“She didn’t do anything,” I said.
Then I hung up, turned to Flora, and nodded.
My entire stay at Your Favorite Girl, Inc., I’d just been biding my time while I awaited an inevitable death sentence. With that phone call, I just voluntarily cut my time in half, and yet the smile on Flora’s face made it worth the consequences.
We were both doomed. Might as well speed up the process while improving the quality of life for one of us. I certainly didn’t deserve happiness, but Flora did. She would be my focus from here on out—her and Judy. Watching Flora celebrate in silence, I vowed to die for her if necessary. For both of them.
Noon was approaching and I was getting hungry again.
“Want to order lunch?”
“I am pretty hungry.”
“What are you in the mood for?”
Flora shrugged. I wasn’t sure either.
“I could go to the cafeteria and see what they’re serving.”
“Okay.”
Flora stood there with her hands behind her back, tapping the toe of her shoe on the hardwood. I could tell something was wrong, so I asked.
“Nothing,” she said. “I just … I haven’t been out of this room since you brought me here.”
Of course, the poor thing. She just wanted to come with me, get out of here for a little while. Why hadn’t I thought to take her around a little? No one would have a problem with it, as long as I stayed with her and we didn’t leave Level C. Hell, with Mr. Shriver gone, I could probably get away with taking her with me to the Showcase Hall and letting her pick her own Favorite Girl.
Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea, now that I thought about it. Those girls had been her classmates once. Seeing them drugged and tied up in a display case, some of them transformed completely with cruel and excessive tattooing and piercing—Frog, Diamond, and Glow in particular—might traumatize an ingenuous person like Flora.
Then again, maybe she needed to see the truth.
I could always explain the Showcase Hall first and let her decide.
Usually when I walked through the lobby or sat in the cafeteria, I felt like a ghost, unnoticed by the other employees. Either they were afraid to associate with me because they knew I was destined for the tip of Sean’s blade or they kept to themselves in general, fearing everyone and everything. Or both.
Today, though, everyone was staring at us.
Staring at Flora, to be precise. Gawking. Even the girls. Most, if not all, of them had never seen a Favorite Girl in person.
“Why are they looking at me?”
“You’re kind of famous around here.”
“Me?”
“All of you. The Favorite Girls. They haven’t seen one before—outside of a test tube, at least.”
A group of young men huddled near the cafeteria entrance, two of them pale and bony like Judy’s male counterparts, one a short heavyset boy with freckles and a cowlick, and the last a man in his late twenties who had the build of a basketball player. All of them carried backpacks and wore slacks with short-sleeve collar shirts. I’d seen them around before, in the lobby or waiting on Level B to start their shifts.
Approaching the cafeteria, Flora stopped in front of them and said, “Hi.”
“Hey,” said the two skinny ones in unison.
The attractive one extended a hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Flora.”
Flora accepted. I panicked when I saw the way he held her hand. Not a standard shake but the way you would hold a hand you’re about to kiss. This guy knew he was the best looking one in the bunch, a knight among commoners. I could see lust and confidence in his eyes.
The heavyset kid stared at his feet and said nothing.
“Come on, Flora,” I said.
She ignored me. “What are your names?”
“Steve.”
“Bill.”
“I’m Paul,” said the attractive one, finally letting go of her hand.
Flora stared at the heavyset boy, waiting. When he still didn’t respond, she took a step closer, moving past Paul, whose irritated expression made him for an asshole.
“What’s your name?”
Still staring at his feet, the boy reached for a notepad in his breast pocket.
“That’s Damien. He’s mute,” Steve said.
“It’s nice to meet you, Damien.”
Damien glanced up at her without raising his head.
“Don’t be a dick, man,” Paul said. “Sorry about him. He’s been pissy all morning.”
“What’s the matter?” Flora asked, still focused on Damien.
Damien reached for his notepad again, dropping his hand when Paul spoke.
“Brian yelled at him this morning.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because he asked about Judy. Do you know Judy?”
“Yes.”
“Well she’s missing, apparently. Damien’s obsessed with her. Brian blew up on him when he asked about her. It was pretty funny.”
I gave Paul a mean look. He curled his brow and said nothing.
Flora reached out and took the notepad and pen from Damien’s pocket. She backed away a few steps, scrawled something quickly on a blank page, and slipped the pad and pen back in his pocket.
“Have a lovely day,” she said, grabbing my hand and walking away from their various fumbling adieus.
“What did you write him?” I asked as we grabbed trays and silverware.
“That’s private,” she said.
“Oh really?”
“Yep.”
“You don’t think I can get it out of you?”
“You can try.”
“I’m a pretty good tickler.”
“So am I.”
“We’ll see about that.”
The options were slim today, so we both settled for ham and cheese sandwiches on potato bread buns with seasoned fries.
We took a booth near the entrance, the least-congested area, but people were pouring in and the cafeteria was filling up fast.
“So which girl are you thinking?”
She swallowed a bite and said, “Frog Girl.”
Of course she would pick one that wasn’t available.
“Why her?” I asked, stalling.
“I don’t know. They have it the worst. The Vampire Girls bully them. The Diamond and Glow girls pick on them.” She shook her head, perhaps recalling some specific event. “The Frog Girls are very sweet,” she continued. “They’re the strongest out of everyone, but they never defend themselves. It would be nice for one of them to come stay with us, I think.”
“Flora, I don’t think there’s a Frog Girl available right now.”
“No Flora either,” she said, sounding close to tears. As much as she missed her sisters, I was surprised another Flora wasn’t her first pick.
“Who would be your next pick?”
She shrugged. “I want it to be one who will really appreciate the time she has. Vampire Girls are angry all the time. Diamond Girls and Glow Girls are vain. Giggle Girls constantly need attention or they throw a fit. I know it’s not their fault. They’re trained to be what they are by the teachers—and by the older girls. Doll Girls …” She paused, taking a deep breath. “Doll Girls don’t get to enjoy anything, and buying one won’t change that.”
She took another bite of her sandwich, staring at it while she chewed.
It killed me to see her so disappointed. Maybe I could convince Sean to sell me the eldest Frog Girl early, prior to graduation.
Or maybe …
My thoughts were interrupted when suddenly Patton appeared by my side. He looked like he was ready to slap me, despite the smile on his face.
“No,” he said.
“Hi Patton,” Flora said.
“Hi Flora.”
I stuck a fry in my mouth and batted my eyes at him. He shook his head.
“Absolutely not, Melissa.”
“It’s not your decision to make,” I said.
“Oh it isn�
�t?”
“I do believe Mr. Shriver left Sean in charge?”
“You’re not doing it.”
“Yes I am.”
“But why? Don’t you realize—”
“Yes, Patton. I realize what it means.”
“Two million a day,” he said, a little too exclamatory. A few heads turned. “I don’t care how much money your husband had. It’s going to dwindle fast at that rate.”
“It’s already dwindling fast.”
“Half as fast, Melissa.”
“Well I guess we’ll just have to tear this place down twice as fast.”
“You’re just full of good ideas, aren’t you?”
“More than you.”
He put his hands on the table and leaned close to me, whispering, “Where’s Judy?”
“Fuck if I know.”
“Right, right.”
He shook his head, started to speak, and then stormed off, leaving Flora shaken, me pissed, and everyone around us confused.
“We don’t have to do this,” Flora said. “I don’t want him to be mad at you.”
“He’s mad at me every day. I have that effect on men.”
We finished eating, took our trays to the dish line, and went out to the lobby to wait for Sean. Sitting there, I started to feel like an animal at the zoo. People filed past us from the cafeteria to the elevator, staring, pointing and whispering, sometimes stopping to observe Flora.
When I saw Sean coming, I told Flora to stay put and rushed over to speak to him far enough away that she couldn’t hear.
“You ready?” he asked.
“I don’t want to go to the Showcase Hall. The girl I want is Frog.”
“There’s no Frog available.”
“Yes there is, if you haven’t killed her.”
“I haven’t,” he said. “Mr. Shriver is saving her for himself. She’s the one who killed his son, remember?”
“I want her.”
“You can’t have her.”
“What’s the difference? He’ll get her back anyway, right? You’re the boss while he’s gone. It’s not like he specifically told you not to sell her to me. Come on, Sean, make an executive decision.”
Sean was looking over my shoulder, probably staring at Flora.
“You know, if it were up to me, I wouldn’t kill you when the money runs out. I’d make you a liaison to negotiate with our business interests. You have an uncanny talent for bullshitting.”
“Thanks for the compliment,” I said dryly.
“We have a conference call this evening,” he said, sounding distracted. “I’ll run it past him.”
“Do you have to?”
“I may look stupid,” he said, but he didn’t finish his thought. Instead, he pointed over my shoulder. “Trouble abounds.”
I spun around to find Paul sitting next to Flora at the fountain. He had one arm locked around her waist and was groping her breast with his free hand while she struggled and pleaded with him to stop. In the bustle of traffic and conversation I hadn’t heard her.
I started after them, but Sean’s meaty hand locked around my bicep.
“I’ll handle it,” he said.
He strolled up to the fountain at a leisurely pace and I followed, holding back my impetuous urge to jump around him. He wasn’t moving fast enough.
The only thing that held me back was a certain assurance: Sean’s punishment would be much more severe than what my capabilities could deliver.
Paul saw Sean coming and tried to move away, but it was too late. Sean snatched him up by the neck with one hand and slung him to the floor like a ragdoll.
Suddenly the entire lobby went silent. No one moved. No one made a sound.
Except for Paul, who coughed and wheezed and tried to crawl away.
Sean scooped him up and held him around the chest the same way he had held Vampire Girl.
I went over to Flora and held her. She buried her face in my chest and cried quietly.
“Who knows this prick?” Sean asked. His voice rumbled throughout the lobby.
For a moment no one said a word. I looked around and spotted Paul’s friends, all of them staring at their feet now.
Then Damien stepped forward, taking out his notepad, writing as he approached.
He held out the pad to let Sean read it, glancing nervously at Paul.
“What’s his name?” Sean asked.
Damien wrote, held it up.
“What’s his job?”
Again.
“Data analyst? Is that all?” A thunderous laugh echoed over all our heads, followed by a wave of gasps and screams as Sean grabbed Paul by the chin and back of the head, effortlessly snapping his neck. Girls began to sob while the guys stood silent. Sean let Paul collapse to the floor.
Tears streamed down Damien’s cheeks as he composed another note and shakily held it out to Sean.
“Important data? In the backpack?” Sean said. “Take it if you need it.”
Damien knelt and began to pull the backpack from Paul’s shoulders.
Sean looked out at the frightened employees.
“Everyone back to work!”
─The Danger of Being Caught─
FLORA AND I watched movies all evening to distract ourselves from the violent death we’d witnessed—also to distract ourselves from Liu and James, who fucked like rabbits on the couch from the time Liu got off work till curfew, which was extended till ten, it being Friday night. Around dinnertime, I snuck out for a few minutes to deliver some food to Judy, but again I had to make it quick. I didn’t want to leave Flora alone with those two.
I needed to find an opportunity to spend more time with Judy. She claimed she was doing fine, but it had to be torturous living in such isolation. Tonight she even had to suffer the humility of handing over a bag of feces. She waited until I had my foot on the bottom step, turning away immediately, completely humiliated.
That’s when I noticed the sides of her shirt and the bottom halves of her pant legs were covered in dust.
I almost didn’t say anything because I felt so bad for her, but my concern for her well-being got the better of me. At any point in time, Clifton could reemerge.
“I have to pass the time somehow,” she explained.
“Masturbation is a lot safer.”
“That’s … not very often for me.”
“Maybe I should start spiking your water with the Libido Drug.”
I was joking. I couldn’t tell her what to do. She was smarter than me. She knew the risks of going into the air ducts.
“See anything interesting so far?”
She covered her mouth and said, “Speaking of masturbation …”
“No way. Who?”
“Just this guy I work with. He only had it out through his zipper. Last Christmas Mr. Shriver gave everyone a calendar with all the Favorite Girls in it. Except Frog.”
“That’s fucked up.”
“Yeah,” she said. “You’d think with all the money they make we’d get a little something better.”
“No, I mean excluding Frog Girl. That pisses me off. They make her that way, and then they don’t put her in their calendar?”
Judy nodded apologetically. “Right, that is messed up. I guess they thought it would disturb some people—women especially. And it makes the calendar more even that way. Six girls, two months apiece.”
For a moment I suspected she’d been in on the design. I had to remind myself how smart Judy was, how she could instantly analyze and interpret almost anything.
“So this was a nude calendar, I take it.”
“Yes.”
“Hmm. Well?”
“Well what?”
“Who was his Favorite Girl?”
“Doll,” she said.
“Ugh. Fucking creep. Don’t even tell me his name.”
I realized I was still holding the bag of shit and made my exit then. I wanted to voice my objection to her exploring the air ducts, but I couldn’t bring myself to gi
ve her orders. At the top of the stairs, I turned, said goodbye, and promised next time I would stay longer.
I told Flora the story Judy had told me and we giggled about it like middle school girls at a sleepover.
“Now I wish I’d spent some time getting to know people so I could speculate,” I said.
“We can try to figure it out,” Flora suggested. “Like private detectives.”
I laughed at the thought, but truthfully it made me sad. We didn’t have time to play games. Not in this place. The prospect of getting to do so ever again felt like a hollow thought. A castle in the sky. A game in and of itself, one with no reward.
When James finally got tired of boning Liu and went back to his room, Liu was so drunk and exhausted she fell asleep instantly. I turned off the television in the middle of a romantic comedy neither Flora nor I was enjoying and we lay in the dark and cuddled.
I thought with the day’s events Flora might not be in the mood to take me up on my offer from earlier today, but she moved her head from her pillow to mine, our lips so close I could feel her breath on my nose. Her hand rested on my hip, fingers caressing me slowly.
“Melissa?” she whispered.
“Mmm-hmm.”
“We’re going to die, aren’t we?”
I didn’t know what to say to that. It sent a cold chill through my entire body.
“I hope not, Flora.”
“Can you save us?”
“I don’t know. I have to get up to Level E somehow. Patton thinks we’ll find something up there to help us.”
“How do you get up there?”
“Without Sean’s permission … I don’t think we can.”
She kissed me, drew back. “Promise me one thing.”
“Anything.”
“No matter what happens, you’ll at least kill Sean.”
“Okay.”
“Promise.”
“I promise. I’ll kill every single one of them if I can.”
“Except Patton.”
“Right,” I said. “Except Patton.”
The only light in the room came from the fluorescent bulb above the kitchen sink. I could barely make out Flora’s face, two tiny glints of blue light in her eyes. Her breath smelled of the sliced peaches we’d had for dessert mixed with a minty toothpaste. It was cold in the room, but under the covers her body heat kept me warm.
I pulled the comforter over our heads, touched her face, and kissed her neck, twitching from the tickle of her fingers as they crept like soft spider legs from my hip to my stomach and up to my breasts. I kissed her jaw line, her chin, and finally her mouth, waiting for the heat to build in our little comforter cocoon, waiting for sweat to break out.
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