Trafficked: The Terrifying True Story of a British Girl Forced into the Sex Trade by Sophie Hayes Page A

like that – who was the complete opposite of my father in almost every way, who knew where he was going and would sweep me along with him. Then, perhaps inevitably, I began to wonder if my mother had been right and it had been fate that had stepped in to prevent me going to Albania and marrying Erion. There was no doubt in my mind that I loved Erion, but perhaps Kas was the person I was supposed to be with.
    Kas talked about how wonderful it would be if we could go travelling together and see the world. He described a life that wasn’t all about going to work every day and being dragged down by the small things, but about really living, and as he drew me into the picture he was painting, I could almost believe that we could do anything together.
    For every minute of every hour that I was with him, he was gentle, kind and considerate. I knew how he felt about me, so I was touched by the fact that he never pushed me to be more than just friends or made me feel uncomfortable. But although I still didn’t have any romantic feelings towards him, by the time we said goodbye at the airport after the weekend, I couldn’t help wondering what it wouldbe like to be rescued by him from all the muddle and unhappiness that seemed to have engulfed my life.
    He’d certainly been right when he told me that getting away from everything for a couple of days would do me good, and I returned home feeling, if not exactly optimistic about what lay ahead for me, at least that it might turn out not to be as difficult and as empty as I’d begun to think it would.
    I felt as though the time had come to leave the security of living at home and go back to my job in Leeds. My flat-mate had moved out and gone to work in London while I was away, and I hadn’t anticipated how empty and lonely the flat would seem without her. The boost to my optimism and self-confidence that the weekend with Kas had given me didn’t last very long once I was on my own, and I soon began to feel bewildered and mentally disorientated again. I’d come home from work every evening and a million questions would spin around in my head: How did I end up here, lonely and miserable? Will I ever really be happy? What if every time I get the chance of happiness I mess it up? What if I simply don’t have whatever it takes to be contented? How do people know when someone really loves them? How do you know that what you feel for someone really is love? They were questions I could never answer and I began to feel as though I was losing my grip. So, when Kas phoned me a few weeks later and offered me the opportunity to break the cycle of craziness I seemed to be falling into, I was ready and willing to accept.
    â€˜I’m living in Italy now,’ he told me, ‘and I really miss you. Please come and see me again. There are so many wonderful places I want to take you to. Just come for a few days, for a holiday, and let me show you my life.’
    It was the prospect of someone else taking charge and making all the decisions that was probably the most appealing aspect of the suggestion. I’d lost confidence in my own abilities and I felt as though I always got things wrong, whereas Kas seemed to know what to do in every situation. Although I’d had to take a lot of sick leave from my job, I still had some holiday owing to me, so I booked a week off work and flew out to Italy full of excited anticipation.
    Kas was at the airport to meet me, as he’d promised he would be, and as he swept me up into his arms and squeezed all the air out of me, I thought how wrong I’d been not to have given him a chance four years earlier when he used to smile at me from the side of the dance floor at the club. I was 24 years old and I’d wasted a great deal of time pushing people away because I was unable – or unwilling – to trust anyone. But Erion had loved me and hadn’t let me down. So perhaps it was time to consider the