by A. L Long
Hanging up the receiver, I pulled a chair to the window and waited for someone to come through the door or call back to let me know that my wish had been granted. The minutes turned into hours and I knew that my request had been denied. Just when I was ready to give up waiting, the lock on the door turned, but to my dismay, it was only one of the staff personal bringing me the last meal of the day.
Placing it on the desk, the young man turned and walked out the door, locking it behind him. Not even the smell of the food under the silver domes could brighten my mood or the way I felt. Walking passed the tray, I went to the closet. Looking at the dress on last time, I removed it from the edge of the door and tucked it away in the closet where it couldn’t be seen. I was tired of being reminded of what would be happening in a couple of days.
Picking out a nightgown from the closet, I removed my clothes and slipped it on. I thought for sure that when my head hit the pillow that I would instantly fall asleep. With everything going on, my thoughts were playing havoc on my exhaustion and I was only able to look at the ceiling cursing myself to fall asleep.
After several bouts of trying to get comfortable, I finally found peace and my thoughts were taken to the place that I loved so much. Unfortunately, it was only for a short while since the sun began to rise, filling my room with light. Given the fact that Mr. Sakai didn’t tolerate laziness, I sprung from the bed exhausted and headed to the shower to see if I could bring some life to this body.
Having found that the shower did nothing for my tired body, I walked to the closet in a zombie state. Picking out something conservative and comfortable, I opted for a flare skirt and a pink tank top to match. I wasn’t sure what Mr. Sakai had planned for me, but hopefully he was going to be occupied with the preparations for the auction, therefore wouldn’t care that I was dressed unfitting to his standards, which matched the way I felt.
After finishing getting ready, I took my place by the window as I always did. It was the only connection I had to the outside and was much better than staring at the four walls that kept me captive. Twisting the lock to the window, I pushed it open and breathed in the fresh air that the outside had to offer. Pulling the chair close to the window, I gazed down at the garage hoping that my friend would be working on Mr. Sakai’s cars or even working on the grounds.
As I waited, anticipating that he would appear, I tried to enjoy the warmth that the sun had to offer. Closing my eyes for a short moment, I heard the sound of a car pulling up to the garage. My eyes popped open to find that it was only one of Mr. Sakai’s men getting out of the car. I thought for sure that my friend would be opening the garage door for him, but instead the man walked over to the door and reached inside to open the overhead garage door himself.
When the man was finally out of sight and the overhead door closed, I took my eyes off of him and moved from the window. There wasn’t anything else for me to do. I knew that my friend wouldn’t be making an appearance and I couldn’t sit in front of the window until he did.
Out of desperation, I walked over to the bedroom door and turned the handle. I don’t know what I was thinking. Maybe it was my desperation kicking in or maybe it was wishful thinking that the door would be unlocked. I wanted so badly just to walk out of the room and leave this house.
Taking a seat on the floor against the door, I leaned my head back and began contemplating my future. In two days, I would more than likely be leaving this place. All I could hope for now was that the highest bidder would be a kind, gentle man and treat me well. I wouldn’t even care if he was old and unattractive as long as he treated me well.
Leaning my head back against the door, my eyes focused on the curtain surrounding the window, counting the diamond shape squares just to keep my mind on something else other than the auction. I could feel my eyes becoming heavier and heavier. Sliding further down the door, I rolled over, pulling my knees to my chest. Exhaustion finally won out and I fell asleep.
~*~*~*~
The room was dark when my eyes fluttered open, which let me know that I slept the entire day away. Getting up from the floor, I walked over to the bed and looked at the clock that was sitting on the nightstand. It was already seven o’clock in the evening. My stomach began to rumble. I stared back at the tray that was sitting on the desk and wondered if there was anything on it that I could eat to satisfy my hunger. Given the hour, I was surprised to find that no one had come the entire day to bring me my meals.
Lifting one of the domes off the plate, I was surprised to find that there was an assortment of fresh fruits, which included, an apple, strawberries and a banana. These things I could definitely eat without getting sick. The other dome didn’t offer the same. I knew for a fact that the chicken would be bad as well as the bed of rice that it sat on.
Grabbing the knife. I began cutting into the apple, which made my mouth water. Putting a small chunk in my mouth, my hunger was on its way to being satisfied. When I had finished the apple, the strawberries were next, followed by the banana. Even though I wasn’t completely full, my stomach no longer protested.
Placing the dome over the empty plate, I picked up the glass of water and drank it down. There was no longer any ice in the glass, but it still quenched my thirst. Staring at the knife that I had placed back onto the tray, a thought came to my mind. Taking it from the tray, I walked over to the door and inspected the handle. Feeling a sense of joy, I saw that there were two screws holding the handle in place.
I wasn’t sure if I would be able to loosen the screws with the knife, but if I didn’t try, I would never know. As I held the knife up to the screw, I found that the tip of the knife was too pointed to do any good and it didn’t matter how hard I tried to make it work, there was no way I would be able to turn the screws. Why did I think that I would be able to get out of here? Mr. Sakai was much smarter than me, even down to the utensils he provided for me to eat with.
~Eighteen~
The day had finally come and there was still no sight of Mr. Sakai. I did finally get my wish, which allowed me to have some time outside of the house. Even though I was accompanied by one of Mr. Sakai’s men, at least I was able to breath some fresh air. I wasn’t sure what had caused the change of heart, I was just glad to be out of that room.
As I walked around the ground, I was especially observant of the security. Even though I loved the outdoors, that wasn’t the only reason that I wanted out of the house. I wanted to get a better look at the grounds so I would have an idea of what I was up against when I escaped. I wasn’t giving up hope even though I only had a few hours before the auction.
My venture was cut short when Mr. Sakai’s man received a call. As we headed back to the house, I could see that there was a line of expensive cars parked in front of the mansion along the circular drive. I was pretty sure that some of the men that were going to take part in the auction had already arrived. Surely Mr. Sakai would have let me know that the auction was moved up.
Taking hold of my arm, Mr. Sakai’s man led me to the side of the mansion where the garage was. It didn’t make sense that he would do this unless he wanted to make sure that I wasn’t seen. Moving toward the garage, I knew that he was going to take me to the entrance leading inside from the garage. When he took me past the row of cars and up the stairs, I could tell that he was anxious in getting me back to my room as quickly as possible.
I was in my room within a matter of minutes. Waiting for me inside was another woman, who I assumed was part of Mr. Sakai’s staff by the way she was dressed. She was quite a bit older than me, but just like Aiko, she was Asian. Bowing before me, she said in a timid voice, “Mr. Sakai has requested that I help you get ready for the event.”
I was about to tell her that I didn’t need any help, but the more I thought about it, she might be able to give me more information about the estate. Nodding my head, I walked over to her and asked, “What is your name?”
When she didn’t answer me, I knew that she was only there to assist me and nothing more
. We stood in silence for a few seconds before she said, “Your bath is ready, I will wait here until you are finished.”
I guessed that was my cue to go to the bathroom. Moving away from her, I walked toward the bathroom. As I passed the bed, I could see that she had found the dress that I had stuffed in the closet. It looked just as good as it did the day that it was bought. Shaking my head in disgust, I entered the bathroom, making sure to close the door behind me.
Taking off my clothes, I got in the tub. The water was only warm which meant that I wasn’t going to be spending a lot of time in it. There was a different scent coming from the water. Breathing in, the scent of vanilla and jasmine filled my senses.
Before I even got started, there was a knock at the door. It could only have been the servant, so I responded, “Come in.”
When the door opened, I was sadly mistaken, Mr. Sakai was standing in the doorway. Unfortunately for me, I had nothing within reach to cover my naked body. Crossing my hands over my breasts, I asked, angered by his presence, “What do you want?”
“My, my, Tessa. Is that any way to address the man that holds your future in his hands?” he responded shrewdly.
Thinking that this man was unbelievable, I directed by eyes toward the robe that was hanging on the door and asked, “Can I please have my robe?”
“See… I knew that you could play nice,” he answered, taking the robe from the hook and holding it open for me.
Pushing from the tub, I carefully climbed out and turned so that my back was against him. Placing my arms through the sleeves, I grabbed the two sides and quickly wrapped it around me. Mr. Sakai lifted my hair from underneath the robe and held it off my body while he placed a kiss on my neck. Taking a deep breath, he continued kissing me. “You smell good enough to eat, Tessa,” he declared as he pulled the robe from my shoulder and replaced it with even more kisses.
Wanting nothing more than to get away from him, I shrugged my shoulder and pulled the robe back into place as I stated rudely, “I need to get ready. I know how much you hate it when I am late.”
The small room was filled with his laughter. I didn’t find any humor in what I said. When he left the bathroom, I couldn’t have been happier. Making sure the door was closed, I turned to look at myself knowing that I needed to get a hold of myself. There was no way in hell that I would let this man get to me.
Taking a few deep breaths, I was finally able to leave the bathroom. Slowly opening the door, Mr. Sakai’s servant was patiently waiting for me, as she had stated, and in the same place I had left her in. Thankfully, Mr. Sakai had already left the room and I couldn’t have been happier.
~*~*~*~
I had to admit that I looked a lot better than I felt. The dress that was chosen for me looked amazing. I didn’t know why it would matter, because soon it would be coming off anyway. After Mr. Sakai’s servant left, all I could do was wait patiently for someone to come and get me. As I sat on the bed, I became very anxious knowing what was going to happen to me. I had run out of time and there was nothing that I could do to escape the auction.
When the door opened, I practically jumped from the bed. Looking at Mr. Sakai’s man, I knew all the tears in the world wouldn’t have helped in convincing him not to take me. Stopping in front of me, he held out his hand and said, “It’s time to go.”
Standing to my feet, I refused his hand and began walking to the bedroom door. This time, I knew exactly where to go. The theatre room would be the last room I would see before I was taken away. Since this was an auction, I knew that the highest bidder would be my new owner and no matter how high or low the bid was, Mr. Sakai would have to accept it.
The hallway leading to the elevator was much shorter than I remembered, at least my nerves were telling me it was. I prayed over and over that the elevator would have stopped working, but it was never answered. The door was already open when got there, which didn’t delay my journey. When the door slid closed behind us, already I could feel my chest begin to tighten. I thought for sure that I would collapse to the floor, but then the door opened, and we were a few feet away from the theatre doors.
I was trying hard to take slow, even steps just to prolong the inevitable, but unfortunately, Mr. Sakai’s man was more anxious than I was and rushed me along by placing his hand on my lower back. When he reached for the door handle, it was like everything was moving in slow motion. I could only focus on the turning of the handle until the he ushered me inside the large room.
As I looked around, two rows of the theatre seating were already occupied by the bidders. Soon one of them would be my new owner. I couldn’t see what they looked like as we headed to another door above where they were seated. I could see the back of their heads, which was an indication of how old they might have been. I could also tell by the broadness of their shoulders whether they were well built or if they needed to cut out some of calories they consumed daily.
Heading through a small corridor that was only lit by floor lights, I could tell that the floor had a downward slope. When we reached the end of the corridor, there was a set of steps, that if I had to guess, led to the stage. Carefully taking each step, I slightly held up my dress to make sure that I didn’t trip over the hem. As we came closer to the top of the steps, I could see several women standing in a line at the top. They were all wearing gorgeous dresses, just like me. Seeing all those women made me wonder where they were being kept in the mansion and why I hadn’t seen any of them since I’d been here.
Taking my place at the end of the line, I heard Mr. Sakai’s voice come over loud and clear, “Gentleman, I am so happy to have you here as my guests at this wonderful event. There are only a few rules for the auction that must be adhered to. The first rule is that there will be a minimum bid of one million dollars for each of the girls. The highest bidder will be allowed to spend fifteen minutes with the girl he has bid on. In the event she displeases him, she will be made available to the remaining bidders for an additional million. Bid wisely. Any remaining girls will be used in a different capacity.”
I just about choked when I heard the rules of the auction, especially the part about what would happen to us in the event none of the men wanted us. As much as I hated being sold, it was much better than the other option of being used as a slave.
When Mr. Sakai announced, “Let the auction begin,” we were all instructed to make our way onto the stage.
The first girl in line broke down and began crying. Her behavior caused one of Mr. Sakai’s men to pull her from the line. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to her, but the next girl in line was more than happy to walk onto the stage. It was as though she was in some sort of pageant the way she strutted her stuff, smiling from ear to ear. As I looked up the line, it dawned on me that most of the girls were actually happy to be here.
When we were finally all on the stage, the glare of the lights shining towards us was so blinding that I couldn’t see any of the faces of the men that were seated below. If I hadn’t been nervous enough, my nerves just kicked into overdrive not knowing who would be bidding on me. All I could do was pray that one of the overweight older men wouldn’t win the bid when my turn came up.
~*~*~*~
With the auction almost over, my time was approaching quickly. None of the girls that were sold went for less than ten million dollars. I couldn’t believe the amount of money that was being spent. These men must have been very wealthy to spend that kind of money. There was even a bidder that had purchased two girls.
Trying hard not to break down, my turn had arrived. Stepping forward, as instructed, I made a full turn and waited for the bidding to start. The room fell silent other than the chatter among the men. When the bidding finally began there were only two men that were fighting for me. I could tell by the cracking in their voices that they were old. This was the last thing that I wanted. The only thing I could think about was Mr. Milford and the way he smelled whenever I had an appointment with him.
The bid had inflated
within a matter of minute between the two men to fifteen million dollars. My heart fell to my stomach knowing that no other man would be bidding on me, especially considering how high the bid had gone. There was a once, twice… and my chest tightened knowing that soon it would be over. My destiny had been bought and soon the highest bidder would have fifteen minutes with me. I knew I could have acted out, but then I would chance ending up with a different outcome all together.
Holding my breath as I waited for Mr. Sakai to say, “Sold,” another man joined in, upping the bid to twenty million. I must have been going crazy or wanted so badly not to be bought by either of these men that I could have sworn that I recognized the voice. Maybe it was just the thought of never seeing Xavier again that had me thinking it was his voice that I had heard.
When Mr. Sakai finally said, “Sold for twenty million,” I was ushered off the stage by one of his men and led down the stairs located on the other side of the stage. When he opened the door, there was yet another hallway with several doors blanketing each side. Entering the last door on the left, I was left with my thoughts as the door closed behind me.
When the door finally opened, I couldn’t do anything but stare at the wall opposite the door. I didn’t want to see who my new owner would be. It was a defiant move, but the minute he said, “Tessa, turn around,” my heart bled for the sound of that voice. I immediately turned to face the door and everything that I had prayed for had finally come true.
