Inner Circle (9 page)

Jane gave her the orders Simon had listed. She was to eat a light lunch, get a massage, have her hair and nails done, come back, sleep for several hours, shower, rub her body with perfumed oil, take Jane’s direction in making up her face, put on the clothes and shoes Jane had brought, and be ready to go to the country club by seven o’clock. Simon and Sheila would pick her up in their limousine.

An hour later Kathy lay on the massage table at “Women’s Wellness.” Kathy had forgotten about the pink welts that crisscrossed her ass cheeks from last night’s whipping. The woman giving her the massage gasped when she saw them. Kathy felt herself turn scarlet with embarrassment.

At the beauty parlor, Marie, the young woman styling her hair was a long time acquaintance. Kathy noticed immediately that instead of greeting her with laughter and a hug, Marie looked troubled. She was silent for awhile but finally, just as she was finished styling Kathy’s hair, she leaned close and asked, “Is it really true what some people are saying?”

Again Kathy felt herself blushing furiously. “What are they saying, Marie?”

“Your friend, Ann, was in last evening. She said that you are seeing that fat pig Simon Ruben. She said your husband, God rest his soul, was having an affair with Ruben’s ugly niece when she was only seventeen.” Kathy couldn’t answer. After a few minutes Marie continued, “Your friend has been coming here as long as you have. She doesn’t seem like the type to spread rumors or lie.”

Kathy knew what she had to say. “It’s true. What Ann told you is true. I’m sorry, Marie.” In the mirror she saw Marie look at the other beauticians and nod her head. The shop became quiet. No one spoke to her. She paid and left. She went to a place where she wasn’t known to have a pedicure and her fingernails done. Part of her instructions from Jane was that the color should be a very dark, almost purple, red.

Driving home, she felt a compulsion to take the service road to the Turnpike and keep driving west. In a few days, she’d be in San Francisco. But she was certain Mr. Satomi would have her traced and tracked down. He’d done it easily enough once before. There was also Mary Margaret to consider. She cried softly imaging what her poor sister-in-law must be enduring at the hateful Facility.

When she arrived home, she was relieved to see that Willy had apparently left. Jane inspected her and grunted approval. Jane gave her a sedative. She slept for three hours before Jane awakened her. After the familiar routine of shower, perfumed oil, she emerged from the bathroom to find Jane standing beside the make-up table with an array of new cosmetics.

“Mr. Ruben say you to use dark stuff, eye shadow, lip stick, make lips bigger, use lots of gloss. He wants you to look different.” Without speaking, Kathy sat at the table and made up her face as Jane directed. The eye shadow was dark blue, the lipstick almost matched the purple-red of her nails. When she looked at the clothes spread out on the bed and the ridiculous shoes, she knew what her tormentor had in mind. He wanted her to look cheap. She was certain Sheila would be elegantly dressed. The contrast would be dramatic.

She put on the almost transparent blouse. It was black with large white polka dots. The outline of her breasts was clearly visible. The short skirt was also tight and black. A side slit exposed part of her bare thigh. The black open-toed stilettos were fashioned with long ribbons that circled and crisscrossed her legs until she tied them halfway up her calves. When she finished dressing she stood before the mirror. Jane observed her, “Good,” the older woman said, “You look like a slut who wants to get fucked. Mr. Ruben will be pleased.”

In order to prepare herself, Kathy thought of the rat cage, of Ruben’s threat to tie her over it and perhaps let the rats claw at her nipples. She thought of Mary Margaret, her sister-in-law at the mercy of the cruel trainers at the Facility. She determined she would not give in to anger or tears.

At precisely seven o’clock Ruben’s limousine pulled into the driveway. She hurried out to it. Jane stayed behind. Simon Ruben and his niece sat on the backbench. She slid in and took her place facing them. Ruben appraised her carefully and nodded in approval. Sheila giggled. “Oh, Uncle, she’s perfect.”

Kathy was surprised to see that Sheila looked better than she’d remembered. Apparently she’d spent considerable time at an exclusive makeover spa. Perhaps she’d had breast implants and other cosmetic surgery. She was still very thin but no longer flat-chested. She was dressed, as Kathy knew she would be, in a very elegant floor length gown of white silk. Her wide mouth was coated with a bright red lipstick, her long brown hair curled under at her neck. Her deep set eyes were subtly made up, her thin arms encased in long silk gloves. She reached across handing Kathy a lighter. She then snapped open a small silver case and took out a cigarette. “You are to keep the lighter, Mrs. Ryan,” she said. “Make sure it’s always handy. Whenever you see me reach for a cigarette, you’re to be ready to light it. Do you understand?” Kathy nodded. Sheila glanced at her uncle then glared at Kathy, “Don’t fucking shake your head at me. You call me Miss Sheila and you answer like you’re a fucking servant!” Her shrill voice was almost a shriek.

Kathy swallowed her anger. “I understand, Miss Sheila,” she said. The younger woman put the cigarette between her lips. Kathy reached across to light it. Taking a long drag, Sheila blew the smoke in Kathy’s face. Both she and Ruben laughed.

Sheila leaned back and stared at Kathy through narrowed eyes. Kathy turned her head to toward the window. “Look at me, bitch!” Sheila hissed. Reluctantly, Kathy turned back to face her. Sheila smirked, “When your friends see us together tonight with you made up and dressed like a slut and me looking like I do, they’ll surely begin to believe your late husband and I were lovers, don’t you think?”

“Yes, Miss Sheila, they will begin to believe the stories.”

“What are you going to do to convince them the stories are true?”

Kathy bowed her head, then looked up, “If anyone asks, I’ll tell them about the photographs of you and…and…Jeff kissing. I’ll tell them that I found love letters from him to you. I’ll tell them how grateful I am to you and your kind uncle for forgiving me about the lies I spread last year.”

“And you’ll tell them your husband always had a thing for young girls. You’ll tell them he wanted me when I was fifteen, but I didn’t let him fuck me until two years ago when I was seventeen?” She paused. She glared across at Kathy, “Then we made love and he fucked me every night until he died.”

Kathy bowed her head and said nothing.

Ruben’s arm shot out and the slapped Kathy across the face. “When my niece asks you a question, you’re to answer her!” he shouted.

The stinging blow left a red mark on Kathy’s cheek. She determined not to cry. With her head still lowered, she whispered, “I’m sorry, Miss Sheila. “I’ll tell them that my husband, that Jeff, was interested in…in young women and that he was especially fond of you and had been for several years. I’ll tell them you were lovers for the last year of his life.”

“And tell them when he started lusting after me, he stopped having sex with you. Tell them he confessed when I was fifteen I made him promise to cut you off and he did.”

Kathy lifted her head and stared at Sheila. After a moment, she said, “Yes, Miss Sheila, I’ll tell them that.”

Sheila blew another cloud of smoke across at Kathy. “Uncle says you’re to let your friends know you’ve become attracted to me, physically attracted.” She licked her lips and leaned forward. “How do you propose to show them that, Mrs. Ryan?”

“I…I…don’t know.”

“Well, I’ll tell you how. When you’re not attending to Uncle, you’ll look at me like you’re in love, like you’d be thrilled if I smiled at you. You’ll find ways to touch my hand. You’ll look for ways to serve me, to do little things for me. No matter how I might humiliate you, you’ll appear to be grateful. You’ll support everything I say about my affair with your late husband.” She sat back and took a long drag on the cigarette. “There will be other things I’ll require of you both in public and in private.” She turned toward Ruben. “Oh, Uncle, I’m going to enjoy this! She is my very own servant, isn’t she? She will do what I tell her to do?”

Ruben patted her knee, “Yes, Sheila, she will do exactly what she’s told. She knows what will happen if she doesn’t. Isn’t that right, Mrs. Ryan?”

“Yes, that’s right. I’ll do what you and Miss Sheila say.”

“You can start by getting on your knees and looking up into my face. Do it lovingly, Mrs. Ryan, lovingly.”

Kathy slid off the seat and onto her knees. She tilted her head up, but the hatred in her eyes was clear to both Sheila and Ruben. Once more, Sheila took a long drag on her cigarette and blew the smoke directly into Kathy’s face. Kathy’s expression didn’t change. Sheila turned toward her uncle. “I told her lovingly,” she complained.

Ruben reached in his coat pocket and withdrew a photograph that he held up before Kathy’s eyes. It was of her tied naked over the rat cage. She shuddered visibly and closed her eyes. “Lovingly,” Ruben said, “My niece told you to look at her lovingly.”

Kathy tried to imagine Jeff, tried to make herself believe that when she opened her eyes she would be looking up at Jeff. It didn’t work, but the change was enough to satisfy Sheila for the moment.

“Say something nice to me,” Sheila demanded.

Kathy paused gathering her thoughts, “You are beautiful, Miss Sheila. I can understand why my husband fell in love with you. It…it’s easy to see why he preferred you to me.”

Sheila sneered at her, “Of course, you don’t mean that, but I like to hear it.” They were pulling into the driveway of the Country Club. Sheila put out her cigarette and gestured that Kathy was to return to her seat. She smiled across at Kathy, “You know that before this night is over you’ll be back down on your knees pleasuring me with your tongue?”

Kathy bowed her head for a moment, then looked up, “Yes, Miss Sheila, I know.”

“And you’ll like that, you’ll like licking my cunt and you’ll thank me and ask to be permitted to do it again.” She leaned forward her face set, her eyes hard and mean. “Isn’t that right, Mrs. Ryan?”

For a moment Kathy stared back at her, but the younger woman won the contest of wills and, ashamed of herself, Kathy lowered her eyes. “I will, Ms. Sheila, I’ll like it. I’ll thank you and ask to be allowed to do it again.”

The valet opened the door. Sheila got out first, then Ruben, and after him, Kathy.

Their table was, to Kathy’s dismay, in the center of the room, next to the dance floor. A full band was playing. Most of the reunion guests had arrived. All were Kathy’s long time friends and acquaintances from both high school and college. Ruben was thirty years older than the any of them. He seated Kathy between him and his niece. As soon as she sat down, he nudged her. “Spread your legs in case I want to finger your cunt. Put your hand on my prick. Whisper something to me I will be pleased to hear.”

Obediently, Kathy parted her legs. She reached beneath the table and felt his fat, limp cock under her hand. She looked around the room that, except for the music, had become almost silent when they entered. Some of her friends had nodded a greeting, but most just looked and turned away. She noticed the people at the tables close to them were watching. She leaned toward Ruben to whisper in his ear, “You excite me. You make me wet.”

Ruben nodded slightly, “And now Sheila,” he said.

Ignoring Kathy, Sheila was looking at the people who had, in the past, shunned her. She grinned and waved, but no one acknowledged her. Her face reddened in anger. Ripping off one of her long silk gloves, she lifted her skinny hand toward Kathy’s lips. “Kiss it,” she hissed under her breath. Kathy gently touched her lips to the back of the girl’s hand.

The couples who had been watching them turned away in disgust.

Kathy felt Ruben’s hand move along the inside of her thigh. “Spread,” he whispered. Her skirt was tight so she had to pull it back in order to part her legs wider. She felt his fingers on her pussy. The metal cap still covered her clitoris. Ruben leaned close to her, “Do you want my finger inside you?”

Kathy’s face was scarlet. She noticed the waiter coming for their drink order. She was afraid he’d see what was happening. Ruben trailed his fingernail along the wetness of her slit. “Yes, please,” she said.

He began to finger fuck her. She groaned and her breathing came faster. Sheila grinned at the waiter and ordered a cosmo. Ruben ordered a Scotch then said to Kathy, “Tell the man what you want, my dear.” He slid a second finger inside her. By now the waiter was aware of what Ruben was doing. His face turned red with embarrassment.

Kathy looked down at her plate, “Chardonnay,” she managed to gasp. Before the young waiter turned away, Ruben placed his hand on the table. Two fingers glistened with Kathy’s secretions. The waiter stared at them for a moment then hurried off to get the drinks.

Sheila giggled, “Did you see that guy’s face? You almost made her cum, Uncle.” She turned to face Kathy, “But you’re not permitted to cum, are you?” Before Kathy could answer, Sheila went on, “I’ve seen the videos and photographs from that place they call The Facility.” Kathy felt the color rise to her cheeks again. Sheila laughed, “Our little pet has been well trained, Uncle. Isn’t that true, Mrs. Ryan? You’ve been well trained to give pleasure to both men and women?”

Kathy looked directly at her, “Yes, Miss Sheila, I’ve been trained to give pleasure.”