Jenny and her cousin Zana sat in front of the large steel gate that surrounded a hillside estate.
"This is it Zana," Jenny said as she held her cousin's hand. "It's now or never."
Zana instantly wished her cousin didn't just say that, cause she was leaning to the never side. She didn't even know how she had made it this far. She loved her cousin and all, but her idea sounded so, dumb, dangerous, and foolish. She had all kinds of reasons not to be in this position, but here she sat, contemplating the biggest decision of her life.
It all started on the first day of summer break, when Zana received a phone call from her cousin Jenny. It had been a year or so since the two last saw each other, at their respective high school graduation parties, so Zana was thrilled just to hear from her cousin again, as it was harder for the two to see each other as much as they did growing up, because Zana went on to college on the East Coast while Jenny attended a local community college on the West Coast. The duo, who had grown up as close cousins in their early years, as they only lived in neighboring cities, were still close, but the powers of different high schools had pulled at their bonds, and college seemingly snapped it. So when Zana heard the seriousness in her cousin's voice as the conversation expanded, she immediately knew something was wrong.
She rushed over to meet with Jenny. Once in her arms, the story she presented her that day hit her like a tone of bricks. Zana, who had grown up in a seemingly perfect white picket fence home, wasn't prepared for it, but comforted her the best she could. Jenny told her how her older sister Kelly had vanished from site, shortly after they last met. She went to the police for help at first, and then to a private investigator, but to no avail.
The private investigator did find out one startling fact about Jenny's sister, it was that she worked as a part time call girl, before she disappeared. The P I even talked with the madam and found out that Jenny's sister apparently stole some money from the madam before she disappeared, but that's all the madam would tell him.
The news floored Jenny, and sent her mother into a tailspin, right back into a emotional haze that she had seemingly recovered from when she lost her husband, Jenny's dad, some five years earlier.
Jenny dropped out of school and went in search of her sister, using some of the things that the private investigator found out, before they ran out of money. Jenny retraced his work and focused on the bar where her sister hung out at, before she disappeared. Jenny, using her fake Id to hang out at the bar, finally won the confidence of the night barmaid Penny who was also rumored to be the chief recruiter for the madam that her sister went to work for.
Late one night Penny finally asked Jenny if she was looking for a summer job and then gave her the part time call girl speech that Jenny had been waiting for and her sister must have also received. She gave her a card with the madam's address on it, but there was a small catch, she had to bring a friend along. Penny then gave her two old pennies, it was her calling card, and it would get her a date with the madam.
Jenny tried for days to talk some of her friends into coming along, as she had a simple plan, meet the madam posing as a call girl wannabe, try to win her trust and ultimately find her sister, like out of some late night movie. Jenny finally, in an act of desperation, called her cousin Zana, and used all her cousinly pull to talk her into it, or at least to the point that they now sat.
"Jenny I still don't know, maybe tomorrow." Zana moaned as the reality of the task in front of them was now setting in.
"Please Zana I can't take this one more day. I just need to know, my life is falling apart." Jenny begged, as she also did with her baby-blue eyes.
The two were still trading reasons, pro and con, when the large steel gate that they had been staring so intently at, slowly opened and they saw a large man waving them in. Jenny, following his hand signal, slowly drove past the open gate as Zana's heart sunk. She made one last passionate appeal, before they past the line of no return, but Jenny just pulled up to where the large man was standing.
Zana trembled as the large man approached the car and opened her door.
"Come on in here, you can't be sitting out there all day, it attracts attention," he said, before he went around and opened Jenny's door as well. He grabbed her car keys and hopped in and quickly drove Jenny's car around the side, and just like that he was gone, as well as the girls last chance to turn back.
"C'mon just let me do the talking, everything will be fine. I also left this address with a friend, and if she doesn't hear from me, she is going to the police with it." Jenny mumbled, as she pulled on her cousin's arm.
"That really doesn't help much Jenny," Zana cried out.
"C'mon," Jenny moaned, as she pulled on Zana's arm again.
"Wait a sec, I have to tell you something, I never done anything like this, I mean I'm even still a virgin!" Zana moaned.
"What?" Jenny cried. "You told me you lost it on prom night."
"I'm sorry I lied, I mean you seemed so happy when you lost yours, so I just figured."
"It's ok, really I understand, I guess, but maybe we won't have to do anything anyways, maybe one of the other girls knows something, it's not like I'm a whore either." Jenny said, as she interrupted her obviously embarrassed cousin.
"I didn't mean it like that!" Zana snapped.
"No I know, but like I said before, this place is different, they want good girls, that's why were dressed in our Sunday's best and not in leather skirts and tang tops." Jenny mumbled, as she fixed Zana's make-up.
"But," Zana started.
"But Zana even though Penny said they wanted good girl types, who can be bad only when needed, I think we better skip the virginal part," Jenny interrupted again, as the two shared a nervous giggle, before they made their way up the marble front stairs. They didn't even knock on the door when it swung open and a monster of a man met their stare.
"State your business," he bellowed.
The two were shaking with emotions, as they just stared at the man-beast.
"State your business!" He bellowed, this time with fire.
"Ah I think I'm supposed to give you these," Jenny finally mumbled, as she pulled out the two pennies from her purse.
"Nope not me, but follow me," he bellowed, as he shut the front door behind them. Zana shuttered from it's sound as to her it was eerily similar to a jail cell slamming shut.
He led them through an impressively lavish Fourier and then down a long hall into a small homey office that looked out onto the pool area.
"Have a seat and wait here," he said as he left them in the office. Jenny immediately went to the window, scanning the pool area, as she saw that there were a couple of women tanning there.
"Ah no blondes, she moaned, as her sister also shared her hair color. She was also still holding out hope that her sister was here all along. "God she has to be here somewhere."
"Who my dear?" A sultry voice filled the room.
"Ow hi, ah I mean you, I think." Jenny nervous mumbled, as it wasn't exactly the first impression she wanted to present.
"Please have a seat, and try to relax my dear," the older women purred.
As they did, Jenny checked out the madam who was talking on a cell phone. The madam was an elegant older looking, platinum blonde women, who still wore the same hairdo that Farrah Fawcett made famous in the 70's. She also wore a glittery red dress that seemed to sparkle in the sunlight, or maybe it was her impressive diamond jewelry collection that she seemed to be wearing all at once.
"I see you have something for me," the madam said after she snapped her cell phone shut and took the pennies from Jenny. "So my darling Penny has sent you in search of work, no."
"Yah I'm Jenny and this is Zana," Jenny nervously mumbled.
"Zana oh how lovely, no need to change that one," the madam oozed.
"Well since we are doing introductions," the madam said, as she sat on the desk and crossed her legs.
"This is my nephew," she said, and as if on cue, a tall yet rugged looking; young man walked into the room, dressed in a black silk suit. The young man shook hands with the two girls, but didn't say a word, before he slid into a barstool that sat next to the desk.