. But...why me?”
“No offence, but...you kind of looked like the least interested person in the bar.” She inclined her head. “That guy over there is going to be interested, he has been checking me out all evening. And the silver haired one is pretty much fifty fifty.” She drummed her fingers on the bar. “You are not exactly sending out signals that you want to be, you know, partying, so...”
“You chose me because I am the least likely prospect in the bar?”
She tapped the edge of my book. “There was more to it than that. You aren't getting drunk. You aren't eyeing anybody up. And you are reading...” She looked at the cover of my book. “Dracula? Really? I love Dracula.”
I smiled. “I do too.”
“It's like... All these stories in one. A man at Dracula's castle. A ghost story where the crew of a ship are picked off one by one, and can't escape. The hunting of the Vampire...”
“And the battle of doctors to save a sick girl.” I felt my cheeks redden. “That... I don't know that was always what I clung onto as a kid. This young woman, who was still a girl really, on the cusp of life and death, and the doctor is having this sort of running battle to keep her alive...”
“With the garlic plants, and stuff. Yeah!” The girl looked excited. “I love that.”
I smiled again.
“So, what's your name?” She gave me a warm smile. The big man was walking behind me.
“Paddington.”
“Really?” She covered her smile with her fingers. “First or last?”
“First.” I let out a sigh. “It is a long story.”
“Yeah... I don't think I can keep this ruse up long enough for that.” She looked at the bear of a man. She finished her drink, and patted my shoulder. “I guess...thanks for not being a complete jerk?”
I tried to laugh, but it sounded hollow and dumb. She gave me a look with eyes that were big, dark, cold and full of sorrows. For a moment, her mask fell away. She stopped being sultry, and smouldering. She was raw and exposed.
“Actually, this was nice.” She patted my hand.
I watched her walk away. She became a predator on the second step. There was a wiggle in her step, a sway on her hips, and a smile that played at innocence, but promised so much more. She was most the way to another guy, when the bear of a man grabbed her wrist and hissed in her ear.
I looked at the barman, and he made a point of ignoring me.
The ape of a man let the girl go. She rubbed her wrist, and walked towards one of the guys, fixing an ersatz smile on her lips. I hurried hurried after her, and did what was the bravest thing of my life so far. I could not save her life. But I could maybe save her from an hour of her life.
My heart jerked against my chest. I was sure the police were about to swoop in arrest me. I stepped into her way and gave a terrified smile.
“How much?”
She shrugged. “For what?”
“A couple of hours at my room?” I looked at the floor. “That long story? Breakfast? Anything but being here?”
She looked at me a few moments and understood. She gave me a relieved little smile. “So... Do you have a credit card?”
I nodded. “Easiest way to book into a hotel.”
“Your own card. I mean, I will charge your business account, but you get to explain it yourself.”
“It's my own card. I'm not travelling business class.” I slipped her the card. We ducked into a quiet corner, and she rummaged in her purse for a phone with a card reader. “So what do you want? Straight up? Any extras? Do I need to explain my price list?”
I was glowing red like a beacon. “Don't make this awkward.”
“My boss is listening.”
“Just... a couple of hours?”
She nodded. “Okay. Done. Want a receipt?”
I shook my head.
She stroked my thigh with a playfu
l smile. “So, now you have me for a few hours. What do we do?” She grabbed my wrist, glanced at the ape man in the corner, as we ran for the door.