The next night, Trina waited outside the arranged address, rubbing her own shoulders to guard herself against the bitter, howling wind. Come on, Kittie, she silently prayed, biting down on her bottom lip nervously. Hurry the fuck up.
As the seconds ticked by, her stomach churned more and more violently, her partially digested dinner rolling around inside of her like a huge spiky rock, making her feel like her stomach lining was being destroyed by her own anxiety. Maybe I should just leave, she thought suddenly. I should just make a break for it now and never talk to Kittie again. I could do it. I could still get out of this situation.
But her feet remained rooted to the spot, her body frozen in place for several seconds until she finally heard Kittie yell behind her, “Hey, Trina! Wow, you look beautiful!”
Trina forced a polite smile and waved in greeting. “Um, am I dressed okay? I didn’t know what to wear…”
“You look great,” Kittie said, wrapping an arm around her friend’s shoulders. “Oh, Dana is going to love you. Come on, let’s go in.”
“Wait, wait,” Trina said, blowing out her breath all at once. “I’m not so sure about this. I don’t know if I can—”
Kittie turned around to face her, keeping her arm around her shoulder. “Trina. Listen to me. You’re the best sex worker I’ve ever met. Okay? We need you here. Just relax. You’re going to be great.”
Trina nodded, shrugging to try to push some of the tension out of her body, to no avail. She gestured for Kittie to lead her into the building. “Okay,” she said, her voice trembling a little despite her best efforts to keep it steady and calm. “I can do this. I can,” she whispered to herself, too low for Kittie to hear.
Kittie led Trina through a side alley, taking her to an entrance at the back of the building. She knocked on the door four times and then turned to grin at Trina, reaching down to give her hand a reassuring squeeze.
The door swung open the next moment, revealing a burly, broad-chested man with short-cropped hair. “You’re late,” he spat out, glaring down at Kittie and towering above the considerably shorter woman.
But if Kittie was intimidated, she didn’t show it at all. “Sorry, Max.” She flashed him a charming smile, the secret weapon of every sex worker worth her salt. “Can we still come in? I think Dana will really regret it if she doesn’t get to meet this girl,” she said, gesturing toward Trina.
The guard turned to face Trina, and it took all her courage not to flinch back from him as his gaze scanned up and down her whole body and his tongue poked out of his mouth to lick his lips. “All right,” he finally said, still staring at Trina with unbridled desire in his eyes. “But Dana’s not happy with you, Kittie.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Kittie said, waving her hand dismissively as she led Trina past the guard into a narrow, dimly lit hallway. Music hummed from behind one of the walls, the pulse of the rhythm coming out indistinct but still somehow hypnotic. Trina swallowed hard and willed the huge lump that had just appeared in her throat to disappear. Is this what it’s like to walk down into hell? Trina wondered to herself as they reached the end of the tight hallway and headed down a steep set of steps.
As they made it down the steps and entered another hallway, the music got louder, the bass pounding almost violently, making Trina feel like her own accelerating heartbeat was echoing within some hidden chamber inside the building. Her mouth went dry, her tongue feeling uncomfortably thick and useless, and no amount of swallowing or clearing her throat seemed to help at all. She just couldn’t seem to calm down, and it only got worse when Kittie slid to a stop in front of a huge brass door in the center of the hallway.
“Here it is,” she said and turned to flash a final grin at Trina before pushing the door open, unleashing the sound of the booming music that originated from somewhere inside the room.
Trina hesitated for a moment, her breath freezing inside her lungs. What am I doing? Trina thought to herself. I should fucking run. I should get out of here while I still have time.
But instead, her feet moved forward and followed Kittie inside the room, which was full of gentle candlelight. Trina barely had any time to get used to her surroundings, noticing the thick black curtains that hung from every wall, before the woman waiting in the center of the room cleared her throat and clapped her hands to get her attention.
“You,” the woman said, looking directly at Trina, “are abominably late.”
“I know, I’m sorry. It was my fault,” Kittie said. She stepped in front of Trina like a shield. “Please, just give her a chance to audition. She deserves a shot.”
The woman, who was dressed in a deep purple robe that revealed her ample cleavage and long, supple legs, narrowed her eyes, her gaze darting back and forth between Kittie and Trina for a few moments before she finally gestured toward the line of women waiting against the wall. “Go. Stand with them. Hurry up.”
Trina rushed to comply, leaving Kittie’s side to go stand with the lineup of other women who were facing the woman in the center of the room. Dana, Trina realized. That’s the daughter of the mob boss. She was imperiously beautiful, her features sharp and incredibly distinctive. Trina knew immediately that even if she never saw Dana again, she would never forget that face. She looked so powerful that it was almost unattractive. It certainly made Trina feel even less secure than she had mere moments before.
“Take off your clothes,” Dana said, her eyes still focused directly on Trina’s. “Now.”
All of the women rushed to obey her order. Trina hesitated for a minute. I fucking hate being naked, she thought to herself, tempted to run out of the room and keep running until she was safely out of this building, out onto the street.
“Do it, or leave,” Dana said, her tone sounding bored, like none of the naked bodies in the room impressed her at all.
Trina steeled herself and then shuffled out of her clothes, folding them neatly at her feet before straightening back up, breathing hard as she forced herself to stay still for Dana’s inspection.
Dana started at the other end of the line, pausing before each silent, shivering woman, her almost vacant eyes scanning up and down their bodies. “Hmm,” she said halfway down the line, clicking her tongue from behind her teeth. “Interesting.”
She finally got to Trina, and it took all her energy to stay still, letting the other woman stare at her for several excruciatingly long moments. “Huh,” Dana said, narrowing her eyes a little before snapping her fingers at Trina. “Turn around.”
Trina did as she was told, a little relieved to be facing the wall so that she could let her calm façade fade from her face, at least for a few moments. “Hmm,” Dana said from behind her. “Interesting.”
Trina felt two streams of sweat drip down from her armpits, and she silently prayed that Dana couldn’t see it, but there was no way the madam couldn’t tell she was trembling. She inwardly berated herself, silently cursing herself for being so weak and nervous and afraid. She’d faced much worse than this in her life. She could survive this.
Dana stayed longer in front of Trina than anyone else. Trina didn’t know if that was a good sign or not. Maybe she was just shocked at how much uglier Trina was than any of the other girls. Stop that, Trina told herself, forcing her shoulders back so she was standing up straighter. You know you’re beautiful. Fucking act like it.
Still, she breathed a small sigh of relief as Dana finally moved on, although she didn’t know if she had permission to turn back around or not. She remained facing the wall, focusing on the thick black curtain as Dana made little “Hmm” and “Huh” noises in front of each of the other girls next to her in line.
Finally, after what felt like at least twenty minutes, Dana clapped her hands again. “Thank you, ladies, for your time. Good evening.” With that, she exited the room, slamming the door hard as she left.
Trina finally turned back around, her eyes landing on Kittie, who was beaming at her like she’d just achieved something major. Trina smiled back at her friend, if only to be polite, but as she slipped back into her clothes and followed Kittie back out of the building, she told herself not to get her hopes up. She’s not going to pick me, Trina thought, tugging her jacket tighter around her shoulders to protect herself from the cold. I’ll just go back to the streets. It’s fine. It’s my home, anyway. It’s where I truly belong.