Reclaimed

But although my appearance was not to be overheard, Ann-Lena still didn't pay my any interest.

"Miss von Hardenberg?" I tried to call her attention. She just shushed me quiet by holding her hand up high and continued her reading.

As I looked into her perfect face again, I felt how all the anger in my stomach slowly got overwhelmed by the sight of her. Believe me, there was just no way to stay mad at someone who is so fair and beautiful. So I decided to wait patiently for her to finish her text. As there was no chair available on my side of the desk, I had to remain standing the whole time. Gazing into her magazine, I noted that it was a longer article about the special pros and cons of different kind of crops.

The silence got quite heavy before Ann-Lena finally asked me "Yes? What is it, Alexander?"

I lifted my head.

"You have moved into this room, Miss von Hardenberg?"

"That's quite obvious, isn't it? I've decided to use this room as my "satellite office" to organize the build-up of my new riding school. Was that all you disturbed my for?"

"Well, I'm missing my stuff! All of my stuff to be honest."

"So?"

"I assume that you are 'involved' in this new situation."

Instead of bothering to answer me, Ann-Lena just took a long sip of coffee from the cup on the desk.

"And why do you think that?" she asked me in most innocent calmness. Can you believe this? This woman really had the nuts to treat me like a moron!

"Don't act as if I were stupid! Beside me, you are the only one who has the keys for this house!" I steamed up at her.

But Ann-Lena kept enjoying her coffee. Unhurriedly she leaned back and placed her legs on the table, so that the high heels of her ankle-strap pumps were only a few centimeters away from my groin.

"My mother has ordered to carry all of your belongings down into the basement. There your stuff will remain looked in sealed containers until all your outstanding debts against my mother are paid. And don't forget that you also still owe me the rent for this month!" she said, flexing her heel toward me for emphasis.

"She has no right to do that to me! This is my flat!"

"I think so! From a juristic point of view, you're nothing but a L-O-D-G-E-R. My L-O-D-G-E-R to be precise!" Ann-Lena stated coldly, while she took care to pronounce the word 'lodger' with so much depreciation, as if it only was an equivalent for the term 'lowest inferior' to her.

"Still your mother can't just take possession of MY property!"

"But she has already proven that she can do it, hasn't she?"

"I... I... Tell your mother that if she don't return my property voluntarily, will bring this case to trial!"

"Your welcome to try! I'm sure, Mrs Hansen will have her fun crushing your prosecution at court."

I was too shocked to find any more words to encounter. Instead I felt my cheeks blushing in the awkward silence that filled the room. The whole hopelessness of my situation slowly spread inside my mind. And there just seemed to be no way out!

Ann-Lena's dark eyes remained untouched, but a little smirk around her lips told me that she secretly even enjoyed to witness my rising desperation.

A moment later she added in a low voice: "But I must warn you, that it might not be the wise to make the von-Hardenberg-family become your enemy. My mother can become very bitchy when she gets opposed."

"But I am UNEMPLOYED! Your mother must be totally crazy if she thinks that I ever will be able to pay her so much money!" I cried out

Without any explanation, Ann-Lena stood up, walked around her desk and then: S-L-A-P! She had slapped me across the face with an unrestricted strength.

"Never ever dare to talk about my mother in such a way again!" she hissed.

I couldn't even look at her clearly as my mind was still dazed by the stinging pain of my cheek and my eyes began to water.

"I'm sorry!" I mumbled meekly while holding my hurting cheek.

"Then say it! Say that you are feeling guilty for insulting my mother."

"I am feeling guilty for insulting your mother." I repeated, hoping that this gesture of obedience would calm down her anger a bit.

"...and you swear to treat every member of the Hardenberg-family with the utmost respect from now on." Miss von Hardenberg suggested on top of that.

This was getting a little ridiculous. How could I 'swear' something like that if I hadn't even met any other member of the Hardenberg-family beside Ann-Lena yet? But then I noticed the severity in Ann-Lena's hazel-eyes and I knew that she wouldn't grant me any trade-off here. And I definitely didn't want to risk another painful slap from her.

"I swear to treat every member of the Hardenberg-family with the utmost respect from now on." I finally repeated her exact words. As soon as the last word had left my lips her cold eyes warmed up again. I began to feel uncomfortable that I had so easily allowed her to put her words into my mouth.

"Very well! Actually I have already thought about your little problem. As you will hardly find an adequate job around Kleinhausen which will enable you to pay of your debts, I am offering you a job as my personal assistant."

"You duty will be to provide me every support I need for converting this rotten stables into a professional equestrian school. I expect you to work for me whenever I require your work. You will never be off-time, but in return for your high-availability you will get highly paid as well."

"That would be very kind of you!" I assured her while I started to charge myself with new hope.

"I still have my doubts that someone like you are man enough for such a responsible position as I require unconditional commitment from to every little task that I will give to one of my assistants. But after all I'm willing to train you accordingly." she declared with an ambiguous smirk.

"So are you interested?"

Mm - I was trying to comprehend the full dimension of this surprising offer. On the one side I had this discomforting feeling that Ann-Lena would become a quite demanding boss. And not agreeing on a regular working-time would surely cause some troubles with my girlfriend's schedule for me. But still the thought of working for an attractive woman like Ann-Lena was extremely enticing. And as an unemployed person I had not many other choices, had I? But by taking her job-offer, I could even manage to legally repay my debts and earn myself some self-respect. So how would you have decided in my situation?

"Well... How much would you pay me?" I finally asked.

"You're a man who gets to the point very directly, don't you?" Ann-Lena back grinned at me.

"Mm... I guess the best job that you could get in this shappy town would bring you around 1.500 Mark per month. As my expectations on you will be quite high, I will double that amount. So it's 3.000 Mark cash on the barrel-head."

"Deal!" I cheered as I had never earned so much money before. A new feeling of joy rushed through my veins. My times as Mr. Good-For-Nothing would finally be over.

But as her cold palm firmly grabbed my hand and shook it to seal the deal, my joyful feeling was mixed with another feeling. It was the worrying feeling that I had just signed a pact with the devil.

"Of course I will have to confiscate your initial payments to amortize your outstanding debt against my mother. Including the current interest rate, you will be debt-free in around 45 months."

I starred at her in disbelieve. She answered that look with a triumphant glance as if she rejoiced that my situation was so precarious right now.

"Ah... but how would I..."

"I take your objections as a sign that you don't really want to avail yourself of this once in a lifetime opportunity as my personal assistant. That is a real pity, Alexander."

"No! No! You've got me wrong!" I hectically intervened. "I was just... wondering... how I would be able to buy the clothes and food, that I will need to be capable of working for you?"

"Don't worry for that. As long as you assistance meet my requirements, I will provide you with the food that you'll need. And for the clothes: Well, actually the standard-work-wear which I had ordered for my prospective employees have arrived just this morning. So take out three identical sets of clothes from the big parcel at the corner and try on one of them!"

Short-taken I gazed into the left corner. There was indeed standing a big parcel that I hadn't seen before.

Five minutes later I was wearing black slacks and a plain white shirt, combined with silken black tie. Peering down at my body, I had to realize that my garment rather looked like the uniform of a butler or a first-class-waiter that adequate work-wear for the assistant of an equestrian school director.

In the left side of the shirt was embroidered a black text. Seeing the letters up-side-down it took me a while to silently read it out. The text was saying 'Property of Ann-Lena von Hardenberg'.

"You look perfect! Now put your old your clothing neatly on the chair. You have to learn that neatness is a necessity for me. So you will always have to ensure that your clothes, body and room remain cleanly. I will make inspections and if I am displeased you will be punished. Have I made myself clear?"

"Very clear, Miss von Hardenberg."

"Good! My cousin Claudia Conradi came over this morning. She will spend the next six weeks at this place to train her riding-skills a little. Actually she is riding out right now, but I expect her return every minute. I want you to welcome her as your new flat-mate and college. As I will have to go back the West-Germany for a few days, it will be Claudia who provides you with food and a bed. So you better do your best to keep her in a happy mood!"

"I'll do!"

"Good! Now here is your first job: You might have already Claudia's little Toyota Land Cruiser at the left side of the yard? It's still full of her luggage and I want you to carry it into her new rooms. I might be gone by the time you are finished with it, so it will be you task to show her around the town afterwards."

"But it's cold outside! I might catch a cold, wearing nothing but these clothes."

"These clothes present everything that I will allow you wear. In fact they even present everything that I will allow you to possess while being at my service."

"But at least I will need a pair of fresh socks and underwear for tomorrow."

The shine of her eyes darkened in anger, making me wish that I wouldn't had spoken so forward. But the words had already escaped my mouth. I could not recaptured them.

Slowly Ann-Lena leaned closer to me, making me back off instinctively. She just grabbed me firmly by my silken tie and hold me with it like I was on her leash. Now that I couldn't escape her anger anymore, I was pretty sure that I would receive another painful face-slap in the next moment.

The vision of my rising terror must have amused her as a smile re-appear on her face. Still it wasn't a smile of mercy, but a smile of triumph.

Instead of slapping my check, her hand just patted it. Like you would pat your own dog.

"You have much to learn, my poor assistant. Much to learn." Ann-Lena declared with a mocking softness in her voice.

I nodded in surrender.

"As my assistant you will NEVER be allowed to talk back to me! Instead your new job will require you to work completely under the conditions that I provide to you. I think that -- as a little reminder of this golden rule -- I won't let you wear neither underwear nor socks at all!"

How could I object such a statement that was so final? So I only nodded once more.

"Hurry now to carry Claudia's luggage into her new room before it gets dark outside!"

I was already on my way outside when Ann-Lena added shouting "...and make sure to show Claudia the proper respect when you meet her! After all she might become one of the co-trainers of my riding academy."

[testimony No. VIII of Claudia Conradi]

Two days ago my first semester-break as a student for ‚Business Administration & Finance' at the renowned University of Vienna has started. I'm going to use that spare-time for visiting my cousin Ann-Lena at her new place in Eastern Germany. You might wonder why a prosperous student like me lowers herself to go from beautiful Vienna to a wretched hick-town like Kleinhausen. The first reason is that I like my cousin very much. As her mother had gained back an old estate, Ann-Lena instantly seized her chance to build up her very own riding-school at this cheerless place. I admire her for such ambition. That brings me directly to my second reason for spending my semester break in Kleinhausen: RIDING! I just love riding. The feeling of gaining full control over a horse had excited me since I was a little girl. I always wanted to ride the fastest and strongest horse of the stallion as only the best horse could give me indomitable power. And power was what I was thirsting for.

So when Ann-Lena offered me full access to her glory stallion for the next six weeks, I couldn't withstand its temptation.

Yesterday afternoon I actually got the chance to ride out for the first time since the enrollment for my study in Vienna. There was a dampness in the air that made the breath of my stallion quite visible as the horse still breathed heavily from a hard gallop. Controlling such a powerful horse was such a great experience. I had been driving Ann-Lena's stallion so hard that I had to catch my breath as well. As I got very hot I had taken off my black riding jacket and placed it across the front of my saddle in front of me so that I could enjoy the cooling dampness of the air properly.

My joy-ride around the fields of the village must have taken the whole afternoon because the light was already starting to go by the time I arrived back at the yard.

Just as I turned the corner and prepared to dismount so that I could walk my horse to the stable, I saw a foreign man in a kind of butler-uniform taking a large box out of my Toyota Land Cruiser. When he looked over to me, he instantly stopped dead in his tracks with his eyes transfixed to my gently swaying breasts.

He even didn't tear his eyes from my body as I approached him closer. His lips curled into an impish smile, telling me about the lewdly pictures that were playing though his mind. Being watched so obviously made me seek for a little revenge. And as he was an athletic looking guy in his early thirties I even hoped get out some fun from provoking him a little with my famous cockiness.

"Hi, I'm Claudia! And you must be Ann-Lena's new toy, she had told me of!?" I addressed him, while I slowly dismounted from my horse.

"Good evening. But... mm... I think you misunderstood my position. I am the official assistant of Miss von Hardenberg!"

I laughed at him. "Oh really? Then tell me: Why is the label 'Property of Ann-Lena von Hardenberg' written of your shirt?"

"It only means that the clothes that I wear belong to Miss von Hardenberg."

"And you are totally sure that's the only meaning?" I mocked him.

It was a funny sight to watch his brain searching for a proper way to answer my mean inquiry. But before he even could find a suitable answer, I had quickly handed him the reins of my horse.

"Would you be so kind and escort my horse back into its stable?"

"Sh....Sure!" he answered in obvious intimidation.

Now I could nearly hear how his self-assurance was breaking gradually.

When Alexander returned back at the yard two minutes later, he found me sitting on the cargo area of my Toyota Land Cruiser. On its cargo area were still a least a dozen of my packing boxes waiting to be carried into my new room.

Still I had to make myself a little comfortable during his absence. My pony-tail was open now and my booted legs laid crossed over each other. I casually leaned back to enjoy the beautiful sunset (and to make Alexander feel a little awkward by brazenly ignoring his presence).

But from the corner of my eyes, I could see how his gaze was once more wandering over my body. I already knew this kind of guys from my campus of Vienna.

Although they feel that they hardly have a chance to date a girl like me, they still let me become to object of their heinous fantasies. A few moments later their mind had become so bewitched by me, that such guys start searching for a way how they still could gain some relevancy for me in spite of their obvious un-allurement as a lover. Well, here is your chance, Alexander!

"What are you looking at?" I suddenly asked aloud without bothering to look at him.

"It's... just... that Miss von Hardenberg hasn't mentioned, that her cousin would be that pretty."

"Hasn't she? Well -- she also must have forgotten to mention what a lousy womanizer her assistant is!"

"Sorry -- I didn't want to incommode you."

"So then why don't you continue with carrying my luggage into the house!" I asked.

I obviously expected me to join him with the work. But as I showed no signs of bothering to help him, he finally grabbed another box and started to carefully carry it into the house. My demonstrative idleness must have been quite embarrassing for him, but that was hardly my problem, was it?

"I'm glad to see that my belongings will be in good hands!" I commented with a smirk on my face.

He turned around and beamed back at me, happy to finally see me smile at him

"Hurry up! I want these boxes in my room by seven o'clock!" I laughed hearty.

This demand left Alexander in visible confusion as the cold command of my words wouldn't fit with the friendliness of my voice. I love to cause such feelings at my admirers. And Alexander's insecurity made him the perfect candidate for these little games of feminine ambiguity.

"What took you so long?" I welcomed him two minutes later when he finally arrived back at the yard.

"It's not very easy to carry the heavy box up the stairs to your floor."

"If you don't return back here within one minute after you brought up the next box, I may have to use the dressage crop to obtain the adequate motivation of you." I playfully threatened in my jaunty spirit.

It was only meant as a joke, but Alexander's scared eyes told me that he took my threat very seriously. Was he really fearing that I might whip him to punish his disobedience? The more I thought about this scenario, the more I got excited.

The next time Alexander showed up, I barked at him "You are late again!"

"S... Sorry!"

"So put out your hands" I said after a long pause, wrinkling my low brow in angry furrows.

Instantly his hands moved forward. His compliance made me smile. How easy it was to made this grown man carry out my wishes. At home in Vienna the men were much harder to convince of the irrevocability of my words. Ann-Lena must really thought her new assistant some valuable lessons in respect.

In a harsh snarling voice I counted "One, two, three" as I struck the thong of my elegant dressage crop.

Alexander hissed horribly as the thong came down on his outstretched hands, raising thick red welts. The pain must have been so intense that it brought tears in his eyes. But he remained brave and screwed up his mouth.

Only at the fifth hit Alexander softly whimpered. Then he gained back control of himself, standing there with a stiff white face.

Still I felt that it wouldn't take much more to make him cry out loud. This feeling of ultimate power was extremely thrilling. Oh girl, I thought, keep yourself under control, I told myself. After all Alexander was the assistant of my best cousin and I shouldn't already break him at the first day.

Therefore I released Alexander with a joyful smile. "That should do for the beginning. Now get back to work!"

Around twenty minutes later Alexander had finally emptied the cargo area of my Land Cruiser.