The Apprentice Dominatrix

Chapter One: Opportunity-1

Chapter One: Opportunity

The Polyvalent Sports Hall, Bucharest, Romania. 20th July 2013

“Number twenty three, please!” the woman on the stage called out.

Alina groaned…she didn’t need to look at the slip of paper in her hand because she already knew it read “58”, and getting this far down the queue had already taken over an hour. She’d been late getting to the hall because she’d picked up her mother’s medicine from the pharmacy this morning and it had taken the woman a while to deal with the prescription. Well…she’d just have to be patient – maybe she should have brought some better reading material while she waited for her “interview” to be considered to be a fashion model. At least the big sports hall was air conditioned; July in Bucharest was always hot, and this year the early summer had been very fierce indeed.

She looked around the room for the hundredth time. So many girls…and most of them were younger and prettier than her. Well…maybe not prettier; but a few of them were certainly more appropriate in terms of catwalk model characteristics. While Alina was dark-haired, with a Mediterranean complexion that gave her an all-year tan, and a voluptuous hourglass figure, most of these girls were pale and skinny – and were bottle-blondes too. How many girls would the model agency actually need? Were they even looking for someone like Alina?

She was certainly tall enough to be a catwalk model. At one meter eighty – or almost five eleven – she’d been the tallest girl in her high school class. But she knew her figure would be too curvy for catwalk work – which was the same reason that she’d had to give up gymnastics and ballet; she was just too heavy to hurl her body around like the petite girls did. She knew all too well that a girl with her kind of figure would be offered “other modeling opportunities” at an interview session like this, and she also knew what those “other opportunities” would lead to. If she was lucky it might just involve some lingerie modeling…or perhaps given her dancing experience it would lead to an interview in one of the city’s lap dancing clubs. But more likely they would try to persuade her to do porn shoots – perhaps even to take part in hard core movies or prostitution. She felt almost physically ill at the idea of being drawn into that world, but at this stage she was desperate enough to consider those sorts of offers. She only needed a few thousand dollars to get herself and her family back on their feet financially, so maybe a few months working in a seedy dance club would be tolerable if it would mean financial stability.

It wouldn’t be the first time somebody had suggested to Alina Florian that she get her clothes off for money; but until now she’d been too proud – or too stubborn – to consider the offers. The problem was that her options were running out. Thank goodness she’d completed her degree in Business Management before her mother’s latest bout of illness. But for the past three years Alina had been the only real breadwinner for the family – even her two jobs as a waitress during the day, and working in a bar at night, just weren’t enough to cover everything; and their meager savings were almost gone. So what if she’d have to show her t**s for the camera…that was OK in the short term as long as she could get her mother the treatment she needed, and her younger brother Roman could stay in school for a little longer. At fourteen he was too young for a proper job at the moment; but he tried his best to help out with odd jobs. His dream was to be a doctor, but the financial implications of that were just too much for Alina to take in.

She glanced down at her mobile phone. At least there’d been no more abusive text messages from her ex-boyfriend for a whole day! Perhaps he was finally getting the message that, after ruining her career choices she wasn’t going to just forgive him and start dating him again. A couple of days earlier she’d confronted him at the university where he’d been her former course tutor. She’d intended to beg him to write her a letter of recommendation for an MBA course in the Bucharest Business School, but the meeting had flared into an enormous shouting match, and she desperately hoped he’d gotten into some kind of trouble with the university authorities because of the scene he’d caused.

She leaned back in the uncomfortable upright chair and sighed. Why was her whole life such a pile of s**t? For so long she’d been a “good girl”…well, a reasonably good girl. The affair with her university lecturer, Grigore, had been so utterly stupid…it made her blood boil to even think about how foolish she’d been. The last three years of her life had been ruined by that man. She choked back her feeling of frustration and took slow, deep breaths…that was how she’d been taught to relax in her yoga class; but it would take more than breathing exercises to let her put that bastard out of her mind.

“Excuse me, Miss?” a woman said to her. “Might we have a word with you?”

Alina looked up in surprise at the woman. She was probably in her early forties…with amazing red-brown hair that was obviously dyed, but had been done very well. Her face was so strikingly beautiful that, for a moment, Alina wondered if she might also be here to try out for a modeling job. But she was far too well-dressed to be that desperate…maybe she was with the organizers – even that she might be a former model herself. The fact that she was approaching Alina could be a good sign.

“You want to talk to me?” Alina asked. “Is it about the modeling audition?”

The woman smiled and nodded towards the numbered ticket that Alina held in her fingers.

“It looks like you have some time yet before your interview…and we have some iced coffee in the flask over there. We have a table over by the wall…where we can talk more privately; and our chairs are rather more comfortable than these!”

Alina frowned as the woman moved away without waiting for an answer. Sure enough there was a small table with a flask and some cups already laid out, and a handsome looking man was sitting there reading a book. He looked to be about the same age as the woman…maybe a little older. The pair must have something to do with the event – entrance to the sports hall had been controlled by a lady at a desk, and it was hardly likely these two could have sneaked past her with all their gear, and then obtained a table to sit at.

She considered the woman’s request for a few seconds, but then thought she was perfectly safe in a room like this full of people. She got up and walked to where the woman was already pouring a cup of coffee for her. In fact, they’d brought an entire picnic hamper with sandwiches and snacks! They were both sitting on rather comfortable looking camping chairs, and there were two more vacant seats around the table.

After Alina sat down the woman handed her the glass. It was the first time she’d tried chilled coffee…the drink was already sweetened, and had cream added. Alina thought it was a bit like a grown-up milkshake.

The woman smiled at her. “So…introductions. This is my husband, Stefan; and my name is Zelda.”

“Alina.” She shook hands with them both and took the seat the woman was offering. She took another sip of the coffee…it really was very good. All of them sat drinking for a few moments, until Stefan cleared his throat.

“So…Alina; you want to be a model?” he asked. “You’re very beautiful indeed.”

“Thank you.”

“And how old are you?”

“I’m twenty five…last month.”

“Excellent. I don’t see a wedding ring, so I assume you’re not married?”

“No.”

“Boyfriend?”

Alina smiled. “My last boyfriend put me off men for a while.”

Stefan laughed. “Girlfriend, then?”

Alina paused. “Not for a while. I suppose you could say I’m going through a dry spell.”

“Interesting…now; I’m sorry if this is an awkward question, but do you have any sort of criminal record?”

“A criminal record?” Alina asked in surprise.

“It’s important that you are honest…we can easily check afterwards, but if you are honest with us now then it’s possible we can work through any minor issues you might have had in the past.”

“I’ve never been in any kind of trouble with the police…no!”

“You’re sure there’s nothing you feel you need to disclose now?”

“Quite sure.”

“Very well,” Stefan said, smiling. “Another personal question, I’m afraid. But…if you decide to pursue our offer we will be asking you to take a full medical examination. Do you suffer from any kind of long term health condition?”

“I don’t think so…I’m pretty healthy.”

“Have you been treated for any illnesses?”

“I had my appendix taken out when I was ten,” Alina told him. “Sometimes I think I should have my tonsils out too…because when I get a throat infection it can be pretty bad.”

“Tattoos? Piercings? Major scars?”

“No tattoos or piercings, apart from my ears…I really hate needles. Scars? Well…I have an appendix scar, of course…and this vaccination mark on my arm. Oh, and there’s a scar on my ankle where a dog bit me years ago.”

“That’s fine…very good.” Stefan paused. “Do you take drugs?” he asked quietly. “And, once again…there’s really no point in lying. If you do take drugs there will be evidence in your blood tests.”

Alina was getting irritated now. “What is this actually about? What kind of proposition is it?”

Zelda leaned forward and placed her hand over Alina’s. “My dear, the modeling agency will ask you the exact same questions. I know you have no reason to trust us, but we don’t even know your last name yet…so we can hardly reveal any secrets you might tell us.”

“Alina…do you take drugs?” Stefan repeated.

“Only alcohol,” she replied coldly. “Every chance I get.”

Stefan laughed. “Me too…and do you smoke?”

“No…I hate the smell of cigarettes. My last boyfriend smoked and now the thought of cigarettes makes me want to puke!”

Stefan and Zelda exchanged looks.

“A bad break up?” Zelda asked.

“The worst…but it’s over now.”

“Your posture is really excellent,” Stefan told her. “May I see you smile, please?”

Alina obliged him, and he seemed anxious to check out her teeth, asking her to open her mouth while he peered in. How odd that was, she thought.

“You have a chipped tooth…on the upper left.”

“Y…yes. It was…an accident in school…when I was about fifteen.” She was lying…Grigore had given her that as a “parting gift” when they’d broken up three years ago. He’d been violent towards her before, but she could see it getting out of control, and it was the final straw in their relationship.

“It’d be easy to have it fixed, Stefan,” Zelda told him. “I don’t think it even needs a crown.”

Stefan asked her to hold out her hands, and checked her nails.

“I’m sorry…I didn’t have a chance for a proper manicure,” Alina told him. “I was working until early this morning, and I broke this thumbnail opening a box a couple of days ago.”

“It’s not important…your hands are delicately shaped. Long, straight fingers…the nails look pretty healthy. Your skin is nice and soft. I assume you don’t work in a manual job?”

“I was a student…until three years ago…Business Studies. Since then I’ve been working in a café…well, a sort of restaurant…and I have a second job working in a bar at night. I have to wash my hands a lot at work, but they have hand cream that I use all the time.”

“That’s good. That’s very good,” he said, smiling. He actually seemed very nice, despite the probing questions. “Please forgive me for being blunt, but the hair on your arms is a little too noticeable for photographic work. Might I ask if the rest of your body is like that? Again…I don’t mean to be rude, but you must understand that we need to know this sort of thing.”

Alina shrugged. “Of course…I…I suppose I am…a little hairy. But it’s all very fine hair…and judging by the way my mother looks now it’s not going to grow thick…not like some girls you see. I try to keep it bleached if I have the money for decent products…but I could…maybe get a wax?”

“Electrolysis would be better,” Stefan said, almost to himself. “More permanent.”

“Her hair color would suit electrolysis,” Zelda added. “Expensive, though.”

Alina tried not to fidget; and she took another sip of the coffee to hide her nervousness.

“Did you fail your course?” Zelda asked. “Why is it you don’t have a better job?”

“I…I don’t have a referral letter from my college. It’s a long story.”

“Hmm…so that’s why you’re here? Looking for a fresh start?”

“Yes…if they’ll have me.”

Stefan was scratching his chin thoughtfully.

“Would you mind walking up and down here at the side of the hall so we can see how you move?” he asked finally.

“Walk?”

“Sure…just walk up to the wall there and back to here. Imagine you’re on the catwalk…they’ll ask you to do that too later, if you decide to try the modeling gig.”