Chapter 52: Greetings from Moscow

My head full of thoughts about that day and the plans for the near future, I stepped into the elevator up. My chip was accepted and the lift started moving. Only when the doors opened and I wanted to get out did I notice I wasn’t all the way up yet. I had stopped on the second level, and at that moment Jelena got in. Her expression turned dark when she recognized me.

“What are you doing down here?” she hissed at me.

“I talked to Isabell. Why?”

Before I knew it, she slapped me so hard I saw stars.

“How do you address a Mistress? What is this disrespect? On your knees. Now!”

Completely stunned, I sank to my knees, holding my throbbing cheek.

Jelena pressed the HOLD button in the elevator.

“All right, you bitch—apologize to me and thank me for the correction!”

Anger flared up inside me, but I swallowed it and leaned forward, apologizing as demanded.

“I’m sorry I didn’t greet Mistress Jelena properly, and I thank her for the correction.”

“Now lick my boots, you filthy bitch!”

Reluctantly, I did what she demanded. Those were rituals I absolutely hated.

Jelena sensed my reluctance.

“Faster. Or do I have to tan your hide?”

“No, Mistress, I’m hurrying!”

As quickly as I could, I licked every centimeter of her ankle-high boots. The shoe polish tasted bitter.

“I have no idea why you’re still allowed to stay in this house, but I’ll make your life here hell. I promise you that!”

She pulled her boot away and planted it on the back of my neck.

“You’re such a disgusting piece of filth, not even worth licking my shoes. But maybe you’re still good enough to be a toilet.”

The door to the apartment basement opened. I hadn’t even noticed she’d released the HOLD button and the elevator had moved.

“Stay on the floor until I’m gone. I don’t want to walk through the house with you.”

She left the elevator while I remained bent forward on my knees, waiting until she’d passed through the hidden door. Jelena was probably going to be a problem.

After about a minute, I got up again. Jelena had caught me completely off guard. I didn’t know how much she’d been told. She wasn’t part of the company leadership, even if she was a Mistress in the Zirkelkeller—and therefore for me as well. What I definitely didn’t want was to have her as an enemy for a year.

I took the other elevator and went up to my apartment. There I put on the pony boots so I could train for another hour. As soon as I’d gotten them fully on, I went back down to the gym, which at that time was empty. My muscle soreness bothered me a bit, but I ignored it. Treadmill work wasn’t the same as pulling a sulky. The movements were noticeably different, but for fitness it was still necessary. Diana still hadn’t told me when and where she’d train me.

After an hour of intense running, I went straight to the wellness area, showered, and climbed into the whirlpool. I was naked—by now a bikini felt pointless here.

After about five minutes I heard giggling and snickering in the corridor. Someone else was coming into the wellness area. The frosted-glass door was yanked open, and two girls I didn’t recognize came in. They were so focused on each other that they only noticed me a moment late.

“Evening,” I greeted them when they finally saw me and froze like they’d been caught.

“You’re Kumiho!” the taller one blurted.

“Not here. Here I’m Johanna.”

In a foreign language—Czech, I guessed—she spoke to her companion. I understood almost nothing, except that the names Kumiho, Rebecca, Jelena, Master P, and Diana came up.

Then she turned back to me.

“Sorry. I’m Lucie, this is Vera. Vera’s new—she only arrived last week and hasn’t had a show in the cellar yet.”

Vera greeted me shyly.

“Good evening, Johanna.”

Her Czech accent was very noticeable, but her German seemed good. I had no idea what Lucie had told her, but Vera looked at me as if I were a mythical creature.

Both of them were wearing bathrobes.

“Don’t you want to come in?” I invited them into the whirlpool.

They hesitated for a moment, exchanged a look, then nodded and hung their robes on hooks. Underneath were swimsuits.

Once they were in the water with me, I asked:

“What did you just say about me?”

“Oh—I was only explaining to Vera that you’re kind of a celebrity in the house because you became a star in no time. I even thought about applying for your next show, but I’m not really masochistic. I’m more into the clinic-fetish area. Do you do a show like that? I’d love to be in one!”

I shook my head, puzzled.

“Nothing planned like that at the moment. I didn’t know I was that well-known around here.”

“Are you kidding? You’re the main topic in the whole house! And then the rumors about that horrible AI room...”

“What rumors?”

“That women were torn apart in there! You too. But I guess that can’t be true.”