Chapter 44: Restart

After a short break, I sat up again and reached for my tablet. Kumiho was supposed to perform again, and I needed inspiration, so I messaged Thomas. I hadn’t heard or seen anything from him in more than three weeks.

But since he belonged to the inner circle, it was obvious I had landed on his blacklist the moment I fell out of favor with Diana and Rebecca.

It was Wednesday, so I didn’t expect a quick response. According to the shooting schedule, he was working in basement studio 11.

I thought about what Kumiho could do against the paladins this time. Last time, the paladins had suffered a defeat. Now Kumiho had to follow up. Should I take the active role this time? Me as the dom? With whom?

Who was the weak link?

Jelena and Diana were out of the show, at least in the medieval timeline. Isabell was by my side. Last time I had tortured Linda and Ronja.

Hmm. What about Phoenix? Could I request her? Would she even agree?

I searched the tablet for the bios of other actresses in the house who were available. True masochists were in short supply.

For most of them, mild whipping and light to moderate pain were their limit. It was more show than lifestyle. Phoenix wasn’t listed, which wasn’t surprising.

I tried to picture what the show should look like. What if I made it a two-part show? Linda and Ronja, plus Isabell, maybe even Phoenix?

I would run it by Thomas and see what he thought.

I already knew what Isabell would say. Anything involving Ronja and Linda was a red rag to her. Isabell was professional enough not to hate the two of them, but she hadn’t quite gotten over my “affair” with them yet, even though we weren’t officially together at the time.

But I didn’t want to take a chance on actresses I didn’t know. On the other hand, how was I supposed to get to know anyone new?

Then an idea hit me. I’d just hold auditions.

On the spur of the moment, I posted an ad on the internal bulletin board:

“Two masochistic actresses wanted for Kumiho show on September 14. Please contact Johanna by September 6 at the latest.”

Right after I posted it, the absurdity of my situation hit me again. On the one hand, I thought the basic idea of the apartment and the show was perfectly fine. On the other hand, I had decided to destroy the company. And since I had already informed Walter, there was no turning back.

By now it was evening, and I threw together a salad for dinner.

While I picked at it, I tried to think through what to do next.

Isabell was occupied for the time being, but I could be back in front of the camera next week. I should do that, because the current windfall would dry up soon.

I didn’t need much more to pay off my loan shark. Then I would finally be free of that worry. I should contact him, but not from here. With the mini cell phone I’d have to speak so loudly that everyone in the apartment wing could hear me out on the balcony.

Then I remembered my new tablet. The building’s technical staff hadn’t gotten their hands on it yet, so it wasn’t bugged. I could make calls via Skype.

Swallowing the last bite, I pulled the new tablet from my handbag and went online. Skype installed quickly. My login details worked, and Laura Zamora was back on Skype. Good. Then I went to my laptop and looked up the number. I didn’t have it memorized.

With my headset and tablet, I went back out onto the balcony and called my loan shark.

“Hello?” Mirco sounded cautious.

“Hi, Mirco. It’s Laura.”

There was a moment of stunned silence.

“Laura Zamora?”

“Yep.”

“You’ve got some nerve calling. Knowing you is bad for business. What do you want?”

“What do you mean, bad for business? You got the payments, didn’t you?”

“If you mean a small payment and a lot of beatings, then yes, I did.”

“Small? And what beatings?”

“The guys you sent after me handed me an envelope with ten grand, then beat me up like professionals and told me to consider Laura Zamora’s debts paid. Really friendly Russians. Laura, that doesn’t settle your account. I just want you to know that. You know I can get money for you in other ways.”

Shit. What had Holger done? And why only ten grand?

“I’m sorry. Something must have gone completely wrong. I’ll sort it out. Actually, I called to tell you you’ll be getting the full payment this month.”

He paused.

“Plus another ten for pain, and for hospital treatment.”

Ouch. Damn. The show on the 16th had better bring in a lot.

“Agreed. And Mirco, I didn’t hire anyone to beat you up. On the contrary, they should have paid you half, not just ten grand.”

“Well, then ask the guys what they did with my money. But be careful. They were professionals.”

“Mirco, you’ll get your money, all of it. I promise. Without you, I never would have been able to start the search. You have no idea how grateful I am to you.”

He paused again.

“Have you at least found Nadine in the meantime?”

“She’s alive. That much I know now. And I know where to find her. If everything goes according to plan, she’ll be home again at the beginning of November.”