Marco had called me, as usual, at the most rotten time. But I guess that's how ex-boyfriends are. I was on my way out for a night of clubbing with my friends so I was totally dressed to impress. Short skirt, high heels, low-cut top that just barely covered me. Yup, the combination of my breasts and my Asian looks were hard to beat.
But like I said, Marco called right as I was leaving my apartment and told me to come to some hotel. He said there was a problem and it needed to be solved right away. Maybe I was being dumb, but I agreed to meet him. It did make me a little nervous to meet him at a hotel though.
When I got there, I was a little surprised. The hotel was the nicest in town. I had heard the rooms were going for more than $300 a night. I was really wondering what Marco was up to. I went inside and found the elevators and went to the 8th floor. Marco had said the room was at the end of the hall and to just come on in.
I found the door and it was open a crack. I could hear soft music playing and it seemed like the lights were turned down low. I was thinking, great, I hope Marco isn't trying to pull some romantic stunt -- he and I were definitely OVER.
I pushed the door open and went in. The room was huge. And beautiful. There was the most gorgeous furniture I had ever seen. There were fresh flowers everywhere and candles all around too. And there was Marco, sitting at the far side of the room, smoking a cigar.
"Well Christine, welcome. I'm glad you made it. It's very important to me that we figure out a little problem that has come up."
"Marco, this is a very nice room and hotel. Why are we here to talk about some problem? And on a Saturday night too!! I have places to be so tell me what's going on."
He looked at me with an odd smile. Little alarms started going off in my head.
"Christine, Christine. You are so impatient sometimes."
"Okay, here is the situation. Do you remember the $10,000 that I loaned you so that you could but that Lexus you've been driving? Well, I have run into a situation and that money is kind of a problem for me now."
He saw the look of disgust on my face.
"Now just hold on," he said as he held his hands up at me. "It's not like you are going to lose your car or anything. I don't even want the money back from you."
I was hearing big alarms now.
"What do you want Marco?"
He looked at me very directly, right into my eyes.
"I need some help with my business, the one I have on the side."
Now I knew this was trouble. Marco had a little escort service thing going. It was small, he only had 3 or 4 girls at a time, but I knew he made a lot of money from it. I knew about it when we were together, but I didn't get involved.
"Are you in some trouble? What do you need me for?"
As the words left my mouth, a very pretty girl came out of the bedroom. She was blonde, very curvy, and had a very sweet smile. She looked about my age, 23 or so.
Marco stepped towards her and took her hand and led her towards me.
"Christine, I would like you to meet Cherie."
The girl stepped to me, put a hand on my shoulder and then kissed my cheek. It surprised me a little as I had never seen her before. I was thinking she was one of Marco's escorts.
"Nice to meet you Cherie. Do you work for Marco."
She smiled and looked down at the floor.
"No, no Christine. Cherie is not one of girls. In fact, Cherie is actually a very good customer of mine."
I looked from Marco to Christine. She looked back at me, still smiling. I could not help but be impressed at how pretty she was. I was trying to figure out how this girl could be a customer of Marco's. I had no idea he had any male employees.
"I'm confused. Why am I here and what has this got to do with my car? And why is Cherie here?
Marco took my arm and led me to the couch so we could sit. Cherie followed and took a spot behind me.
"Okay, to make a long story short," Marco began, "Cherie has been a customer of mine for about 2 years. About six months ago, she invested in a little project that I had going. In fact, she put in $10,000. Well, the little project didn't work out, it bombed in fact. And now I owe her her money back with interest."
"I still do not see what this has to do with me."
"Christine, I gave you $10,000 for your car."
I just looked at him, waiting to see where this was going.
"I need to pay that money back to Cherie, but thankfully, Cherie is willing to work out an arrangement so that everyone will be happy in the end."
"i'm still not seeing how this involves me Marco."
"Christine, I gave you 10 grand in cash."
"Yes, but I don't have 10 grand to give it back!"
He looked at me for a few moments.
"Yes I know," he said. "But you do have something that I can use to pay back Cherie."
"And what is that?"
He looked at me again.
"You Christine. You. I have you."
I stared at him and I'm sure I had a look of utter bewilderment on my face.
"You are going to work for me Christine. You're going to be one of my girls. Or, if you choose not to do that, I will be forced to exercise the lien I have on your car and have it repossessed."
"What!?? Marco, please, you can't take my car. I love that car. I can find a way to pay you back the money."
"I'm sure you can Christine, but you see, the money is not the real thing that I want. I want you. Or rather, Cherie wants you."
Cherie wants me? I turned and looked at her. She Was turned slightly towards me and leaning back very comfortably.
My mind was racing trying to figure this out. Marco owed this girl money, the same amount I had taken from him. Now he wants me to work for him to pay it back. And this girl wants me? How is this happening?
"I know what you are thinking Christine. You see, Cherie likes to sample my girls from time to time. But lately, none of my girls were willing to play with her. Just not that way they said. So we were talking in my office one day and she noticed the picture I have of you. She told me right then. She wanted you. Otherwise, she would come after me legally. I had no choice."
I had no idea what to say and then I noticed him looking at me very darkly. Cherie got up from the couch and strolled to a window across the room. The light was outlining her body as she walked so that I could see her body right through her clothes. She was very beautiful.
"And you have no choice either Christine. You have no idea. Cherie wants you, you are going to belong to her. At least until you pay back all the money."
I started to speak, but Cherie spoke for the first time.
"He's right Christine. You are a very beautiful girl. And now that I have seen you in person, I want you even more. Of course, if you choose to not cooperate, then I'm sure that not only will you lose your car, but there will be other repercussions for you. Perhaps at your job or with your landlord. That would be to bad."
I looked at her and she just smiled.