At Work Ch. 04

Friday brought a change. Francesca rose early and woke Anne with a little kick before measuring out her breakfast and refilling the water bowl. Anne would come to work with her today, she said. That was an unexpected pleasure; Anne knelt and kissed her owner's shoes.

A slight pang over missing Renee creased her forehead, but this was much better; she would be with her owner all day and the whole plant would see her on her leash.

Francesca led her outside and bathed her before going in for breakfast. Anne shivered in the morning air until the sun rose and began to warm her. Returning, Francesca told her to kneel and brushed her hair into presentability. "I think it's time they met you. You can stay beside my desk and I'll have my secretary take care of you. I want you on your best behavior; no knocking the bowls over again."

Anne lowered her head. "I'm very sorry about what I did at your neighbor's house, ma'am; I'll be extra careful. I think there is some mud on my knees."

"Stand up." Francesca took a cloth and scrubbed the smudges off. She went inside, returning a few minutes later in a gray suit. Unhooking Anne's leash she led her naked charge indoors. Anne knelt in a corner while Francesca adjusted her lipstick and took a coat from the rack, then preceded her owner through the town.

The lights were on in Maria's house; Anne saw a face in one of the windows looking at them, but she dared not look back.

Since she put on her collar and bracelets over a year ago and entered her present life, Anne had learned the language of the leash; Francesca guided her with subtle tugs to left and right, pulling on it to slow or stop her, or slapping her back with it to speed up. Just short of the plant entrance Francesca signaled for Anne to halt and led her from there to the guard shack.

He wrote out a property label and pasted it on one of Anne's breasts (_just above my heart_, she mused) while she stood with downcast eyes.

Francesca led her along corridors and up stairs to her office in the building's executive wing; the cold terrazzo floor reminded Anne of the cement floor of her cell at obedience school. Anne curtseyed on command to Barbara, Francesca's secretary.

Barbara was dressed in a long-sleeved blouse, pastel scarf, and ankle-length skirt; she was about Francesca's height with pale skin and straight black hair that descended almost to her shoulders.

Rising, she came from behind her desk and examined Anne, lightly stroking her. "Very nice," she said simply.

Francesca looked pleased, but all she said was "Get a couple bowls and put her by my desk." Barbara led Anne to the inner office, showed her where to kneel, and attached her leash to a short chain on the corner of the desk.

She retrieved a pair of bowls from a cabinet - Anne saw she was familiar with the routine - poured a quantity of feed into one and set them beside the desk before taking a pitcher and going for water.

Anne rejoiced in the softness of the carpet on her knees and looked around at the paneled walls. It resembled an office she once aspired to in her earlier life.

Sometimes when the head of the firm was away, she would consult with her clients there; she remembered sitting in the high-backed leather executive chair and advising them across the dark wood surface of the big desk. She enjoyed a vicarious shiver of pride at Francesca's achievement.

It was followed by a more embarrassing memory. Louis, a junior partner she cultivated in hope of a promotion led her into the boss's office to make love on the floor. She undressed at his direction and he was using her when Alice walked in.

The head secretary had short gray hair and a mannish look; she said nothing but sifted through the clothes Anne left on the chair, holding up each item and inspecting it. Anne lay on her back moaning while Louis entered her again and again. After they reached a climax and Louis subsided, Alice returned to her desk.

Louis got up and left. After a minute Anne rose off the floor, dressed and went through the outer office avoiding Alice's gaze. She wondered if she would be fired, but the only results were knowing looks from her colleagues and a brief fear that he had got her pregnant.

Returning to the present, Anne remained demurely motionless whenever a visitor entered unless told to rise, and on one occasion accompanied her owner to a meeting in a nearby conference room. Francesca introduced her to the group. Anne noticed a woman with a brisk, businesslike appearance wearing a yellow and black plaid skirt just like one she used to have.

She knelt quietly beside Francesca's chair until next month's production targets were decided on. As the meeting broke up and they stood to go, the woman in the plaid skirt came up to them.

Teri was a director at the firm, a member of the selection board that chose Francesca. The two shook hands and made small talk for a minute. She complimented Francesca on her girl; Anne stood a bit straighter to present herself properly.

She was Francesca's only girl? Teri kept a dozen or so; she would put a couple out for auction in the fall when demand was up. She invited Francesca to view her stable and training yard.

She liked Anne's hair; it was her natural color, no? Francesca lifted a hank of it to show it was. Perhaps if it were a bit longer... Francesca shook her head; she used a garrote for discipline above the metal collar, long hair would be in the way. Teri agreed.

Francesca went on. It had to be long enough to grasp when necessary, though. She took a fistful and pulled Anne's head abruptly back to demonstrate.

Anne stood motionless; she was used to having her body analyzed like this. It no longer belonged to her and she was pleased to display it for her owner.

Teri welcomed Francesca to the firm on behalf of the board, and Anne returned with her owner to the office.

Mid-morning, Francesca called to her secretary. "I have to work through to lunch; would you take her outside for me?"

"No problem, boss."

Barbara unhooked Anne's leash and shook it as a sign for her to rise, then led her out to a small wooded area on the grounds a distance from the main building. She tethered Anne to a tree before beginning a minute inspection of her captive. A corner of Anne's badge had peeled away from her breast; Barbara pressed it back down.

"Anne, property of Francesca," she read. "I want to know more about you than that."

Anne was nonplussed and at a loss for words.

"You're in love with Francesca, aren't you?"

"Yes, ma'am I am. Is it so obvious?"

"It is to me. I see the way your face lights up and your nipples rise when she turns your way. You're not allowed to look in her eyes but you want to; you keep darting glances at her and then away. I notice things like that.

"And I paint; the instant I saw the patterns on you, I *had* to get a closer look." She began at Anne's shoulders, tracing with her fingers the residue of lash marks down Anne's back, carefully over each buttock, and along her thighs and calves. "My, you've been worked over by experts." Anne felt herself growing moist.

Barbara walked around and repeated the process in front, caressing the fine pale lines on her breasts, then her belly and legs. She crouched down and pulled gently on Anne's fleece. Anne bit her lip and grew wetter still.

"Ooh, is that for me?" Barbara said, laughing.

Anne surrendered to the secretary's soft probing as she parted Anne's lips and explored more closely. She exclaimed on the delicate colors of the interior before giving it a last caress and standing up. "If I could match those tints I'd call myself a real artist. I must make a sketch of you; several actually, to get the whole figure and the details. I'm looking forward to this."

"Thank you, ma'am. Is this where I-?"

"Over there, beside the trail. Wipe your feet before we go back."

"Yes, ma'am." Anne did as she was told, and the two returned to the building.

At noon Francesca led her to the company cafeteria. A woman in gray coveralls from the motor pool held Anne's leash while Francesca carried her tray to a table, where Anne stood beside her as she ate. Several employees dropped by; for each, Anne curtseyed while they watched and complimented Francesca on her possession.

"She's very graceful, isn't she? I like the way she holds herself."

"Look at all those marks on her."

"I heard she was trained at St. Agnes; they're supposed to be very good."

"How much feed does she go through in a month?"

One young man stood beside her holding her leash while a friend photographed them. "Until I can afford one of my own," he laughed.

The afternoon included a confidential meeting in Francesca's office. Barbara secured Anne to her own desk in the outer office, occasionally extending a handful of pellets as she worked. She had many questions: did Francesca train her, did she loan Anne to others, would she like a sketch or painting of Anne? Anne responded as well as she could to all of them.

A little later the meeting broke up and a half dozen men in dark suits walked by. One of them paused before Anne, who knelt staring at the rug and hoping in vain she would not be noticed. He told her to look up.

It was Frank, one of the roughest and most athletic members of the club at St. Agnes. Her backside hurt at the memory of his ravages in it. He described her performance to an attentive audience. His hands moved down as if to open his trousers; her eyes widened in fright and and she turned red all over, a dramatic sight in her nakedness.

The men burst into laughter; even Barbara smiled.

After they left, she gave Anne a minute to recover before taking her back into Francesca's office and chaining her to the desk. Francesca and her secretary exchanged looks and a few words Anne could not hear. Barbara refilled the water bowl and Francesca patted Anne's head to soothe her.

Shortly afterwards it was time to go home. While Francesca put her coat on, Barbara gathered up the bowls and detached Anne's leash from the desk. Francesca led Anne out of the building and across the front lawn to the gate just as the evening shift arrived.

Anne struggled behind her in the crowd - a stranger pinched her and she squealed - and also to recall what she had in the kitchen for her owner's evening meal. There were some eggs, she remembered; also a few mushrooms and half a loaf of bread.

"Would you like an omelet tonight, ma'am, with toast?" she asked as they threaded their way through the exit. "Yes, that would be very nice," Francesca replied.

She led Anne into the house and left her in the enclosure while she changed. After a leisurely session on the frame with a pair of short whips, slow but thorough, Anne made dinner. Francesca measured out her feed pellets and she knelt beside her mistress as they dined together.

"For a first week it wasn't so bad, I guess," Francesca opined; "I was nervous on Monday - you remember - but it got better from there. I need to spend the weekend getting ready for my trip, but we'll have plenty of time for those trails."

Anne smiled up at her, looking forward to being in her company for the next two days before her week away and her own transfer to Maria's custody.

After doing the dishes, Anne sat on the floor at Francesca's side while the latter read up on her agenda for the upcoming week before taking Anne out to her cell.

On Saturday morning, Francesca slept in after releasing Anne to do chores. Anne took her mistress's lingerie from the laundry basket and over to the sink for hand washing. Her breasts trembled as she leaned forward to fill it with water.

She heard once of a sect that trembled before the Lord; that described her spirit in the presence of her owner, now asleep in the next room.

When the sink was full she put the garments in and stood motionless beside it for several minutes while they soaked. Once restless and hasty, she had learned patience in the last two years. She existed for the convenience and on the schedule of others who decided when she would be fed or watered or beaten.

She drained the sink and gently squeezed the clothes before running clear rinse water for them. Again she stood beside the underthings until it was time to take them out. She put them in a basket and went outside to the clothesline. The morning air was cold even though the sun was up, perhaps they would have frost that night.

She hung each item on the line to catch the sun; the neighbors probably wondered what she was doing outside without her owner, her hands free, her leash coiled around her neck. There would be talk; she hoped they enjoyed the mystery.

At breakfast Francesca reached in a box and held out a cookie of pressed feed. Anne took it carefully, nibbling it from one end to the other where she carefully avoided biting her mistress's fingers; she grasped the last piece with her lips.

Later they spent a lazy morning in the back yard; Francesca cradled a mug of coffee in one hand and stroked Anne's hair with the other while they talked. She asked Anne how Renee had treated her.

Hesitantly, Anne told her, even alluding to her desire for more of Renee's attentions.

Francesca nodded. They both knew of Anne's tendency to develop a crush on anyone who mistreated her.

The two sat in silence for a while longer, then went indoors; some unpacking remained and the place needed dusting. Afterwards Francesca decided to take Anne out for a walk to a cafe, and in the afternoon to begin their regimen of exercise. Anne almost jumped for joy at the chance to go out with her owner.

"Will you put me in the harness, ma'am?"

"I don't think so. It's not that far to downtown, I'll walk you there."

She was soon happily preceding her owner like a dog on her leash into the commercial center of town. They met Francesca's secretary who was coming out of a store and walked together.

Barbara asked if they were going to the "playground"; new to the area, Francesca asked her what it was.

Barbara explained in low tones Anne could not hear.

"That's a splendid idea," said Francesca. "Would you take us there?"

Barbara nodded, then turned a corner and led the pair a short distance off the main avenue to a small fenced-in park. Several men milled about inside; they looked up with interest at the arrival of the two women and their naked pet.

Francesca passed the leash over to Barbara, said "meet you back here" and left to attend to her errands.

Barbara pointed to a large round rock; Anne understood and draped herself over it with her legs wide.

At once someone - Anne could not see who - spread her open and took her from behind. Startled, she tensed reflexively but the man was already in her, driving his full length into the narrow passage.

Regaining her self-control she opened herself to him and soon they were in perfect harmony as he worked her and she responded with little squeezes now and then.

He took his time until he had thoroughly mastered her before finishing with a final thrust that brought a long wailing moan from her. The crowd applauded, and above her Barbara said "Well done."

The man gave her an apple slice - a rare treat - and Anne touched her forehead to the rock in gratitude.

She was pleased to have satisfied her unknown partner. Unused by a man for months, she was able to recall herself to her duties when required.

The first man gave way to a second and a third, plainly younger and more energetic; she enjoyed the variety and did her best to accommodate each of them.

The next one said something to Barbara, who shook the leash; Anne rose from the rock and lay on the grass for him. The lawn had just been mowed; it was wet but fragrant beneath her. Her shivers stimulated him and he left her limp and powerless.

A couple more used her that way, then her mouth, Anne lost track at some point, and one who wanted her on the rock again. When he was done she lay on it ready for her next partner. Even with her hands bound she could reach back and spread her cheeks in welcome.

She was in this posture when she heard someone behind her say "So this is your Anne."

That was Thomas's first impression of her; bent over in public holding herself open to attract strangers.

She saw her owner had returned and was in conversation. Francesca introduced her friend to Barbara, and asked her secretary if Anne had behaved.

Very well, said Barbara, who took out a small notepad: nine men, four in back, two in her mouth, and three in the belly. The mayor - her first partner - said he was quite pleased with the new girl and hoped to see here again.

Anne wondered if Thomas would like to take advantage of her but he made no move to do so. Still, what she was could not be more plain to him.

Francesca thought nine was about right for Anne this morning; it had been a while since any men used her, a visit here would keep her opened up and in practice. She thanked Barbara for minding her girl.

Taking the leash, she repaired with Thomas to a cafe. They found a busy place with outdoor tables and secured Anne to a low railing; she ordered a coffee and croissant for herself and a bowl of water on the sidewalk for Anne.

Several people dropped by and watched her as she knelt to drink, all with the same questions: how long had Francesca had her; where did she get her, and did they have others like her; was she pleased with her; and would she be interested in selling?

And to all she gave the same replies: a little less than a year; as a gift from her previous owner in the country, who was going to put her down when he tired of her; not sure if Mr. Schuyler had others like Anne, but she doubted it; yes, Francesca was quite satisfied with her; no, she was not for sale at this time. Anne hoped the "at this time" was not serious.