Captive of a Lonely Heart Ch. 04

Part 4: A New Life

This is a fairly long tale in five parts. It features kidnapping, and a strong, dominant female character. There is also very little or no sex in most chapters except for Chapter 5. If sexual action is all you are looking for, you may want to skip directly to Chapter 5 but you will be passing up the adventure that takes you there.

There was only time for some quick but firm instructions and little leftover for tearful goodbyes. The women were checked for cellphones and told never to try to contact the church or any of the women they had worked with. Everything, especially their lives, depended upon them just disappearing into the night. They would be taken to a safe house in the next town where they would each be taken by separate vehicles to different towns in different parts of the country. They would be given Green Cards, new identities and no one, other than the drivers of the vehicles transporting them, would know where they went. None of the drivers were told anything about the women and the women were advised to just shut up and enjoy the ride. Each had close to $200,000 in cash from the ripoff. They were told to open bank accounts in their new home, try to lose their accents and forget they ever saw this city. No matter what, they were to never come back here.

Lavinia (now officially Brenda Holden) found herself in a medium sized town in northern Wisconsin near the Canadian border. The weather was cold but she was used to cold weather from her days back in Belarus. Her time at the refugee center and the training they had given her had allowed her to lose most of her accent. Her work experience had shown her how a successful business operated. After sending a few weeks to get a better understanding of her new home she found a small single store front coffee shop that was owned by an older woman who's husband had died and who was eager to sell the business and retire. Lavinia worked out a deal using some of her cash for a sizable down payment on the business and property with the owner offering a mortgage for the rest at a very reasonable rate of interest. She even agreed to stay on for a few months until Lavinia felt comfortable running the business: Molly's Sunshine Cafe. Since the old owner was not named Molly, Lavinia decided to adopt it as her nickname. Lavinia was a name to forever remain in her past.

Molly seemed to fit right in at her new home. Her looks were definitely not a threat to the women of the town and she easily made a number of new friends. Her time in the kitchen back at the orphanage taught her the basics of cooking and her years at the fast food place added speed and uniformity to those skills. She was also a fast learner and quickly learned all the recipes from the former owner as well as the basics of small business bookkeeping. She liked her work, her town and her new friends. Still, there was something missing. At the age of 35 she was still technically a virgin and had never experienced love or any sort of relationship with a man. She was not uneducated in the ways of the body and frequently used a number of different devices to relieve her sexual tension. She knew that she could likely find some guy to take her cherry but she was picky and refused to settle for some dead end slob.

Molly's Sunshine Cafe was located right on Main Street which was also a busy road linking two major highways. While her business was mostly locals, there were a sizable number of travelers who stopped in as they passed through. During her first year in business she came to notice one man who would show up about every two weeks on a Friday and always for breakfast. He was thirty-something, reasonably good looking with a slender build, dark hair and blue eyes. He was always neatly dressed and closely shaven. He would usually sit at a window table away from the other guests when possible and he never said much to the girl she hired as waitress during the busy morning period. Occasionally, Molly would come to his table to refresh his coffee and he would always thank her. Once in awhile she would try to engage him in casual conversation but while polite, he was not much of a conversationalist. Molly marked him as lonely, a feeling she understood completely. Over the course of the year she became more interested in this shy man and determined to break through that shyness. Molly's casual interest in the man was turning into a full on crush.

While Ron was not much of a talker, neither was he a Silent Bob. During his weekly visits Molly learned that he was a company representative for a large agricultural manufacturer, that he lived alone, did not have any pets, few friends and that he hated his job. She also found that he seemed to look forward to their breakfast encounters and now greeted her as soon as he came in to the cafe instead of silently heading to an isolated table. She always found some excuse to personally bring him coffee and to stay for a chat. Still there was no spark or indication that the warm feelings she continued to grow for him were in any way matched by any feeling he had for her.

One morning during the second year of her owning the cafe, Ron came in while she was busy in the kitchen. When she came out and saw him at his usual table she was shocked by his appearance. His hair was unkempt, his eyes red and his face streaked with tear stains. His whole body seemed to be shaking as he sat slumped into the seat. Molly waived off her waitress and grabbed the coffee pot herself and headed to his table. Pouring him a coffee, she took the liberty of sitting down across from him and waited. When he finally looked up at her she gave him a concerned smile and asked if there was anything she could do to help?

He was silent for a few seconds before answering, "Yes, kidnap me get me the hell out of this life."

"Come on now Ron, it can't be that bad."

"Shows what you know. Your life is perfect. No bosses, no quotas, no dumb ass accountants who say your job is an unnecessary expense. You come and go as you please and no one can fire you. Me, I work so long and hard that I don't have a life. No family, no friends and no one to care if I live or die."

"Is that what happened Ron? They going to fire you?"

"They didn't say that outright. They just called me into the office and had some tightfisted bean counter tell me to get my resume up to date because the company was considering taking my position in a different direction. A different direction? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Ten years with those jerks, working my ass off, not having any kind of life other than the job and they are considering taking my job in a different direction? I'm serious, my life sucks! Kidnap me, shoot me or throw me under a bus but get me out of this life before I decide to do it myself."

After that he was quiet and while Molly tried to keep the conversation going, Ron just sat looking at his coffee cup and shaking his head. Finally he got up from his seat without ordering breakfast, left a five dollar bill on the table and walked out.

Molly was shocked. Here was this guy who she really liked who seemed about ready to toss his own life away. She made a sudden decision; if he did not want his life, she would change it for him by fulfilling a request that he had made twice.

Telling her cook and waitress that she had an appointment and would be back to closeup later, she left to follow him in her car. Keeping back and trying to avoid being seen she followed him for just over an hour to the next town. Along the way he stopped at a hardware and a liquor store. It was eleven a.m. when he pulled into a motel parking lot. Molly had a good idea about what he was intending to do and drove on by. She stopped at an auto parts store to buy a can of ether.

It was easy to guess his room at the motel as his car was parked directly in front of the door and the parking lot was nearly empty. Molly knocked and when he opened it she used her ample weight and muscle to push him aside and swing the door closed before he could make sense of what was happening. Swiftly moving behind him, she used her taller stature and strongly muscled upper body to lift him off the floor in a choke hold as she held an ether soaked rag tightly over his mouth. He only struggled for a few moments before relaxing into her arms.

Seeing no one outside, Molly walked to her car and opened the rear hatch. With the way still clear, she returned to the motel room and fireman carried Ron's limp body to her car tossing him inside. Her next stop was to a hardware store where she purchased some rope and duct tape which she used to tie and gag him should he wake up. On the drive back to her home she made further plans but first she needed to get him inside without anyone seeing her and find some way to keep him there until she was ready.

Her house had a basement with what may have been a root cellar for some former owner. It had thick dirt walls and a solid wooden door. The door had a three inch by twelve inch slot cut at the top and bottom to allow for some ventilation. She threw a couple of blankets inside as well as an old sleeping pad that some former owner had left behind. She then use a strong hasp and lock that she purchased back at the hardware store to securely lock the root cellar with Ron inside. To be extra sure she used some six inch screws to firmly fasten the door to the frame while she did some shopping before going back to the cafe to close it for the day.

Molly returned to her home with her supplies. She made up a tray of food with a bowl of water and headed down to the root cellar. Ron heard her coming down the stairs and began pounding on the door and shouting. She did not answer and made sure to stay out of the line of sight from the door slots. Approaching it from the blind side, she slid the tray of food and drink through the bottom slot and left without a word and without being seen. The banging and shouting continued for another half hour before stopping. Thank God! Molly thought, it was tearing her heart apart to listen to the pounding and pleading. She comforted herself with the thought that the great wrong of her kidnapping him might be offset by not having to learn of his death by his own hands. She hoped he was hungry. The roofies she had laced his food with should make the next part of her plan much easier. If he did not eat this meal, he certain would the next or the one afterwards.

Ron never touched that first meal and only a couple of bites of the second. Molly continued the silent stealthy approach with growing reservations about her plan. However, on the third day shortly after having delivered his food, she found Ron asleep alongside an empty tray. Quickly she removed the screws from the door and unlocked it. She easily lifted Ron's limp body, surprised at how lite he was and how warm and wonderful he felt in her arms. She moved his body into a firm but comfortable chair she had purchased and securely fastened his arms and legs using special padded restraints she had purchased from an adult novelty store just outside town. Then she waited.

After a few hours Ron began to move. His eyes fluttered and he began to mumble. Molly moved to his side and gently wiped his face with a warm, damp cloth as he slowly grew aware of his surroundings. During this time she spoke to him repeating, "Everything is okay, you are safe and I am here to help you. Just relax and don't struggle. You are safe and I am here to help."

Eventually, Ron's eyes began to focus and his head stopped bobbing as his back stiffened and he sat more upright. His arms and legs tried to move but were firmly held by the restraints. His head turned towards the voice and he looked into Molly's eyes, at first not registering who she was but then experiencing a flash of recognition.

"You! Molly? What, why...where am I? Why can't I move? Molly???"

"Take it easy Ron. I'll answer all your questions. Just stay calm and try to listen. You are strapped to the chair for your own protection. If you let me, I'll explain everything."

"Can you untie me, please?"

"Not just yet. Please be patient and let me explain and then I will let you loose. Okay? Just try to relax and let me talk and I'll let you loose. Okay?"

"Okay, I guess; but you promise, you will untie me if I listen?"

"Yes, I promise but first, answer something for me. How were you going to kill yourself?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were checking into a motel before noon and you stopped at a hardware store and liquor store. When you opened the door, I could smell the scotch on your breath. There was a bottle of expensive scotch and a box cutter on the table. Were you planning on getting drunk, taking a warm bath and slitting your wrists?"

Ron was silent and Molly continued. "Come on Ron, talk to me. I know I'm right but I want to hear you say it."

After a still longer silence Ron sobbed and said, "yes, you're right. I don't know if I would have gone through with it but I think I would have if you hadn't forced your way in. Why did you?"

"I've been there myself Ron. There is a lot about me you don't know but I have seen other people just as depressed as you were and I have seen what happened to them. I only know you from your visits to my cafe but I think we have developed some kind of friendship over the past year or so. I don't have many friends, maybe none really and I sure could not afford to lose you."

There was another long silence before Ron spoke again. "Okay, I understand why you followed me and came to my door but the kidnapping and tying me to this chair? That's a bit over the top."

"I only did what you asked me to do Ron. You asked me to kidnap you and get you out of this life. I am very literally minded. You asked and you seemed to mean it and I delivered. Not just that, we can both see that in consideration of what you were planning to do, it was necessary. So, I am offering you an opportunity; you want a new life? It can happen right here."

Ron chuckled softly and shook his head. "I guess I should be more careful with what I say. I never thought you would take me literally."

"No Ron, what you said was perfect. If you had not said exactly that, I may have been concerned but never bold enough to follow you and kidnap you. The outcome may have been far worse for you. Even if you don't think you meant it, part of your mind was expressing a cry for help."

"Well, I guess I should thank you. Now can you untie me?"

"Maybe not just yet. Don't you want to hear my offer? It could change your life."

"Do I have to hear it tied up?"

"Think of being tied up as part of a game we are playing. You asked to be kidnapped and I obliged you. For now let's just let the game play a bit longer. I promise that I will let you go and that I will not harm you in any way. Okay?"

"This is more excitement than I have ever had and it is a change. I'll go along with the game for a bit."

"Good, now listen carefully: I have money and a good business. I work long hours. I need someone to keep my home neat, my laundry up to date and to cook for me. I spend all day cooking for everyone else and when I get home, I just want to not think about anything other than relaxing and getting ready for the next day. You can be the someone who cooks, cleans and keeps my house ready and comfortable for when I get home. In exchange you get a warm place to live, some spending money and someone to talk to to every day. I know I am no man's idea of a girlfriend. I am big, ugly and lumpy in all the wrong places but I am also kind, caring and as you may have noticed, a good person to talk to. I am not asking for sex, you will have your own room and can come and go as you please so long as you do those things that I just mentioned."

She paused and Ron started to speak but Molly stopped him. "Don't give me an answer just yet. I am very serious about this and I want you to consider my offer very carefully before answering. If you don't like it I will untie you and drive you back to the motel or to wherever they towed your car. However, if you answer yes I expect you to stick to your word for at least a year. Now, don't give me an answer but if you have any questions, please ask them."

"So, I would be some sort of butler slash cook slash maid?"

"Yes, you could look at it that way or it could be a lot more than that."

"Would I have access to a car?"

Molly smiled inwardly, she liked the direction this was going. "Yes, we could go and get your car to keep here. Besides you would need for grocery shopping."

"What if you find that you hate living with me? Do you just toss me out with nothing more than the clothes on my back?"

"I will promise to stick with you for a year. However, I do not tolerate violence or dishonesty. Acts involving either of those two things would break our agreement."

"What if I get bored. There is only so much cooking, cleaning and laundry for just two people?"

Molly laughed. "I am a lot messier than you may think. You have not see my upstairs yet. There is also a nice large lawn that needs to be cut and a flower garden that I never have had time for. Heck, you can plant a garden if you like there is plenty of room. I'll even buy us bicycles."

"I used to ride a bicycle and jog a few years ago. Okay, you said you did not want an answer but I really don't have anything to lose. I really hate my job and it really does not look all that secure in any event. I think I can give you your answer right now if you like."

Molly was ready to dance for joy but she restrained herself. This was serious and she needed to be completely certain.

"One more thing Ron, I will be the boss. What I say goes. You can ask questions and even offer your opinions. They might even change my mind but when it comes down to my home, my business and my life, I have the final say. No man or other person will ever have power over me again. That must be understood."

"I think I got that message already." Ron answered. "Anyone who would kidnap a guy, hide him in a cellar and tie him to a chair is not someone to push around."

Molly laughed. "So you do understand!"

"Yes Molly, I do and one more thing: I don't think you are big, ugly and lumpy in the wrong places. Now untie me please and let me get cleaned up before we go to get my car."

As Molly moved to untie him she fought the urge to lift him off his feet and hug him. She may have been mistaken but there appeared to be a tell tale bulge in the front of his slacks. This was more than she ever dared to dream.