(Continuation of Part 1)
After a twisting, turning drive that gained significant elevation, Ko alone brought her to, she assumed, the terrifying blond man's home. No blindfold this time, she tried to take careful note of the few details she could glean during her brisk journey through the palatial home.
The large man's long, purposeful stride put him slightly ahead of her as they traversed the black-and-white checkered floor of a lavish kitchen. Resting on the grey marble countertop along their path, the metallic glint of a knife caught her eye. She carefully timed a lag to grab it with her off hand. And...
Bingo! She had the steak knife! Flipping the handle so the cool blade lay flat against her forearm was the best she could do to hide it, given her shirt-and-panties situation.
Their tour ended in a cavernous living room with expansive windows that looked out onto a shimmering pool and sparkling, distant city. Three puffy, cloth-covered couches formed a mustard yellow C around a substantial circular table. She caught a glimpse of at least two flat TVs mounted to the walls. Shoes were scattered where the lush, nearly-white carpet met the tile, and round wooden coasters littered the frosted glass top of the table.
A door just out of sight burst open with a loud kick. "Bennie! Don't be an asshole! These are *my* doors."
"Sorry." The familiar mutter.
The boss and Bennie came into view. Spreading his arms wide and bowing slightly, the smiling blue-eyed man chimed, "Welcome to my home." The little bald man still wore his purple satin jacket, but the other man had changed to reveal his athletic, if pale, physic, now sporting notched black lounging shorts and a flowing silk robe. Wide, slashing brushstrokes of red and yellow on white framed his bare chest.
His blue eyes assessed her from across the room, lingering at her hips. She tried to keep her arm with the knife held casually out of view. Nothing to see. Nothing to not see. Just standing here.
The flickering city lights in the background drew his gaze. "It's a nice view, don't you think? The windows provide a great perspective."
Disquieted by his clunky choice of words, she looked over her shoulder, nodding in suspicious agreement. "Sure."
"Nothing sharp to say that time?" He winked.
"Ko, make us all some drinks while we," he gestured invitingly to the couches with a convivial smile, "sit."
Trying to move casually, she took the center of the nearest couch, pretending to adjust herself while her right hand dipped between the plush cushions, safely stowing the weapon before it was detected.
Taking the opposite couch with Bennie, the spiky, bleach-blond man collected the drinks as Ko brought them out, sliding the small, heavy glasses of pale green liquid into a single row. "We're all going to drink one — Believe me. You could use it — But as a show of trust, you can pick which you drink. You aren't having anything we all aren't." A flash of white teeth. "Trust is important." The words lay heavily.
"Well, which one do you want?" He leaned back, outstretched arms preventing him from being pulled deeper into the voluminous couch as he appraised her.
On reflection, something numbing did, in fact, sound appealing. She considered the four placid surfaces for a moment. Looking up to meet his weighing eyes, "Can I have them all?"
His barking laugh was quickly followed by Bennie's sycophantic mimicry. "No," the blond man answered flatly, nodding toward the row of drinks once more for her selection.
Pressing her scuffed feet deep into the sumptuous carpet, she tipped forward to reach across the table. Mindful of the concealed knife at her side, she took the easiest to reach of the middle two vessels.
"No rhyme for guessing? No flipping a coin? No Princess Bride?"
"You said this was about trust," she said in growing exasperation. He seemed determined to unsettle her with inscrutable expectations, making her feel like an actor in a bad dream, called to the stage with no lines prepared.
Smirking, he took the remaining center glass. Icy blue eyes veiled in reverie with his first sip. Tipping his hand to the stern-faced man standing by the vacant couch, "My compliments."
Bennie downed his serving quickly, overt enjoyment culminating in a raucous "Whooo."
There was a scent of melon as she brought it to her lips, its green hue plainly from midori, followed by a peppery combination of indistinguishable counterparts. More than palatable, the concoction was depleted in two gulps. She stared at the last jade drops as they pooled at the bottom of the otherwise empty glass in her hands, tremble already beginning to calm.
"See?" He continued to sip gingerly at his nearly full beverage.
"Ko, get another for these two."
"Savor it this time," his intense eyes again boring into her, catching her breath. The refreshed drink appeared before her. A single spicy-sweet sip seemed to satisfy him. The pale man leaned back once more with a comfortable smile, silk robe spilling open across the deep yellow of the cushion, knees spread wide.
"Now," pivoted the boss, pointing his drinking hand at Ko, who was standing at casual ease back near his spent beverage on the bar. "Bennie and me were talking on the way over here. And I just can't figure out what your deal is today. Cause I've asked you do to some, let's be honest, awful things." The conversation wicking all moisture from her mouth, she took another sip nervously, eyes racing from one man to the other.
Ko's square face turned to her grumpily, then in a definitive tone "Is there something you need me to do?"
"Plenty," the blond man flashed her a cruel smile and brief wink. Barely able to swallow around her pounding heart, she tried to take another sip while putting her other hand down near the concealed knife. "And Bennie here seems, shall we say, enthusiastic about that." He cocked his head. "You don't."
"Are you in some sort of committed relationship I somehow didn't know about? If so, that's adorable!" His chummy tone openly mocking. "A meaningful anniversary coming up?"
Hoping to obscure the movement of her creeping right hand, she replaced the angular-bottomed glass on the vast circular table.
Ko glared silently at his employer.
"Unless you developed a chivalrous streak overnight, you don't have some 'problem' with hurting women." Pulling his head back in recollection, the blond man cavalierly added, "You've killed at least two for me."
"Yes," Ko affirmed curtly. Adrenaline rushed the alcohol through her system, quickening her breath and emboldening her right hand to drop between the cushions.
"So what's the hang up? Bennie said you didn't recognize her at the house. So I know we didn't, like, accidentally sweep up someone you happen to know."
His blue eyes becoming vacant in thought, he took another drink and shook his head. "There's no way you're a virgin at your age." He was piecing together a puzzle less than talking to anyone.
"We can drop this," Ko said stiffly.
The blond man leaned back more fully into his overstuffed seat. "Are you gay?" he asked with a half smile that fed on Ko's uncomfortable shifting.
Bennie jumped forward on his seat, face alight with puerile astonishment. "See?! That's what I said!"
Closing his eyes rather than look at Bennie while tilting his head in his direction, the boss corrected, "No, when you said it, you hurled it as a pejorative, while I posit it as a legitimate hypothesis." He let the flowery words soar above the excited man's shaved head.
Hidden, her fingers were wrapped satisfyingly around the smooth handle of the knife. For a singular moment, her tiny triumph felt meaningful, but the abrupt and devastating thought "Now what?" came with the realization that no one was close enough to reach. She cautiously withdrew her hand to wait for an opportunity.
"Is this going to be a problem?" Ko asked flatly.
A jovial laugh as if to put the room at ease, the blue-eyed man beamed out, "Of course not! As long as you do what I tell you, why would I care?"
The serious man's unsure nod answered the rhetorical question.
"Did you think I was going to fire you? Come on!" A wide gesture to the empty couch. "Relax. You know, this is why we should talk more."
"I hate this," the beefy man grumbled as he lowered himself dutifully onto the remaining couch, willing himself to relax, as directed. Bulky shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath, but his dark expression remained untouched.
"Just to make sure I know what I'm working with here. You," the boss pointed to Ko, grey mountain of sweatsuit filling much of the mustard couch, "aren't attracted to her." He swirled his finger dramatically in the air before landing it on her diminutive form.
With the sigh of someone who has had to explain a basic trait too many times, the large man said simply, "No."
Leaning forward, calculating again, the blond man said, "So you don't want to fuck her."
More forcefully, he repeated himself, "No."
"But you would. Right?" A pause just long enough for everyone else to catch up. "If I told you to."
Her wide brown eyes darted to Ko, who, worryingly, also looked disarmed. Bennie was holding his sides with impish giggling.
