No-LIMIT-Rooms 07 English

"It's a good thing I'm meeting you today so you don't have to come over tomorrow. The show with Hal is on. And it's already sold out!" she opened with a serious face.

I stared at her in surprise.

"Oh, that's good news!"

She shook her head.

"No. You only have one audience! Morozov!"

My head spun around.

Confused, I looked at Diana.

Diana looked serious, "I have a bad feeling and would recommend you to cancel the show right now. If you want, I can also cite technical problems as the reason."

"Will he be all alone?"

Diana shrugged.

"He bought the show. If he wants to bring guests, that's his business. He knows the rules about secrecy, after all, he made them."

I thought for a few minutes.

"I'm going to do the show anyway. At least I will not cancel it because of this. But there is another problem, which is why I wanted to talk to you tomorrow."

Diana looked at me intently.

"What kind of problem?"

"I was called by my real name on my show and threatened!"

Diana's face darkened.

"Did you spill the beans? Revealed anything about yourself?"

I shook my head. "No, of course not. I'm not a newbie, after all. But I think it's a shot in the dark. The mafia knows what I used to do for a living and now they approach all similar looking camgirls. But even if they identified me now, they still wouldn't know my current name or where I live. The site is safe, right?"

She stared at me for a few minutes, her expression pensive, then nodded.

"Yes. You can't be found through this site. It doesn't even have this address here. Like the rooms, it runs on foreign servers. You could be anywhere in the world. But what if they actually found you and not through the site?"

"I've thought about that, too. But they don't threaten. They would have shown up here a long time ago and taken me away."

"Probably," she agreed. "But I'll let Security know. Tell them to keep an eye out. Without their knowing the reason, of course."

"Thank you."

"I'm not doing this for you, Johanna, just so we're clear. This is primarily for the safety of everyone in the house. You are a risk that I personally would like to see removed. For several reasons, your enemies as well as your friends!"

She stepped out of the pool, dried off, slipped into her robe, and turned back to me.

"You have until the day after tomorrow to cancel the show. Think about it! Good night!"

"I will, thank you! Good night, Mistress Diana!"

Without further ado, she left the room.

Sighing, I sat back, closed my eyes and tried to relax.

"Well, that was an interesting talk. Somehow I knew there must be something special about you!"

The British accent gave Alice away before I even opened my eyes. She was standing by the pool in her robe, holding a wet bathing suit. She seemed to have been in the shower stall when I walked in. Funny, I hadn't heard a shower.

"It's rude to eavesdrop, you know that, right?" My tone was rather bored. "But what exactly did you hear?"

"Your entire conversation. You seem to be in trouble with the mob."

"Everyone here has their secrets and reasons for being here, right?"

"But you seem to have connections or you wouldn't be here already, if I understood Diana's words correctly."

Sighing, I looked into Alice's pale blue eyes.

"What do you want?"

She shrugged, sliding the robe down and joining me in the water.

"Nothing, just curious."

"And in such a way that you didn't come out of your shower stall for minutes, you didn't even dare to come out when you saw Diana in the hot tub. Your hair was almost dry. How long did you hide from her there?"

"Trapped! Yes, you're right. I'm in trouble. Not necessarily with Diana, but I don't want to face her right now."

"Jelena?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Did she break up with you?"

"I screwed up!"

Now I started to listen. Not that I didn't have enough problems of my own to worry about. But I wanted to do a show with Alice the day after tomorrow. If she flew before then, it would hardly work.

"Very badly?"

"Let's just say I could really use an advocate who would put in a good word for me and who also had some power."

"Well, I'm afraid I'm the wrong one. Make up with Rebecca. She would be the right one."

"So you won't help me?"

"I can't. It would probably hurt you more if I interfered."

"I think you're lying. Please think again."

"I don't even have a friend in the house right now, except for Isabell. And she's mad at me right now. So there's nothing to think about."

"Too bad. Then we won't be friends. But I hope we can still do the show together. At least wish me luck!"

"I wish you all the best, Alice. But you must believe me: I can't help you!"

Wordlessly, she stepped out of the pool and grabbed her robe. After putting it on, she took mine off the hook.

"Do you want to get out too?"

I hesitated for a second, then nodded in agreement and got up to go out. She threw the robe at me. It landed in the water before I could grab it.

"Oops, sorry! Have a good evening Johanna, Kumiho, whoever or whatever you are. See you Saturday!"

She picked up her swimsuit and left.

I angrily threw my wet robe out of the pool and flopped back down. For a moment I was tempted to kick her out of the show, but it was too late for that. Who else was I going to get to replace her until the day after tomorrow?

She hadn't said what kind of mess she'd made. Would she be fired immediately? Would she be fired this week? Then my show wouldn't blow up, but the script wouldn't fit anymore.

I had to talk to Isabell about it.

Still, I noticed how the warm water and the massage jets did wonders for my cramped muscles. I should make an appointment for a massage as well. Urgently.

'When I returned to my apartment later, wrapped in a bath towel with the soaking wet robe over my arm, I found it deserted. There was a note on the table saying that Isabell wanted to spend the night in her apartment.

Annoyed, I swept the note off the table, threw the robe in the dryer, and then went to bed, where I continued to think about the day.

The arrival of a message on the pad jolted me out of my thoughts. The sender was Alice. I hesitated for a moment to call her, but overcame myself.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean it! I'm really desperate! Can we talk again? Please,' she wrote to me.

Sighing, I typed, 'Whatever. But not today. When is tomorrow convenient for you?

The reply came promptly: '10 o'clock, I come to you?'

Agreed.

There were more messages in the inbox. From Diana, who told me that the Hal show was on the 28th, from Thomas, who wanted to discuss the script again, and a message from Rebecca.

Hi Johanna, I see you are training hard. That makes me happy. I just wanted to let you know: I'm keeping an eye on you from here too! See you soon!'

I angrily threw the notepad back on the bedside table. Couldn't everyone just leave me alone?

55 Friday the 13th

As soon as I woke up, I called Isabell, but she pushed me away. Starting to get really annoyed with her moods, I got ready and ate breakfast alone. Listlessly, I completed my jogging workout and returned just in time to find Alice at my door. I had completely forgotten about her. I quickly examined her and her outfit: a bit sloppy, a bag bulging out of her tracksuit, as if something heavy was stuck in it, probably her cell phone.

"Oh, hi, come on in. I'll just freshen up and then we can talk."

She nodded gratefully and came in behind me.

"You spend a lot of time to your pony training, don't you?" she inquired once we were inside the apartment. I looked confused. Why did she keep bringing it up?

"I must have."

"Oh, okay."

"Can I offer you something, tea?"

She nodded, and I put the kettle on.

When the water started to boil, I struggled out of my boots.

"Looks uncomfortable."

"It works. I'm getting used to them. But they're definitely not jogging shoes."

She nodded in understanding.

"Where's Isabell?" she changed the subject.

"Busy."

Meanwhile, the tea was ready and I came to the table with cups and the pot.

"I'll just be a moment."

"Don't bother, your outfit doesn't bother me."

Shrugging, I sat down.

She seemed to be thinking about how to start.

"So, what about you and Jelena?", I tried to start.

Relieved, she nodded.

"We were together. For a few months."

I waited, sipping my tea and burning my tongue a little. So I blew out the cup and looked at her.

"It was after your first show that we got into a fight. Because of you!"

"Because of me?" Surprised, I lowered the cup.

"I told her she totally overreacted when she hit you."

"Oh," was all I could think of. It all seemed so long ago, so unimportant. But it was only a few weeks ago.

"After that, we argued a lot. For other reasons."

Alice began to annoy me with her halting account. I told her to get to the point.

"I used to have a little drug problem."

If I had ten euros for every time I heard that sentence, I probably wouldn't still be sitting here. But I remained silent.

Sighing, she finally came clean: "I fell off the wagon and Jelena caught me!"

This was no big surprise after the introduction.

"That sucks," I nodded. "But what can I do about it? As I'm sure you've noticed, Jelena and I are still not friends. Nor do I see how we could ever be."

"But you seem to have influence over Rebecca. She covers for you, is in love with you!"

I had to laugh out loud.

"Rebecca? In love with me? Where do you get this nonsense?"

"Jelena told me."

"What nonsense! Rebecca is not in love with me," I insisted.

Alice shrugged.

"Then why did she give you a kimono worth 1,000 euros?"

I opened my eyes in surprise.

"Excuse me?"

"Your kimono, with the kumiho on it, cost 1,000 euros!"

"You're crazy!"

Alice shrugged.

"Do you think it was in her wardrobe? She had it flown in while you were still in the hospital."

"Where...?" I started, but then I remembered.

"You're just making that up after seeing this, aren't you?"

Alice shook her head.

"Jelena told me!"

"Did Rebecca tell her that she loved me too?"

"Jelena had accused her of it, and Rebecca didn't deny it."

Slowly I shook my head. The woman had almost killed me in cold blood. It seemed completely impossible to me that she was capable of anything like love. Desire, yes, that was possible. But love? Well, whatever I felt for Rebecca, it certainly wasn't love. And was Alice credible at all? Would Jelena undermine Rebecca like this to what was probably only a temporary lover? Jelena adored Rebecca, as far as I knew. But of course, she could have been blabbing. I didn't know her well enough to judge that.

"Jelena is wrong: Rebecca does not love me, I can assure you. We have a complicated, well, uh, cooperation, yes. But not a relationship!"

Alice nodded at my pony boots.

"That's part of the collaboration, I suppose? So how often do you lick Rebecca's cunt?"

I was about to snap, but then I thought better of it.

"Rebecca's not here at all. And probably not for several weeks," I evaded instead.

"Another thing not everyone knows. Just you, Diana, Jelena and Isabell, who was Rebecca's lapdog and cunt licker before you came."

"Alice, what am I supposed to do now?" I was already boiling inside.

"Like I said, put in a good word for me. And none of your old acquaintances will know that you live here now."

Now the cat was out of the bag. Blatant blackmail. Never trust a drug addict! But I had expected something like this when I saw Alice standing in front of my door. She struck me as more arrogant than contrite.

With a jerk, I jumped up and went to the phone.

"Who are you calling?"

I remained silent and dialed Diana's number.

Alice's tone became more urgent, "Who are you calling?"

Diana reported.

"Hello Mistress Diana, this is Johanna. We have another problem!"

Alice was standing next to me in a flash and snatched the phone from my hand. Hectically she pressed the button to end the call.

Suddenly she had a switchblade in her hand, the heavy object from her pants pocket. Now it was getting serious.

"What are you doing?" she snapped at me.

"Alice, I'm only going to tell you this once: whatever you've heard, if you blurt it out, there will be consequences for you that you can't even imagine. Have you ever heard of the missing women around here?"

A crack appeared in Alice's confident facade. It was as if I had deflated her.

"What do you mean?"

"You've already taken the first step in that direction, one more step and you're part of it!"

Obviously, she was not part of the inner circle, she only knew the house rumors. Now that I had scared her, I also had to offer her a way out so that she wouldn't attack me right away.

"Fine, I'll help you!"

Alice's face showed both surprise and suspicion.

"We'll call Diana together now."

"What the fuck? No!"

"Do you want me to help you or not?"

The phone rang, she almost dropped it in shock.

"Give me the phone, Alice!"

She pressed it against her, took a step back and raised the knife.

I sighed exaggeratedly.

"That will be Diana. If I don't answer it now, security will be at the door in two minutes and I won't be able to do anything for you," I bluffed.

Now there was pure panic in her eyes.

"Alice, I'm counting to three! One, two..."

With a jerky movement she handed it to me. She was a sub, through and through.

It was Diana. I turned it up loud so Alice could hear what I was saying to Diana.

"What's going on? Why do you hang up on me and then don't pick up when I call back?"

"Sorry, I dropped the phone on the floor and the batteries fell out."

"Ah, okay. But what did you want to see me about, what are the new problems?"

Damn, what was I supposed to say?

"Uh, about security, when they don't know exactly who or what to look out for, or which camera to turn on?"

"What do you mean?" Diana sounded confused.

"Well, if they come in somewhere else, it's not like the surveillance is seamless, or in every apartment."

There was silence on the phone for a moment.

"Don't you trust me to keep you safe?" Diana's tone lurked.

"Yes, of course, it just popped into my head. Sorry!"

"Good, because I have everything arranged. No one else gets in or out of here unless I want them to. Do you understand?"

Now I had to swallow.

"Yes, absolutely, Mistress Diana!"

"Well, what about the show, are you canceling it?"

I hadn't talked to Isabell about it yet. Damn, Alice had messed everything up.

"I'm still thinking about it."

"Well, let me know your decision tomorrow. Bye!"

She hung up before I could say anything.

"So, did that sound like I had something to say here?" I asked Alice.

She shook her head slowly.

"I'm going to tell you the truth right now: I'm a prisoner here!"

"Bullshit!"

"I'm serious: I can't just leave. I owe Rebecca!"

Alice's face showed absolute disbelief.

With a shrug, I walked past her and sat back down at the table. Ignoring her completely, I finished my cup. My tea was cold by now and no longer tasted good to me. Disgusted, I set the empty cup down. Hesitantly, almost cautiously, she sat down across from me.

"If you think I have influence here, how does that conversation fit in? Didn't you hear me say, 'No one comes in or out of here without my permission! That was for me and Isabell. So you don't have anything to gain by blackmailing me. On the contrary, I have nothing to lose. If I get caught here, Rebecca will have to let me go, if only to protect the rooms.

This was only half true, and certainly did not concern my accommodation in the Circle Cellar, but that was another issue.

"So what kind of drugs, and to what extent?"

"Crack, occasionally."

The occasional probably meant no more than three or four times a day. Damn.

"So that's why you're out of the Rooms?"

She nodded.

"And it didn't occur to you that the only reason Jelena didn't kick you out right away was because she wants to see my show go down the drain? She hates me, you know that, right? When you throw a fit in a live show, that's it! You're fired, and I'm fired, too."

From the look on her face, she hadn't even thought of that idea.

"I can handle it, I really can!"

Damn, I desperately needed a replacement. Would Linda or Ronja be able to step in? No, nonsense, Diellza would still be an option. Hopefully she was still interested.

"I would believe that if you could take a break for the next two days without any withdrawal symptoms."

I doubted she could even last four hours, judging by her body language. Why hadn't I seen the signs during our conversation last week?

"I can do that, for sure."

"There would be a way for you to stay in the rooms. Parole, so to speak. You'd go through rehab, that's for sure, but you wouldn't get kicked out."

"And what?"

"Make up with Jelena. Show remorse, offer rehab. I don't see any other way."

Slowly she shook her head, trembling a little. Was that already withdrawal symptoms or fear of Jelena?

"Do you want to reconcile with Jelena at all?"

Now she nodded.

"Well, give me until tomorrow. I'll see what I can do to mediate. You realize that there is no way I can approach Jelena?"

Another hesitant nod.

"So I'm looking for a mediator. You won't tell Jelena that I'm involved, and I won't tell her what you told her about Rebecca. Also, you will stay clean until after our show!"

Again, surprise was on her face. She hadn't realized at all how explosive her revelations would be for herself as soon as Jelena or Rebecca found out about them.

"So, are we going to stay like this?"

She nodded hesitantly.

I nodded at her switchblade, still clenched in her hand.

"Then I guess you won't be needing this."

As if seeing it for the first time, she looked at the knife in her hand. Slowly, she raised her hand and folded the blade back with the other. As she did so, she managed an embarrassed smile. Inwardly, I breathed a sigh of relief. Now all I had to do was get her out the door.

"Would you like some more tea?"

"Uh, no, thank you."

"Then forgive me if I ask you to leave now. I have to get ready. I have another cam show coming up. Surely you do too?"

She looked as if the thought of doing a cam show in the apartment building had crossed her mind for the first time. How could I have been so blind? Could an addict fall apart like that in a week? No, not likely. She must have had an incredible grip on herself there. And why didn't Jelena react sooner?

"Uh, yeah, sure. Thank you. And, sorry about the knife!"

"Bygones. We'll talk tomorrow, after the show, okay?"

She stood up slowly and uncertainly. She still didn't know if she could trust me, but she didn't want to blow the chance. I could read her thoughts in her face. She chose what she thought was the safest option, walked slowly backwards to the door and waved goodbye like an anime girl. It couldn't have been more theatrical.

"Absolutely, thank you Johanna, see you tomorrow, bye!"

Still half facing me, she opened the door to keep an eye on me. That was her mistake.

The hands grabbed her, pulled her out of the door and threw her to the floor. So fast that she only screamed in fright when she was already out of the door. On the floor, a knee in her back crushed her lungs and she couldn't manage more than a groan. I knew all too well how fast and hard Aaron could grab. He nodded at me through the open door.

"Is everything okay Mrs. Blauert?"

"Everything's fine Aaron, thank you!"

Seconds later, Diana was also standing in the doorway.

"What kind of trouble have you started now?"

Seconds after Diana, Isabell appeared in the doorway of the room, pushed past her without apology and stormed into the room.