&n
bsp; Jordan first took all of PJ’s makeup off and I saw that she looked plenty young enough to pretend to be a virgin. There was no way Stephano would even question it. Her flawless skin and dainty figure was going to fit right in with the girls who he normally had sent to him.
PJ was short, probably only 5’5”, and she was very thin. Her frame was very muscular, though, and that was going to be hard to hide. We would have to put her in a long sleeved shirt or something to hide the definition in her arms.
“He’ll have more girls there, but I’m not sure how many. It just depends on if he’s had some new arrivals in or not and if he’s breaking them in himself or not.”
I felt Jordan’s body tense up when I started to talk about the grooming process that Stephano put the girls through. Unfortunately, it was really important for PJ to understand as much as possible about Stephano before she put herself at risk, so I couldn’t stop talking to her just because Jordan was going to be upset by what I said.
“Is he sleeping with them all? Beating them? Treating them well?”
“I’m not sure. At first, he seemed to be treating Ana really well. Except he had groomed her before he put her up on stage to dance. I think he likes Ana and wanted to keep her around, but after the buyer saw her, it was over and he stopped being nice to her.”
“Groomed?” Jordan asked as she sat down on the bed. “Do you think he’s forcing Ana to sleep with him?
I wasn’t someone who normally cared about other people's emotions. Most of my life, it had always been about me and what would make me feel better. But at that moment, I told a lie. A little white lie that would help put Jordan at ease.
“If he were trying to sell Ana for big money to an overseas buyer, he wouldn’t sleep with her. He’d make the buyer pay extra by telling him she was a virgin,” I said as I looked at PJ.
I could tell that PJ knew I was lying. We both knew very well that a guy like Stephano was probably sleeping with Ana and didn’t care at all how pure she was before he sold her. But of course, he would still tell the buyer that she was a virgin.
“Okay,” Jordan said as she appeared to accept my reasoning.
“Are you going to go over there today?” I asked.
“Probably first thing in the morning, maybe mid-afternoon. But I need some shading done to make me look gaunt and I’ll stay awake tonight and away from the shower, as well. Maybe even get a good workout in and stink a little,” PJ said as Jordan added shading around her jaw line and cheeks.
“Just make sure it doesn’t look like you have makeup on. Stephano is not forgiving if he thinks something is going on behind his back. But the good news is that you’re beautiful and that will distract him quite a bit.”
“Yeah, why are we doing your makeup tonight?” Jordan asked.
“Because I don’t want it to look fresh and like makeup. If we do the shading and stuff now, it will fade and look more natural by tomorrow.”
I found a seat near the bed and sat back and watched as Jordan worked on PJ. As the two women talked and joked, I felt extremely left out. Not that I wanted to talk and joke, but mainly because they seemed to be getting along so well.
My entire life I had avoided female relationships. Other women just weren’t something that I was good at. I did feel like Jordan and I had gotten along when we met, but not nearly as well as she was getting along with PJ. PJ seemed to actually enjoy being around other women and talking to us – there was no way I would ever be that kind of person. Not if I tried my very hardest could I actually like hanging around women.
There was always this feeling like other women were out to get me. I’m sure it had something to do with my mother or my childhood, but I had never thought about it hard enough to figure it out. All I knew was I had started to get very uncomfortable in the room with Jordan and PJ.
I didn’t know why I felt so uncomfortable. Both of them were really nice to me. They hadn’t done anything specific to make me feel like they were out to get me and I certainly didn’t feel threatened by them. Sure, PJ was beautiful, but she wasn’t the kind of woman a guy who liked me would go after.
PJ was athletic and muscular. She was petite and overly friendly. I found it hard to believe Jackson would like a girl like her, at all. Not if he liked me, and I really did feel that he liked me.
It seemed odd to me that Jackson liked me, even though I really did like him, as well. He was a pretty straight-laced guy with a military background and rich family. Having a girl like me around probably wasn’t something his family would be alright with. His parents were probably uptight and wanted all the Foster brothers to find rich, well-bred women. I wondered what they thought when Chase brought Jordan home.
Not that Jordan was anything bad. She was a really nice girl and obviously cared a lot for her friend. I just wondered what Chase’s family had said when he introduced them to her. I couldn’t help but wonder if they approved of his non-traditional approach to finding a wife.
Jackson had stood up for me when I had volunteered to go into Stephano’s house. I could tell by the tone of his voice that there was no way he was going to let me actually go and help get Ana. The problem with that was I already felt really useless and like I hadn’t earned a single penny of what Chase had promised me if I worked with Jackson to find Ana. Even if Chase decided to still pay me the money, I would always feel guilty because I hadn’t worked hard enough for it.
“Do you have any other questions for me, PJ? I’m exhausted and think I need to head to bed,” I said.
“No questions just yet. We can talk more in the morning. Sleep well.”
“Enjoy your night, ladies. It was nice seeing you again, Jordan,” I said as I stood in the doorway.
“You, too. Sleep well, Roxanne.”
I had had just about enough female bonding time to last me a lifetime. I felt like I was constantly going to say or do something wrong when I was around Jordan and PJ. It was totally on me and I knew it was my issue, but I just couldn’t stay in the room another minute longer. I needed to get to my room so I could relax.