After the Fall Ch. 08

"Why don't you think he's making it up?"

"Why would he? He's never asked for me to do any of those things. As cocky as he is, he'd just ask, and assume he could eventually get his way. Anyway, I've decided I'm going to do this, crazy as it is. Do you think you could make an outfit for me? I don't even know where to start."

"Of course. If that's what you want, I'll be happy to help. When do you need it?"

"By Friday."

"Geez, Mariah. Four days is not a lot of time for that sort of thing."

"I'm sorry. If you can't do it in that time, I'll find another way. I didn't know how long these things take."

"It's okay. I think I can do it. What kind of fabric do I have to work with?"

"That's another thing. There aren't whole bolts of fabric. We would have to use fabric from dresses in my closet."

Sarah waved away the difficulty. "I'm used to that. Let's go decide what dress we're going to work with."

"Thanks, Sarah. You have no idea how much I appreciate it."

"I'm not sure you should be thanking me for dressing you up like that."

"Better than leaving me to do it on my own."

"If you say so."

Sarah grabbed a small basket with a measuring tape, marking pencils, pins, and other sewing paraphernalia on the way out the door. They passed Michael's office on the way to Mariah's bedroom. He waved as they passed. Sarah hesitated, then asked, "Are you sure you don't have ulterior motives for Mariah dressing up like this?"

"How could you say such a thing?" Michael teased. He continued, more seriously, "I promise this isn't about me wanting to see Mariah dressed up in something sexy. I'll enjoy it immensely, of course, but I'd prefer to enjoy seeing her that way at home, not with a bunch of jerks ogling her. Especially not where I can't even get my hands on her."

Sarah laughed. "Now that last part, I believe for sure. I'll do my best."

"Thank you."

When they reached Mariah's room, Julia was standing in the doorway. Duncan was already at their heels, stalking Henry's tail.

"She must have heard your voice," Mariah said.

"Awwww... such a sweet girl." Sarah picked Julia up as they entered. "Doesn't she ever come out of your room?"

"So far, I've only seen her in my room and Michael's room. This bedroom is gigantic and the sun through the windows is perfect for her. She has everything she wants right here. I think she's just getting more set in her ways as she gets older, and the move from our house to here was all the change she's ready to tolerate right now."

"I know how she feels!"

"Yeah, I can relate. I miss my house. How are you settling in? Are your things still in boxes?"

Sarah nodded. "Yes. I'm just leaving them for right now. Anything I do with them sends a message, one way or the other. I don't want Ezra thinking I'm trying to move in, but I'm not ready to sleep alone, either. I feel fine during the day, but when I try to go to sleep, it's different."

"I don't think there's any reason to rush yourself. You weren't looking at Ezra this morning when he said he was glad you were here, but he looked like a very happy man."

"Really?"

"So much so that I think everyone else was trying hard to pretend not to notice, so they wouldn't embarrass him."

Sarah's face lit up before she tried to hide her smile.

"I saw that sappy grin," Mariah teased.

"You think you're in a position to tease me, Miss Thang? C'mon and let's see what you've got in your closet to make you look like a trollop."

Mariah winced. "Touché."

Mariah trailed along behind Sarah as she looked through the dresses. When Sarah pulled out the purple dress Michael specifically wanted to save, Mariah started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"His majesty specifically asked that we not do anything to that particular dress."

"Oh he did, did he? Put it on for me. Maybe it will give me some ideas."

"Okay, but I told I told him we wouldn't use it."

"I get it. The dress is off-limits. I'm just looking for inspiration."

Mariah changed into the dress while Sarah looked through the rest of the closet. When she had finished looking through the dresses, Sarah looked Mariah over. The cut of the dress and the way it wrapped beneath her breasts revealed their complete shape, and the deep neckline exposed more cleavage than most of her dresses. The flutter skirt that ended just above the knee showed off Mariah's legs to advantage.

Sarah nodded. "No wonder he likes it. It does give me some ideas. Let me see the back."

Mariah turned around.

"Hmmm... no help there, but that's okay. I'm already picturing something. Let me get some measurements while you're wearing that."

Sarah took a full set of measurements, jotting them down on the back of the sketches Mariah had given her.

"All right. You can take off his Majesty's favorite dress. I'm going to pick one to cannibalize."

By the time Mariah had changed back into the dress she'd been wearing, Sarah had pulled out several dresses as candidates, including the second purple dress. She held them up to Mariah to evaluate them. She decided on the purple.

"Okay, that's everything I need for now. Do you want me to let you know when I have a sketch ready?"

"No. I think I'll be better off not knowing yet. I'm sure whatever you come up with will good—if good is the right word for it."

"I know what you mean."

Sarah left to get started. Mariah sat down on the edge of her bed and wondered what she'd gotten herself into. She flopped back on the bed with a sigh. Julia came over and touched her nose to Mariah's cheek.

"Hi, sweetie," she greeted Julia.

Julia made a trilling sound when Mariah rubbed her cheek.

"You're a sweetheart, but I don't feel like talking about it."

Julia curled up beside her, purring.

"Okay, but just a quick snuggle. Then I have to get up."

A few minutes late, Mariah was asleep. Nearly two hours passed before she woke. She sat up abruptly, disturbing Julia, and went to find Michael. He was still in his office.

"Hi there, sleepyhead."

"You knew I was sleeping all that time? Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Why would I do that? You looked so peaceful. You must have needed the rest. After all, you were up early this morning."

"But not two hours early! I'm going to go see Paula about finding some supplies for my office."

"Okay. If I'm not here when you get back, I'll probably be in the library."

"I'm going to leave Henry here since I'll probably end up in the basement and I don't want him running all over the place down there. He can go with you if you feel like taking him to the library."

"I think I'd enjoy that. See you later, sweetheart."

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As Mariah suspected, she ended up in the basement collecting office supplies. Paula had taken her down and showed her which storage room to look in. It was the first time Mariah had gotten to use one of the golf carts. Paula gave her the keys to one and took another for herself. Paula was a bit behind schedule because of the meeting that morning, so once she showed Mariah the room, she hurried off.

The small sounds Mariah made hunting through the supplies were exaggerated by the silence of the basement. She had found most of what she needed—stapler, staple remover, scissors, pens, and pencils—and was looking for a tape dispenser when she heard a golf cart approaching. She assumed it was Paula until she realized how fast it was approaching. It was probably Michael. The cart came to an abrupt stop in front of the storage room door. With rising irritation, she walked to meet him. She hadn't taken more than a couple of steps when he came through the door, looking panicked. Her irritation vanished.

"Michael, what's wrong?"

As soon as he spotted Mariah, relief flooded his face.

"Nothing's wrong, sweetheart. I just thought maybe you could use some company."

He gave her a strained smile. When he reached her, he hugged her a little too tightly and held on for a little too long.

"You came riding in like a bat out of hell just to see if I wanted company? What's really going on?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay," Michael admitted.

"I'm okay. I'm just finding office supplies. What were you worried about?"

He kissed her forehead. "I don't know. I was just being silly. I ran into Paula on my way down to the library, and she mentioned that she'd left you down here."

Mariah's eyes widened. "Did you have Henry with you? Where is he?"

"Relax. He's in our wing. I know better than to leave your baby running around unattended."

"Good." She leaned up to kiss his chin.

"Are you finding everything you need?"

"All I'm still looking for is a tape dispenser and some tape."

Michael's eyes swept the room until he lit on the tape dispensers. "I see them." They were on a high shelf. The tape was right beside them. He grabbed one of the tape dispensers and a few rolls of tape for Mariah.

"See? You did need me. You couldn't have reached the shelf."

"I'd have climbed," she teased him.

His smile faded. "You shouldn't do things like that, especially down here all alone. What if you fell and were hurt?"

"I was kidding! I probably would have gotten a chair from one of the other rooms and stood on that."

Michael didn't look convinced. She sighed and turned away, disappointed that they were back to his stifling overprotectiveness again. He stopped her with a hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm not trying to make a big deal of it. It's just..." he trailed off without finishing the thought.

"Just what?"

He kissed her—a soft, sweet kiss that slowly burned ever hotter as it deepened. With a hand on her lower back, he pressed her body against his. Her soft moan was lost against his mouth. When her hands slid up to his shoulders, he groaned and broke away.

"Come on, sweetheart. Let's go. We've still got work to do this evening. We can grab dinner and take it upstairs with us."

"Okay." It took a couple of seconds to shake off the haze she'd fallen into during their kiss. Halfway to the door, she remembered that she had set down the box of supplies she gathered. She retrieved it and hurried to the door where Michael was waiting. He took the box from her, then turned off the light and shut the door behind her.

"You can ride with me. I can send someone to bring the other cart back."

"That would be silly. I'll just drive it back. Don't worry. It'll be fine."

He looked like he wanted to argue, but he just said, "I'll be right behind you."

She kissed his cheek and walked over to her cart. She put her seatbelt on, knowing he was probably watching her like a hawk. Did normal golf carts even have seatbelts? She didn't think so. Even driving slowly to keep Michael happy, it didn't take long to get back to the parking garage. She parked and was out of her cart by the time Michael had finished parking. She went to the key box and realized that she couldn't open it. Michael came up behind her and pressed his thumb to the reader so they could both add their keys.

"When do I get access to the key box?"

"When you can go for a whole month without getting yourself kidnapped or otherwise terrifying me."

She scowled at him.

"Don't pout. Why do you need a vehicle if you're going to stay inside the compound like you promised?"

"I was thinking about a golf cart."

"You're not supposed to be driving to the far reaches of the compound, either. For security reasons, you're supposed to let someone, preferably me, know before you leave to go somewhere. You can just have whoever you tell open the key box for you."

She crossed her arms. "That's embarrassing."

"Why is that embarrassing?"

"Because everyone else gets access to the keys, but you're treating me like a little kid."

Michael sighed and reopened the box. He pulled out a key to one of the golf carts. "Fine. You can have your own golf cart and keep the key to it, but there's a new rule. If you take the golf cart, you have to take a radio with you and you not only have to tell someone where you're going, but also that you're taking the cart. Do you promise?"

Mariah nodded. "I promise."

He handed her the key. "Now stop being a brat and come on."

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome."

They took the elevator to the first floor and went to the kitchen. Marcus saw them come in. "I was wondering when you two would show up! I've started putting things away. Not to worry, though."

He wheeled the food cart out from behind a counter. "Pasta primavera and pasta primavera with sausage," he said, gesturing to the dishes on the cart.

"You're spoiling us, Marcus," Mariah told him.

"Yes, I am. Let me get the salad for you."

A moment later, Marcus came back with a dish of salad from the refrigerator and added it to the cart. He accepted their thanks and waved them out of the kitchen. Mariah took the box of office supplies and Michael managed the cart.

When the elevator door closed, Michael made a suggestion. "I think this would be a good time to start practicing for our trip to The Center."

Mariah's face fell or a second, but when she looked at him again, her chin was set determinedly. "Okay."

On the third floor, Michael stopped at the doors to the private wing. "Past this point, try to stay in your role. The general rule is that the girl walks in front or behind but never beside her Elite. I'm going to have you walk in front because I want to be able to keep an eye on you. That means you need to try to keep a couple of paces ahead of me and just left of center relative to me."

"But if you're behind me, how do I know how fast to walk, or whether I'm to the left of center?"

Michael frowned. "I have no idea how they do that. Practice, I guess. We'll practice up and down the hall a few times and repeat that every day. Remember that you have to have permission before you can sit down. You know you can't talk without permission, but while we're practicing, I want you to be able to tell me something or ask questions if you need to. If you need to say something, snap your fingers first. That way I'll know that you're doing it deliberately and not because you forgot. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Before I start being a big, scary Elite, would you mind holding the door while I push this cart through?"

She held the door for him. When he was through the door, she paused on the threshold. Then, with a decisive step forward, she immersed herself in the role. Michael was already ahead of her, so she followed him to the kitchenette. She set the box of office supplies on the floor and started to help him transfer their meal from the cart to the table.

He stopped her. "Don't start doing anything without permission. If you need to do something, you can ask, but most of the time, it will be better to do nothing unless you're asked."

She nodded her understanding and watched while Michael unloaded the tray. When he sat down at the table, she remained standing.

"Very good. Go ahead and sit down."

He dished pasta onto her plate and filled her bowl with salad.

"It probably goes without saying, but you shouldn't ever help yourself to anything. I don't think it will come up, but if I were to give you something to eat that you didn't like, you should eat it anyway. I know better than to give you meat to eat, so I don't think there will be any insurmountable problems."

He got up from the table and brought back a couple of wine glasses and a bottle of pinot grigio from the chiller. As he uncorked the bottle and poured, he explained, "The same thing goes for drinks. If I give you something to drink, you should drink it. If someone else gives you something to drink, wait until I nod to you or shake my head. If I nod to you, you need to drink it. If I shake my head, you should discreetly put it down and leave it alone."

Michael placed Mariah's glass in front of her and sat down. "You can start eating as soon as I do unless there's another Elite at the table. In that case, you need to wait for all the Elites to start before you do." He winked at her. "You know, to keep you silly girls in your place."

After they had taken a few bites, he told her, "You can talk freely now. Giving you permission to talk freely is something I probably won't do while we're there, just because it's not done often, and it creates opportunities for slip-ups. If I do, it means it's okay to address me before I speak to you. Just be cautious about what you say and how you say it."

"Okay." Now that she could talk, she found she had nothing to say. The experience of not being able to talk was alienating.

"Are you doing okay, sweetheart?"

"Yes."

"Drink your wine, please. I want you to try to relax."

When she finished the first glass of wine, he poured a second.

"Can I give some to Henry?"

"Yes. Make sure to ask permission for things very formally, though. Use, "may I please?" and make sure you say, "thank you."

Mariah blew out a breath of frustration. "Thank you."

"Be careful of that temper, sweetheart."

She looked up at him, startled. "What do you mean?"

"You just huffed before you said, 'thank you,' like you were aggravated."

"Oh. I didn't realize I did that."

"It's no big deal. That's why we're practicing. If you make a mistake while we're there, they will assume it's because you're new. But if you make a mistake in front of them, I'll have to correct you."

She eyed him warily. "How are you going to correct me?"

"Unless you do something way out of line, I think I'll be able to verbally correct you or promise you a punishment later. Public punishments aren't always expected, but they're usually reserved for minor punishments, or for when the Elite just wants to put on a show."

"Does that happen a lot?"

"Public punishments? The minor ones are fairly common. The ones that are just exhibitions are infrequent."

"What are the minor ones?"

"Don't forget to eat, sweetheart." When she took another bite, he continued, "The minor ones might be something like being made to stand in the corner, losing a privilege like talking or moving around, or getting a spanking."

"A regular spanking in front of everybody?"

"I'm not sure what you mean by a regular spanking. They're usually pretty brief. They're not spankings like the way I spank you if that's what you mean. That doesn't mean the girls don't get turned on, anyway. Some of them do. And before you ask, don't worry, I'm not going to spank you in front of anyone."

"I should hope not."

"Remember, Miss Smartypants, that doesn't mean you won't get spanked the moment we're alone."

"Why? For making a mistake?"

"Of course not. Because I want to. Because you have a very spankable butt. Because you enjoy it."

Mariah opened her mouth to argue, then thought better of it and turned her attention to her dinner, stabbing the pasta rather vigorously with her fork.

"You have no idea how hot it was when you asked for more spanks last night."

She impaled some more of her pasta in silence.

"If you knew how sexy you were, you might not be pouting."

She chomped down viciously on a mouthful of inoffensive pasta.

"Do you need a reminder, kitten?"

"No."

Michael shrugged. "Suit yourself."

She didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed that he wasn't going to administer a reminder. She was quiet for the rest of the meal, trying to internalize the manners she would need to exhibit at The Center, and more importantly, finding a mental space that wouldn't lend itself to unconscious expressions of irritation. When Michael stood up, she stood, too. She reached for a plate, but stopped short, remembering to wait until asked.

"Good, sweetheart. Don't forget to finish your wine."

She drank the remaining wine and handed him the glass. When he was finished cleaning up, they practiced walking down the hall, with her in front by a few paces. After she turned the corner of the hall, she hesitated. She wasn't sure which room she was supposed to enter. Michael didn't say anything, so she kept walking straight, into his room. A little way inside the door, he stopped her.