A few girls down, another man knelt before the platform and licked a Flora Girl's clit. He was upon her in an instant.
Another followed suit.
Then another.
"Yakov!"
I turned just in time to see Yakov climbing onto Vampire Girl and then Patton yanking him backwards and tackling him to the floor.
"Let me go!" Yakov screamed.
They wrestled on the floor until Patton finally subdued him, but Mr. Shriver was approaching with Sean at his side.
"Let him go," Mr. Shriver commanded.
Patton looked up at him. "Why did you do this?"
"You can thank your girlfriend. She's full of good ideas."
"I didn't tell you to do this!" I said.
Now Patton was staring at me with disbelief, and beneath him Yakov broke free, scrambling away and climbing to his feet. He fell upon Vampire Girl and completed the orgy.
Then the platform began to retract.
Patton stood, panting and disheveled.
"What did you do?" he asked me.
Before I could speak, Mr. Shriver said, "She merely pointed out the obvious. We've been operating under unnecessary high risk by delivering the Favorite Girls to the homes of clients. Melissa recommended we revise the contract to include a preliminary experience for each client with his chosen Favorite Girl. Of course, once the fucking begins, the client is rendered helpless. He'll sign over his entire fortune just for one more thrust. He'll sign over his whole company. You see? The negotiations, the mergers, the buy-outs aren't necessary. We can have it all. Right now. And we will."
He winked at me, and then the bookshelves closed.
"Patton," said Mr. Shriver, "escort Melissa back to her room, and then come to my office. We have many documents to draft."
─With Honors─
THE NEXT week dragged on slowly. I felt like I was wandering through a bad dream that wouldn't end. Just as Patton had told me, Mr. Shriver came to my room the following morning with the news that on Monday I would start training as Kate's replacement for the company's Selection Guide.
Patton was avoiding me, so I never got a chance to explain myself.
I got word from Brian that Yakov was dead. By the time Sean checked on the orgy of Favorite Girls, business executives, politicians, even a bishop, Vampire Girl had bitten Yakov so many times that he'd bled out. Brian looked like he was ready to kill me. I didn't even bother asking if I could see Judy.
When Sean came to escort me to training Monday morning, I was prepared to be raped, but it didn't happen. He took me on a tour of the Showcase Hall, the waiting room, Bob's office, the jewelry store, all places I'd been before. Along the way he explained what I needed to tell clients about the Favorite Girls--all the lies and bullshit Kate had fed me when I first came here:
The girls are genetically engineered for sexual functionality.
Their bodies produce the Libido Drug.
"I know none of that's true," I finally said.
"Know the truth," he said, "but know the lies intimately."
"Why the illusion?"
"It's more fun for them."
On our way back, I ran into Judy on Level B. I said hello but she kept on walking.
"She's not allowed to speak to you."
"Why?"
Sean just shrugged and pushed me along. I glanced back at Judy, but she was in a hurry to get away. I noticed she was wearing a short plaid skirt and white knee-high socks. The sexiest I'd ever seen her dress. The skirt bounced so high I caught a glimpse of her butt.
Sean took me to his office, where he gave me a crash course on the Libido Drug and its application. Then he handed me a small vial of it.
"You need to get used to this," he said. "Take a single drop every night and masturbate. You have to be able to control yourself when dealing with clients. Every night, understand?"
"Yes."
"You'll be taking a lot of dick," he said. "Normally you'd start with mine, but Patton's throwing a hissy fit over you." He looked me over. "You must have some stellar pussy down there."
"Wouldn't you like to know."
"I would," he said.
Every day, he came to get me from my room, and every day I sat in a small office in the same hallway as Bob's, waiting for the phone to ring and hoping like hell it didn't.
Sometimes I wandered into the Showcase Hall and observed the girls. Diamond, Doll, Glow, Giggle, and Vampire. Still no replacement Frog, and the next Flora up to bat would become my new roommate. I couldn't wait. With Kate gone and Patton refusing to speak to me, I was getting pretty damn lonely.
Every day was the same. Get up, go to work, sit alone in an office, clock out, go back to the room, eat, smoke weed, eat some more, drink cocktails, and fall asleep watching TV.
Friday came before I knew it. I was in such a daze that I woke up, ate breakfast, and came to my office without even thinking about Flora's graduation. I'd been crying in my sleep lately. I felt liked I'd painted myself into a corner. Like the end was coming soon.
When Patton appeared in the doorway, I started sobbing immediately.
"Melissa," he said softly, coming around and sitting on the corner of the desk.
"I didn't m-mean it," I said. "I was just . . . running my m-mouth, like I always do. I'm sorry, Patton. I didn't know he was going to do that. I s-swear."
"I know," he said.
I looked up at him, sniffling like a little girl who bruised her knee. "You do?"
He looked down at his hands, started twiddling his thumbs. "I should have heard you out instead of avoiding you all week. I'm sorry." He took a long, deep breath, then said, "So how've you been?"
"Terrible," I said. "I'm going fucking crazy. I don't want to do this job, I'm alone every night . . ."
"Not anymore, though."
I nodded. "Flora. I haven't even thought about it."
He looked like he was going to say something but hesitated, a quick opening and closing of his mouth.
"What?"
"Nothing," he said. "The ceremony is this afternoon. I'll come get you."
"I want to come back to work for you."
"You can't."
"But I can't do this. I can't have sex with strangers. I'm not like Kate."
"Melissa, you don't have to do things the way Kate did them. No one told her to have sex with the clients. She did that on her own."
"Really? She said--"
"She said a lot of things. You deal with the customers however you please."
"But I have to give them the drug. What if they attack me?"
He shook his head. "You remember how the waiting room is set up? How the couches are on opposite sides of the room? It's designed that way for a reason. You tell the client to sit, you hand them a glass of wine spiked with LD, and then you get the hell away. If you're not in reach, the client will sit there and masturbate--that's it."
"Oh . . . I see."
"Do you think I'd let them send you down here if it were any other way?"
"I don't know." A lump formed in my throat. "I don't know how you feel about me."
Patton stood and turned to me, his crotch right in front of my face. His bulge was enormous, slightly curved, half erect.
"Stand up," he said.
I got up slowly, my eyes moving up his body until finally I stood staring up into his bright blue eyes. I slipped my hands around his waist, inside his suit jacket and around his back, pressing myself into him, feeling his cock on my ribs.
He put one hand on my cheek, wiped a tear with his thumb, then stroked my hair. His other hand went around my neck.
He kissed me slowly, touching the tip of his tongue to my teeth, my upper lip. Then again, his mouth a little more open, his tongue penetrating a little further. I met his tongue with my own, and we both went deep. Suddenly he wrapped one arm around my back and drew me tightly against him. I wedged my hand between us and worked it down into his pants, feeling his balls first, then gripping his cock and stroking it
underhanded. His mouth opened wide and he breathed hard. He grabbed a clump of my hair and started biting my neck. I stroked him faster, harder, and I felt his fingers spider-walking down my stomach, my pubis. The middle finger slid down over my clit, then entered me. It was all happening so fast. My heart was pounding. This was really happening. I started to unbuckle his belt.
"Ahem."
We both jumped, and Patton quickly withdrew his hand from my panties. I glanced at the door, my hand still gripping his penis, and saw Liu standing there with her arms folded around a clipboard, smiling and looking excited.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" I asked.
Patton laughed nervously. He drew my attention by touching my cheek with his finger and guiding my face to him. "Liu is my new assistant."
"What?"
"And she's going to be your new roommate."
"Are you fucking crazy?"
Patton gave me his typical stern, fatherly look and subtly gestured to Liu. When I looked at her, I felt terrible. She was afraid, embarrassed, hurt. I was ruining her day fast.
"Sorry Liu, I didn't mean any offense," I said, and then I quickly resumed yelling at Patton. "How dare you bring that poor girl into this fucking mess? She'll never see her family again!"
"What?" Liu said. "Is that true?"
Patton sighed, still focused on me. "When are you going to learn to trust me?"
"How about when you stop doing fucked up shit?"
"I need an assistant. I told you that on Day One. It wasn't an excuse to get closer to you--well, partly it was, but I do need one. And you need friends. This is a way you and I can keep an open line. You want to be in the loop, don't you?"
"Yes," I said stubbornly.
"Liu will be our go-between, and in the meantime you guys can pillow fight and gossip and all the other things girls do."
"What do you know about girls?"
He laughed. "I've made a career out of them, haven't I?"
Before they left, I made a point to walk over to Liu, hug her, and tell her I'm happy to show her around and help her get comfortable when the day is through.
Then they left, and I suffered through the rest of a long, boring uneventful day, so that by the time Patton returned to escort me upstairs to Level D, I was so relieved to be out of that office I actually managed to get a little excited.
He took us to the concert hall where I'd watched the Flora Girls play music, and here they were again, an entire orchestra playing Pomp and Circumstance. Their version was slower, more melancholy, deeper.
It was pitch dark in the auditorium. I banged my shin twice trying to get to the middle of the row, where we sat, Liu and me on either side of Patton.
When my eyes adjusted, I peered around to see if anyone else was here. In the very back, just under the sound booth window, was Mr. Shriver, smoking a cigar.
"What's he doing here?"
Patton didn't even turn. He knew who I was talking about. "He attends every graduation."
"Sick fuck."
"Who are you guys talking about?" Liu asked. She had such a young voice. Full of naivety and cuteness. I wanted to get her alone almost as much as I wanted Patton.
Maybe the three of us? If I could stomach the jealousy. How would Flora fit into the scheme? I couldn't just send her away while I had a threesome with her principal and an Asian girl. She would be dealing with enough shock today as it is.
The song was nearing an end. Mrs. Lane came up the steps onto the stage and started for the podium.
"What happens after this?" I whispered.
"The Preparation Stage."
"What's that?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. She's taken down to Level B, where Brian prepares her for delivery."
"She'll be terrified, Patton."
"They always are. At least the Floras get the mild version. You should see how Diamond Girl gets prepped. All those piercings? Brian forces them to strip naked, straps them to a table, and an assembly robot takes over, piercing after piercing, hundreds of them. No anesthesia. Most of the time they go into shock and fall unconscious."
I felt nauseous. Why was he telling me this? Did he think it would make me feel better?
"I want to be there," I said.
"For Flora's prep?"
"Yes."
"Okay."
I was so used to opposition it took me a moment to process and respond. "Brian will allow it?"
"Brian will do what I ask," he said.
The music ended with three loud thuds as Mrs. Lane tapped the microphone. "Thanks, girls. Wasn't that lovely, guys?"
The three of us applauded emphatically, but it only made the room feel emptier, the atmosphere more heartrending. The face of each and every Flora Girl exuded misery. It was almost as if they knew.
"We're here tonight to celebrate the graduation of our eldest Flora, and as custom dictates, she has prepared a speech. Flora?"
Mrs. Lane stepped away from the podium.
From the back of the stage, Flora emerged wearing a white graduation gown and cap. She looked unusually nervous.
As she headed for the podium, Patton leaned over and whispered, "She's not wearing anything under the gown. It's the first step in her preparation."
"Is that why she looks like she's going to cry?"
"Probably. She has no sexual experience whatsoever. Her social life has never extended past her own genetic duplicates. They're like sisters."
Flora stepped up to the microphone and cleared her throat.
"Hi everyone," she said. A chorus of hellos resounded from the orchestra. Then she recited her speech:
"This is the day we all anticipate, the day when we leave our family and friends and go out into the world for the very first time. I don't know what's going to happen from here. It's exciting and scary at the same time. But whatever happens, I know I'll be prepared. I'm fortuitous enough to have had wonderful guidance from Mrs. Lane, who makes each day more engaging and more fun than the last. Mr. Patton, who takes care of us when we're sick, councils us when we're confused, and teaches us all to love each other. The Floras before me, who were always kind and who left us one by one to pursue their own lives. I miss them all so much. And finally you guys." She turned to the other Floras, and when she spoke next she was crying. "I promise I'll think about you every day. I know I'll never see you again, since . . . since they never come back, but I'll keep each and every one of you close to my heart. F-forever." She paused, too upset to speak. Then she whispered, "I love you guys. Don't forget to always love each other."
Then she stepped away.
When Patton started calling to me, I was too upset to understand why. I ran down to the end of the row and then up the aisle and jumped onstage and threw my arms around Flora, and there we both stood, sobbing and squeezing each other.
"I'm so sorry," I whispered.
She didn't respond. How could she? She didn't even know what I was sorry for.
I felt a small hand touch my back.
Then I saw one of the pre-teen Floras come up behind my Flora. They swarmed us for a group hug, all of them. Even Mrs. Lane joined in.
"Bye, Flora," they chimed. "We love you, Flora."
I was the tallest among them, and even though I was in the middle of the group, I could still see out into the auditorium, where the red hot cherry of Mr. Shriver's cigar danced like a firefly in the dark.
I'm going to end you.
─Preparation─
"DO I meet my husband now?"
Flora and I stood by the elevator on Level C while Patton escorted Liu to my room. We'd both agreed she didn't need to see this yet.
"Flora," I said, wracking my brain for the right words, "things aren't the way you think they are.
"What do you mean?"
I took her hand and held it firmly. "I'm going to tell you everything tonight, okay? But right now I need you to promise me something. No matter what happens, I need you to remember that I'm not going to hurt you." I heard footstep
s and glanced over to see Patton returning. "And neither is Patton, okay? We're not part of any of this."
"Any of what?" She was shaking. "What's going to happen to me?"
Patton was here now. I let him take over.
"I don't know what to tell her," he said.
"Whatever you tell the rest of them!" I snapped.
Flora jumped.
"I never see them past the ceremony. I don't participate in this."
The elevator opened and we stepped inside.
"Don't you think it would be a little easier for them if you guided them through it?" I asked.
I thought Flora was going to have a nervous breakdown. Her entire body trembled, and she was looking back and forth at me and Patton, waiting for one of us to give her an answer.
We still held hands as I explained it to her.
"You're not going to college, Flora. You're not getting married. Everything you've been told is a lie."
"Mr. Patton?"
He ducked his head and nodded. "I'm sorry, Flora. I don't want it to be this way. It's beyond my control. I've always tried to make the best of it--for you and the other girls."
"If . . . if I'm not going to college, where am I going?"
"This company produces sex slaves," I said.
"This is a company?"
"Yes. You were created in a lab along with your sisters. When you turn eighteen, you're put in a display case and sold off to rich men. That's what happened to all the Floras before you."
"That's what's going to happen to me now?"
"No," Patton told her. "That's the only good news we have for you, honey. You've already been purchased . . . by Melissa."
When he said my name, she squeezed my hand.
Then the elevator opened.
Brain stood at the double doors.
"Just remember," I reminded her. "We're not going to hurt you, okay?"
"Okay," she said with an indifference that gave me chills. At this point she was probably emotionally exhausted.
We followed Brian into what looked like a mixture between a hospital examination room and a dressing room on a movie set. In the center of the room stood a cold metal table like the one I'd woken up on when they first brought me here. A station to the left housed medical supplies, but the right side of the room had racks of clothes, mirrors, makeup, fine jewelry and even a barber's chair.
Your Favorite Girl (YFG Series) Page 17
