Chapter Four
Competition
Union Station, Washington, D.C.
“What you fail to realize, Madame,” Louise, one of her would-be mentors, pointed out at a charity cocktail party one night, “is that shibari is an art form, not something you become an expert in at a weekend seminar. Even if the subject does not cooperate, you must know how to apply restraint in an effective and artful fashion. You cannot get to the level you seek in a short time or by trying to copy pictures.”
“I don’t have time for that spooky crap,” Silvia said, her eyes searching the vast ballroom floor inside the historic rail terminal, seeking a waiter to bring her another glass of champagne.
“Then abandon your quest, my dear Silvia,” the woman said, almost laughing. “You know nothing about this and you are making a fool o
