A taxi drew up to the dilapidated office structure, and a blonde woman aged in her mid-twenties got out, and approached the building, walking with a false confidence to her stride. She inhaled deeply, reminding herself of the dire urgency of her situation, and continued directly to the office without pausing at the reception desk.
Inside the office, a man said, "Ah, Mrs King, I wondered how long it would be before you came to see me."
The woman placed an envelope on the desk the man was lounging against. "I think you know what this is for," she said coldly.
"I assume you want me to arrange for your husband's release."
"Naturally, that is why I am here."
The man looked into the envelope and pursed his lips. "Are you attempting to bribe me Mrs King? Because that's what it would appear to be with this amount."
"Not at all, after all you have no official standing here, but it is well known that you have certain contacts and seem to be able to arrange things that to others would be impossible. I am merely paying any fees that appear normal to secure my husband's release. From what I have heard the money there is more than the price normally agreed in these circumstances, of course any extra is to expedite things."
"Ah, but this is simply money." The man paused, looking at Lisa. "You know the true value of anything is not what the world sees it as, but what somebody is prepared to pay for it. If a person wants something that another person has, or can get for them, then what they are prepared to pay for the item is the true value."
"Why are you playing word games with me? You know what I want, and what the price should be."
"Ah, yes, the price. Well as I said, a price is what the world sees it as, but the true value is in the eye of the beholder and how much they are prepared to pay to own or to enjoy what that other person has. Don't you agree?"
"You're still playing word games, please state your price and stop playing about. I'm prepared to pay the going rate, and we both know what that is."
"It's not that simple, Mrs King. I have something that you want... that you place a value on. But what is more interesting, and important to me is you have something that I desire. Let us see if our valuations match. If we can come to some form of mutual agreement?"
"What on earth can I have that you want?" Lisa asked.
"Mrs King, please indulge me in a little philosophical debate, and maybe you will see things more clearly."
"I'm sorry I haven't got time to indulge in discussions with you, you know what I need from you. And as I've told you I'll pay the price you are asking."
"Mrs King, I can assure you that the time we take will in no way impact on your husband's circumstances, or the speed of his release. Should I be persuaded to arrange it of course."
Having no other way of ensuring her husband's release, Lisa sighed, saying, "If we must."
"Good. Mrs King, have you ever wondered why some pieces of art change hands for sums of money that seem beyond comprehension? Some of them are of course beautiful beyond comparison and of course the value of those can be understood."
The man's eyes traversed languidly over Lisa's body as he spoke.
"On the other hand, some pieces can be described at best as ordinary, even mundane. Yet they still command values that can compare with the most desirous and beautiful ones. Why is that do you think?"
"I have no idea," Lisa replied impatiently, trying to maintain her composure and patience.
"Well, that is because somebody is so desperate to secure the mundane object that they would pay a price far beyond normal comprehension. On the other hand, if the seller of that object realised how much the prospective buyer is desperate to get it then he could demand as high a price as he could get, and that would only be fair wouldn't it. The price is the sellers to fix, not the buyers."
"I suppose so."
"Now, let us suppose a person who has an object of beauty actually wants the mundane item that the other person held, and vice versa then what is the true value of each item? Maybe they could come to a compromise and a deal could be reached. That is what I propose to you Mrs King. A thing of beauty in exchange for something mundane."
Finished, the man opposite her remained impassive and unspeaking, but as his eyes continued to wander lazily over her lithe young body, Lisa suddenly became aware of what he was proposing.
"You... you can't be serious." The man remained silent, letting his eyes do his talking as they roamed over her slightly above-average height and athletic figure, finally locking on Lisa's medium-sized breasts. "I'm a married woman! The reason I'm here is for my husband."
"Exactly, you're married and that is why you're here, to get your husband back. Now you know what value I place on the documents that will secure your husband's freedom. The only question now is, are you willing, as you said you were earlier, to pay the price I am setting?"
"I didn't, ah, I meant money."
"Really, well I'm not interested in your money, well I am, but I desire something else as well. That is the true value you have to place on your husband's freedom. Your choice."
Unlike many women of her age and social standing, Lisa had been a virgin on her wedding day not many years ago, and an innocent one at that. Despite spending her teenage years in an English girls boarding school, where affairs with the local boys; or even staff were commonplace. Not to mention lesbian trysts.
Now she faced this horrendous dilemma. She was being ripped asunder by the very thing that motivated her to be there. The love for her husband. If that love forced her to refuse, remain loyal to her vows and beliefs, to turn and walk out, her husband would be taken from her and would suffer deplorable conditions for who knew how many years in jail; on what everyone knew were false charges. If her love demanded he be returned to her, and Lisa paid the incomprehensible price, how would she face herself and live with her conscience?
The man was silent, unmoving, waiting for her to choose. Time seemed to stand still as Lisa's mind whirled, measuring horrible against horrible. Her blue eyes, brimming with tears of shame, Lisa's hands shakily went to the hem of her lightweight, pale turquoise summer frock. Clumsily undoing the first button, then moving upwards to the next and the next. Fumbling with the second last one her fingers were trembling so much, she eventually freed it, and then the last one and Lisa let her frock fall open. His eyes had followed the progress of her hands; button by button, his appreciative gaze intensified. A hungry lust darkening his expression as each one parted.
They made eye contact, and smiling, he nodded, acknowledging that a contract had been agreed upon. She was willing to pay the price he demanded.
Lisa was red with embarrassment as she saw his smile, But she was committed now and had to continue. Having come this far, the alternative was even worse to contemplate than what she knew she was going to do.
Lisa shrugged the frock off her shoulders, allowing it to slide down and pool on the floor around her feet. Embarrassment blossomed crimson on her cheeks as he gleamed at the sight of her slip. Her fingers edged hesitantly to the hem of the slip, preparing to pull it over her head. Soon her delicate fruit would be divested of its outer layers of protection and would be his to savour and enjoy. A hand gesture from the man stopped Lisa. Thank God, she thought, he has come to his senses and will relent.
The man remained silent, staring at her. The white satin slip did nothing to hide her body. In fact, it did the opposite as it clung to every curve and hollow, emphasising the narrow waist and flaring hips, down over her thighs to stop just above her knees. The scooped neckline gave a tantalising glimpse of cleavage and the swell of her upper breasts. Lisa watched him run his tongue over his lips to moisten them. Subconsciously, she mirrored his action, but her dry mouth was caused by her apprehension; and not as she assumed was excitement for him.
Lisa's relief was short-lived as another hand gesture indicated she should continue undressing.
Resignedly, Lisa shrugged the thin straps of the slip off her slender shoulders. And stood impassive as it slithered down her body to join her frock on the floor, leaving her in only her bra and panties.
"You know, Mrs King, you are most exquisitely beautiful." The words of praise and admiration did nothing to ease Lisa's shame. In fact, they only added to it. This man should never see her naked and exposed, defenceless, yet here he was praising her beauty as she displayed it for him like a painting or the work of art that he had referred to, something that had a tangible value to it.
Bracing herself for what was to come next, exposing her naked body to this man, Lisa's hands went to the clasp of her bra, flicking it open. It slid down her arms, freeing her firm breasts with just the hint of an upward tilt to them. She looked at the man again and saw unfettered lust blazing in his eyes as they followed the bounce and jiggle of her beautiful boobs. Lisa glanced down and was horrified by how erect the small, dark nipples had become.
Lisa wasn't given a chance to remove her panties as the man pushed away from his desk and slowly moved towards her. Menace in every measured step. This is it, she thought, he's going to take me now, make me pay his price, and it wouldn't be gentle lovemaking. He reached for her with undaunted certainty, and pulled Lisa to him. She was resigned to her fate, surrendered, limp and submissive.