Chapter 1

She stretched in the large soft bed awoken by the smell of fresh coffee. Rolling onto her side, she sniffed the clean white sheets, still fresh even after last night’s lovemaking. Her eyes stayed closed as she luxuriated over the warm nest she was in. She turned and felt where he had been. His pillow still had his scent.

The young teen opened her eyes and blinked at the light of the early morning. The French provincial interior design of their hotel suite had the elegant but well-worn look of an early 20^th-century estate. Her eyes focused and found him sitting gentlemanly at the little table by the window. He was reading the newspaper while sipping coffee and eating sweet cakes. His large and rough features, aged but not ancient and handsome but not pretty. He was older than her. Much older.

She had been only ten when the lady and her young male friend had come to her parents’ house. The lady offered a promise of school, of refinement, of modeling, of a career as the young man pulled out a large sum of money. More than a years’ wages to her father. The lady talked about the big city and the wealthy foreigners that their daughter would meet as the man continued to count out bills; now, two years’ worth. Her father accepted as her mother cried and said goodbye.

Sen-Li, previously Cindy, climbed out of her hotel bed. Dressed in her silk pajamas, she stretched again and tiptoed across the floor to the little table. She hugged him, and he gently patted her arm. She released him as he offered her the remaining seat by the table. He poured her coffee, provided sugar cakes and fruit. She accepted all. Outside the open window, the sounds of the early morning traffic below filled the streets of Hanoi and filtered into their room, the curtains fluttered lightly in the warm breeze. He went back to reading his newspaper. She looked out the window at the skyline as the early light of the morning sun lit city buildings one by one.

The little girl sat in the back of the car, crying as the lady, who had introduced herself as Madam, sat beside the young man who was driving her towards an unknown future. Madam told her to hush and that all would be good and that she would be going to school to learn to read and write. Sen-Li finally fell asleep, rocked by the motion of the car, with tears on her cheeks.

“Sir, PawPaw, I’ve finished. May I take a bath now?” Sen-Li asked timidly.

He stirred, lowering his paper, and laughed.

“Silly, just PawPaw, no ‘sir’ needed. And you still don’t have to ask permission.”

She smiled timidly, her training hard to break even after all these months.

“Go, I will be gone for a little while, but back for lunch, and we will go shopping for your wedding dress.”

“I would like that, sir, I mean PawPaw!” she smiled, still disbelieving.

She was still in shock from how her life had changed so and had inadvertently reverted back to old ways.

“Good. Now sweetheart, please don’t leave the hotel alone, but you can go downstairs if you like.”

“Thank you ... PawPaw, my love.” She still felt this was all a dream, and she would wake up back ... there.

Madam woke her with a shake. “We’re at your new home!”

Then she added, “You are no longer Sen-Li. I am going to call you ... Cindy!”

The building she saw was dingy, dark, and surrounded by other dingy, dark buildings. Cars and people and noise all around, nothing like the countryside she had grown up in. It smelled of oil and garbage. It looked scary to her. She was led inside and taken to her room, a little worn out place hardly larger than a closet with a little bed and chest for clothes. The man sat her small case down that contained her few belongings. An older girl, dress in a deeply cut top and a tight short dress was waved over by Madam.

She addressed the older girl, “Lilly, this is Cindy. You show her around. Get her food. Cindy, this is Lilly. You follow her instructions.”

Sen-Li, now Cindy, looked at the older girl. She had too much makeup on, too tight clothes, too tall shoes, and her legs were bare from her ankles to the tops of her thighs. Cindy didn’t understand.

PawPaw said, “Now, give me a kiss and go take your bath. Take as long as you like. I will be leaving in a few minutes.”

Sen-Li stood and went to PawPaw and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He returned the kiss on her cheek and went back to his newspaper. She tiptoed across the room. She always walked on her tiptoes while barefoot, which she had been most of the time. She went into the bathroom and turned on the light.

Cindy followed Lilly, “This is the bathroom; your job is to keep it clean.”

Cindy looked hesitantly at the filthy room; obviously, it had not been maintained in a very long time. She was not sure how she could possibly clean it but didn’t ask questions.

“You can take a bath in the tub here. There’s not much hot water, so DO NOT USE IT ALL. That is for us!” Lilly announced sternly.

The tub had a ring of grime around it. The bottom looked rusted and dirty. Strands of hair lay at the opening to the drain. Cindy did not want to take a bath.

Sen-Li looked around the spotless bathroom. She took off her silk pajamas and carefully folded them up and placed them on the scroll work wicker chair. Standing naked, she turned on the water to fill the tub. Hot water flowed abundantly, filling the ivory white clawfoot tub. The water was as clear as the tub was clean. She stepped into it. Her body relaxed as bubbles from the little soaps liquefied in the hot water. She closed her eyes. She let her hand drift up and down her body slowly washing herself. Her fingertips dripped water and soap onto her breasts as she ran them around their firm mounds.

She rarely touched herself like this, but since being with PawPaw, she felt more comfortable doing so. He liked to watch her, so she imagined he was watching. She did not mind his gaze. He was far different from all of the others. Kind and gentle. He loved her. She loved him. He let her do as she wanted, not as he wanted.

Her hand descended down her torso, fingers gliding over her delicate belly. She knew he liked it when her hand paused at her navel, doing little circles with one finger around its circular indent. She let her fingers continue down to her mons, covered in silky hair, now starting to regrow. Wrinkling fingertips pressed and circled her hip bones and then between her legs. Her breath deepened. Eyes open yet defocused as she stared blankly at the clean white tile. She continued the navigation of her vulva. She wanted to feel pleasure after so much pain in her previous life. Her mind drifts to thoughts of last night with PawPaw. He lets her find her own way, never rushing, not sex for sex sake, but for loves sake. She has grown from skepticism to liking to loving him.

Her body feels an inner warmth building, matching the outer warmth of the water surrounding her. She slides under, breath held, still touching herself, down through the slit between her legs. Underwater the world is gone. It is just her. Her body. Her desire. Her fingers slide inside her, one bent, one straight. Their movement quickens as her breath wants for air. It hits; Orgasm! Her mind rushes as she bursts to the surface, filling her lungs and feeling it crash through her. Her body quivers and then quiets. She lets her mind float in her afterglow. She remembers the orgasm she had last night. And the warm feeling of PawPaw as he came inside her.

Lilly took Cindy’s hand and led her to the kitchen. “You must buy your own food if you want something other than the daily meals. Street food is brought in several times a day.”

Cindy looked around the dirty kitchen, sinks full of uncleaned dishes, cups, and utensils. Broken cabinets had names on them. A small refrigerator sat humming with a rattle in one corner. A stove was the only other item in the room. From there, a room beside the kitchen had a single table with various unmatched chairs that were apparently where everyone ate. Two other girls, maybe about the same age as Lilly and dressed in similar skimpy outfits, sat eating noodles and talking together.

Sen-Li heard the door close as PawPaw left. She had only known him for a few months now but found that he seemed so familiar, like a connection to her had always been there. Her old life seemed more and more like a distant dream, a nightmare, and she was finally waking up. Her body calmed. She relaxed lazily in the water, not thinking about anything.

Lilly sat little Cindy down and gave her some noodles and water. “I have to go. Do you know how to get back to your room?”

Cindy nodded.

“Good. Stay there. Someone will check on you later. Get some sleep.”

Cindy ate her noodles and took her bowl to the sink. She didn’t want to just leave it, so washed it and her glass and placed them on the counter. One of the girls laughed at her and told her that she would make a good housemaid.

Sen-Li, now clean and dry, used the towel to clean the bathtub and sink after she used it. She still had not gotten used to the hotel maid doing that work. Old habits. She tiptoed out of the bathroom, still naked, and went to her closet. She picked out a set of clothes from the few in there. PawPaw had bought these for her when he first took her away. She put on the soft panties and bra and then the silken pantsuit. She felt embarrassed in such beautiful clothes. Looking in the mirror, she combed her hair as she straightened her top. She didn’t recognize the young woman reflecting back at her.

Madam had held her promise about school. Cindy dressed in the uniform Madam had provided, with its slightly worn, slightly too short pleated skirt, and it’s not entirely white top showing its many washings, then put on her threadbare socks and slightly too large, buckled shoes. Madam had taken her to her new school that first day, but then the young man, whose name was strangely ‘Tik’, took her and picked her up every day after that.

Sen-Li looked at her colorful clothes. PawPaw had told her she looked much prettier in them than her old clothes. He had discarded those without a thought. She discarded the memory of them as well. She looked around the hotel room, sat again at the little table, and poured herself more coffee, now only slightly warmer than the room. Sunlight was shining in, brightening the room but also bringing the summer heat and humidity of the Hoàn Kiếm district of Hanoi. Street sounds of horns and talking filtered up from below. She picked up all the remaining sweet cakes, including the partially finished ones on PawPaw’s plate, and slowly ate them. She wasted nothing. Absently, she took the plates to the bathroom and washed them, and returned them to the tray on the table.

Tik brought Cindy a bucket, brush, and some rags. Her job was to clean the bathroom and launder the towels and cloths. For that, she would be paid 50 baht per day. She had to pay for her room; 20 baht and food 20 baht each day. Homesick, she cried at night, but went to school in the day and cleaned in the afternoon. Time passed.

Now 11 years old, Cindy was given the additional task of cleaning the kitchen. She was paid 20 baht more for that. If she wanted anything, she had to buy it via Tik. He would go out on the street to purchase the item. She usually only wanted a Mango sticky rice, but it took her nearly a month to save up for the treat. Madam had given her a little party for her birthday, and she did get a sticky rice then as well. Otherwise, Madam didn’t pay much attention to her. Tik and Lilly became Cindy’s only friends at the house. She was never allowed to go outside, other than to school. She didn’t get to play with school friends before or after school.

Cindy learned little more about what Lilly and the other girls did as they talked about some of their clients; the size of their wong or the size of their wallet. There were no other girls her age, though from time to time, new girls came, and others disappeared. Tik or Lilly wouldn’t talk about that. Lilly was 17 and had been at the house since she was 14. After a while, Lilly had treated Cindy like a younger sister, but she remained aloof from Cindy most of the time. Tik was the driver for all the girls. He took the girls different places, but neither Tik nor the girls ever said where.