Chapter 3
Adrienne was somewhat surprised to discover she had the freedom of the entire top floor. She was now dressed in the same kind of harem pants and vest as the other women. In her case, the clothing was as blue as the gauze curtains that had surrounded the bed where she had initially awakened. Like all the other women, she walked barefooted, and though the harem room itself had a tiled floor, pipes ran under the floor with hot water running through them to keep the floor heated. The rest of the top floor had rooms with carpets in them, separate bedrooms she soon learned, each with its own remote-control color TV set. She also discovered the food was excellent, and the women were allowed to have as much as they wanted. It seemed that fat on a woman didn't turn off the sheik. He paid as much attention to his first wife, Ruth, who looked like a gross cow, as he did to his other wives. Adrienne soon learned Judith, his second wife, had a tremendously overactive metabolism, which was why she was so thin. No matter what she ate, it didn't put weight on her. Peggy, wife number three, was also on the slender side, but Peggy was not one for sugary or starchy foods, nor did she continually eat all day long. Most of the concubines ate a lot, and they, like Ruth, the brown-haired, bloated first wife, weighed considerably more than they should. Only the two blondes, Shirley and Stella, were slender, or rather not slender, but not actually too fat. Since none of the women had pubic hair, it was impossible to tell if the two concubines were natural blondes. One of the other concubines who had helped dry her off, Betty, wasn't too fat, but she was definitely overweight. She was the only redhead there, and, from what Adrienne had learned, probably the most sensuous of all the women.
Though each of the women had her own room, as well as there being some rooms not yet occupied, most of them preferred to gather in the main harem room where Adrienne had first awakened. Abdul, the chief eunuch, guarded that particular room. There were other eunuchs as well, each guarding the main doors leading from the top floor of the building to stairs or elevators. Adrienne learned, as Peggy and all the other kidnapped women had discovered, that there was no way out.
Adrienne's own bedroom had walls lined with bookshelves, and the day she arrived she was amazed to discover all the books she had in her personal library in her apartment had been transferred.
"To keep your legal wits sharp," Isak Ibn Musa had told her. "Though your greatest value to me is that of simply being a woman, I respect your legal mind and shall make full use of it."
"I'll never help you in any way," Adrienne had snarled at him at the time.
The sheik shrugged and said, "In time you will come around, Miss Charman. You're an extremely sensuous woman, almost as sensuous as Betty, and your very sensuousness will make you see things my way."
"The moment I have an opportunity, I'll run," she told him. "When I do, I'll file every legal claim against you I possibly can."
But even now, standing alone in her doorway, she knew she had almost no chance whatsoever. To begin with, she was trapped here. Even if she managed her escape, what proof would she ever have she had been held captive by the sheik? Her harem clothing? That was no proof. She might have gotten such clothing anywhere. The sheik had wealthy and powerful friends, friends who would swear up and down that he would never do such a thing. His wives and concubines all loved him and besides, by law they were unable to testify against him.
Adrienne had to simply hope she would be able to somehow or other get away. Then she would request a permit to carry a gun, which she would use on the sheik or anyone else he sent after her.
But first she had to get away, and she knew that at the present time that would be impossible. The sheik had left strict orders she was to be carefully watched. Anyone disobeying those orders would end up boiled in oil or with his hands severed.
Not that Adrienne gave a damn which of the sheik's servants suffered once she had gotten away. It was a cold, cruel world, and anyone else who suffered as a result of her making good her escape from this harem hell had to accept it. After all, she had undergone the "fate worse than death," and though she had survived the ordeal, indeed, actually enjoyed it after a while, the fact remained she still had to escape, and to hell with whomever else suffered as a result.
At the moment, she had to accept the fact that she was a prisoner here. With her law books to keep her company, she would be able to weather the various emotional storms she knew she was destined to suffer. For the present time, she wasn't being bothered, but she knew the sheik would be back. After all, she was his latest toy, and just as a child is always fascinated by his newest toy, so was the sheik temporarily overcome with desire for her. In spite of what Peggy had told her, Adrienne was certain he had enjoyed his first lays with the other women just as much as he had enjoyed her.
Perhaps what irritated her most was the sheik's insistence she, like all the other concubines, learn what he termed obedience. She had no intention of learning to obey him.