The Masked Emotions Redux: Linger

OVERCOMING DEMONS

NADIA

Nadia entered a grand office that was bigger than both Akira and her condo put together. Against the wall were a half dozen mannequins standing side by side dressed in traditional Samurai armor, she removed her shoes and stepped on the softest rug she had ever felt. It was the darkest shade of red with spots of pink which made her think of cherry blossoms falling in the late evening. The office was empty as she approached the large bamboo desk with a touch screen surface. She looked at the screen and saw a magnitude of research based on Samuel Knight. His transcript, class schedule, bank accounts, a list of friends with their pictures, favorite hangouts, and track schedule.

While she was looking at the screen, Akira walked into the office with the same stern look on his face that instantly vanished when he saw Nadia. Behind him was Juno walking quickly holding several files tightly with an attitude on her face as always. "How are you, my dear?" He whispered, kissing her cheek. He felt her body tense as she mustered a smile. He sat behind his desk, spoke to Juno in Japanese and she quickly placed the files down roughly on the desk and stomped out of the room. Nadia sat in front of him, seeing the sadness and anxiety in his eyes. "I wished we had more time." He sighed "but as you said last night, we need to expedite our plans and it's going to pain me to tell you this, you'll need to get over your rape and fast."

Her heart briefly stopped. "I'm sorry my dear, but I could tell from the way you flinched when I hugged you, that you are not comfortable with a man touching you."

Nadia shook her head "That's not true, I was holding my brother's arm today and."

"That is because he is your brother, you feel safe with him. He is your protector. So am I, but knowing that you still tensed your body when I touched you, although you knew that I am gay." His voice had been crystal clear, not harsh or cold. He spoke with concern "I need you to follow me." The two of them walked towards the elevator, her mind began to travel in circles, confusion. How could she get over a rape that happened a couple of weeks ago?

As they entered the elevator, Akira pressed three numbers on the keypad on the controls and the elevator went up. He looked at her, his eyes sharp and bold "When a person is raped, their power over themselves are taken away, they feel no sense of self-control and on top of that their anger soon will overwhelm them because they feel powerless and, in the end, they lash out on those who could help them." He softly placed his hand on her chin "I know from experience, this would help you regain that lost power, get back some control, and unleash some of that rage building inside. Nadia, just days after your rape you were able to manipulate your way to obtain stocks in Dossey Pharmaceuticals and why did you do that?"

"I had a bad dream the night you took me to the hotel. So I began researching about the men who raped me, I went on their Facebook page and I saw one of them had recently posted a picture. He was smiling standing in between two very drunk women and I realized, despite what was just done to him, he was back taking advantage of women. It was like the hours of being raped didn't faze him. Then I remembered something that William said. So I thought the best way to make him, all of them suffer is to take away something as valuable as my innocence." She looked at Akira "So I decided to take away their fortune. It's going to take some time, but I am going to make sure that they would be penniless."

Akira let out a wide smile "And Samuel Knight?" he asked, "is that the end game for him as well?" Nadia didn't utter a word, she simply looked at him and swallowed hard.

"No, I don't know yet, but his punishment will be different." She hissed.

The door opened and they stepped into a room that was just as big as Akira's office, it had red leather walls and floors, no windows, and was brightly lit. As they walked in there were all of these contraptions that Nadia had never seen before. A giant wooden X with straps on each corner, a large birdcage, a wooden horse, and a giant black ball. As they had gotten to the center of the room she could see two men seated, soon as they saw them they quickly stood up and offered them their seats. Akira nodded and sat down, but not before he said something to them in Japanese and the two men scurried off. Nadia kept looking around like a nervous child, wondering what exactly was going on. Why would he have such a place above his office? He looked at her, gave out a warm, caring smile, and asked: "Nadia, what do you know about S&M?"