Laura smiled at the slavegirls kneeling under the neon sign of Pompeii's Café, the favorite hangout of her master and the other slave-owners. They smiled back at her. None of them said anything. An exchange of smile was all the greeting the slavegirls were allowed among themselves.
       All the girls were naked, like Laura herself. Some of them were shackled or bound. Others were not restrained save for the collars and chains on their necks, but they also rigidly crossed their wrists behind their backs, as if held by their masters' magic spell.
       Laura walked to the end of the row and dropped on her knees. Sitting on her heels, she threw out her chest and knelt with the grace of a Greek statue, while her master locked the chain on her collar to a ring in the wall and disappeared into the café.
       Her arms and hands were tied tightly behind her back, so tightly that it was beginning to hurt. But she had decided not to complain. Her master was not in a very good mood that day. In fact, just before they left home he had whipped her severely for some extremely trivial mistake. Her back and breasts were still burning from the pain.

       The street was crowded as usual. A constant flow of legs and feet moved to and fro before Laura's eyes. Some of them stopped in front of her. Then there would be a hand touching her at different places on her body, and maybe even a few flirting words. But over the last few years, Laura had learnt to simply ignore them. The armed security guards standing by the entrance of the café were her insurance that these passing menaces would not mean any serious trouble.
       A pair of young lovers appeared around the corner, and Laura could not resist the instinct to glance at them a few times. The young man, rather gloomy-looking in his dark grey overcoat, did not attract much of her attention initially. But his girlfriend, a cheerful little blonde wearing a bright red and white ski jacket, tight-fitting blue jeans and a pair of white leather boots, who walked in a way of dancing and talked in a way of singing, reminded Laura very much of herself before that fateful day in the slave market.
       The girl stopped in front of each of the slavegirls and giggled brief remarks about them, like an art critic appraising artworks on an exhibition, while her boyfriend hemmed single syllables from his nose either in agreement or disagreement. Vaguely, Laura found his voice somewhat familiar.
       The white leather boots danced over to Laura, and the girl exclaimed in a raised voice: "Oh look! This one has all the elements of a Degas!"
       "You got it, darling. She's a real piece of art," the young man finally spoke.
       Immediately, Laura realized whose voice she was hearing. On an uncontrollable impulse, she raised her head and called out: "Eddy!"

       Laura felt like in a dream. Towering over her pitiable kneeling figure was indeed her younger brother Eddy.
       Eddy was the only family she had in the world. Orphaned at an early age, she practically raised him by herself, although she was only a year older. Having always demonstrated a strong talent in art, Eddy aspired to go to an art school in Paris. Five year before, when he graduated from high school, Laura withdrew from her own college education to work as a waitress in order to help him raise the money. A few months later, when it became painfully clear to her that they would never be able to save enough money with the kind of jobs they could find, she made an ultimate self-sacrifice for Eddy: she went to a slave dealer and signed up for an upcoming auction, designating her brother as the sole beneficiary of the proceeds from her sale.
       The evening before she was taken away to the auction, Laura and Eddy locked each other in their arms and cried well into the night. The next morning, the men sent by the slave dealer had to literally tear her away from Eddy's arms. In the van driving down the road, Laura saw her brother running frantically after it, and she hit the barred windshield until her hands began to bleed. Eddy's distorted voice had been echoing in her mind ever since then: "Laura! Laura! I'll come and get you out as soon as I return! ..."

       It seemed as if it had happened only the day before, but in reality Laura had not seen or even heard from Eddy for well over four years. She knew Eddy should be back from Paris by now, and she had been praying day and night that he would come to her the very next minute. And now when her dearest brother suddenly appeared before her eyes like a miracle, Laura could not contain herself. Looking up at Eddy, her whole body was shaking violently, and her eyes were filled with hope and relief.
       A complex expression flew over Eddy's face. He had obviously recognized his loving sister, too. He stepped forward to her, but stopped instantly. Instead of throwing himself down to her and relieving her of her bondage as Laura expected, he stood motionlessly, mouth half open and eyes staring blankly beyond her, as if stricken by a lightning.
       The little blonde looked up and down between Eddy and Laura, and asked him curiously: "You know each other?"
       "Huh, what? Oh no, no, not really. I don't think so." Eddy seemed to have finally gathered himself together. He turned to his hapless sister, and asked: "How do you know my name, slavegirl? What do you want from me?"
       "Eddy..." Now it was Laura who felt like stricken by a lightning.
       "What? Do I know you?"
       The cruel question came upon Laura like a dagger piercing through her heart. She let her chin sink to her chest, leaned back against the wall, and breathed deeply.
       "You have forgotten, Ed...Master Eddy," after a long while, Laura managed to say in a small voice, without raising her head. "My master used to be your next-door neighbor...and I used to help you with your housework when you were young..."
       "Ah, I see," Eddy quickly played along. "Now I remember--Laura, right?"
       "Yes, Master Eddy..." Laura felt as if something heavy had been stuffed in her throat.
       "It's been a long time, Laura. How have you been?"
       "I'm fine...I guess. Thank you, Master Eddy."
       "Where's your master, Mr., eh..."
       "Mr. Scheibenberg, Master Eddy. He's in the café. I have a message for you from him." In her shocked state of mind, Laura did not realize the illogicality in her words.
       "Oh? What's the message?"
       "My master wishes you all the best in you career, and in your life, Master Eddy."
       "That's...very kind of him," Eddy said after a long pause. "Please thank him for me, Laura."
       "I will, Master Eddy."
       Both of them fell silent. They stared at each other for a time without saying anything.
       Finally, Eddy's girlfriend broke the awkward silence. "I don't want to interrupt your little reunion, Eddy," she whispered, "but I think it's time for us to get back to the airport now. I don't want my parents to start worrying."
       "Hm," Eddy replied, and slowly turned away from Laura like a dream-walker. Then abruptly he turned back to her and asked: "Laura, is your master treating you well?"
       "Yes, Master Eddy, very well." Tears streamed down from Laura's eyes.
       "Good...now take good care of yourself, OK?" With those words, he walked away quickly.
       "Hey, wait for me!" The little blonde bounced along after him, while waving to Laura. "Bye-bye, Laura!"
       "Why do I have the feeling that you knew each other much better than just neighbors?" Laura heard her asking Eddy teasingly once she caught up with him.
       "Oh, just those silly childhood things. You don't want to know."
       "Yes I do! Tell me!"
       "Nah. Leave me alone."
       "No, I won't, till you tell me. Tell me tell me tell me..."
       They disappeared into the crowd.

       Laura spent the rest of the evening crying to herself. The other slavegirls watched her with great sympathy. Some even accompanied her in tears, but none of them said anything.
       The security guards standing around also looked at Laura sympathetically.
       "Poor thing," said one of them. "Must have had a crush on that little brat."
       "Hopeless," another guard commented. "That's why I always tell these girls: never get wrapped up in those silly romances."
       Laura just cried.

       Laura's master was astonished to see her tear-covered face when he came out of the café.
       "What's wrong, Laura?" He squatted down to wipe her face with his silk handkerchief and caress her bruised shoulders. "Did I beat you too hard this evening?"
       "No, my lord...not at all," Laura threw herself into his broad chest and cried like a child.
       "Please...my lord," she murmured between sobs, "please whip me again...whip me right now, my lord. I want it...and whip me harder than ever..."