Chapter 43 – Ominous
by Kleo EriliWhen Chloe arrived, Elena was already sitting at her usual corner table. She was wearing a simple black top and had tied her long black hair into a loose bun. As Chloe approached, she saw that Elena wasn’t smiling.
“Hey.” Chloe sank into the chair opposite her. “You look like you have bad news.”
Elena waited until Chloe was seated, then leaned forward. “Thanks for coming. I wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting yourself into.”
“At the party?”
“Yes.” Elena nodded. “You’ve been to one before. You know how it goes. The guests expect entertainment.”
Entertainment. What a nice word for what happens there.
“I know,” she said calmly. “I understand the concept. Powerful men want to fuck porn stars, and we’re the porn stars.”
Elena shook her head. “No. Well, yes. But it’s a little more than that.”
The waitress appeared, a young woman with tired eyes but a friendly smile. “What can I get you?”
“Caesar salad and iced tea,” Elena said automatically.
“Same for me.”
When the waitress disappeared, Elena lowered her voice even further.
“Valeria is involved in more than most people realize. I’ve heard some… wild things at these parties. Money, deals, sometimes harmless stuff, sometimes things you definitely shouldn’t get involved in.” Her dark eyes fixed on Chloe. “You’re well-known enough by now that you’re probably reasonably safe. As long as…”
“As long as what?”
“As long as you don’t go against Valeria. Or ask too many questions about things you might happen to overhear.”
Chloe’s heart beat faster.
That’s it. That’s the proof that there’s more to it.
“What kind of things?” she asked, trying to keep her voice neutral. “What exactly did you hear?”
Elena’s face closed up. “I’ve already said too much.”
“Elena-“
“No.” Elena raised her hand. “I’m serious, Chloe. I’m telling you this so you’ll be careful. Not so you’ll start snooping around.”
Damn it.
Chloe forced herself to stay calm. She couldn’t scare Elena away. Not now.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “I understand.”
The waitress returned with their drinks. The clink of glasses on the metal table filled the tense silence.
When they were alone again, Elena took a long sip of her iced tea.
“Listen. Last time, you got me out of a stupid situation. I’m grateful for that, I really am.” She put down her glass. “But not because you saved me from that guy, but because I wasn’t well and you most likely saved me from puking on his fat belly, and that could have been very unpleasant. But being groped by a guy like that is a fundamental part of the plan. The guests expect us to be available. And next time, Valeria will expect you to play along.”
Of course she will.
“I’ll play along,” Chloe said. The words tasted bitter on her tongue. “I’ll do what’s expected and won’t make a scene. It’s just sex.”
Elena looked at her skeptically. “Really?”
“Really.” Chloe leaned back and crossed her arms. “I’m not stupid, Elena. I know how the game works. Valeria is powerful, I’m new, and I can’t afford to make enemies.”
And I need to keep this access if I want to find out what happened to Samantha.
Elena didn’t seem entirely convinced, but something in her posture relaxed a little. “Good. That’s… well, not good, but you know what I mean.”
Their salads arrived. Chloe poked at hers without really having an appetite. Elena did the same.
“It’s just…” Elena began, then broke off.
“What?”
“These parties.” Elena stared at her plate. “The men there… I don’t even have a huge problem with fucking them, but they’re all influential guys and sometimes they talk too much, and I don’t really want to hear it. What if one of them decides he’s accidentally said too much and now I’m a problem…?” She made a vague gesture.
I understand you. I think I understand you better than you think.
A shadow fell over their table. Chloe looked up and saw the waitress again, this time with a nervous smile and red cheeks.
“Sorry to bother you, but… my boyfriend is a huge fan of both of you.” She wrung her hands. “He’d kill me if he knew you were here and I didn’t take a picture. Would it be okay if…?”
Chloe and Elena exchanged glances. Then Chloe had to laugh, and a moment later Elena laughed too.
The timing.
“Sure, why not,” Elena said, standing up. “Come here.”
The three of them stood together, the waitress in the middle. Chloe put her arm around the girl’s shoulders, Elena did the same from the other side.
“Pucker up on three,” Chloe said, holding up the waitress’ phone. “One, two, three!”
They made kissing faces for the camera. The photo would probably end up somewhere on social media later, but that was okay.
The waitress thanked them effusively and disappeared back into the kitchen, her cell phone pressed to her chest like a treasure.
Elena’s smile disappeared as soon as they were alone again.
“Chloe.” Her voice was soft, almost a whisper. “I want you to be happy. And safe. That’s all.”
“I… thank you.”
“Valeria is playing games that neither of us wants to understand. Promise me you won’t try to challenge her.”
Something in Elena’s tone made Chloe prick up her ears. There was more than just concern. There was bitterness. Maybe even fear.
“It never ends well,” Elena added. Her voice was little more than a murmur. “Trust me.”
She’s thinking about someone. She’s thinking about-
Samantha.
Chloe reached out and took Elena’s hand. It was cool and trembling slightly.
“Hey.” Chloe squeezed gently. “I wasn’t planning on getting in trouble with her. I’ll be good. I won’t be a brat. I’ll do what Valeria wants and be nice to the guests.”
Elena looked at her, and for a moment Chloe saw something flash in her eyes. Relief, perhaps.
“Okay.” A genuine smile spread across Elena’s face. “Okay. Good.”
After paying the bill, they got up to leave. Elena pulled Chloe into a hug, tighter than usual.
“You’re not alone, okay?” Elena murmured in her ear. “I’m there too. We’re a team.”
“We’re a team,” Chloe repeated.
Elena let go of her and smiled again. Then she was gone.
Chloe stood there for a moment, watching her go.
She’s trying to protect me. Because she couldn’t protect Samantha?
The thought came uninvited, but it felt right. Elena’s behavior, her warnings, the way she sometimes looked at Chloe as if she were seeing a ghost. There was guilt in all of it. Guilt about something that had happened a long time ago. Or was she projecting that?
Did she warn Samantha too? Did Samantha not listen?
Chloe stored the thought away, adding it to the other pieces of the puzzle in her mind.
Then she set off for home.
~
Back in her apartment, Chloe flopped onto her bed, grabbed her laptop, opened it, and navigated to her investigation document. The cursor blinked expectantly on the empty line below her last entries.
Elena Rodriguez (Update):
Warning about Valeria’s parties. Says it’s about more than just sex with rich men. Heard “wild stuff,” she says. Mentions money, deals, and things you “definitely shouldn’t get involved in.” But doesn’t want to go into detail.
Important: Elena says that as long as I’m well-known enough, I’m “reasonably safe” (What exactly does that mean? Why?), but only as long as I don’t rebel against Valeria or ask too many questions.
Elena is afraid. Not just vaguely, but the way she acts and what she says and doesn’t say seems so specific. She’s thinking of someone specific who asked questions and rebelled against Valeria.
And I’m sure she’s thinking of Samantha.
Next party: Valeria expects me to “go along with it.” I already know that, but Elena was also very clear (on Valeria’s behalf? Didn’t seem that way). In any case, there’s no way out now.
She closed her eyes for a moment. That meant sex with some powerful men she didn’t know. Men Valeria considered important enough to entertain her. But she could handle that.
Her cell phone vibrated on the nightstand. She reached for it and saw an email notification.
Velvet Sleeve Marketing – Product Preview
She opened the email.
On the screen was a digital mockup. An elegant box in red and gold with the Velvet Sleeve logo discreetly in the corner. And on it, in curving script: Chloe Heart Signature Sleeve.
She scrolled further and there was the product itself, rendered in photorealistic detail. Flesh-colored, with texture. A perfect replica of…
…my pussy.
A strange feeling spread through her stomach. Not quite nausea. She scrolled on to the promotional text.
“Experience Chloe Heart like never before.”
Yep, there it is. My pussy. For $69.99. Plus shipping, presumably.
She put her phone down and stared at the ceiling.
The feeling in her stomach changed. It was still strange, but there was something else underneath it. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
Excitement?
She frowned.
It was absurd. She should be disgusted, should be ashamed. Thousands of strangers would buy this thing and use it and think of her while doing so, and she should…
But there was this tingling sensation. This strange satisfaction at being so desirable that people were seriously paying money to own this replica.
A small smile twitched at the corners of her mouth.
She suppressed it immediately.
Pull yourself together, Chloe. You’re losing focus. But… you can make something out of that.
She put her phone aside and turned back to her laptop. But not the investigation document this time. She opened her document for work stuff and started typing.
Content Ideas:
I could do a Q&A about the molding experience (“How does it feel when your own pussy becomes a product?” Keeping it funny and self-deprecating)
So there it was. She was creating an illusion. She made people feel like they knew her, while controlling what they saw of her and using every photo, every video, and every post in a calculated way.
It was manipulative and superficial, but it worked so incredibly well.
$69.99.
This control over her own story, over the image the world had of her, felt good. Almost like a kind of revenge. On Randy Miles, who treated her like a pizza to order, on Ben, who saw her as an investment, on everyone who thought they knew her just because they had seen her naked.
You know nothing. You only see what I want you to see.
She closed her laptop and set it aside. It had grown dark outside. The streetlights cast orange spots on the ceiling, interrupted by the occasional headlights of passing cars.
The next party. Powerful men with secrets.
I’m so close, I can almost feel it.
Somewhere in Valeria’s world lay the answer to who had killed Samantha.
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