I was used to long days of hard work, bent over my weaving loom or watching Master Bakhtin give a lesson about a new technique, so I was used to a stiff neck. What I wasn’t used to were the long hours of silence, since Bakhtin’s studio was always filled with idle chit chat from the other apprentices, and then I would speak with Papa if he wasn’t too busy to take my call.
Kon had nothing more to say, only looked at me as if deciding whether to believe me or not, and that afternoon, a massage therapist showed up to give me a full rubdown.
I wanted to take the high road and pretend I didn’t need or want the amazing deep tissue massage, but I was hungry for human contact. It was clear right away that she was on call to the Fokin family and wouldn’t be any help to me at all, but she had some interesting gossip about some of her celebrity clients. I didn’t know who they were, but it was nice to have company.
That night, Kon looked at me for a bit longer than usual, and I decided bitterly that he might be waiting for me to thank him. So I didn’t, and made a point to rub my shoulderostentatiously as if the massage hadn’t worked at all as I stomped back to my room.
It was dumb because it turned out he was actually home for dinner that night, and I might have been able to squeeze some information out of him. But he would have more likely tried to put the squeeze on me, so I stayed in my room, finally begrudgingly uttering a word of thanks when he brought me a tray.
The next morning, a different woman showed up to give me both a manicure and a pedicure, and when she left, I joked around with the guard who let her out. “Best prison ever, right?”
That particular guard didn’t have an ounce of humor in him and only nodded tersely before going back to his post.
So I was being spoiled, but why? Was there some nefarious reason like trying to get me on Kon’s side so I’d spill my guts about everything he thought I knew? As I looked at my pretty, pale beige nails, I felt like a traitor to Papa for accepting the pampering treatments. That night, Kon didn’t come back to the apartment at all, and I ate the lavish meal the cook left behind by myself, feeling more alone than I ever had in my life.
All because of Kon. I might have had the answers I needed if he had never interfered. Or I might be dead. Whether he saved me or not, he wasn’t helping me at all by keeping me here, out of the loop, unable to do anything except be treated like a princess.
That morning, I woke up late, which was unusual for me since I kept a strict schedule at home, even when I didn’t go to the studio. It hardly seemed necessary now that I passed the days doing nothing worthwhile, and I was in a foul mood when I finally got up and put on one of the few outfits I’d brought with me from home.
I had packed light because I didn’t expect to be here in LA for long. It seemed foolish now to think I would have asked Riku my questions, been given answers, found Papa, and been home by now. But maybe I would have been. Thanks to Kon, I’d never know.
My mood got worse when two women were ushered in after I ate my breakfast, which should have been lunch given the late hour. If Kon had been there, he’d have smirked at my laziness for sure, and then I could have let him have it.
The guard followed the women with a rolling rack covered by a cloth, and one of the women hurried over to me, telling me she was ready for fittings whenever I was.
“Fittings for what?” I asked, as her assistant whipped the cover off to reveal dozens of outfits.
Everything from jeans and t-shirts to evening gowns was on display, carefully swathed in thin, protective plastic. The guard returned, staggering under a stack of shoeboxes that teetered as he put them down.
“Your new wardrobe, of course,” the first woman said, tucking her ink-black hair behind her ear and adjusting her glasses as she tried not to show disdain for my leggings and baggy sweater.
The assistant whipped one of the plastic coverings off a breathtaking sequined gown and held it up for me. Where the hell was I supposed to wear something like that? Was Kon trying to be generous and pamper me with this ostentatious array of expensive outfits, or did he disapprove of my current clothing?
Either way, it ignited my bad mood into an inferno of anger. “Get out,” I said, feeling not an iota of remorse for my rudeness. “I don’t need or want any of it.”
They both gasped and whispered to themselves for a moment, looking shocked and somewhat frightened. “I’ll let him know you tried your best,” I snapped. “But please, just go.”
After a few more seconds of muttering, they left, but the rack of clothes remained. Apparently, they must have been given strict orders by my prison warden to make sure I accepted the gift. Or bribe. Or just something to make me feel small.
I shoved the rack into the other spare bedroom and slammed it in, holding back from touching a particularly beautiful dress in a stunning, handwoven design. It only made me angrier that Kon knew just what I would like.
When he returned that night, I finally had it out with him. “What the hell are you doing?” I asked.
He looked me up and down, frowning to see I wasn’t wearing anything new. “You can see what I’m doing. Trying to get something to eat for the first time today.”
He was obviously exhausted, and I almost felt ungrateful, but I never asked to be there. I didn’t want anything from him except information and help.
“I’m talking about the massage, the manicure, and now a bunch of clothes that cost enough to feed a family for a year.”
“Oh, much more than that,” he said, swerving from his path to the kitchen to the bar in the living area. “I actually think I need a drink.”
“Good, pour one for me, too.”
He complied, but didn’t take his shot of vodka or hand me mine. “What is it you want, Tati, since you’re clearly unhappy with everything I’ve tried?”
The tiredness in his eyes made me pause. What if I was wrong and his only motive was to try to make me comfortable, and I was acting like a brat? Papa would have been ashamed.
Then again, Papa would have beat the shit out of anyone who imprisoned me like this, no matter what spa treatments were included.