The next day happened as normal. Serina did not bring up her evening conversation with Pierre. She woke up, and was immediately escorted to the pool. After her swimming practice, she was given a shower and then sat down at the dining table for breakfast. The chefs served omelets and sliced avocados. Her tutors taught her business calculus, economics, Napoleonic wars, and classical literature. Soon it was time for her exercise block. 90 minutes later, she emerged from the gym dripping in sweat. Again, she quickly showered off and sat down for lunch. Much to Pierre’s surprise, Serina did not bring up their discussion as Pierre invited her to. Serina spent her free time after lunch playing table-tennis against a machine and then she read a newspaper that a tutor had curated for her.
Serina sits on the balcony outside her room, even though it is a bit early for the sunset.
“May I join you, milady?” Pierre knocks on the wall behind Serina as he peers around the corner. “Of course, Pierre.”
After a long silence, Serina finally starts. “Would it be possible for me to see the city a bit?” Pierre is taken aback. “Serina, you have one of the best houses in Metropolis. You have everything you could ever want here within walking distance. In fact, if you so desire, you wouldn’t even have to walk!”
Serina grimaces. She expected this. “But I can’t remember ever leaving the tower. Could I, just once, see what the city is like? Arlington is the richest city in the world, but I have never seen what it has to offer outside of these walls.” Secretly, Serina had no interest in the riches of Arlington. She was captivated by the strange men in old trucks, and this idea of poverty. Her inquisitive mind wanted to learn as much as it could, and she had just learned of a new topic that she just had to explore further.
“I suppose we could get a chauffeur to take you around the city. I’ll see what I can do. I’ll let you know tomorrow at your midday meal if I manage to hire someone on such short notice, especially as tomorrow is a municipal holiday. We’ll leave after your meal. Bath time?”
Serina grinned. “Thanks, Pierre!” She jumped up in excitement and Pierre stood up as well and called for Molly.
At lunch the next day, Pierre confirmed the good news. “A man by name of Mr. Rolet will gladly escort you around the central area. However, I have given him strict rules. He is not to leave the Metropolis, nor is he to let you outside the vehicle at any time. If you desire anything within reason, Mr. Rolet will get it for you. He will arrive at 3:30 in a black colored 2034 Alset Type 3 SUV. Unfortunately, something came up and I will not be able to accompany you. The door and roof panels are monochromatic glass, so you will be able to make it transparent at any time if you wish for a better view by simply swiping on the respective panel. Don’t get into any trouble, alright?” Serina nods eagerly. “Yes, of course, Pierre!”
Pierre hands her a ring. “Your father is 10 time zones away, so he called in the middle of the night, not realizing you were asleep. He told me to give you this ring. He says it is of the finest of one of his friend’s seasonal fashion lines.” Serina’s father is, in fact, 10 time zones away. However, he did not call, and certainly not over an item so trivial as a gift. It would have been such a surprise if he did, as he only does so to tell the steward that his trip had been extended or to send the helicopter to the airport to pick him up. Pierre hopes that his little white lie can be forgiven; he knows the consequences for losing Serina would be exponentially greater. Unknown to Serina, a pinhole camera and tracker with accuracy to down to a square meter is embedded into the ring. “Molly will accompany you down the private elevator and to the vehicle once Mr. Rolet arrives.” A page for Pierre comes over the intercom. “That’s me. I’d better go.” They exchange a quick hug and Pierre jogs up the stairs.
Serina watches through an open window as Pierre waves from a helicopter. The sound of the blades is almost as loud as Serina’s heartbeat. I finally get to see the outside!! She steps back from the window and twirls around on her toe, her brown hair whipping around behind her. Serina then somersaults a couple meters, then continues spinning. She whirls and dances all the way to the hall, where she finally collapses into a couch.
Out of breath, Serina looks down at her hand, still holding the ring. She rolls the ring around on her bare thigh. The cool, unnatural metal on her exposed skin makes her shiver. She is surprised that her father thought of her. Her father rarely talks to her when he’s in the same building, let alone on the other side of the world. Serina cautiously picks up the ring and slides it down her finger. It’s a rather plain, small, silver ring, but is engraved with swirls of a lighter silver.
Serina looks around for a clock. It’s 1:04. She’s eager to leave. Until now, she hadn’t realized how much of the same thing her life had been. Wake up, swim, shower, eat, school, run, eat, more school, wind down for bed, only to do it all again. Her excitement overpowers everything else she feels.
Serina jolts back to reality as a pair of warm hands squeeze her shoulders from behind with a short shriek. “Aah, Molly! You nearly gave me a heart attack!”
“My apologies.” Molly smiles, “but it’s time for your tour and I didn’t think you would want to miss that. Do you want to go get ready?” Serina’s face lights up with a thousand watts of energy. “I’ve been ready!” She jumps up and grabs Molly by the arm, dragging her on a fast jog across the open floor. Molly’s chest bounces as she struggles to keep up. While Serina jumps up and down while waiting for the elevator to arrive, Molly pants and sits down on the marble floor.
“My God, calm down Serina!” Serina bends down and kneels in front of Molly. Molly takes her hand. “I understand Pierre has told you that you must follow certain rules. In addition to those rules, you must be back by 7:00, in time for a bath before your father arrives today. His flight lands at 8:00, and you must be back to eat dinner with him. The chauffeur will hold you to the timetable, do you understand?” Serina squeezes her hand and replies “Yes, Molly.” They rise and embrace, just as the elevator dings. Molly realizes that Serina is wearing the ring. “Your wearing the ring means a lot to your father. Do keep it safe.” Serina nods and steps into the elevator, and Molly follows.
At the bottom, they step outside. The wind snaps at Serina’s skin, throwing her hair to the side. Serina is shocked, as she has never felt the wind before, except on the roof. But that wind is unnatural and loud. This wind is peaceful. She takes in a breath of nature. Strange smells and sounds surround her: leaking gasoline, fresh lilacs, electric hums, and chirping birds. What a strange mix of nature and industry. She stares up at the sky and spreads her arms wide to feel all the air. The weathered concrete footpath is strangely rough, but satisfyingly warm. The sun is so bright! Compared to any LED ever developed, nothing matches the brightness of the sun. Oh, and the way it glints off every building and bench! Serina takes in all the beauty of the Metropolis from ground level.
Meanwhile, the chauffeur, Mr. Rolet, is taking something else in. His brain turns to fuzz as a beautiful naked woman walks out in front of him, completely unfazed by her lack of clothing. Mr. Rolet avidly studies her features from the legs up. His eyes rest below her stomach for a second, before moving up her concave stomach and then staring directly at her breasts.
“Hello Mr. Rolet!” Serina sees Mr. Rolet staring at her and presumes that he wishes to talk. “Oh, uh, hello. Hello Miss. I will need to search on your person for contraband before you enter my vehicle. You understand, of course. Uh, security reasons.” Serina naively agrees. “Yes, of course.” His hungry hands start under her arms, and then move to her breasts. He spends an unusually long time under her modest breasts, “ensuring that there are no hidden substances.” He then slides his hands up and down her stomach and lower back. “Please take a wider stance, miss.” Serina does so, while the chauffeur strokes between her legs and then her thigh. When he finishes, he pats her on her butt, and then pulls away, embarrassed.
Molly comes up behind Serina and Mr. Rolet’s eyes shift to take in all her curves before it’s too late. Noticing Mr. Rolet’s shaking hands and eyes glued to her D cups, Molly smirks and bends down to meet Mr. Rolet’s eyes, as they clearly won’t be rising to meet her own.
“I do think you should get going before it becomes dark. I would hate for a hindered view of my brea- sorry, the buildings. I promise, I will be waiting here for when you come back, Mr. Rolet.” She speaks loudly.
“Yes, yes of course. My apologies, ma’am. What is the name of my client?” The chauffeur turns a shade of red. “You will be driving Miss Serina around the Metropolis. I understand a man named Pierre has given you very specific instructions that are to be followed.” Molly stands up and steps closer to Mr. Rolet, until her breasts bump into Mr. Rolet, who then turns an even brighter red. Then, she leans in for a hug, and then pecks Mr. Rolet on the cheek. Before pulling away, she whispers to Mr. Rolet. Although she whispers quietly so that Serina would not hear, “soft” is not the right description; it is very much an aggressive whisper. “And given her attire, one more instruction: at no point will you take advantage of her innocence, understood?” Molly pinches a tender area of his skin between his ribs and twists it. Mr. Rolet jumps back in pain, too afraid to say anything. Instead, he cowers and nods. The woman in front of him, undressed as she may be, is suddenly no longer a bedroom fantasy, but more intimidating than his own mother scolding him.
Molly realizes this. She puts her arms at her hips and puffs out her chest to stand taller, and obviously to accentuate one of her traits. “And just for the fun of it, if she asks any questions about clothing, you will stop the car, exit the car, undress fully, including your underwear, leave them in a trashcan, and then continue driving without covering up with your hands or anything else. I will be asking Serina questions about how her trip went on her return. Maybe for some more fun, you’ll let Serina remove your clothes for you.” That last part was clearly not as much as a suggestion as the words themselves implied. She then raises her voice to speak to Serina, who is in awe of seeing flowers up close. “Serina, Mr. Rolet is ready for you. If you need anything at all, just ask him. Remember, both of you, back by 7.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some time later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At 6:58, a completely naked man stands in front of a tower talking cheerfully with a woman as a black Alset SUV turns the corner. The woman wears a mischievous grin on her face. A sheepish, middle-aged man, equally naked as the other man, opens the driver-side door and steps out, also as expected. “Stay here, Pierre.” Molly steps forwards and tries to change her grin to a polite one.
“Hello Mr. Rolet, I trust your tour went well?” She gives the now naked chauffeur a complete skin-on-skin hug, reveling in his bare-assed embarrassment. She then lowers her voice as she spoke to him earlier that day. “Now open the door, help Serina out, and give her a hug just like this one.”
Mr. Rolet builds up the courage to say something that will very surely get him killed, slowly and painfully. “I might have… lost Serina?” Molly’s face stares up at Mr. Rolet, and then drives her knee up his crotch. Mr. Rolet collapses onto Molly, who still holds him up as if nothing had happened.
Pierre, still unaware of the quiet conversation, winces and bends over, as if he could feel the pain in his own body. Pierre is aware that Molly is one of the few staff members that uses the gym, other than Serina’s personal trainer. However, instead of focusing on the treadmill and pool, Molly is often found with weights and strength-training machines. He knows that earlier in her life, Molly had served in the military. In international training exercises, she had taken down Indian MARCOS, British SAS, and US SEALs. She had experience fighting elite commandos from all over the world and could easily destroy the security forces of anyone in Arlington in just her skin.
Molly whispers angrily to Mr. Rolet, “If I wanted to, I could kill you right here with an elbow to collapse your lungs. Or I could tie you to a treadmill at maximum speed. Or dangle you from a helicopter as we take a peaceful tour to the city. I could make your life heaven or hell, depending on if you’re lying or not. I usually don’t like liars, but I can make an exception this once. OPEN THE DOOR.” She screams the last part directly into his ear. Pierre, at grave risk to his own life, places his hand on Molly’s shoulder, and lightly pulls her back. Thankfully, Pierre remains uninjured. Unfortunately, Molly crushes Mr. Rolet’s foot, so the same can’t be said for him. Mr. Rolet limps back to the car and opens the door. Pierre gasps, while Molly pulls away from Pierre and puts a fist to the poor chauffeur’s stomach, who falls backwards into the empty row of seats. “YOU SNAKE! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER? WHERE IS SHE?”
“Please, leave me!” Molly pulls him up by his arms and yells at Pierre to lift his legs and move him into the elevator. Molly plants her heel into the car door, giving it a new dent to always remember her by. “Please, believe me! It wasn’t my fault! I tried to stop her!” That went about as well as I expected, he thought to himself.
To be continued…