*Bruno*
I took a long look at her before stepping out of the room. I could see she was conscious of me. She had taken a step back. My eyes lingered on her breast, which had been exposed some time back. I wonder how they would feel under my touch. I didn’t want to stay for another moment, so I walked out of the room with Rave. We closed the door behind us. I took slow and steady steps down the stairs, my hands trialing the rack. My eyes moved around my sitting room. I had decided to bring her home. Don’t ask why I bought her because I still have no answer to that question.
Either way, she has piqued something in me, but I still can’t place my hands on it.
I took a seat on the chair at the side. Rave sat opposite me. He was quick to light up a cigarette. He puffed out smoke through his mouth and nose. I stared at him briefly before moving my eyes to the wall clock at the side, which ticked slowly. I felt thirsty. I wanted something to drink. I stood up and walked to take a bottle of alcoholic wine and a glass. I placed it on the table and heaved a sigh.
“Is everything alright?” Rave asked after he heard me sigh. I turned to look at him and then asked, “What could be wrong?” He held my gaze as he placed the cigarette in his mouth and took a long drag. “You never sigh,” he said; he paused then continued, “but you just sigh; what could that mean?” He asked.
I looked at him from the corner of my eyes. Rave was weird. He loves reading, meaning everything, “It means I’m human,” I said and took a sip from my wine. He nodded slowly, then turned away. He turned sharply at me in the next second, “What do you plan to use her for?” He asked.
I drowned my wine; I was still thinking about that.
“I don’t know yet. I’m still trying to figure it out,” I said. He stares at me for something, his looks informing me that he didn’t believe what I just said, “don’t give me that look, you dick head,” He quickly moved his eyes away. That was one thing I loved about him. He respected me.
“If you don’t know what you are using her for, why then did you buy her and you paid such a huge amount of money,” he didn’t believe I had anything in what to use her, but I didn’t give a fuck about what he thinks. “Don’t tell me,” he exclaimed dramatically as if he had uncovered a hidden truth. “You bought her because of her body. I could still remember that her breasts were exposed,” he said.
I sent him a slight glare.
I always knew nothing good came out of Rave’s head.
Seeing that I did not comment, he squinted his eyes and moved his head to the side, “No?” He asked. I didn’t bother to give him a reply; he stopped bothering me. My stomach rumbled quietly. I was hungry and needed to eat something. I was in my third glass of wine. “I want to eat; get me food,” I said. While we were coming, we stopped at a restaurant briefly to buy some food.
Rave stood up and walked to bring the food. He placed a bag in front of me. “We need a cook,” he said. I nodded in agreement. I had also been thinking of hiring. I resolved to be more careful and selective this time. “I’ll help you get one,” he said. I raised my head to hold his gaze for a while. Was he joking? He was the one who brought in Laurel, who ended up betraying me, and now he wants to get me another cook.
“What, you don’t want me to get one?” He asked.
“No, it should be clear,” I said.
“Don’t tell me you still hold a grudge over Laurel. I didn’t know she would betray you,” he said. So he did know why I couldn’t trust him. “But you trusted her in the first place and let your guard down,” he whispered to himself, but I heard him.
“What did you say?” I asked. A fake smile plastered on my lips. He shook his head swiftly, “nothing, I won’t dare to say anything. Since you don’t want me to hire a cook for you, then so be it,” he said.
We sat for a while; I didn’t eat my food. I had been hungry before he brought it, but I suddenly felt full. I pushed it to the side. I’ll eat it after some time. My mind was filled with thoughts, but I couldn’t place my hands on it. I felt like this. Maybe a cigarette would do the trick.
I lifted one immediately and placed it between my lips before lighting it up.
“I won’t be coming to the club today,” I said. Rave had finished his cigarette and was on the second one. “Why?” He asked. I didn’t answer him, but he knew it. I ignored his question, “Overseas, the club. Nothing should go wrong; you know my principles,” I said, taking a long drag of the cigarette and puffing it out through my mouth.
“Yeah, yeah,” he nodded. I watched as he ran his hand over his hair and looked at me. He knew what it meant when I said such things. “And take a bag of food for her; she must be starving,” I said. There was a little girl named Tina to whom I always gave food to. The girl Laurel almost ended my life with.
“Why do you always take care of this little girl?” Rave asked.
Why did I care about her? I have never thought about that. She didn’t have help, and I decided to support her. What was so wrong about that? “Might as well bring her home,” Rave said sarcastically. I gave him a slight glare, “what did you say?” I asked.
He shook his head immediately at my words, “I wasn’t talking to you,” he said. I looked away. Rave left after a few seconds. I had suddenly lost my appetite. My gaze landed on the food bag; my eyes returned to Tina. She ate the food as quickly as she could. One side of my lips pulled to the side. I tore my gaze away from the food bag and began walking upstairs. I didn’t have anywhere in mind. I just felt like walking around.
I found myself walking to the storeroom. I came to the room of the girl I bought unconsciously. I might as well step in. I said to myself; my hands quickly grabbed hold of the doorknob, and I pushed the door open. She wasn’t seated on the mat she had been sitting on when I left the room. My eyes were quick to move around the room in search of her. My eyes almost bulged out when she placed one leg across the window. She had no idea that I was behind her. I took significant strides to her and caught hold of her before she could jump out of the window. I pulled her away from the window to the side.
What does she think she was doing?
Jumping out of the window means that she wants to kill herself. She had a confused and sad look on her face. When I let go of her hands, she couldn’t stand; her legs trembled. “What did you think you were doing?” I asked, my voice filled with anger and concern. I didn’t understand why seeing her about to take her own life made my chest tightened. It made me feel uneasy.
“You should just leave me to die; why did you save me?” Her eyes were red, and her voice broke as she spoke. She seemed to have experienced a lot. I felt a pang of pain watching her like this. “Who told you you could save me? Did I tell you I needed your help? Did I tell you I wanted to live?” She also sounded depressed. She was trying hard to hold her tears back but she couldn’t as tears streamed down her face. I didn’t judge her. We all had our backstory, something that pushed us to the edge.
At the same time, she shouldn’t give up.
“You are my property, I bought you,” I said. I wanted to comfort her but I just couldn’t. Maybe it was because I was used to saying harsh words. “Who told you, you could take your own life? Did I permit you to do that? Maybe you don’t know, but I owe you now, your life belongs to me,” I emphasized my voice dripping with meaning. She turned to look at me as if she couldn’t believe that I was shouting at her.
“You should be happy that I am not punishing you for trying to take your life. I don’t give a fuck about what’s going on in your head. I don’t care about what you’ve been through, it’s none of my fucking business, so you should get your head straight and understand that you are in somewhere new and behave according as I would not waste any time in throwing you into the dungeon,” I said, my chest heaved up and down. She sat up and wiped her tears with the back of her palm. She looked me in the eyes. I could tell that she was trying to look brave. She was quiet for some time but I could tell that she had something to say. I stood in front of her impatiently hoping she would soon gather the courage she needed to speak.
“What do you plan to do to me? Why did you buy me? She asked after a few seconds.
She has finally gained the courage, I smirked: “What did you think?” I asked her. My eyes moved from her wandering around the room before landing on her chest. There was something about her breast. I couldn’t get it out of my head. When I saw her with her chest open at the auction, I wanted to cover her up, not because I felt she was uncomfortable but because I didn’t want other men staring at it.
“I have given it enough thought but I still can’t wrap my head around any reason,” she said. Her voice took me out of my fantasies about her breast and I moved my eyes back to her face. This time my eyes settled on her plump lips. She passed her tongue over her lower lip wetting it. I swallowed. She wasn’t doing anything but had so much effect on me. This was not good.
“Well, it depends on how you behave. That will tell if I should keep you or sell you to someone more vile and sinister,” I said, planting fear in her heart. I would never sell her to someone else. I just didn’t want her to think about ending her life again. She swallowed and closed her eyes for a while as if she was thinking about something. She flashes them open. Her blue eyes looked everywhere but me. “And don’t even think of running away because I wouldn’t think twice before putting a bullet across your head,” I said.
I began to walk away. I had to because I was losing control.
I was about to open the door when I felt her holding my hand, she pulled it to get my attention. I stopped and turned around. She was standing a few feet away from me. “How about I pay you back? I’ll pay you back the money you used in buying me, then will you let me go?” She asked, her eyes staring into mine hoping for a positive response. I released my hand from her grip.
Well, I was not about to go give her one. I took a step forward and she moved back. One side my lips pulled to the side. She was trying to act strong when she was very scared. I kept moving towards her and she kept moving back until her back hit the wall. There was no other way to escape. My eyes moved to her chest. I was losing control again. She unconsciously placed her hands over her chest.
“What are you looking at?”