When the dealer flipped the final card, Evelyn's heart moved from her throat to the pit of her stomach. She had not only lost all the cash she brought with her, but she had now also lost a lot more.
Evelyn retraced the steps that she had taken to get to this point. She and three friends had come to Vegas to have a 'girl's weekend'. Of the four, Evelyn was the only one who really gambled. She liked poker – Texas Hold'em to be specific, and she actually thought she was quite good at it. Unfortunately, the mid-western city she was from didn't quite have the level of competition that she had just witnessed. Evelyn had been playing in the casino when a couple of the players at the table had asked her to take part in a private cash game in their room. Evelyn wasn't sure if they just needed another player, or if they just wanted her to provide the 'eye candy' for the evening. Evelyn decided that it was probably a little of both, and with the brashness of a rookie she accompanied the other players back to their suite.
Now as Evelyn looked around the table all eyes were on her. There were two other men, a woman and the dealer. One of the men moved his gaze from Evelyn to the dealer.
"Thanks Jeremy," he said, and handed him a $100. "You can go now."
Jeremy somewhat reluctantly gathered his belongings and left the room.
The man looked at Evelyn and voiced his concern, "So Evelyn, it appears that the cards have not gone your way tonight, I am sorry."
"No, it appears not," was all Evelyn could mange to stammer out.
"I trust you will honor your agreement with us then," He let the question hang in the air.
"Yes," Evelyn murmured.
"Just to confirm," the man started, "you agree to be at our disposal for the rest of the weekend until your flight leaves Sunday at noon. You also understand that you will be required to do whatever we tell you to – no protesting or backing out, or we call your husband and tell him what has happened and you will be required to pay us the remaining of the money you now owe."
He held up the piece of paper Evelyn had signed before the final hand indicating her predicament and how she planned to handle it if she were to lose another hand.
Evelyn swallowed hard, she knew she couldn't have her husband finding out nor could she afford the $50K she was now in the hole. Selling her body it appeared, was the only way out. Evelyn also knew that somehow she had to keep all this away from her friends from now until Sunday. Thankfully Evelyn had two friends whom she could trust with this if she had to, but the third woman, Violet, could not ever find out. Violet was one of those women who always wanted to win at any cost. She could usually get what she wanted with her looks, but she wasn't above going outside the lines to get information she could use as leverage for something later on. And sadly, Evelyn thought, it was only Thursday night.
"Good," the man said. "It's settled then. Just to be safe, I will arrange to have someone watch you when you are not with us. We wouldn't want our investment to disappear."
"Jolene," the man turned and spoke to the other woman at the table, "please arrange to pick Evelyn up tomorrow morning and get her fitted."
"Certainly," Jolene smiled. She always loved this part. "I shall pick you up at 10:00am my dear. Please be ready."
And with that, the rest of the table stood up and left the room. Evelyn remained behind, put her head in her hands and wept.
When she raised her head after a few minutes she noticed that a small Chinese man had come in and had stood beside the door. She was about to ask why he was there, but then remembered what the man had said about having someone watch her. Evelyn got up, walked past the man, and got into the elevator. The door closed and she was alone. He can't be that good, she thought, he just let me walk past him and leave. She smiled inside thinking that there might be a way to get out of this mess. Evelyn's smiled faded quickly as the elevator door opened on her floor and the Chinese man was waiting for her.
"What the..." she started to say, but the Chinese man put his fingers to his lips and very quietly made a 'shh' sound. "There is no where to run in this town Miss," he said with a heavy accent, "I know everything and everyone."
Evelyn's knees buckled and she nearly fell. The reality of what she was about to do was setting in.
The next morning Evelyn's friends recanted their tales of the local nightlife and how much fun they had at one of the clubs. They told Evelyn she was wasting her time gambling when she could be out partying with them.
"We're going down to the pool," they said, "hurry up, finish your breakfast and come along."
Evelyn assured them she would be right down. Instead, she pulled on a pair of shorts, pulled a loose fitting tank top over her head and slipped on her favorite pair of sandals. After taking a deep breath and exhaling, Evelyn went down to the lobby to meet Jolene.
"Good morning Evelyn" Jolene motioned with her had for Evelyn to get into her car. It was a sporty little convertible painted bright yellow. "I got her," Jolene said into the phone. "I'll see you soon."
"How are you?" Jolene asked. "Did you sleep well?"
"Not really," answered Evelyn.
"Too bad," countered Jolene, "it's going to be a while before you get to do it again."
With that, the two women pulled out of the hotel and made their way onto the strip. It was early in the morning so the traffic was lighter than it normally is. The girls made decent progress through a couple sets of lights before coming to a stop.
"Evelyn, be a doll and take off that bra you are wearing, I hate seeing a girl's bra strap underneath her tank top," Jolene said nonchalantly.
"Pardon," said Evelyn.
"Your bra, take it off," Repeated Jolene.
"Here?" asked Evelyn incredulously.
"Why of course here stupid, where else? Do I need to remind you of the contract you signed?" replied Jolene.
"No," said Evelyn, "I'll do it."
Evelyn looked around to see who was watching. It was a silly thing to do since it's almost a guarantee that two hot women in a yellow convertible are going to be watched by somebody. Sure enough, she noticed a car a lane over with three guys in it glancing her way. Evelyn leaned forward in the car and reached up behind her back, she unclasped her bra and then slid her arms out. The boys in the other vehicle started hollering encouragement. Evelyn blushed and turned beat red.
"Throw it to them," Jolene said.
Evelyn pretended not to hear.
"You heard what I said. Do it or you will be throwing them your panties too," Jolene's tone had turned menacing.
Evelyn couldn't believe what she was about to do. A married woman in a convertible, about to throw her bra to a car full of guys she didn't know. She suddenly wished she had worn a t-shirt instead of a tank top. Evelyn bundled up the bra in a little ball and threw it across the one lane of traffic. It landed just outside the driver's side door. The guy in the driver's seat opened his door, picked up the bra and screamed like he had just been crowned emperor of the world. Evelyn was mortified.
"Thanks baby, see you later," he said.
The light turned green and both cars sped off.
"Why did you make me do that?" Evelyn asked Jolene.
"Because I could," answered Jolene. "I can do anything I want to you until Sunday at noon. This was a reminder."
The yellow convertible drove for another 15 minutes until it came to a stand alone little store. Evelyn looked at the sign, it was a sex shop, and proud of it apparently. This whole town reeks of sex she thought, this store is no different.
"Out we come," said Jolene cheerfully. "Time to get you some new duds"
Jolene walked into the store like she owned it, Evelyn trailed her with her eyes on the back of Jolene's heals.
"We need to find a few things for my new friend here," Jolene announced to the guy working at the counter.
"What do you have in mind?" he asked.
"Something very sexy but not completely distasteful, she's going to be doing a lot of entertaining," Jolene said.
Jolene's words made Evelyn's ears perk up, it was the first time she had heard any details of what she was getting into.
"This way," beckoned the clerk. "I have some things she can try on over here."
Evelyn always had a great body, and she had kept it that way through five years of marriage. She was a regular at the gym and was the object of many a man's affection. Evelyn was proud of how she looked, but she had never been one to really flaunt it. That was all about to change.
Jolene and Evelyn walked into a room that had a myriad of clothing choices, none of which Evelyn would have ever picked for herself.
"Let's try this on," exclaimed Jolene as she grabbed a corset from the rack. "Please try this on my dear."
Evelyn took the corset from Jolene's hands and started to ask the man where the dressing room was before Jolene cut him off.
"Here is fine," said Jolene.
"But he's standing right there," Evelyn pointed to the clerk.
"Why yes he is," said Jolene. "Now get on with it."
Evelyn turned and faced the other direction "Oh no you don't – you face us when you change," chided Jolene, "Don't you ever face away when I ask you to do something."