Working It Out

by Trojan, Teri

  ‘And buy yourself some new clothes. A good range of smart things for meetings and so on. And get a good evening gown. We have a dinner next weekend. In the formal dining room. You’ll be wearing the diamond collar again, so something sexy and smart that will look good with diamonds.’

  ‘You mean you’re actually trusting me to choose my own wardrobe for such an important occasion? I assume it is something important?’

  ‘The top managers and wives from some of my major concerns. I usually take them abroad for the meetings, but times are harder so it will be a dinner to start a weekend of fun activities.’

  ‘Sounds exciting. What colour should I look for?’ He looked at her thoughtfully.

  ‘Perhaps something slinky and black. Show some leg, but not too revealing at the top.’

  ‘Sounds as if you have it planned.’

  ‘Actually, forget shopping. I’ll get my people to bring some gowns round for you to choose. That does ensure I will approve whatever you choose.’

  ‘I’ll look forward to it.’

  Chapter Eleven

  When Shoanna saw the car Andreas had ordered, she gasped with pleasure. If this was what he called inexpensive, she clearly lived in a different world. The white car was a two-seater, with red leather seats and a hood which folded away somewhere into the boot when she wanted it lowered. She signed the documents and was handed the insurance papers.

  ‘All yours, ma’am,’ said the salesman. ‘Enjoy.’

  ‘Oh, I will. Thank you.’ She drove out of the forecourt carefully, wishing for a quiet road to get the feel of the car. She drove to the park, where there was a speed limit but at least a quiet space to practice manoeuvring. When she felt more confident, she drove round to her flat.

  She spent the morning selecting things to take with her to Andreas’s house. Suddenly her wardrobe felt cheap and shabby. Her shoe collection was the most expensive part of her possessions, so she packed them and took only few of her better clothes. Why not take this chance to build up her wardrobe? If he was offering, and wanted her looking good, then she would enjoy it while it lasted. Wasn’t it every girl’s dream to be given an unlimited credit card?

  Back at the house, Will showed her two rooms that were to be her own. The pretty sitting room had a range of equipment, television, music, and even a computer. The bedroom had acres of wardrobe space and an en suite. Everything she might have dreamed of. She wanted to show it to Tara. She missed her friend, but she wasn’t sure how Andreas would take to her inviting anyone to his house. Maybe this arrangement was going to have its disadvantages. She realised she hadn’t really seen Tara for several days, apart from passing her on the way out. Her phone rang.

  ‘Andreas,’ she said on hearing his greeting. ‘Thank you so much for the car. It’s magnificent.’

  ‘I’m glad you like it.’

  ‘Oh, of course I do. It’s perfect. I took it into the park to get the feel of it. And I’ve collected some of my stuff from the flat. I’m planning a shopping trip soon.’

  ‘Excellent. I’ve arranged for the store to bring a range of things to the house this afternoon. You can have whatever you like. I’ve checked the things out online so I approve of everything.’

  ‘Right,’ she replied. ‘I had planned to meet up with Tara for a shopping trip. I’ve hardly seen her lately.’

  ‘Invite her round if you want to. You have your own space now. I’m out this evening so, if she’s free, invite her to dinner. Show her round. Take her into the gym and see if she might be interested in joining the team.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ she asked cautiously. She wasn’t sure she wanted Tara joining their happy family.

  ‘Wrestlers. You’ll need some recruits if the business goes the way I think it will. I’ve already got bookings for four days next week. Your website is attracting a lot of attention.’

  ‘I haven’t even seen it yet.’

  Then look. You have a computer in your room.’

  ‘OK. Thanks. I’ll see you when I see you, then.’

  ‘I’ll be back by ten. Be ready for me.’

  ‘I will. And thank you again. For everything.’

  She switched off the phone. His personal phone that no one else knew about. It felt sort of intimate. Or was it just another little sign of his control? A buzzer sounded in the room. She looked round. A light was flashing beside the television. She pressed the button.

  ‘Lunch is ready for you,’ said Will’s voice. ‘In the breakfast room.’

  ‘Oh. Right. Thank you.’ She went along the corridor and was shown into the room by Will.

  ‘Andreas wanted me to ensure that you eat properly. You have to maintain your fitness with all these fights coming up.’

  ‘I know. I was planning to have a bit of a workout before I eat, but if it’s ready, then I’ll have to do it later.’

  ‘The dress design people will be here soon after lunch. After that, you are free. Will you be training here or at the gym?’

  ‘Here, I think. Did he also tell you I might have a friend coming to dinner? I haven’t actually asked her yet but I’ll call her in a minute.’

  ‘He did mention it. I’ll make sure there’s a meal prepared. Now, enjoy your food.’

  She lifted the cover off the plate. A large, fluffy omelette waited for her, and a bowl of green salad stood alongside. She ate hungrily, making up for yesterday’s deprivations. She could have eaten a whole basket of bread with it but there was none available. Obviously, she was being controlled in her calories. Plenty of protein but not too much carbohydrate. She needed that for energy, and would have to make that point to Will. Spookily, he came into the room as soon as she had finished. Did he really not have spy hole somewhere?

  ‘I know you have a sweet tooth, so I saved your carbs for a chocolate binge for pudding.’

  ‘You read my mind. Thank you. That looks amazing.’ She tucked into the large slice of chocolate cake, light as a feather but probably calorie laden. She’d soon work that off, either in the gym or with Andreas later. She gave a shiver of anticipation. Nights with the man were amazing. She felt herself growing warm at the very thought of his lithe, well-formed body and the amazing mind that could conjure up so many ways to pleasure her. Did she really believe he’d never found anyone like her before? She wanted to.

  Tara was delighted by the invitation.

  ‘I’ll come and pick you up at seven,’ Shoanna offered.

  ‘How come?’

  ‘I’ve got a new car. Well, I have it on permanent loan. Dress up. We’re having dinner served by this handsome gay guy who seems to be chef, butler, chauffeur, and anything else you want.’

  ‘What have you got yourself into?’

  ‘Come and see for yourself. Now, I’ve got to go. There’s someone bringing me a dress to try on. See you later.’

  ‘Bye, love. Do be careful.’

  Tara was concerned. Shoanna was always one for having a good time and sometimes she was quite reckless. Was she being showered with goodies and expected to pay for them in ways that might be dangerous? Heaven knew what sort of exploits her best friend was taking part in. Wrestling? It did not sound like the sort of thing she would want to be involved with. Something erotic? Well, maybe. Tara knew she would have to make careful note of whatever was going on and make sure Shoanna was safe. All the same, a new car sounded a pretty interesting start.

  * * *

  Shoanna heard the doorbell ring, and went to see who was coming. Two smartly dressed women walked in, carrying a heap of dress boxes.

  ‘There’s more in the car,’ one of them told Will.

  ‘I’ll show you into the drawing room. I’ve put a dress rail in there for you to hang things. I’ll fetch the rest in once you’re settled.’

  ‘Hi,’ Shoanna said nervously. ‘I’m Shoanna. Come on through.’

  They trooped after Will and began to open the boxes, shaking out a range of gorgeous garments and hanging them on the rail.

  ‘Good afternoo
n, madame,’ the leader of the pair said snootily. Shoanna immediately felt even less at ease. Her “hi” had obviously been misplaced. ‘If you would remove those garments for me. I trust you have a properly fitted brassière?’

  ‘Probably not.’ She had never had a properly fitted bra, let alone a full blown brassière. Did anyone really call them that, these days?

  ‘I thought not. You young girls have no thought for the future. You may be pert enough now but without proper support, your breasts will sag and you will become dowdy matrons.’

  ‘Right. Well, I’ll be sure to look into it.’

  ‘I’ll measure you now. Get some made for you.’

  ‘I don’t want something old and matronly. I like pretty underwear.’

  ‘Of course you do. Mr Andreas would hardly tolerate anything less than perfectly beautiful. Take that thing off and I’ll get out my tape.’ The woman clicked her fingers and her underling stepped forward with a clipboard and tape measure.

  Standing in her brief thong in front of these two women, Shoanna felt unbelievably shy. The tape was wrapped around her this way and that, her breasts lifted and measured in every possible direction. What on earth would be the result? Some sort of heavily boned device more like a cantilever bridge than an item of clothing.

  ‘Right. I know you’ll hate this one I’ve brought, but it will suffice while we try on the garments Mr Andreas has selected for you.’

  Miss Perfectly Correct, as Shoanna christened her, fastened a stout bra round her. It pulled up her generous breasts to form a cleavage that would have made Nell Gwynne blink.

  ‘Very good. Let’s begin with the evening dresses.’ She unhooked the first one from its hanger and the two of them dressed her as if she was a shop window dummy. Soft, black silk hung from her, showing off her curves; it was whisper soft as she moved.

  ‘That’s really nice,’ said the underling, getting a sharp look from Miss PC.

  ‘No comments to influence the client. She must decide for herself.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Shoanna said. It was the first time she’d been recognised as the client. ‘I like it, but I see you have a whole range for me to choose from. Andreas said he wanted me in black, so I’ll look at those first.’

  Each dress she tried on was a perfect fit and she was completely spoilt for choice. Unable to decide, she tried some of the dresses in other colours. The two women remained impassive.

  ‘Perhaps we should move to the day garments while you decide.’ Miss PC clicked her fingers again, and the underling stepped forward with tailored jackets, skirts, and trousers. Shoanna was at a loss. Why did she need such clothes? Miss PC answered her unspoken question. ‘Mr Andreas wants you to have two formal business suits. We have appropriate blouses to go with them. For casual clothes, he suggests half a dozen pairs of jeans, made to measure, of course, and a range of silk shirts. Now, if you can make your selection from the evening dresses, we can pack away the rest of things.’

  The room was already looking like a well-stocked boutique. She knew she must make her selection and get rid of the irritating woman.

  Flattery was the answer. ‘I’d value your expert advice. The dresses are all wonderful, and I can’t make up my mind.’

  ‘Very well. Knowing Mr Andreas’s taste, I’d suggest the fitted heavier silk for the evening dress. He suggested a slit to reveal your legs would be good. But I can leave you any of them for his final word if you prefer.’

  At last, she chose a number of items and the underling packed away the rejections. She also kept a couple of the dresses she couldn’t bear to part with. A midnight blue dress with a full skirt and a strappy silver grey one, not unlike the dress she had ruined the night she met Andreas the first time.

  ‘Thank you, madame. And don’t forget what I said about a proper brassière. I’ll make up a range in different colours. They and the jeans will be with you by the end of the week.’

  ‘Goodness. That’s quick,’ she said with some surprise.

  ‘We pride ourselves on providing excellent service for our clients. Mr Andreas is, of course, our most important. Your costumes –’ she pronounced the word with a slight sneer ‘– were made by our work room.’

  ‘They are all a perfect fit.’

  ‘Of course. Good afternoon. Perhaps your man will help carry the stock out to the car.’

  She needn’t have asked. Will appeared by magic, as ever. She began to take the clothes to her wardrobe. There were no price tags on anything, so she had no idea of costs. She just knew instinctively that she had never owned anything so expensive in her life. Silk was always a luxury, only afforded for special underwear. She did wonder about the bras – brassières, she giggled. What on earth would arrive?

  Tara gasped at the sight of her car.

  ‘Oh my God.’

  ‘I’ve actually agreed that this car is only on loan to me, but he did say it was really mine.’

  ‘What the hell did you have to do to earn this?’

  ‘Nothing I didn’t want to do. He’s very generous. A bit demanding, perhaps, but as I say, nothing I’m not happy with.’

  Shoanna felt suddenly shy. She and Tara had only ever talked about intimate sexual matters in very general terms. Would her friend be totally blown away at the thought of some of the bondage deals she and Andreas favoured? It was private. All of that was private. She could talk about the wrestling quite happily, and even about what it did to turn on her partners. At least that was safe.

  ‘Well, good on ya,’ Tara said. ‘I guess I’d go the extra mile for some of this. Is that the house? Good grief, it’s a mansion.’

  ‘You’ve seen nothing yet.’ Shoanna laughed.

  Will opened the door as the car stopped.

  ‘Good evening. I’ve put some champagne on ice in the drawing room. Dinner will be ready as soon as you are. Ring the bell and I’ll serve it immediately.’

  Tara followed her friend into the large room and stood nonplussed, gazing round.

  ‘This is some wild dream. You can’t mean you’d give up our flat to live here? No way.’ They both laughed as they sipped the excellent champagne from crystal flutes. ‘Don’t you miss the cava from our plastic tooth mugs?’

  ‘Course I do. I miss you, Tara. Just to have a laugh occasionally. Andreas is everything I could want and more, but you need the girly stuff occasionally.’

  They chatted and giggled over proper brassières and clothes and shoes. They ate a delicious meal and drank more wine.

  ‘So, are you going to show me round?’ Tara asked when they’d finished eating. ‘Show me where the action takes place?’

  ‘What? The gym?’

  ‘Where else. I wouldn’t want to intrude on your private action. I assume there’s plenty of that?’ Shoanna blushed crimson. ‘My, my, you look faintly embarrassed. I won’t even go there.’

  ‘The gym’s through here. Not a lot to see. Large mat for wrestling and workout gear. You know the sort of thing. There’s even a pool in the basement.’

  ‘So, how does this wrestling thing work? I mean, you talked about holds and things. Show me some.’

  ‘Well, OK. The basic principles if you like. Can’t do a lot on top of a meal like that.’

  She went through some of the moves, demonstrating in theory how to create a fall and then how to drop to secure the hold.

  ‘So what do you mean by a scissor hold?’ Tara asked.

  She demonstrated, gently, without putting on pressure.

  ‘Good grief, your quads are like steel. What have you been doing?’

  ‘Working out. Special exercises to strengthen specific muscles. Surprising what power you can actually put on just by moving in the right places. Think you might be interested?’

  ‘If it pays well and gets you some of this … I might certainly go there. But I’m not sure I could give up working, just in case it doesn’t last. Does Andreas have a brother going spare?’

  ‘Not one I know about.’ Shoanna laughed.

 
The door opened and Andreas came in.

  ‘Good evening, ladies. That was an interesting display. Hello, Tara. I’m Andreas.’

  He held out his hand and she took it, gulping slightly at the sight of this handsome male specimen.

  ‘Pleased to meet you. I can see why you wanted to move out, Shoanna,’ she murmured.

  ‘And no, I don’t have a brother. But I’d be pleased to take you on if you are interested in our little project. You would, though, have to finish any daytime work. Many of our clients want bouts during what should be office hours. It means they can return home to their families without anyone knowing what they were doing. And, of course, the training schedule can be demanding too. You have to take proper exercise and be available when needed.’ He turned and addressed Shoanna. ‘Have you shown Tara the website yet?’

  ‘I haven’t even looked at it myself. I’ve been fully occupied all day.’

  ‘Of course. My designers. Did you find something you liked?’

  ‘Lots of things. Your designers?’

  ‘My designers. My factory. My retail outlet. Why else did you think I had such a vast collection of clothing?’

  ‘I hadn’t thought about. I assumed you liked collecting them.’

  ‘What’s all this?’ Tara asked.

  ‘I have a large collection of female clothing,’ Andreas said. Costumes. Outfits for various activities. Why, hasn’t Shoanna told you?’

  ‘Certainly not. She’s been very secretive.’

  ‘We had some other catching up to do.’ Shoanna gave him a warning glance. She didn’t want her friend to know too much about their intimate relationships and the fetish garments he dressed her in.

  ‘It’s a lucrative business. I sell to private individuals and specialist shops. I have one shop of my own too, so far, but more are planned. Conventional and, shall we say, less conventional. Why don’t we look at the website we’ve put together for Shoanna’s new business. You’ll get some ideas of the sort of thing we can produce.’

  He slid a cupboard door to one side and revealed a large computer screen. A few clicks of the mouse and a series of pictures began to flow past. A voiceover spoke of the sport on offer. The pictures were still again, and showed Shoanna in a series of poses, clad in all her different fighting gear, as she called it. She looked sexy and stunning, very much in charge of herself. Anderson could never be identified but was shown as a perfect specimen of manhood, pinned down and suppressed by long, leather-clad legs.