Chapter Six:
Julie's Point of View
I heard the sound of the door opening; it pulled me out from the middle of the party I was in.
I opened my eyes and saw a woman in her forties wearing a cook's uniform, starting to drag a food trolley that wasn't moving well amidst all that glass.
I smiled like a madwoman, for fate is playing a very wicked game with me, choosing to bring the food I was deprived of in my memories.
Two guards followed behind her, gathering the chaos, but I don't think this room will ever return to the way it was.
The woman left the trolley and walked out, and the two guards busied themselves with collecting the mess, both ignoring my existence as if I did not exist.
I was watching the open door before me, and although I couldn't escape even if I passed it, my head was whispering to me to go out.
I stood up quietly, my eyes on the door, but for some reason, I glanced at the food trolley; there were dishes that looked very delicious, but what was this? "It's the strawberry cake I love!"
I headed to the trolley and dragged it next to the bed. I sat down and began to eat; I didn't touch the appetizers or the main course, I just started devouring the pieces of cake one by one.
Its taste did not resemble strawberries; for while I ate it as a child in a pink prison, I am eating it now inside a golden, ornate prison.
I was devouring it greedily, so it stained my shirt which, due to a twist of fate, was also pink.
I didn't feel afraid this time and I didn't tremble; there wasn't a person threatening my life if I stained my shirt, but there was someone who wanted to sell me to a customer offering money for my body.
I looked at the closet filled with bright dresses and laughed, saying to myself:
"Julie, the pink dress wasn't for you, and these dresses are for you while your body is what you've lost."
The two guards were busy collecting the glass and debris, and my cake was finished, granting me a strange energy.
I rose quietly from the bed and walked with steady steps toward the door, finding myself in the hallway.
The guards finally noticed me, and I felt their rapid footsteps over the glass, but for some reason, I didn't run outside; I ran down the hallway with all my speed and climbed the stairs as if I were flying, and I opened the large door where Robert sat behind his desk.
The guards stopped at the door as if entering would make their bodies vanish into thin air, while Robert—who was reading papers, perhaps sales contracts or electricity bills... damn, this place is full of lamps, the bill will surely be expensive!
Robert raised his head to see me standing in the middle of his office; I bet he is now regretting buying me—if I had been offered for free, why would he take me?
He broke the dead silence and said in his hoarse voice:
"I think you're going to make me kill all my guards, Julie."
Terror welled up inside me, for this man doesn't just trade in humans, he is ready to take souls as well. I said to him:
"And is there a life here to kill?"
A silence heavier than before prevailed. I saw his jaw move as if he were grinding words he hadn't spoken yet.
He put the pen down from his hand very slowly, looking at the strawberry stain on my shirt, then into my eyes which challenged him for the first time.
He leaned his body forward, resting his elbows on the luxurious desk, and said in a calm tone that carried lethal poison:
"Life here is a luxury, Julie, and death... death is the only punishment these failures behind you understand."
He pointed his index finger toward the two guards without turning to face them, and I heard the sound of their feet retreating and their armor hitting the door.
I said to him as I moved a little closer to his desk:
"Is the strawberry cake a coincidence, or was it part of the list for measuring clothes and shoes?"
He smiled as he leaned back into the chair and said:
"Did you escape your room just for this?"
I answered him as I drew closer until my body pressed against his desk and said:
"Actually, I felt bored; I wanted to take a little stroll."
He looked at me with those same features where nothing changed, but I felt that what he showed was the opposite of what was inside him, and he said:
"Very well then, you've finished your stroll, go back to your room now."
I shook my head in refusal and said:
"Not yet, the ceiling of my room makes me feel suffocated, and you certainly don't want a corpse after you spent a great deal of money for me."
I turned to the guards who were like fallen, yellowed tree leaves on the ground and said:
"You can go now to finish cleaning the room, and make sure to collect the glass well; I don't want to cut myself while walking."
Astonishment was painted on their faces and they remained standing in their places without moving.
I turned to Robert, who was smiling, and then he said:
"Didn't you hear? Go now."
Robert looked at me with his smile still visible and said:
"Well, Julie, I see you've grown accustomed to the place quickly; for the Julie who smashed the room this morning does not resemble the Julie who is giving orders now."
I moved away from the desk and headed to the tank of small sharks behind him and said:
"Does the continued swimming of these sharks mean they've grown accustomed to the tank, or do they have no other choice?"
Then I looked at him and added:
"Their presence here doesn't mean they've forgotten the sea, Robert... I mean, Mr. Robert."
He reached into the drawer, pulled out a large brown cigar, and lit it. He took a long drag that I thought would never end, then blew the smoke into the air and said:
"Are you a shark or a starfish?"
I placed my hand on the glass of the tank, following a small shark that was swimming, and said:
"I don't know, in this place I can be anything."
Then I added: "The strawberry cake, is it a coincidence or did my dear father write it on my sale tag?"
He puffed the smoke again and said:
"You know, Julie, there's no need to ask."
Finally, the image of the monster I had called 'father' all my life became clear. As long as he sold me, it meant he provided them with what I love and what I hate; and though he never remembered these things one day, he memorized them by heart once my information became valuable.
I said to him:
"You trust what my father told you very much."
He looked at his papers and then said:
"Money buys trust, and your coming to my office to ask me about strawberry cake is clear evidence."
I realized I had gotten myself into trouble, oh how stupid of me! I shouldn't have reacted because of this damned cake. I gathered myself and said:
"One piece of correct information doesn't mean all information is like that."
He said to me while focusing on me:
"Yes, you are right, for he didn't tell me that you are mentally unstable and smash everything."
I answered:
"We are underground in a place where girls' bodies are sold against their will, and there is a man acting like a head of state we cannot refuse to obey; what mental stability are you talking about?"
Then I added:
"And my father sold me to you even though fathers don't do that."
I used his weapon on myself, and instead of him killing me, I killed myself.
I walked toward the door without waiting for a reply from him, then I turned to him and said:
"Oh, how rude of me, I didn't say goodnight to you."
I closed the door behind me very quietly; I still possessed the "prestige" I had drawn inside the office, even though my appearance wasn't like that at all.
I glimpsed another hallway extending on the same floor as the office. I really wondered what would be there.
I opened the door again where Robert was still in his place and said:
"I want to see what is on this floor as well, but I feel sleepy, maybe tomorrow I will see it,"
and I closed the door and went downstairs and headed to my room.
I found the door open and the guards had already finished cleaning the entire room. As soon as I entered they left, but I caught the door before the guard could put his hands on it and said:
"Thank you for cleaning the room, goodnight,"
and I closed the door myself.
The play of the strong girl trying with all her might not to collapse had ended; my presence in the room between these walls was slapping me with the harsh truth, and the luxurious food trolley was blaming me for not touching it.
My body was exhausted and wanted to sleep, but I headed to the bathroom. I took off my clothes and stood under the shower where the water prevented my consciousness from going numb.
I took a towel and wrapped it around my body and headed to the bathroom mirror which had remained intact and said:
"It's good I didn't see the bathroom at first, otherwise I would have smashed it too."
I looked at my face, from which the bandage had fallen in the shower because of the water, and I saw how my face had become very different, and I caught a glimpse of Steve's face there as if I finally felt what he was feeling.
I got out of there quickly, fleeing from the ghost of memories, and opened the closet which had everything except the normal things a girl could wear: lace underwear that hides nothing, leather skirts, and strange costumes: a maid's outfit, a policewoman, a nurse, and glittery, tight dresses.
I cursed them in every way, then a terrifying thought crept into my mind and I said:
"Are the girls rented out every day where they don't have a single day without any rest?"
I closed the closet angrily and headed to the bed with my towel, but I stopped suddenly and imagined Robert entering the room or one of the guards. I got very scared and ran to the bathroom and put on my dirty clothes, which were better than that scene coming true.
I went back to the bed and got under the covers; my wet hair gave me a sort of cold feeling, and despite the softness of the bed, it couldn't compare to my old bed. Even though I was living with parents who had no mercy, I owned myself.