"27 gil! I can´t believe it, only 27 gil!" The girl desperately recounted the money in her pouch. "27 gil! I´m screwed up. I´ll never be able to raise 1,500 gil. What can I do? What can I do?"
"Hey, mister, wouldn´t you like some flowers? Just a gil each."
"No, thanks."
"Please, just one flower."
The man ignored the girl. She became desperate. Holding a bucket with flowers, she tried to sell some to the passersby, but most people ignored her. Though her brown hair was impeccable, tied in braids, with her trademark gravity-defying bangs and her white gown gave her a ladylike look, her face betrayed her despair and that only made it worse for her.
"Good evening, Mr. Wouldn´t you like to take a flower? It is only 1 gil."
"No, I don´t want any flowers."
"You could give it for you wife, she would surely like a small gift."
"She doesn´t like flowers."
"Please, just one flower. Help me. I need to buy some medicine..."
"You are nothing but a beggar. Buzz off!"
"A beggar? I think it is really what I am. A beggar! Nothing more than a beggar disguised as a flower seller. A beggar. Or worse. It is not uncommon to men take me for a prostitute. I loath them. But what will I do? My mom is sick. I need this money, lest she will die! By heavens!" The girl´s emerald green eyes are wet with tears. "There is no other way, I have to do that... But I promised mom I´d never to that..."
"Please, lovely couple, wouldn´t you like to present your lovely girlfriend with some flowers? It is just one gil each."
"Well..." The boy meditated for a moment. "Give me one rose."
"Just one?"
"Yes."
The flower girl shrugged. "Well, here it is."
"Thanks."
"One gil... that will never do. I´m desperate. Soon these streets will be empty and I didn´t get money enough for food, imagine to buy the medicines my mom needs. It will become dangerous soon. I must return home, but I can´t. Not without my mother´s medicine or the money to buy it."
The flower girl sat on the sidewalk and buried her face in her hands. She started sobbing quietly. "I have no alternative. I thought I´d never do that, but it looks like there is no other way. Only to think about that, to be touched by dirty hands, cause me disgust. But there is no way. I hated all those men who offered me money for my body, I still hate them, but now there is no way. I know I´ll regret doing that, but if my mother dies and I don´t do anything to help her, I think I´ll commit suicide. Oh, it is so hard, so hard a decision. Only a miracle could save me. I´ve always been a good girl, I´ve always followed the holy laws. I have never been touched. I´ve always dreamed of a perfect guy for me... now all my dreams will be thrown down the gutter... It is so hard... I need a miracle..." The girl stayed sobbing for some time, then she stood up, wiped the tears from her eyes and returned to her work.
"Please, mistress, wouldn´t you like some flowers to bring life to your home? Just one gil each."
"Leave me alone!"
"Please..."
"There is no other way... I think if one of those loathsome men showed up, I´d have to say yes this time. Surrender my innocence, my modesty, my dreams..."
A suspicious looking man was standing on the other side of the street. The tall, brown-haired man, on his thirties, hid himself on a poor-lighted corner to avoid being seen. He was staring at the flower girl for a long time. He has been stalking her for some days, impressed by her beauty, but he never had the courage to talk to her. After much thought, he finally crossed the street, staring intently at her. The flower girl noticed the intent stare and looked down, to avoid his eyes. As he stopped in front of her, she shyly asked, sounding like a child.
"Do you want some flowers, mister?"
"No." His voice was soft, but his tone was very dry.
"So?"
"How much?"
"1 gil each."
"Didn´t you understand? How much?"
The flower girl was paralyzed with fear. She knew exactly what he was talking about. "How I loathe this man! But today I´ll have to surrender to his filthy offer."
"Two... thousand... gil..." She was trembling of fear and anxiety.
"Two thousand? Is it your price? You mean two hundred..."
"Two thousand! Nothing less than that." The flower girl blushed, her face became crimson red, her palms were sweating. She hoped the man would leave her.
"Two thousand..." The man paused for an instant. "Alright, come with me."
The flower girl staggered. She couldn´t move, so afraid she was. Her heart was racing like mad, she couldn´t stop trembling, her eyes were watered.
"Come with me!" The tall man demanded, harshly, but always with a soft voice.
The flower girl was desperate. She wanted to run away from the man, but she couldn´t. "What am I doing? I can´t do that! I just can´t! No, I can´t sell myself... I must run away from here... but I can´t. I must do that... for my mom..." She let her bucket slip from her hands, the flowers fell on the sidewalk, scattered. She hurried down, in order to collect the flowers, but her hands were shaking so much that she took a long time to gather them. The tall man just stared at her and said nothing. When she finished picking up the flowers, he grabbed her right arm and pulled her along the streets.
They crossed the street and the tall man took the flower girl to a car parked on a nearby street. He opened the door for her.
"Please, get in."
The flower girl felt fear. She looked at the car and felt a tremendous fear. She felt as if she would be eaten by the car. But the truth is that she knew that, as soon as she entered that car, there would be no way out, she would have to go on till the end. Many thoughts crossed her mind. She was seriously considering a way to get out that terrible situation, but all the arguments were shattered by remembering her mother´s disease. She felt the light touch of his hand on her shoulder and cowered, as if stung by a wasp.
"Please."
The flower girl sighed, took a long breath, arranged her flower bucket in the back seat and entered the car. The tall man closed the door, walked around the car and took the driver´s seat. He started the car and they started moving slowly through the dark streets of the city. The flower girl cringed in fear on the passenger´s seat. After some minutes of silence, the man decided to break the silence.
"You are very pretty."
The flower girl remained silently, trembling with fear, her heartbeats twice the normal rate, causing her a great discomfort..
"You are the prettiest girl I´ve ever seen. I´ve been watching you everyday, for months."
The flower girl was startled. "Oh, no, this man is a psycho. I... I... chose the worst man available... He will do me harm, I know. He will murder me. I knew that I shouldn´t, I always knew I shouldn´t... Oh, mom, forgive me, but I was trying to save you..." She started weeping, silently.
"It feels like a dream to have you here with me."
The flower girl's fear increased at each word spoken by the man. "His dream is my worst nightmare. I wish it was only a bad nightmare, but I know it isn't. I had just sold myself to a man... I can't believe how fool I am... but what could I do? Why did the Planet get me in this situation? Why?" Tears rolled down her cheeks.
The man didn´t say anything else. He was calmly driving his car around the almost empty streets. On the passenger´s seat, though, the flower girl was having the worst moment of her life, trembling with fear, anxious. For the constant anxiety, she was feeling an unpleasant feeling inside her chest. She started to feel pains in her stomach as well.
Suddenly, while waiting for the traffic lights to go green, the man put his hand on the flower girl´s thigh. She reacted as if she had received an electric shock, drawing herself back in the passenger´s seat, hitting the door, causing a loud thud. The man immediately took his hand from her thigh and kept on driving. "Oh, my, I can´t do that! I just can´t! I hope he understands me... I don´t want to do that anymore... if he puts his filthy hand on me again, I will die."
The car stopped in front of a building. It was a motel. The man decided it would be the place they would spent the next hours. He drove slowly to the entrance. The flower girl covered her face with her hands, in hopes of not being recognized by anyone. The man took the most expensive room and drove slowly to the box where he would park the car. The flower girl wished the man would drive faster to reach the box, so no one would see her. But she secretly wished someone would see her, would stop him and she could come up with an excuse to run away from that man. The car stopped. The man closed the garage´s door with the remote control he received at the reception and unlocked the car doors.
"Let´s go."
The flower girl stayed immobile, frightened. The tall man walked around the car, opened the door and extended his hand to the flower girl. She reluctantly held it and he helped her out. With the other hand, she tried to wipe out the tears from her face. She kept her head down, staring at the ground, trying to hide her tears from the man. The tall man gently guided her to the room´s door. He took the key out of his pocket, unlocked the door and opened it. Then he turned on the lights and gently pushed her inside the room. She was very afraid of entering the room, trembling and sweating. She wondered if it was still possible to get out of that situation, as if nothing had happened.
She turned back in front of the man, staring at the floor. The tall man lightly touched her face and started caressing her cheeks. She felt an extreme disgust for allowing a man, a stranger, touch her that way. In her mind, it was supposed to be the love of her life. Though she was a clever and free-spirited girl, love and relationships were her weakness, her Achilles-heel. She thought of her previous love, her only love. It was an unrequited love for a ladies´ man. She thought of him, of all the 89 letters she has written for him in the past years, none of them answered. She thought he would be the love of her life. He was the only man she would let touch her the same way the tall man was doing now. Though she surrendered to her terrible fate, she was feeling completely lost. She didn´t know what to do, she didn´t know how she was supposed to behave and to tell the truth, she didn´t care. All she wanted was to run away from there. But she couldn´t, she was doing that for her mother. It was a terrible sacrifice, but it was needed.
The flower girl turned her back to the man and entered the room. As she heard the door being locked behind her, she felt a chill of terror down her spine. It was as if she had no chances of escaping anymore. But then she thought that even if there was a chance, she wouldn´t escape. She couldn´t run away. She shouldn´t run away. She shyly examined the room. It was a very luxurious room, with pure silk sheets on the bed, fine art decoration, a large TV set, a large bathtub in the bathroom. She walked to the middle of the room, where she staggered, with her back facing the bed, waiting for what would come next.
The man followed her inside the room. He dimmed the lights out, leaving the room lighted by a faint light. Then, he sat on the bed and started taking out his shoes.
"Take off your clothes." The tall man said so very calmly.
The flower girl was shocked by hearing that command. She came back to reality, to the filthy task she´d have to endure. She crossed her arms over her breasts and held her dress straps, but not in order to take the dress out. It seemed as if she was trying to shield her body from the man. She stayed standing, trembling, with her hands shaking, sweating and with tears in her eyes again.
"Take off your clothes please." The man repeated the sentence as calm as the first time, but the flower girl remained paralyzed with fear.
"What is it? Have you never done that?"
The flower girl turned her head lightly towards him and nodded. She was clearly out of control.
"Don´t be afraid. Do as you usually did with your past boyfriends."
"You... didn´t... understand." The flower girl´s voice was a bit harsh, as she was choking in tears. "I´ve never done... that... with... any man..."
"Oh!" The man seemed surprised and stood up. He went to the flower girl and gently pushed her to the bed, making her sit. Then he knelt down in front of her and touched her cheeks lightly, noticing that they were wet with tears. He forced her face gently in order to make her eyes stare at his. "I ´ve never imagined that. But don´t worry, my princess, I´ll treat you in a gently way. I don´t want to hurt you in this special moment of your life. I don t want to see you crying."
The man stood up. The flower girl was still crying and now confused. "This man is so strange... he considers me a prostitute and still he acts like a gentleman... but seems to be emotionless... I´m sure he is a psycho. Oh, why did I get myself trapped in this situation? What will I do now? Is there any hope of escaping left?" But all these thoughts disappeared as soon as anything could bring her mind back to the reality. This time, it was the sound of the mini-refrigerator being opened.
"Do you wish to drink something? It will help you to relax a bit."
"No, no, I don´t drink anything." The flower girl´s voice sounded like a child.
"Oh, well, maybe you´d have some water."
"Some water..." the flower girl paused for some seconds. She was not feeling well because of the extended period of anxiety, sweating and she had her mouth dry. She wondered if a bit of water would help her feeling better or if it would make her throw up. She wondered if she threw up, the man would leave her. "Well, just a bit."
"Alright, princess."
The man took a bottle of water from the mini-refrigerator and opened it. He went then to the cupboard and took a luxurious glass, made for drinking champagne and filled it with water. The flower girl remained seated at the bed, looking down and weeping silently. The man went to her and knelt down beside her, gently putting the glass in her hand. "Here is your water, princess." The flower girl looked at him for an instant and then tried to concentrate on drinking. It had become a difficult task, since her hands were shaking violently of fear and anxiety. "Now he will keep on calling me princess... I should never have told him that I was a virgin... he surely is a psycho. I can see faint traces of compassion and a strong infatuation in his eyes, but no other emotions beyond that."
The flower girl tried to take a sip of water, but her hands were shaking and she ended spilling most of the contents of the glass over her dress. "Damn!". The cold water soaking her dress only contributed to her discomfort. Besides, it made her dress become transparent and she felt ashamed of that, though that was a foolish thought, as she was supposed to take all her clothes off.
"Oh, princess... what happened?" The man ran to one of the towels, took it and went to the flower girl. "Let me help you..." He gently extended his hand with the towel to dry the flower girl´s breasts, but she pulled him away. "No!" She then took the towel from his hands and started drying herself. The tall man just shrugged and slowly shook his head. He was feeling uneasy with the reaction of the girl. Surely she was not experienced and she was very uncomfortable with the situation. "Why did she agree in selling her body to me?"
After the flower girl had dried herself a bit and put the towel over the bed, the tall man returned to the business that had taken them to the motel. He touched her face gently with his right hand. She still felt disgust, but was accustomed to the touches, so she let it be. "Let´s start with a kiss, to make you feel at ease." He stared intently at her emerald green eyes and moved his lips toward hers, but when he was about to touch them, she drew back her head and gently pushed him away, shaking her head and sobbing.
"Why, princess?"
"I don´t want..."
"Don´t tell me you have never kissed..."
She just shook her head, turning it away from him. He carefully moved her gravity-defying bangs away from her face, which were glued by her tears on her cheeks and stared at her eyes.
"You have never kissed... Why did you agree with my offer, so?"
"I... I... needed... the money..." The flower girl broke in tears. "My... my... mom is sick... she is... dying... I need... the money... I loath you... I loath all this... but I... I... have no other... way... I´m... desperate..." The flower girl buried her face on her hands and kept sobbing bitterly.
"Don´t be... ashamed of that. You are a princess..."
"I don´t want to do that... but I need..."
"I´ll treat you gently. I don´t want you to suffer even more."
"I... don´t... want..."
The flower girl kept crying and the tall man just watched her. She couldn´t stop crying anymore. She was desperate, ashamed and frightened of the man. She considered proposing him to marry her, so she would not live with the shame of having sold her body. "But... I´d be a prostitute anyway. The society would consider it fine, but I´d have sold myself the same way. Worse than that, I´d be married to a man I don´t love. It is better to let him have me now and try to forget that... but I just can´t... I just can´t..."
The man climbed on the bed and went to caress the flower girl´s back. "You sweet scent of flowers... your smooth skin... the warmth of your body... the softness of your body... you are the most beautiful, the most perfect girl in this world, princess." He spoke so with his always calm voice, devoid of emotion, of passion, as if all the words were carefully calculated. Then he touched her hair. "What a beautiful hair! Let me untie it..."
As the flower girl felt his hands on her ribbon, she panicked. "No! Please! Leave it there!" The man was startled by her reaction and took his hands out of her hair. "Alright." Then, he slowly placed his hands on her shoulders, holding the straps of her dress and slowly moving the straps downward. He felt her body shaking, cowering under his touch. She lost control of herself and couldn´t stop crying. She jerked her body showing him her disgust for his touch.
The tall man took his hands out of her body. "Looks like it won´t help. You really hate me, you feel disgust when I touch you. I wanted to make you feel loved, but I´m only making you suffer even more. Let´s not prolong your suffering further." He gently pushed her back down, making her lay back up in the bed. "It will hurt you, but it won´t take more than three minutes, then I can set you free".
The flower girl acquiesced, but was out of control, crying. "Please, let me out of this nightmare. I shouldn´t have happened... Free me from this torture, let me out. I´ll never forgive myself for letting a man do such a filthy act to me... Let me go, please..."
The tall man knelt down beside her ankles, which were hanging on the air. He gently placed his hands on her ankles and started slowly raising her white dress' skirt. She was trembling with fear, choking on tears and forcing her legs closed. The man released her legs, let out a sigh of frustration and stood up. The flower girl didn´t notice that, so disturbed she was, crying on the bed. The man took out his wallet from his pocket, opened it and threw hundreds of 100 gil bills over the bed.
"That will never be. Stand up and leave. There is your money."
"Wha... what?"
"Where do you live? I´ll take you home."
"Don´t worry..."
"It is too late, it is dangerous for a girl like you to walk around at this hour. I take you there. Let´s go."
"But..."
"Which sector?"
"Five."
The flower girl was surprised that his voice remained calm. It betrayed a bit of frustration, but not a bit of anger, as she expected he would be very angry with her. She turned her face to look and saw all those bills scattered on the bed. She started picking them up and estimated that the amount of money there exceeded 50,000 gil. She was shocked to see that amount of money, she had never seen so much money together.
"What does that mean?"
"It is your money."
"Why? I didn´t even let you have me."
"This is to make sure you will only sell flowers from now on."
The tall man had already put on his shoes, turned the lights on and was by the door, waiting for the flower girl. The flower girl was still excited, feeling anxiety, her heart was still racing and she was confused, very confused. She stuffed most of the money on her bra and the rest on her pouch, straightened her dress a bit with her hands and walked towards the door, with her head down. She exited the room without looking at the man or looking back. The man closed the door behind them and the flower girl sighed in relief, as if the nightmare was over, but she was not feeling safe yet. The man opened the passenger´s door and, in his usual gentleman manners. She felt as if she would be eaten by the car again. "This man is certainly a psycho. I wonder if it is really a miracle or not. I´m afraid of what he will do to me now..."
The flower girl entered the car and cowered in the passenger´s seat again, while the tall man entered the car, started it, opened the box door and left, without saying a word. He paid the bill at the exit, while the flower girl hid her face again, in order to not be recognized by anyone. The man started driving slowly through the streets, not looking at the flower girl, not saying a word. She felt a mix of fear and relief. Relief for not having to let that man use her body, but fear of being attacked by him, beaten up or even murdered. She tried to find reasons on her mind for what the man had just done to her. The whole ordeal has been a surreal thing. She was still feeling quite bad for the long period of fear and anxiety she had endured. Now she was still feeling fear, but she was not so anxious. She eyed the tall man from time to time, but it was as if he was not there, he never looked at her again, he never said a word.
The car rolled slowly through the streets and after some minutes the flower-lady could recognize the familiar streets near her house. When they were just a few blocks away, she asked him to stop. He stopped the car. She stayed inside, motionless, waiting for the man to say something. He just left the car, walked around it and opened the passenger´s seat door, as his last gentleman act. He didn´t say a word to her, he just waited until the flower-lady got out of the car and picked up her flower bucket. She kept staring at him, more scared than ever, as she was waiting for something to happen. She considered it impossible that he would surrender his right of having her, give her an absurd amount of money and leave her without saying anything, but that was exactly what he did. He closed the car´s door, walked around it and got inside the car again. She kept staring at his car, which was a very common one, making the situation more awkward, for he didn´t look like an eccentric millionaire. The man started the car, put it on motion and soon it disappeared in the night, being that the last time the flower girl would ever see him.
Still confused by the overflow of different feelings, the flower girl felt as if the night had been just a strange nightmare. The events seemed surreal for her. That strange man's behavior was unbelievable, no one would believe her story if one day she decided to reveal the strange happenings of that night. The flower girl herself had difficulties in believing the last events. If it wasn't the large chunk of bills stuffed on her bra, causing her a little discomfort, she would not believe in the tale herself. She was still puzzled by that strange man's actions, but she didn't want to think about that for now. She only wanted to think that nothing bad had happened to her and she had the money she needed to pay for her mother´s expensive treatment.
She was not feeling well because of all the fear and anxiety felt during the night, with a strange feeling on her chest, pains in her stomach and nerves tingling for the long periods trembling. But now she felt safe. She felt as if the terrible ordeal had finally come to an end. She still kept some small fears that the man would look for her in the future, would keep stalking her, but she was rejoicing. She let out a long sigh of relief. She started smiling. She ran back home happy that she could buy her mother's medicine early next morning, that now she could afford the expensive treatment. She was happy that she would be selling flowers on the next day, as if nothing had happened on that eventful day. And happier to think she would never have to think about selling her body to anyone. Finally, she was rejoicing because now she could try to forget about that day, that mysterious man, that she almost became a prostitute. In some weeks, she would act as if nothing had happened, but deep inside she knew all the events of that day would be forever marked deeply on her soul.