Chapter 10: What Is It They Say About Curiosity and the Cat?

I agreed.

Early Friday evening I arrived at the motel to find Carl and Leo waiting for me. I was a few minutes earlier than arranged but Carl was impatient and paced back and fore excitedly, He only allowed me time to drop my bag in my room and replace my jeans with a dress before rushing me out to his car where the two of us sat in the back while Leo drove. I checked my face as best I could in the rear view mirror, ran a brush through my hair and reapplied my lipstick, then shaking a few creases from my dress I settled back and tried to catch up on the stream of missed instructions etc. from Carl. When I told him to start again he and Leo laughed. He shook his head but then with a sigh began again but I quickly realised he was telling me nothing about what to expect, only that I should expect something different. He had told my host about me and he and Leo were staying nearby to take me back to the motel when the party finished.

Thoroughly intrigued and a little nervous, I sat back and awaited developments.

Leo pulled into the car park of a large and expensive looking hotel belonging to a well known chain.

As we walked through the reception area, I saw Carl nod to the young man on the desk, who looked at me with undisguised curiosity, We stepped into a large mirrored lift where I again checked my appearance and my nervousness increased at the same swift rate as the lift.

It stopped smoothly and the doors whooshed open with a clear well modulated ding and an equally well modulated automated male voice announced the floor.

Our destination was immediately opposite the lift and Carl took my arm and with Leo on my other side, I began to feel like a ritual sacrifice being delivered to the temple. Carl knocked and the door opened almost without delay so we are expected! Carl went in, followed by me and Leo and I have my first opportunity to assess the situation.

We are in a large, expensively furnished room with a gigantic bed against the wall on my left, there is a full size dining table with half a dozen chairs on the other side. A sitting area with a settee and two armchairs and in front of the wall to wall, ceiling to floor curtains a writing desk.

How did I get distracted by the furnishings? I looked around me at a strange mix of men, I was surprised to see that they were all Oriental (Japanese or Chinese – I was told once you could tell them apart by the direction their eyes slanted but I couldn’t remember which was which. Anyway, it wouldn’t have been much help as they were South Korean)

The only young man among them was standing in front of me shaking my hand and saying “Welcome! Welcome!” I smiled at him and said “Thank you!”. Like the rest of the men, he was wearing a brightly coloured shirt and coloured trousers. His were green.

The other men were all old and the one who had been sitting at the desk and was now walking towards me looked about a hundred years old. I looked around at them again. There were two or three who could have been in their forties but the rest were older.

I couldn’t really tell for sure how many there were as they not only moved about a lot but there was a connecting door and at least two others moved back and fore. The very old man reached the group and they parted to allow him through.

He might have been old but he had crossed the room with a gait that belied his years, his handshake was firm and his eyes were clear and smiling. He was still holding my hand and he raised it up above my head looking up and down my body then, with his other hand signalled for me to turn around. I slowly turned and as I did so, his hand briefly cupped one cheek of my bottom as if weighing it. The room fell completely silent.