Unwritten

by Lauren Runow

  I drop the phone back into my purse and a woman whispers in my ear, “Listen and listen well. Don’t move or scream. You’re going to do as you’re told or I’ll kill you right here. You hear me?”

  My breath hitches as my heart jumps in my throat.

  “Answer me, you little bitch,” the woman yells more sternly now.

  “Ye, yes, I hear you,” I stutter in fear. “What do you want from me?”

  “No questions. Just do as you’re told. You’re going to walk to that white Mercedes parked on the corner and hop in the back seat behind the driver’s door. Open the door yourself. Do not try to make a fast getaway. Do not make a sound. If you tip anyone off, I will kill you. You hear me? I will kill you.” Her voice is very strong and demanding as she forcefully whispers in my ear.

  “O, O, Ok…” Fear overcomes me and I’m shaking to my core. I don’t even think I can move and she shoves me a little to get me going.

  I look at all the people passing by and not one person notices anything, or even looks our way. Everyone is lost in their own world, wearing earphones that block out the world that passes them by.

  A tear starts to fall down my cheek as I open the door climbing in.

  The woman climbs in after me, turning to me, yelling, “Now lay down. If you try to get up I will pull this car over in a second and kill you before dumping your body on the side of the road.”

  I curl up and start to cry.

  The woman looks back and callously taunts, “Oh, stop crying like the little bitch you are. No one wants to hear your shit.”

  I hold back my sobs as my body turns cold and numb from shock and I start to shake uncontrollably.

  The drive is long and I can tell at some point we’re on a freeway since the stop and go has ceased and we’ve been driving smoothly for a while now. My mind is searching to find out if I recognize this woman but I can’t come up with anything, though I can’t get a good look at her with her big sunglasses covering most of her face.

  I’m completely terrified and just trying to stay calm and think clearly for ways to protect myself. Searching my mind through our entire encounter so far, I remember that twice she called me a “little bitch.” Does she know me? Who is this woman? Why is she doing this to me?

  I’m shocked, trying to figure out why this is happening to me as the car stops, making my palms sweat, my stomach turn and my heart beat uncontrollably.

  “All right you little bitch. Get out of the car and don’t pull any funny shit. No one can hear you up here anyway,” the woman says as she forcefully pulls me out of the car.

  Once in the house, the woman grabs a chair from the dining room table and moves it into the foyer. I stand still, looking down with my hands wrapped around my torso, slightly hunched over, trying to control the shaking that has completely taken over my body.

  “Sit down!” she demands.

  I do as I’m told and the woman ties my hands behind my back, my feet to the legs of the chair and places a red handkerchief through my open mouth, tying it behind my head.

  My eyes are wide open with fear and I can barely breathe, my heart is pounding out of control. I feel a burst of cold air hit me from her air conditioning kicking on and I realize the fine layer of sweat that’s covering my entire body, making me shake even more.

  The woman steps back admiring her work. “Perfect. I can’t wait till he sees this,” she says clapping her hands together, laughing.

  My mind goes crazy. He? Who’s He? Where am I? My stomach turns and I’m afraid I might throw up with the gag in my mouth.

  Just then the woman’s phone rings. Checking to see who it is, she starts to jump up and down with excitement as she answers it in a smooth, seductive voice, “Well hello, darling. Are you on your way?”

  “No, I am sorry Ms. Sanders. I hope you can accept my apology but I am afraid I can’t make it today. Something has come up and I am going to have Ms. Devine call you to reschedule you for another time.” I say into the phone while sitting on my couch at home. I was ready to go, walk out the door and get on with my life as Mr. Ashley but I couldn’t get up the nerve to even get off my couch.

  My last experience with her was something I never want to experience again and I don’t care what my consequences are going to be. I hope that Allison will understand because I know her mom is going to tell her but even if she doesn’t, I can’t go back to being him ever again. I know I’m done. Once I’ve known what it’s like to be with someone I actually have feelings for, I can’t go back. Ever.

  “What do you mean you aren’t coming?” she yells back into the phone with her voice getting louder and louder with every word. “What do you mean you can’t?”

  I go for it. “I’m sorry. I’m quitting the business. I have a job offer that I can’t turn down. Ms. Devine will find you someone that I know you will be pleased with.”

  “Don’t lie to me. It’s that little bitch, Allison, isn’t it?”

  “What?” I’m shocked. Did she really just say Allison’s name? “How do you know her name?”

  She laughs a horribly evil laugh that shakes me to the core. “Oh, darling. You would be surprised what I know about you and I have my first surprise for you sitting right here.” There’s a brief pause before she says, “Say hello to your precious Charlie, Allison.”

  Then I hear it. The most awful thing I’ve ever heard. My heart is ripped out when I hear Allison’s voice screaming, “Charlie! What’s going on? Who is this woman? Help me!”

  I jump up, having no clue what I’m going to do, just screaming, “Allison!”

  Jacquelyn’s back on the phone, taunting me, “Yes, darling, I have your precious Allison.”

  “If you’ve hurt her in any way I swear I will come after you. Don’t you dare lay a finger on her, you hear me. I’ll be right there.”

  “Oh yes, I thought that would change your mind. Good, I can’t wait to see you baby.”

  Racing out of my parking garage, I squeal the tires as I make my way through the San Francisco traffic to the Golden Gate Bridge. My heart is pounding, my hands are shaking and my chest is tight with fear of something happening to Allison, all because of me. I have no choice but to call Diane.

  “Hello, darling. Shouldn’t you be on your way to see Jacquelyn? Please don’t tell me we have another issue? I thought we’ve discussed this,” Diane’s voice rings through the phone, having no clue the danger her daughter is in.

  I cut her off, “She has her, Diane! She has Allison!” I yell, still shaking with fear.

  Diane’s tone changes instantly, “What? Who has Allison? Charlie, what’s going on?”

  “Jacquelyn! I told you we needed to cut her off! She’s taken Allison!”

  “What? Where? Where’s my baby? What has she done to her?” her voice trembling with fear.

  “I don’t know. I’m on my way to her house now. I heard Allison over the phone. It’s her, she’s there!”

  “I’m on my way!” Diane hangs up the phone as I speed by cars on the Golden Gate Bridge.

  I pull up to the house jumping out of the car and slamming the door behind me. When I reach the front door, Jacquelyn opens it right up, greeting me, “Oh, darling. You made it so fast. So good to see you, come in,” her demeanor very calm and inviting, like nothing’s going on.

  This woman has lost her mind. “Quit the shit, what have you done? Where’s Allison?” I demand.

  Jacquelyn opens the door wider to reveal Allison tied up in the foyer. My eyes open wide as I leap toward her. “Allison!” my voice cracks.

  “Not so fast, lover boy.” Jacquelyn grabs me revealing a gun hidden in her bra and swiftly points it at Allison making me stop in my tracks.

  “Why are you doing this? She has nothing to do with all of this. Leave her out of it!” I fight back tears seeing Allison tied up like that.

  I’m trying to keep my cool but having a hard time doing so knowing that I’ve somehow put Allison in this danger. The thought alone feels like it could kill
me.

  “I know she has nothing to do with me, but she has everything to do with you, and you not wanting to move in with me and now I hear you’re quitting completely…” she shakes her head as if saying tsk, tsk, “Don’t you see how that does affect me? Now do you see why we are in this little quagmire?” she smiles, like she’s teasing me.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I ended it with her.” I clinch my fists, hating having to admit I ended it with Allison, even to Jacquelyn.

  “Oh Mr. Ashley, even I know that’s not true. You love her and now she’s mine to use as my pawn to get what I want out of you.”

  “You’re wrong. I don’t love her…” my heart breaks in half hearing the words come out of my mouth and I have to close my eyes tightly to fight the tears that are forming.

  Jacquelyn laughs and walks over to a recorder and presses play. There’s silence at first and then I hear some commotion over the speakers and Allison’s voice coming through, “Charlie, what is it?”

  My voice, “Oh, Allison, it’s my parents.”

  Allison’s voice, “What’s your parents? You had a dream baby. Charlie, you can tell me. I’m here.”

  Allison and I glare to each other, realizing it’s our conversation from the middle of the night regarding my parents.

  I rub both hands through my hair, completely puzzled by what I’m hearing, “What the fuck? How did you get that?”

  Jacquelyn laughs again, “Oh, honey, I told you I was good at anything technical. You would be surprised how easy it is to tap your phone and listen in on everything you’re doing. I knew I would find something good and boy it kept coming,” her voice is very cynical and I’m stunned, still not understanding everything that’s going on.

  Right on cue, Diane bursts in the door, screaming for her daughter. “Allison! Jacquelyn, what have you done?”

  “Not so fast, Ms. Devine,” she holds her hands up making quotation marks when she says her name then pointing the gun back to Allison. “I figured you would be here shortly, too.”

  Allison’s eyes go wide as she tries to jump in her chair and mumble through her gag, “Mom? What is going on?”

  “Diane, is it?” Jacquelyn questions, titling her head to the side mockingly. “Oh man, I thought Allison was going to be enough bait to lour Mr. Ashley in but when I heard she was your daughter,” she throws her head back laughing, “it was just too much. So easy. Like shooting fish in a barrel!”

  “What do you want?” Diane says harshly as she approaches Jacquelyn yelling, “Leave my daughter out of this!”

  “Here’s the deal. I let this little bitch go,” she’s moving the gun around talking with her hands, being very carefree, like she doesn’t have a loaded pistol in her hand, “and, in trade, ‘ole Charlie here moves in and I get him anytime I want – for free!”

  “Deal!” Both Diane and I cry out at the same time.

  Jacquelyn snickers at us both, “Oh, it’s not that easy. There’s more. I need to make sure Allison will never be a problem again. So…” She pauses to look at Allison before looking back to me. “You, are going to have sex with me, right here, in front of her,” her voice becoming very salutary as she licks her lips at me.

  I look to Allison as she takes a horrified breath in, turning her head to try to hide. I feel Diane look to me and I know what I have to do.

  “Fine, Jacquelyn. You’re right. I do love her. And if this is what I have to do to keep her safe then I will gladly fuck you, right here, right now.” I seductively walk toward her, unbuttoning my shirt and I know it’s working as I watch Jacquelyn’s eyes haze over.

  I’ve played this role for the past ten years and I just try to act like this is no different than any other time. I know how to turn a woman on with just a look in my eye, a look that demands they treat me like the sex God I am, like I’m about to take control and rock their world like never before.

  Jacquelyn falls right into my spell and I watch her melt as I walk toward her as she says, “Oh, I knew you would see things my way.” She puts the gun down on the entryway table and I breathe a sigh of relief.

  Looking deep into her eyes, I wrap my hands around either side of her face like I’m going to kiss her but instead I swiftly pull her head down, lifting my knee to her head and kneeing her right in the nose.

  Jacquelyn screams as she reaches for her nose. She glares at me, appalled by what I just did, and I’m just sorry I didn’t do it harder. Woman or not, she put Allison in danger and I could kill her for it.

  That look is back in her eye and she dives for the gun just as I jump on her, fighting to get it away from her.

  We both fall to the floor and a shot goes off. The blast makes me freeze and Jacquelyn falls to the floor with blood streaming down the side of her face. I immediately scamper away from her; holding my hands up, proclaiming my innocence as both Allison and Diane are still with fear as they stare at me, then at Jacquelyn, then back to me.

  After a beat, Diane runs to Jacquelyn to feel for a pulse and I hop up to untie Allison before holding her close as we stare, waiting for what to do next.

  “There’s a pulse,” Diane whispers in shock still holding her finger to her neck. “Quick, hand me my phone,” her voice growing more urgent.

  I hand it to her yelling, “What? To call who? Fuck, Diane. What will you say?”

  “You two, get out of here now! I’ll handle this.” She dials 911 and before hitting call screams to us again, “I mean it, get Allison out of here, now!”

  I wrap my arm around Allison and forcefully lead her out of the house and into my car, quickly racing down Jacquelyn’s driveway. Allison is in shock and stares forward not saying a word.

  “Allison, please, talk to me,” I plead. She’s silent, fixated on the road ahead of her as I begin to beg, “Allison, please, talk to me! Are you ok?” I put my hand on her arm and she doesn’t even flinch, just stares forward. “Allison, say something!” I scream, shaking her leg violently. I’m freaked out she’s having a nervous breakdown and I have no clue what to do.

  She finally looks at me, her face white as a ghost and blank of emotion. The sight freaks me out even more. I immediately pull the car over. I can’t drive and care for her at the same time. “Allison, are you ok? Did she hurt you? Please, talk to me!”

  Finally, she opens her mouth, whispering, “Holy fuck…” She drops her head into her hands and starts to cry uncontrollably. I wrap my arm around her and she flinches back in anger, trying to get as far away from me as possible. “No! No, Charlie! Don’t fucking touch me!”

  My heart sinks to the floor as I plead to her, “Please Allison, let me explain.”

  “Take me home,” she asserts before screaming, “Now!”

  I start to shake as I turn back onto the road and the car is quiet as we cross the Golden Gate Bridge. Allison’s staring out the window and I can see tears flowing down her face. And I was wrong, this is the worst experience of my life.

  A knot starts to build in my chest and I can’t just sit here silent, I need Allison to now what’s going on, so I begin to spill everything, as fast as I can so she doesn’t try to stop me. “Allison, I love you but there’s something I wasn’t truthful with you about with my job. I’m a male escort. I get paid to have sex with random women. That woman is a client of mine that asked me to move in with her, said she was leaving her husband for me. And my madam…” I pause for this. I don’t want to state the truth but I know I have no choice. “Allison, my madam is your mother.”

  Allison starts to cry harder and I know she doesn’t believe what I’m saying. I can only imagine what’s going through her head right now.

  So I continue, “I had no idea she was your mom. I swear. Not until I saw her in your apartment the other day. I’ve only known her as Ms. Devine. I texted her that night in Tahoe saying I quit. I promise. I wanted out because, for the first time in my life, I felt like I had a purpose, a reason to be a better person. You were that reason. I wanted to be with you and on
ly you. Allison, when we made love, I truly made love to you. I’ve never had that. It was the best feeling I’ve ever had. Nothing else mattered but you.”

  Allison looks up to me and I see it. The love that, at least, used to be there but she’s struggling to understand.

  Now I have to tell her the truth about everything that happened, try to make her understand why I did what I did and beg for her forgiveness. “Your mom though. I’ve made her, and me, a ton of money and she wouldn’t let me quit. She threatened to tell you. Allison, I have nothing. Without this lifestyle, I have nothing, nothing to fall back on. No other way to make a living. When your mom found me I was living out of my car, working as a male stripper, just trying to survive. My life was going nowhere and she made sure I remembered that and left me no choice. I knew I had to end it with you. I swear, I felt I had no choice. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, yelling at you through the door like that. Please know it’s not what I wanted.”

  I reach out to place my hand on her and she pulls away from me again. I pause, pulling my hand back while my heart breaks even more.

  “Please believe me. I was cancelling on her today because I couldn’t do it. I was choosing you.” I place my fingers under her chin, moving her face toward me. She doesn’t pull away this time and I breathe a sigh of relief, saying, “I was choosing you, over everything I have because without you, I have nothing. It’s all just stuff. Stuff that meant nothing compared to you.”

  Allison sits silently, just staring at me. A few minutes go by in silence before I softly plead again, “Please, say something…”

  Allison whispers, demanding, “Just take me home.”

  My heart leaps into my throat and I do as she asks, pulling onto her street. Without saying a word, she hops out of the car, slamming the door behind her and runs up to her house, quickly closing the door behind her.

  Falling to the floor, I loose all control as I enter the safety of my home and lay there for I have no clue how long but it feels like forever.