~That which is essential is invisible to the eye~
--Saint Exupery, The Little Prince
Marion strode into the lobby of the Hotel Regis wearing her knock off, gray, Armani business suit and carrying a brown, leather attache case. She tapped the gold, ornate bell on the reception desk smartly to draw the clerk's attention and asked if there were any messages for Marion Day. The clerk--bald, staid, wearing John Lennon glasses--went to check his message file and returned bearing an envelope with her name inscribed upon it.
As she walked toward an elevator, she peeled open the envelope with her thumbnail. Inside was a keycard with its room number.
She exited the elevator on the twentieth floor. Unobserved now, she walked, with a more relaxed gait, down the long, plush-carpeted hall. Its textured walls bore a design reminiscent of a vibrant fleurage by William Morris.
She stopped when she came to a door that bore the same number as the card, opened it at the electronic buzz and went inside. She snapped open her attache case on the bed and took out a leather harness with a bit-gag and metal tongue depressor; attached were a blindfold in the shape of a domino and a pair of hard-shelled sound mufflers. There were, also, two pair of shinny, chrome handcuffs and a blonde wig. She took the 'Do Not Disturb' sign and stuck the keycard to the back of it with tape that she had brought along. She hung it on the outside door knob, closed the door and locked it.
Quickly, she took off her clothes.
When she was naked she put on the wig and strapped the harness to her head. The metal bit grated between her teeth. The depressor clamped her tongue down firmly. She would be able to whimper, but speech would be impossible. She tightened the muffs over her ears; soft rubber caskets encircled the rims. All but the loudest of sounds would be blocked from her.
When she finished adjusting the muffs securely, the room suddenly took on an eerie silence. The whispering of the air-conditioner, which she had not noticed before, was now gone, but she could still feel its cooling breath on her naked flesh. The inner sounds of her own breathing became omnipresent. It was as if her head were stuck inside a giant shell.
She placed the keys to the cuffs on the nightstand next to the bed, then fixed the blindfold in place. She could no longer see or hear or speak.
Lastly, she clamped the handcuffs to her wrists and ankles: right wrist, right ankle; left wrist, left ankle.
She shivered. Already she could feel herself becoming wet. Her nipples were hard and her breathing was becoming rapid and shallow.
It was danger that excited her. The unknown. Placing herself utterly in the hands of strangers. Naked. Totally at their mercy. It was a thrill nothing else could come close to.