Forward:
Dr. Bishop pushed the designer spectacles on her well-shaped nose back a bit with a slender middle finger. She examined the picture and profile and passed it over to her colleague, Dr. Lawrence. “She is a great candidate, Matthew. Unsure, unhappy, and itching to break free.” The woman said, looking at his reaction to the color eight by ten of the large but attractive auburn-haired applicant. “She also wrote on the application that she is a virgin.”
Dr. Lawrence noted that the young woman’s expression was forlorn, as most of them were, but Amanda was right when she said the girl held potential. “How old?”
“Twenty-five.”
“A little older than they like them.” He remarked, scratching the side of his salt-pepper sideburn. “By the time we’re done she’ll be twenty-six or close to it.”
The woman pursed her lips and gently drummed her neatly trimmed fingernails on his desktop. “She can go for nineteen once she drops the weight. Look at her smooth unblemished skin. Her mouth is pouty and gorgeous. Honestly, she could become our definitive success story. Beautiful Aida. Before and after.”
“The people we serve will never see the before.” He sniffed. “Unless they go looking for it.”
“They never do.” She stated, knowing their clients well. “But my feeling is Aida could break some hearts. You know how they like virgins.”
“Just as long as what happened last time does not happen again. We can’t afford a miscalculation like Randolph.”
“Such a disappointment.” Dr. Bishop agreed. “Oscar took care of him … and the girl.”
“Is the hair color real or bottled?” Lawrence again looked at the photo and quickly changed the distasteful subject. Men’s weaknesses and women’s insecurities always annoyed him.
“It’s real.”
“She hasn’t had a physical exam yet. How can you know for sure?”
Dr. Bishop looked directly at him, steadily over the top of her glasses. “I know.”
He took her word for it. Even if she was a natural brunette, Aida Strewman was still a lovely girl hiding in the bloated body of an emotional cripple. “Okay then, we have them all. Start calling our guests with the good news. Also, have Mrs. Closterman and her people ready the complex. No one gets out this time. Not until we’re ready.”
