He tests her boundaries

"Do you like it when I touch you?"

"No," Emma said. How could I have made such a big mistake?

"So, even if you don't like something, I can still do it," he said. He now groped both her breasts, and not with kindness. Emma struggled to maintain her composure through the discomfort.

More shoppers stopped to watch. Emma swallowed and closed her eyes.

She had expected this experience to be an empowering message to the world that people were good. Instead, she was being molested less than an hour into the ordeal.

Tommy pinched Emma's nipples tight between his fingers. She squealed and popped her eyes open, nearly pushed him away, stopped herself before she could.

"So, you won't resist either," he mused. "I wonder, do you have to follow my commands?"

Emma had known there was a chance one or two people would take advantage of her. Her patron did as well, so together, they had created safeguards to prevent Emma from exiting the cube and ruining the performance. The only exception was physical abuse to the point of permanent harm. However, she had never expected someone so calculating, so thorough. She felt the weight of such a poor decision like an anchor around her neck. "Yes."

He nodded. "Tell me what the sign meant about 'permanent harm'."

Emma considered the list of rules she'd agreed to follow to maintain the integrity of the performance. One rule was to answer all questions with absolute honesty. "It means you can't burn me, cut me, or break my bones."

Emma could see his breath quicken with terrifying excitement. "But anything else?"

"Yes," she breathed, so low she barely heard her own voice.