External Link/Members Only I suppose the pragmatist would say that I escaped with my dignity intact having come close to losing 100 notes. It was my first ever walk, and yes it did feel good. However, I'm still angry at the circumstances.
As is my strategy, I will leave contact late on. I don't like to mentally play it up in my head. I'd spend the day in central London and with a few hours to kill, thought I'd see if I could bag an appointment on my way out of the city. This worked well for the cheap punts. But I think I will need to be more long term in outlook now.
In short, comms with Madison, or whomever I was communicating with, were good. I dropped her a text, confirmed a time (90 mins away) and made my way to Cricklewood (It was a end of the road flat two mins walk from train station).
However, as I approached the flat bang on the agreed time, I saw a chap leaving sheepishly. I confidently walked past the flat, pretending to talk into a hands free kit, as he crossed the road yards from me. I turned around and watched him nonchalantly drifted away into the late afternoon melee on the high road. Nearby, another guy has the bonnet up on his car. Across the road, a police unit is dealing with someone collapsed at the bus stop. It's all a little too much.
Moments later I get a call from Madison asking me to come to the flat. By now, I'm a little annoyed that she's left so little time between punts.
The thought it may be a brothel hasn't crossed my mind.
I turn and make my way back, and to the corner and to my horror, another bloke is standing outside, phone in hand. He's staring directly at me. I immediately think it's Sergei. I react by walking past him and back on myself. The girl is still on the line and getting a bit concerned that I've not reached her the doorway. So I turn back, walk past the bloke and wait at the door.
Madison (or a girl resembling her) pops down, opens the door. She looks at me. Then looks at the other chap. She then summons me to come in. He reacts by following me in, So here we are, the three of us making our way up a narrow staircase. She shouts the name of a girl at the top of her voice. Moments later, a short fat girl emerges from a room at the top of the stairs to greet me. By now Madison has disappeared into a side room with the bloke.
I take the opportunity to shake my head and turn before shooting down the stairs and let myself out. Luckily the door opened straightaway (I once had a long pitch black corridor to negotiate once which when you're doing this kind of thing isn't great for the blood pressure).
Back out in the open, I disappear off, doubling back a few streets up before heading for my car.