Thanks for the scraps, assholes! Astor thought. Don't they know who I am?
Of course they do. Why else would I be here?
Astor finished the bland chicken and rice, licking the glass plate clean, before throwing it on the floor.
“Push the plate through the slot or there will be no more food!” said a voice through the speaker. “You know the rules.”
“You call that food?” Astor mumbled while doing as she was told.
How long had she been here? Two days? Three? There was no real way to mark time, except through meals. There was a TV but it only broadcast old movies, one after another. No live news. No live anything. She didn't even know what day it was. They brought her here Monday. To this locked windowless room. Since then she'd been mostly just sleeping. What else was there to do, except read.
Yeah, right! Every time she tried right back to sleep she went. Probably a result of a lack of food. What they gave her didn't feel like enough to stay alive. But of course, it was. They didn't want her dead. Dead didn't get them anything.
How long? Thursday? Friday? Oh God...what if it was only Wednesday? She couldn't take this anymore.
“Let me out! I don't want to be here! Please!”
“You can go when we say.”
“No, please!”
“You know what to do, if you want us to let you go.”
“No!” she cried, staring at the entrance to the room next to hers. “I won't do it”.
“Suit yourself. Just remember, you did this to yourself.”
Astor flopped onto the bed, knowing it was true. She had done this to herself. Stupid, stupid, she thought as she cried herself to sleep.
Two weeks later:
“Astor, Astor, look over here!”
“Smile for us,” said a voice as the cameras flashed.
“Wow, you look amazing? How did you do it? Rumor was you were having trouble losing the weight from your last movie.”
“Exaggerations, obviously. I've always believed in eating right and exercise,” Astor smiled.
“Yeah, right,” her agent whispered.
She turned and glared at him, still flashing her million dollar smile for the paparazzi, “What do you care?”
“You could have been out of there a week sooner if you had just done a little exercise. Do you know how many promotions we missed?”
Astor shuddered thinking of the exercise room she never even entered. “You know I can't stand sweating.”
“Obviously. You could have saved twenty five grand if you had any self control!”
“It was worth every penny so shut up. It's not like it was your money anyway. The studio always pays.”
He just shrugged, knowing it wasn't the last time she would use the extreme Kidnapped program to lose weight.
Enjoy this? All my Flash Fiction together in Starved. Available at all ebook retailers.
Enjoy this? All my Flash Fiction together in Starved. Available at all ebook retailers.
