CAUGHT

SIXTEEN

Clar spent the night tossing and turning. She couldn't sleep with her mind full of thoughts and questions about her life and current predicament. When she finally caught a wink of sleep, May woke her with a bright and jolly face.

Showing Clar her board the first thing she opened her eyes. She had to push back from the blurry words in black for a proper view.

'We can go out. Pick any place you want to go. I'll be your tour guide.'

Clar smiled at the offer.

She had already visited the places she wanted to visit. The day she met Antonio in the club was her way of saying goodbye to the city. Yes, she was going to sleep with a stranger. Of her preference and one who was willing.

Clar thought about places they could visit. She was in need of a break from the condemning walls of the house. Constantly bombarded with the idea the house had cameras. What if Antonio saw what happened with his sister and her the previous night? How would he take it and what would he do?

They could be so close to each other. Anything Raksana said would be 20 feet above what she had to say. She wasn't one to judge people quickly but Raksana... She rubbed her the wrong way. Her forcefully kissing her was a bold and disgusting move.

Did Antonio and her share their women?

May placed a hand on her shoulder and she brought her gaze to May's, confused then remembered her question and sat up.

"I don't want to walk too much. You pick a place." Clar suggested.

'You okay?'

May signed, observing her.

" I'm okay. Have a lot on my mind." Clar politely disregarded her concern. Pushed the covers off her legs and headed to the bathroom to freshen up.

Once done, they both had breakfast together. Clar absent-minded. Glancing around the corners of the walls as she ate her food, searching for a speck of red light. Any indication of a camera. Her thoughts run forward retracing her steps, relying on her memory of the rooms she had been in.

She stood up deciding she needed to scan the library and hall for herself. She needed to know. Right then.

She limped out of the kitchen and across the entry to the hall, keenly observing.

Nothing.

No blinking red light.

She entered the library and turned on all the lights, including the reading lamps, she didn't want to miss anything.

Nothing as well.

She slumped into one of the seats, her arm over her eyes both worried and anxious.

If the cameras were staring at her and she was blind to them, she didn't know and that disturbed her. Yes maybe he got to know about her trying to escape and wondering about the house from the house help, one would say. But Yesterday, his statement was

"I wasn't surprised seeing that."

Clar trusted her English.

He said 'seeing'

He could have phrased it that way yet he was told about it. There were people like that. Speaking a certain way and meaning it the other way around. She was one of them.

In Antonio's case, the little she knew about him, he spoke it as it was.

He said 'seeing', which meant he saw her.

Were the cameras stationed outside and not inside? Clar stood up about to check for herself and saw May standing by the entrance.

"May-" Clar stopped when May rose her hand, silencing her. She got out her board and wrote down on it.