by Rye Hart
“Listen, Marie, don’t start pulling that shit. You’re my best friend and you deserve this. I don’t have kids; I’m not married so I like spoiling you. You’re going to have to deal with that if we’re going to keep this up,” she said, motioning between the two of them.
Marie laughed and shook her head standing to throw her arms around her friend. She held the woman tight and kissed her cheeks. “Thank you, Rachel. You’re more than I deserve.”
“Ahhh I know I’m great but you’re pretty amazing too, lady. I couldn’t have patience with that boy you call your son.”
Marie sighed and rubbed her temple. “Sometimes I wonder how I even handle him,” she murmured.
“Well, don’t worry about it too much anymore. At least now you have a place to get away from it for at least a little while.”
Marie nodded and sighed, staring at her wine. Luckily, Rachel had learned to read her friend like a book and changed the subject quickly. “Do you think you’ll go home and take a look at the book now?” she asked with a little grin.
“Maybe. I’m not sure. Who’s your favorite?” Marie asked, cocking her head to the side.
Rachel smirked behind her wine lass just a little, her tongue darting out to lick her lips clean of the red wine.
“Stella.”
“Stella,” Marie repeated, blinking a little. “That sounds like a girl’s name.”
“It is.”
“RACHEL!”
Rachel laughed, covering her mouth. “What? Mystique is all about exploring your sexuality! Stella and Zeus are my personal favorites.”
Marie shook her head, a smile on her lips. “You’re crazy.”
“I know. Keeps things interesting,” Rachel added with a wink.
She laughed, suddenly feeling extremely relaxed. Marie was happy that she didn’t have to worry about paying for Madame Osei’s services, but at the same time she almost felt like it was too much. Could she really accept this gift from Rachel? At the end of the day, Marie decided to take it graciously and thank her lucky stars that she had people like Rachel in her life. People who would take care of her and love her. People had been taking advantage of Marie for so long that she’d gotten used to it.
But that was about to change and it was going to start today.
Chapter Thirteen
Marie ended up staying the night at Rachel’s since she was a bit too tipsy to drive. Not to mention, it wasn’t like she had anything to go home to. Richard was gone off God only knew where and even if he did come back, Marie wasn’t in a mood to fight. She crashed on Marie’s couch, sleeping well into the morning. She had the next three days off and she was planning on using them to her full advantage.
As she got ready to leave, Rachel hugged her tightly and told her to go back to Mystique soon. They would give her the medicine she so desperately needed. Marie knew it too. She knew that she needed affection and physical love. She wasn’t planning on getting married again any time soon, but she missed being held so badly. She missed having the weight of another person’s body over her and she missed the way the goosebumps rose on her skin when someone kissed her.
As Marie left, she sighed and looked over at the pamphlet in the car that listed the skills and expertise of the escorts at Mystique. She sat in her car a long moment, chewing on her lip. She wanted to choose her first date on instinct. It was hard, but she picked the pamphlet up and shoved it in the glove compartment of her car, managing to ignore it completely.
She made her way home, her stomach fluttering with excitement. She was going to go home, treat herself to a nice long bath, get pretty and head over to Mystique for her first real visit. When she pulled into the driveway she sighed softly, her heart dropping into her stomach at the sight of her son’s car. She wasn’t entirely sure if she had it in her to deal with him today.
Marie locked her car up and made it up her front porch stairs, unlocking the door and wandering in the house. She was shocked to find the furniture overturned and figurines broken. He son had clearly been going through her house looking for something and she already knew what; he was jonesing and needed money for drugs.
She walked through the house until she came to her bedroom where Richard was pulling things out of drawers and throwing them to the floor, his eyes wide and his hands shaking erratically. He was high out of his mind and the sight of it brought tears to her eyes. For a long moment she just stood there, watching him with a hand over her mouth.
Her son, the boy that she’d raised so tenderly and so lovingly was trying to steal from her. He was trying to steal money he knew she didn’t even have. She wanted to be angry and she wanted to scream, but his name fell from her lips weakly. She just sounded heartbroken.
“Richard.”
His head snapped up and he stared at her. “I was just looking for food money,” he murmured, his teeth chattering from the drugs.
She pressed her lips in a thin line and swallowed thickly, shaking her head. “No you weren’t. Don’t lie to me, Richard.”
“I just need some cash, mom. I’m coming down hard. It hurts, you know?” he whimpered, putting on those puppy-dog eyes that always won her over.
It wasn’t going to work this time.
“Get out.”
“What?” Richard asked, looking at her in disbelief.
“Give me your key and get out,” she whispered, her lips trembling with emotion. “I can’t handle this anymore. I can’t handle you!” she snapped.
“You’re going to kick me out?” he whispered, sounding like he barely believed it, and almost like he might laugh.
“Yes! I’m kicking you out like I kicked your dad out! Now give me the damn key! You’re not welcome in this house until you get your act together!” she snapped.
“You can’t. You can’t do that. I’m your son!”
“You may have been my son once but I didn’t raise you to be like this! Whoever you are now is not my son!” she screamed.
He started to back toward the door, his eyebrows furrowed in anger. “I should have known this was coming. You’ve always been an uptight bitch,” he snapped, grabbing his keys and throwing them at her.
The keys it her in the chest and then fell to the floor. It didn’t faze her. She just stared at him, keeping her stance strong and steady. She could break once he was gone.
“This is your fault,” he whispered. “You never stood up to that dick until he hit you! You let him abuse us for years! I’m fucked up, and it’s your fault!” he snapped, turning toward the door.
He slammed it behind him and Marie heard the squeal of his tires as he sped off down the street. Her legs quivered and finally gave out as she sunk into her bed, whimpering softly as she brought here shaking hands to cover her face. Why did it have to be like this? Why couldn’t she just have a normal marriage and a normal family?
She drew in a deep breath and sat up, eyes focused straight ahead. There was no point in wondering why things happened the way they did. If she wasn’t happy with it then she needed to change it. She collected herself and stood up, going to the bathroom to take a long hot shower. She didn’t even bother picking the keys her son had thrown at her off the floor. They could stay there.
She took her time in the shower, allowing herself to come down from the fight. She didn’t want to be a mess when she went back to Mystique. She wanted to come off as strong and confident as the women she’d seen running around in sheer clothing.
After she got herself dolled up in a short black dress and bright lips, she took a breath and walked out her front door, making as silent promise to herself that her life from here on out would be about her. She wasn’t going to be unhappy for anyone else anymore.
This was her time to be happy and she wasn’t going to compromise it for anyone.
Chapter Fourteen
The drive to Mystique was longer than Marie would have liked it to be. Her hands shook and she fought back tears most of the way. Despite the fact that she’d made a promise to herself regard
ing her own happiness, she was struggling to actually enact that attitude. It was a lot easier said than done.
When she finally arrived, she was comforted by the sight of Marco, working on a batch of something she didn’t quite recognize, though she knew would be delicious. Marco seemed incapable of making anything that wasn’t delicious.
She stepped out of the car and glanced at the path that led around the bakery and to the massive warehouse. Marie decided against going straight back to the main building and instead, opted to walk inside the bakery, smiling at Marco.
Marie tucked some of her hair behind her ear and smiled at the tan man. He offered a smile in return and walked over to where she stood, putting his strong hands on the counter.
“How can I help you today?”
She smiled and chewed on her bottom lip, clearing her throat. “I’m having a bit of a rough day. What would you suggest?”
“A rough day, huh? Looking for some comfort food?” he asked with a smile as he ducked behind the counter.
Marie watched him to see when he was retrieving. When he stood back up he was holding a thick, heavy butter cake. Her mouth started watering just at the sight of it. It looked dense and sweet. It was everything she wanted right now. In fact, it looked like the cakes she used to make with her grandmother.
She reached out and took the cake, starting to fish some money from her wallet, but he just shook his head. “No. You enjoy it,” he said with a firm nod. “If you don’t tell, I won’t,” he said with a grin, echoing Rachel’s words.
She blushed, nodded, and took the piece of cake and the fork her offered. As she settled into the chair at one of the small, round tables, she dug in and sighed softly. It was so damn good. A soft groan left her lips and Marco came around and set a cup of coffee down beside her.
“Is it good?” he asked with a smile.
“So good. I can’t even begin to describe it,” she murmured, taking another bite of the cake.
It was heavy on her tongue and fell apart almost immediately. It was absolutely perfect. She glanced over her shoulder as Marco returned to the counter. She set her fork down a moment and cleared her throat. “I’m curious,” she murmured.
“About what?” he asked casually, leaning over the counter again.
“Do you make this stuff yourself?”
He nodded and ran his fingers through his thick, black hair. “Yes. Some of the recipes are Madame’s, but I do all the cooking.”
“How are you so good at this?”
He chuckled and popped a candy into his mouth before speaking. “I’m Italian. Italian families are ruled by food. I always cooked with my mother and so I picked up a few things.”
“But your specialty is baking?”
“I don’t really have a specialty. I help prepare most of the food that is served in the main house as well.”
“That’s a lot to do.”
“We manage well enough. We have our ways.” As he said those words his eyes flashed and when he spread his lips in a full grin she swore she saw a set of razor sharp teeth.
Marie blinked a few times until Marco’s gaze and smile returned to normal. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen something like this, but it still made her clear her throat and look away. The sight should have scared her, though it didn’t. She should have been far more shocked, but she just let it go. This was the only decent thing she had going on in her life right now. She wanted to enjoy it.
She finished the cake and brought the plate back up to Marco. “Thank you again. It was absolutely wonderful,” she said with a smile, brushing a stray curl out of her face.
Marco took the plate and set it aside, offering her another one of those breathtakingly charming smiles. “It’s was my pleasure, bella.”
“Bella?”
“It means beauty in Italian,” he said with a chuckle.
Her cheeks flushed a deep red and Marco just smiled, reaching out to take her hand and kissing the back of it tenderly. “I look forward to seeing you again, so don’t keep me waiting long.”
“Of course not,” she whispered breathlessly, her heart beating out of her chest.
She stepped away from him and started toward the door that led out to the warehouse, a grin spread from ear to ear. Bella. He’d called her beautiful. She couldn’t remember the last time some in her life called her beautiful. All those weird kids on the dating sites had called her ‘smoking’ and ‘hot’, but that didn’t have the same effect as beautiful.
Her cheeks heated up again, but she laughed and covered them with her hands, making her way to the main doors of the deceptively rundown ware house.
Maybe things weren’t so bad after all.
Chapter Fifteen
Marie approached the heavy, metal doors but before she could even raise her hand to knock, they parted slowly and she was allowed to wander inside. The building looked similar to the way she’d left it last, though she could now see various animals sitting in the laps of beautiful women, their eyes far more intelligent than any animal she’d seen before.
She was surprised when her eyes met the gaze of a large, powerful tiger. The impressive animal was curled up on one of the many cushions and she was almost shocked when she heard the loud, rumbling purr coming from its throat. She stopped short, just staring at the animal. It blinked lazily at her and then yawned, laying its massive head in the lap of a woman who gazed at it fondly.
“Don’t worry about him, dear.”
Marie jumped at the voice behind her, turning around quickly, a hand over her chest. Madame Osei chuckled and Marie sighed, relieved that it was only her. Even though Madame Osei assured her that she was safe while she was here, Marie couldn’t help but be nervous. What they were doing was illegal and as someone who’d avoided trouble with the law at all cost, Marie was still concerned with getting caught, even though she wasn’t technically doing anything wrong by being in the building.
“I didn’t mean to scare you, dear,” Madame said softly, taking Marie’s hand and patting it in a motherly way.
Marie smiled and cleared her throat. “I’m a very jumpy person. It’s going to happen from time to time, but it’s okay,” she assured.
Madame Osei chuckled and led Marie to one of piles of pillows and blankets that were scattered around, pulling her down to sit on them. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, it’s been a bit of a rough day and it felt like this was a good time to visit,” she explained.
“I understand completely.”
Marie nodded and cleared her throat, not sure what to say next. Luckily Madame Osei was ready. “Have you looked at our little catalogue?” she asked with an impish grin.
Marie blushed and shook her head. “I kind of wanted to choose someone on a gut feeling. It felt strange to flip through a book and judge them based on appearance.”
“You’re a purest,” Madame said with a laugh, standing. Her silk skirt pooled to the floor and for a moment Marie thought she might trip on it, but Madame Osei moved like water. “Follow me.”
Marie followed quickly, glancing back over her shoulder at all the exotic animals. “Is it safe to have all those animals running around?” She knew she should have been more alarmed than she was, but it was hard to be anything but calm and relaxed in this place. Maybe it was the incense.
Madame Osei chuckled and nodded. “Yes. They’re all wonderful. Most of them are rescues.”
“From like, he circus?”
“No, darling. People have a bad habit of biting off more than they can chew. They take these poor creatures from their homes and then when they grow bored of them, they toss them aside.”
“Well, that’s kind of you to rescue them.” There were more practical questions that Marie wanted to ask. She wanted to ask about wild animal licenses and whether or not they were trained, but practical questions escaped her in this place.
Mystique had an air of fantasy to it, and just like her dreams. It seemed unwise to ask practical questions in a pla
ce like this. The entire point of it was to lose yourself in the fantasy and Marie was more than willing to do that. So instead of pressing on with her questions, she just followed Madame Osei, trusting her completely.
“Where are we going?” Marie asked.
“We’re going to the room that is quickly going to become one of your favorites,” Madame answered with a grin.
The answer was vague, but Marie didn’t mind. She liked the feeling of nervous excitement that was bubbling in her belly. The hallway seemed impossibly long and as they passed one of the doors, Marie glanced into one of the rooms and she swore she saw a younger man laid out on a bed, a long tail curled around him and dog like ears twitching on top of his head. Marie blinked and when she did the ears and tail disappeared, making her wonder if she was crazy. Maybe all of the sights and smells were starting to make her head fuzzy.
Marie followed Madame Osei until they reached the end of the hall where a large set of heavy curtains separated the room from the hall. The dark skinned woman reached out and smiled softly as she slowly pulled the curtains back, revealing a room that seemed far too large for the warehouse.
Marie’s eyes widened as she took in what was happening. There were men all in various stages of undress. Somewhere completely naked, some wore suits, and others wore kilts. They were all beautiful in their own right and there were young men, older men, and some who seemed ageless, somehow.
Marie’s jaw fell slack and she swallowed thickly. “This is incredible.”
Madame Osei chuckled. “Most of my clients like this room.” She said, snapping her fingers in the air.
All of the men perked up at the snap and when they rushed forward she noticed that there were also quite a few women with full breasts, soft skin, and round hips. Everyone in the room was absolutely beautiful and as Marie stood there, taking them in, she felt a sudden wave of inadequacy come over her. All of these people were so unbelievably gorgeous. Did she really belong here?
“Welcome to what most of my clients like to call the buffet.”
