K and I went to bed without making love that night. When I awakened he was gone. I started to feel sorry for myself, but then a thought came to me - you aren't a stupid cow - you are a smart woman and you can find a solution. I decided to leave the apartment and explore the neighborhood.
I pulled back the curtain to the room and looked in the hallway - Masuro was nowhere to be seen. I walked quietly through the hallway, not daring to look up, and walked straight to the front door. Releasing the lock, I quietly opened the door and stepped out of the hallway. I realized I had been holding my breath and, once in the hallway, exhaled, then inhaled deeply. I had a moment of fear: I had no money and I was in a part of the city I didn't know. But I pressed on; I had to get my bearings and think of a solution to our situation.
I quickly headed down the stairs and left the building. It was still early in the morning and the street was busy with cars and pedestrians. School children walked in groups. I made a point of taking in the surroundings and I decided I would set up a system of walking away from and then returning to the corner near the apartment. I had no watch and could not tell the time, so I made a note of where the sun was in the sky. It was a gently overcast day and the sun was low in the East; it had been just past 8 when I left the apartment.
Even though I had dressed plainly, I could feel men stare at me as I walked by. The old men seemed to regard me as curiosity, their eyes briefly drifting over me, but the younger men stared at me, assessing me with a placid malevolence.
"Come here," a young man beckoned to me. I paused, unsure of what to do, and while I was stupidly deciding what to do, the man walked up to me, standing insolently inches from me. "You're new here, aren't you?" he asked me.
I was flustered and I stammered out, "Yes, my husband and I just moved into the neighborhood."
The man laughed gruffly. "You walk the streets while your husband works?" he quizzed me.
"I'm on an errand," I started to say, but for some reason, corrected myself, "my husband doesn't have work yet and I'm looking for work, too," I told the man.
"I don't know what your husband does for a living, but I may have a job for you," the man told me, his eyes looking up and down my body.
"What kind of work?" I stupidly asked him. I suspected he was teasing or flirting with me, but I couldn't pass up the chance for work.
"I run a club and I need women who can entertain the patrons," he told me. He pointed up the street at what appeared to be a small bar. "I'm just coming home now. I'm too tired to interview you, but if you come by the club around four, I'll meet with you. Wear something nice," he told me.
"I don't really have anything nice to wear," I admitted.
He sighed heavily, as if in disbelief. He looked up and down my body. "Come with me," he told me. "My wife left me several months ago and she left many of her belongings - you can have anything you want."
I wasn't sure whether or not to trust the man, but he began to walk up the street and like an obedient dog, I followed. "You really shouldn't walk in this neighborhood by yourself," the man told me, as he held open the door to his building for me to enter. I waited in the foyer as he climbed the stair ahead of me.
He ushered me over to a sofa and instructed me to sit down. He then brought out several dresses and laid them next to me.
"Try these on," he told me.
"Where should I try them on?" I asked him timidly.
"Right here," he told me, looking straight at me in an insolent manner. "Look, I see naked women all the time - I'm not going to jump up and rape you."
I looked over at the dresses - they were fine silk and beautifully colored. After suffering degradation at the hands of Masuro, letting this man see me naked seemed unimportant. Wordlessly, I stripped down to my bra and panties and tried on the first dress. The man sat, reflecting no emotion.
The dress felt slightly tight, especially around the chest, where I couldn't button the dress completely. I felt self-conscious in the dress.
"It looks fine," the man told me. "Try on the next one."
I picked up a green dress with a forest scene embroidered in a full skirt; it was beautiful and my heart soared at the idea of possessing such a dress. I struggled to get the dress on properly and felt bitterly disappointed in the possibility the dress did not fit. Evidently, the man's wife had average sized breasts. I looked at the man and he was slowly shaking his head side to side.
"It's too tight, he told me." Getting up from the couch, he walked over to me. "Let's try this," he told me, removing the top half of the dress and letting it fall forward. I stood, wondering what he was going to do. He unclasped my bra and lifted it forward. Nervous, I crossed my hands over my naked chest.
The man walked in front of me. "It might fit if you leave the bra off," he told me. He pulled my hands back and finished removing the bra. He then stood inspecting me, straightening my shoulders. "These are beautiful," he told me, taking my breasts in his hands and gently lifting them up. I held quiet, thinking that if I stood still, nothing would happen. "If you improve your posture, you'll show your breasts off to great effect."
"You don't even need to interview," he told me, lifting the top half of the dress up and fastening it in the back for me. He handed me my bra. "Let me tell you what the job entails and if it sounds okay to you, you can stop by the club at four."
He proceeded to outline the job. I had to make conversation with the men and encourage them to buy drinks. If the men asked me to dance with them, I had to dance with them. Men could pay extra to have private moments with me in a series of rooms in the back. What I did during those sessions and how much they paid me was up to me, but the club kept half of my earnings and if I were ever to try to cheat the club, it would be the end of me. The other girls could tell me the going rate for the different acts in which I might choose to engage. He warned me that men might fondle me or take other liberties while in the main room and that I was to gently deflect these forays or suggest moving into the back rooms, if I wanted to find ways to earn extra money. When he asked me if I could tolerate such a job, it was all I could do not to laugh, having endured far worse at Miss Akemi's, not to mention the indignities I had suffered at Masuro's apartment.
"I don't mean to be impertinent," I told the man, "but my husband and I are living with a cousin and it is an unfavorable situation. How much does the job pay and how quickly could I secure part of the salary?"
The man looked at me seriously. "Things are tough?" he asked.
"Yes," I admitted, looking down at my feet.
"I can find you and your husband an apartment today under a few conditions," he told me.
I hesitated to be hopeful - whenever a favor had been offered me in the past, it always seemed that the conditions of that favor made my life even more miserable.
I waited for him to speak, but he sat, looking at me intently. "What are the conditions?" I asked.
"You must be my mistress. Not only today, but for every day of your life until I tire of you. Even if you quit the club, you must remain at my disposal. In return, I'll give you housing and 25,000 Yen a week for your work at the club and for your husband to run set up and close down at the club."
I knew instantly I would accept the offer, but I didn't want to blurt out stupidly my assent. I looked down and pretended to be seriously weighing the offer.
"I promise you, I am a gentle lover - you won't have to do anything crude with me."
"Yes, I accept your offer," I told him. "On one condition. I can't bear to go back to the place in which I live. Could you have someone retrieve my husband, K, for me and bring him back to the apartment you are providing for us?"
He looked at me queerly. "What's the name of your husband's cousin?" he asked me.
"Masuro," I replied, and saying his name felt like putting something foul into my mouth.
