Chapter Forty-Five: The Shift
The evening before she left for the Capitol, Amla and Thorn had spent the night in her home.
Her cousin's husband slept in one of the spare rooms with their daughter -only bringing Milho to them when she woke from hunger- while Amla herself cuddled with Maize in a way that they hadn't done since before their last reaping. It was a massive comfort to Maize even now that she was on the train back to the Capitol. She could still feel the remnant of Amla's body heat warming her to the bones like a security blanket on her flesh.
At her request, baba was the only one -though Seeder had protested and even tried to convince Maize to let her come along on the trip- to escort her to the train station. Her father had pulled Maize into a long tight embrace as if he was trying to prevent the inevitable by never letting her go. When Maize had pulled out of his arms, her baba had placed one more kiss onto her forehead before the Peacekeeper waiting at the steps of the train informed them that they were pulling out of the station. Maize had pressed a quick peck onto her baba's peppered beard before climbing in with her spine straight and head held high.
-Despite every feeling, every smothered instinct, screaming at her to not look out the window, Maize couldn't resist the temptation as she watched the figure of her father crumble at the station even as it got smaller and smaller over the distance.-
This time the trip to the Capitol went by extremely quickly. She'd arrived in the early evening to an excited Goldie who kissed her cheeks before looping their arms together and leading her into a town car. Apparently, President Snow had gifted Maize with an apartment in the Capitol, wasn't that just wonderful, for her to stay at when she visited.
Goldie was excited to show Maize around the high-end apartment -though it really wasn't too different from the apartment in the Training Center, besides the smaller size- before asking her all sorts of questions. Apparently, the escort had only found out the day before that Maize would be visiting, the Capitolite had only been told that Maize had a date in the evening and that Goldie was to help her get ready.
Despite Goldie's age, the woman had naively not picked up on either Maize's mood or the real reason behind the 'date'. Goldie had left an hour later, promising to come back in the morning. According to Goldie, Maize had a medical appointment at ten, and afterward, the escort would take her out to lunch before bringing her back to the apartment where her stylist team would help her get primped up for the date.
Sleep didn't come so easily to Maize this time.
By the time Goldie had steamrolled through the apartment Maize had been awake for a few hours. She drank a nutrient shake while listening to Goldie prattle on about- well, something before the pink-skinned woman led her downstairs back into the town car.
The doctors and other medical professionals that had attended to her were just as impersonal as the ones that had put her back together when she 'won' the Games. The nurse had been kind enough to softly explain what Dr. Nero was doing after doing a quick gynecologist examination. The doctor had injected a device into her left thigh that would act as birth control. Honestly, she was just happy that they hadn't seemed angry or surprised when they realized that she wasn't a virgin.
The nurse, after Dr. Nero finished the examination and left the room, had instructed Maize to come back in the morning so that they could re-examine her and give her anything for pain if she required it after tonight's date. Maize had only nodded and walked out of the room with her head held high, though she was barely holding back bile from escaping her lips at the very thought that she would need pain medication.
As it was, Maize barely touched the lunch that Goldie had bought her.
Orion and the stylist crew had seemed excited to see her, though it looked like Orion was the only one to have an inkling as to what this night was really about. The pitying looks and gentle words gave him away. The next two hours went by in a mindnumbing fashion as the stylists bathed her, applied lotions to her skin, did her hair and nails before Orion helped Maize slide into a tight red dress before zippering it up the back.
Not five minutes after she was dressed a man rang her doorbell and introduced himself as Sven, who would be acting as Maize's personal chauffeur for the evening. Goldie and the stylists giggled, wishing Maize luck on her date before she left. Once Sven and Maize were settled inside the town car, the man handed Maize a laminated white envelope and instructed her to open it as he turned the car on and began driving to the restaurant. Maize only eyed the envelope blankly for a moment before ripping it open. Her eyes roamed across the short message from President Snow with trepidation before numbness settled inside her once more.
Her client's name was Blip Gans. The woman was in her early thirties and had bought Maize's time for the next seven hours. They would be meeting at the 'Vie en Rose' restaurant for an early dinner, Maize was to eat and drink whatever Mrs. Gans ordered for her, before they retired to her client's home. After the seven hours were up, Maize was free to leave though she was to do so in a professional manner that wouldn't anger her client.
Maize didn't have to wait at all for the client to arrive, the second after Sven had opened her door a loud squeal erupted from one of the Capitolite women by the entrance of the restaurant. The woman was tall, much taller than Maize was, reaching up to what she guessed six or seven more inches without the monstrous heels on her feet. Her client had dolled herself up in the latest Capitol fashions, her hair neon blue and dress a soft coral pink.
The woman was quick to press two kisses -one on each of- her cheeks with bright pink lips, though the woman's most captivating feature had to be her unnatural neon green eyes. Maize smiled demurely up at the older woman and blushed at her sweetly, which only made her client squeal before proclaiming that Maize was the sweetest little thing she'd ever seen.
The dinner went by slowly. Mrs. Gans -"Call me Blip darling, I long to hear my name come from your lips."- was determined to romance Maize before they sealed the deal. Pictures were taken of them, and other patrons of the restaurant whispered jealously that it was not them feasting with the newest Victor. Maize ate her food slowly and drank whatever the older woman poured into her glass, she flirted coyly at her client between blushes -since it seemed that being flushed was a kink of some sort for the client. She allowed herself to be led onto the dance floor since Mrs. Gans hadn't had the opportunity to dance with her a month ago. It didn't take too long before the client began whispering lewdly in her ear that they should continue their date back in her apartment.
The ride to the woman's place was enshrouded with -fake- giggles as the client practically seated Maize on her lap and whispered 'sweet things' into her ears, every once in a while the woman would run down her fingers on Maize's sensitive ribs which would elicit said giggles because she was 'ticklish' there. Maize wasn't quite sure how they'd gotten into the woman's apartment or how they'd ended up on the couch sipping on wine while Mrs. Gans heavily flirted with her.
"I've never laid with a woman before." Maize whispered -wanting desperately to just get the night over with- in a sultry manner as she leaned in provocatively -even as disgust warred heavily throughout her mind and body- the slightly buzzed Capitolite tittered as an excited squeal escaped from her throat at that admission.
Unnatural neon green eyes were practically shrouded by dilated black pupils as the woman leaned in, her manicured hand moving from Maize's knee up to her thigh, "Well then darling, let me show you what you've been missing." the client purred before capturing Maize's lips with her own.
Maize wasn't sure exactly how she'd gotten back to her apartment. Only becoming aware sometime later as the never-faulting water pressure of the shower continued to pour burning water onto her skin. The dress that she'd worn the night before had been haphazardly shoved back on in an improper manner and was clinging onto her, now, red skin. Maize's head felt heavy under the onslaught of the water as her curls were straightened by the pressure. Despite the heat clinging onto her flesh Maize's hands trembled fiercely, as if the coldest winds were blowing through her body. A strange choking sound made its way to her ears before Maize realized that it was coming from her.
Ah.
She was crying.
She couldn't help but wonder how long she'd been sobbing. Maize decided that it'd probably been a while. After all, her throat was burning, her nose was clogged with snot and her eyes felt incredibly swollen from all the tears she's been shedding... She should probably get out of the shower now, or at the very least slip out of the clothes from last night.
When Maize tried to stand a moan escaped from her lips as her netherregions flared with pain. It made her shaking legs give out underneath her and slide back down onto the tiled floor of the shower. Maize catalogs an array of bruises that hadn't existed on her skin before last night with apathetic eyes.
Couldn't that bitch have at least taken it easy on her body?
Wasn't it enough that Mrs. Gans would be the first -from the Capitol at least- to ever have sex or go on a date with her?
Hadn't it been special enough that Blip was the first woman -because she'd never, in any life, had ever been attracted to her own gender- Maize had ever done anything with?
No.
It hadn't.
Honestly... Maize wasn't even that surprised.
People were selfish -UGLY- creatures.
None more so than Capitolites.
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