Page 16 of Beneath Submission
~Eleven~
It had been four days since I found myself in this suite. I only knew this because of the meals that were brought to me, morning, noon, and night, all of which I had hardly touched. There was no desire to eat, only sleep. All I wanted to do was wither away into dust and be swept away. I was losing hope that Xavier would be able to find me.
Escaping to the one place that I knew he would be, I closed my eyes and thought only about the meadow and Xavier. The place where I knew I would find happiness. As quickly as I was there, it was gone. The sound of the door opening woke me from my dream, taking the happiness with it and exchanging it with hatred. Sitting up in the bed, I waited for Mr. Colin to appear just like he did the past four days. This time, however, was different. I had no meals coming. They had all been delivered and were rotting away on the small table. There had to be some other reason he was here.
When he came into view, he was holding a bag. I wasn’t sure what was inside, nor did I care. Sinking back under the covers, I prayed that he would just go away. It was only wishful thinking as he pulled the duvet from my body and ordered. “Get yourself cleaned up. We are leaving.”
When he threw the bag onto the bed, I grabbed it to find that there was a change of clothes inside along with makeup and various toiletries. Looking over to him, I hinted that I wanted to know where he was taking me. The dumbfounded expression on my face must have been enough for him. “Don’t worry, Tessa. I am taking you to a place that Xavier will never be able to find. Now hurry, you have fifteen minutes.”
Sliding to the edge of the bed, I stood on wobbly legs, making every effort to walk to the bathroom. As I looked over to the living room, Mr. Colin had already made himself comfortable on the couch. It was clear that he planned on waiting while I cleaned up.
Entering the bathroom, I was just about to close the door, when he cursed, “The door stays open.”
What the hell? Does he not have any respect for privacy?It wasn’t as though I could do anything. Everything that I thought about using against him had been bolted down. This suite was childproof with no way of getting into any mischief. About the only thing that wasn’t bolted down was the toilet paper dispenser, and even that was made out of plastic.
Turning the water on in the shower, I dumped the contents of the bag on the counter and grabbed what I needed and got inside the glass enclosure. I did have to admit that the hot water spraying against my body felt good. I hadn’t taken a shower since I arrived here, fearing that Mr. Colin or Simon would show up.
I was able to shower, fix my hair, and apply enough makeup to make me look presentable in the fifteen minutes he allowed me. I wasn’t sure where he was taking me, but based on the clothes that he had chosen for me, it didn’t appear to be anywhere safe. The dress was black with a low-cut back and extremely tight on my body, showing off my curves. I was more than uncomfortable in it, and when I put on the five-inch heels, I felt like I should be working Hollywood Boulevard.
Doing the best I could in the overly high heels, I walked out of the bathroom to the living room where I knew Mr. Colin would be waiting. Tugging on the hem of the skimpy dress, I looked up to see that an arrogant grin was plastered on his face. I could have taken my shoe off and stabbed him in the head with the heel, but I knew I would be stopped the minute I worked the buckle loose.
“Just as I pictured. You look just as expected,” he gloated.
If his vision was to dress me up like a cheap whore, he achieved his goal. Tugging at my dress, yet again, I hissed, “A fucking whore.”
Standing to his feet, he was at my side in an instant. His hand came across my cheek, almost causing me to lose my balance in the five-inch heels. “You need to show some respect. No possession of mine will ever use such language or regard themselves as such.”
Placing his hand on my chin, he forced it upward, making sure that my eyes met his before pressing his lips to mine. I was so disgusted by him that if I’d had any food in my stomach, I would have spilled every ounce on him.
When we walked out of the suite, I immediately recognized where I was. He was crazy. He replicated the suite from the Four Seasons hotel in the basement where the training room used to be. It was beginning to make sense that he wanted to move me. Sooner or later, Xavier would come to his home to find me. Making our way up the stairs, Simon was waiting at the top with his arms crossed at his chest, acting like he was a man not to be messed with. He was another person that I would have thrown my heels at.
There was a car waiting for us as we left the house. Simon held the back door open as we climbed inside. Being this close to Mr. Colin was a little too close for comfort, but as I scooted closer to the door to put some distance between us, he grabbed my arm and said, “You are pushing your limit, Tessa.”
The last thing I wanted was to be punished again for my disobedience, so I moved closer to him with my nearly bare leg touching his covered one. I guess I should be thankful that it wasn’t skin on skin, at least this time.
Keeping my head turned toward the side window, I focused on the trees, counting each one as they passed by. I needed to do whatever I could to tame my anger. When we got closer to the city, my eyes focused on the cars and the tall buildings in the distance. I wasn’t sure where we were going, but knew that it was probably to meet a client.
In a residential area just outside of LA, which was filled with big mansions on five-acre lots, we pulled up to a security gate where a hefty guard was standing. When he came out of the guard shed, Simon rolled down the window as he waited for the guard to come over. Looking back over to Mr. Colin, Simon addressed the guard by saying, “Mr. Gates is here to see Mr. Sakai.”
The guarded took sideways step and looked through the window inspecting the back seat. His eyes fell upon me and I felt as though he was undressing me as a grin appeared on his face. Walking back to his station, he opened the gate and allowed us to drive through. I had no idea who this Mr. Sakai was, but maybe I could convince him that I had been taken against my will.
When the large house came into view, it was absolutely spectacular. If I hadn’t known that I was in LA, I would have thought that I was looking at a house from Japan or a Bruce Lee movie. Rolling down my window to get a better view, I was in complete awe at the architecture of this home. The steeples were high with pillars supporting each one of them. About half-way down the pillars were Japanese lights that looked like Capistrano lights, only on a much larger scale. The front windows were clouded in white, which matched the front doors, which were also clouded.
Simon turned off the car and headed to the back passenger door opposite of the driver’s seat. Opening the door, he moved to the side and allowed me to get out. I couldn’t take my eyes off the home. Someone with a lot of power lived here, I was certain. Mesmerized by the beauty, my fixation was broken when I felt a hard pull on my arm. As he dragged me toward the entrance, I used all of my strength to pull away from Mr. Colin. Free from his clutch, I stepped back only to be stopped by Simon.
Mr. Colin spared no restraint as his hand came down across by face. As much as my cheek stung, I wasn’t about to break down and give him the satisfaction that he had hurt me. Placing my hand across my cheek, I turned my head and began rubbing away the sting. When I looked up, a handsome Asian man who I guessed to be Mr. Sakai was standing at the entrance. He looked just like I felt. My guess was that he didn’t take kindly to abuse.
“Mr. Gates, I believe your actions were uncalled for,” he stated, holding his hand out to me. “What might your name be, love?”
“Tessa.” I answered shyly as I placed my hand in his.
“A very beautiful name. Welcome to my home,” he responded, taking me by the hand and leading me inside.
I would have loved to see the expression on Mr. Colin’s face, but I didn’t dare look back to see just how pissed he was. I knew that if I did, I wouldn’t be able to hide the enjoyment that someone finally stood up to him.
The further I was led into the home, the more my mouth surely hung open. Not only was the outside of the home amazing, the inside was just as remarkable. There was so much of Mr. Sakai’s Japanese nationality displayed. I could tell by the décor that he took pride in his heritage. Entering a large room, he offered me a seat on a cushion that was placed on the floor in front of a large bamboo table. When I was comfortably seated, he took a seat beside me with Mr. Colin seated on the other side of the table.
A young woman in a kimono came into the room carrying a tray with a small decanter and three small cups with dragons and fig trees painted on them. Kneeling before Mr. Sakai, she set the tray on the table, bowing before him, before she rose to her feet and left.
