Being Barbi's Bitch

"Don't fret," she laughed, "there's always the drive home."

That seemed to break the ice a bit. The rest of the drive was a bit more casual, although Barbi still didn't give much away about herself. She was very, very good and controlling a conversation to the point where you had no idea just how well she had manipulated you until much later. Of course, as I hoped to explore for myself soon, I knew that conversations were not the only thing she was good at controlling.

A half hour later we found ourselves entering the city. Using my credit card, she had already made reservations for the honeymoon suite in one of the swankiest hotels for a hundred miles around. With her generous offer to have me pay for the privilege, they were more than happy to hold it for a late check-in.

"Turn here, bitch, and pull over behind that dumpster."

I had no idea where we were, but it looked sketchy. It looked like one of those dirty, dimly lit alleys you see on a CSI or Law & Order type show where some innocent civilian stumbles across a grossly disfigured body. It actually scared me to be there. Hopefully, whatever she had in mind wouldn't take long, or I was virtually certain we'd come back to the car to find it on blocks, with no doors, no seats, no stereo, and a body dumped in the back.

She popped the hatchback, took out my suitcase, and dumped my clothes in the ground. With no comment other than, "Come," she led me deeper into the alley. It was a good thing neither of us had slipped into heels yet, as we had to carefully navigate two trash-strewn, rickety flights of a well-used fire escape. "Let's hope they haven't changed the locks," she told me, "or you're going to be squeezing through a window."

As Barbi worked at it, she explained to me that the key was a quick copy she'd made several years ago, just in case she ever had the opportunity to use it again. One of her stripper friend of hers had used the original to let her in after hours for a video shoot back in the heydays of her site. I was pretty sure I knew which video she was talking about, and I was looking forward to seeing where it was filmed.