Chapter 24
by 
Dissonant Soundtrack
What's next?
You Have 1 Appointment Reminder(s)
Ruby
After releasing the girls to plan and strategize for the next challenge, Ruby and Al made their way back to the private hosts’ area to take a break before it began. Ruby sat at the table outside her trailer, pretending to review a Producers’ report of their early episode ratings, while keeping a wary eye on Al. He lay in a lawn chair, so still that she wondered if he had fallen asleep. Or died if I'm lucky. Sadly, he resumed puffing on his cigar and killed Ruby's dream. Contented that he wasn’t paying her any attention, she gave Al the slip and headed off on her own. Missing the chance to gloat again was a painful price to pay, but there were bigger fish to fry at the moment. Ruby strode with purpose through the hotel’s restaurant and into the kitchen, causing the chefs to jump clear of her as she passed. In the back, next to the walk-in freezer, was a simple door marked “Staff Only.” Ruby knew it would not open for anyone but the Hotel Staff, not even Ruby and Al, without the proper 'key.'
Ruby extended her index and middle fingers and placed them on the sign. Then, using both hands, she drew an intricate symbol upon the door’s face. Her fingers left a trail of light as they dragged across the simple wood surface. Upon completion, the knob turned of its own accord and the door popped open.
Behind the Staff Doors lay The Crossroads, the perilous, ever-changing, ever-evolving bridges that spanned the void between Harem Hotel sets. And really, no one at Ruby’s level was sure what else they reached, in this world, the "real" world, or anywhere else. To Ruby’s eyes, the hallway behind looked like a grand interior promenade worthy of Versailles, but she knew deep down that was just the illusion it took for her. For the Staff? She had no interest in knowing what they saw.
Twenty-five steps.
She only possessed a share of the host power, but it was helping to anchor her in this semi-reality. The place did not respect any laws of physics that Ruby had ever learned. Being here was playing absolute hell with her inner ear, causing her to have the sensations of falling and twirling even as she stood still. Ruby counted her paces very precisely, to give her something to focus upon and to avoid the very real risk that she could become permanently disoriented and lost.
Turn left.
Ruby turned towards what had been a blank wall on her approach. As soon as it passed from her peripheral vision, turning back revealed a door that had not been there before. Ruby passed through that door into another hallway, this one taking the form of the arched stone style of Roman antiquity.
Don’t get distracted. Three steps. Turn around.
Ruby turned on the spot and passed through the same door she had just entered. Instead of returning to the previous hallway, she emerged on the roof of a building in the hotel’s replica of Hong Kong. The height gave her vertigo, compounding her already unsettled feelings. She crossed the roof to another door, then followed her directions down three flights of stairs. At the landing, she opened and closed the door twice before entering on the third. This is so tedious, but I can’t deviate from these instructions in the least.
Ruby’s destination was what appeared to be a semi-darkened employee break room from a suburban midwestern insurance office. Even if the cameras could follow into The Crossroads, they wouldn’t dream of shooting in here - too boring by a mile.
“I’m here.” She spoke into the darkness.
A figure emerged from the shadows in the corner of the room, stepping into the light of the single illuminated bulb.
“Finally. I think it is about time we re-evaluated the terms of our deal.” said Vivian.
Vivian - San Francisco
Three weeks before the premiere
It does not matter how high you rise in business or politics, there is always one Master you will never escape. Never supplant. One which will control you like a marionette every single day, dragging you wherever it commands.
And that is the almighty Outlook Calendar.
Vivian sat in her office, currently unable to enjoy the sweeping harbor view out her window because her cruel Master had chopped up her day into 15 minute, color-coded chunks that stretched from 7AM (early enough to catch the East Coast morning meetings) to 7PM (late enough to get in a few solid calls with Tokyo). Vivian scrolled the bar over to see her days blocked out like that as far as she cared to look. Just leaves enough time to pour caffeine down my throat and a few minutes to burn it off on a spin bike so I can sleep. If I can sleep.
Bringing over Axiomatic’s clients had been the coup she needed to get in the door here, but Solar Flare was very much a “What have you done for me lately?” company in a “And what was your name again?” kind of town. I need another win. Another big win. That created a big problem. Small problems have solutions. Big problems cause paralysis. Break your big problems into small problems and then attack.
She needed to be out in front on something, no more chasing and eating the carcass like a jackal. She needed to be a lioness. Of course, Vivian knew that hyenas did the killing and lions did the scavenging, but she chose to follow her metaphor regardless.
After she’d run through her usual stand-ups and budget calls, in ten minutes she’d have her big meal: A nice blocked-out hour to pitch Representative Lane of North Carolina. She is on track for the Appropriations Committee in less than a year’s time, and I want to be first in her ear before that happens. Catch the star as it's rising. By the time she’s in a position to propose an acquisition for the modernization projects she’s been hyping, I’ll have her all to myself. Vivian had spent days weighing the sorts of concessions she could offer: opening an office in Lane’s district, a nice check to a Super PAC, the usual. No idea what she’d go for, so Vivian had to be prepared to offer anything and she organized her notes across her desk in preparation.
To Vivian’s horror, she watched the appointment disappeared from the calendar as her assistant manipulated it remotely. Followed by each remaining appointment for the day, nuked one-by-one, and replaced with a huge, hours-long block simply marked “Ruby.” Vivian pulled open her Slack.
VivianK: What happened to my afternoon? Where is the call with Rep. Lane?
HunterR: I cleared it to block off time for Ruby.
VivianK: I can see that, but why?! Why!? I’ve never even heard of ‘Ruby!’ It took months to get that time with Lane! Call them back and get back on her schedule now!
HunterR: Sorry, Ma’am but I released that meeting an hour ago. I had another project to finish before I could update you. I could call back but by now it’s almost certainly been taken.
Vivian was livid and could barely keep herself from firing this jamoke. Good help was hard enough to find without a reputation as a butcher. Hers was still recovering from bringing her clients from Axiomatic, so she gritted her teeth and continued. It’s lucky he’s working from home. But maybe this wasn’t a complete goatfuck. Maybe it was another opportunity?
VivianK: Ok, then can you at least update me about Ruby. Market cap? Sector? Financing? How many reps am I meeting?
HunterR: It’s just one person, as far as I can tell.
Vivan made a hand-gesture as if **** in the air in front of her. For one person. ONE PERSON. She had better be heiress to a family fortune. A large family fortune. One that makes the Waltons look like hicks.
VivianK: Can you please explain why you canceled half a day’s worth of meetings, including one we chased since January, to block me off for one person?
HunterR: It seemed important. She made it clear that she needed all that time.
VivianK: Needed all that time for what?
HunterR: She didn’t say. But it sounded important.
How could it sound important if she didn’t say what it was?! She closed her computer before typing something she’d regret. Checking the time, she stepped into her adjacent private washroom to pull herself together. Everything was in the proper place. She’d picked a white skirt suit, worn over a black blouse with no accessories and her makeup was a little muted. But of course, she had picked the ensemble for a video call with a politician, and they sometimes found it off-putting to show up looking flashy. But potential clients were different. You've got to look successful to be successful. She had a small cabinet in her washroom with a few accessories for situations like this, and chose a pair of understated pearl earrings and a matching necklace. Enough to look expensive without trying to look expensive. Vivian shook out her hair a little bit, making sure it fell just right. If she was going into this meeting blind for data, at least she could dazzle them with style. She grabbed a small clutch, no time to prepare a presentation so no need for materials or a computer.
According to the invite, Vivian was meant to meet Ruby in the lobby, but when she got there the security guards directed her to a limo waiting in the clearly delineated No Stopping zone.
What kind of juice does this lady have? Vivian briefly wondered if she should call down the CEO, that she might be offended to speak to a VP only. No. She decided. This is my deal. The limo’s rear door opened on its own as Vivian approached, but no one stepped out to greet her. Here’s hoping this is my ride.
Inside, Vivian found a stunning redhead wearing a black evening dress even though it was lunchtime. Maybe she’s going directly to an event after our meeting?
“Good morning, Vivian Knight. Pleasure to meet you.” She extended her hand, and the woman shook it with a friendly but somewhat formal air.
“The pleasure is mine. Ruby.” She gestured for Vivian to sit in the back. The door swung closed and the limo pulled away from the curb into the city traffic.
“Ruby…?”
“Ruby.” Curious. She won’t even give her name? It was pretty unusual to hold this meeting in a car, typically Vivian would make small talk and wait until they were seated at the destination office or restaurant before opening her pitch. But since Ruby didn’t seem typical, she dove right in.
“My apologies, my assistant only informed me about this meeting a few minutes ago so I have nothing specifically prepared for you. But naturally I can speak to Solar Flare’s full range of offerings. How did you hear about us?”
“I have no need for anything you sell.” Ruby smiled, “In fact, I’m here for you.”
“For me?”
“Yes, Vivian. My organization is going to have need of you in short order.” There’s that reputation again. Once you get a reputation as a mercenary, everyone thinks you’re always for sale. Vivian suspected she knew where this was going. She was very, very wrong. “Vivian, I’m here to show you what we have to offer.”
“With all due respect, Ruby, this feels like a trap. And a particularly amateurish one. If you were truly trying to headhunt me away, you should never have claimed so much of my time and made a paper trail. Even if I was going to accept an offer to leave Solar Flare - and I am not saying that -” Vivian suspected this conversation might be recorded, and walked it back immediately, “then they will definitely notice and move to lock up their people.”
This did not phase Ruby. “I’m sure you are correct, but that is irrelevant. This is about you, and you alone, Vivian.”
“I have no shortage of faith in my abilities, but what kind of offer can you make me if I come without my clients?”
“Possibly the most important offer you’ve ever received.” The car went dark briefly as it entered a tunnel, the interior lights came up automatically and gave Ruby’s pale skin an almost spectral appearance. “What is it that you want?”
“In what area? Salary? Stock? Perks?”
“In life, Vivian. What is it that you want from life?”
“That’s an unusually deep question for these sorts of meetings.”
“You’ll find it's the only question that matters. And while I can’t supply you the answer, I can help you achieve it. But, while you consider the deep mystery of life, let me ask another, simpler one: What are your feelings about Michael Clark?”
That’s a name I did not want to hear. Vivian briefly entertained the concern that this was some kind of mob hit, but that was so far beyond Michael that she dismissed it. If he had the balls for that, I wouldn’t have left.
“He’s a fine businessman, but we did not see eye-to-eye on strategy.”
“Very diplomatic. But those are not your true feelings, are they?”
“And how would you know my true feelings?”
“We know a lot of things about you. Wealthy family, extremely comfortable upbringing. Graduated from Duke, landed six million in sales in your first two years in the industry. Joined Michael’s firm in 2015, gutted it in 2020.”
“That’s all on my LinkedIn. Big deal.”
“That’s not all. We know you take approximately two or three lovers a year, none of them lasting more than a few weeks until your schedule makes them a burden. We know you keep a Hitachi magic wand in your bedside drawer, and you actually use it more for back massages than the true reason you bought it. We know you still look up your college ex and look at the pictures of his new wife and his three-bedroom ranch in Columbus.” Ruby looked thoughtful for a moment. “In fact, we know the last time you did use that wand, you were thinking about both of them.”
How…? Vivian was able to keep her composure. Barely. Can’t let her put me off-balance.
“That’s rather crude of you, and fabricated.”
“We both know I didn’t fabricate any of that.” Just as Ruby said it, the limo emerged from the tunnel and Vivian shuffled to the door.
“I’m conceding nothing, and this is becoming a waste of my time. Pull this car over.” It was only then that Vivian looked out the window and noticed that she had somehow misplaced the San Francisco waterfront. Sailing past the window was a distinctively European skyline.
“We certainly can stop, but the next flight back to the United States isn’t for six hours. You may as well hear me out.” Filling Vivian’s silence, Ruby answered the questions in her head. “We’re in Monaco. We are meeting an old friend of mine. Check your phone if you don’t believe me.”
Sure enough, her GPS app pinged her right along the Mediterranean. Any hope of keeping her balance was immediately lost, keeping her eyes fixed to her phone was all Vivian could do to keep a look of fear and shock from her face. She accomplished it with great difficulty, or at least thought she did. Ruby’s smirk suggested Vivian was not so successful. Vivian weighed her next move, but before she could settle on one, the limo smoothly pulled into the valet queue outside a luxury marina. When the attendant opened her door and offered her hand, she took it. When Ruby led her through the gate and down to the largest slip at the end of the docks, she followed along. Anyone with this kind of power is worth hearing out. Or at least not pissing off.
Ruby led her up a gangway to a yacht large enough to look as thought it belonged to the Navy. On deck, Ruby was greeted by an absolutely striking olive-skinned brunette, with wide hips and large firm breasts. Vivian would not ordinarily have fixated on those details, but the woman’s sole concession to modesty was an extremely tiny g-string bottom that barely covered her pussy. She was already a tall woman, approaching 6 feet, to which she had added high heels that made her a head taller than either Ruby or Vivian. Vivian had worn flats that day, not expecting to meet anyone in person, and regretted that choice as the nearly nude woman towered over her.
“Ruuuuuby!” She said in an Egyptian accent, bending down as she did so that the two could kiss each other’s cheeks in the European fashion. She turned to do the same to Vivian, who tried to demur but she would not have it. “I insist,” she rejected Vivian’s offered handshake and planted a friendly kiss on her cheeks as well.
“Vivian, I’d like you to meet Hannuma.”
“Charmed.” Vivian pulled a tissue from her clutch and wiped at the lipstick left on her face. Hannuma didn’t notice, she and Ruby were again embracing. The latter showed not the slightest discomfort over the taller woman’s state of undress.
“Your friend looks uneasy.” Hannuma noted to Ruby.
“She’s come a long way for this meeting. From San Francisco. And she’s not so used to your style.”
“I thought San Francisco was a rather libertine place.” Hannuma looked at Vivian questioningly.
“I’m not a prude, but we still believe in clothes.” Vivian said with a surprising note of defensiveness. But Hannuma did not seem to care, she returned her attention to Ruby and the two continued walking aftward, leaving Vivian to chase. “Excuse me,” she hurried forward to tap Ruby on the shoulder, “I think you two can catch up later, but can we get to the point now?”
Hannuma led them to the aft rail and left Ruby and Vivian leaning on it. Hannuma did not seem the slightest bit concerned that the passing yachts could see her in all her glory. She opened a nearby cabinet, then poured and presented each with a glass of wine.
“It’s barely lunchtime.” Vivian protested.
“Not here.” Hannuma said. “You’ll want it in a minute.”
“Possibly.” Ruby conceded.
What kind of offer are they here to make me?
“Vivian, I know this seems overly dramatic, but the truth is dramatic sometimes. You’ve been selected to compete on Harem Hotel. It’s a reality show where you and six other women will compete for favored positions in a man’s harem. You earn points from winning challenges, impressing the audience, or performing sex acts with that season’s Master. Oftentimes, those three are the same thing.”
To her credit, Vivian didn’t scream, run, jump overboard, or throw the drink in Ruby’s face, though all four felt appropriate. Gather more information. There will always be time to panic later.
“I have no interest in that show, how do I decline?”
“You cannot, you’ve been selected.” Ruby said it as if that should have been obvious.
“Who are you people? How is that legal?”
“It isn’t.” Again with Ruby’s tone. She skimmed right over Vivian’s first question. “It’s not an easy thing to explain, but it’s enough to say it is beyond the reach of your laws.”
“I take it from your earlier question that Michael is the Master? And he’s onboard with this?”
“He has no idea this is coming. In fact, you’re the only one who does.”
“So why don’t I just call him right now?”
“Feel free to try. Assuming he’d even take your call, which we both know is unlikely, what would you even say? ‘Michael, seven women are about to become your concubines, isn’t that awful? Oh, and also I’m calling you from Monaco, where I drove on my lunch hour.’” Ruby and Hannuma cackled at the shared joke. Vivian did not join them. “If you do call him, I want to hear your explanation. But no matter, if you don’t take my offer or try to warn anyone else, we’ll just wipe your memories and it will be just as big a shock as it would have been yesterday.”
That time to panic seems to be approaching. Push through, Vivian.
“You’ve mentioned an offer, but you haven’t set any terms. All you have said is that I’m going to be Michael’s sex ****, and I’m having a hard time imagining how those scales balance.” Just the thought of being “owned” is making my skin crawl, and for it to be Michael...
Ruby gestured for Hannuma to take the reins of the conversation.
“I was a contestant once myself,” Hannuma said, “I lived in Cairo, I was barely a day over 19 when I was on the show. Apparently I caught the eye of a bus driver on my regular route to work, and that was enough to get me selected when it was his turn to be Master. Ruby wasn’t the host then, just an assistant, but once I knew what the winners could receive, I chased it with everything.”
“And that is?”
“Anything. A wish for your heart’s desire.” Hannuma said. ‘What is it that you want from life?’ Vivian remembered Ruby asking. “I tried everything I had to do to win.”
“You slept with him, just to win this game?”
“I still do. All of us in his harem can sense him. We know where he is, and we know when he will want us.” Hannuma closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, as if listening to a sound no one else could hear. “Yes, he is in Paris. He will need me in two days. He…calls to us. The call brings us to him before he is even aware he sends it, so that we are present when his desire arrives.”
You can't even run?! The idea of wearing an invisible leash for Michael appalled Vivian.
“Why didn’t you just wish to be free? Or at least for some clothes?” Hannuma’s eyes narrowed, apparently Vivian had touched a nerve jabbing at her the second time.
“Easy, Hannuma.” Ruby put her hand on the woman’s shoulder and Hannuma backed down. “That’s the other side of Harem Hotel, Vivian. We make certain…changes to our contestants - makes them more appealing to the Master or the audience. Hannuma feels fabric on her skin like sandpaper. She’s only wearing - that - because I asked her to.” Ruby gestured to the tiny panties. “And the wish has its limits. Even if you win, you still join the Master’s harem.”
Hannuma looked as though she was going to resume, but Ruby continued right over her. “Hannuma was a strong competitor and had a real chance for the wish, but she started from a very different place than you will. Hannuma’s Master pined for her every day before he even knew her name. Your Master, put flatly, thinks you belong in prison.” This gets even better.
“It sounds like I’m destined for prison anyway, only with Michael as the jailor. According to you, I can’t refuse this show and I can’t even escape becoming Michael’s **** even if I win. What good is this offer that you’ve yet to explain?”
“It’s the best you’ll ever get,” Hannuma reclaimed the conversation, opening the sliding glass door into the cabin and beckoning them to follow. That's the second time someone's told me that. Inside, Hannuma led them upstairs to the captain’s quarters where another nude woman, this one blonde and heavily tattooed, stood against a support pole with her arms and legs bound to it. A pair of panties had been shoved into her mouth as a gag and haphazardly taped in place. The woman thrashed against her bonds and pleaded with her eyes for someone to cut her free, but neither Ruby nor Hannuma seemed inclined to and Vivian was not putting herself out for this pathetic **** girl.
“Take a look, Vivian,” Hannuma said. “Here’s your winner. Just a girl who wanted to see the world. This is her ship, actually. It’s part of her wish to never be stuck in a single town again. One must be careful with their wishes,” Hannuma laughed and wagged her finger at the ****. “Of course they gave you a ship after you won a season set on a ship, a final and brutal irony. If you’d said you never wanted to be tied down, my little trick might not have worked. The ropes would have loosened themselves.”
“What is wrong with her? She looks deranged.” Vivian asked, taken aback by the ****'s furious struggling. It was only after she spoke that she realized the question could have applied to either Domme or Sub.
“She felt the call days ago. But I did not allow her to leave. The need to return to Master is driving her mad.”
“You are denying your Master?” Ruby was incredulous, “Won’t he punish you?”
“Oh yes, severely…” Hannuma slowly licked her lips. “It will be delicious… But that’s not the reason I brought you in here. She-” Hannuma paused to viciously smack the woman’s backside, “-played the game perfectly and won, the little bitch. But she still has to live with us. And when Master is away…”
“So I’m screwed either way?” Vivian threw up her hands, “If I lose, I’m Michael’s **** and even if I win I’m everyone else’s?”
“What if there was a third option?” Ruby said. This woman had presented Vivian with nothing but bad news since they met, but a potential escape clause… Vivian was listening now. “The rules are pretty ironclad. Every contestant joins the Master’s harem at the end of the show. All the challenges do is determine where you rank in your new world order.”
“I’m waiting for the ‘But.’”
Ruby gave her viper smile one more time… “But you’re not eligible if you work for the Hotel directly. You wanted the terms of the offer? Here they are. This season is going to have teams, and I need someone as my eyes-and-ears on the other one. Maybe something more, if it comes to that. And in return? You know when the show starts so that you can prepare, I’ll make sure you know what challenges are coming, and I’ll do what I can to minimize the changes you receive. You do what you need to do to make sure one of my team wins, and I’ll do what I need to do to ensure there’s an Assistant’s role waiting for you. Win-win. If you take the deal.”
So it was a headhunting visit after all.
Several hours later, Vivian sat on a small bench under her apartment window, watching the spring rain spatter against the pane. After being dropped off at her building, she’d taken the rest of the day off and spent the afternoon researching “Harem Hotel” on her own. Only to find… absolutely nothing. Paradoxically, that’s what settled her final doubts about the situation. If they were some kind of scam, they would have definitely left some kind of presence for her to find in order to convince her. But, nothing? That all but proved it was real.
Vivian had belatedly taken Hannuma’s advice and a discarded wine bottle sat on the floor next to her, one she had finished all by herself. She’d been saving that bottle for a special occasion, perhaps her next big sale or her next big move. Ironically, a marriage proposal had been too remote for Vivian to consider it a possibility, but that was essentially what she received.
I’m going to be kidnapped. I’m going to be on a reality show. I’m going to sleep with Michael Clark. None of those held any appeal, but it was clear that in three weeks, that was to be her fate. And so, facing down a problem that big - bigger than she’d ever tackled - she started doing what she always did: breaking it into small chunks.
Should I go on a diet? The camera adds weight. What would I even wear for something like this? My closet is all business wear. Maybe I should look Michael up on Facebook, get some clues what he’s into these days.
She wrestled with all of those questions, but the first step was always the same.
Vivian put it into her Outlook Calendar.