Strangers

My heels were killing me and the wig was itching, but when that man looked at me from across the room, I knew the night had only just begun.

The air lifted my dress and I did nothing to stop it. I wanted to be seen. I needed to be seen, even if I didn’t quite know why.

I arrived at the bachelorette party in red heels and with a broken heart. What I didn’t imagine was that I’d end up on my knees in front of a stranger, never wanting him to stop.

When they walked into the apartment, there was no innocence left in their eyes. All that remained was deciding how we were going to end the night, and the deck stayed on the table.

I only knew the bride, but by two in the morning I was someone else. Three strippers entered the bar, and my eyes fixed on just one of them.

I’d been serving coffee at the truck stop for two years when he walked in without saying hello and recognized me from another life. I knew at once I wouldn’t sleep soundly that night.

Martín arrived with a ladder and a toolbox. Doña Carmen watched him take off his shirt in the sun and knew the job would take a long time.

I sent the message without knowing whether he’d take it seriously. When the car pulled off without canceling, I knew he’d understood perfectly.

When I stepped into his spotless apartment, I had no idea we were one hand of cards away from something neither of us had ever done before.

When I handed him the envelope with the offer, I expected anger. What I saw in his eyes was something else: a hunger that had been hiding behind his calm gaze for years.

When the captain anchored in that deserted cove and Rodrigo opened the second bottle, we all knew the agenda had been officially canceled.

We were drinking wine when she told me, “I never told you everything about Punta del Este.” What followed left me speechless for hours.

When I saw her at the bus stop, with her copper hair and that tight blouse, I knew something was going to happen. I had no idea that afternoon would change everything.

In this line of work, you quickly learn there are people who confuse paying for a service with buying a person. Some lessons stay with you for life.

I went down to the restaurant with the red lingerie safely hidden under my dress and one decision: if he didn’t get to see it that night, what we had would never leave the screen.

I promised him I wouldn’t mind hearing about his dirtiest memory. I lied. By the time he finished, I already had mine ready.

When I opened the door for him, I felt his eyes lock onto the black strap peeking over my jeans. He smiled before pushing me inside.

When I opened my eyes in that black marble suite, she was there, naked, looking at me like she’d known me forever. And maybe death was my best accident.

When Ricardo explained what he wanted to do with me and his five friends at the country house, I should have said no. I thought about it for six days before saying yes.

When Doña Hilda opened the door and looked us up and down, I knew that night by the fire would cost us far more than a dry roof.