Elsa's Gift - Episode 3

Novella Thursdays

‘Dr. Takamatsu comes to check us out once a week,’ Rhani told Elsa, the two seated alongside Vicki, Josephine and Mimi while waiting their turn to be seen. ‘They just want to make sure we’re staying in good health.’

The nearby door opened and out came Maria with Meg at her back. Elsa was next.

She couldn’t have felt more awkward, lying flat on her back as this stranger used his fingers to feel around her most private of parts.

‘I’m going to need to know your sexual history,’ Dr. Takamatsu stated.

‘I-’ Elsa whispered with only breath, no vocals. Her throat was empty, and she had to dig deep for the words to reply. ‘I have none.’

‘And you don’t drink or smoke, correct?’

‘Correct.’

Dr. Takamatsu sat up from between her legs in a routinely manner, sliding off his gloves and gliding over to her chart in the office chair he sat in.

‘Great. Just make sure you continue to take those vitamins and I’ll see you next week.’

Following their examinations the girls were led back to the front of the house where they came upon Maria being escorted to the front door, Ken and a butler at her back with her luggage.

‘Maria’s leaving?’ Elsa asked.

‘She’s been promoted,’ Meg replied. ‘She’ll be staying at a different unit on the estate.’

Changing the subject Meg then turned to her. ‘There’s something I didn’t tell you about this job. We like to give our girls a little initiation.’

---

The afternoon was spent in beauty salons, boutiques and department stores, the girls giving Elsa her official makeover while picking up a few new items for themselves as well. All paid for by company plastic.

Taking a break from their day of shopping the young women casually strolled through a park while eating a few traditional Japanese snacks from nearby vendors.

The girls stopped to admire an array of flowers, Meg receiving a call on her cellphone soon thereafter and stepping a few feet away to take it in private.

‘These are pretty,’ Vicki said as she stroked a tulip. ‘How about you, Mimi? Which ones are your favorite?’

‘I’ve always liked camellias’ she softly answered, gently running her hand over a few. ‘They were my mother’s favorite too.’

Elsa and Josephine rounded the corner of the flowerbed to take in more, leaving the sight of the others as they were now on the opposite side of the fountain that stood in the center.

Elsa noticed a small post office across the street. ‘Oh, a post office.

“Josephine, can you tell Meg I’ll be right back. I have a letter I want to mail to my family.’

‘But-’

Before Josephine could say anything else Elsa had already started across the street.

Inside, Elsa looked over the foreign stamps before applying them to her letter, and before leaving braved to try out some Japanese on the clerk. ‘Domo arigato.’

As soon as she exited the post office she was startled by a sudden grab around her forearm and looked up to find Meg staring back at her with fierce eyes.

‘Was I not clear to you earlier?! We are never to leave the group when we are out. Ever!’

Shocked, Elsa could hardly find the words to reply. ‘I’m sorry. I was just-’

‘Don’t let it happen again!’

The company vehicle pulled up, Ken in the driver’s seat and Uijo, another member of the security team, jumping out and opening the back door for Meg and Elsa to join the others.

---

Alone and upset Elsa sat at a fountain in one of Fujimoto’s many gardens, watching petals from a cherry blossom stream along the surface of constantly flowing water.

She had never been in any danger she thought to herself, as Ken and his colleague had been monitoring everyone from their SUV. So why had Meg overreacted? She couldn’t find a reason, and felt hurt that the woman she had thought of as a mentor could so easily display such an ugly side.

Ken quietly approached.

‘A few of your associates are going swimming. Care to join them?’ She didn’t feel like talking, and only shook her head to say No.

Keeping a respectable distance Ken put his hands in his pockets and tilted his head down a bit, giving her a more compassionate version of himself as he shared some personal philosophy.

‘You know, in the ancient times of Japan they used to have this saying. Shikin haramitsu daikomyo, which has two meanings.

‘One, that no matter what you come across in life, no matter how small or mundane, it could be the one thing that opens your eyes to universal truth. To enlightenment.

“And second, it’s up to us whether we choose to perceive things in a negative light. For example, if someone were shot dead, one might perceive this as negative. But what if, instead of their life being taken from them in a matter of seconds, that same person had brain cancer, and died a slow and painful death?

The first death doesn’t seem that bad now, does it?’

What might have been seen as a morbid example to some, Elsa could appreciate the truth in what Ken had explained, her expression showing such as their eyes met, with him leaving her with a smile as he turned to walk away.

---

Elsa’s four associates had put on their best, as had she, in anticipation for Mr. Fujimoto’s arrival. And not that long after taking their seats around the dinner table he graced them with his presence, Meg entering the dining hall with him as maids and servers bowed.

Sharply dressed and manicured he wore the age of sixty well. He was heading straight for Elsa, but before she could stand…