Interview with a Male Escort, Part 1

So, you all know FV, who I meet up with rather regularly. A while back she introduced me to a relative of hers, by day a Politics and Philosophy student at LSE (the London School of Economics and Political Science for those who don't know), by night a male escort with a London based agency.

So, naturally, I had to get an interview.

In the interests of anonymity, I've christened him Carlo, which is nowhere near his real name, or his escort pseudonym. He emailed me some preliminary information, and we then met in a cafe in Finsbury Park. It was far too crowded for my liking, and I arrived early, ordered a coffee, and sat idly wondering what my grandmother would say if she knew I was meeting a manwhore.

He arrived, smiling. He didn't look the type at all. Nice features and skin, if a little spotty. There was a certain air of confident androgyny about him, and he had beautifully shaped eyes. He was certainly well dressed for a student, his entire outfit looked like he'd bought it in All Saints, but his body wasn't what I had expected: he was very slim.

I found myself doing a quick check of what I was wearing. 2 things from M&S and even one from BHS (eep!), but also Topman, and H&M. I tried to tell myself that it balanced out.

There were the usual formalities, and he gave me a hug, which was surprising. He seemed artistic yet down to earth. I turned on the voice recorder on my phone and we sat down.

So, the obvious question. How did you get into that particular line of work?

"A friend I know was already working for the agency. Actually he's one of my stepmom's exes. But yeah, I was working in Subway at the time, for next to nothing, and I just thought, you know, let's give it a go."

"Presumably then, you're good at sex." I was blushing furiously as I said it.

He cringed a little. "Yeah, so I'm told. I don't know, I've not had any complaints in the job,"

"Practice makes perfect?" I asked.

"Something like that, yeah,"

We laughed, and I asked about the money. Carl charges £120 per hour, of which he keeps £90, and usually does either two or four hour appointments.

"There are guys who charge £200 an hour, but they're generally people who offer security as well"

"So it's not just sex?"

"No, although it can be. It depends on the client, and the booking. Like, the biggest earners are where you're booked for a night out, basically being eye candy and good conversation at some event, and then maybe sex after that as well. Sometimes with that you get around two hundred quid as a tip"

Whoah. I was suitably impressed. The next question on my list was a little starker.

"How do you do it though? I mean, is it difficult, do you feel uncomfortable. Morally, is there some guilt? You're kind of literally whoring yourself out."

"Not really. I mean, to be honest, I felt more like I was whoring myself out when I was working in Subway. The first time I did it I was a bit like 'Oh my god' but I think that's because I was imagining what my family would say, but really it's not damaging to me at all, you know, psychologically,"

"What about professionally? After Uni, what happens of you decide to become a politician or something?"

"I think I'll have to be upfront about it to be honest. I don't know, I'm not really planning on going into a job where I'm in the public eye, so it's not an issue, but if I ever changed my mind about that I'd want to be honest, and, like, if I was running as an MP or something I'd just try and find a liberal minded constituency, so professionally I'm not too worried."

"Ok, how about medically then?"

He laughs again. Out of the corner of my eye I see a woman staring at us.

"Medically, my agent would bitchslap me if I caught anything. I did once catch the flu of a client, but there's no amount of latex in the world that was going to prevent that. He actually apologised afterwards. But seriously, no, condoms always, whether it's work sex or casual sex."

Right. Fair enough I suppose.

"You said 'he,' but you, err, you take applicants of all genders, don't you?"

"Yeah, both."

"Is it the same in your private life?"

"Well not at the moment, I'm in a relationship actually, but yeah. I've had partners of both genders before, both, like, long term and just one night stands."

"Cool," I said, smiling.

Now the question I was dying to ask.

"So, errr, how many people have you slept with?"

"Oh god," Carl cast his eyes to the ceiling, counting.

"Less than a hundred. I think." he said finally. "I don't really know if I'm honest. I made a quite conscious decision to not count work sex and personal sex in the same category, because it really is so different. I know how many people I've had sex with outside of work though, 21. Thirteen girls and eight guys."

Jeepers.

"Ever had a threesome?"

"Yes, but not professionally,"

...

Bloody hell.

Check back for part 2.