Chapter 4: Prayer

“God, whoever, whatever you are, if you are out there, hear my prayer”

I did not speak to the woman by my side, letting her know where I was going. She asked me what was wrong as I slowly got up and left the room but I uttered no reply. I grabbed my shirt that hung on the door on my way out and began to button it up, ignoring the voice of my client

“She is everything to me, she’s my every care

God please, if you’re out there...”

I walked down the hallway, mulling over in my mind the things Venetia had said, and the things I suspected I knew.

“…guy just got rough with one of the girls…”; “is the girl okay… who was it, anyone you know?”; “I… I don’t know”

I remembered hearing about Ziyi – a companion at Crescendo many years ago who was the victim of abuse at the hands of a “wild card”. She was raped and beaten, to the point that she no longer resembled her former self.

I became consumed in my own thoughts

Thoughts of Frankie, thoughts of the intruder and in my mind’s eye I imagined what could have taken place.

Nothing substantial formed, only flashes - flashes of her being pushed around, smacked, held down and ultimately humiliated. They weren’t pretty thoughts and I wished I could ignore them – they were conjured up in my mind after all – but I couldn’t shake them.

“Let me find her well.

Please don’t take her from me.

I love her, I need her.

My dear Frankie”

I muttered words to myself, in an attempt to console myself.

“It’s not her, it’s not her. It’s nothing. Just the usual client got carried away, perhaps stole something. It’s not serious. It’s NOT Frankie.”

As hard as I tried though, I couldn’t convince myself it was all in my head; I needed to prove to myself that I was just imagining things.

I needed to see her.

I needed for her to be fine and to tell me “everything is okay”

“God, whoever, whatever you are, if you are out there, hear my prayer”

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Our rooms