That night, Alex and the girls from the Moon society slept in a villa worth millions of dollars. He ordered a takeout worth two hundred dollars and the five of them ate it together.
As they were eating, he asked them, "What are your names?"
Celeste looked at the other three and introduced them to him. "Together, we are the Moon Maidens. I am Celeste. This is Selene, Callisto, and Luna. When the old master was alive, we served at her side."
Alex nodded and said, "Well, I'm glad that I can call you by your names, which are all very beautiful. But please don't call me lord in the future. My name is Alex, you can call me by my name."
Celeste shook her head and said, "How can you say that, Lord? You are our leader, and there are hundreds of people under your command. We're your maidens to serve beside you. How could we call you by your name?"
Alex said with a smile, "It's okay. Everyone calls me that. Didn't you just say that I'm your lord? Surely you have to do as I say?"
Celeste said quickly, "Yes, of course. But it goes against the rules, I can't call you by your name."
Selene and Callisto also whispered, "We can't call you by your name."
Alex pondered for a few seconds and said, "Well, then you can call me Mr. Alex. I like the sound of that. What do you think?"
The four girls looked at each other and agreed that they felt comfortable with this name for him. They nodded and Celeste said with a smile, "Good, Lord, we'll call you Mr. Alex in the future."
Alex clapped his hands and said, "Good. By the way, what kind of organization are you? The old lady called it a cult, but it's not, right? Why have I never heard of it?"
Celeste said, "We're not an organization or a cult in the way you're thinking of, but a sect created by the old master. She set it up to help women in need. The four of us were the first girls that she rescued when she founded the Moon society. We were the first disciples so we served her. She taught us martial arts so that we can defend ourselves."
Alex was surprised and said, "What? It's only women?"
Celeste said, "Yes, why? Don't you like that, Lord? The old master also stipulated that any woman who fell in love with another man could leave the cult to be with him, but she could no longer be part of our group."
Alex calmed down a little and said, "Are you unhappy living in the Moon society?"
The four girls shook their heads simultaneously. Celeste said, "No, we live in the Moon Palace in the Appalachian Mountains. The environment is beautiful, just like a fairytale. We live a wonderful life. We pick flowers for medicine, fly kites, play the piano, sing songs, make delicious food, and learn martial arts. We're like a family. We're never bored."
Alex said happily. "It sounds wonderful, but how do you make money?"
Celeste answered, "We do need money to build houses and to buy food and clothes. But we find it easy to make money. We take on jobs for rich people who pay as well. The four of us are in charge of financial affairs and we have over a billion dollars in the bank. We have enough money to invite hundreds of women to live with us in the Moon Palace."
Alex nodded and said, "I have my own private affairs to manage. I can't manage your affairs too. I think the four of you should go back to the Moon Palace and look after your own affairs."
The four girls shook their heads. Celeste said, "Mr. Alex, someone else is looking after the Moon Cult. It will be fine without us. We will stay here to look after you."
"Well. All right, "Alex said with a grimace.
Alex had been planning to clear up the garbage himself after dinner, but Callisto took care of it. Between them, the girls cleaned up everything.
So, when he saw that it was getting late, he said good night to the four girls. He was going to take a bath and go to bed. He never imagined that Celeste and Selene would follow him.
He was startled and said, "Okay, you can use this bathroom. I'll use the other bathroom on the second floor."
Celeste and Selene looked at each other and said, "Mr. Alex, we want to serve you. We always used to help the old master take a bath."
Alex blushed and said, "No, I'll wash myself, thank you. I'm a man and you're women. It's not appropriate for you to help me."
Celeste and Selene shook their heads and said, "Mr. Alex, it's our duty is to serve you. It's nothing you have to worry about. In our eyes, you're our lord. We won't have any inappropriate thoughts."
Alex still shook his head, which made Celeste and Selene think that he didn't like them. They started to cry.
He said, "Please don't cry. It's not that I don't like you. Everything's fine. It's just that I want to take a bath alone. You can help with everything else."
Celeste and Selene burst into tears and said, "Okay, thank you, Mr. Alex."
He then went into the bathroom, took a shower, dressed, and came out.
Celeste and Selene took Alex to one of the bedrooms and he noticed that Callisto and Luna had cleaned it thoroughly. They stood proudly in the middle of the room and smiled at him.
"Thank you," Alex said as he walked into the room uneasily.
The four girls said together, "It's what we're here for."
He looked at the four girls and said, "You can go and have a rest now."
Celeste went to him and said with a smile, "Mr. Alex, you must be tired today. Please lie in bed and the four of us will massage you to help you relax."
He waved his hand and said, "No, no, you go to bed now yourselves."
"Mr. Alex, you just said that except for taking a bath, we can help with everything else. You have done so much today, and you must be very tired. If you don't let us massage you, how can we sleep well knowing that we haven't done our duty?" asked Celeste.
Selene, Callisto, and Luna all looked at Alex sadly and Selene said, "We won't be able to relax if we don't make sure that you're relaxed."
"Please let us massage you," said Luna. "When the old master was tired, we always massaged her and she liked it very much."
Seeing how insistent they were, Alex gave up and said, "Well, okay. Please give me a massage."
"Yes!" Four girls' hearts filled with joy that he had agreed.
Alex followed their instructions and took off his coat and lay down on the bed. The four girls each went to a corner of the bed. Each was responsible for massaging one-quarter of his body.
He felt eight soft hands start to press onto his body. Some were light, some heavy. Some kneaded and some pinched. The girls kept asking if he was enjoying it.
"Mr. Alex, is this the right amount of pressure for you?" one asked.
"Is it painful if I do this?" asked another.
"Your muscles are stiff so I'll focus more here," said another.
Alex turned his head and saw that the four girls were entirely focused on massaging his body. They looked so attentive and serious about what they were doing, that he found it really gentle and lovely.
The four girls massaged him for half an hour, and when they stopped, Alex felt comfortable and relaxed.
He saw that all their foreheads were glistening with sweat, and when he looked at himself in the mirror, he saw that his eyes showed a sense of satisfaction and joy.
He said gratefully, "Thank you. It's late now. Please go and relax."
The four girls smiled and said, "Yes, Mr. Alex needs to rest. We will leave you to sleep but call us if you need us to do anything."
The girls then walked out of his room.
**
The next morning, he got up early to find that Celeste and Selene had made breakfast for him.
He said to them, "I'm a student. You really can't follow me to class. From now on, you don't need to stay with me. It's fine for you to stay in the villa or to go outside and amuse yourselves. You can serve me when I get home."
The girls nodded and said, "Yes, Mr. Alex."
After finishing his breakfast, Alex went to his classes. Once his classes had finished, he wanted to go and find Lindsey to explain to her again what had happened that day in the Tinsdale Hotel. But when he got to her classroom, he couldn't find her.
He thought, "Soon it's going to be September 15th, and Lindsey is going to get married. Leona is her older sister, so she's probably at home helping her prepare for the wedding."
He knew nothing about the change in plans, how David and Leona had asked to be married instead, or how happy Lindsey had been to be able to back out of the wedding and let her sister take her place. As far as he knew, Lindsey and David were still the intended couple, and Leona was free.
As he turned to leave the classroom, his cell phone rang and he saw that it was Phillipa. He quickly answered the call.
She said, "Hello, Alex. I haven't seen you for a while. What have you been up to? The Olympic Games closing ceremony is tonight. Would you like to go to it with me and then come for dinner at my house?"
"Okay, thanks. I'd love to," he replied happily. He hadn't seen Phillipa for several weeks, so was looking forward to catching up with her.
After his afternoon classes, Alex called Celeste and asked the girls to meet him at the university gate. He thought that it would be nice to take the four of them to the closing ceremony.
The four girls arrived at the school gate and they were very happy to see Alex.
He told them, "I'll take you to the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games, and then we'll all have dinner together. Let's go, my friend is already waiting for us in the stadium."
They took two cabs and headed for the Olympic Stadium.
When they pulled into the square in front of the stadium, Alex looked for Nelly's food truck but it wasn't there. "She must still be at home, mourning Zora", he thought.
He made a quick phone call, and after a few minutes, Phillipa arrived. She saw the four beautiful young girls with him and was puzzled.
He introduced Phillipa to the girls, telling her only that they were his friends.
Phillipa told him, "Because we helped the chief director at the opening ceremony, he gave me some special tickets for the closing ceremony. I want you to have them so you can watch them. I'll be volunteering at the entrance gate again."
She led Alex to the stadium. When they arrived at the entrance, a beautiful woman in a blue and white silk suit also arrived. By coincidence, it was Myriam.
Myriam saw Alex and Phillipa and froze. As Alex turned and looked at her, she trembled with fear and ran quickly to the other entrance.
She couldn't forget the humiliation that Alex had caused her at the opening ceremony the last time they had met. When she saw Alex and Phillipa again, she trembled and wanted to hide. Alex sighed slightly when he saw her reaction. then turned and went into the stadium with the girls, found their seats, and sat down.
**
The closing ceremony started at eight o'clock. After a series of wonderful performances, the ceremony ended with the slow extinction of the official Olympic flame.
This marked the end of Phillipa's volunteer work, and she felt relaxed.
She began to take pictures with the other volunteers. She didn't notice that three strangers were standing a little way away, glaring at her with sinister expressions.
They spoke to each other in Spanish.
"That girl has a good figure and a pleasant face. I like her very much," said one.
"Yes, and she's only twenty years old, so her body must be very supple," said another.
"We're leaving America tomorrow. We should make sure that we have a good finale to our trip."
They spoke together for a while, and then they approached Phillipa.