Chapter 1: One

She wore nothing but a thin purple sweater as she sat at the coffee table holding the small pink pill between her fingers. It was the size of a dime and pink enough to make the most innocent girl blush, and she wondered if she could take it this instant and allow the wetness to consume her. 

A flurry of fingers stirred her imagination, and already her mind was prepared to melt her body in the seat. It could be just like before; it would feel so terribly good. Everyone else was using her product. Why shouldn’t she join the fun?

Nearly all the lights in the café were shut off, leaving behind rounded tables and chairs only just visible in the darkness. The glass storefront was covered by metal shutters, keeping out any excess light from the outside world, and all Elsa had was the warm orange glow of the lamp on the counter beside her table. It was the perfect amount of darkness, the perfect amount of peace.

“Mrs. Chung?” The irritatingly immaculate face of her assistant appeared. With a neatly pressed suit and a perfectly shaven beard, Lin did everything in his power to make up for his beady eyes and narrow face, and still ended up looking as if he’d been sucking on sour candies for far too long.

Elsa closed her fingers around the pill and crossed her legs, leaning back so she could look up at him. It was still a thrill being called Mrs. Chung, but it made her sound like her mother. “Yes? What is it?”

His eyes wandered down her body with a gaze full of cold calculation, making her wonder if he missed his previous boss or if he just wanted to do the same things with her. Was she the latest model or the poor replacement? “Your contact has landed. He will arrive within the hour.” 

Lin wasn’t a particularly tall man, despite what he believed his tailored dress pants and brown shoes did for his figure. Elsa wondered what might happen if she took the pill.

She could probably let him do all sorts of wonderful things to her. He did have the experience. But she wasn’t her mother. And she didn’t want to be that close to his beady eyes.

Elsa sighed and stretched out her arms, one hand still enclosed. She took care to keep one thigh firmly pressed against the other; no need to give him any more ideas. “Tell Mr. Kramer he is welcome. And fetch me an outfit.” 

She squeezed the pill, smiling at Lin’s back as he hurried out of the café. It seemed that whenever she teased the idea of breaking her streak, she’d already had plans arranged beforehand. Foresight, or was it just her way of teasing herself? 

The café had been closed for almost an hour, yet there was another girl sitting behind the counter, only she had her freckled face buried in a college textbook.

“Julia,” said Elsa, standing and pulling herself onto a taller stool so she could lean on the counter. “Do you think you could make me another drink?” The leather seat felt cold to her bare thighs.

“Isn’t it a bit late for coffee, Mrs. C?” Julia tucked a loose strand of hair behind an ear as she looked up from the book on her lap. 

Elsa cocked an eyebrow. “Isn’t it a bit late for you to still be here?”

The younger girl blushed, then reached beneath the marble table for a mug. “I’ve got an exam tomorrow. And this place is nice and quiet. Much better than home.”

“Is it your step-dad?”

Julia shrugged as she prepared the beans, the milk, and the cocoa syrup. “He always finds something to complain about.”

Elsa folded her arms, listening to the slosh of warm water. She knew exactly what it was like to grow up in a troubled household: the long nights spent outside so everyone would be asleep by the time she’d get back, locking herself in her bedroom all day, tiptoeing around, praying for one morning without a shouting match. Then the flash of a belt as it whistled through the air cut through her thoughts, and she shivered as Julia placed the steaming mug on the countertop.

“Everything alright, Mrs. C?”

Her heartbeat had risen for a moment, but Elsa nodded. She smiled. “And here I thought you just liked seeing me without pants.”

Julia blushed then picked up her book again.

There was a knock behind her, and Elsa stifled a shiver. She turned to see Lin, but in the dark, he almost looked like her father. 

“Your suit, madam.” He walked up to her, his eyes going where she knew they’d go: straight to where her sweater had come up, revealing the curve of her lower backside.

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She faced Julia again, who, realizing that something would happen soon, grabbed her things. Elsa whispered a gentle good night, kissed her cheek, and slipped the pill into her hand as a thank you. Lin separated each part of the outfit on the table as Julia left.

The café felt colder without Julia, the lights dimmer. Lin straightened up, folding his hands against his crotch, expectantly looking at her. “You shouldn’t dress like that around employees, Mrs. Chung.”

Elsa rolled her eyes and took another sip of coffee. “How’d my mother dress with you around?”

“Your Baba would highly disapprove.”

She placed the cup down, a bit too loudly, then turned on the stool. “Well, my Baba isn’t here, is he?”

“If the others saw you like this, they’d think you were weak. And then they’d tell Baba. And then he’d have to get rid of you. Two failures? You know he would never forgive that.” He spoke calmly, like a man with nothing to lose.

But Elsa was raring to tear off a limb or two. “And are you going to tell him, Lin?” She looked up into his eyes. He was cold and hard and determined, and she wondered how old he really was. He’d been her mother’s escort for so long, she didn’t know how to read the expressions on his face.

He shook his head. 

“Are you mine, Lin? Do you serve me like my mother asked or do you serve my father?” She stood up, walking over to him. They were the same height, and she pushed her face into his till their noses touched.

His eyes darted quickly to her lips as he licked his own. “You know I belong to you, Mrs. Chung. I would never betray your mother.”

“Then help me take off my sweater,” she said softly, reaching up with her hands to cup his smooth cheeks.

He wrapped his arms around her back, reaching down to grab the hem of her sweater, too eager to notice the trap, and that was the moment she needed to push her knee between his legs and knock him off his feet. Lin landed hard on the floor with a grunt.

She fought the urge to spit as he looked up at her, cheeks reddened with shock, rage, and embarrassment. He’d prided himself on his unshakable defense.

“I am not Mama,” she said, grabbing the waist of her sweater and pulling it over her head with one swift motion. The inked serpent coiled on her right shoulder bared its fangs. “And it would do you well to remember that.”

He slowly got to his feet, brushing off his backside. “I hope you remember that as well. Your father will not forgive a second mistake.” He bowed, then turned and left her alone in the café without another glance.

Elsa steadied herself, feeling the room spinning as she grabbed the back of a chair and clutched her tattoo with her other hand. The mark of her family, it had been fastened to her skin since she was six.

 Her heart was fluttering like mad, the expressions of her parents loomed in her mind: her father’s stern jaw and her mother’s warm round face. And then Lin, behind her mother, in the act she’d caught them doing once too many. Enough times to know that her mother wore her mark on her lower back.

She could’ve had him just now. On the table, on the counter, legs tangled around each other, thrusting and thrusting and thrusting until someone gave out and the world ended. 

Elsa licked her palm, but the only thing left of the pill was a slight pink tinge on her skin. It was gone. She was gone. The moment was gone.

She took a deep shuddering breath. Baba had asked her for something truly important and had even sent Mr. Kramer to help. She wouldn’t let him down again. She couldn’t fail again.

Sighing, she reached behind her and unhooked her bra, letting it fall to the tiles without a sound.

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