Panties for Sale (24 page)

“What?”
 
Chieko
giggled.
 
“I am a nice girl.”
 
She jumped out of the car and ran up the
stairs to the hotel entrance.
 
Still
laughing, she rushed to the elevator and down the corridor to room 735.
  
The door was firmly closed, so she paused to
catch her breath and then reached up and knocked twice.
 

The door swung open.
 
Chieko gasped and took a step back to look up at the huge man who was
standing in the doorway.
 
He was dressed
casually in a pair of jeans and a grey plaid shirt which was unbuttoned,
hanging slightly open to reveal a very well defined chest.
 
The arms of his shirt were cut off giving
free rein to his enormous tanned and tattooed arms.
 
Chieko looked up at him in awe.
 
She thought he looked just like a movie star.

She followed him into the room, but then she stopped.
 
Clothes were thrown all over the bed and
lying in wrinkled piles on the floor as if they had been left exactly where
they had come off for days on end.
 
One
corner of the room was an overflowing junk pile of rolled up MacDonald’s bags,
paper cups, Chinese takeout and pizza boxes.
 
Gatorade bottles lay strewn all over the small coffee table; their
spilled contents making trails across the glass top and ending in orange
puddles.
 
“Oh, my bad,” Chieko’s face
must have betrayed her horror as her new client, Mr. Cooper quickly
apologized.
 
“I’m sorry it’s a mess, I
hate living in hotel rooms.”
 

“Oh, that’s ok,” Chieko moved some clothes to clear a spot
and gingerly sat down on the corner of the bed.
 
She worried that the bright orange Gatorade might permanently stain the
pale blue carpet.

“Yeah, you see I just got home from practice and well, I
haven’t had my laundry done this week,” Mr. Cooper quickly tried to straighten
up the room.
 
“And, the boys were over
last night.
 
Damn, they always leave
their trash around.
 
I think the hotel
gave up on me.
 
They usually come in here
and clean it,” he shrugged and scrunched up a Macdonald’s bag and then threw it
in a perfect arc landing on top of the already full wastebasket.
 

“Very good.”

“Ah, you saw that?” Mr. Cooper gathered all the clothes on
the bed into a big pile and chucked them into the closet.
 
“Yeah, I used to play basketball in college.”

“And now?”

“Now, I play football.
 
You don’t know?” Chieko shook her head.
 
Guess he isn’t a movie star, she thought.
 
But that didn’t stop her from enjoying the
view as Mr. Cooper bent down to pick up all the socks, shirts and underwear
that littered the floor, adding them to the top of the massive pile of wrinkled
clothes now lying in the closet.
 
“Oh
yeah, I’m here playing for your team, the, ah, Argonauts.
 
Yeah.
 
My coach thought it would be good for me.
 
I just missed the draft this year, you know,
to play in the NFL, but ah, yeah,” he scratched his buzzed cut head, “I guess I
didn’t do so well last year.”

“Well, Toronto is very lucky.”

“Yeah?
 
You think
so?” he pushed the pile of clothes against the wall and slammed the closet door
shut.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know your name?”
 

“Douglas.”

“So what position does a big strong man like you play?”

“I play defense.”
 
Chieko nearly lost her breath as Douglas’s eyes met hers.
 
His eyes were pale blue, like an early
summer’s morning.
 
The kind of pale blue
sky that seemed to stretch out forever without a cloud in sigh, full of the
promise of sunshine and hot lazy afternoons. Someone could get easily lost in
those eyes, Chieko thought.
 
“So,” Chieko
cleared her throat and tried to calm her rapidly beating heart, “you must be good?”

“Good enough. I still get paid to play.”
 

“So, I am here with a famous sports star.
 
You must have many girlfriends.”
 

“Not really.
  
I’m
not really interested in, you know, the type of girls that follow the football
teams.
 
So, where are you from?”

“I am from Japan.”

“Really? I’ve never been there.
 
You’re a little far away from home, aren’t
you?”

“Hai, yes.”

“You speak Japanese?
 
Cool.
 
Can you teach me
something?” Chieko must have looked surprised.
 
“Oh, it’s ok, I mean, if you can’t.”

“Nei, no, of course I can.
 
I would love to.”
 
She had just
been taken by surprise.
 
Usually clients
didn’t want to talk.
 
And they didn’t
want know anything about her.
 
“Do you
want to know hello?”

“Sure.
 
Although, I
think I already do.
 
Nee hao.
 
Right?”

“No, that is Chinese.”
 
Usually she was annoyed if someone mistook her for Chinese, but Douglas
seemed genuinely interested.
 
And he was
so damn cute.
 
“In Japanese, we say
konichiwa.”

“Ka-nee-chi-wah,” Douglas said slowly.
 
“Yeah, I think I’ve heard that before.
 
Teach me something cool to say, that only
real Japanese people will understand.”
 
Douglas sat down on the bed close beside Chieko, making
her heart skip a few extra beats.
 
She
had to concentrate very hard to think of something interesting to teach Douglas as she breathed in the clean, musky smell of his
cologne.
 

“Aha, ok.
 
Ko-nya,”
she slowly enunciated “anata-no mono-ni shité.”

“Ko na what?”
 
Douglas laughed.
 
“One more time?”

“Ko-nya anata-no mono-ni shité.” Douglas repeated the
syllables after her.

“What does that mean anyways?”
 

“Take me tonight.”

“Oh?” Douglas raised an eyebrow, “I definitely like that.”

“Oh, you do?
 
So,
what do you think about me?”
  

“Well,” he coughed, “you are actually a present from my
coach.
 
He thought I would like it.
Relieve some of my stress.”

“Well then,” Chieko stood up and turned around slowly, “do
you like your present?”
 
She stepped
closer to him and reached her fingers out, running them up his rock hard
stomach to his chest.
 
Lowering her face
closer to his, she surprised herself as she dared Douglas to kiss her.
 
He did.
 
As he brushed his lips against hers, Chieko fought hard to keep from
fainting.
 
His soft touch took her breath
away.
 
Chills raced up and down her
spine, awakening every inch of her body.
 
Douglas pressed against her and reached around her waist, pulling her
close to him with his strong arms.
 
As
she leaned her small body into his, she felt his warmth take over and envelop
her.
 
She let her body relax and melt
into his. Chieko gasped as Douglas parted her lips with his tongue.
 
He caught her tongue with his, and quickly
flicked it up and down.
 
It was so
erotic.
 
Chieko couldn’t help
herself.
 
All of her defenses crumbled
and passion overtook her.

Within seconds, they had stripped their clothes off and
were rolling around naked on the bed, their bodies so tightly entwined it was
hard to tell where Douglas ended and Chieko began.
 
Douglas’s
lovemaking skills surprised Chieko.
 
Despite his immense size, he was soft and tender.
 
He treated her like a fragile flower,
kissing, caressing and teasing her.
 
Chieko had never been treated so gentle.
 
It thrilled her.
 

Once Douglas was sure she wasn’t going to break, he let his
wild side loose.
 
He lifted Chieko up
against the wall, and held her in place, with his strong arms.
 
He flung her over his shoulder and then down
on the bed, pushing and pulling her into positions she had never imagined.
 
Chieko let herself go, feeling somewhat like
a rag doll, but in a good way.
 
It was
ecstasy.
 
She clung to Douglas, moaning,
clawing, screaming and biting as they moved together in a primal rhythm,
pulsing and pushing, harder and faster till they both exploded together,
howling out with wild abandon, their voices joined in feverish harmony.

They collapsed on the bed, spent, yet oh so satisfied.
Chieko lay her head against Douglas’ chest and wrapped her leg around his,
feeling his breath rise and fall.
 
As she
listened to his pounding heartbeat, she played with the soft hairs on his
chest.
 
“That was wonderful,” she
whispered when she could finally speak again.

“Umm,” Douglas kissed the top of her head.
 

Chieko had never been so disappointed to hear her phone
ring.
 
Sighing, she reluctantly untangled
herself from Douglas and answered her
phone.
 
“Yes, thank you.”
 

Douglas got up and helped Chieko find her clothes that were
scattered all over the room.
 
Pulling on
his own pants, he walked her to the door.
 
“Thank you,” he reached into his pocket and gave her a roll of
bills.
 
Chieko took the money in her hand
and standing on her tiptoes, reached up and kissed Douglas on the lips.

“Chieko?
 
It’s Alex.”

“Oh hello.”

“Are you ok?
 
Did I
wake you up?
 
I remember you have English
class on Tuesday so I wanted to catch you before you left.”
   

“Oh, yes,” Chieko rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
 
“No, I am awake.”

“Ok, I’ll be quick.
 
I was just calling to ask, are you busy tonight?”

“Tonight?
 
No,”
Chieko wandered into her kitchen and turned on the kettle.
 

“Do you want to go for dinner?
 
I was just thinking, well, we have been
working so hard and I have all this money and well, I never really have to the
time to just sit down and spoil
 
myself,
you know?
 
I was just reading in the NOW
magazine about this new restaurant, Mildred Pierce.
 
It’s supposed to be fantastic.
 
And I could so use a nice dinner out right
now.
 
You know, get dressed up, have a
glass of wine, relax.
 
So, do you want to
go?”

“Yes, ok,” Chieko shuffled back into the living and room
and turned on the T.V.

“Really?
 
That’s
great.
 
O.K.
 
I’ll pick you up,” Alex paused, “No, let me
call and make the reservations, then I’ll call you back and let you know what
time.
 
What time does your English class
end?”

“End?”
 
Chieko asked,
slightly distracted by the T.V. guide. Where was Regis and Kelly?
 
Why wasn’t it on?
 
‘Um, English class ends at 12:00.”
 

“12?
 
Oh, I’m sorry
you must be on your way out.
 
Ok I’ll
call you back this afternoon.”

“Ok.
 
Bye.” Chieko
muttered into the phone.
  
On my way
out?
 
What was Alex talking about?
 
Chieko looked up at the clock. “Ohma!”
 
It was already 10:30.
 
She had slept in.
 
Chieko couldn’t believe it!
 
And on English class day!
 
She was usually up early, excited to see
Jay.
 
Chieko jumped up and then sat back
down in pain.
 
Wow.
 
She felt like she had been hit with a ton of
bricks.
 
Chieko smiled remembering her
appointment with Douglas.
 
I wonder what
he is doing today?
  
Maybe he’ll call Angela
to book me again.
 
Or maybe, she smiled,
I could go back to his hotel room and knock on his door?
 
Like a friend.
 
Not as an escort.
 
Chieko sighed and pictured herself back in
Douglas’s room.
 
“No,” she said out
loud.
 
“He will call.
 
You can’t make the first move.
 
Plus,” she cleared her throat, “Chieko, you
are busy.
 
You have English class today.
 
Yes,” she pulled on a pair of jeans and threw
on a sweatshirt.
 
She rifled through her
purse looking for a TTC token.
 
“Not
today,” she muttered and dialed Beck Taxi.

“Sorry,” Chieko bowed to Ms. Macdonald as she entered her
English class and slid into the empty chair beside Jay.
 
Jay smiled at her and slid his notebook onto
her desk.
 
‘Why so late?’ was written on
the top of an empty page.

‘Slept in,’ Chieko wrote back.
 

“Not that you could eat a real horse,” Ms. Macdonald was
explaining, “it just means that you are very hungry.
 
Good, Miss Gloria.
 
Does anyone else have any questions?
 
I know the English language is really
difficult and we don’t make it any easier when we speak.
 
We English like to make a lot of sentences
that compare us to animals.
 
What do we
expect?
 
We did all come from monkeys,
right?
 
Ok, so the pattern we break it
down into is adjective then ‘as a’ then animal.”
 
She turned and wrote
adjective + as a + animal
on the board. Let’s make a list.
 
We already have ‘hungry as a horse’.
 
She wrote it down on the board.
 
Can you think of any others?”

“Soft as a baby” Mrs. Chan said.

“Well, yes.
 
Ok, but
a baby isn’t really an animal. But yes it works.
 
Let’s think of animals.”

“Fast as a tiger,” Mr. Rashad said.
 

“Good.”

Ms. Macdonald wrote down
fat as a pig, angry as a lion, tall as a giraffe, high as an eagle,
smart as an elephant, dumb as an ox, cold as a snake
then turned around and
clapped her hands.
 
“Excellent class,
wonderful. Ok, let’s finish for today.
 
Now your homework for today is pages 50-55 of the red textbook.
 
And I want you to get started on your
composition.
 
I want your rough draft on
Thursday.
 
Remember that I want one full
page about you.
 
Your life.
 
Your country.
 
Your hobbies. Your interests.
 
Anything that you think is interesting.
 
But it must be one full page.
 
OK?
 
Any questions?”
 
The class was silent. “Ok then.
 
See you on Thursday.
 
10:00.
 
Right Chieko?”

“Yes,” Chieko blushed and slouched in her chair.

 
“Hey Jay,” Gloria,
one of the Filipino girls came up.
 
“What
are you doing this afternoon?”
“I don’t know,” Jay looked over at Chieko but she had her head down writing out
the homework assignment.

“Me and Fatima are going for sushi,” Gloria stepped
closer.
 
“It’s supposed to be a really
good restaurant.
 
Do you want to come?”

“Um, sure, I like sushi.”
 
He turned to Chieko.
 
“Do you want
to come?”

Chieko pretended not to hear.
 
She couldn’t believe he had just said yes. To
Gloria. So easily.
 
She had been waiting
for Jay to ask her out for weeks.
 
And
now he was just going to go out with this Filipino girl?
 
For sushi?
 

“Chieko,” Jay asked again, “do you want to come with us?”

“Huh?”
 
Chieko raised
her head.
 
“Oh, no, I have a date.”
 
Well maybe a date.
 
Douglas could call Angela, make an
appointment with her, after his practice.
 
It could happen.
 
And she was
going for dinner with Alex later.
  
And
so what?
 
It wasn’t like a real
invitation.
 
For a real date.
 
He was probably going to invite all the
people from the class.
 
No way.
 

“Oh.
 
Ok.”
 
Jay shrugged and smiled at Gloria.

“So,” Gloria touched Jay’s shoulder, “are you still
coming?”
“Ok, sure,” Jay smiled, “It will be fun.”

“Alright! You know we could make it a night and go for
karaoke.
 
Maybe dancing?
 
It will be great.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Jay watched as Chieko walked out of the
classroom.