Annie x Abbie Ch. 01

Hi, my name is Abigail. I currently work full time at a law firm in Manhattan, New York, where I'm a "legal assistant". This is just a fancy way of saying I'm a secretary — I book appointments, answer phone calls, send documents, and do whatever asked of me by the many attorneys and partners that come through the office every day. It pays well and I've been working hard to try and secure the promotion to paralegal that my boss Ricky has flaunted on so many occasions. Ricky is technically my bosses' boss, but I typically find myself interacting with him instead whenever I have issues or need something that has to be approved (such as larger office supply purchases).

For the most part, Ricky is a compassionate boss who genuinely wants the best for me within the company. I've gotten to know Ricky more and more over the years, and he has come through on so many occasions for me that I consider him a true friend.

It's important to know that while I live in a good part of the city, and the law firm is also in a good part of the city, travel requires going through some rough areas. I recall one night when I pulled overtime because the night time assistant was running late due to family issues (the law firm prides itself on being available 24/7). I had just left the office and was on my way home after an overly exhausting day when my car suddenly stalled on a residential side street that just so happened to be in the not so good part of town that wasn't well lit. Everything looked in order, but the car simply wouldn't turn over. The ordeal was fairly terrifying, but Ricky answered his phone from a dead sleep and rushed over to take me home. He would continue to do things like that — my car always seemed to give out on me at the most inconvenient of times.

There were other characters at the office, too. Jim was a well spoken chinese man in his early thirties who worked as a personal injury attorney at the firm. There was also Annie, a young accountant eager to make a good first impression at her first accounting job. Our duties often intertwined, and we often found ourselves working together on many occasions. We just so happened to live on the same street, and we sometimes carpooled to work together on days where we were ready at the same time and one of us didn't feel like driving. She's a good kid — I say kid because she's barely out of her teens, and she does good work, don't get me wrong. It just sometimes seems like she's distracted and in her own world on the occasions we have to spend hours working with boring spreadsheets together.

I digress. There were other characters like Pam, Devin, Beasley — but they mostly just waved when walking past or seldomly came to ask that something be done. Being mostly an office job, this meant we'd occasionally have parties when a big case was won, or a senior attorney had a birthday. I don't really feel either way about these parties — they mostly focus on the big players of the company and I find myself mostly just lounging around on my own with those little cheese crackers. You know the ones? They put a literal piece of cheese on a cracker, but it still tastes good nonetheless. Fearing liability for any incidents, the firm usually didn't serve actual drinks unless the occasion was special enough to warrant.

It eventually came time for Ricky to turn 30 (sidenote: why are these attorneys so young but already so successful?? I should've just become an attorney instead of their underpaid secretary). Given Ricky's seniority at the company, this was one of the companies they put that extra amount of effort in. This means they had professional caters and a band — the whole nine yards. Seriously, he's one person. Why is he so important?!

Anyway. The party was to occur on a Sunday after work hours at a hotel just near the law firm. The firm booked a huge banquet hall and invited many partners to the gathering. They seized the opportunity to not only make it about Rickys' birthday, but about how well they were doing as a firm. Typical bragging rights, I suppose. They weren't wrong — they were a staple of the area and never had a shortage of business. I find myself not going to many of these because of what I said earlier. I just find myself alone and that doesn't make for the best Sunday night. Regardless, given how many people were going to be there, I felt it important to show face. Becoming a paralegal would be a huge jump for me and would mean my own office instead of just having a desk in open space. I'm not complaining, but it sometimes just feels like people are staring at you. It's difficult to explain.

The day at work came and went. Nothing really notable happened, and it was evident that a lot of the attorneys working that day were zoned out and simply waiting for a night of free drinks, food, and hours of schmoozing. I'll never understand why men find this so important, or how they manage to stand around for hours without lacking a topic of conversation.

I spent a few hours after work putting on some makeup and ensuring I looked as professional as possible. This was my chance to make a strong impression with the people that mattered, and I couldn't afford to spend several more years working in my current role. Being exhausted from a day of mind numbing multitasking, Annie and I carpooled together. She had the luxury of having the day off, and was able to come to the party with a fresh mind. We talked throughout the ride but my mind was elsewhere — on marketing myself for paralegal.

Annie and I hung out for a little while once we got there, but eventually split. She was simply social and wanted to embrace the party aspect of the party, while I simply wanted to make good impressions with people.

It was roughly eleven PM when I had just gotten done talking to an attorney who has been with the firm for a few decades now. I felt a light hand tap my shoulder and turned in confusion to be met with the familiar grin often worn by Ricky. He said he wanted to spend some time with me, that he wanted to get to know his legal assistant better while he had the chance to hold casual conversation without worrying about something that he needed done.

He was the one person I didn't need to market with since we already work together frequently, but he still had a big say in my future within my company. Having already had a chance to speak with most of the people I wanted to, I did my best to destress and went with Ricky. He truly did want me to excel in the company, and took me to meet some of his friends who just so happened to be people that I'd need to market to anyway. Ricky seemed even more pleasant than he usually did, and said nothing but good things about me to these people. Geez, was I glad I went.

It was about midnight when the party started to wind down. I had already found myself several pastry tastings throughout the night, but was feeling confident and excited and wanted something to suit the mood. Ricky usually isn't the type to drink, and neither am I, but I do indulge on occasions. Ricky and I went to the bar — he simply got himself a soft drink while I got a cocktail. I'd had to pee since around the time Ricky pulled me aside, as I stressed I drank more water than I'd care to admit prior to the party. He finished ordering the cocktails as I went to the little ladies room.

It felt great to finally release what I was holding in, and I was ready to end the night with some drinks. I found Ricky back at the bar and we went off to a quiet table in a corner of the hall. Ricky and I had some nice conversations during this time. This was unusual for us — while we spent some time together, it was always business or passing pleasantries. We never really sat and simply talked with each other. Ricky explained how everything was going great absent one thing. His girlfriend had left him weeks earlier, which I guess explains the subtle change I had observed in his attitude predating the party. It was a sudden breakup that left Ricky heartbroken on the inside, with no real outlet to share his feelings. His position doesn't afford him the position of seeming weak to people, and that was something he understood.

I genuinely felt bad for Ricky, but there wasn't much I could do. Annie told me she was seeing someone, and I didn't really know many of the other girls around the office. I wasn't interested in a relationship myself so found myself unable to try to set something up for him.

On some level, I think Ricky's sorrows got to me regardless. I found myself overindulging in drinks — something I would usually never do, especially when there was still a fair amount of important partners present. Not as much as before, most had started leaving a while ago, but still enough that making a fool out of myself would be absolutely damaging to my career — possibly enough for me to be fired.

My usual care for my drinks disappeared and I soon found myself slurring words and acting in a way I seldom did. At one point, everything went black and there's very little I remember about it.

I remember waking up for very brief moments a few times throughout the hours following my blackout. One occasion included me being on a bed unfamiliar to me. Another included what seemed like a multitude of serious talking people who I'd never before heard talking to both Ricky and Annie.

My recollection starts back off with me in a seemingly different, yet still unknown, bed. I slowly came to a wake to beams of sun shining through my eyes, feeling drowsy and ill of rest. I looked around the room and it seemed odd. It's hard to describe, but the place simply felt devoid of life. There were pretty pink decorations I'd never seen before, and it looked to be the room of a teenage girl. After a few moments and a yawn later, I was awake enough to the point I wanted to find out what was going on. I released a second fatigued yawn and tried to push myself off the bed, but I couldn't. My hands were over my head and wouldn't budge. It was only when I looked back at my hands and applied thought to the situation that I realized it was by design that I couldn't move. I was handcuffed. I was bound to a bed I didn't recognize. I felt a flood of various different emotions pulsing through me at this moment, none of them pleasant. I tried so hard to think back to what happened, but drew blank after blank. My last memory was being at the party and for once having a good time.

Amongst my struggle to somehow unbind myself from my confusing predicament, I heard a serenading female voice. It took me a few seconds to recognize but when I did it was unmistakable. It was Annie, there was no doubt about it. I would've literally jumped had I not been physically incapable of doing so, but she was right there, right beside me. How did I not see her?!

She lightly brushed my hair and I soon found myself actually digesting her visually. She was wearing what I have to admit was a beautiful light lingerie set that did her wonders just right. Before I could speak, she put a gentle finger to my mouth and shushed me. "Ssh--".

I again tried to make a sound, but was stopped quickly. "W-- Wha--". She again shushed me for and for some odd reason, I didn't protest. I became quiet. Not out of fear, but of some weird sense of compliance. Maybe I was just tired? I don't know.

"Abbie, I'm so sorry. I know you have a lot of questions and I want to answer them. I'll explain everything that's going on, okay?".

It didn't really register to me that I was a hostage and I even on some level found myself forgetting I was even bound in the first place. It was only the physical uncomfort that served as a constant reminder of my unknown predicament. I again tried to talk but was gently shushed by Annie. There was no violence to it, yet I was here in what was likely her bed with her almost naked. To make it worse, I was handcuffed and physically unable to move. My hands were sore and my throat was dry. Yet on some level, I still gave Annie the benefit of the doubt that everything was okay, despite the extremely obvious red flags that things were, in fact, not okay.

After a small verbal protest, I nodded my head in acknowledgement and once more fell quiet. Annie was extremely patient, and continued to gently play with my hair as she spoke in a voice I can only describe as mesmerizing.

"Just give me some time to explain, Abbie, and everything will make sense. We went to the party together and only spent a small amount of time together. You went off, and so did I. I had a wonderful time, and met so many nice people. I got some phone numbers, and maybe did a few things that fall short of being classy. But hey, that's just the nature of the business sometimes. Anyway... the next time I found you, you were with Ricky. He was pulling you limp out of your seat and carrying you to his car. I stopped and inquired as to what he was doing. He simply said you had drank too much and that he was taking you home. He told me he'd taken you home before when your car broke down and that it wouldn't be a burden on him. I was skeptical, but Ricky had never been bad to me."

I was confused by what Annie was telling me and a part of me felt like Annie was trying to tell me something negative about Ricky — the person I knew longer than her and who I considered as a good friend. Annie saw my lips moving and an inquiry forming, and she once again shushed me.

"Just listen to me, sweetheart. I had a feeling something was wrong, but like I said, I on some level trusted Ricky. I still had doubt and was just about done at the party anyway, so I figured I'd simply tail him and ensure you got home safely. We shared spare keys with each other anyway, so I thought I could help if he couldn't find yours. It didn't take long for me to figure something was off when he went the wrong way on several turns, through several intersections. Interest piqued, I followed him to his home that's much larger than either of ours could ever dream to be. He took you inside and I knew he had nothing but ill intentions. I knew I had to be that overwatching figure and save you, but I waited until I had enough for him to be charged."

"I called the Police and watched as they knocked to no response. They found him on top of your naked body, just as he was about to penetrate you. You were handcuffed and gagged. You struggled but were so weakly out of it that it was simply your body's flight or fight response to harm being imposed on you. I guess he didn't hear them shouting from his bedroom, because he seemed shocked when his door opened. He was taken into custody without incident, but I knew you still needed your guardian angel there for you. Although I was told several times that I couldn't be there, I affirmed that I was a witness, that I lived just near you and even convinced them we were friends enough to the point they eventually let me take you home. They looked up my address and saw we lived just by each other. What bad could a cute little girl such as me do? Obviously none, because I did just that! I brought you home."

I simply sat there for what felt like hours, shocked at what I'd heard. Did I want to scream? Did I want to cry? Did I want to accuse Annie of being a liar? I didn't know what I wanted to do. I did eventually cry, my makeup already evidently cleaned up, likely by Annie. In a voice that conveyed this mad mess of emotions, I muscled up the courage to inquire with Annie.

"If the Police have him, why am I still handcuffed, Annie? Can you please get me out of this?".

With this, Annie simply smiled and continued to play with my golden locks. "You're obviously not at his home anymore, Abby. I told you, I took you home. I'm taking care of you.".

Annie continued to talk in this scarily smoothing voice of hers but it wasn't enough for her to convince me that she was the angel she claims to be. Sensing I was in danger, I quickly screamed and tried to wrap my legs around Annie. She frowned, but didn't react in equal anger, or even a sense of frustration. She simply walked over to the nightstand and pulled out a strap of sorts. She returned to me and wrapped it around my head. That's when my mouth was quickly encircled with a ball and my screams did nothing but serve as slobber for myself. I was irritated, scared, confused. I didn't believe Annie a single bit, and wanted nothing but to get to Ricky.

In comparison, Annie was as calm as she always was. She simply crossed her arms and watched me as I struggled, content that I wouldn't be loud enough anymore to raise the attention of anyone outside.

"Now, now, sweetie... I haven't touched you, and I promise I won't hurt you. I will even let you go, but not yet. Just listen to me."

Her calmly constructed words did nothing to quell or relax me, and I continued violently struggling against my binds for at least ten minutes before whimpering in defeat. My wrists were killing me, and my arms were tired. There was nothing I could do — doing this was only hurting me. The entire time I spent struggling Annie just stood there, arms crossed. She was watching me. It seemed to even humor and entertain her. It was only when I stopped that she spoke again.

"I told you I won't hurt you. You're hurting yourself. Just relax, I'm not done explaining things to you. Have you really never considered that your car always seems to break down when it's inconvenient for Ricky? Never?"

Annie didn't expect an answer, and she didn't receive one. I simply lay there, breathing heavily following my struggle. All I could do was look and listen to her. She held all the cards and I was scared. She continued.

"He's been planning this for a long time, and he does it to many of the girls he hires. He comes off as some happy person, only to appear down for a period of time before making his move. It's always that his poor, poor soul got dumped by the woman of his dreams. It's never true, obviously. He's been grooming you for this for quite a while, Abby."

"I've known about this for quite some time but I've never had a reason to interfere. You're not the first. But you... there's something about you, Abby. We've spent so much time together and I think I like you. I couldn't just let him take advantage of you. I had him arrested, and the company has ended up spending a bunch of money on a party that ended in such a bad scandal. I don't know if they'll recover, but that's fine. You won't need that job anymore anyway."

Still breathing heavily, I did my best to answer and inquire with reason. My noise came muffled, and Annie slipped the gag below my neck. Slobber fell upon me. "I have bills to pay, Annie. Yes, I need it. Plus I was supposed to become a paralegal...". I still didn't believe Annie a wink, but I knew I had to earn her trust if I wanted to escape her.

Annie maintained her beautiful smirk as she responded.

"I said I'd take care of you, sweetheart. I also said I wouldn't hurt you, and that I would release you if that's what you wanted. I'm not an idiot either, sweetie. I know you still don't believe me, and that's fine. It's already evening, the news is all out."

With that, she uncrossed her arms and headed for that damn nightstand. I thought she was going to pull something sinister out but came with a single ripped out news article dated early today. "High profile attorney arrested following rape attempt". She must have sensed my disbelief because she also pulled her phone out and showed me the growing number of sites showcasing the scandal.

"Ricky [REDACTED] arrested following rape."

"Child pornography discovered at home of attorney, arrest made."

The headlines continued and I soon felt myself turn even more ill. Not only was Annie holding me against my will, but what she said, or at least some of it, was true. I calmed slightly knowing Annie wasn't fully lying to me, but still had so many questions.