When I awoke I could barely move and when I tried to speak nothing but aninaudible garble came out."Don't bother," replied Gwen, "I had them cut your ...ocal cords, after allslaves are not meant to be heard."I couldn't believe what I was hearing! After looking around I realizedwe were in my basement which had been furnished to look like a hospitalroom which included a hospital bed I was connected to. Gwen beganexplaining to me what was done while I was knocked out. She told me allthe hair on. ” “Thank...” I began to say, but she had closed the door. The room had a long black table in the center of it. There were no windows just three doors. Each chair around the table was black and had tall back to them. I looked at the table and wondered where I should sit. I didn't want to sit in anyone's chair. There were no other chairs in the room. The walls were pure white with no pictures or paintings. It made the black table stand out. I took a set in the middle, taking the time to count all. I sometimes supplemented my incomewith restaurant reviews, and I rarely dined in anything that didn't haveat least one Michelin star. I would guess, from the name alone,O'Malley's was more likely to be made of Michelin tires. That isridiculous imagery - you can perhaps begin to see why my third novel wastaking so long. Writers block is so tedious.Still, the lovely Andrew had a girlfriend, and ordinarily I would betaking that girl to O'Malley's. Still, maybe the evening would end withthe three. "Any women?"Six men, one date and one wife? There'd be women here to see, to watch. Would they understand?Would any of them follow my example someday in the future? Or perhaps they'd use a different means, with the same end in mind."I'm sure I'll be right here when you get back," I answered him when he jokingly asked me to wait there while he went to greet them."I love you!" I said desperately at the last moment.He came back, touched me gently. "I love you, too."He knew that was the last time.