ARAWN
“When did you come back?”
Nerthus barges into my office, wearing a cute frown.
“A few hours ago. I needed to finish some work before being able to spend my time with you,” I answer, concentrating back on my papers.
“Bullshit! You were gone for days, Arawn,” she yells and the corner of my mouth twitches as much as another part of my body does. “You are hiding because you know that you owe me!”
God, I missed her fire.
I lean back in my chair and smile at her. “Sit.”
She scoffs but takes the chair in front of me anyway.
“You want my story. You can have it.” I grin at her as I add. “Sure about still wanting to play?”
She nods slowly, her eyes glued to mine.
“Okay,” I clear my throat, standing up to take my seat in the armchair next to hers.
After I sit down, I lean forward to kiss her lips gently, before I put my forearms on the armrests, starting to tell her what she wants to hear. “My mother grew up neglected and abused. Her family was poor but she eventually got addicted to pills, drugs, whatever. You name it, she wanted to have it. She started selling herself to be able to afford her addiction and soon enough needed the drugs to get through her day. That’s how she met my father, she trapped him with me. That’s the sole purpose of my being. Or better was. Naturally, she didn’t hide that from me. She abandoned me in front of a church the same night she gave birth to me in a fast food toilet, and came looking for me as soon as she got to know whose offspring she birthed. I got my fair share of beatings, but she was often too weak or stoned to even do any damage. If there wasn’t a man in our home, she would send me to buy alcohol for her and thank me with more of her venom. As she died, I was relieved. My father knew about me and sent a huge sum of money every month. He thought he was financing me, but she spent it all on drugs and on her boyfriends. I was taken in by my father immediately. And while he was elated to have his firstborn and heir to his throne in his house, my stepmother was fuming. She and my stepsisters did everything to make my life at home a living hell. When my father was away on a business trip, I often slept for days without any reason. I soon found out that it must be my stepmother’s doing. She was obviously trying to poison me by spiking my food. I never was the blabbering type, but they made me pay for every unnecessary word I spoke. Sometimes they made a challenge out of it. Testing how short my sentences would get. Like burning my fingers over the stove if I used more than three words, or pinching me with needles if I used a certain amount of syllables. They were rather creative, seeing that they were as stupid as an empty bag made out of plastic. The few times my father came home and wanted me to speak, he got angry as I wasn’t able to put a sentence together, so I got punished by him too. As he pushed me to actually speak, I often had to throw up on their feet, causing more punishments. My father soon had the impression that I hadn’t got the guts to be his successor. He said that I was too weak. So, he began to train me into it. He showed me all kinds of footage and as I stopped them first, they began chaining me to the chair. I would sit there for hours. And close my eyes as much as I could. He hated that. So, he made me watch more of them, constricted and every time I closed my eyes, I would get an electric shock. Not something very strong just enough to bring pain, and have me jump out of my skin. Soon enough I could watch them as if they were cartoons, and were able to do my job at his side properly.”
I smile at her as she looks at me with a devastated expression. “Is that pity I see there, Nerthus? I’m surprised, I wouldn’t deem my story as half as bad as yours.”
She puts her hands in front of her face, taking a deep breath. “Oh my God, I’m sorry. It just slipped. I feel so bad.”
As she lowers her hands together with her gaze, she asks in a whisper. “What kind of videos would you have to watch?”
I shrug as I look at her, wanting her to meet my gaze again. “All kinds of things. Murders, Robberies. Rapes.”
“You have to be kidding me,” she closes her eyes, taking a deep breath.
“Some were straight-out porn. And you know what? I saw you once,” I confess, my heart racing in my chest.
Her head snaps up to me and finally, I have her looking at me again. “What?”
“Yeah. The girl from the countryside, who wanted access to one of our houses. I had to forget your name but I never forgot your eyes.” I say, leaning forward to put my hands on her armrests.
“There is a video of me?” she asks, making me shake my head.
“Not as you may think. There were short tapes of girls undressing to show what they were bringing to the table. I think it was just voyeurism, but who would even care? For me, seeing you was the best that had ever happened to me until this point. The thought of you helped me get through a lot of dark moments.”
She blushes, lowering her eyes, and I lift her gaze back to mine by cupping her chin. “Please don’t hide from me.”
“I remember that I had to introduce myself. I thought it was kind of strange.” She sighs relieved, smiling shyly. “But I love the fact that you saw it.”
I grin and she clears her throat embarrassed, changing the subject. “How did you get to see it?”
“I got to choose the girls for the next tapes.” Her hand snaps to her throat and she looks at me distraught.
“You are kidding me!” she gasps, and I sigh exhausted.
“Unfortunately, not.”
She looks around lost, her thoughts turning loudly in her head. “But… You liked the way I looked… And you didn’t choose me?”
“Of course not. You were just for me. I persuaded my father to take another girl, and you got assigned to the room with your friend.”
She takes a deep breath, her hand still clenched around her throat as she whispers a low “Thank you.”
I give her all the time she needs as she seems to be pondering on something before she looks at me confused. “But I never saw you… If you wanted me, why didn’t you ask for me? Come to get me?”
Flashing her a big smile, I chuckle. “You would have loved that, wouldn’t you?”
She rolls her eyes playfully while I reposition on my seat. “I knew my father, so before I asked for you, I acted like you were totally uninteresting to me and told him, I liked a girl. That I wanted to have her. Didn’t end well for her.”
I take another deep breath, “I passed a few days after that recovering from the experience and I think my father thought that I really liked it. The truth is, I was just unbelievably relieved that I didn’t tell him that I liked you and that I did a test first. Do you need something to drink?”
She nods while looking into the void. Getting up to pour her a glass of bourbon, I hear her speaking again. “So, you never looked for me?”
“No, as I found you in my bedroom in my penthouse the night we met, I thought I was having a fever dream.” I bend down to hand her the drink and press a kiss on her neck, lowering my voice. “You were even more beautiful than I remembered.”
We spend a few minutes in silence before she speaks again, finally freeing her neck from her grip. “What do you wish for?”
I grin, watching her take a sip of her drink before I speak.
“Be mine. Move in with me. Permanently.”