I changed jobs.

 

As a contractor, I do this two or three times a year, working for entirely different clients across different industries and sectors, and structuring my life accordingly. I like this career, it keeps everything fresh, change keeps happening, new challenges keep arising. This time, the challenge was social.

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A bit of history :-

 

I had broken up with my previous partner a few months previously, whom I had been seeing off-on for the previous five years. That had been a difficult relationship, one which I eventually had to end, because she had been simply bringing too much drama into our own life together, but keeping me at a distance - she was wiling to accept financial and emotional support, but not letting me in sufficiently to stand beside her in the interactions she was having with her large family.

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The emotional connection we had shared was particularly strong - to this day, I feel she was the only person in the world who every really truly loved me for who I was. She always described me as "the love of her life", and looking back, I can honestly say that she was mine.

 

So, I wasn't looking for any one new - memories and feelings from my ex-partner were still too strong for that, or so I thought, and I had made no effort to date again. I had no will to do so.

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 But, back to the present...

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The new role I had was unique, before or since, in that there was to be more "influencing" of stakeholders and executives than would be typical in my kind of work. It was informally emphasised by the supplier that had contracted me, and placed me on-site, that I would be expected to attend a number of after-work social events, in order to support the lobbying efforts to sell the full programme of services that the supplier hoped to provide. 

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The nature of these social events made it clear that I would be expected to bring a "+1", ideally someone attractive and charming to enchant the end-clients. Yes, it seems somewhat strange nowadays, but it is a fact that there are still some last bastions of formality, where it assists one socially to turn up in formal dinnerwear with eye-candy in a dress. Yes, you know who you are.

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Now, having broken up with my ex-partner about six months previously, I was obliged to find somebody willing to accompany me, while being somebody I could depend upon not to embarass me. I didn't have a large circle of friends, so nobody suitable was available to me - and anyway, I obviously preferred to ring-fence this charade from anybody who knew me.

 

So, for the first time in my life, in what was possibly the greatest mistake of my life, I sought out an escort.

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Now, I had not procured an escort before, because I had never felt any desire for the usual sexual services that they provide. I much prefer deeply emotional long-term relationships based on mutual support, and so such short experiences offered by one-night stands or escorts are emotionally empty to me. I should also stress, at this point, that I did not intend to maintain this escort's employment for long, nor for events outside the work functions. I was still not over my previous relationship with my ex-partner, and - heck, escorts are expensive!

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After ruling out the services of a professional from an escort bureau on cost grounds, not to mention that their origins would be too apparent to any observers, it became obvious that a more natural companion would better fit the events I would be required to attend.

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After reviewing the independent websites, I contacted a freelancer who seemed to exhibit a more subtle atitude to her sexual services, somebody who appeared to be more refined and graceful. I explained to her about my unique social requirements, that no other services would be needed, and only her attendance would be wanted. It was clear that she was very surprised (amazed, in fact) that somebody would actually wish to employ her for solely these purposes, and she had to clarify several times that I was serious, and that she understood correctly!  

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So, I arranged for an introduction - an evening dinner at an exclusive sushi restaurant in the city centre - for which she would be paid for a couple of hours. This was her "interview" - I wasn't going to bring a woman I'd never even met before to an important social event, without knowing if she could behave appropriately in such company, and also to agree a "back-story" supporting a history together, should we be questioned. I did make it very clear at the time, that the number of "bookings" for her would not be many, and I wasn't looking for anything more than public social interaction. I confided in her that I was off the dating scene, due to the break-up with my ex-partner.

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What happened? Yes, you guessed it - I fell in love.

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For the following two hours, she totally bewitched and beguiled me, totally and completely, being the perfect woman for me, everything I had ever sought in my entire life. The perfect life partner.

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OK, with hindsight, I understand that she had begun using her consumate skills as an actress on me, immediately, on that first night. This was something I hadn't expected or planned for - I assumed the acting would begin later, in the following work events, while maintaining an honest and grounded attitude with me.

 

I was, of course, obviously and completely wrong, taken in by the first of very, very many lies.