Rose Red: Model 85001

Chapter Five

Van sat in a strangely lumpy chair in town. If he had thought for one second that Hitomi would have been willing to chop off her glorious locks, he wouldn't have left the city without having it done professionally, but now that they were out in the sticks he had no choice. Now he sat in the back of the only salon in town, which was more like a men's room at a truck stop than a beauty parlor, letting one of his insane friends cut her hair.

Actually, it was Merle's step-mother, Celena. She was only six years older than Van. In many ways she was more Van's contemporary than Merle who had just turned nineteen. Truth be told, Van would have rather dated Celena than Merle, but there weren't that many women in town to choose from and Celena was unfortunately and irrevocably taken.

She was the one who told Van to go buy a girl. He hadn't known that Celena was a purchased woman until one night when she was closing the café and he was staying late because he just couldn't bear to go home to … nothing.

"Listen, Van," she said pushing her near-white hair out of her eyes and speaking levelly. "Give up on Merle. She likes you to pieces, but if you make her go out there she'll hate you forever. She's never lived anywhere but here and if she puts herself in your back pocket without ever experiencing anything for herself – there's going to be a problem. And it will be your problem."

Van twitched and refused to comment.

Then she wiped her soapy hands off on a tea towel and sat down across from him in the booth. "Unless I'm reading you wrong, you don't even like Merle that much. It's just that she's the only one around."

Van peered up at her. "There is someone around I like even better."

"It's no good, Van," Celena said. She smiled wanly and put her arm in front of him on the table. "Do you see this?"

Van saw the sparkling wedding ring on her finger and asked, "Is that really going to last forever?"

She saw his eyes on her wedding band and shook her head. "You're looking at the wrong piece of jewelry. The wedding ring doesn't mean much compared to this," she said, flicking the bangle on her wrist. "Divorces are easy to get. Those kinds of contracts are easy to make and break. This isn't."

"What are you talking about?"

"Dilandau bought me."

"Really?" Van exclaimed. He knew that purchased women were common among celebrities and playboys, but here in his little town? No way!

But Celena had reassured him that it was true.

"Does Merle know?"

"Of course not! Dil told her that I was a live-in nurse."

Van remembered the story. It was easy to believe since Dilandau had been ill for so long. It seemed only natural when he brought someone to town to take care of him. Van had tried to date her back then, but she had told him immediately that she and Dilandau planned to get married. That way she could help raise Merle and look after the diner.

Van sighed in relief. He was strangely comforted when he found out that it was all a lie. So, nothing was wrong with him. Celena didn't reject him because Dilandau was better for her. It was because she was a purchased woman and she did whatever she was told.

"Will you get anything from him when he dies?" Van asked callously. He'd never liked Dilandau.

Celena wiped her nose and said, "No, and they have to do a number of tests after he dies to make sure that I didn't hasten it along. Besides I have nothing to gain. He's already signed the papers. When he dies I'll go back to Sleeping Beauty Inc., I'll be sold again and the proceeds will go to Merle. That's what he decided."

"Bastard!" Van swore crossly. "Couldn't he have given you your freedom?"

Celena sighed. Her blue eyes always looked a little sorrowful and tired, but her eyes flicked up and her lips curved into a smile. "You shouldn't feel sorry for me. I got myself into this mess and you know what? Dilandau is a lot nicer than my last purchaser. Sure, he's crazy and sure, he works me hard, but he's never once hit me. I'm fine with him. I hope he lives forever."

Van rubbed his eyes. Hearing all this was a little overwhelming for him. "All right, so you're fine. What should we do about my problem?"

"You need a girl to live out at your place?"

"Well, I'd rather have a girl than a guy."

"Because you'd rather have someone to cook for you and clean for you and basically be your slave?" Celena said casually.

"You make me sound like a pig, Celena, but I'm really not. I'm just lonely."

She crossed her arms, taking the proof she was purchased with her. "Whatever you want her for, I think you should go to the city and buy a girl rather than mess around with Merle."

Van kicked the table. "Leave that alone. Merle already turned me down, and I already asked her more times than I wanted to, so it's not like I am going to haul her off by her hair."

"So, what about buying a girl? Haven't you got any money?"

"I never thought about it before. How much would I need?"

"I don't know. All I'm saying is that you should look into it."

Van's curiousity was ignited. "So, how did Dilandau choose you?"

Celena pulled her hair off her sticky forehead and leaned her back against the wall inside the booth. "He went in and asked them to sell him the cheapest one they had in the Domestic Goddess category. That was me."

Van was astounded. Celena was amazing. She was patient and beautiful and somewhat capable and basically as good as anything he could imagine. And she was the cheapest one they had!

It was then that he made up his mind to give it a try.

Now Van sat in a lumpy chair in Celena's makeshift hair salon that was actually an unusable extra bathroom, he realized that he recognized Hitomi's brokenness much faster than he recognized Celena's. He hadn't seen it before, but Celena was messed up too. That was why she tolerated Dilandau, who was clearly a rotten husband to her and a pitiful father to Merle. And now as he watched Celena's scissors snap shut in somewhat clumsy irregular motions, he came to understand something else. Celena wasn't getting better.

Van grimaced. Then he turned his head away.

He'd already thought about it a hundred times. He didn't have to buy Hitomi. He could have just waited for Dilandau to kick the bucket, and then he could go to Sleeping Beauty Inc. and buy her for himself.

It didn't work.

The plan was flawed. Who knew how long Dilandau would take to die. He wasn't drinking himself to death in a huge hurry and his disease didn't seem to be taking a turn for the worst. As a matter of fact, he was getting steadily better since Celena came into his life. Merle told him that Celena was slowly petering down the drunk's alcohol intake. Well, goody for her, the maniac would probably never die.

And as for regretting buying Hitomi, Van hadn't decided on that path yet. If he was desperate, he could always sell her again. That was what Van thought before he bought her. Now he didn't think he would have the heart to do that. If he ever decided to let her go – he had to free her. He couldn't sell her. She might end up the hands of the sort of guy who had beaten Celena and Van didn't want that.

Besides, something was wrong with her.

She sat in the broken hairdresser's chair and looked at herself in the faded mirror. She looked like a cancer victim. Celena could give them a lot more money if she didn't spare Hitomi and took off all her hair at the roots. But even though her appearance had been attacked heavily and she looked like a fairy doll before the doll maker put the hair on – she didn't seem to feel anything. She didn't cry. She didn't wince with each snip the scissors made. She didn't seem to feel anything.

She got out of the chair and Van awkwardly handed her one of his toques. "You can wear this," he said.

Hitomi reached out to take it from him, but her hand slipped and the hat fell on the floor.

Van stooped to pick it up. Then he put it directly on her head. "I don't want you to be cold on the way back home." Then he turned to the hairdresser. "Thanks, Celena."

She nodded and said, "I think I'll be able to get close to three thousand dollars for it the next time I go to the city."

"When is that?"

"Sometime next week."

"Transfer me the money when you get it."

"Will do," she said. Then she turned away from them and started wrapping the hair.

Van put his arm around Hitomi's shoulders and led her out of Dilandau's back door. She shivered slightly as they came into the yard where tiny stars of snowflakes were coming down and settling on the heaps of abandoned appliances that Dilandau stacked out there. He suddenly grabbed one of her hands and shoved it in his coat pocket.

"Didn't you buy gloves?" he asked, making an effort to keep the temper out of his voice.

Hitomi breathed hard in the cold air. "Sorry. I was dumb. I thought Spring was here."

"Well, the truck will warm up fast," he said, pushing the gate open for her and giving her shoulders an extra squeeze.

Back at Van's place, Hitomi stood outside. Van had parked the truck in his hanger and Hitomi had decided to get a better look at Van's land. There was more there than just a house and she was curious to see what he had. When she told Van what she wanted to do, he laughed at her and gave her his scarf to tie around her neck. Then he went into the house to let her wander.

So she wandered.

Van's house was an L shape with abnormally large serifs. The long part of the L was the front of the house and the short part of the L was the back. The long part comprised the kitchen, dining room, great room, main bathroom, and a tiny wing off one side that had once been a conservatory which made up one of the sets of serifs. The back of the house was Van's bedroom and then his room that had nothing in it. Then he had a bathroom that for some strange reason had huge windows in it that matched the ones in the conservatory at the other end of the house. Hitomi stared at it. Non-hazy windows in the bathroom? That seemed like a serious breech in protocol. Anyone at all could see inside, but then again – this was the middle of nowhere. There was no one to see anything.

Hitomi's tower came up in the corner of the L. The staircase to it was right beside the door that led into what Van called the courtyard. Hitomi supposed that it had been a beautiful and well cared for garden, but now it was in shambles. Well, at least it didn't have old washers and dryers in it.

Hitomi sighed. She was starting to be impressed by the strangest things.

Hitomi walked up to the gazebo that stood by itself in the corner opposite her tower. It was in pitiful disrepair as well, but it was pretty. That could be a good project for her, she thought as she circled it. She could fix it. But how? She was pretty sure the only reason she got assigned the category of Domestic Goddess was … Here Hitomi's mind hit a blank.

Why was she in the Domestic Goddess category?

She scraped the sides of her head and put her fingers up Van's toque in a vain effort to remember. Her mind was a blank. She didn't remember signing the papers at Sleeping Beauty Inc.

Giving up remembering, she decided to think about it in a more deductive way. She wasn't a chef, so Enchantress was out. She wasn't a gardener so the Queen Rose category was out. She wasn't a fashion expert so Diva was out. She guessed that Domestic Goddess was their catch-all for girls with no skills.

Well, even if she had no skills, there was nothing she had not been willing to do for that man back then. It was a shock for her that she had decided not to keep the memory. Didn't she love him more than anything?

Hitomi felt her scalp again.

He liked long hair. She'd obviously grown it out for him. But for her, the length had seemed strange when she woke up. It made her feel like she was borrowing someone else's skin, borrowing someone else's hair, borrowing someone else's life. Granted, her hair was longer than now five years ago, but chopping it all off made the slate feel clean. New clothes and a new haircut – things were starting to come together.

And Van wasn't such a bad guy. She could see him now holding a mug and standing in the front room watching her. He was probably still laughing at her. Well, what she was doing wasn't funny.

She turned her back on him and came face to face with a gigantic cow. Her eyes went wide. It was humongous. Hitomi had never seen such a big animal that wasn't caged before. Its eyes were huge and so close she could see the veins in them. What should she do? If she ran away, wouldn't it chase her? Hitomi stood perfectly still. That was what you were supposed to do when a wild animal came up to you, right? She didn't move a muscle, but flaming hot panic that began in her neck was racing through her whole body.

The cow took a step towards her.

She was paralyzed. Biting her lip, she tried not to scream. The cow wasn't moving. It was just standing there watching her.

Minutes passed.

It seemed to be sizing her up, but what for? Cows were herbivores. Well, maybe it thought her yellow coat looked appetizing. Hitomi reached down and pulled up a pathetic little clump of dead grass. The stalks weren't very long and Hitomi had to reach far to get it close to the animal's mouth. Hitomi's heart pounded. Then the cow chomped down the grass and almost chomped down Hitomi's hand with it. She pulled her hand away, taking a puddle of cow slobber with it.

Then Van came striding up with his hands in his pockets. Then he jumped and the cow seemed so deathly afraid of him that it took off at a dead run.

Hitomi's shoulders fell.

Van chuckled deeply. "You…" he sputtered.

"Me? Why was it scared of you and not me?" Hitomi demanded.

Van caught his breath, but he was still unmistakably merry. "You stood still. All you needed to do was jump once on the spot and it probably would have taken off."

"How was I supposed to know that?"

"You were so cute trying to feed it." Van wiped away an imaginary tear. Then he pulled himself together and suddenly brought the indigent Hitomi into a hug. "You know what I've decided? This place is going to be good for you. You'll see."

Hitomi put her arms around him too. He wasn't the one she had always wanted, but under the circumstances, he would do just fine.

"Let's go in the house. I'm going to tell you what I bought you for."

"Huh?"

Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who took the time to review the last chapter. As an fanfic author, that's the only payment I get. Plus, I love reviews. I think that even if I were to become the kind of author who gets paid, I'd probably miss the fan mail. Anyhoo - REVIEW. Love!