Panties for Sale (43 page)

Chieko watched her feet step out of the elevator.
 

“I know, it’s your day off darling,” Angela had pleaded,
“but, he only wants you.
 
I just had to
call and ask because I know how worried you are about money.
 
And you did say you wanted to work as much as
possible.
 
And, Mr. Forrester said he
would pay double the fee for short notice.
 
Isn’t that nice of him?
 

Chieko wasn’t sure how to respond.
 
After the last appointment, she had promised
herself that she would never take any more calls from Saul Forester.
 
It just wasn’t worth the money.
  

“Honey,” Angela crooned, “he said he had to see you.
 
I don’t understand.
 
You must work some magic on your clients,
Chieko.
 
You really do know how to draw
in the regulars.
 
Do you know, you are
one of my most popular girls, maybe the most popular with the amount you’ve
been working recently.
 
I was just
thinking about you yesterday.
 
Oh well, I
might as well ask you now that I have you on the phone.
 
I was thinking of creating a new
feature.
 
Something special.
 
Call it something like ‘Girl of the
Month.’
 
Would you be interested in being
one?” Angela didn’t wait for an answer.
 
“You would be our first; you know, like what Marilyn Monroe did for
Playboy,” Angela laughed. “Of course, you would have to come in for more
photos.
 
And I was thinking this time we
should take a few shots of you using toys?
 
Only for our paying customers of course, you know the VIP site.
 
Yes, that would drive the men wild.
 
Of course, it’s up to you, honey.
 
But, we can talk about it later.
 
Now,” Angela’s voice faded and Chieko heard
paper rustling.
 
“I’m just looking at
your schedule, dear, and yes, I think I can re-arrange it a little bit and give
you a completely free day next Tuesday?
 
Oh wait and a late appointment on Wednesday, so that’s like a day and a
half all to yourself.
 
Would that work
for you?”

“Ok,” Chieko had said slowly, “I can do it today,” She
turned off the TV.
 
“What time?”

“Oh, Chieko you are a doll,” Angela had gushed,
 
“Ok, I’ll arrange it all.
 
Ahmed will pick you up in one hour.”

Chieko stood and looked at the slightly open door to room
404.
 
She took a deep breath,
straightened her hair, walked quickly down the hall and pushed the door
open.
 

“My, my,” Saul sneered as Chieko closed the door behind
her, “getting brave are we, my little geisha?
 
I don’t scare you then?
 
We may
have to change that.
 
Undress!”

Chieko kept her eyes on Saul as she slipped out of her
clothes.
 
She sensed something was
different this time.
 
Saul usually sat
motionless and stared at her, but this time, he seemed agitated.
 
His eyes darted around the room and he kept
taping the floor with his foot.
  
He
didn’t even notice that she had undressed and was standing naked waiting for
his commands.
 
In the past, he had
ordered Chieko to stand in front of him.
 
Assuming he was a man of habit, Chieko, walked slowly towards his chair,
turned and waited for him to caress her leg.

But Saul didn’t touch her.
 
Instead, he stood up and circled around the room until he was standing
face to face with her.
 
He glared at her,
his eyes dark and menacing.
 
“Damn
women,” he snarled. “Damn whores.
 
Everything is always for them.
 
No!” he shouted, making Chieko jump.
 
She tried to step back but the chair was behind her.
 

Saul stepped closer to Chieko, so close she could feel his
hot breath against her cheek.
 
He reached
behind her neck and wrapped her hair around his hands, pulling it tight as he
growled in her ear, “Women are here for me.
 
You are here for me,” He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook
her.
 
“You will serve me.” He growled as
he pushed her down onto her knees.
 

Chieko reached down to steady herself but Saul pulled her
hair tight.
 
“Now!” he shouted and
slapped her across the top of her head.

Trembling, Chieko unzipped his pants, pulled out his erect
penis and took it in her mouth.

“No,” Saul bellowed, “not that way.
 
Do it slowly.”
 

Chieko nodded and began to lick his penis slowly, up and
down his shaft as Saul watched her carefully.
  
“No!” he slapped her face and pushed his groin closer to her face,
“don’t you know what to do?
 
Take it all
in your mouth, deep.”
 
He yanked her hair
and pushed her head back and forth.
 
Chieko coughed and tried to open her mouth wide enough, but she wasn’t
fast enough and she felt her teeth scratch against Saul’s skin.
 
“Damn you.” Saul cursed her and slapped the
back of her head.
 

Chieko tried to duck behind the chair but Saul grabbed and
pulled her back. “Oh no, you are not finished.”
 
Squeezing her left arm tight, Saul reached down and pinched her chin,
pulling her face up to match his, “Why can’t you do a simple thing as suck my
cock?
 
Are you really that stupid?”
 
Saul rubbed his thumb under Chieko’s eyes
smearing her mascara.
 
“What is
this?
 
Are you crying?
 
Why are you crying?
 
You are not the one paying to be
satisfied.
 
I should be crying.
 
I am paying you to satisfy me.
  
Do I look satisfied?
 
DO I?” He roared and then slapped her again,
across the face.
 

Chieko collapsed onto the ground.
 

“Whore,” Saul muttered, pacing back and forth across the
empty hotel room.
 
“You are nothing but a
worthless bitch!
 
You can’t even give a
proper blow job.
 
What am I paying you
for?
 
You want my money, bitch?
 
You must work for it,” Saul picked up
Chieko’s limp body up and flung her down on the bed.

Chieko barely had time to register what was happening
before Saul had climbed on top of her and was spreading her legs.
 
Terrified, Chieko covered her face with her
hands, expecting another slap.
 
But none
came.
 
Cautiously, she looked out between
her fingers.
 
Saul was sitting on top of
her, glaring down at her with an oddly amused expression.
 
“Stop crying you dirty whore.”
 
He was holding his penis in his hands,
stroking it fiercely, “I know you want it.
 
You like it this way.”

“No, Nei,” she cried, trying to squeeze her legs together

“Yes,” he laughed at her struggling beneath her.
 
He lifted his hand and slapped her hard
across the face. “And keep quiet.”

Chieko cried out in pain and glared up at Saul. She reached
her hands up and scratched her nails down his face.
 

“Bitch!” he roared and slammed his knee down hard pushing
her legs apart.

“Damé,” she screamed, squirming beneath him.
 
As she struggled, something snapped
inside.
 
She had had enough!
 
All the hurt, the pain, the humiliation of
the past few months, all her clients, all these men that ordered her around,
did what they wanted to her and then threw her out, used her, insulted her,
raped her; all the anger that was boiling and churning inside of her exploded
like a volcano of anger and vengeance. She felt a surge of ferocious power
flowing through her veins unstoppable like the red hot lava gushing from a
burning mountain.
 
Suddenly everything
was clear.
 
“Nei,” she screamed and
lifted her legs slamming both her knees as hard as she could into Saul’s
groin.
  
As he gasped and doubled over,
she pulled her legs free and kicked him hard in the stomach.
 
Using both her legs, she pummeled his
shoulders and then his body until he rolled off the bed with a loud thud.
  

Chieko slid off the bed and pushed her hair back from her
sweaty face.
 
Wiping her mouth with the
back of her hand, she stood over Saul and stared at his limp body.
 
Slowly, she lowered herself down till she was
squatting beside his head.
 
She waited
until his eyes opened and focused on hers and then she grabbed his hair and
lifted his head up off the floor.
 
“Fuck
you,” she said and slammed his head onto the floor.
 
Saul’s body went limp.

Alex carried the steaming cups to the small table by the
window.
 
“So,” she handed one to Chieko,
“what have you been up to?”
 

“Oh, not much.”

“Angela called me a few days ago looking for you.”
 

“Oh?” Chieko shrugged, “I quit.”

“Really?
 
That’s
good, right?
 
Did you tell Angela?”

“No, but,” Chieko turned to look out the window.

“Did something happen?”

 
Chieko looked up at
Alex.
 
“It was a bad client.”

“Oh god!
 
How bad?”

“Bad.” Alex waited while Chieko took a sip of her
latte.
 
After a long pause, Chieko sighed
and told Alex about her last appointment with Saul.
 
“And you know the crazy thing?
 
The whole time, I was thinking, what did I do
wrong?
 
How can I fix it?
 
But then, I don’t know, it was like somehow,
finally, I woke up.
 
It wasn’t me.
 
I didn’t deserve that.
 
I was letting this man beat me up, rape me,
for what?
 
I was letting all those men do
this to me.
 
For what?
 
Just for money?” Chieko looked down at her
shaking hands.

Alex reached over and squeezed Chieko’s arm.

“I didn’t want to talk to Angela about it.
 
I am angry at her too.
 
I think she was using me. Or maybe she was
just not telling me the whole story.
 
Manipulating me.
 
That’s the word.
 
I don’t know.
 
I know it was my choice.
 
I only
saw what I wanted to see.
 
Don’t worry, I
called Angela yesterday, I told her what happened.
 
She already knew, can you believe it?
 
Ahmed found Saul when he went up to the hotel
room looking for me.
 
Angela said she
banned him from the agency.
 
She sent his
name, his photo and credit details around to the other agencies.” Chieko
shrugged. “I don’t care. I still quit.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s good.
 
But, wow!
 
Chieko!
 
Good for you!
 
You know, standing up for yourself.
 
Did you really kick this Saul’s ass?”

“Yes, I got him good.”

Alex shook her head in awe.
 
She should really learn how to do that, she thought.

“It hurts,” Chieko said after a while, “you know?
 
Yes, what Saul did, hitting me, that hurt.
That really hurt.
 
A lot.
 
But I think I was already hurt before.
 
Having sex,” Chieko lowered her voice, “you
know, with all these different men.
 
Trying so hard to please them.
 
Even when I tried to do dominatrix, it wasn’t me.
 
Do you know, after every appointment, I
always felt awful.
 
So sad.
 
I tried to push myself to do more.
 
I thought if I just had more money, you
know?”
 
Chieko reached over and grabbed a
tassel on her hand bag.
 
One by one, she
began pulling the threads apart. “When I was tired and when my stomach ached, I
should have stopped then.”

“So, what happened to you?
 
You said you are not together with Joseph?”

“No, we are finished.”

“Are you ok?”

“I will be,” she smiled at Chieko. “I think I’m going to
leave for a while.
 
Go stay up north with
my parents.
 
I don’t know.
 
I know if I stay here, Joseph will find me
and somehow convince me to go back to him.
 
I’m still a little bit weak where he is concerned.”

“But why don’t you go back?
 
I’m sure you can fix it.
 
It
doesn’t have to end because of one small fight.
  
I thought you said he was perfect for you?”

“I thought so.”

“Will you go back to escorting?”

“No,” Alex shook her head, “No, I don’t think I could
handle that again.”

“It’s funny, did you notice?
 
We are both leaving.
 
We did so much for money and now we are
running away from it.”
 

“Yeah, I guess we know better now.
 
Easy money is never easy.”
 

“Ah, very wise.
 
I’m
not going to have sex for a very long time.”
 

Alex nodded, silently agreeing with Chieko. “Well, I guess
I should get going”

“Oh, me too,” Chieko stood up.

Alex stood up and gave Chieko a hug.
 
“I am really happy that we met,” she squeezed
her tight, “I know you will be ok.
 
You
are strong, so strong.
 
You surprise
me!
 
No, this will not stop you.
 
You are a special person, Chieko,” Alex
grinned.
 
“We should keep in touch.
 
Email me?
 
Let me know how you are making out in Japan.”

“Yes, ok.
 
Do you
have a pen?”
 

“Oh yes, wait a sec,” Alex dug into her purse. As she
pulled out her organizer, a few papers fell out.
 
As Alex found a blank sheet and scribbled her
name and email address down, Chieko bent down and collected them for her.
 
“Thanks,” Alex said as Chieko handed her the
papers, “just a pile of old receipts.
 
I
really need to get organized.” She laughed and walked over to the trash
can.
 
She was just about to throw the
papers away when she noticed something.
 
A smaller square of thick paper was sticking out from the receipts.
 
Curiously, Alex unfolded it, and her heart
skipped a beat.
 
It was a strip of
photos.
 
Four photos of Joseph and her,
smiling and laughing.
 
In the last one
Joseph was leaning over, kissing her cheek as she smiled into the camera.
 
Tears filled her eyes as she remembered the
day they had taken those photos.
 
She had
spent the whole afternoon with Joseph wandering around Harbourfront, strolling
hand in hand, eating ice cream and looking at the sailing boats.
 
Alex had discovered the photo stall tucked
away in a corner of Harbourfront Centre and begged Joseph to take pictures with
her.
 
She blushed as she remembered what
she had to promise him to get Joseph to do it, and how much fun he had
accepting that promise on the next two photo strips, which she didn’t
keep.
 
Alex smiled.
 
She looked so happy in the photos, so in
love.
 

“What is it?” Chieko asked.

“Oh,” Alex smiled, wiping her eyes, “it’s nothing.
 
I just found some old pictures.
 
Me and Joseph.
 
I know I’m being silly,” she held up the
pictures.
 
“He was handsome though,
wasn’t he?”
 

Chieko froze.
 
She
grabbed the photos from Alex and looked at them closely.
 
Could it really be him?
 
But he looked so nice and kind and charming,
but no, Chieko was certain.
 
It was Saul
Forester.
 
“Well? What do you think?”

Chieko looked up at Alex.
 
She had no idea.
 
Suddenly, the
room started to spin.
 
Chieko reached out
and grabbed the table to stop from falling.
 
The photo dropped to the floor. “Are you ok?” Alex grabbed Chieko to
steady her.

Chieko swallowed hard.
 
“Oh, I just, I felt dizzy for a second,” she took a deep breath of
air.
 
“I must have forgotten to eat
breakfast.
 
And then the latte.”

“How can you forget to eat?”
 
Alex bent down to pick up the photo and put
it carefully away in her organizer.
 
“Are
you sure you are ok?
 
Can I get you
something?”
 

“No, no.
 
Thank
you.
 
I’m fine.
 
I’m already late for an appointment with my
travel agent, so I really must go.
 
I’ll
feel better when I’m outside anyways.
 
It
is hot in here.”

“Yes, I guess it does seem hot.
 
I’ll walk you to the door.”

Chieko gave Alex a weak smile.

“So you didn’t say,” Alex looked at Chieko as they reached
the door, “didn’t you think Joseph was handsome?”

Chieko’s heart sank.
 
She looked up at Alex.
 
Her pretty
face was so innocent, so trusting, and still so hopeful.
  
“Yes,” Chieko nodded her head and pushed
open the door, “very handsome.”
 

With one last wave goodbye, the girls turned and walked in
opposite directions down the busy street.