Chapter 1: Marlee

22:13 (GMT), 31/12/2019. Eaton Square, London. England.

Her toes were numb. She guessed they should be, given she was only wearing her bare feet in some heels that barely covered her skin, and standing in one position in the cold with only wearing a red dress. Her torso was covered by a nice black jacket she saw in a shop just today as a last minute decision to go part with her dress for tonight. The weatherman on the news had said the weather would turn for the worst, and so it had.

The 16 year-old redhead stood on the street of Eaton Square in London, having been dropped off by her taxi about 20 minutes beforehand. Marlee was supposed to be here 2 hours ago, as agreed, but her nerves held her back. However, she wanted this. She really wanted this. And over a short amount of time, she’d built up the courage to at least go to the house.

Marlee had just turned 16 in the summer, just before school ended and having finished her exams with decent grades, and made her way into college. Her parents had been fairly strict with her as she went through her school life. No boyfriends and no “nights out” with her friends, no drinking and no drugs were to be consumed until she was out and on her own. Her older sister, Brianne, had completely failed school and was now nearly homeless and their parents saw this as a direct failure of their parenting skills. They had been pretty liberal with Brianne with allowing her to live her free life to the fullest, without realising the damage they were inflicting on her life.

Marlee would not be the same, and she didn’t particularly mind the strict rules her parents had forced onto her. She wasn’t the same as Brianne and didn’t have the same ambitions to have the same lifestyle as her, especially after seeing what it had done to her and her relationship with the family as a whole. In terms of her own relationships with her fellow pupils, after from the odd crush here and there, she never really pursued to be with anybody for any length of time.

It was never the fact that she was afraid of her parents if ever they had found out she had broken one of their precious rules (she was never sure what the punishment exactly would be apart from being grounded – but seeing as she was a pretty introverted individual who liked her own space, she didn’t think this would ever be an issue), or that she was worried that somehow being in a relationship would impeded her school work, but it was the fact that she generally found people to be boring.

There was once a lad, Gary, who she did get close with. He was handsome and well mannered, down to Earth and a warm personality. But, in the end, she got bored of him. As sweet as he was, he never excited her in the way she felt she should be excited. She assumed that maybe she needed a bad boy, someone with an edge of danger or rebelliousness. But the other lad, Ste, he was no good either. He was a drummer in a punk band at school and was very popular with the pupils, but no so much with the teachers as he constantly looked for trouble at every turn whether that be with the other pupils he generally didn’t like or the teachers themselves. But even with his rock ‘n’ roll attitude and his spiky, no fucks-given hairdo, he didn’t excite her. Not even close, in fact he was incredibly off-putting after a short while. She couldn’t’ believe what she had been thinking on some days and even laughed at herself for even taking any kind of interest in him in the first place.

She maybe… Women, then? One day, she had finished her P.E class and was the last putting her hockey gear into the equipment cupboard and ended up being one of the last in her class to change her kit. But there was one girl left, and she looked like she was struggling to take her top off. When Marlee entered the changing rooms, she instantly recognised the girl as one of the new girls that had joined the school recently. She couldn’t remember the girls name, but amongst the tanned belly was a shining belly-button ring that she had gleefully shown off to her new classmates and receiving a chorus of “ooh’s” and “oh my Goddd’s!” as the other girls took inspiration from the flittering jewel.

Biting her bottom lip softly, Marlee had her way over to the new girl and offered to help her take the top off. They both giggled as the new girl thanked her, slowly wiggling her hips side to side as Marlee pulled off the sports shirt of the top of the new girls head and with a quick tug, the shirt was off and Marlee and the new girl shared a moment.

And then a kiss. And this was something for Marlee, now she was getting somewhere and now she knew that boys were not really of her interest. She still had flitters of a crush on the odd boy, but girls seems to excite her in a way the boys couldn’t. The new girl almost avoid Marlee after that day in the locker room and Marlee again didn’t seem to mind as after even as exciting as the new girl experience had been for her, the new girl was frilly and floaty, a little bit immature for her tastes.

Throughout the last year of her school life, she concentrated more on her work and focused on getting into college. She had decided to look into marine biology as the ocean and it’s lovely, weird and frightening inhabitants had always fascinated her, even from a young age after watching numerous documentaries with her Dad (that were always narrated by David Attenborough of course). But to get into that field of work, she would need consistent good grades and that meant she had to put her sexual curiosities on hold.

In the summer break before college, everyone except Brianne had gone out for their last holiday “as a family” before everyone got too old and wanted to do their own thing in their spare time. IE, Marlee. Brianne had been invited but nobody could get in touch with her, the last known location of her where-being was that she was in Glasgow. Seeing as the family were located in Brighton, she was a bit of their hands and as reckless as Brianne had been in the past, she could look after herself. It’s how she’s still alive even now. But once the family remembered that they would soon be in Italy, Brianne was pretty much forgotten about. Until they were in Rome.

3 days into their trip as a meal at a cosy restaurant in Rome not far from the Colosseum, Marlee’s Dad had mentioned how proud he had been of Marlee and they he and her mother would support her whatever she would want to do in her life. Which of course, Marlee very much appreciated. But as the night dwindled on, Dad drunk more and more of Italy’s finest Red along with his wife and mentioned again how proud he was of Marlee and all her efforts… But then mentioned how disappointed he was in Brianne which instantly roused anger within her Mother. Even though Brianne was also a disappointment in her eyes, she was still Brianne’s Mother and she would instinctively protect her, even from other members of the family.

There was an argument, a fight, a complete and utter breakdown of the trio’s strong bond on that holiday and things didn’t get any better when they had returned home. It had been a long, a very long couple of weeks for Marlee seeing as she didn’t really have any input within the heated debate that her parents were having about the situation. In fact the debate lasted all summer and well into the autumn. To the point, where Marlee’s parents had had enough, and decided to split up which forced Marlee to end up moving in with her Mum in the outskirts of London, a city she had been to twice in her life before and was frightened about starting a new college, in a new place, with new faces that she didn’t recognise.

It was mid-December and Marlee had come back from College early one day, arriving at he house before her Mother and when she opened the door, she picked up the mail hoping to see a card for her as she had sent many of her friends them through the post this year. And indeed, in the pile there was at least 4 for Marlee and one for her Mum. When she shut the door, she could hear a noise coming from upstairs. A faint banging noise.

She froze slightly. And the banging stopped. And there was silence for a small moment.

Then she heard her Mother call from upstairs inquisitively and nervously. Marlee had assumed her Mother would have been in work, but Mother had come back from work even earlier… To spend time with her new boyfriend. This infuriated Marlee to the Nth degree, exploding in front of her Mother and her partner and accusing her of not doing her part to fix the relationship between the fractured couple. Mother took this personally and things only got worse from there and although Marlee didn’t move out of the house, she tried to avoid her mother like the rotted plague itself. And her Mother was not shy about bringing her partner to the house anymore. As annoying as this was to Marlee, one thing was for sure.

She needed sex.

Christmas was a wash-out, a complete waste of everybody’s time and Marlee could only look forward to New Year and for one very good reason.

After being stuck with a piece of shit old phone for years on end, she was gifted a new smartphone from her Dad for Christmas and wasted no time at all in downloading all the dating apps she could. She was in London, this would be a doddle, and maybe she could hook up with someone that very Christmas Day… But then Brianne made her appearance later on in the day, knocking on the front at 2 in the afternoon and in a very, merry mood which was a polar opposite on how Mother reacted when she opened the door.

After a few days, once the storm within the family had weathered itself out (which resulted in nobody talking to each other), Marlee had turned her attention back to dating apps on her phone. She’d downloaded a handful of dating apps and added her profile, initially hesitating to put up a picture of herself but if she really wanted to find someone soon, she was ready to go and it didn’t take long before she had people dropping her messages.

While she pro-actively looked for people herself, even dropping them a message of a simple introduction herself, it was undoubtedly the men that “harassed” her the most. Though she guessed she was more attracted to women, she was still interested to see what men were like outside of her school and college mates. She soon found out that she was really not attracted to men. Several messages came through from different men, with explicit dick pictures with requests of ratings (“What do you think babe? Better than you’ve ever seen before? Yer mam wud r8 me 10/10, hows bout u bbe?”) and on and on it went, with each message encouraging Marlee to look elsewhere.

This went on for a few days, and it was the day before New Year’s Eve, the 30/12/2019, that she was contacted by Emma.

It was around 6 in the evening, Marlee was once again spending time with her new phone in the living room with the rest of her family while they were catching up on the news of the day.. After a decent length of time on Instagram and YouTube, she found herself on Facebook to check out what her friends had been up to for the day, as per. And in the background, the newscaster waffled away – updating the nation on the latest scientific achievements that were happening in the world currently with the same British-quip as usual.

“…be long now until the MDCPM will be started for its first big test…”

“…could change the world…”

“…wonder if that’ll lighten up the weekly shop! I don’t know about you, but my arms start to ache when…”

“…idnight in Alaska, so it would be about 9AM in the UK…”

She came across a post that a friend had liked, a short documentary video of a woman in a bedroom being interviewed about her sexual exploits in London (she was a student earning money for her living costs) and how it had transformed her life. Whilst watching the video, Marlee couldn’t help feel the twinge of jealousy pinch at her very soul. The way she was describing how she met people, they things they would get up and how her parents didn’t know any of this was going on, whilst earning a fortune. Marlee didn’t care for the money, not really. She never grew up in a family that was consumerist or desperate for riches at every given second. No, what she wanted was the excitement, the all-risk – all thrills life that this woman was living. She even found the woman incredibly attractive and not just in her looks (a velumptitous blonde with light make-up), but her confidence in herself, her body and the fact that her family had no idea this was going on. When the video ended, she left a comment.

“Not even gonna lie, I need someone like this in my life!! :(” And she felt that this was somewhat true, given the damp that grew between her legs.

And that was that, shortly afterwards she put her phone down and went to grab herself some dinner. Then, an hour later…

Having finished her dishes, she made her way back into the living room and swiped her phone from the sofa and jogged up to her room. Dinner had been a appreciated in awkward slice for most of its duration and Marlee just couldn’t wait to get away from them. Especially when her Mother’s new partner had been present too.

She lightly tossed her phone onto her bed, then she flopped onto the covers and reached down the side of her bed for her iPad and once again, resumed to browse YouTube. It was only when her iPad told her the battery was on its way out that she looked to the other side of the bed, that she noticed a small blinking green light flashing on her phone. A direct message to her.

She quickly grabbed the charger cable and jammed it into the bottom of her iPad and then quickly reached for her phone. A Facebook message had been received. From Emma A. Not a friend nor a relative, and not a message from any of her potential dating partners. Frowning slightly she unlocked her phone and opened her message.

“Hello Marlee. So, you like the woman in the video do you? x”

And that’s all it said, Marlee hesitated of course. Still frowning, she quickly tapped on Emma’s profile picture which she couldn’t really make out what it was before as it wasn’t someone’s face. And it was a picture of the arse-end of a black Bentley. Marlee wasn’t a materialistic, consumerist shill but she definitely knew how much Bentley’s were worth. But the profile itself was locked so she wasn’t able to view any more pictures or even look at previous posts Emma had made in past. But then Marlee decided that there was nothing to lose. See what happens and if things got weird, she could just block the bitch.

“Hi Emma!” she started. “I do yeah… Why? Who are you? x” she replied. She noticed that Emma had sent her the message about 10 minutes ago. “Sorry for the late reply btw, was just having dinner with the fam x” she added.

It didn’t take long for her to get a response back and so the conversation was now in full swing.

“Well, I’m looking for someone to share some time with over New Year’s Eve. You look very cute and if you like the woman in the video, I think we would get along very well my dear! ;) x” Once she had read this, Marlee sighed with an “Ugh!” and again, a small frown.

“Why? Are you her?? x”

Less than 10 seconds went by.

“Oh no my love hehe, but I certainly trained her up ;) x” And this was the message where Marlee was now definitely intrigued by Emma. She didn’t notice, but her toes curled slightly on the bed covers. Her frown had completely disappeared.

“Trained her? How do you mean? How old are you?” No x this time. Marlee rushed the message, desperate for more info. The woman in the short vid could’ve only been 4 maybe 5 years older than herself after all…

“I’m 42 my love. Would you mind if I asked, how old you are? x” Marlee bit her lip lightly and thought about this for a second. If she was to tell Emma about her being 16, it could put her off entirely and if she wanted to see where this goes, she was going to have to lie. Sure, in the UK, the legal age is 16 and so she would be perfectly legal to make love with someone, but still… It wasn’t the same as being 18.

“I turned 18 just last month x” Marlee replied with a short message. A friend just then dropped her a message but she decided to ignore it, instantly casting the message aside and returned back to Emma’s conversation. It was Marlee and Emma’s time now.

“I see! I hope you don’t mind older woman, if of course you were interested to meet, with plenty of experience in the art of pleasure -” Marlee almost cringed at this, “and danger. What do you usually like when you’re with someone? x” And at this, Marlee once again hesitated.

She lied about her age and that was one thing. But her virginity? She pondered for a good minute or two weighing up her responses and Emma’s responses back to her… But if this Emma person was indeed who she say she was, and that she had “trained” this woman on the Facebook video, then maybe she would be OK with her knowing…

“I… I am a virgin.” Marlee replied simply, deciding that this was the best way to go forward. Pretty much straight away, Emma replied.

“Oh? Really? You? x”

Then…

“;) x”

And then, another message. But a picture this time. And Marlee’s jaw dropped to the floor. Or, at least her bed in this instance anyway, her heart began to beat harder and her toes curled even further than before. Bringing the phone closer to her eyes, she was truly staggered. It was Emma’s face, with some writing on her forehead that said “Hello Marlee! Xx”. She was legitimate.

And she was a Goddess. And she couldn't help but stare at Emma's picture for solid minute, in which Emma sent one more text.

"x?x" which snapped Marlee back to reality.

From there, the two passed messages between each other all night but it was mainly Emma asking about Marlee, and Marlee sharing her thoughts about what she might like and what she might not, the fact that men drove her insane (and not in a good way) and that it’s only been very recently that she’s decided to really go out there and meet someone for real. That having lived with the family throughout her life and what had happened in recent months, she felt like she just wanted to run away with someone but maybe one day.

She felt that Emma really understood her circumstances and understood her wants and needs, to the point where Marlee was nearly crying in desperation to finally ask Emma if she wanted to meet, after all New Year’s Eve was tomorrow and she would have to figure out how to get to London and the rest.

But she needn’t worry for long, as Emma decided to ask instead. A simple invite, with a simple address and a time with one last picture of Emma’s huge bed. “Let me know x” Was her last message of the night. The reason it was the last message was because Marlee didn’t reply back.

Instead, she got ready for bed in silence. Brushed her teeth in slice and climbed into bed in silence. Except, in her mind, she was running through the thousands upon thousands of different scenarios of things that could go wrong. Get lost on the train, get lost in London and be attacked, turn up to the house and it’s full of students pulling a horrendously nasty prank… Or if Emma just wasn’t real at all. Or if she was real, why would she be interested in her in the first place?

Her anxiety really took hold of her that night and she barely slept (if at all), instead lying in a damp spot on her bed where she had been sweating.

It was 08:23 on New Year’s Eve. She heard her phone blip. She opened her eyes and reached for her phone. It was a message from one of her friends again, but like last time, she removed the notification and instantly went back to the conversation with Emma.

“Is… Is the offer still on the table? x” Marlee replied back, with her heart in her throat. And about 3 minutes later (“3 minutes too late but better late than never!” Marlee thought), she got a message back.

“Just let me know when you’re setting off my love x x x”

== == ==

Her toes were numb. She guessed they should be, given she was only wearing her bare feet in some heels that barely covered her skin, and standing in one position in the cold with only wearing a red dress. Her torso was covered by a nice black jacket she saw in a shop just today as a last minute decision to go part with her dress for tonight. The weatherman on the news had said the weather would turn for the worst, but it hadn’t. It was a cold, crispy misty night with the street lights glowing above the roads and the cars in area, a real urban dreamscape. And the city was quiet, save for the odd wailing siren in the far off background or even a dog barking just up the road.

There was no trouble here, even in London. This was millionaire’s road.

The 16 year-old redhead stood on the street of Eaton Square in London, having been dropped off by her taxi about 20 minutes beforehand. Marlee was supposed to be here 2 hours ago, as agreed, but her nerves held her back. However, she wanted this. She really wanted this. And over a short amount of time, she’d built up the courage to at least go to the house.

She felt like it had been the longest day she’d experienced since her parents had the insane falling out in the summer holidays. That holiday was filled with long, long days but it didn’t seem that they could compare to what Marlee was going through today. Her anxiety had been brewing all day but she battled her fears and just pushed the thought of “it’s this or be a miserable cunt for the rest of your life!” to the front of her mind.

She had told her Mother and sister than she was heading to a friend’s house for New Year’s Eve (the only response she got was a couple of mumbles and a soft “OK” from her sister) and left the house in the afternoon and caught the last train into London, around 8 in the evening. She was hoping to catch the 6 train as intended so she could arrive at the house on time (“Can I expect you around 8? X” Emma had asked) but battling her anxieties did waste time.

After grabbing a taxi from her near-hour long train trip, she requested to be dropped off some doors away from the house she needed to be at. Just so she could give herself some last few moments before meeting Emma, and hopefully shake off the goose bumps her skin was riddled with though this seemed unlikely given there seemed to be more and more the closer she got to the house (she had Google maps giving her a countdown of how far away she was).

When the taxi had dropped her off some 5 or 6 houses down the street and having paid a ridiculous fare with the driver (who in turn thanked her for the money and to have a Happy New Year which she reciprocated), she instantly felt the cold nip at her skin. She pushed her elbows into her sides, her knees locked together and made her way down the street.

It was number 38 she was looking for, and she just walked past 33. As she was looking at the houses, Marlee couldn’t get over just how amazing they looked. Ginormous and white, with black spiked fencing that blocked off the drops to the basement windows and Greek pillars that gave the doorway to the street and all the cars were Bentley’s, Ferrari’s, Jag and Mercs and even a Lambo. This truly was millionaire’s row, which in turn only made Marlee ask one important question.

Who exactly was this Emma, and why was she interested in Marlee? But as she pondered, walking slowly past a bright red post box, she stopped, noticing the door number.

38. She was here.

She froze on the street, turning her attention to the big navy-blue door that sported a bright silver doorknob and letter flap. Staring longingly at the knob on the door, she swallowed. Hard.

“What am I doing here? Why am I such a fucking idiot?! Someone on Tinder would’ve been fine…” thought Marlee over and over again. She sighed, bowing her head slightly. Her dark, wavy red hair swayed in the light breeze and with a sniffle and a tightening of her coat, she turned on her heel to face the length of the street and took a step forward, her high heel clacked on the pavement. And as she was about to take her next step, she heard the door open.

“…Can I help you, madam?”