Chain of Respect F/F Ch. 01

Lori nodded then practically jumped to her feet, happy to get away from the bitch's feet. She walked to the kitchen which was connected to the living room. She grabbed a crystal ashtray and an opened bourbon bottle from the cabinet and put a glass over it. She walked back to Agatha, who took the ashtray and lay it on the sofa beside her, but nodded towards the coffee table once Lori offered her the bottle and the glass, and Lori took it as a sign for her to prepare a glass.

Lori opened the bottle and started pouring.

"Wow wow...stop--" Agatha said. "You don't pour a full glass like this...only a third. What are you trying to have me drunk?"

God forbid. Lori smiled apologetically and handed her the glass, then sat at the other couch, which granted her a raised eyebrow from her boss. "What?" she said.

Agatha only stared, and Lori speculated what she was thinking. There was nothing for her to do here, and that probably didn't sit right with Agatha. She was probably thinking of something for her to do, probably something embarrassing or humiliating.

"Make yourself useful, rub my feet."

Bingo. Lori smiled knowingly then sunk to her knees. She wrapped her fingers around the grimy, moist socked foot and started rubbing. All of this is temporary, all of this is temporary. She said to herself over and over again. Eventually Agatha would get bored and let her off her short leash. She'd promote her, and let her continue her career in peace. With time, this would all be behind her, and after ten years or so, Lori would be lounging in one of those mansions herself. While toying with those hopeful thoughts and thrusting her thumps in Agatha's sole, she felt Agatha's other foot thud on her shoulder. She looked up from the sole she was massaging, to be greeted with Agatha's cold stare. Apparently, Agatha didn't need to ask her before using her as a footstool.

The humiliation of it wasn't even bothering her anymore. She had little dignity left to consider; however, she didn't see herself getting used to her boss's foot stench anytime soon.

"Don't forget to wipe your lipstick off my shoe before you leave." Agatha said as she put a cigarette in her mouth.

She didn't know if the woman was really concerned about the cleanness of her boot or if she just wanted to remind her of her humiliating experience, probably both. "I won't."

"Why were you wearing all that makeup anyway, it's not like you." Agatha grimaced.

"...I..." She thought about how much she wanted to give away. "I usually spend Saturdays with my boyfriend...I put make up when I wake up." She looked up, hoping to see some guilt on the woman's face for ruining her special day.

Agatha's eyes shot wide open, in surprise and confusion. "You have a boyfriend?"

Trying not to get offended by the woman's surprise, she nodded politely. "Yes. Four years we've been together."

"That's..."

Don't say surprising...don't fucking say surprising. Lori's eyes grew aggressive in anticipation.

Agatha seemed to sense her irritation, and she said, "Sorry for ruining your night."

With that, a surge of hope ran down her, as she smiled pleadingly. "It's okay...I can still enjoy the best of it if I leave now. It's only 7 PM."

Agatha smiled, taking a gulp of her drink, obviously enjoying the pleading look on Lori's face. "What're you going to do with him?" she asked, tilting her neck curiously.

The question caught Lori by surprise. Why do you care? She looked at the foot in her lap and focused on it as she said, "...Probably watch a movie...nothing special. Dinner maybe."

"A romantic dinner...candles," Agatha hummed, as if she was recalling some memories. "Then fuck his brains out huh."

Lori widened her eyes embarrassed and surprised. She chuckled nervously, "Yeah...kinda." She looked up, and felt uncomfortable under the woman teasing stare. Getting into the details of her personal life with this cunt was the last thing she wanted.

"Well...suit yourself." Agatha shrugged, making Lori grin with a thankful look on her face.

"Really?" Lori said.

"Sure...if you think a romantic evening with your man is more important than staying true to your job responsibilities, then go to him."

Lori's confusion quickly turned to a frown on her face. What was she thinking, that the woman would all of the sudden grow a heart? If anything, it must've heightened her pleasure to know that her games were fucking up with Lori's relationship.

"What...you wanna leave." Agatha smiled, already knowing the answer.

"No," Lori directed her cold stare downwards at the foot in her lap and just kept rubbing.

"That's my good girl." Agatha said, stroking Lori's cheek with her toes.

Lori violently turned her face away from the touch of Agatha's toes, and instinctively scowled at her. Agatha only smiled in response, probably knowing full well that a scowl was all that Lori was capable of.

Suddenly the door opened, and Agatha fidgeted in her seat nervously, her eyes snapping to the door. Lori turned, to see a young girl walk through it and into the living room. She had red long hair and was dressed in jeans and a conservative long blouse. "Hey..." the girl cocked her head questionably.

"Hey honey," Agatha snickered nervously, pulling her foot from Lori's hand. "You're home early...done with your friends?"

"Yeah..." The girl walked closer, her eyes darting between her mother and the woman at her feet.

"Well..." Agatha said, "This is Lori..." she scampered to her feet gesturing for Lori to get up.

"Hey Lori." The girl walked to her, extending her hand. "Emma."

Lori shook it and nodded. "Nice to meet you Emma."

Lori stepped back to stand beside Agatha, as Emma took her hand back and wiped it on her jeans, probably getting rid of the sweat.

"Lori is...a colleague of...mine." Agatha said. She seemed desperately trying to speak clearly, but ended up half-slurring.

"Yeah..." Emma said, seeming quite relaxed herself. "What's so special about this one..." she said then smiled at Lori. "You're the first colleague to step foot in our house by the way."

"Oh we're just...best of friends..." Agatha wrapped her arms around Lori, shaking her up as they both kept looking forward. "...so I just thought I'd invite her in."

"Humm." Emma nodded, as she kicked her sneakers at the door then put them in the shoe rack. "Did you offer her something to eat or has she been massaging your feet since she arrived?" Emma said jokingly. "You'll have to excuse my mom she's not the best hostess."

"Yeah..." Lori could only node, waiting for the conversation to end.

"We ate out," Agatha said.

"Alright...I'll be up in my room, leave you guys to it."

"Don't you wanna do something..." Agatha smiled eagerly, letting go of Lori's shoulders. "Lori was just about to fuko--to leave."

Emma stood there, seeming like she was thinking of a polite way to refuse, before she said, "I...have some homework. I'll catch up with you guys later."

There was a bit of awkward silence for a while, before Agatha nodded, with a wide smile on her mouth. "Cool-cool..." she said, watching Emma node affirmatively then go up the stairs.

A long, relived exhale came out of Agatha's mouth as she kept her eyes on the stairs which Emma had just ascended, before she and Lori heard the door shut. Lori looked back, and saw that Agatha had walked back to her couch, so she went back to her position. "Your daughter?" she asked, taking Agatha's extended foot.

Agatha only nodded, still eyeing the staircase with a cold look.

"Nice girl," Lori said.

"She really is." Agatha sighed then grabbed her glass again, before lighting another cigarette. She must've noticed Lori eyeing her naked finger again, as she said, "Divorced."

Gee, I wonder why? Lori smiled. She looked up at Agatha, noticing the cold look on her face. She didn't seem that thrilled with how her relationships developed. She and her sister didn't seem that close, judging by their brief exchange at Agatha's office. Her relationship with her daughter seemed, quite awkward more than anything, but there wasn't really that much to be told about a brief exchange like the one Lori had just witnessed. Lori really based all her suspicions on Agatha's personality more than anything else.

"You be wary of that, if you ever get married," Agatha said, in a genuine, advising tone. "You may think he loves you...but sooner or later, he'll find himself a secretary to fuck, then fuck off to France."

That was, a bit more detail than Lori had asked for. She didn't know if it was the booze talking or if Agatha wanted a response from her, empathy.

"I'm just saying..." Agatha continued with a sigh. "Men can be pigs."

Lori focused on the foot in her lap. "When they're married to an alcoholic cunt they are," Lori muttered unconsciously, then her eyes shot wide open with dread, hearing what she'd said. She looked up slowly, to see Agatha's confused eyes, like she was making sense too of what she'd just heard.

"What..." Agatha shook her head. "What did you say to me?"

"Nothing I'm sorry." Lori whispered then gulped, her lungs shivering.

Agatha's face screwed up, her eyes fuming in anger Lori hadn't seen before. Lori only shivered in fear under the menacing stare and the narrowing eyes. STUPID CUNT. She cursed at herself. Agatha was conversing with her, for once, talking about her life with her, and all she managed to do was deliver a cheap insult. Brilliant.

With worried eyes, Lori watched the woman straighten up, then lean forward, her cigarette holding hand swinging in the air then--SMACK. She tumbled to the side, her face burning, her glasses had flown off and clattered on the wooden floor. She held her red cheek, feeling Agatha's big handprint sting on it, and looked up from her position on the ground, as her eyes teared up with pain. She sniffled, and seeing nothing but the angry, drunken face of the red-haired woman, she started whining. "You...can't...do this to me..." Lori said. Humiliating her was one thing...assaulting her was another. Agatha shouldn't do this. She shouldn't take the liberty to strike her.

Bad thing to say, as Agatha took it as a sign to leap to her feet, crouch beside Lori, and swing her heavy arm again, striking Lori on the side of her face. Lori took the slap then rose her hands, holding them in front of her face in defense, but stayed silent, in fear of another.

"Tell me again...slut." Agatha slurred whispering with a sharp tone. "Tell me again about what I can and cannot do."

Lori just kept her hands raised in front of her, and waited for the raging monster above her to calm down. Agatha kept breathing heavy breaths, her eyes staring menacingly at the scared woman beneath her. Eventually, she took a deep breath, then rose up. "Apologize." She said, in a calm, leveled voice.

"Sorry," Lori said, her voice devoid of all emotions.

"Properly." Agatha nudged her stomach harshly with her toe.

At first, Lori didn't know what that meant. Sorry was a proper apology, but for the fucked-up witch who'd been ruining her life, it wasn't. She turned on her belly, and shifted till her face was above the feet of the woman who she loathed most in this world, and steeled herself to repeat the messed-up act. "Sorry." she winced against the sharp stench of Agatha's feet, before she bent her head down and lay a kiss on the top of her toes, feeling the sweat stain her lips. Agatha didn't move, neither say anything, which told Lori that she wasn't satisfied, so she pressed her puckered lips against the moist fabric again. "Sorry Miss Santana." And again, forcefully, sucking up a breath of the stench she was failing to get used to.

Agatha stooped down, scratching the back of Lori's head with her fingers. "You keep...forgetting your place...Lori," she said in a kind tone, that didn't appear unless Lori was at her lowest. "And you keep forcing me to remind you."

"...I won't forget anymore."

"What are you?"

Lori said, like a mindless drone. "Your bitch."

"Who owns you."

"...You do..." She said, "You own me."

Lori felt herself hit a new low. To be slapped around, then to cower at the ground, grovel at the feet of the woman who slapped her. What self-respecting woman--right...she wasn't a self-respecting woman anymore. She was whatever Agatha allowed her to be. All the time, while staring with dead eyes at the tops of Agatha's feet, she repeated in her head, it's only for a time...only temporary...it's not forever.

Agatha let her go home after that, even called in a private cab for her. The drive home proved longer than she'd thought. It took about three hours from Agatha's house to hers. She arrived at eleven, to find Bill dozing off in front of the TV in the living room, probably waiting for her to get home. She was almost thankful he was asleep. She didn't want him to see her like this. She knew that if he asked her if she was alright, if she heard his kind tone and felt his gentle arms wrap around her, after she had been basically treated like less than an animal, she'd break down crying.

She didn't even care to change her clothes, and she didn't wake him up from his sleep on the sofa. She just threw herself in bed and closed her eyes. Her throat refused to loosen up, and kept chocking, and the picture of Agatha's face refused to leave her vision. It was a tormenting feeling, to loath someone this much and be totally powerless to get back at them for what they did to you. The only thing in Lori's power was quitting, and Agatha would still win if she did that. She'd go along her life, probably find another poor girl to fuck with, and Lori would have to fix her fractured career, and heal whatever emotional scars this disturbing treatment was leaving on her.

She'd said to herself that she was going to keep moving forward strong, but she couldn't now. Agatha's eyes kept staring at her, forbidding her to sleep, so she started crying, hoping that would help her. And it did. She hugged her covers to her chest and cried herself to sleep, with Agatha's blue-eyed stare tormenting her until she cried enough to be allowed to drift off.

Every day, she went to work, knowing what was awaiting her. Every day she'd go, run between offices, fetch Agatha her documents and her coffee and whatever else she wanted fetched, summoned by get your ass in here, and dismissed by fuck off. None of it bothered her anymore really, she'd grown used to it. She had lost a part of herself getting used to it, but she was happy it didn't get to her anymore. No matter how much Agatha tried to belittle her or make fun of her, she didn't show a single tear, but even took it with a smile at times.

Agatha invited her back to her home almost every day. They pretty much spent most of their day together, and Lori spent the majority of that time either at Agatha's feet, or--her new task--tidying up Agatha's house. Agatha had fired her maid apparently, cause she didn't need one anymore; she got her handy little assistant, so Lori spent a good portion of her day mobbing floors and cleaning windows, all in her pants and blazer. Agatha would usually make her do her cleaning when Emma wasn't there, but when Emma saw her once, Agatha told her daughter that she wanted to start taking care of the house herself from now on, and Lori just offered to help, cause they were such good friends.

Lori of course went along with the lie. She thought about telling Emma how horrible her mother was, but she knew that would be asking for hell gates to open on her, and besides, Emma probably already knew it. She doubted that the college girl was in the dark when it came to her messed-up mother.

One thing that caught Loir's attention, cause of how much time she was spending with her thirty-something-year-old boss, was how little time Agatha spent with her sister and daughter. That exchange: Agatha asking to hang out, and Emma or Elia refusing and saying they have plans, reoccurred, a lot. They always had some excuse, Elia either had plans with her husband or work, and Emma either had plans with her friends or school. When that happened, Lori would spot a look of total sadness, close to a beaten dog, on Agatha's face, just for a moment, before the cold face would replace it. She'd feel bad for her if she weren't such a cunt.

With how much time she spent at work and at Agatha's place, she hardly had time for anything else. Consequently, she and Bill fought, a lot. He'd go on and on about how much he missed her, and she'd counter with arguments that her job just needed a lot of her time right now, and it was only temporary. Him, not wanting to risk being selfish, and opting to be supportive, would always cave first, but the next fight always came fiercer.

During every fight, Lori couldn't stop herself wondering, what would he do if he knew how she was spending her time at work, whether he would still love her if he knew what a spinless wimp she'd allowed herself to be treated like, all for the sake of her precious career.

Today was another Friday, which Lori had spent half of at work with Agatha alone, and was now driving to Agatha's house to spend what remained of her night. Like every Friday, Agatha only invited her back to her home once she was sure that her daughter and sister were busy for the night. Agatha had called both of them today, Elia had to work, Emma had a birthday to attend.

"Miss," she said and took a U-turn.

"Humm?" Agatha asked lazily, while she looked out the window.

"...How long...are you planning to keep this going?" She asked the question she'd been fretting about asking since they took off. Agatha was in a good mood today, and for once, there wasn't an ounce of alcohol in her. She hadn't drunk today yet.

"Keep what going Lori?" Her tone irritated. "Speak clearly."

"Keeping me as your assistant...it's been...months."

"So?" Agatha said. "It takes years to earn a promotion. You youngies have little patience."

Lori took a breath and focused on the wheel. "I've been good..." She couldn't stop herself. "haven't I...Aren't I playing by your rules? I'm doing my best."

Agatha puffed, but looked kind of convinced. She shrugged, "I suppose. I mean..." she smiled teasingly. "Your foot rubs have reached...professional levels. And you get my coffee on time...you don't complain half as much as you used to. Yeah, you're doing alright."

A feeling of pride reluctantly overtook her. She didn't want to feel proud for these trivial acts, but they were literally the only accomplishments she could look back on. "Thanks Miss."

Agatha nodded like she was saying you're welcome.

Lori waited for her to continue, but she didn't. Lori kept driving in silence for a while, before she said, "So...Boss--"

"Hush...stop here for a sec." Agatha said, lurching forward.

Lori, confused as to why she should park on a busy street, asked, "Here why--"

"Stop I said." Agatha snapped at her. "Idiot."

Lori drove to the right, and let the car park slowly. She looked at Agatha who was still staring out the window in silence. What is she even looking at? "Boss...?"

After a long while of silence, Lori bent to the side to look through Agatha's window. There was a restaurant at their side, about twenty meters away. After a while of searching for something worth looking at, or worth this sudden stop, Lori recognized one of the customers, then quickly recognized the one they were sitting with. Elia and Emma.

Lori straightened her back, and sat in her seat, not knowing what to say.

For about three minutes, Lori just sat there, eyeing her silent boss who kept her body leaning forward, looking out the window in dead silence. She spotted that beaten dog look again, it stayed longer this time, however. After a while, Agatha leaned back, her face cold, and simply nodded forward without looking at Lori, who took that as a sign to move.