My Best Friend's Girlfriend Ch. 13

"I tried to go back."

"To Reyna?" I ask.

She nods. "Just now. I ran to her estate. She wouldn't open the door. Her servant, Anna, said Reyna doesn't want to see me again. She never takes back what she throws away. Then she slammed the door and wouldn't answer again."

Maria starts to cry. It's the first time I've seen her show any tenderness since coming home. It moves quickly, and it isn't long before she's sobbing in front of me.

"So, I tried, and I can't," hisses Maria between sobs. "I can't go back. I can't leave. I'm stuck with you."

***********

I park in front of Reyna's estate. My blood keeps pumping from my confrontation with Maria, and I feel it shaking my temples and warming my ears. I assumed Maria was planted by Reyna to fuck with us, and she accomplished that. I assumed that Reyna would take Maria back when she was satisfied to get what she wanted.

But to cast away Maria like she's nothing? To fuck with her life and mind and then discard her like chaff? No. Fuck this bitch. I'm glad I'm angry. I need the anger. Anger may make me stupid and reckless, but it also makes me brave. It will keep Reyna from distracting me or changing the subject or asking me that goddamn question. We all know the answer, so why is she pestering me with that stupid fucking question?

I knock on the front door and the slightly elder mousy woman, Anna I think was her name, answers in a maid's outfit. "Yes?"

"I need to see Reyna."

"Who, may I ask, is -"

"It's Sarah. She'll want to see me. Let me in."

"She's in a meeting right -"

"Let me the fuck in." I barrel past her and knock her on her ass. I walk past the grand staircase to my left and head to where I remember Reyna's dining room is. I hear voices, calm and measured ones. I round the corner and see Reyna in a stylish suit. She's wearing a suit jacket, a plain but formal white top with almost no neckline, and tight suit pants that accentuate how long her legs are. Her hair is a high and tight ponytail, and her face has minimal makeup except for a sexy cat's eye. At the table with her are two men. Not women. Not slaves. Two men in business suits with a bunch of binders and papers spread out across the table. They have tea in front of them, and Reyna is perfectly poised and sipping her tea when I walk in the room. She's already looking at me, as if she knew I was going to round the corner at that exact minute. The two businessmen stop mid-sentence as soon as I walk in and turn to stare at me.

"Can we help you?" one of them asks.

"No," says Reyna as she puts down her tea. "She's here for me." Reyna stands and offers a handshake to one of the gentlemen. "I think we are done here. Expect a call from my secretary this afternoon." The man stands, slightly confused, but obeys and shakes her hand. The other follows his lead, and they both pack up their things quickly and scamper out of the dining room.

Meanwhile, I stand like an idiot in the doorway, glaring at Reyna. "Would you like tea?" She asks and pours me a cup.

"I'm not here for tea." I try to sound tough. Try.

"Have some tea and take a seat. Don't be rude." Reyna gestures to an empty seat next to the steaming teacup. I obey and take my seat. She waits for me to sit until she seats herself. "This is about Maria." She takes another sip of tea.

"Yes."

"Try your tea."

"It's too hot."

"You need to calm down. Drink your tea." I obey and take a sip. It's delicious. I expect it to be bitter without any sugar, but it's fruity, orange flavored, and spicy all at once. I blow on it and take an even bigger sip. It's wonderful. "Thank you." I take a deep breath. I can't get distracted so easily. "Maria needs to -"

"She came to me earlier today. She ran here."

"She wants to come back."

"She can't come back."

"She doesn't want to stay with me."

"She can't come back here."

"Can't you control her and let her come back?"

"I never take back what I discard. I don't want her back. She is yours."

"She doesn't want me."

"That's not my problem."

"She's not happy."

"Then make her happy."

"Only you can make her happy." At this, Reyna smiles. "Please, Reyna, I don't know what else to do."

"Are you a slut or a goddess, Sarah?" The question. The damn question. It haunts me. I can feel the words on my breasts. June makes me a goddess. Reyna makes me a slut. Sandra and Maria know I'm neither. I don't know what I am. I can't answer her stupid question. Why does she need to know? Why do I need to say it? If she knows the answer, why can't she tell me?

"I don't know," I admit.

"If you are a goddess, take control of the situation."

"I don't know how to take control of her. She resists and rejects me."

"If you are a slut, give up control."

"But what about Maria? I can't giver her up. Can you please take her back? Please, Reyna."

"I don't want her. I only take what I want."

"I can't control her."

"Then give her up."

"Just release her into the world? Abandon her? She's my friend."

"It doesn't sound like she's your friend any longer."

"I can't abandon her."

"You care about her."

"Yes, don't you care about her? She served you for weeks."

"No."

Some combination of terror and arousal flood my body. If what she's saying is true, then Reyna is stronger than I thought. She doesn't need Maria. She doesn't need me. She doesn't need anyone. She's also heartless. I knew she was cruel and terrible, but I never knew how detached she was from her actions. We are playthings to her. I'm in the presence of something so deep and powerful that it doesn't care about anything but itself. It's pure power. I want to run in panic. I want to offer myself as her plaything. I want to scream at the top of my lungs. I want to moan and melt in ecstasy. "What do I do?"

"The men you just met, they are business partners of mine." Reyna rings a bell, and Anna appears around the corner with a stack of papers. "They deal in women."

"Like slavery?"

"Sex slavery. High-end prostitution. Clubs and millionaires all buy from them. They can buy Maria from you and sell her body, if that pleases you."

"What!?" I say with horror. This is not what I had in mind for Maria, not at all. She deserves to be happy. I want her to feel loved and desirable. I want her to be fulfilled and content. I can imagine her in some dark club or bar being forced to suck some strangers cock or dancing as a stripper or being sold on an auction block to some sadist who will torture her nipples until she bleeds.

But then again, she may like that ...

"She will be used, yes," says Reyna after sipping tea. "It may be disgusting to you and Western society, but this is what Maria wants. She was used by me. She wanted to be used by you. You are too kind. Too soft. Too weak. These gentlemen will sell her to people who will use her again. She will be fulfilled."

"I don't know what to do," I mutter. It's true. I'm damned if I do damned if I don't. That's the story of my life right now. I have to make all the decisions, and there are no right or good choices. Everything is lose-lose. On one hand is Maria's potential suffering. There is also her potential enjoyment. On the other hand is June and I's current suffering.

But at the end of the day, I have to make up my mind. I have to decide. It's all on me. Everyone is too damn submissive to make up their minds. Why can't someone take charge? Why does it have to be me? When it goes wrong, they'll all blame me. It can't go right, there is no upside. Maria will hate me forever or Maria will tear June and I apart. Then, June will hate me forever because I couldn't take control. I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. "I hate this," I mutter. I want to be free. I want to let this all go.

"Then give her up. She can go with these gentlemen, and they will make her happy. Stop trying to control everything, little Sarah. It destroys you. Give it up."

My eyes are hot and blurry. I know what I need to do, what has to be done, but I can't bring myself to do it. I can't destroy my friend. She was the whole reason I got into this mess. I went to war for her. Selling her is defeat.

Reyna slides a piece of paper to me. Clipped to the top is a picture of Maria. The paper seems to be some resume of Maria's skills and fetishes. It lists her as a sadist and a masochist. Reyna pulls back the page and shows a contract. One million dollars is what they will give me. All I have to do is sign the dotted line.

"If she doesn't want you, and she can't have me, this is her next best option." Reyna slides me the pen. "She can't have a normal job. She can't have a normal relationship. She won't be happy anywhere else." She's right. I know she's right. She's always right. This is what's best.

I take the pen in my hand. God, my hand is shaking. I take the pen and sign my name at the bottom line. My eyes flood with tears, and I push away the piece of paper. Reyna stands and pulls me to a stand. I cover my face with my hands and give an ugly sob. Reyna pulls me into an embrace.

"It's okay, little Sarah," she coos. "This is right." She strokes my hair, and I let myself go, crying onto her shoulder.

"What have I done?" I howl.

"The best you could," she says and pats my head, bringing me back to her shoulder. I don't know how long I stay there. I don't know how long she holds me. It feels like forever, but when I finally break away, the wound still feels fresh. I failed Maria.

"What do I do?" I ask, wiping the tears from my face.

"Go back to your life."

"What life?" I feel my temper flare. "You've taken everything from me."

"I could give you a life." I step away from her. This isn't Reyna, the comforter. This is Reyna, the huntress. "I could take away all those decisions and failures. All you have to do is answer my question." I try to take another step back, but Reyna grips my shoulder. I freeze and avert my eyes. This can't be it. I can't give up June after giving up Maria. I can't give in to Reyna now. I can't.

Reyna's short nails trace letters on my chest, just above my breasts. "Two simple words," says Reyna as she traces. "One perfect answer." I shiver from her touch, but more so, I shiver from her words. Slut. Goddess. The two words haunt me and follow me wherever I go. I don't know the answer. I don't know what to say. I don't know what I am. "Do you have an answer for me?"

"I don't know," I whisper.

"Then, go. Don't come back until you know." She lets go of my arm, and I waste no time getting away from her. At the entrance to the dining room, I pause. There's a question I never got answered; a question I need answered. "Yes?" asks Reyna when she sees me hesitate.

"You never pierced her nipples," I say to Reyna. "Maria. Why didn't you pierce her nipples?"

"I only pierce what is mine," says Reyna. She takes another sip of tea and sits down at the dining room table, pulling her paperwork in front of her.

"But she was yours."

"Maria was never mine. She's no prize. She was always bait for a bigger prize." Reyna looks up at me. Her amber eyes catch the light and flicker gold for a moment. Her lips spread, showing her predatory smile and teeth. "You, little Sarah, are the bigger prize."

I don't look back as I run out of her estate for the last time.

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