Sunset Rising

She stared at us for a moment.

“You can ask her yourself.”

“Hurry up and get in line. You need to be back in that room in twenty minutes.”

Relieved, Summer and I hurried to join the lineup of girls by the door. We were the last to arrive. Our supervisor led us to a room where the rest of the girls were in various states of dress. Some were getting their hair done up, others having makeup applied.

A young woman took me by the arm as soon as I walked in. “I have just the dress for that hair.”

Someone else led Summer away in the opposite direction.

The woman with me picked up a floor-length emerald strapless dress. She motioned for me to get undressed. Once I had, she slipped the silky gown over my head. The bodice was too big for me, so she pi

She laughed. “At least I won’t need to hem it.”

I looked down. The hem of the dress hovered above my ankles.

She tapped her teeth with one fingernail as she stared at my feet. “With the right shoes…”

She left me for a few moments and then came back with a pair of sparkly high heels.

“They’re not too high—we don’t want you towering over all the men! But it will make the dress look like it’s been shortened deliberately to show off the shoes.”

I strapped the shoes on my feet and tried to stand up. I had seen women in the movies wear heels, and I tried to walk like they did. Satisfied with my outfit, the woman told me to go to the hairdressing station. I practiced walking in my high heels on my way there and almost twisted my ankle.

“Your hair is absolutely gorgeous!” the hairdresser said as she took the elastic out and let my hair fall down my back. “I’m tempted to leave it just the way is.” She pulled it this way and that. “Just a few curls to frame your face, I think.”

She took a hot curling iron from a holder and twirled locks of my hair around it. “There. You’re going to have a lot of suitors tonight.”

She sent me on my way to makeup.

The makeup artist examined my face carefully. “Let’s see.” She picked up a pair of tweezers and began plucking my eyebrows. It hurt. A lot.

“Sorry, hon. Normally I’d do this with wax all at once, but it would leave welts that wouldn’t have time to heal.”

Once she’d applied my makeup, I hardly recognized myself in the mirror.

Dressed and painted, I was ready to go back to the dining room. I didn’t see Summer anywhere, and I was relieved. I hoped she was on her way home.

I joined a small group of girls gathered at the door. None of them looked very excited to be there, although I could easily tell the newbies from the girls who had been there before. I wondered if the fear I was feeling was written all over my face, too. Although Leisel frightened me, I held out hope that she hadn’t changed her mind. An evening with her seemed less frightening right now than what else might be in store for me.

Someone led us back to the dining room, and it looked just as we’d left it. The tables were clear and the candles still flickering. A few girls, still in white uniforms, circulated with a bottle of wine in each hand. I looked around, wondering if Leisel was still there. Maybe she would come and get me herself.

But it wasn’t Leisel I saw. All dressed up in pink with an old man falling all over her, was Summer. She looked absolutely terrified.

Chapter Four

An old man stumbled toward me. “Now you, my dear, are worth the cost of a drink.”

The little hair he had left on his head had gone completely grey, and he had a big round tummy. This was the closest I had ever been to an old person since there were none in the Pit. His breath stank of food and wine. He handed me a glass of wine, and I accepted because I didn’t know what else to do. I was pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone I was waiting for Jack Ke

“Haven’t seen you here before. Where’ve you been hiding? Down there in that Pit? No place for a beautiful woman.” He slurred his words.

He snaked one of his flabby hands out toward me and unsteadily pulled me closer to him. It took all of my will power not to scream. I was taller than him, and he leaned his head against my neck. His hot, putrid breath tickled me. He slid his head lower, trying to lay his cheek on my breasts.

A young man walked up to us. I prayed it was Jack Ke

“Jack, you little devil.” Wilson released his hold on me.

Relief flooded through me at the mention of his name.

Wilson grabbed onto Jack’s arm to steady himself. “Don’t worry, son. You’ll be married soon enough, and then you’ll know what I’m doing with this young lady.” He tried to wink at Jack, but it looked more like a blink.

“I think this young lady might be too much woman for you, Wilson. You couldn’t kiss her if you stood on your tiptoes.” Jack laughed.

“It’s not kissing I’m hoping for tonight!” Wilson said, elbowing Jack in the side.

Jack looked at me for the first time and appraised me from top to bottom and back up again. “You have good taste, old man, I’ll give you that. She’s the prettiest girl here. In fact, I think I’ll take her off your hands.”

“Wait a minute!” Wilson waved an unsteady finger at Jack. “I found her first.”

“Yeah, but I’m the guest of honor. So I get first pick.”

Wilson tried to straighten himself up, but he was still unsteady on his feet. “‘Course you are, Jack. She’s all yours.”

Wilson took back the glass of wine he had given me and stumbled away in search of another girl. Jack watched him go and then stepped so close to me that we were only a few inches apart. My high heels made us about the same height. His tilted his head toward mine, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I thought he was here to save me from all of this.

“You’re Su

He stared at me with those intense blue eyes that I had seen so many times on television over the past few months. He was about to marry the president’s daughter. He would be president himself one day. That made him a very important person. I felt so intimidated, but I managed to nod.

“Leisel asked me to come find you. I’ll take you back to my apartment.”

I was relieved and anxious all at the same time. Leisel was going through with her plan after all.

But I was still worried about Summer. I tried to look over Jack’s shoulder discreetly to see where she was. I didn’t want to leave her alone.

“Unless you didn’t want to go back to my apartment? Maybe there’s someone who caught your eye?”

“Your fiancée said my friend could go home for the night, but I saw her here,” I said, risking the possibility of being punished. Would he think I was out of line?

“I forgot. She told me to put in a request for… Spring, is it?”

“Summer.”

“Yeah, Summer. Leisel told me to put her with old Forbes. He’s drunk and harmless. He’ll fall asleep at a table, and she’ll be sent home. Until then, she can stay and enjoy the party.”

I finally spotted Summer. Wilson was competing for her now. By the look on her face, she wasn’t enjoying the party at all.

“The president has already left and everyone is waiting for me to clear out,” Jack said as he extended his elbow toward me. “Come on. No one can leave until the guest of honor does.”

“Okay.”

What choice did I have? I wanted to catch Summer’s eye before I left, but Wilson was blocking my view. Jack was still holding his elbow out toward me, and I wasn’t sure why. Finally he picked up my hand and tucked it under his elbow. I was surprised he had expected me to do that—to touch him. My shock must have shown on my face because he gave me a questioning look. I realized my mouth was hanging open, and I closed it.