I Didn’t Let a Sugar Daddy Take My Sweetness Away

Rich married men need to leave single women alone

Summer had begun and I was alone at the beach near my new place. Alone didn’t bother me, it wasn’t the first time. It bothered me that I no longer enjoyed the beach.

I was in Athens, Greece, sitting on the sand at the second-largest port that carries passengers by ferry boats to several islands including Mykonos and Santorini. I had left my toxic boyfriend of six years and was trying to decide my next move.

I didn’t have the money for a ticket back to Australia so I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.

I watched a ship taking away happy people to their holiday breaks because they had something to take a break from, their steady jobs, their in-laws, their parents, and their houses. Their stability.

I didn’t have any of those. I needed to catch a break, not take one.

Before I left my ex’s house, I tried to start a career in real estate. I did the training and was attending weekly meetings at a family-owned real estate agency. After the breakup, my heart was no longer in it.

I wouldn’t be genuinely happy in a pantsuit showing houses to families, then coming home to a tiny room, with the washing machine, bed, and dining table in one.

The world wasn’t made for singles, especially not Greece in the summertime.

After the last meeting, I approached the boss and his wife and told them about my situation and that I needed time off. Even though they were busy, they took me out for coffee and offered their support.

They told me to take my time and come back when I was ready. I took three weeks off, slept on a friend’s couch until I found the studio apartment, and then made several trips, packing and taking my belongings from my ex’s house.

The boss’s wife had a short blonde, bob hairstyle that was neatly trimmed which showed she had money to maintain it. Most Greek women are high-maintenance and well into their seventies you wouldn’t see them without painted toenails and bleached hair, but she seemed to be missing the arrogance that distanced herself from other people’s pain. She was nice.

“You know our receptionist, she told us about the message you sent her after the last meeting.”

With all the couch-surfing and living out of a suitcase, I was too emotional to remember, so I made a confused look.

“In the last meeting when you all left and you left your glass on the table, Eva told us that you messaged her to tell her you forgot the glass and you were sorry.”

“Ah yes,” I said, not thinking that it was a big deal.”

“Eva said she didn’t think people like you existed.”

“Well, I didn’t want her to think I left it there on purpose because she is the receptionist.”

“That’s why we want to help you, we should help people like you, people who deserve it.”

“Yes, whatever you need let us know, don’t be shy,” added her husband.

Sitting on the sand watching another ship leaving with the next bunch of hyenas, I thought about the six years I’d wasted with an unsupportive man who was jealous of the new job I’d found. What a shame it would be if I left the chance to start a new job with good people just because I felt alone.

I hadn’t even wet my feet yet when my phone rang. It was the boss. He was in my area showing a house and wanted to come past and talk about the job, and see how I was.

Maybe it was a sign that I wasn’t supposed to leave Greece yet.

I saw him park his black Mercedes but he couldn’t see me so I waved. I got up and started walking toward him and saw him in his blue short-sleeved shirt, tan shorts, and loafers.

“Didn’t you bring your bathers?” I joked.

“No, I swim in the nude,” he answered.

I tried not to imagine the grandfather of two in the nude, I was already off men as it was.

As he got closer, he grabbed and hugged me, then held me by my shoulders and got close up to my face, “You are a very nice and honest woman and the people will like you because they are sick of liars in this business.”

‘’Ok,’’ I said, holding my breath so I wouldn’t smell his.

I didn’t want to tell him I was contemplating leaving and that I wasn’t good at faking fakeness. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be good at this job at all. It was just something I thought I would do because the root of all the fights with my ex was money.

Then he said, “I brought you a burger, we can go to your place and eat it, I need to explain some things to you about the job.”

“Well, you’d probably be shocked at my place, so we can just eat here on the beach.”

“I don’t get shocked very easily.”

That would later prove to be a lie.

The entirety of my place was probably smaller than the garage where he kept his Mercedes, that alone would have kept him from making a pass at me, and besides I knew his wife.

He parked his Mercedes outside and I was a bit embarrassed by it. What would the old ladies on both sides of me think? I invited him in, forgetting to offer him a seat as I tried to hide the mess of a newly broken-up person. I took the bra from my bed and shoved it under the pillow.

There was no room on the table because of the microwave and laptop and everything else but I made room. I went to get a couple of plates, quickly glancing at him to see where we were at with the shock level. He covered it up well by helping himself to a seat.

Then he got straight into business.

‘’You can succeed because you are good and honest and can do well in this industry but you need someone to help you move on from the past because if you are stuck there, you cannot sell houses.’’

‘’I agree.’’

‘’So I can teach you everything and maybe you can teach me some English too and it will be fair.’’

‘’Ah ok. Yes sounds fair.’’

‘’But I will pay you of course.’’

At that point, I tried to get rid of him. I had just moved 6 years of belongings into a tiny space. Boxes and bags of shoes were on the balcony, under the table, and everywhere they couldn’t fit. I was too tired for this.

“I think I need more time before I come back to work. I’m thinking of leaving Greece. By the time I sell a house, I won’t have anywhere to live myself because I won’t be making any money for rent. It was okay before when I lived with my partner but now...’’

He put his hand on my hand which was on my leg. “No, we won’t let you leave. You know it is very easy for me to pay your rent and bills, for me, it’s not a problem… You are a very impressive lady.”

Divine intervention saved the day when his phone rang. It was his wife.

“Yes I’m here with Belinda, yes, yes I got a burger. Ok, yes, bye.”

I didn’t know what to think. He told his wife he was with me as if she had already known the meeting was going to take place and he was confirming his arrival. Was that his tactic?

“So what I was saying is if I pay your rent and the bills, in exchange for some dangerous fun.”

“Some what?”

“Dangerous fun, haven’t you done anything like that before?”

He saw my face change from nice to what the fuck.

He stood up, “Haven’t you done that before? Not even when you were with your ex?

“No. Why would I want two headaches?”

“Seriously?”

“No, I never cheated, why is it so hard to believe?”

“Ok, well, then you should never do it either,” he said realizing I was not the naughty and nice he was hoping for.

He left. The most surprising thing was that he was shocked that I had never cheated on my boyfriend. It bewildered him more than my rejection because, for him, adultery was as normal as a dip in the sea. If you are Greek and you don’t take advantage of it, people think you are strange.

I had even heard of a woman who used to sleep with all the friends her husband used to bring home and even when she got caught on the couch, her husband still stayed with her. She would later meet them at hotels in exchange for money and tins of olive oil.

I never told his wife. It’s not the niceness in me that couldn’t tell her, but I didn’t see a point. She probably knew and couldn’t do a thing about it because she was a grandmother. Where would she go at this stage of her life?

Even if I had told her, she might have thought I was lying or trying to break up their marriage because I was newly single. You never know what could come to someone’s mind when you hit them with something like that.

It was probably best she remembered me as the nice person their receptionist had described.

As for the old pervert, he’s probably still doing the same thing to other women and I’m certain by his shock from my rejection, many would take him up on his offer.

It’s not just Greece it happens everywhere. I wish more vulnerable women understood the strength of their survival before sugar daddies came along. That’s where their real worth is.

I’m sure had I taken him up on his offer, my niceness would eventually fade into a speck of memory hardly reachable by me.

Like the boats I saw that day, traveling in the distance, taking happy people away.