Freedom

Breathing almost became impossible because, I mean, what?! Where was this person before I began working here, or the better question would be, who is this person? Could it be Stephan?

If it was him, why would he do that? Why does he care?

I shook my head at the thought and read the note over and over again, trying to contain the flood of emotions washing over me.

The first thought to hit me was to pay Madame Caryn what I owe her. According to our agreement, I still owed some money for the next six months or so.

One of the ladies walked into the room, the sound of her heels against the floor jarring me back into reality. Her dressing corner was close to mine, and I could feel her querying eyes on the suitcase when she was close enough to me.

A sense of urgency awakened in me when I noticed her lingering stare, and with it, I sealed the suitcase tight and looked around for my bag. That's when the painful reality that I had dropped it earlier this evening hit me.

Not letting that weigh me down too long, I walked out of the room, my pace very quick. I knew I was yet to change out of the expensive silk robe I had put on, but I didn't care, Madame Caryn’s office was first on my mind.

When I got into her office, she was conversing with a man. Their faces mirrored subtle confusion when they saw me, but I observed that the man soon began to stare for far too long. His line of sight trailed from my head down, and the earlier confused look on his face started taking on a shade I knew all too well: interest.

Madame Caryn noticed that, too, and I saw her infamous look of greed bloom in its rightful manner as she had just hit the jackpot. Yep, thank God for whoever gave me this money cause I've had it with this woman.

All this time, she has only been playing mellow to successfully get me to a position where l would be so dependent on her and unable to reject whatever she tossed my way. Too bad for her, my savior showed up.

"Madame Caryn, I need to talk to you, and it's urgent," I said quickly, not giving her a chance to talk.

Her brow rose, silently questioning me.

"I'm not working for you any longer," I spat impatiently.

Her face became the emblem of confusion when I said that. I placed the suitcase on her table and opened it, revealing it to her.

"Here, take it, whatever I owe you, l'm just done with this job," I said, trying to control my growing emotions.

"Where did you get that?" the man in the room said. Oh yeah, I forgot he was there.

"None of your business," I retorted sharply, and I noticed his bodyguard move behind him, but I didn't care. If he wants a fight, l' give him one.

"Mr Jethro is right, Alina; where did you get this from? It's obviously stolen; I can't accept stolen,” Madame Caryn replied, making my head snap in her direction.

Stolen money?! I'm not a thief; heck, I can't even steal to save my life.

"I'm not a thief, Madame Caryn," I said through gritted teeth, then pulled out the note to show her. I didn't know if it was a wise thing to do, but I did it anyway; I was just so desperate to get out of here.

"It's obvious you forged this and stole this money. This is illegal, Alina, and why did you do this? To what end? I'm so disappointed, and when I thought you were the smart one,” she said, squeezing up the paper and tossing it in the waste bin.

"And as your punishment, I'll lengthen your stay." she looked at me through her fancy glasses.

"You can't do that—”

"Oh yes, I can, Alina; I foot your bills and that of your family members, so yes, I can, and as an added punishment, the arrangement we made is made; you do your own work now," she said, obviously displeased and for a moment, I felt stupid. Maybe she is right, but to what end? I probably didn't think this through.

Myriads of emotions then began flooding through me all at once. I was angry, disappointed that I had actually thought I would be free from this bondage, confused as to why things had to go this way, and a whole lot of other feelings I couldn't process.

"Okay then, let me take my stolen money elsewhere," I said and tried grabbing the suitcase, but she moved faster.

"Not so fast; this money is the property of this establishment now; I'm responsible for it. I'll keep it in case the owner comes looking for it", she said, and I watched as she put it by her side with a grim look.

It took a whole lot of self-control not to scream.

"What you're doing is illegal too, Madame Alina; this is wrong," I shouted, clenching my fists to keep my emotions in check.

The idiotic man by the side chuckled, drawing my attention to him.

"She's quite a feisty one, isn't she? I like them like this, you know. Is she equally this way in bed?" the man asked, much to my dismay.

"She's not experienced Mr. Harry; she, in fact, first experienced a man this evening, didn't you, Alina?" she asked me.

I couldn't answer her question; I just let it hang and hoped this was all a bad dream Id wake up from.

"That reminds me, your client left early. Wasn't he satisfied with your service?" she questioned, closely observing me. I couldn't say a thing cause I was afraid of what would happen if I told her the truth.

"Well, say something deary," the man prompted, greatly irking me. I'd have preferred to be deflowered by that brat of a billionaire than this old man; at least he's hot.

"He didn't touch you, did he?" she asked, and my head reeled to provide an answer to discourage from giving me to this old man.

"No, but he'll be back, I'm sure of it," I managed to say.

"Nonsense, he never stays in one state for too long; I'm sure he's already out of the city right now," she said, killing all my hopes. I almost regretted signing the contract with her if I had found this money sooner.

"Mr Shawn, you can have her for the night; it's just a few minutes to midnight. I'm sure you'd be able to have some fun with her. Though I'll charge extra high for her virginity," She smiled, and I squeezed my lips tight.

" That wouldn't be a problem, Caryn. I like feisty virgins; they moan harder", he said, and they both laughed at his statement.

They moan harder; how is that even possible for first-timers?! I heard it's painful and sore, and...what am I even thinking? I'm still in such a huge mess. I hate my life right now; I'm completely powerless and lack the mental capacity to think of a way out right now.

My eyes became blurry with tears. I was on the brink of breaking down, but I didn't want to be in the presence of these two despicable humans, if they were human at all.

The transactions occurred right before me; 1 was a sheep being led into the slaughterhouse. I have so much to lose, and I can't turn back now.

Before Madame Caryn could pick up her telephone to call Jane, her mobile phone buzzed. She picked up the call, and after a while, I watched all the colors drain from her face, and she turned deathly pale.

She stammered a yes over the phone about two minutes later, and when she dropped the call, she told me l was free to go and apologized for using me this far, to the shock of both me and the gummy old man.

The old man tried throwing a fit in confusion, but he too soon got a call that left him ghost white.

When he slowly dropped the phone, he looked at me and asked me this weird question,

"Who are you?"

I didn't pay much attention to him or his question; I wanted to confirm if I wasn't hallucinating first, and to my shock, once again, Madame Caryn told me I was free to go. She even gave me some money to go with and told me I could go with the robe, but I thought against it; I'm not taking anything that could remind me of this place.

I took the money quickly and hurried to the dressing room to change so l could leave before they snapped out of whatever spell they were under.

When I was sitting comfortably on a ride back home, I began to wonder who it was that called them. What could that person have said that made them like that? They were both influential, so whoever it was must be of high status, too.

Could it be Stephan? I almost slapped myself for thinking that; there goes me thinking about him again, but if it wasn't him, who could it be?

I was still very curious when I arrived back at the apartment I shared with a friend, but I stopped dead in my tracks just before I could switch on the light. The hair on my neck was standing, telling me one thing: someone was in the room.

Just as I was about to turn back, I felt a hand take hold of my waist and another hand clasp its palm around my mouth, muffling my incoming scream.