Imagine Being Loved By Me

Chapter 7

Though leaving with the General gave him access to the world and beyond, gave him training to refine his skills and increase them, and caused him to meet new friends - a brotherhood with Octan, the members of his fleet. What The Madam gave him no one has been able to surpass.

He never liked returning to the brothel or any other brothel, not even for informal meetings, but he had to admit that that’s where his life truly started. 

He could fit in anywhere and everywhere because he wasn’t just a professional thief and marauder. He had the social skills to wine and dine, to disarm the enemy without ever having to raise a weapon, and to get all the dirt on rival clans from their unsuspecting lovers all because The Madam taught him one of the most valuable skills when working in a brothel simply because, as she put it, “you have the face for it, kid”. 

The true art of seduction. 

It was something that could be done without ever having to remove an article of clothing. He never thought that skill would be used anywhere outside of a brothel until he found himself using it more and more at clan gatherings, negotiations, turf scrimmages and even just to get an extra slice of cake from the cook who traveled with his fleet on their ship The Event Horizon.

It was all thanks to her. 

When she died, he heard she was as graceful and strong as any other time. 

Her face painted up beautifully, with her best robes on and a smile on her face, they say she passed shamelessly. 

He didn’t go back to visit once he heard, choosing to maintain the distance he created between himself and the brothel. But once she was gone, there was nothing for him on Earth anymore, so he generally stayed away. Whenever he was assigned personal missions, he hoped they didn’t involve Earth. Sometimes he got his wish. With the assignment he had now, he didn’t. Not only was he back on Earth, but he was also only a little way from the city he grew up in.

He moved to pour the pot of soup into a bowl and placed it on the tray next to the cup of lukewarm water and lemon honey. He had crushed a few vitamins and sprinkled them in the soup with the hopes that it would restore the woman’s energy faster. 

Honestly, he thought as he gathered everything and made his way to her, the quicker she got on her feet the quicker he’d get through the paperwork.

When he entered the room, her eyes were already open and following his frame around. Her shoulders looked slightly tense, but not as they were before. 

He still remembered the first time she looked him in his eyes. He couldn’t say what she was thinking, really he could only speculate. Other than her blatant fear, it seemed to be the same expression most people had when they first lay their eyes on him. He’s been told how beautiful he was for years and years, even his own members tell him about his looks when it’s a general rule for Space Pirates to be attractive anyway. To him, all of the members of Octan were good-looking. 

And yet, his face shines brighter than most.

So, when her eyes landed on him, he was surprised to see that she didn’t just have the look of someone who had seen something they liked. It was almost as if she was looking at something she knew, something she could relate to.

He sat the tray down on the bedside table before turning to lift her up into a slouched, but upright position. At least he tried to get her as close to it as possible.

“This week we will try something different,” he started to explain, looking at her straight into her almond-shaped, muddy-colored eyes. “You need to eat more and you need more nutrients.”

He watched her swallow, already knowing that she would go to clear her throat next. She did it every time she wanted to say something, but in the end, she never would.

“If you have something to say, you should get it out. I’m not in the business of wasting time,” that might’ve been less than encouraging, but he needed her to know that one fact at least, if she hadn’t figured it out yet.

“I know,” she mumbled, voice scratchy. “I can tell.”

It was so weird. She looked like a trembling skeleton talking. Her teeth were much too big for her sunken cheeks and pointed chin. He snatched his eyes from her face and focused on stirring the soup instead.

“What’s your name?” As odd as it might sound, that was one question he wasn’t expecting her to ask. At least he wasn’t expecting her to lead with that.

It would be better to get introductions out of the way, he’d be able to finally put a name to her instead of referring to her as ‘the woman’, “Lieutenant Liam Hannan, Octan fleet of The Event Horizon serving under The Ruling Class Clan.”

Her eyes widened briefly before resettling, “You’re a Pirate.”

“What’s your name?” He didn’t bother to acknowledge a statement as true as that. She didn’t seem overly shocked to hear his introduction, maybe a little taken aback, but she recovered quickly enough.

“Phatima Sayeed,” she answered.

“Your clan?”

She cleared her throat again, “I don’t have a political clan. My heritage one is Ogaden of the Grass Plains Clan.” 

He hummed in acknowledgment, scooping some of the soup onto the spoon and lifting it toward her mouth. She accepted, her chapped lips sucking up the moisture from the dripping soup.

He gave her another spoonful before beginning to explain that he intended to feed her soup for this week so she’d get more nutrients. The soup was watery, therefore, easier for her to ingest. 

By the fourth spoon, she was slouching even more. It was so hard for her to hold herself up for long, but he knew she could eat more.

“Phatima, can you lift your head?” He watched as she lifted her eyes, but her head didn’t follow. It seemed to drop lower after she tried.

He put the bowl down and tilted her head back for her. He had to build the pillows around her body to keep her at a sitting angle without her having to use her own strength. After that, he was able to get her to finish the entire bowl of soup. Granted, it was only filled up halfway, but it was a lot more than he was expecting her to eat. She still had a cup of water to drink. 

He knew with this new method of feeding her, he’d probably have to get up in about three hours to take her to the toilet. Watery soup and water were a sure way to increase someone’s visits to the bathroom. 

But it was acceptable, he was willing to sacrifice if it meant getting her to a place where she could care for herself.

~

Phatima was surprised that she managed to finish the entire bowl of soup. It was oddly delicious though it had a weird taste at times. She was so thankful to be eating, but less thankful that it was at the hands of a Pirate. 

She knew he couldn’t be trusted, no one could be when she was in the predicament she found herself in. But to hear that he was working such a despicable job only made her opinion of him worse. Not only could he not be trusted, but now, she could barely tolerate the thought of respecting him.

She couldn’t understand how someone could choose an occupation where their job was to raid someone else’s home, pillage their town or city, steal everything and leave the rest destroyed. 

She remembered when she was living with her parents, a group of Space Pirates was spotted on the outskirts of her small village. She remembered her father hiding both her and her mother, saying that they were valuable. She didn’t understand what he meant then, but as she sat chained to the wall of a man’s bedroom, she knew exactly what he meant now.

She had grown up hearing stories about the different types of Pirates, but she was always protected from them. It wasn’t until she branched out on her own as an adult that she got her first taste of what Pirates did to people. 

The Pirates weren’t the ones to e*****e her, but they were the reason she was left openly exposed after they ransacked her business. 

She was a tea-brewer and was rather good at it. There were her loyal customers and expected business, and then there were the new customers she’d get by the day who just wanted to sit down for some refreshing tea. She had created an environment that catered to the locals and hardworking honest patrons. Her particular brand of tea was unlike anyone else’s and was getting more famous amongst different people the longer she maintained her business.

She was able to get herself a home apart from her parents and the clan she grew up with, with the money she made. She didn’t have to rely on marrying well to secure her foundation and future. 

Truly, she was free, until she wasn’t. 

After the invasion by those Pirates, her business was destroyed. When she returned to her home, she found that it was busted in and raided as well. Suddenly, as a woman on her own at 23 years old, she had to start all over.

So she started working in the homes of the wealthy, brewing them their own private tea. 

She was on the up and up again, until she wasn’t. 

Someone recommended her to a general of a small clan, and that’s when everything changed.

He offered to have her stay with him in his mansion. Told her that she would get her own room and a pantry to store her teas, and she did. She got all of that while he tried to get all of her. 

At first, it was small comments that morphed into small touches. When he outright tried to overpower her physically, she poured the whole pot of hot tea on him that she recently delivered to his room. 

The day that she entered to deliver that tea was the last time she saw the other side of the bedroom door.

Unfortunately, the tea she poured on him was hot, but not scalding, so he recovered quickly and made her pay for even trying to defend herself.

Afterward, as she laid on his bed feeling broken beyond repair, he locked that golden collar around her neck and dared her to try to leave.

And she tried too, every day for an entire year until she couldn’t.