"May the Lord bless you and keep you and may peace be upon you," the priest said to his congregation as everyone stood watching the man recite the benediction. The light from the stained glass windows poured on each devout adult head like beams from heaven while the children and teenagers in the church fidgeted, impatient for the ending of the mass.
Sitting in the third row, fairly close to the front of the church, Renata Jizzabelli sat down with the rest of the congregation, closing her Bible ever so gently. She liked to keep a low profile at her Catholic church, the place where she found sanctuary once a week.
If it weren't for the sexism in the Bible and the traditions of the Catholic Church, she might actually believe in God. Still, she felt an extraordinary feeling at church that she couldn't find anywhere else, the feeling of a community in thrall; hundreds of people speaking the same words all at the same time and sitting, standing, kneeling together. How she longed to be the one leading and organizing such an operation; what a feeling...
Driving into her garage, Renata admired the mailbox that her wife had made for her. It read "Renata Jizzabelli and Mila Laurent." Her name was first on everything.
Everything was so beautiful and neatly placed. Lovely items filled the rooms of their home; fainting couches, golden-framed mirrors, throw pillows with intricate 18th century designs, all arranged neatly and intelligently. It was like a French impressionist painting. Mila was a gorgeous woman; honey-brown shoulder-length hair in tight curls, big red pouting lips, skin like porcelain, a thin smooth waist and large breasts with wide reddish-pink nipples. Mila was a baker and pastry chef, but she loved to read and garden and was incredibly charming and intelligent. But the woman was so suffocatingly boring. Or maybe marriage was boring.
Renata would never know just what made her keep seven slaves in a warehouse on the other side of the city. Even with the most perfect perfect wife in the world, or even the sexiest, she was never satisfied. She would divorce Mila soon with as little tumult and heartbreak as possible. No woman deserved such abuse.
"Good morning Nata! I didn't hear you leave... How was church?"
They held each other for a loving peck as Renata walked inside.
"Lovely! And beautiful music today; the flute player was there," Mila had no idea that Renata was atheist.
"Really? Well then," her wife paused and smiled coyly, "What unholy things should we do today?"
She playfully tickled Renata's cheek with her finger, waiting for an answer. Renata turned away, quickly grabbing a Thermos from the kitchen table.
"God, I'm so sorry, honey, but I have to go back to work. We're really busy this week."
The light went out of Mila's eyes, "I thought this week was a slower one."
"I know, I know, love," Renata tried to avoid her wife's eyes, "they're always calling me over at the last minute."
"Can't you stop being an engineer just for one day, for me?" Mila pleaded, "Just tell them you're sick."
She suddenly pulled Renata into a french kiss, feeling up every inch of Renata's mouth with her tongue. Renata's Thermos slipped out of her hand. Her hands stroked Renata's shoulders and then wandered down to her large breasts and further down, to her crotch. She stroked sensually, but Renata pulled away, more disgusted than aroused. It wasn't always this way. She used to be attracted to her wife.
Mila looked extremely hurt and Renata felt a strong surge of guilt.
"I'm sorry, it's just... I'm already late," the engineer picked up her Thermos.
And then Renata went out the door and into her Toyota Prius, driving straight to the bad part of town, where her girls were waiting for her.
*****
"Sunday, Bloody Sunday," a woman's voice sang loudly and cheerfully, getting closer to the room.
Sunday shook violently, frightened of what might happen today. After last week she was terrified of sex; something completely new to her. The blood gushing from her vagina, soaking the phallus... She preferred not to think about it. The other prisoners had told her that she would only encounter Renata once a week, so at least by the end of the day she would have some peace for another week. The girl tried to enjoy her last few moments of tranquility, lying still on the white bed, but she could not calm down. Her heart was racing.
"My innocent, blushing Sunday," Renata grinned at the girl lying naked, chained to a white queen-sized bed. Renata had named her Sunday because before last week, the girl had been a virgin. One word that would describe the girl would be white. Sunday had pale (but not white) skin, light ash blond hair and light blue eyes. Even her nipples were a pale, whitish pink. Her hair was long and straight, flowing down to her hips. Sunday's breasts were slightly smaller than most but round and perky. She was the youngest of the slaves. The girl looked frightened out of her mind; far more so than the other girls.
"Now, now, don't worry," Renata whispered, stroking Sunday's breasts gingerly.
Sunday jumped suddenly at the mere feeling of skin on skin. Suddenly, Renata unchained the girl's hands and draped a soft white blanket around her. Sunday's eyes were wide with confusion.