by Sera, Drew
I leaned back against the wall of the empty elevator and thought about her and that wrist on my way up. And also about my best friend, Mr. “I was doing something stupid at the time.” It won’t even be 9:30 a.m. and I will have pissed off two people.
I stood in front of Hannah’s desk while she finished her phone call. Anthony’s door was open but I saw him pacing back and forth while he was on the phone. She looked up and smiled at me and motioned to give her one moment while she completed her phone call. I stood and watched my best friend continue his path around his desk in his office. He wasn’t going to like my visit either. Hannah hung up and gave me her undivided attention.
“Good morning, Hannah. Is he busy?”
“Hi, Mr. Everett. He’s talking with accounting. He doesn’t have any appointments or meetings for the rest of the morning.”
I nodded at her. “No interruptions please.”
I walked into his office shutting the door behind me and took a seat in front of his desk. Anthony had the most minimalistic desk in the company. The only evidence that his office was actually used by a human was a picture on his desk of him, Matt and I at a 49ers game last year. Gina had taken the picture when we went to a game for Matt’s birthday. When his phone call wrap up dragged on a little longer than I anticipated, I got up and walked over to the window and stared out. Lost in my thoughts, I hadn’t heard him hang up.
“Come on, man. Sit down. So, what’d she say?”
I was feeling uneasy and I knew he could tell. Anthony really understood me and could read my moods better than anyone. Even better than Matt. I turned away from the window and went back to sit down on the couch while he took up the chair opposite the couch.
“She fucking had a panic attack out in the courtyard. She was crying and shaking. I told her I saw her wrist and it set her off.”
Anthony sat quietly and loosened his tie and turned his head to look out the windows.
“She said she accidentally called me Sunday night and that she was trying to call a friend. Which I don’t fucking believe. She needed me…or something…Fuck!”
As my frustration built I didn’t even know what I was saying anymore. I felt out of control and like I was rambling. I tried to loosen my tie but couldn’t get the damn thing loose. Finally I nearly ripped the thing off and tried throwing it across the room but being so light, it didn’t travel very far.
Usually I’m in control of my emotions and things don’t easily bother me. But I was beginning to realize that when it came to Sydney, the control I thought I had over my emotions would be tested. Anthony sat in silence as I had a temper tantrum with my tie. This is the most out of control he has probably seen me. Which by most standards wasn’t much at all, but it was for me.
“What about her wrist, Col? Did you ask how it happened?”
I laughed out loud. Oh, he’ll enjoy this part. He’ll search for the humor of it right before he throws me out of his office.
“Yeah, and you know what she told me?” Anthony narrowed his eyes at me trying to figure out why my mood was so off kilter. “She told me ‘she was doing something stupid at the time.’ Interesting, huh? Sound familiar?”
After a few minutes, Anthony dropped his head and then turned to look out the window at the Strip. No doubt he was trying to calm himself before he punched me. We sat in silence for what seemed like forever until he finally stood and went over to his window. He put his hands on his hips and stared outside. While he was physically in the room, he was mentally nowhere in sight.
Years have passed since he fed me that exact line. I remember it very vividly. We were at Irons and he had just finished a scene with a sub. He stood at the bar shirtless and as he guzzled water, I asked him how he got that huge scar on his side. He hadn’t answered me right away, but when he did, he told me that ‘he was doing something stupid at the time.’ He left it at that and we never brought it up again until now when I threw it back at him.
I watched him from the couch as he stood at the window. He let his head drop again. Silence surrounded us and I felt like shit. Why do I keep throwing crap at him? He’s not the source of my stress.
“Anth.” Again I felt like shit for lashing out at him. I seem to be doing it a lot lately. He was anywhere but in the room with me.
Chapter 11
Tuesday, October 8th
Sydney
I was glad that conversation with Mr. Everett was over. I don’t want him to suspect anything is wrong and I nearly feel apart in the courtyard with him. For some reason I felt compelled to sit there and let him guide me through my stupid panic attack. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he couldn’t help me through it. He was confident and protective. I wonder how he’d be as a Dom.
While sitting in the courtyard with him before the panic attack, I noticed how nice he smelled. Probably some fancy, expensive cologne or aftershave. It smelled clean and fresh and so different than Howard. Howard reeked of cigarettes and an every other day shower routine. But Mr. Everett smelled fabulous.
I rolled my eyes and told myself to get a grip. I need to get that fantasy out of my head. Girls like me don’t end up with Doms like him. Doms like Mr. Everett and Mr. Graves have beautiful subs who aren’t bad and don’t give them grief.
I’ll be lucky if I keep my job until the end of the week. I can’t believe how careless I was about my sleeve. It was stupid of me to have called him Sunday. I just thought that maybe he could help me. I know he said I could go to him regarding anything. But this? This was difficult and I’d be completely blindsiding him. But when I found out that not only does he belong to the exclusive Irons, but is also a trainer there, I thought that maybe things were looking up. I’m not a very good sub. Howard reminds me often. And since Colin is a trainer, I thought that maybe he would be able to make me a better sub. Then Howard would stop hurting me or I could earn a good Dom.
I made it through most of the day with only mild stomach pains. Each time I take a deep breath I feel a sharp pain in my side. I had to steer clear of Mr. Everett for the time being. I tried to keep my time roaming around on the Everett Gaming floors limited for the rest of the morning. I wasn’t feeling very well and Mr. Everett already seems to be keeping his eye on me. Maybe he subscribes to the saying “out of sight, out of mind.”
Just as I thought my day couldn’t get any worse, Howard had come in and was now standing in front of my desk. I nearly chocked on the candy I was eating when I looked up and saw him. He said that his other sub had to go out of town for a work emergency and that I was filling in. Great. He said I was to take the bus to his place and be ready for a new whip. All I could do was nod at him as the tears found their way to fill the bottom of my eyelids. I couldn’t let it become a scene here at work. Once I saw him leave the building, I felt like I was going to be sick to my stomach. I was feeling heavy and warm.
Katie came over and leaned on my desk and asked me why I let Howard upset me. I only told her it’s complicated. She wouldn’t understand the mechanics to a D/s relationship and if she knew I was into that, she probably wouldn’t talk to me anymore. I was starting to think that I didn’t understand D/s relationship mechanics either. Shouldn’t I be enjoying this somewhat?
I bet Mr. Everett is a good Dom. He probably only plays with good subs though. Which, I most certainly am not. I try to listen and do as I’m told but Howard is difficult and confusing. He forces pills on me and I hate them and the way they make me feel. He says it’s for my own good though and once I learn to behave properly, it’ll stop.
Ahhh! There I go playing with my fingers again. I have to stop that. I keep trying to stop that.
For whatever reason, I felt like I wanted to be close to Mr. Everett…or Mr. Graves right now. Howard had upset me and I was afraid for this evening. I knew I wouldn’t talk to Mr. Everett or Mr. Graves about this, but something in told me that I’d feel better near them. I had to get away from my desk for a few minutes so I took the mail up to distribute on the Everett Gaming floors.
Mindless tasks were good for me right now.
As I rode the elevator up to the ninth and tenth floors I began to calm. Not showing up at Howard’s wasn’t an option. He’d find me and it wasn’t worth the repercussions. I was walking slowly down the hall passing out the mail when I heard him and my heart began to pound. I told myself if push came to shove and things got really bad that I could tell Mr. Everett and hoped he’d help me. I tried looking around to see if I could nonchalantly find him without looking as though I was intentionally looking for him.
Mr. Everett was standing near an office talking to another group of people and when I looked over at him, he was already looking at me and smiled. I smiled back at him. Why on earth was he going out of his way to be nice to me? He said he’d help me if I needed anything. I don’t know if there was anything he could do though about this. This was my problem. But maybe he could give me pointers on being a better sub.
My mind was whirling around with inappropriate thoughts involving Mr. Everett when I came around the corner and ran right into a large solid framed person. I stumbled back in shock and embarrassment and then saw that it was Mr. Graves. Oh my God. Could my day get any worse?
Mr. Graves put both of his arms out on either side to steady me, though he didn’t touch me. God, I think it would have been okay for him to touch me. He didn’t know about my wrist. Wait, maybe he did. It was no secret that he was best friends with Mr. Everett. Maybe Mr. Everett told him about my wrist.
“You okay?”
Talking. Mr. Graves was talking to me. I nodded and looked up at him. He was handsome. Not Mr. Everett handsome, but Mr. Graves could hold his own. He wasn’t quite as tall as Mr. Everett and had light brown hair. Both of them are friendly and nice to everyone. But for whatever reason, Mr. Graves seems more serious from a distance and when he’s away from Mr. Everett. He confuses me some. Maybe he doesn’t seem so serious once you get to know him. He looks so reserved from a distance but I always see him and Mr. Everett laughing or joking around or throwing the foam ball around the office. They have coffee at Beans each day and seem so happy and at ease with their lives. I often sit and watch the two of them, daydreaming of what it would be like to be one of their girlfriends.
His eyes pierced through me and warmed me with his smile. I’ve never seen gray eyes like his before. Or that smile. God, that smile could melt a glacier. I thought Mr. Everett had a great smile but there was something about this smile that forced me to continue to stare at him. Not that that was a bad thing. Mr. Graves and Mr. Everett were easy on the eyes.
Mr. Graves bent down and picked up the mail I had dropped, which I was thankful for because my stomach really hurt. When he stood and handed me back the mail I got a whiff of his cologne. He smells so good too. What is it with these two guys? Did God purposely place these handsome two in this office and make them best friends to distract and drive every woman crazy?
As I stood there staring at him, Mr. Everett came up next to him. He playfully shoved Mr. Graves in the arm and asked him if he was knocking down their office assistant.
“I think our office assistant was knocking down your Chief Financial Officer,” Mr. Graves joked back with him. Mr. Graves smiled and winked at me when he walked back towards his office. He winked at me.
Mr. Everett was now left standing alone with me. He looked stressed.
“I’m sorry about upsetting you this morning, Miss Burke.”
I told him I was fine and since he was standing in front of me, I handed him his mail with a smile and continued on my way. The way he looks at me is distracting. I wonder if he really could help me to be a better sub. As I walked through the office, I noticed a feeling in my stomach that felt like a mixture of hunger pains and butterflies. It showed up when Mr. Graves winked at me.
Chapter 12
Thursday, October 10th
Colin
Wednesday and Thursday came and went and I was nowhere closer to an answer with Sydney and her wrist than I had been a week ago.
My legal team had finished up the contract with all of the details for the Cheng Hotel deal on Thursday morning as I had requested. Tonight I was going to go through it with a fine tooth comb and then email it to Cheng myself. I had a busy night ahead of me with this task, so I grabbed a sandwich at Vegas Subs on my way home. When I got home I quickly ate and then began going over the contract. I read over the documents several times and was satisfied that it met my expectations without needing additional revisions. I’d email it to Cheng tomorrow along with my signatures.
Glancing at my watch I saw that it was around 8:30 p.m. That wasn’t so bad after all. I decided to check my Irons email and follow up with the couple I spoke to last Friday at the club.
Normally I check my Irons email once each evening but this week has been a little crazy with working late to ensure the Cheng contract got done on time and was perfect. An email address that I’d never seen before caught my eye immediately. It was sent two days ago.
——————————
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Date: October 8
Time: 11:15 p.m.
Subject: Apologizing to a Dom
Mr. Everett,
Recently a Dom offered his assistance to me and I wasn’t very receptive of his offered hand. I wanted to be able to apologize appropriately to him and thank him for his offer and kindness. This Dom is very different from other Doms that I’ve encountered and I didn’t want him to think that I was acting rudely.
Thx,
smgirl
——————————
Holy fuck. I read the email over and over again trying to determine if this was Sydney. I was now kicking myself for having not at least checked my email earlier than tonight. Was this her way to try and let me in without her actually saying the words out loud? I opened up a reply window and stared blankly at it. I was going to treat this as if it were Sydney and go from there.
——————————
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Date: October 10
Time: 8:50 p.m.
Subject: RE: Apologizing to a Dom
Hi smgirl,
Thank you for your email. I wanted to apologize upfront for the delay in my response. Normally I check my email each night but work has kept me busy this week. Rest assured though that further communications will be responded to in a quicker fashion.
Now, why is this Dom different than others you’ve met and why do you feel your behavior warrants an apology?
Regards,
CGE
——————————
I hit send and shut my computer down. I had my Irons email account available on my iPhone and would be alerted when a response came over. For now, all I could do was wait. If this was her way of asking for help and opening up to me, then I’d play along. She was scared and I understood that.
I went upstairs to work out and mull things over. While it wasn’t logical for me to think it was Sydney, I couldn’t think of who else it might be. Most people from the club either address me as Colin or Master Colin. No one there addresses me as Mr. Everett.
The chirping of my phone alerting me of an incoming email pulled me away from the weights I was lifting and brought a smile to my face.
——————————
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Date: October 10
Time: 9:04 p.m.
Subject: RE: Apologizing to a Dom
Mr. Everett,
No need to apologize for the delay. I know you’re a very busy man. This Dom is very different from the ones I’ve encountered because he seems to care. He’s not my Dom, but he seems to genuinely care. I sort of brushed him off when he offered to help me, if I ever needed it. I didn’t want him to think I’m a jerk. It’s just that I’m not used to people offering assistance to me. So I was caught by su
rprise with his offer.
Thx,
smgirl
——————————
I thought about the email and decided to take a shower before I responded. The more I thought about it, I was pretty sure I was talking to Sydney. I knew she had my Irons email address and Anthony’s from our cards we gave her last Friday. All of the pieces fit and I needed to tread carefully. Fuck, now I was getting more concerned. Sydney thought I was the nicest Dom she’s encountered. What the fuck kind of people was she hanging around in the D/s community? That concerned me greatly, but I needed to pull more from her.
——————————
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Date: October 10
Time: 9:30 p.m.
Subject: RE: Apologizing to a Dom
smgirl,
Obviously this Dom cares about you enough to offer help. Doms are pretty good judges of the big picture and I’m willing to bet that if you put your trust in him, he will come through for you. He might see you in potential danger and is concerned about your well-being. Does he have a reason to be concerned? If he cares enough to inquire, he’s capable of helping. What do you think?
Regards,
CGE
——————————
I got ready for bed hoping I would have had another email from her. If this was how she was opening up, so be it. I can work with that for the time being. I was wide awake and wanted to push and pry a bit more to see if I could get more out of her by email than I had been getting vocally.
——————————
To: [email protected]
