Free Room to Breathe by Nicole Brightman Page A

fact, it worked so well that within a few weeks I had scores of other men looking for me to help them find similar situations. It has grown in to a rather large production now.”
    “Wait, you help men find prostitutes?” Oh my god, he is a pimp.
    “No! No one is ever paid for sex. Yes, a lot of the relationships turn sexual but that is only if both parties desire it. No one is ever to be paid for anything sexual. I would ban both parties immediately. It is more about companionship than sex. You would be surprised how many men don’t have the time to put into a real relationship or finding the right woman. There are other men that are in bad marriages and cannot get out of them.”
    “You help men cheat on their wives?” Okay, so he isn’t a pimp but he is a pig. What the hell is going on?
    “Sometimes, but not just men. We help women now too. Don’t look so horrified. People in my “position” sometimes marry for several reasons and none of them are love. I know of a quite a few that in order to inherit from their family they have to marry a person in the same circle. That is a small group of people and finding someone that you love is simply not always possible.”
    “Okay,” my head is spinning as I try to understand what he is saying.
    “There are others that marry to bring two powerful families together for business reasons. So yes, occasionally I have helped people in those situations find happiness with another. They are able to be with someone that has no preconceived notions about their relationship and is bound to be discreet. I understand how you might think that is wrong, but I cannot see the harm in people being happy. I think of it as providing a matchmaking service for slightly unconventional relationships.”
    “Okay, give me a minute please. This is a lot to process,” I say as I take a deep breath. He is still holding my hands gently. I look into his warm brown eyes that are so full of worry. I can’t honestly think that he would do something like this if he didn’t really think he was helping people. There is just one point I am stuck on. “So, what happened to Hannah?”
    “Oh, after about a year she finished her schooling and is a doctor now. She lives in Wales with her husband and two children. We communicate via email a few times a year,” he says as his face relaxes. He was clearly braced for a different reaction from me. “So you are okay with this?”
    “I think so. I am not sure I really understand it all. I know I disagree with anyone cheating but I can also kind of understand too.”
    “Well, good because there is one more thing I wanted to talk to you about.” Oh dear god, what now? “You see we call the affluent people “sponsors” and the people we set them up with are their “charges”. Charges are given a lot of opportunities they wouldn’t normally be given. For instance, one charge wanted to be a chef so we set her up with a sponsor who loved food and was looking for a charge to live right near a very prestigious culinary school in Paris. It worked out very well for parties. She is now the head chef at a very popular restaurant in London.”
    “Well, that does seem pretty perfect.”
    “That is what we are able to do. We can help people’s dreams come true by providing them a different start. I provide access to any financial planning or legal help at no cost as well. Think of where you could be if money was no longer an issue. You could travel the world and work with different charities without having to worry about providing for yourself. You could do everything you want to do and then some.”
    “Wait, are you asking me if I want to do this?”
    “Yes, I am. Cora, you are intelligent, beautiful, and so much fun to be around. You are exactly the kind of person I can help.”
    “So you just want to pass me off to someone else? I know neither of us wants something serious but I thought we were having fun together. Is this just your way of getting rid of