The Disconsolate Maiden

Chapter Thirty-Eight

"Please...I beg of you!" Homura bowed to the ground in front of her boss, tears welling up in her eyes. "I haven't had a single week off since I started working here, and it's been ten years! I even worked on Christmas Day...so please...I beg of you..."

"You can't have this week off," her boss replied firmly. "We have you booked up until next Monday. But, if you insist, I may consider blocking requests for the following week. You do seem quite tired, and it's important that our idols put on the best image possible. During your time off, I want you to rest. I'm afraid I have to forbid you from going out in public though. With your long brown hair and curls, everyone will recognize you. Men will at least. I don't want my company to get in any trouble. Do you understand? Just rest."

"Y-Yes sir..." Homura said, letting out a huge sigh of relief.

"Now get off of your hands and knees. It's understandable that you're tired," he sighed as he offered out his hand, helping the ashamed girl to her feet.

"Y-Yes sir..." Homura repeated, avoiding all eye contact with the man. She hated him with a passion at this point in her life. She had no idea how many times he "practiced" on her. She had lost count, and the more she thought about it, the more suicidal she began to feel.

"I hate living. I hate living. I hate living..." Homura kept thinking to herself as she sat down at a table with two other girls who were stuck in the same boat as her.

Yet, there was a huge difference between Homura and these two girls. Homura had been forced into this job, never saying she would do anything of the sorts in her life. Then, the other two girls chose this job. They wanted to have sex multiple times a day and be popular because of it.

"I'll just do it on my week off..." Homura thought as she stared at a medium sized plate of peeled pears that had been brought to the girls. "Nobody will notice that I'm gone anyways, right...? If I just commit suicide...I have no friends who know me, a father who I haven't spoken to since...I can't even remember...I have literally nothing stopping me from doing this. I have no reason to live. No reason. I want to quit this, but whenever I ask the boss, he brings me in for a 'lesson' later in the day..."

"Homura you're so quiet today," one of the girl's said sweetly, offering a slice of pear to the girl. "Did you have a rough time at your previous session?"

"I heard it was at three in the morning," the other girl said sympathetically, shaking her head a little. "But that's alright, Homura. That shoot has ought to bring in tons of money. You were with that really famous guy."

"Y-Yeah..." Homura sighed, accepting the slice of pear from the first girl. She hated how she could eat something that was taken from a girl's hand, who did such filthy things with them every day.

Popping the slice in her mouth, Homura inhaled deeply.

"Don't get too stressed, alright?" the second girl said, resting her hand on Homura's leg, hugging her from the side a little. "You're a beautiful girl!"

"Hikana is right," the first girl said, pushing a strand of her long, black hair away from her face. "The company wouldn't survive without you."

"I-I'm sure it would..." Homura said, her stomach already killing her. The girl wrapped her hands tightly around her stomach, attempting to keep her food down just for once. Yet, when nausea enters ones life, it's doesn't leave as one would wish for it to.

"Are you okay? Homura, you look really pale!" Hikana asked, nothing but concern in her eyes.

"I'll..." Homura pushed away from the table and stood up. "I'll be right back..."

"Don't stress too much, okay?" Hikana said, watching as Homura ran down the hallway into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind her.

Homura barely made it to the toilet when she began to vomit. Every muscle in her body felt tense as she tried so very hard to hold back. Yet the puke just kept coming and coming. Most of it was bile at this point, a gross yellow color.

Panting, Homura grimaced as she reached for a paper towel to clean off her chin and lips.

"I can't keep living like this..."