There was a light knock on the door and on Liam's invitation a girl came into the room and introduced herself with a curtsy. She was dressed in a shimmering dress of some kind of silk that complimented her figure in a good way, but her eyes were clear blue and were framed by black thick hair. Liam could not lie to himself about her appearance, she was beautiful and obviously cared for her appearance and how people saw her. The kind of girl that would never have to use that strange technology that gave people a youthful appearance.

As any high-class hotel, they had a massage bench in the bedroom. It was common knowledge that you were stiff and tired after travels and needed something to get you to loosen up. And Liam laid down on the bench and waited for a bit but the girl just stood in the door and looked at him.

“Let’s get on with it then” Liam explained and started at the girl and wondered if everyone outside of the British island were daft. But the girl shrugged and took a position beside the bench and started to give him a message.

“Does it feel good?” She asked and Liam just stared at her feet. To be honest she kinda sucked at giving this kind of service, not even using essential oils that had a smell of wonderful flowers.

She took a small pause and Liam figured that she went to pick out some oils but she started the massage again and nothing had changed. After a small while, he saw something strange, the hem of her dress was missing in his field of view. The only thing he could see where sunburned legs and feet. He could not help himself from turning the head to see where the hem had gone, and to his blushing horror, a naked stomach met his gaze. This daft girl had undressed right in front of him and was not even ashamed of it.

What Liam could think of as a possible explanation was that this girl was poor and jumped at the chance with the greatness that was Liam. But he hated that he let it affect him to the point of blushing, but then again this girl was a pro at this and very beautiful.

He sat up and avoided to look at the naked girl, and he hoped that the dim light masked his red cheeks. The girl met his eyes and they were sparkling with anticipation and she pouted her lips in a seductive way.

“I am so sorry, sir!” The girl said and then sat down on her knees before him and gazed up at him and continued “I thought you wanted me to undress with the stares you gave me, sir”

Liam was dumbfounded and just stared at her for a moment and then looked at the wall. Something was off with the girl, she felt like she wanted to do this but something felt like she were so scared of doing anything wrong. Like a hanging threat of physical harm if she did something wrong.

“I know that I'm beautiful and rich, but I just wanted a message.” He said when he collected his thoughts. The floral decor helps him forget about the blue eyes and the naked sunburn skin, and after some thoughts, he figured that she was not from the slums at least. It's commonly known that sunburn is something that comes from working outside, and the slum people worked inside for most of the time and the pollution made it hard for the sun to reach them.

“Then, why didn't you order a masseuse?”

The girl looked at him in confusion and Liam looked back at her with the same confusion. If she weren't a masseuse what was she and why was she here giving him a message?

He decided to go over the clues that he had before him, shining and neatly cut black hair, lustrous lips and eyes to die for, and a dress that showed off her assets. With a sinking feeling, he came to the conclusion that this girl was here to give another kind of service than he first taught. And when you come to a conclusion that tells you that you made a big mistake there are two courses of action you can take, fake it until you make it or own up too it and resolve the problem. Liam chooses the first.

“But, I thought you were one.” He told her in a matter of fact tone and kept his eyes on the flower pattern on the wall.

The girl let out a burst of loud klining laughter and Liam felt that his cheeks were becoming even redder. He understood that this girl saw through him like he was made of a thin sheet of glass.

“I'm certainly not!” She exclaimed and smiled at him and her eyes seemed genuine for the first time since she entered the room.

Liam could not accept that a girl had made him lose his footing and put him in a kind of situation that could cast him in a bad light. Sure, everybody respected ladies of the night but it's frowned on from the social class he came from. As an escape, he started to put on his shirt but he stopped when he meets her questioning gaze from where she was sitting in front of him on the floor.

“I'm only 16 years old, you know.” He murmured and hid in the shirt that was now half draped over his head and shoulders. Liam wanted to escape out of the room and never come to Paris again, they were not daft here they were completely mad.

“Honey, you are on the younger side for a customer but then again according to the system you are of age.” She said when she got up from the floor and seated herself on the big bed and waited for him to stop hiding in his shirt.

Liam could only remember the stories from his friends of these kinds of girls that make a living by renting them self out to others. And it made him highly uncomfortable, not that she wasn't beautiful but it felt plain wrong on so many levels. A thing the social elite despised were bastards, and for Liam to risk getting one is by far the most stupid thing he could do on this adventure. And the worst thing was that he could not devise a plan to get rid of her without talking to her and that meant, stop hiding in your stupid shirt like a little kid.

“I’m not a customer, I refuse to rent you” He explained when he was fully dressed and looked naked girl on his bed. Liam hated the fact his voice sounded young and squeaky and not stern and grown up.

“Honey, I got paid for three hours and it's only been half an hour so whether you like it or not I have to stay for the remaining time.” She said and laid down in the big bed. Her sunburned skin stood out form the snow white sheets and it looked like a painting from were Liam stood.

How should he deal with this? What would his dad have done?

After a short while when she figured that Liam would not make her company she went to her bag and took out her discom and then laid down on the bed with a sigh.

“Sure, but can you please get dressed again?” He asked after regaining his composure. It felt like he would have a heart attack from the culture shock of having a naked lady of the night in his bed. When he left on his adventure nothing had made any sense and he had met some really rude and awful people, and the day ended with this?

She did not say anything and got dressed before returning to the bed again and Liam sat down on the bed too, he was intrigued by her on some level.

“Can I ask why you do this kind of work?” He wondered and the girl looked up from the discom screen.

“I guess that I have to earn money to survive” She muttered and Liam could not grasp what she had said.

Of Course, you need money to survive, but is it worth renting yourself out like this in the nights?

“But what does your soulmate say about this kind of thing?” he asked.

“Well, the dead are really the quiet types.” She said and gave him a smile before continuing “You see, My husband died one day on the fields and I do not have any skills other than being beautiful.”

“But, it's not an occupation I recommend for the young sir” She added and gave him a big brimming smile. Liam laughs at that and the tension in the room faded away slowly.

“But what about your family, can they not help you with money?” He asked and he started to understand why these kinds of adventures would change who you are. In the very core of his being, he felt a sort of hopelessness over that the world even had a place for the ladies of the night.

She looked at him then she sighed and put away the discom and sat up. As she started to braid her hair she answered with “Out on the fields, you only got you! After you find your soul mate you are not welcome to the family house except for short visits. Nobody has time or money to help out anymore and your problems are your problems.”

“Oh, how rude of me to not ask for your name” Liam exclaimed.

He couldn't care less for what this poor girl was called but it was courtesy to present oneself or ask for a name if they did not offer one them self. But he kinda liked this girl for her refreshing way of speaking to him, direct and honest. A rarity in Liam's life where everybody wanted to be his friend or gain something from him.

“How nice of you to ask, its Zoëy” She answered.

“So Zoëy, what is the worst thing with being a… lady of the night?” He asked out of curiosity.

“Liam, I am a whore” She proclaimed and Liam winched at the harshness of her language, that was something he was not used to or doubted he would ever be.

“But to answer the question, it’s by far the violent ones” She continued and gave him a dark look.

Now here was something Liam could not understand. Why would anyone be violent with a girl when making love, wasn't it supposed to be soft, gentle and wonderful?

Liam felt that his views of the world were tilted and that people were worse of then he thought, but then again these people could not handle themselves at all. It was Liam's elders that were the one in fault over this, they need to keep the general population on a tighter leash.

“So, they do it too hard or what?” He could not stop himself from asking and he could not stop himself from blushing again. These kinds of questions were not something you talked about with strangers.

Before she could answer there was a discrete knock on the front door to the hotel room and Liam started to move to the door. But Zoëy put a hand on his shoulder to stop him and made a hushing movement with her finger, with her bag in hand she went to the door and went out.

He stood there dumbfounded a short while before going over to the door to make sure it was locked.

“No, He did not even touch me. I think he just wanted some drinking company and after an hour of bragging he passed out.” He heard Zoëy say in the corridor.

Why would she lie about him like that?

When no reply came he understood that she had talked to someone on her discom but he felt betrayed and hurt from the lie. Had he treated her wrong in some kind of way that made her want to smear his good name like that? With a shake of his head, he decided that he was glad that she left his life and hoped to never meet Zoëy again.