Stripping For The Alpha King

Chapter 11

My mother arrived with Holly which wasn't unusual. When I first moved to Denver my mother had aggressively forced me to befriend Holly because she also had a single mother and we came from the same roots, whatever that meant. I had resisted it at first, thinking that the two moms must have been crazy. But Holly was lovely. She was thrifty and highly educated, loving school more than she loved money or even living comfortably. She was adventurous and funny which made her a good friend for me. On the other end she was disciplined and organized which made her worthy in my mother's eyes.

And now, I needed both of them

"It's alright," Holly soothed, wrapping her arms around me when she saw the tears gleaming in my eyes. She quickly wiped away any tears with the sleeve of her sweater that we had bought at the thrift store together.

"You know better," my mother snapped, plowing into the small space of my dorm. While Holly had come in looking devastated on my behalf my mother seemed to be on a war path.

"It was a mistake," I protested weakly.

"I respected your profession because I always thought you were smart enough to be smart about it, Keiko. This was a grave mistake that could've costed you your life. You've been gone for twelve hours, God knows what could have happened in that time if he decided that he actually wanted you," she snarled. My mom was short and thin, bearing all of the typical Asian features, but when she yelled it was terrifying.

And her words were true. Twelve hours was a long time to be with a potential murderer. I could've been in a ditch or a river by now. The thought made me cry harder.

"We shouldn't be jumping to conclusions," Holly shot back, smoothing my hair with a gentle hand, "He could've just noticed that you were coming down with a fever and wanted to make sure that you were alright. You said that he was so nice to you," she suggested.

"That's absurd, Holly!" my mother hollered, "He met her at the strip club. Men there only want one thing."

"He sounded like he could be different," Holly snapped back, surprising me. Neither Holly nor I had been delighted when other mothers tried to push us together, but she respected my mother well enough and never tried to talk back to her in the years we had been friends.

"All men are the same," my mother grumbled.

Holly looked furious at that. Her mouth opened and closed several times. But there was nothing she could say against my mom so she turned to me instead, "The important thing is that you're okay now."

"We should file a police report," my mother piped up again, like she hadn't heard at all.

"I don't think that necessary," Holly protested, "We aren't even sure as to what happened or who is to blame," she said through clenched teeth. She eased me towards the small couch that sat beneath a world map with pathetically few places pinned on it. "How about you tell us what happened and what would you like to do moving forward, okay?"

I sat down on the squeaky couch and nodded mutely, watching my mother as she stood with her arms folded over her chest. I couldn't meet her eyes while thinking about what I had subjected myself to.

I began telling them what I felt they could take and what I could remember. I left out the fact that I had made him orgasm without even taking off his pants and how empowered I felt knowing that I had that much control over him. I also didn't tell them about the fact that I had been begging him to touch me in the hotel room.

"So you just felt hot and sweaty and you slept?" Holly said.

"It sounds ridiculous when you say it like that," I groaned, covering my face.

"He could have assaulted her while she slept," my mother pointed out.

"He didn't," I argued, though I didn't have any way of being entirely sure. I had slept for a very long time, surely he couldn't have been making phone calls in the lobby the entire time. But that also didn't mean that he had assaulted me.

"I'm not trying to invalidate you or what happened," Holly began carefully as she squeezed one of my hands. Her brown eyes were so sympathetic, but also filled with determination. "I just don't want to go around accusing a man of something he didn't do and I don't want you getting yourself into a legal battle that might turn against you. He really could have just been trying to take care of you."

"He drugged her," my mother hissed through clenched teeth.

"Maybe she got sick and he tried his best to take care of a girl that didn't know what was happening to her body," Holly shot back.

I glanced back and forth between both of them. My best friend for over a decade- the girl who was so heavy liberal and so proudly feminist she chased most guys away- was at war with my mother. And my mother had supported me through getting a career where I exploited men, encouraging me to get as much money out of them as I possibly could. This argument seemed like such a backflip for both of them. Holly was acting like it was no big deal and my mother was acting like I had to be a pure virgin for the rest of my life to get into heaven.

"I don't want to press charges or anything. I'm just scared," I whispered, finally breaking the silence. "I'm scared that I let myself get into that position and I'm scared that I didn't think a guy like him could do something like that."

"You're right to be afraid," my mother stated bluntly, "I want you to quit your job tomorrow. You need to do something safer, like waitressing."

"Mom, I can't afford this single dorm room without having my job. I won't make nearly as much doing anything else."

"Fine, then you can have creeps following you home. That's your choice." Then she reached into her purse, her brow furrowed, "Your next round of supplements came in." she tossed a small container at me. The pills rattled as they fell into my lap.

"These make me sick. I've been without them for a few months and I feel better than I ever did when I was taking them," I protested, disgusted at just the sight of the bottle. They had been a constant, weekly companion since I was very young and I had had them for so long I no longer knew what they were for.

"She doesn't need these anymore, they obviously aren't working," Holly interjected hotly.

"Keiko, take one pill a week please." Then my mother turned to Holly, "Take care of her and call me if you notice anything."

Neither Holly nor I said anything as my mother left.

***Next update at 14 votes! What do you think of Ajax? What do you think of Keiko's mom?***