Versailles Series Book 4: The Bodyguard [COMPLETED]

CHAPTER 39

=== P A T C H ===

"Paano ba ito Erwin? Hindi kaya kayo mabuko nito?"

Kausap ni Erwin ngayon ang isa sa mga prostitute na tutulong sa plano namin. Hindi na namin inungkat pa kung paano nagkakilala ang dalawa.

"Mabilis naman siyang matuto. Panigurado hindi ka mahihirapan."

Napakamot ito sa batok. "Paalis na nga ako sa probinsya natin isasabit mo pa ako."

"Sisiguraduhin namin na makakarating ka sa airport ng walang problema. Iyun ang pinagkasunduan natin 'di ba?"

"Oo na nga."

Hinila ako nito sa isang kwarto. May mga itinuro itong mga karaniwnag salita na ginagamit pero mas lalo itong maraming tinuro na may kaugnayan sa 'trabaho' nito.

Paglabas namin ng kwarto, parang ibang tao na ako. I mean, I basically had a crash course on Filipino.

Naghanda na rin kami ng susuotin namin. Hindi ko maiwasang mapangiwa sa mga damit. It was not covering anything! The woman chose the most "conservative" clothing for me.

Erwin and Kylo left me already in her hands. We have all the communication devices ready. Tinuruan ko na si Erwin kung paano ako makakausap. Of course, Kylo almost never let me go. I just had to assure him that I will be fine and that I can handle myself.

Nasa studio kami ngayon. Nang tanungin ko ang babae ay ngumisi ito.

"You have to learn how to dance."

Napaubo ako. "Dance? You mean when the body moves to a certain rhythm?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

Naalala ko nang kailangan ko magkunwari bilang isang belly dancer sa isang undercover mission. Sabi ng nagturo sa akin noon, "That can be your second profession".

"I've tried belly dancing. I know I don't look like a graceful dancer but I can do what you'll teach me."

"Okay. So here is a chair. We just have to dance around it and on it. Like what you see in the movies. Then, we'll dance without the chair later."

I nodded and changed outfits. I take this seriously. I always bear in mind why I'm doing this. I closed my eyes. When the woman played the song, I opened my eyes and let the music take over me.

I looked at the woman and followed her steps closely. I did my best to mimic her steps. Every sway of my hips are timed correctly. I let my body glide across the chair as if I am making love to it.

I used my hair to make my turns and head whip look more gracious and seductive. The next rounds, we were now wearing just lingerie and high heeled shoes.

I watched myself in the mirror and imagined Kylo watching me. I mentally smirked. Oh he will definitely like this. We started off slow like the song and built up the steps until the climax of the song. When we did the final turn, the woman looked at me with a smile.

"How are you a bodyguard?" Namamanghang tanong nito.

"Dancing is nice."

"You're lucky. It's the governor you're gonna do this with in the future."

"What do you mean?"

"C'mon. Really? He's hot, don't deny it. Imagine how explosive the sex will be after you show this to him." Lumapit ito sa akin at bumulong. "Make him your chair then dance around him like you did with this chair. Watch him lose his mind over your body."

Napalunok ako. I won't deny, the thought made me wet.

"Come, let's shower up. We have a mission, right?"

***

I barely recognized myself. The makeup almost altered my face. I stood up and looked at the piece of cloth I was wearing. It was revealing alright. Nang makita ko ang suot ng ibang kasama namin ay sa akin pa nga ata ang pinaka-conservative.

My arms, back, legs, stomach, and cleavage are on full show. The woman made sure that I won't reveal too much while dancing. She said Kylo will kill her, figuratively.

Habang nasa sasakyan na kami papunta ay tinignan ko ang mga kasama ko. May mga menor de edad na kasama. I felt sad that they had to do this kind of work at this age. They should be studying and making a better future for themselves. Hindi nalalayo ang prostitusyon sa nangyari sa akin noon. Parehong katawan ang ginagamit namin para mabuhay.

Hinawakan ng babae ang kamay ko at nginitian ako. "Okay ka lang?"

Lumunok ako at bumalik sa karakter ko. I made sure to answer her with all the Filipino words she taught me.

"Okay lang."

She smiled reassuringly at me. Marami akong kasamang bago nang gabing iyon kaya hindi naman ako ibang-iba talaga.

The women were talking happily as if concealing whatever it is that will happen that night. The woman told me everything a while ago.

"These women, whenever we are all together, we talk of light things. Things that make us happy or remind us of happier times. Because when we enter that house, we leave our souls outside. We come in like mannequins. Men...old or young, touch you everywhere. You can't flinch or refuse any body. We dance in front of these men. We are just objects of their fantasies. I think it is also their way of escaping their real lives.

We serve them food and drinks. We give them lap dances. You can't be exclusive to one man. They will pass us like a glass from one man to another. If we had better options, more opportunities, we wouldn't do this. We have dreams too you know? But the society we are in, doesn't give us much chances. Not all prostitutes and sex workers don't want to stay as prostitutes and sex workers. We need to get by. To be able to put food on the table. Easy money is the only chance we have.

So you see, we are taking every inch of freedom we have. This is all that's left in us."

I knew how it felt to be in a place where you don't have a choice. My mother and I were poor. I didn't care how she met my father but it didn't change the fact that we were poor. I knew as a child that we were. Back then, lagi kong hinihiling na sana, mahirap lang kami hanggang sa kaya namin. But no, life is not like that. It will always push you to the limits. Kaya nga siguro pinagpalit ako ng nanay ko para sa kalayaan niya. She took the first chance to get away from me. Or to remove me from her life.

Bumalik lang ang isip ko sa kasalukuyan nang tumigil na ang sasakyan at naka-abang na ang mga tauhan ni Benedicto sa labas.

Nang matapat ako sa isang tauhan dahil tinulungan ako nitong bumaba, akala ko makikilala ako nito pero walang emosyon sa mukha nito at sa tingin nito, parang katulad din ako ng iba.

First pass, check.

As the big mansion stood proudly before me, pinaalala ko sa sarili ko kung bakit ako nandito.

CHAPTER 40 >>