Luxurious Prison

Jasmine was sitting on the bed drinking tap water with a paper cup when the door opened. If they were going to starve her, at the very least she had tap water to drink from.

"I see you have recovered from your forced recuperation."

A male voice spoke out from the doorway.

Oh God…Oh my God. Please don't kill me! Jasmine thought as she slowly turned her head towards the doorway.

It was a homely looking man in his late fifties with sideburns and strange melancholy eyes. He looked underfed and shrunken into his clothes.

Unless he had a gun, she could easily jump him and knock him senseless.

"Who are you and why have you kidnapped me?"

"My name is Bin Dat. I am the caretaker of this place, and Anh Hai's butler." He eyed the paper cup in her hand. "Would you like some dinner? I'm sure you must be hungry by now."

"Where's John?"

"I'm sorry. I don't know who you are talking about." The man shifted on his feet and folded his hands together. "The chef wants to know what your preference is in menu selection."

"You know who I'm talking about. Where's John and why are you keeping me here?"

Bin Dat began counting on his fingertips.

"Let's see. We have baby-back ribs with petit pos, scalloped potatoes, and mocha creme pie. Or perhaps you prefer honey-braised duck with asparagus tips, garlic bread, and chow-a-creme."

"Okay, if you don't want to answer that question, then tell me why I'm here and what you want from me."

"Relax Miss Hunter, or should I call you Miss Love. No one is going to hurt you here. Now, do you want wine with your selection or would you prefer tea?"

"Look Bin Dat. I would prefer some straight answers, and I would prefer to get out of here."

"All in good time. I promise." He held up a hand to stop her protest. "If you'll just choose something to eat, I will try to answer as much of your questions as I can. Agreed?"

Jasmine sighed. Perhaps if she played along with him, she could at least get some answers.

"Agreed. I guess if you're going to poison me, I'll at least get in a bite or two before I croak."

Bin Dat gave her a pained look as he waited for her to make her selection.

"Okay. I know what I want. I want a sloppy Joe, some tater-tots, a few sticks of carrots, and a soda. Oh, and if you have it, give me a bag of pork rinds too."

"Sloppy Joe…tater-tot? What are those things?"

Jasmine raised an eyebrow.

"You say you have a chef? He'll know what those things are. Just tell him exactly what I want and if he's any good, he'll make it happen or scrounge it up for me from somewhere."

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It took almost an hour for Bin Dat to return with a simple order of sloppy joe and tater-tots. He came in through a panel which slid up from one bare wall pushing a cart filled with covered hot plates.

The simple meal was arrayed on a doily table cloth with real linen napkins and a single orange Berber daisy stem stuck in an expensive-looking crystal vase.

With a flourish, Bin Dat uncovered the hot plates, revealing a normal enough looking sloppy hamburger with fried clumps of potatoes.

The carrot sticks were arranged in a flowerlike arrangement on a crystal decanter, and the bag of pork rinds was perched on proud display in a silver platter.

"See I told you your chef knew what this was." She taunted.

"This is not our chef's culinary effort. This is take-out from a fast food restaurant."

"Really?" Jasmine gasped. "Why? This is so simple to make!"

Bin Dat sighed.

"The chef refused to make something this barbaric."

"Hmmm. A snobby chef—not the first one I ever met." She picked up a tater-tot and popped it into her mouth. "Okay. I ate. Now, tell me what the hell's going on."

Bin Dat rubbed his bony hands together in uncertainty and contemplated on the girl's demanding face.

She really had no idea what was going on, nor did she need to know all the details. So how should he approach this so that she would be satisfied with his explanations so she could cooperate with him?

This was supposed to be Anh Hai's job. Even Bin Dat did not understand all of the complexities of the operation.

"Well?" The girl prompted him in between bites of what looked like barbecued ground beef in a sticky red paste. How utterly disgusting.

"Miss Love, you are perfectly safe here with us as long as you cooperate with our request."

"Your request? For what?"

"We merely ask that you stay here for a short duration of time."

"You animals robbed me of all my things, kidnapped me, keep me locked up in this jail cell." She waved her arms wildly about.

"You've taken my friend, and lord knows what you've done to him. I don't even know if he's still alive, and you calmly walk in here and ask for my cooperation? Are you fuckin' nuts?"

"Believe me, Miss Love. You have not been treated badly. On the contrary, we have taken every precaution to keep things as pleasant as possible for you here."

"As far as robbing you of your things." He waved his hands around.

"I believe you are still in possession of everything. They have merely been moved from one location to another, without your permission, of course." He smiled with little mirth.

"Of course, the dangerous things like knives and scissors have been removed and stored in a safe place."

He looked around the room, filled with her personal belongings.

"Anh Hai has designed this place to correspond to your normal habitat. You are far from being in jail."

He turned back to look at her with cold beady eyes.

"We do have a real jail cell here at the compound and believe me, you would not want to be there."

"And what if I don't choose to cooperate with you?"

He shrugged.

"You can choose to do anything you wish, but here you will stay until you are given the word to be transported elsewhere. I suggest you occupy yourself with something interesting to do in the meantime."

He turned and, as the wall panel opened up, exited through the opening.

"Fuck you!" She yelled at his retreating back as pieces of tater tots hit his shoulders and the back of his head.