Bright Young Things by Scarlett Thomas Read Free Book Online

point they would smile politely and explain that their body isn’t for sale. How hard would that be? Emily’s already earned £200 just for being this guy’s date. Which of course leads her to speculate: just how much
could
she charge for a fuck?
    She’s pissed enough to sound bold.
    ‘Another two hundred,’ she says. ‘Cash.’
    David points at the lift. ‘Let’s go, then.’
    They don’t speak all the way up to the room. Emily’s wondering if David is a psychopath. Do new-age book reps have it in them to bludgeon someone to death? She thinks not. Anyway, she reminds herself, any one of the men she’s slept with in the past could have been a psycho. The only difference between them and David is that he’s paying for it. She’s been alone, naked, in strange places with thirty other men before. Why should this one be any different?
    The hotel room is big and comfortably furnished. Emily walks over to the bed and slips off her high heels. Her feet immediately feel better and she starts to relax. She notices how drunk she really is. And although she hasn’t realised before, she’s also dead tired. Will he expect her to leave afterwards? Or will she be able to crash out in this big, comfortable bed?
    ‘Drink?’ offers David, opening the mini bar.
    ‘Vodka. Thanks.’
    He passes Emily a small bottle of vodka.
    ‘Orange, Coke or tonic?’ he asks, scanning the bar for a mixer.
    ‘Coke, thanks.’
    He passes her a can of Coke and a glass. He selects a small bottle of Scotch and drinks it straight from the bottle. He’s shaking a bit, like he’s nervous.
    ‘Do you want to take a shower?’ asks Emily, remembering some dialogue from an episode of
The Bill
she saw last week.
    ‘No,’ says David. ‘Do you?’
    She shrugs. ‘Not really.’
    ‘Good.’
    He sits next to her on the bed, and starts rubbing her leg with his hand. His breathing is heavy, his eyes fixed on the wall in front of them. Emily sips her drink and lights a cigarette. She offers one to David and he takes it. She wonders what should happen next, whether things will happen naturally, or whether she’ll have to initiate the actual sex. For a moment she considers – with some hope – the possibility that he’s one of those ‘talkers’ you hear about who don’t actually want penetrative sex.
    Then he takes his hand off her leg.
    ‘Strip,’ he says.
    ‘Sorry?’
    He blushes. ‘Can you take your clothes off, please?’
    Emily stands up nervously. She pulls off her stockings one by one, trying to make each movement fluid and seductive. David stares. She can’t tell whether he’s impressed or not. When the stockings are off, she removes her knickers, and dangles them from one finger momentarily, before dropping them on the floor. She almost laughs, imagining what she’ll tell Lucy. The funny thing is, she’s almost getting into this. She’s tried to have dirty sex with boyfriends in the past, done the whole stripping thing for some of them. But at the end of the day it’s always just your boyfriend sitting there. This time it’s for real. If only David was a bit less of a dickhead, this could be a total turn-on.
    Emily peels her dress over her head, and there she is, naked. She hasn’t noticed before, but David’s got his cock out. It’s small and stubby, not very erect. He’s pulling at it distractedly. Not wanking, maybe just trying to get himself aroused. Surely he would be aroused by now, though? She’s just stripped for him, for God’s sake. Maybe he’s a New Man.
    He puts out his cigarette. ‘Come here,’ he says.
    Afterwards he cries, and Emily just sits there smoking, sore and slightly hypnotised. The whole thing has taken just under three hours. He hasn’t asked for anything kinky. He hasn’t even asked for a blow job. All he has done is push his little cock into her, relentlessly, for almost three hours, like some kind of sewing machine. For the first hour Emily did all the things that usually work: moaning,