Chapter 2

He came into her hotel room timidly.

She offered him a seat on the bed, brought out a bottle of wine from the tiny hotel refrigerator and gave it to him before he could decline. „Open it.‟

He opened the cold bottle and handed it back to her. She gave him a glass instead to pour for himself.

„How do you like your work?‟ she asked him, extending another glass for him to pour some for her.

„Fine ma,‟ he replied, obviously confused at her gesture. He couldn‟t keep his eyes off her entire body, especially her ample bust and bare smooth legs. His eyes kept darting to them and away.

„Do you like the wine?‟ She asked him, sitting close to him. „I bought it for you this afternoon.‟

His attempt at answering failed. He cleared his throat, fidgeted in his seat, then shrugged. She smiled at him, sipped her drink and got up to walk to the television. She knew his eyes were keenly following her. She bent down to adjust the volume and she heard a sharp intake of breath. „Do you like this channel?‟

„Y…yes,‟ he stammered.

She returned to sit, this time sitting very close to him. „How much do I owe you?‟

He cleared his throat again. „J…just three thousand.‟

She nodded. „Okay. But I want you to do something for me. I am lonely here in Zaria, I just came in. I need a friend. Someone to keep me company. You seem like a nice guy. Would you like to be my friend?‟

He nodded. Still speechless.

She smiled. „Thank you. Do you have a girlfriend?‟

He was quiet for a while, probably thinking of why she was asking him such an intimate question.

She had been thinking of how best to approach him with her request. She finally decided to be direct; approach him cold. She had nothing to lose. "I am asking you that because I want to go out with you. I like you. Since I saw you this afternoon, I like you very much.‟

He shook his head slowly. „Madam I cannot.‟

„Why?‟

„Me and you are not desame level.‟

„How old are you?‟

He hesitated briefly then told her, „twenty-five.‟

Two years older than her but social status had made her seem much older.

She smiled. „Don‟t worry. It is going to be a secret. I don‟t want anybody to know I am going out with you. So don‟t tell anyone. We will be what they call secret lovers.‟

He didn't reply. He kept his head bowed.

„I like you very much. Do you like me too?‟

„I…I like you,‟ he said, discreetly looking her over from under his thick lashes. „But you don‟t know me.‟

„It doesn‟t matter. We will get to know each other very well when we start.‟ She smiled at him and he returned the smile.

She sipped her wine again. She noticed that he was very nervous. „Drink your wine.‟ She held his hand and helped lift his glass to his lips. He sipped a little. It was clear that he wasn't a drinker or a talker. She urged him to drink more. He obeyed, draining the glass and allowing her to refill it.

She reached over and kissed him on the lips. He responded. His mouth tasted clean and masculine and of wine. His response was reluctant at first, then his interest increased as the kiss progressed and he completely submitted to her. She paused to push him down on the bed and lay on him. They resumed kissing. She really liked the taste of his lips. Surprisingly, he was a good kisser. His lips were hot against hers. He also held her close and tenderly as if she was a fragile doll.

Undressing him revealed to her what she liked; a good body frame. She got off him to remove her clothes and stand naked before him for a moment, thinking of the things she could do with him. Things she was never allowed or couldn't do in her normal day-to-day life. She had fantasised these moments, like standing totally naked before her man and letting him admire her body and lust for it.

The mechanic's eyes were two round glazed orbs caressing her body, every curve and mounds, the evidence of his arousal pointing upwards from his midsection. She approached him and did the most decadent thing in her life. She loved being in charge, controlling the moment. He was a toy, prostrated before her to be used. She was now the user and not the used.

His name was Reuben and he didn‟t disappoint her. In fact he astonished her. He was gentle but simmering with titanic passion. What scared her was the way he looked at her, especially into her eyes and her soul, just after three days of meeting him. No man has ever looked at her that way before. Despite his seemingly naïve demeanour, he was an excellent lover, gentle but bubbling with intense passion.

They did everything imaginable lovers could do inside a room. They bathed together and made love while at it; she gave him backrubs and he painted her toenails while they talked. He didn't talk much, just answering a few of her questions about himself. She hardly talked about herself. She only made the mistake of telling him her first name, Rose. They fed each other foods and she even had him eat off her body one time. He was always with her whenever he could get away. And because he had a boss to answer to, she paid for his time; gave him money to present to his boss as what he made from the outside jobs he went to. They spent the nights together. He was quite an excellent lover. After teaching him what she wanted the first time they made love, he mostly took charge the rest of the period. He knew what part of her body she loved him paying attention to. She also revelled in being the seducer with him and enjoyed every bit of it thoroughly.

She carried on the tryst longer than she intended. For three weeks, but it was a three weeks of unquantifiable binge on passion and release. On the day she was to terminate the clandestine relationship he asked her intuitively.

„Why you don‟t want people know we see ourselves?‟

„Because we don't belong together,‟ she replied flatly, already disengaging herself from him and that environment.

„Why?‟

„You don‟t know?‟ she asked him with mock surprise.

„Because I am a mechanic?‟

„Exactly!‟ she didn‟t break her motion as she dressed up.

He looked down at his hands dejectedly. She felt for him briefly but she had to leave now. Leave him behind. She needed to be far from here.