Island IV – Meetings · Part 21 (21/21)
Previous
Barbara moved on autopilot. The sky had not fallen. She had already prepared herself mentally for a week in a solitary isolation cell, stripped and chained to the wall, for her transgression. A hot shower and clean clothes were the last thing she expected.
The warm water and fragrant soap did wonders to improve her disposition. When she started to unwind, that only brought on new anxieties. The earth had not opened up and swallowed her whole, but why not? Was Ray losing his edge? That scared her. She counted on his rock-solid stability. If he had lost interest in keeping her on his strict and narrow path…
No, that couldn’t happen. She refused to even contemplate something so absurd. There had to be a reason for both allowing her access to financial details, and ignoring her close brush with direct disobedience. Drying her hair, she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her collar gleamed when she wiped off the moisture.
I’m having another attack of stupidity. He knows best, that’s why I belong to him. There has to be a good reason. He’ll explain it when I need to know. Curiosity may eat me alive; until then I will be patient.
Job Well Done Barbara stood in her spot, arms at her side, head held high. She waited until Ray closed his laptop and raised his eyes to give her the usual once over inspection. He leaned back and crossed his arms.
“You must think I’ve lost my mind. On the contrary, I know exactly what Im doing, and now so will you. The conversation with Les? I kept you in here deliberately, so you’d hear what an impact your efforts hosting Penny and Sheila had on company earnings. Don’t worry, this is a one-time occurrence.
“You are priceless to me, Barbara. You are also one of the brokerage’s most valuable assets. I want you to fully understand how important this last job was to all of us. I firmly believe no one but you could have managed to keep those two calm and under control through what had to be a nightmare. It was a job well done, and that’s not empty praise. I did bring in Sandy to give you a break, but that’s no reflection on what you did. From now on you will be participating at a higher level in brokerage business.”
He held up his hands. “Not when it comes to money, though. I owe you an apology for the lapse, but it was for the best of reasons. It’s true I violated an Island regulation, deliberately, but I acted on the best of motives. Breaking rules is one of those privileges I reserve for myself. Don’t you ever try to copy me.”
Ray leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. “What I’m looking for is your perspective, especially when we encounter difficult cases. Up to now I’ve asked your opinion, and nothing more. After today you are a company advisor. If you raise objections, I won’t ignore them. If you believe we’re on a wrong track, you are free to propose alternatives. Basically, you can speak up freely, without any concern your remarks might be seen as unacceptable or disrespectful.”
Ray stood up and came around the desk. Pulling her close he lifted up her chin with one hand. “I did notice your little near miss too. Be more careful next time. Consider this a reprimand.” He smiled while delivering his rather weak warning. “When Les and I started tossing around billing rates I was afraid you might have a heart attack from the shock. I underestimated you, Barbara. You managed to not only hold your position but keep to my order of silence. I can’t imagine the willpower it took to accomplish that. I’ll let you in on a secret. The sight of you struggling, and succeeding; at that moment I knew I was inside your head, the ultimate in control. The feeling…”
Ray broke off. Barbara wrapped her arms around her man, pulling him tight. Tears welled up in her eyes, tears of joy.
Alex: Celebration The waiter delivered their food to the table. Tonight, Alex and Róisín were celebrating the successful conclusion to the ad hoc syndicate’s gamble on the foreign exchange market. Alex inhaled the tantalizing aroma of Camarones Al Diablo, spicy deviled shrimp, his favorite Mexican dish. Róisín eyed her Chile Rellenos de Picadillo, stuffed poblano pepper, with anticipation.
“We did quite well with the African arbitrage,” Alex explained. “I’m thinking we might even take a short vacation. How does a week on the beach at Dubai sound?”
Hidden in his suggestion was a statement of how much he trusted Róisín. She was all too aware that, off the Island, without her collar on, she could walk away from him and the Island lifestyle. Major decisions like that held no appeal to her. “You should decide on that, sir, not me. If we go, I’ll need a new swimsuit. It does sound fun. I’ve read about that building, the Burj Khalifa. It would be exciting to see it, or even go up to the observation deck. Supposedly you can see Iran from the top.”
“Then it’s settled. I’ll check on reservations. We’re flush with cash from that investment, so you can do some shopping in the malls, too. Think you can adjust to handling money again?”
Róisín frowned. “Sir, I realize it’s the outside world, different laws, but could we keep to our own arrangement whenever possible, at least in private? You are flush, as you put it; I am not nor do I want to be. I’d prefer you come with me whenever we’re out in public, and you pay for everything.”
He took a bite of shrimp and chewed on it thoughtfully. “You don’t like to step outside your chosen role, do you? Not even for a few days?”
She finished off a chunk of poblano. “To be honest, sir, no I do not.” She reached up and tapped her collar with the tip of her fork. “The thought of taking this off, even if it’s only a week, frankly it scares me. How should I behave? How can I be obedient and respectful without offending other people in the outside world? I don’t want to find answers to those questions, sir.”
She doesn’t want to go to Dubai. She doesn’t want to go anywhere off the Island. She agreed for my benefit. Alex made one of his snap decisions. “We are not going to Dubai. Instead, we’ll visit South Island for a few days. You have a friend there, don’t you? Find out what’s going on for nightlife and perhaps we can make it a foursome. The two of you can take a long leisurely shopping excursion at the mall there, without dragging me along. How’s that sound?”
“Her name’s Erin, sir. I’ll talk to her tomorrow. Mr. Welk is her owner. I think you know him from that business meeting.”
Ralph: Blossoming Any time he won a case it put Ralph in the best of moods. Tonight was no exception. At his feet Erin knelt in her favorite pose, undressed, knees wide apart while she sat back on her heels, and her hands bound behind her back with not one but two pairs of handcuffs. A short connecting chain ran from between her wrists to oversize cuffs fastened around her ankles, again doubled, so that she couldn’t stand up.
Based solely on their first meeting he would never have guessed Erin was so addicted to bondage that she all but demanded he see to it she was amply supplied with restraints. Although he got off to a slow start, he’d managed to reach a point where he could keep her satisfied. Little did he realize that he now had hold of a tiger’s tail, which meant he had to be increasingly creative in ways to deprive her of her freedom of movement lest he lose his grip on that tail and disappoint her.
He was contemplating how to present his latest find to her when the rattle of chain links came to his ears. He swiftly leaned forward, searching for any evidence she had changed her position.
“I apologize, sir. My hand bumped the connecting chain to my feet.” Whenever she was neatly wrapped up in an attractive package, for some odd reason she imposed standards of behavior on herself that went far beyond anything Ralph demanded.
He stood up and circled around her. Crouching down he tested her bonds, running his hands over the cuffs on her wrists and ankles. Erin knelt, back as straight as a ramrod, as immobile as a marble statue. Ralph stood up but remained silent. She blooms into full-fledged submission when subjected to this, the uncertainty of being judged.
“Be more careful next time,” he admonished her. He was about ninety percent certain she had deliberately made that noise, in order to attract his attention. It was an unspoken game they played, though the stakes for her were high. In order to keep her antics from becoming too blatant, every so often he’d feign extreme anger at one of those minor infraction, even to the point of punishing her with multi-hour timeouts standing in a corner, alone in the bedroom, deprived of his company. She hated that.
Ralph went back to his seat. “To celebrate winning, I picked up something special for you today.” He picked up the remote and turned on the TV, selecting a news panel show discussing some extremely boring topic.
Erin didn’t budge, yet he could feel the angry glare being sent his way. Ralph knew from experience she could hold that position for hours. How she managed it was a mystery; he wouldn’t last fifteen minutes. Once he put the thought in her head about some new form of bondage waiting for her, she couldn’t help but think of little else.
“I’ll show you when you need to know.” Ralph loved that phrase as much as Erin despised it. He was in charge and there wasn’t anything she could do to change it. The occasional reminder didn’t hurt. He turned his attention back to the TV.
He couldn’t see how she clenched her fists in frustrated fury behind her back. He never would, either. That would be unacceptable behavior, an accusation Erin dreaded even more than being punished for it. Along with her irritation there was another emotion in the background, the thrill of being subjected to Ralph’s iron-willed authority over her. It was that passion for discipline that held her in thrall, unable to even speak without his permission.
Abruptly he turned off the TV, stood up, went around behind her and removed the chains. “Stand up,” he snapped in an impatient tone.
Stiff from kneeling for so long she struggled to her feet. Ralph helped, holding on to her until she steadied on her feet. “It’s time for your present,” he whispered in her ear. “You have my permission to speak.”
Hit The Sack Ralph unrolled the sleep sack on the bed and began opening it. Erin looked on, curious as to what it was. It was clear she was about to become an expert on how well it worked as a means of confinement. “Think of it as a full body straitjacket. A jacket was my first thought, but then I remembered you liked the, umm, ‘total’ experience. Okay, it’s ready. Climb in and I’ll wrap you up.”
Cautiously Erin slid her legs into the sack until her feet reached to booties at the end. When she laid back the top of the sack was just below her collar. “Your arms go into sleeves on the sides. Before you do that, there’s a special addition I found. Hold out your hands.”
She felt the long canvas sleeves on either side. They ran all the way up nearly to her shoulders. Once her arms were trapped in there, and the bag closed, she’d be stuck, unable to pull her hands out.
Ralph held up what appeared to be two nylon cylinders. He slipped one over each of her hands, tightening a Velcro strap around the wrist to hold them in place. The inside had a thick padding that engulfed her hands. “These are called tubes. Normally they’re used with handcuffs, to deprive a dangerous prisoner the use of their hands and fingers. They were never designed for use with a sleep sack but I think you’ll appreciate the addition.”
Ralph pulled down the sack in order to get her arms started in the sleeves. When he pulled it up again her arms were completely encased in canvas. He closed the bag, pulling the zipper up from her feet to her neck. A canvas flap covered the zipper to prevent tampering.
The sack was a loose fit, intentionally designed that way to accommodate the body curves of whoever had the misfortune to be trapped inside. Ralph began with the leather straps at her feet, threading them through rings sewn into either side of the canvas bag. When he pulled then taut Erin began to realize the sleep sack was turning into a snug fit, holding her tight at every point on her body.
When he reached her neck the last two straps were vertical, crossing over her shoulders. The arrangement prevented slipping out while avoiding the risk of choking. “Go ahead, try it out,” he told her. “Let me know right away if you have trouble breathing.”
Erin rolled around on the bed, twisting and turning, looking for some way to escape. She could bend at the knee and waist, and that was all. If she tried to stand, she’d fall over, without the benefit of her hands to break the fall. With some effort she might be able to crawl on the floor, though a closed door would be a formidable barrier.
She stopped her struggles, a tacit admission she was as helpless as a baby. “I give up, sir. It’s almost as if I’m paralyzed from the shoulders down. This is really something. It’s much better than being tied down to the bed.”
“Ahh, but this isn’t just bedtime. This is only the first part of the present. Wait there, don’t go away.” He headed out the bedroom door.
Meanwhile Erin tested out the sleep sack again. She rolled back and forth, but was careful not to get too close to the edge of the bed. If she fell off it could be painful when she landed. She gave up out of a sense of caution; Ralph wasn’t there to watch over her.
Get On Board Ralph returned, pushing on what looked like one of those medical backboards, except there were wheels. “Do you remember that old movie, Silence of the Lambs? Especially the scene where Hannibal Lector is transported out of his cell?”
Erin nodded. “Of course, sir, it was the one about the FBI agent working with the cannibal serial killer.” That’s when she recognized what he’d found. It was a wide, straight wooden board, taller than she was, with a foot stand on the bottom and numerous straps hanging from one side. The board was mounted on what looked like a wheelchair, with smaller wheels in front, larger ones at the side, and steering handles at the back.
“I was concerned you might get bored lying there on the bed. This way you can still get around, though it might be a bit awkward. Let’s get you up and onto your chariot.” Ralph took hold of her feet and dragged her to the edge of the bed. A few minutes later Erin was standing up, more or less. He propped her up, using the backboard for support.
Ralph started on the straps, working his way from top to bottom. By the time he finished she was lashed down tight against the board. Erin was still able to tilt her head down so she could measure his progress. “All this for me, sir? I hope you don’t plan on going for a walk around the block. Not that I can stop you, but it might draw attention from the neighbors.”
Ralph started laughing. “I did consider your suggestion. You’d be the envy of the block. We’ll pass on that for now. Besides, I’m not finished.”
His cryptic comment was quickly explained when he held up a replica of the face mask from the movie. It was made of soft brown leather, with vertical aluminum bars sewn in across the mouth opening. Erin held up her head while Ralph fastened the straps in back, holding the muzzle in place.
Curious, Erin stuck out her tongue. The bars across her mouth were all too real, putting a halt to her attempt. It wasn’t a gag; she could still talk. “Sir! This is amazing. Where did you find it?”
“I doubt there’s anything you can’t find on the internet these days. Movie prop reproductions are quite common, and not just cheap plastic copies either. Now hold still, there’s one last strap…”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the wide leather belt when it went across her forehead. A strap attached to either side went under her chin, holding the belt, and the mask, in place. Even the tiny bit of freedom she had by looking around disappeared; her head was clamped in place against the board.
Ralph vanished from her limited view. When he returned, he carried a hand mirror from the bathroom. “I thought you might like a look at yourself.” When he held it up the resemblance to the movie was obvious. She could blink her eyes, but that was about it. From head to toe she was wrapped up in a tidy package.
Erin closed her eyes, lost in the sensations from the bonds depriving her of the slightest movement. This was something new and very different from the chains she had grown to love. When she opened her eyes again Ralph was gone. “Sir?”
“I’m here. Close your eyes again. Relax and lean back quietly.” Ralph was using that low, confident tone she couldn’t resist. He continued, whispering in her ear. “Imagine all your worries, the stress and anxieties of life drain away. You are not responsible. I’m here to watch over you, to keep you safe. Feel my hold over you, taking all you have, leaving you powerless. Yet you need have no fears, because you know, deep within your soul, with a certainty that no power on earth can shake, that you can trust me to take care of you.”
Erin was lost, carried along with Ralph’s compelling, almost hypnotic voice. Dimly she was aware it was affecting her in unexpected ways, though she didn’t care. She wanted him to go on forever, delivering the barely audible yet powerful words that were weaving a spell in her mind.
“Are you okay?”
Erin opened her eyes to see Ralph hovering over her, concern written all over his face. It took a moment for her to return to the real world. She had been transported to…where, a place outside her body?
“I’m fine, sir. I don’t know what happened to me. I remember you were behind me, talking. Then I was somewhere else. I can’t explain it.”
When she unconsciously tried to reach up to scratch her nose her situation came flooding back. Never before had she felt so vulnerable. By rights she should be terrified, except Ralph was there. She twisted around, mostly to assure herself that she was still entirely within his control.
“There’s a new movie streaming tonight. If you’re good, I might make some buttered popcorn. And if you’re bad, that’ll be interesting too, although I have no idea how you can manage anything in that state.”
Tom: Vacation Time “So, I’ve been thinking,” Tom mused, one arm around Sandy, pulling her closer where the two sat on the couch. “We need a break, a change of scene for a few days. What do you think? Is there anywhere you’d like to visit, on vacation? How about a trip to the States? You could visit family in…where is it?”
Sandy rose up straight, a frown showing her dislike for the idea. “If you wish, sir,” she said with the greatest reluctance. “I would rather not see my family. I lost my parents years ago to a car accident. My brother and sister still live in Amarillo. We do not stay in contact.”
Tom was not aware of this aspect of Sandy’s history. So she was from Texas, and apparently left on bad terms. He decided to drop that idea.
“Africa is close by, with lots to see for tourists like us. Anything in particular attract your attention?”
Something wasn’t right. She didn’t show any enthusiasm for his suggestions. There was an easy solution to that. “What is it? You don’t want to leave the Island?”
“It’s not that, sir. What bothers me is you asking instead of telling me. If you allow, I’ll share any objections to a particular destination. I’m not keen on a cruise ship, or visiting exotic places like Antarctica or the Himalayas. Otherwise, Africa sounds like fun. I don’t know too much about where to visit there. I’ve been to Dubai and the Seychelles, but the beaches get old after a while.”
“Okay,” Tom nodded. Tell her, he thought, don’t be indecisive. “We’ll check on a boat trip down the Nile, from Aswan to Alexandria. There should be stops to see the ruins at Thebes, and the pyramids at Giza. First class all the way, too. That business venture? It paid well.”
Sandy’s eyes lit up. “Agatha Christie, sir! Remember her book, Death on the Nile? You’d look very handsome in one of those 1930’s tropical suits, a real Hercule Poirot. And those elegant dinner gowns! I wonder if they have murder mystery dinner cruises?”
Tom’s fortunes knew no bounds this day. Not only had he found out about her family, but also her passion for classic murder mysteries.
There was one more item he had to bring up. “Sandy, the restriction on you reading about yourself, in the news? I’m lifting it. You aren’t that fragile, frightened woman I met at the brokerage. I’m certain you can handle all the events of that tragic moment from now on.”
Sandy had a surprised look. “Is it true, sir? I saw headlines, calling me the ‘poor little rich girl’ and the ‘millionaire heiress’ as well as other less complimentary names. There’s something about a trust?”
He decided to tell her everything. “It’s true. Your previous owner left the four of you his estate, held in trust. You are the only survivor, so it all reverts to you. However, I’m sure you realize you can never access it on your own, for obvious reasons.”
Sandy’s hand went to her collar. “Of course, sir. May I know what happened to this trust?”
“First of all, I wasn’t aware of it until after I purchased you. Anyway, the trust has one director, me, now that I own you. I’ve never explained what kind of job keeps me so busy these days. It’s managing your trust. I won’t reveal the amount in the trust, but you should know that, technically, you are one of the richest women on North Island.”
Sandy laughed at the news. “That and my debit card, with your permission, will buy me a cup of coffee. Somehow, I don’t feel like the jet set, the one percent elite.”
“And we’re going to stay that way,” Tom added. “Our vacation is the exception, not what our daily life will become.”
He made a snap judgement. “I’m going to remove all restrictions on your phone and laptop. I trust you, Sandy. Much as I hate to relinquish any control, this is necessary. In the future I will prohibit certain subjects. There won’t be a blacklist. I’m sure you’ll do the right thing.”
Sandy agreed. “All I need are some guidelines, sir. You will still manage overall access? I wouldn’t be comfortable without your oversight.”
“You’ll still need me to enable the phone and laptop every week. I’m not going to give that up. And I reserve the right to check on your activities at any time.
“Oh yes, one other thing. The chastity belt? It stays in place, along with the rules about using it. Same for wearing dresses only, though you may bring special cases to my attention. You can count on me being extra diligent in checking both.”
Angela: Disunity Angela tapped her glass. “Meeting will come to order.” She glanced at the faces around the Central Committee table. Universal hostility, about what she expected. After the court case went down in flames, she knew it was all over. Maybe she and Piet could find something else to occupy their time.
Donna spoke up almost immediately. “Before we get to new business, I move for a vote of no confidence in our chairperson.”
That didn’t take long, Angela thought. There was no point in contesting the motion. “All in favor?” she asked.
Every hand shot up immediately. Angela raised her own, to make it unanimous. “The Ayes have it. I relinquish the Chair to Donna Harbo.” She stood up.
Two years of hard work, and in one moment it was all forgotten. She didn’t have one friend left in the Committee. For that matter, she doubted anyone who was still a member of the Alliance would speak to her. Not that it was a large number; the membership count had fallen to lows worse than she had ever seen.
When she reached Donna’s old chair at the table she kept on going, out the door. They can find someone else to replace me; I don’t care anymore. Leaving the building, she walked over to a bench and sat down. Idly she watched the passing traffic, ordinary people going about their business. Except more than a few of those “ordinary” people were women wearing metal collars around their necks. None of them appeared to be in distress. They don’t appreciate how bad off they are, she mused.
A couple of minutes later Piet walked out the same door, saw Angela, and came over to sit down next to her. “They fired me,” he said, shrugging. “I certainly didn’t see that coming…”
Angela started snickering. “Oh Piet, you have such a way with words.”
“You know, we were in the wrong,” he began. “That man, the defendant, Virgil Sorenson is his name. He’s no monster. He was just a guy fighting to bring his family back home. I’d have done the same in his place.
“Don’t get me wrong, I put every effort into winning the case. We had a team of paralegal volunteers go over every word of the law. How they missed that amendment I’ll never know. I’m sure the other side didn’t know about it either, at first. I could sense we were slowly winning over the judge, at least for the evidence phase. Then that guy pulls a Perry Mason on me.” Angela recognized the reference to the old TV show, where at the last-minute Perry Mason produces some trick to prove his client innocent.
“I know you put all your heart into the case. Maybe it’s for the best after all. Time for us to move on. Piet, what do we do now?”
Island IV – Meetings · Part 21 (21/21)
Previous
