A Taming of a Shrew has Consequence Ch. 01

Chapter One

Every adulteress is capable of poisoning her husband.

-- Roman Maxim --

Kate was noticeably nervous and upset. She started to light a cigarette. Her husband said, "Don't do that please. The air up here is already thin and it's not a good idea to make it worse with smoke and a cigarette using it up.

She put the cigarette away. "Okay. But why don't we just go over these mountains instead of through them?

"We're not in a high-powered jet, you know. The max altitude of this thing is about 14,000 feet on a good day, and many of these mountains are higher than that. And those cliffs aren't as close as they look. Also, I've practiced this run a few times and I know how to get through these passes."

"I know. I trust you. But that's not the only reason I'm upset. Why can't we just get a hotel room for the next ten days? You know I can't stand John, and I don't want to be around him. When you first told me we were going to spend ten days in Aspen, I was really excited. But when you told me we were spending it at his house, and worse, he was going to be there, it upset me no end."

"I haven't had any time off in a long time, so when he offered to have a semi-working vacation, and bring you along, so you can enjoy yourself, by the way, I couldn't turn him down. And I don't think he understands why you hate hm so much. He always goes out of his way to be nice to you."

"I don't like who he is, I don't like how he treats women. I don't like how we have to move every few years. I don't like how much he works you and takes you away from my time with you. I don't like how crude he talks. Do you want to hear more?"

"The women you see as being mistreated, apparently don't feel that way. He sleeps with a lot of beautiful women, and they seem to be perfectly happy with him. And, yes, he can be crude sometimes, but he can also be exceptionally charming. And I don't remember any time he was crude around you."

"That's one of the problems. When he is being charming, it doesn't sound sincere to me. It's all a façade. And you forget the time I called your office and he picked up the phone and swore at me for calling you at work."

"You interrupted a meeting, and it upset him. Sometimes he swears a lot and he yells at people at work. I confront him all the time when he does it, and he acknowledges that he shouldn't do it. Very seldom, but every once in a while, he and I get into it and he storms out screaming at me. An hour later, he'll call me and ask where should we go for supper? He's forgotten all about it. I bet he's forgotten about that time with you also."

"He doesn't have to work you twelve-hour days, six days a week, while he galivants around, who knows where."

"John and I have been friends a long time, way before he made it big. When we first started at the hole-in-the-wall in that podunk small town, he and I both worked our asses off together. And when he sold that store and we moved to a big store in the city, again he worked his ass off along with me. He worked plenty of twelve- and fourteen-hour days along with me. We were barely getting by when he decided to give TV a try. He called all the employees together and told us he was buying a bunch of TV time and had committed all his capital and borrowing resources to pay for it and if it didn't work, we'd be out of business. He said he might no be able to make payroll, and if anyone stayed with him, they might not get paid. So if anyone wanted to leave now, he'd understand. A few of us stayed. I remember his first commercial was on a Friday night. On Saturday, his charm and grace on the TV loaded up our showroom. I think we sold thirty cars that day, and we were suddenly making a lot of money. He discovered that he could make a lot of money by buying broke stores, getting on TV, and we rebuild them and sell them for another big profit. And it takes a lot of work to keep rebuilding those wrecks."

"Yeah, but you write the commercials for him."

"But I could never deliver them as he does. People love him. And he pays me very well. And you get a new car of your choosing every six months and all your gas, because he wants to reward you for you sacrifice, also."

"Well, I'll try to be civil to him and have a good time for your sake, but don't expect me to like him."

On arrival, they park the plane and they carry their bags into the HBO. "Hi." he says to the person behind the desk. "We're going to be here for about ten days, what will you charge me to take care of my plane for that time?

"No problem. Everything's taken care of. John keeps his King Air here and he asked me to look out for you. So I've been expecting you. Don't worry about a thing. In fact, this young lady is here to take you up to his place."

With that, a beautiful black lady walked up and introduced herself and picked up Kate's bags. "I'm Chrissie. You don't remember me do you?"

"I remember you," the husband responded. "So, you're back with John? You were pretty upset with him,--and me--the last time I saw you."

"You know no one stays mad at John for long."

"Yeah, but after I fired you, I thought you'd shoot me or poison me or something if I ever say you again."

"At first, that's exactly what I wanted to do. I even told you that John hired me so you didn't have the authority to fire me, even though you assured me you did. After you fired me, I tried to call John, but he wouldn't answer my calls, so I got the message. Then, when John called me three months later to get back together, he told me it was all your idea--that you talked him into letting you get rid of me--I was really pissed at you then. But since, I've learned that's how he does things. He hires someone to be his personal secretary, and travels with them all over the country for a few months, then calls you up and has you fire them. The funny thing is, there's something about him. We always get back with him. I live up here now, and when he calls I always run back to him. There are a few of us that are in the same boat."

She told all this while on the long and winding road up the mountain to John's, a sprawling edifice carved into the side of the mountain. After dropping them off, she left without going inside.

John greeted them and immediately took Kate by the arm and gave her a tour. The views were sensational, glass windows everywhere; there was a pool, a sauna, a tennis court, (John was an avid tennis player), it seemed like a TV in every room. He was as charming as he could be with her.

She, on the other hand, answered his charm with sarcasm and snide remarks. "How can a woman have such a sexual mouth and such an impudent one at the same time?" he thought. But he pretended not to notice and continued with the charm.

After the tour John showed them their room and suggested they unpack and rest a while and then he would take them out to dinner.

The restaurant was superb, the food excellent, the service first-class. John ordered a wine that cost $300 a bottle. When they finished the first bottle, he ordered another, and after that another. Buy the time the maître D called for an Uber to take them home, they were all three a bit intoxicated. When they got back to the house, John suggested a nightcap before turning in.

"Don't you think you've had enough?" Kate said in a snide tone of voice.

"Maybe I have," John answered jovially. "I think I'll go up to bed. You guys do whatever you want. Mi casa es su casa, as they say. You can think about what you want to do tomorrow. I'm open to anything. If you want to go shopping or sightseeing or just spend the day by the pool, it's all okay with me."

"We know how to take care of ourselves, thank you very much," Kate responded sarcastically,

John just shook his head and headed up the stairs to his bedroom.

The bedrooms were along a walkway that surrounded the den below. Before entering his bedroom, John looked over the railing and yelled down to them below, "If you want to watch some TV, the remote may be tucked in one of the cushions on the couch."

The husband thanked him. Kate just gave him an exasperated look.

"I thought you were going to be nice," the husband said to Kate.

"I'm sorry. He just aggravates me so much."

"Well, please try harder. Otherwise this might turn out to be a very unpleasant week."

The next day, John took them sightseeing. They enjoyed the sights of the elegant homes stuck on the sides of the mountain, the town itself, a cute expensive looking village, the vistas. It being the middle of summer and the ski resorts as such shut down, the restaurant at the top of one of them was open. They took a lift up to the top and had a very enjoyable lunch. John went out of his way to be charming, tried to involve Kate in conversation. But though she was secretly enjoying the day, and was trying not to react negatively, she still was unresponsive to his charm.

That evening, John took them barhopping. They visited all the charming pubs in the village, singing German songs with the patrons in the German pub, playing darts at the English pub. By the time the evening was over, they were again quite tipsy, and went directly to bed.

Sunday morning, they slept in, and then John took them to brunch at a place famous for its excellent brunches. Kate, being a little hung over from the previous evening, was resorting to her miserable self.

When they got back to the house, John had had enough. "Look," he said, "I have gone out of my way to be nice to you. What is your problem? You have gone out of your way to be as nasty to me as you can be. I bet you don't even know how to be nice. I bet you couldn't be nice if your life depended on it."

He looked over at the husband and asked, "How do you put up with this everyday?"

"I don't really have a problem with it. A long time ago she said to me: 'Don't ever leave me. If I really upset you, just beat me. Just don't leave me.' So when I think she's gone too far, I just ball up my fist, and glare at her a little, and she calms down."

"So," John sys to Kate: "Why do you hate me so much?"

And she let into him with a tirade, repeating some of the things she had told her husband.

"Also, the way you sleep with al those women, I'm afraid you'll corrupt my husband. But most of all, I don't like the way you keep making us move all over the country and then monopolize all his time away from me."

"First of all, in all these years your husband has yet to be corrupted, and I can assure you, if he was going to be corrupted, he's perfectly capable of corrupting himself. And what has how I sleep with women or use crude language got anything to do with you? How does that hurt you in any way? I've never been anything but nice to you."

"I don't know, it just makes me angry is all."

"You know what I think? I think either you are just naturally a nasty person, except with your husband, and you think you are in control of everything, or, you are secretly really submissive, and just don't want to give in to it. I bet you wouldn't let yourself be nice, even if you were forced to."

"I could too! What do you want to bet?"

"I'll bet $10,000 you can't be nice."

"Hah! You say that, but I'll bet that's just more of your B.S."

"No, I'm serious. Five days. If you could go five days without back-talk or snide remarks or sarcasm, I'll give you $10,000."

"You're on. When do we start?"

"Not so fast. For $10,000 I'm not going to make it easy on you. Give me an hour. I'll go write out the terms for you to go over. Then you better talk it over with your ol' man tonight. And if you're still agreeable to everything, we'll start tomorrow morning."

"What are your terms, then?"

"Give me an hour, and you'll have them."

The only thing her husband said while John was gone was, "Please don't do this."

"Why not? this'll be fun, putting him in his place."

Exactly one hour later, John handed Kate a printed sheet and asked, "Okay, are you ready?"

"Ready," she replied.

"First of all, this will apply everyday, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am till midnight, or until I go to bed, whichever is earlier. I usually go to bed around 10;00 pm, After that your time is yours. But if I stay up till midnight, you belong to me till then."

"Belong to you?"

"Figuratively speaking, your ass is mine."

"You wish."

"During these hours you will do whatever I ask you to do, however I ask you to do it. You will do this like that is what you wanted to do, immediately, without any remarks or snide looks, or exasperated looks at all,"

"You want me to basically be your slave. That's kind of harsh."

"Exactly. Its $10,000. I told you I wasn't going to make it easy. And I'm not through yet. Are you wanting to quit already?"

"No. Go on."

"Don't interrupt me now until I've gone through the entire list. Then you can make any comments you care to make.

"You will not speak unless I say you can. When I tell you to do something, or ask you a question, you will respond exactly, if yes, 'Yes, John'; if no, 'No, Sir.' If I tell to go kneel in the corner, you will go kneel in the corner, you will say, 'Yes John,' and will stay there in that position until I tell you can get up.

"You will walk and stand at least a foot behind us at all times, like the Muslim women walk behind their husbands. You will stand at all times; you will not sit until I tell you can. Even at meals, and even if we go out to a restaurant or bar, you stand behind me and will serve me whatever I ask, and you will respond, 'Yes, John'. You will not eat until I tell you can.

"Maid service comes in every weekday to clean and such, so you won't have to do any of that, but you will have to do all the cooking.

"I will tell you what to wear, even here at the house.

"If I feel you ae not complying with everything fully and completely, I can rescind the offer at any time. If you wish to end it, you must say to me, in these exact words, 'Cease and desist.' It's too easy to say 'No, or Don't, or things like that too quickly, without

fully meaning it, so you have to use those exact words to stop. This will run from 8:00 am tomorrow morning. If you last till midnight, Friday, I'll hand you $10,000 in fresh, new $100 bills."

"Those are very harsh terms, almost barbaric. I don't know if I can do that. I have to think about it."

"You do that. I made them particularly harsh so that if you accepted, you probably wouldn't last an hour, let alone a day or five; and you probably wouldn't be able to accept, which would allow me to gloat and spend the rest of your time here giving back better than what you can give me. So think about it, talk it over with your ol' man. I don't want you to decide right away. If you accept, show up here at 8:00 am tomorrow morning. If you are not here ready to go, I'll assume you are refusing to participate, and the deal is off."

She left the men to talk business and went out to the pool and just sat there staring at the mountains. She said nothing to either the rest of the evening.

That night, after their showers, she climbed into bed naked. She never did that; she always wore pajamas. Neither did she ever but rarely initiate sex; tonight though, she snuggled up, pressing her naked body against her husband. She began kissing his neck, his chest; she reached down and took his penis in her hand and ran her finger across and around the head. He hardened immediately

He kissed her passionately, their tongues wrestling with each other, his hands fondling her breasts. He laid her on her back and started kissing her everywhere, starting at her nek and moving down to her breasts. He first took one in his mouth and lightly bit and sucked the nipple, then moved to the other. She was breathing heavily, tried pulling his head down to her crotch. He did not fight her.

He moved down to her vagina, licking and sucking her clit. She raised her hips off the bed, pulled his head into her like she was trying to swallow him with her vagina. "Make love to me, now, please," she begged.

He moved up and entered her. Usually, they only made love in the missionary position, she lying sort of impassive. Not that she didn't enjoy it, but she usually didn't get verbal or moan. Her orgasms were quiet. Tonight though, she was an animal. She wrapped her legs around his back and writhed and moaned and when she orgasmed she pulled his head down and kissed him and hugged him so tightly that she almost took his breath away.

She finally released him and moved down and cuddled up next to him. She said not a word, but he knew, when she was like this she wanted him to go along with a decision she had made.

"Please, please, don't do this," he said.

"Why not? Just think, ten thousand dollars, all for myself. And afterwards I can go back to treating him like I always do and laugh at him and tell him he could never beat me. It's gonna be fun."

"First of all, he's my friend and I don't want him laughed at. Secondly, while he's monopolizing you what am I supposed to do?

"We'll still have each other all to ourselves after he goes to bed every night, and we'll have the weekend afterwards."

"You have no idea what you're getting into here. You are way out of your element. Let me tell you what you don't understand about John. I've watched him closely over the years, and these are the kind of games he loves to play; and he doesn't lose. He always has to be in control, and in the end, he always makes sure you know he is in control and you are beneath him.

"Secondly, he is only interested in the chase, and except for getting control, he is not interested in the prize as such. He goes fishing, he doesn't eat fish, so he throws them back. He goes hunting for pheasant or rabbit, when he shoots them, he gives them away. He chases and seduces women, many of them married. When they're married, he makes sure the husband knows about it. He doesn't openly gloat about it, but everyone is aware of what he's done. He'll sleep with her for two or three or four months, then drop her.

Then, maybe six months or so later, he'll call her and the chase starts again; he'll seduce her again. making sure the husband knows about it again, and there's something about him, they always go for it willingly, and their husbands accept it."

"He's your friend. He wouldn't do any of that to you. Besides, if he tried it, you know he wouldn't get anywhere with me."

"Mark my words, Hon, until you break he's going to make your life miserable. And if you last the week, you will be a submissive little lamb at the end. Please don't do this."

"I think you're overreacting, but, I promise, I'll think about it."

***

When John came down the next morning, Kate was there with a fresh pot of coffee ready for him. She handed him a cup and said, "What do you want me to do?"

He smiled at her and said, "Anxious to get started ae we? We start at 8:00. Let me have my coffee first."

"My husband is very much against this, you know."

"That's your problem."

At 8:00 o'clock, he said to her, "Go sit at the kitchen counter. Don't say a word, jus let me sit here in peace. When your ol' man comes down, don't say anything to him, don't even acknowledge him. When I want you, I'll gesture you over."

She went and sat. When her husband came down, he walked over, said good morning to her, bent down and kissed her. She said nothing, did not acknowledge him. He just shook is head and walked away. "So, you're really going to do this, are you?"

She did not respond. At 9:30, John finally motioned for her to come over. "Finally," she thought. She had never kept quiet for an hour and a half at a time her entire life.

She stood in front of John. "Make us breakfast. I want bacon and eggs, 2 eggs, basted, rye toast. Ask your husband what he wants."

She served John first, then her husband. Then went and stood behind John as he had instructed the day before. "Butter my toast and cut it in quarters," he told her, which she did, then stepped back to stand behind him. When they had finished, he said," Go do the dishes and clean up the kitchen, then come back here."