Eventually, I struggle to my feet, gripping my side as the bruises explode in pain. I follow Luke outside as he holds up the button that controls my chip. He walks to a silver car on the street that cost more than my entire life. Looking up and down the hill we were on, every car and home was more expensive than I could even dream of. It’s a gallery of mass produced luxury. I carefully walk down the stone steps to the sidewalk below and turn around to see my new prison. It’s a tall, brick house with large windows along the front. There’s seemingly no sides to the building as similar mansions eat the space on either side and come up to the walls of each other in an effort to get every inch of space that they can.

Turning back to the street, Luke was standing on the driver’s side of the car looking at me. His hand is resting on top of the car with his thumb on that button. He was ready if I tried to run.

I maintained my silence and climbed into the car and knew what money felt like - smelled like. The leather creaks ever so slightly underneath me as I lean into it. There’s a panel in the dashboard that looks more high tech than anything I’ve ever seen. It has a wide array of icons and buttons for various apps and programs.

As Luke climbs in, he tosses his keys into the cup holder and I stare at him confused. He reaches next to the wheel and pushes in a button and I feel the engine start. I look from the dashboard to the keys and back. He seems to realize what I’m so shocked by and smiles. “It’s a remote start car. It doesn’t need a key.”

I can’t stop myself from speaking. “What the fuck?”

He smiles wider and places a hand on my shoulder, “It’s good to hear your voice again!” My senses snap back to me at his touch. I pull my shoulder away and lean away from him against the door and stare forward in a blank anger.

He sighs and turns back to the wheel. Moving the car into drive, he turns away from the curb and starts to drive away. My brain checks out as the homes and buildings slide by. Luke tries to speak to me, I don’t listen.

Minutes drag on as the city scape blurs together. People in nice clothes pace the streets pretending that they have somewhere to be, ignoring the world around them. They eat their brunch on patios and play on their phones like there’s not a problem out there. I hate them.

The car stops and my eyes focus back onto a storefront with mannequins wearing perfectly pressed suits. Luke turns the car off and looks over to me. “Well, here we are! We’re going to get you looking nice and proper. Don’t worry, this one’s on me.” He gets out of the car and I stay put. He walks around to the sidewalk and my door and opens it for me. Bending down to look me in the eye, he waves me out. “Come on! It won’t take too long, I promise.” I sneer but unbuckle my seatbelt and step out. Looking up and down the street, it’s full of various high end stores with clothes, accessories, and jewelry adorning their windows.

Luke stands in front of me with a grand smile. “Alright! We’re making progress. It’s right in here.” He turns and starts to walk toward the store with all the suits. He’s walking semi-sideways to keep an eye on me and make sure I’m following him. Figuring there’s no other option: I follow him inside.

When I step in, the light instantly dims as the dark wooden shelves and tables devour it all. It smelled like fabric - if that’s really something that has a smell. Shirts, jackets, ties and socks sit and hang all around the room. Walking in, we’re almost instantly greeted by a rather snobby looking older guy wearing a dark blue suit and pants with a perfectly white shirt and pretentious ascot. “Ah! Luke, my boy. Is this the one?” The man points at me with a raised eyebrow.

Luke gestures back to me. “Yes, this is Charlie.” He looks over his shoulder and moves his hand to gesture to the man. “Charlie, this is Samuel. He’s the best tailor in all of NYC!” With a smirk, Samuel adjusts his glasses at Luke’s comment.

Samuel makes his way over to us and extends his hand out to me. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Charlie.” I shake his hand with a silent nod. “When Luke told me he’d found a butler, I just knew I had to be the one to make his suits! So, come this way and we’ll get started.” Samuel turns and starts to walk away towards the back of the store. I look to Luke who simply motions for me to follow him with an expectant grin. I shrug and shake my head, marching forward with a sigh.

Samuel leads me to a corner of the store with three mirrors all curved around a slightly raised platform. When I catch up to him, he gives me an excited smile. “Go on, step up. I promise it won’t hurt you.” I comply and find myself to finally be an inch or two taller than Luke. It feels good.

Samuel pulls a long yellow measuring tape from his pocket and begins pressing it against me and taking various measurements of my limbs and body, pausing every so often to write them down on a nearby paper. I try my best not to wince as his hands rub against my cuts and he pulls the tape tight around my bruises. After a few minutes, he finally fills in the last box. “Oh, and one last question, Charlie.” I look down at him raising an eyebrow. “Do you dress left or right?”

I look between the two men with a very confused expression. “What? Like what leg do I put in my pants first?” The two laugh at my supposedly inane comment.

Luke calms himself enough to correct me. “No, Charlie. Dressing left or right means… well I suppose there’s no polite way to put this, which way does your penis hang when in your pants? To the left or to the right?”

My face begins to blaze in embarrassment. “What the hell kind of question is that?! Isn’t that a bit personal?”

Samuel shakes his head. “No, no. It’s so that, when making pants for you, I can add a bit of extra fabric to one side to accommodate your needs.”

“That’s a thing?” I keep looking between the two as they both nod. “Uh… I guess right…” I end up staring at my feet at a loss for a better place to look.

“Excellent!” Samuel marks my final information on his sheet. “I’ll start work on some custom things for you today. In the meantime, I have plenty here that should fit you just fine!”

Samuel leads me and Luke around the store recommending jackets, shirts, socks, ties, underwear and pants. Every so often, the two see it fit to make me try things on to see ‘how good I look.’ It felt like a waste of time. If they fit they fit.

By the end, we have a large pile of clothes on the checkout counter. Samuel enters them in and says the final price. “$7,689.”

“What?!” I can’t keep myself from yelling in shock as my eyes bulge.

Luke laughs beside as he pulls out his wallet and hands Samuel a credit card. “You got a steal! Your lucky you came with me, Samuel likes to give me a discount.”

That was discounted? How much would it have been otherwise? Nevermind. I don’t want to know. Samuel fills several large paper bags with the carefully folded clothes. “And I’ll have the custom suits delivered to your house within the next few days.”

Luke gives his trademark smile to Samuel. “Thank you so much! You’re really doing us quite the favor.”

Samuel looks down at his desk while pushing up his glasses and smiling. “Anything for you Luke, and it was a pleasure to meet you, Charlie.”

“Yeah,” I’m still too in shock to say anything else.

Luke tries to apologize for me but Samuel waves his comments off. “Don’t worry about it. I understand. You’ve got your work cut out for you though, Luke. He seems feisty.”

Luke laughs and says goodbye as we head back to the street. He pops open the trunk and tells me to place the bags inside. Once we’re both back in our seats, he turns to me. “So, where to next?”