BACKSTAGE!
“Hey, b***h! Why didn’t you enter this cage till now? Do you want me to call the manager? The auction is about to start, get ready fast.” A thin and fair middle-aged woman in front of me trembled with her loud shout. Her sharp eyes were watching me for a while with some ferocious expressions. She lost her patience and started throwing tantrums at me. Her face was turned darker, shrieking at me again and again.
My heart was beating fast. I could not understand that my luck was bad or that it should really happen to me.
“Do you see how the rest of the girls are quietly doing what they should be doing? Why are you standing like such an effigy?” Her voice became terrible. “Get f*****g inside.”
Her face was so scary that she alone was enough to frighten all the girls. I looked around me, those girls were going quietly in that cage wearing small clothes. As if they are doing this willingly.
My widened eyes kept watching her face with no intention of obeying her at all. Obeying her means selling myself at this auction. This is what I never wanted. I didn't say anything. I was silently staring at that mesh cage and kept my hands on its lock, showing as if I was trying to open that cage for a while.
“This girl has kept me troubled for half an hour. Other girls will also bother me in the same way because of her behavior. It is necessary to teach this lesson.” She wrapped her hand around and shook her head.
Her wrinkled face was saying she must be around the age of forty or forty-five. But she looked more energetic than me. In the entire chaos of arranging girls in one line, she was making her efforts.
“I think you will not listen. Wait, I am calling the manager. Manager.. Manager..” She shouted again. This time she didn't keep standing but left the place. Maybe she wanted to bring the manager here.
My heart started throbbing. I swallowed the saliva in my throat. I was just praying I should run away from this crisis but I know I couldn’t. I was regretting my yesterday a lot. What have I done? Why did I get myself into this mess? I started sweating on my forehead.
A man in a formal black suit came and stood in front of me. He must be the manager of that place. There was a polite look on his face. I thought maybe this man could understand my point. He appeared to be educated and not as rude as that woman.
“What’s your problem? Why are you trying to make this event late? Do you know you have already signed a contract with us!” He took out some papers from his coat and pointed at my sign under the condition
“It is my fault, I signed this contract without reading it. I can't go in this cage. I am not a slave. All this is happening against my will.” I tried to tell him. His calm face suddenly became extremely rude, just like this woman. The girls around started staring at me as if I was bothering them a lot. Seeing me, she was making weird faces.
“Isn’t this your sign? Give the three million back we have paid you in advance. With breaching of this contract, it will be three and half million, pay it back to us..” The manager shouted in my face.
The ground slipped under my feet. I started looking at them with my big eyes. Three million? If I had really received so much money in advance, I would have thrown money at the loan shark's face.
“Three million in advance? I have not got it. When did you pay me?” That was another shock for me. The lady beside the manager yelled again in my face.
“This b***h is a liar. Let me call the police and they will surely take out money from her.” She took out her mobile phone to call the police. “ They also signed papers and took money from us. Now she neither wants to return the money nor does our work.”
I have already been in a lot of trouble for five years. I don’t know what kind of problem I need to face now. For now, I will have to accept this thing. I will tackle it later.
“I will go... I will go in the cage.” I told her. She smirked and shook her head.
I regretted trusting my friend. It was the biggest mistake of my life. I trusted my friend more than anything else. Obviously, I have no one else in this world whom I can share my problems with.
“You are kicked out of this café. We don't want such employees who cause trouble for our customers. This is your pending salary.” The cafe manager handed me my resignation letter and envelope. I kept looking at Mangar with weeping eyes. This was my fourth job from which I was fired. The reason was the loan sharks.
A few days before, the loan sharks followed me to my workplace. They have not only abused me but also created so much chaos that I lost my job. I was jobless after that. Yesterday, I saw my friend Lola at the door. There was a piece of paper in her hand.
“Amy, I heard you need money. This is a perfect job for you.” She always helped me with some money when I needed it. “This is a real estate job. If you succeed in convincing even one buyer, you will get good incentives. This way you will be able to pay off your loans in just a few years.” Her confidence surprised me. No wonder she always had enough money to help others.
To save me from the loan shark, I signed the contract she showed me. I blindly signed it as I was really in need of money.
But today, when I came to this place, I realized that this is not a real estate job but slave trading. I am going to sell it here just like any kind of object. Even if I run away, these people will chase me like a loan shark and three million is no small amount.
I went backstage and started getting inside. Suddenly, I heard a shouting and irritating sound in my ears again. This lady will really chase me like crazy.
“Hey, i***t. Do you really want to go like this?” She pointed at my dress and made an ugly face. This was one of the branded clothes left with me. I sold the rest of my clothes, keeping this one for any job-related occasions.
“Yes.. what’s the problem with that?” I asked her again. I was wearing a formal light blue blouse with a dark blue skirt. I thought this could be any professional job so I put up with it. I don’t want her to create new rules right here.
“You will give us a huge loss. Why is your fair body hiding behind these clothes? You wont get even thousands with this look?” She threw a bikini on my face. It was a yellow floral bikini with two strips.
“Wear this.” She shouted again. It felt like my ears were going to burst right now. I picked up the bikini that fell on the ground. My eyes widened to see it was just a few pieces of cloth. I remember those days.
“Amelia, you should not wear these clothes. It's not that expensive. You know your dad has bought the top for millions. They only made two such dresses in the world.” I cannot forget how my mom and dad always used to bring luxurious clothes for me.
I went to the changing room and changed my clothes. Even though I was brought up in a wealthy family, I was never materialistic. I used to prefer modest clothes rather than exotic and sexy clothes.
I was really ashamed of getting out of this room after wearing a bikini which had just two yellow cups with two strips.
“b***h! Are you ready?” I heard a tap on the door of the changing room.
This b***h word has become a habitual word for me these years. A lone woman with no family is a b***h in the world’s eyes.
“Yes coming,” I told her.
I stared at myself in the mirror throughout my body. My eyes became wet seeing my condition today. I never thought that I would have to see this situation one day. I wiped my tears and came out of my eyes and considered this must be my destiny. This must be something I deserve.
“Come out.. your turn is coming.” Another tap and I opened the door. The lady was looking at me with a satisfied expression.
“Wow.. what a milky white skin.. what a delicate figure you were hiding behind that cloth. Your amazing sight, saying this, she started moving my head from my shoulder which I used to cover my front.” That lady started muttering with a big smile on her face. “You should get a good income for us.” She told me and asked me to get in the cage.
I did just what she said. I cannot argue with her even though all this was suffocating me. I could believe I was an heiress of a multinational company and a well-reputed family who was always surrounded by lots of servants. Now getting sold as a slave.
The cage was locked with a big lock on its gate. Maybe the key was going to be given to a person who would buy it for me.
I was thrilled to imagine what would happen now. My heart was pounding heavily with extreme fear. The first time, I felt it was good that I had no parents. If they were alive, they would have been extremely hurt to see me in such a situation.