"But I can't
do it," Alice shrieked in terror.
Rachel winced in
pain and held the phone away from her ear until Alice got quieter.
"Please keep your voice down," she said, trying to sound
soothing. "If the other girls hear you, they'll try to give you
a PanicaWay or something."
"But I'm not
ready. Not in five days." Alice was terrified because Dave had
told Rachel that he had managed to arrange for Alice to make an
appearance at a party in a few days. While Rachel was explaining her
assignment to Alice over the main phone and, hopefully, distracting
some of the other girls at Luther's,
Dave was making a much more important and risky call to the people at
the top using the second emergency back-up phone, which, as Rachel
had hoped, the girls had been willing to connect when they saw Dave
on the caller ID because they knew how rich he was.
Though she was
controlling herself better, Rachel was probably more frightened than
Alice right now. "You're as ready as you're going to be,"
she declared. "Besides, you just need to sit there and look
shy."
"Oh, this
will never do..." Alice deteriorated into another nervous
ramble, to which Rachel listened with only half her mind. Her future
depended on what was going on in the next room on both ends of the
phone.
She vividly
remembered every word and expression that had passed between them
when Dave had told her his plan and she had relived the entire
conversation over and over again, almost continuously in the twenty
minutes since then. "If I was your hOwner," he had
offered. "You would no longer be actively controlled by
Luther's and they couldn't
force you to sleep with anyone against my will."
"I know
that," snapped Rachel, the complexity of her extreme emotions
making her irritable. "But you seem to forget that this guy has
already booked me, so they'll tell you can sign the contract the day
after tomorrow, which helps us not at all." Her gesture of
frustration looked small and distorted in the oversized t-shirt and
pants of Dave's that he had made her put on instead of her own
uncomfortable clothes.
"Yes, but I
will make it conditional that the contract has to be signed tonight
and tell them I won’t agree to it otherwise."
"They'll
call your bluff."
"I'll make what I offer very had to turn down."
But how hard
would it be? Rachel wondered again for the eight-hundredth time as
she listened to Alice. She knew that Dave was probably rich enough
that Luther's would make
money in the long run by agreeing to his terms. Unfortunately, it
might look, to less perceptive people, that they were losing money in
the short run. Also, some of the other women--Elissa--would take a
very dim view of his attempt at manipulation and might try to reject
his offer to assert their independence. She could only hope their
greed was stronger than their principles. Probably the first time
she ever wished that.
"You'll do
wonderfully,” she said to Alice again. "It's just a small
party. Dave told some of his business partners at the Taranburg
steel plant about you and maybe ten of them are getting together for
cocktails and crackers. You won't even have to be able to entertain
them. They might want you to sing one song, but that's it."
She heard Alice sigh with relief, but Rachel's tension did not
decrease at all because, just then, she heard Dave yell, "Fuck
you," through the closed door. Her heart came into her mouth
and Alice heard her breathing catch.
"Rachel,
what's wrong?" she cried. "I thought you said everything
would be fine.”
“Do you doubt
me?"
"No, I
just..."
"You will do
it now." Again, Dave raised his voice and Rachel bit her
tongue.
"You what?"
Alice sounded angry.
"I wish
Susan was here." Rachel blurted the first thing that came into
her head. "She could help you so much better than I."
"Yea, I'd
like her to be here too," said Alice. "Where is she
anyway? What has Dave told you?"
"We hadn't
talked about it yet," said Rachel sharply. "Other things
came up." She never found out if Alice wanted to know what came
up or not because, at that moment, there was a massive noise of
shouting in the background, not coming from Dave, but over her phone,
from the other women in the brothel.
"Something
really big just happened," exclaimed Alice. "I have
to go find out what it is. See you later." The phone turned
off abruptly, leaving Rachel paralyzed and nearly fainting from a
combination of terror and hope. She was broken out of her trance by
the sound of Dave opening the door. Turning slowly, she saw him
standing in the doorway, looking pale and drained.
"Be happy,
Rachel. You're free. You are to go tomorrow morning to authorize
the contract. I've already processed my paper work online," he
said, but there was no joy in his voice.
"Dave,
what's wrong?" Rachel got up and went over to him.
"Nothing."
He gave her a faint smile. "Nothing. I'm just very tired."
She took his
hand, feeling the warmth of his blood welling through his skin and
the first wave of relief surged thorough her. This hand, and this
alone, would touch her from now on. "I don't want to be free,"
she said softly. "I want to be yours."
"As you
like," said Dave, in a failed attempt at a neutral tone.
"Please
don't pretend you don't want me if you do," she said. "It
hurts so much to be unsure."
"How could
you ever be unsure?" He put his arms around her.
"You admit
to being unsure of me and why would you avoid saying such a wonderful
thing if it were not true."
"Because I
don't want it to seem like I bought you and, as for me doubting you,
you have been the toast of Her-Babylon whereas I've never had sex."
"I will
never feel like you bought me," said Rachel earnestly. "For
a long time now, I have wanted more than anything for you to desire
me. If I had the money and, if it were allowed, I would have bought
you." She pretended to ignore Dave's embarrassment,
though inside it flattered and excited her. "I know you've done
a great deal for me with your wealth and status that a poorer person
could not have done. But you chose to use it, for my benefit, in
ways that many men with as much or more money would never have
imagined. Therefore, I think that proves I desire you, and not your
money, because it was who you are which guided how you used it."
Dave looked
ashamed. "It's just so hard to believe this is actually
happening." He reached out and touched her gently with his
fingers, as if he were afraid she was not really there. "It
still amazes me," he said quietly.
She touched him
back just as softly. "It amazes me too," she said.
"May we
please have dinner now?" asked Dave, after they had looked at
each other in wonder for a moment. He had offered it to her earlier
but she had refused, saying she was too nervous to eat. Rachel
agreed and Dave went off to change his clothes while the food was
prepared. In less then ten minutes, they were sitting in the
breakfast corner, in warm oversized clothes, their feet soaking in a
big tub of hot water, enjoying macaroni and cheese with creamy mugs
of hot chocolate.
Again, Rachel
marveled at how completely casual and at ease they were together.
Elissa would never have allowed this, had she known. But Elissa did
not know and, Rachel realized with a smile, that Elissa no longer had
any say in her life, nor anyone else at the brothel for that matter,
and once more she was overwhelmed with delight at her freedom.
"How did you
do it?" she asked in wonder.
"Do what?"
"Get them to
agree to let me go. You sounded very angry in there."
"I offered
them lifelong hOwnership, something no brothel is likely to have been
offered in their time or for several generations. It was too much
for them to resist."
"What's
lifelong hOwnership?"
"A mostly
dead business construction. As you know, when a man purchases
hOwnership of a girl, he pays the brothel a set rate every month,
until he decides to terminate the contract, which he can do at any
time."
"Yes, I
know." Rachel cringed, thinking of Esteban.
"There are
still remnants of the custom in some of the lower-ranking brothels
where, in return for a reduced rate, a man can contract for a
specific length of time."
"It is an
insult," said Rachel. "Implying she could not hold his
attention for that long on her own."
"But only
when it is used by a poor man as a way to save money, as it is now,"
Dave went on. "Now, lifelong hOwnership is where the contract
is impossible to terminate...ever." Rachel gasped. "You
are safe from repudiation. Even if I wanted to end it, I am bound to
provide an upkeep for you in appropriate style and if I tried to
avoid doing so, the breach of contract penalty would cripple me
financially. You can never be forced to go back to
Luther's now."
Rachel took a
swallow of her hot chocolate so quickly it burned her throat and made
her cough. "But why do such a thing?" she asked, using a
generalized question to conceal her inability to voice the deep
feelings inside her. "What possible advantage could there be in
it?"
"For a man?
None at all. That's why it's mostly dead now. The threat of social
suicide would prevent the brothel from demanding, requesting, or even
suggesting, life-long hOwnership. The man has to propose it himself,
which no one ever does...except me."
Rachel laughed.
"I would have loved to see the expression on Elissa's face. Was
she angry?"
"Well I was
on the phone so I could not see, not that I know what she looks like
anyway, but someone in the room was making a noise like a mechanical
duck." They both grinned at each other and he reached across
the table to take her hand.
Then, Rachel
became sober again. "You seem so unenthusiastic about the
situation though," she said with concern. "Can it be that
you did not want to make such a promise?"
"No,"
Dave replied earnestly, clutching her hand tighter, "at least
not for the reasons you fear. The battle of wills was exhausting in
and of itself and I always hate arguing with people, even when it's
necessary. But, mostly, it just made me sad to know I had to go to
such extremes to keep you from being raped."
"Oh, I'm
sure he would have paid me generously."
"Forgive me,
I was using the older definition of rape, where it meant 'against the
will of the woman,' which was not always assumed to be the same as
the will of the brothel."
"I find it
hard to imagine such a world ever existed." She sighed. "But
then, I also find it hard to imagine a world with animals and
plants."
"I agree.
Seeing the scant few specimens we have left doesn't give you a
concept of what it would have be like for them to be everywhere. And
occurrences like today really make it hard to envision what it must
have been like for women to have not been treated as commodities."
He laughed with embarrassment. "But the real reason I'm so sad
is that I didn't want to be bound to you by a contract because then
you would know that I kept you with me for no other reason than that
I wanted to do so. Also, you don't know the whole story yet."
"There's
more? This is too incredible as it is."
"I agreed to
a contract, not only of lifelong hOwnership, but also a non-compete
agreement." Rachel gasped yet again. Unlike lifelong
hOwnership, such arrangements still happened sometimes, though it was
very rare. In them a man who held hOwnership of a girl was not
allowed to hire women from other brothels while the contract lasted.
If he did so, he would be expected to pay a hefty compensation fee to
the brothel. Brothels were socially permitted to require this
service but usually only pushed for it when the girl was extremely
popular and the brothel risked incurring substantial losses from
having her taken out of the open market at that time. Before her
repudiation by Esteban and the resulting emotional turmoil, Rachel
had almost been considered worthy of a non-competition agreement.
“If you don't believe me, here is a copy of the contract I printed
out,” He slid a thick packet of documents across the table to her.
Rachel laughed with shock. No honor had been spared her in the
contract. Or rather, no trick Elissa could think of to try and
thwart the contract. Probably no such price had been paid for any
whore in all the history of Her-Babylon. By trying to keep her from
gaining such an illustrious hOwner, Elissa had given Rachel a prize
she would never had been able to dream up on her own. She would be
the toast of the city all over again when word of this got out. “You
haven’t ruined yourself for me?” she asked in a small voice.
“No, no,” Dave said gently. “I won’t even have to give up my
second house in the mountains.” He sighed but smiled. “However,
it would probably be wise if, for a while, I took on more commissions
than usual, including some that are more lucrative though much less
enjoyable. But Rachel,” he seized her hand tightly, “please
believe me that if I had to ruin myself to save you, I would do it
without hesitation.”
“But how…?” Rachel began.
“We would get a single room apartment in the poor area and live on
meal cakes and amuse ourselves by reading books free from the public
library. We would find a way. We would…”
Rachel’s eyes filled with tears. “Please stop,” she begged.
“I can’t bear to listen to anymore.” At this he started to cry
as well and they leaned across the table and kissed, holding each
other’s faces tenderly as the tears ran over their fingers. After
all that had happened that day, they were so exhausted, physically
and emotionally, that they had no desire to do anything or even talk
much. So, they spent the next few hours, nested inside the giant man
sack beanbag, watching a movie on the large screen, Rachel’s head
on Dave’s shoulder and his arm around her waist, then retired
almost at once afterwards. Rachel was slightly taken aback when Dave
showed her to a guest room.
“Please, be patient with me,” he said, embarrassed. “This is
all new to me. I don’t want to miss anything by rushing.” As
Rachel bit her lip, not knowing what to make of the feelings this
statement produced in her, he bent and, kissing her forehead, went
out and shut the door behind him.
The next morning, Rachel rose by eight and, calling up the transport,
went over to Luther’s to
retrieve her belongings and sign her copy of the contract. During
the ride, she flipped furiously from one station to the next but it
seemed that every single one was focused on the continued uproar over
the “disturbed and disturbing individual” who had broken down
crying in the Corridor of Visions the previous day. One even had the
gall to add “Our sponsor, Kingdom of the Mind would like to remind
you to take their products to control unhealthy emotions. Remember,
it's your mind. You're in control.”
Rachel shrieked and punched the seat back next to her. “If it's my
mind,” she snarled, “then I have a right to the stuff inside it.”
Dave looked uncomfortable. “Maybe you shouldn't go out on the
streets or to any but the most exclusive public places for a while,”
he said. “At least they don't seem to have a picture or even a
description of you but I'd hate to risk having some random person
recognize you.”
“I have to wait until some new scandal of the moment offends their
delicate sensibilities?” Rachel asked with contempt.
“Pretty much. Don't worry. It shouldn't take long.” He rolled
his eyes as the transport started to lower itself to the ground. “I
have to be off to see to some business but I'll send the transport
back to wait for you so you can take it home afterwards.” He gave
her a kiss as she rose to leave and she was left with a strange
feeling in her gut from his casual use of the word home, a flash of
envy that one could have such a place and then a hollow, overwhelming
sense of awe as she realized that it was now also her home, her
place where she belonged that she could not simply be put out from,
where she was safe as she had never been before.
A number of girls were sitting in the main room, drinking Alpine
Mizzle and playing cards. Stacy broke into loud applause when Rachel
entered and came up to offer her congratulations. Several of the
girls echoed this gesture but not all of the faces turned towards her
were friendly and Rachel saw Beth scowl and mutter “show off,” as
she followed Stacy to the computer where the contract was pulled up.
Rachel placed her hands, claw-like on the keys. She was now so used
to the pain computers inflicted on her that she barely noticed
herself bracing against it anymore, but not this time. The thing in
front of her had turned from tormentor to prey. It was now her tool
for securing her escape. And then an electric thrill ran over her as
she entered her ID code and fingerprint scan to certify her
understanding of the contract, then typed in her new name, Rachel
David's of Luther's, the name that could never now be taken away from
her. Heart pounding, she straightened up to leave, only slightly
phased by the fact that some of the others were still glaring at her
with scowls on their faces.
But none of the looks she received from the other girls had prepared
her for what greeted her when she opened the door of her room. Alice
sat hunched up on the bed, her eyes dark from lack of sleep and tear
stains all over her cheeks. When she saw Rachel come in, she shot
her a look utterly filled with pain and venom so that Rachel caught
her breath and stared back, finally knowing what it felt like to have
her Demon gaze turned back on herself. “Hello, Alice,” she said
uncertainly.
“Don’t speak to me,” snarled Alice.
Anger won back a little of Rachel’s courage. “What have I done
to earn your hostility?” she asked sharply.
“What haven’t you done?” sneered Alice. “Now you have your
every heart’s desire, all you ever dreamed of and more, why do you
need to care for those less fortunate than yourself? You will leave
me to be thrown back into the gutter while you go live your wonderful
life with Dave. I already packed your belongings to save you the
trouble, since I knew you wouldn't want to spend a second longer in
this place than you had to,” said Alice disdainfully, gesturing to
a line of filled hover baskets waiting along one wall.
“The gutter, who said you would go there?” cried Rachel in
horror.
“Elissa,” Alice smirked. “She said, since you no longer lived
here, you would have no stake in my success, so I was back to being
useless. She is intending to throw me out as soon as you finish your
contractual busywork.”
©Amanda RR Hamlin 2026
