Chain of Respect F/F Ch. 02

Lori stood in the elevator, her eyes transfixed on her own reflection in the lift's mirror. She had fixed herself up in the cab as much as she could. her hair was still messy, her face still seemed tired and smelled kind of weird. She looked at her face, as it wore a mixture of relief and shame. It's over, she snickered coldly at herself. She was free, she got what she wanted and starting tomorrow she'd be free to enjoy it. Half of her new salary would probably end up going to some therapist, but it was worth it, wasn't it?

She walked out of the lift and dragged her sore legs towards her apartment. The cap drive took about three hours, so Bill was most likely already asleep--which was a relief, as all she wanted right now was to throw herself on her cozy bed. She'd tell him the happy news tomorrow, right before she'd fuck his brains out in celebration.

She opened the door and got in, then halted. "Hey..." She said.

Bill was sitting on the couch at the end of the living room, sipping on a beer. He had outwear on, for some reason. "Hey..." he smiled lazily. "Honnney."

"What are you still doing up... it's almost midnight." She said as she made her way to the middle of the living room.

"Just...watching the news," He pointed to the turned-off TV.

"...Okay..." Lori said, confused.

"Where were you?" he said.

"At work...where else." She puffed with exhaustion, then threw herself on the sofa beside him. She grew uncomfortable by his weird stares. He seemed pissed off. "What's wrong?"

"I turned 26 today," He nodded forward, not looking at her. "Horay." He threw his hands in the air sarcastically.

"What--" her confused and lazy eyes quickly turned shocked. "Oh fuck--oh honey I'm so terrible I forgot. I'm sorry...I'll make it up to you I swear." She whined apologetically, getting closer to him. "I know I've been away...but look I have some good news." It would probably be a good idea to share the good news with him now, since he probably wouldn't forgive this little fuck-up of hers easily.

"Lovely." He said, with fake excitement.

His sarcasm was slowly getting under her skin, but she thought she had it coming; it wasn't the first time she'd forgotten a special occasion like this. It rarely mattered to him that much, but given how little time she'd been giving him lately and how tough it had been between them, she was probably expected to at least remember it this year, to at least put that much effort.

"Guess what..." she said, smiling.

"What?" he said.

"I've got the promotion."

His eyes widened, he appeared truly surprised, but still seemed...passive-aggrieve, somehow. "Congratulations."

She ignored his awkward state and smiled. "Thanks."

"I knew that cunt will promote you eventually." He leaned in, taking her cheeks in his hands. "You earned it...I'm...so so proud." His words were comforting, his sarcastic tone wasn't.

"You're drunk." She frowned, getting sick of his attitude.

"A little bit yeah..." he nodded, smiling.

"Look I'm sorry I missed your birthday, let's just...talk about it tomorrow alright."

"I don't care you missed it," he shook his head.

"Then what's your problem--" her eyes suddenly catching the suitcase near the kitchen's door interrupted her. "What is this?" She looked at him. "Bill what is this?"

"A suit case."

"I know a fucking suitcase. What's in it."

"Clothes, my laptop and a toothbrush."

"Bill." She scorned.

"Lori," he mocked.

"What's going on."

He held her stare for a moment, his face falling into a cold indifferent one, before he snatched his mobile from the couch, touched around on it a couple of time then threw it in her lap then rose to his feet.

She looked at the screen in confusion, to see a video loading, then play.

"Hey," Agatha's voice came out of the speakers, making Lori shiver as she watched herself on the screen, her face smiling, her tits out, kneeling there on the ground.

In her shock, she let it play out, unable to think or believe or make a single decision. She felt her head get light, as she shut off the phone, and looked at her reflection on the black screen. "Where did you get this from?" She looked at him.

"You sent it to me, or she sent it to me..." he said indifferently as he took a sip from his beer. "Is that your boss?"

"Yeah."

"Nice boss."

"...Bill." She called his name, but didn't really know what she was supposed to say.

"...No...let me talk," He rose a finger. "I..." he shook his head, seeming too angry to talk. "I'm...happy...that you've got that promotion...I...wish you all the best...I...don't wanna be with you anymore." He snickered. "Hell...I almost didn't wait for you, I was gonna head out and leave a little note on the door, but...you know...we've been together for years, I thought I should give you the benefit of the doubt...maybe you'd have an...explanation, or something." He raised his eyebrows. "Do you?"

"...I had to do it Bill."

"..." he nodded. "She held a gun against your head or something?"

"No."

"Was she blackmailing you with something?"

"No."

"Are you working in some kind of ass-eating company where you need to prove your ass-eating skills in order to be promoted?"

"...No."

"Then what the fuck Lori?"

And so their fight went on. She ended up telling him everything. He sat there and listened, all the while seeming like he was counting the seconds until she'd finish so he could leave. He didn't seem that surprised by the events of her journey, probably because he'd already seen the finale.

At the end of it, she was just too tired of fighting. She just wanted to go to bed, and talk about it tomorrow, but all he wanted to do was leave. And he did. She stood at the door of her apartment and watched him walk along the hall dragging his suitcase. Too tired to cry over her loss, she dragged her feet to her bed then threw herself on top of it, not caring to get under the covers or change her clothes. Her phone beeped, forcing herself to reach over and grab it. Agatha had sent her a message. She opened it. It was an image. She couldn't help but snicker at what she saw. It was a close up of the cunt's face, her mouth smiling wide and her blue eyes beyond amused, her hand held beside her face, giving Lori the finger. Under it was a caption "I hope hubby understands."

Another snicker escaped her lips, before her arm swung, tossing the phone against the wall.

How didn't she see that coming? The woman who'd been abusing her for months, wasn't above delivering this one last, cheap shot to her life.

She slept, calming herself with the cheerful day she'd have tomorrow. She'd paid her dues, and tomorrow she'd finally be rewarded for them. Bill was gone but so was Agatha, and so she managed to sleep with a mind at peace and dry eyes.

Lori sat at her kitchen table, hugging her cup of coffee. Her foot shook restlessly in her slipper as she waited for Mr. Hanlo to pick up his damn phone.

Staying true to her word, Agatha had sent her the number she should call. Her message had said that he was expecting to her from her today.

After another minute of getting tortured by the ringing on the other end of the call, the ringing finally stopped. "James Hanlo," the man said.

"Hey...Mr. Hanlo," She lurched forward. "It's Lori."

"Oh..." he said, as if caught by surprise. "Hey...I'm sorry...I was planning to email you."

He recognized her, and that allowed her to take exhale the relieved breath she'd been waiting for. "No worries, Miss. Ginart said I should give you a call anyway so..." she smiled.

"Yeah... good good," he said.

Lori waited for him to continue, and when he didn't, she chuckled nervously, "Mr. Hanlo?"

"Yep?"

"Should I come to the office then or... what?" she said.

"Well..." He said hesitantly. "Here's the thing."

That was enough to put her at unease, as she supported her phone-holding hand with her free one. "Yeah?"

"...We...found someone else..." he said.

She felt her chest go numb as she whispered, "What do you mean?"

"We're going with someone else for the position." He said in a kind tone, as if to sense her discomfort. "You see this is why I like to send emails...I'm sorry Lori."

"Miss..." She mumbled, then spoke clearly, firmly. "Miss Ginart did, recommend me, didn't she?"

"Yeah..." he said. "Agatha sent me her letter of recommendation. However--"

"What do you mean however..." she spat. "She's your superior, she told you to put me in the damn position, so you put me...in the position."

"..."

"Hello" her tone got a mixture of anger and worry. "Mr. Hanlo?"

"I don't know what to tell you Lori I really don't...but she didn't do such thing. She sent the letter of recommendation, that's it, that's what I got. And based on it, I had to go with someone else...you're just not right for the job. I'm sorry--"

she ended the call and tossed her phone at the table fearing that she was about to explode in his face. Her eyes froze, transfixed at nothing. She didn't know what to think, but she felt her lung shrink. It's just a mistake...she nodded, trying to comfort herself. He clearly doesn't get it...he's clearly an idiot...Agatha will fix it. She lurched forward and snatched her phone. She called, but Agatha didn't answer. She called again, same result. She kept calling, and kept getting nothing. Her eyes teared. Agatha would eventually pick, if she kept calling her, but the thing was, Lori couldn't wait for eventually. She wanted to know, now, and that meant that she'd have to see her. The idea alone made her shiver, to be in Agatha's presence again.

She got to her feet, then sat back down, realizing Agatha probably would be at work now. She waited, and used the time to try reaching her on the phone, to no success.

She arrived at Agatha's house at five PM. She drove her car into the open gate and parked. She had her messy hair in a ponytail, not having been able to put any effort into fixing it; she didn't have any power to do anything really, expect for coming here and having her restless heart comforted and reassured. She rang the doorbell and waited with her hands at her sides, her fingers shivering nervously in anticipation of seeing her tormentor's face.

The door finally opened, and her eyes robotically darted downward. She eyed the pair of slippered-feet at the door. "Miss Ginart," she mumbled.

"Lori..." she heard a voice, although not the one she'd expected.

She forced herself to look up, to see Emma's eyes looking at her in confusion. "Hey...Emma." She muttered.

"Hey..." Emma greeted with an animated nod. "You're here to see mom?"

"Ye--" she mumbled. "Yeah... she here?"

"Upstairs...in her office." Emma smiled, nodding towards the stairs. "Please come in." She stepped to the side, gesturing her in.

Lori nodded nervously, before walking in, then crouched to take her shoes off.

After a while, probably sensing her distress, Emma said, "Are you alright?"

She looked up at the girl standing over her, whose face beard a mixture of confusion and worry. Her discomfort had to be obvious on her. That wasn't surprising, as merely standing in this room made her anxious. The very sight of the Paige couch which Agatha used to sit in while tormenting her made her shiver. "I'm alright." She got up.

Emma only smiled politely then walked to the kitchen. "Third door on the left."

Lori got up the stairs, then reached the third door on the left, then froze, took a deep breath, then knocked.

"What is it honey?" The kind tone came.

She coughed a couple of times, deciding that it would be probably best to tell her that she wasn't honey before going in. "It's Lori," she said.

After a long moment of silence, she heard the cold response. "Come in."

She opened the door and walked in, her eyes still glued to the ground. Before she could say a word, Agatha said in an aggressive whisper, "The hell are you thinking coming her uninvited?"

Not seeing the problem, but opting to keep her mouth shut, she mumbled, "I'm sorry..." She didn't look at Agatha, but she felt that cold disdainful stare drilling through her.

"What do you want?"

Since she didn't her an invitation to sit or move, she kept to the door, looking at the ground submissively. "I called Mr. Hamlo."

"Hanlo." She corrected.

"Hanlo."

"Okay?"

"And he said that they're going to go with someone else..." she couldn't stop her tone from turning into a pathetic whine, like she was some little girl complaining to her mother about what some mean boy did to her. But that was the effect Agatha had on her now, she'd always feel like a pathetic, powerless little girl. "He said I didn't get the position."

"Oh..." Agatha said, "Did he elaborate?"

"Just that I wasn't right for the position." She said. "I don't understand."

"Sorry honey," Agatha said, then shrugged. "What you gonna do."

Wha...What am I gonna do? Me? She looked up in surprise, to see Agatha sitting behind her desk in her Paige pajamas, her face bearing a faint pout. She would never have thought that the first time she would hear a 'sorry' coming out of Agatha's mouth would feel like a slap to her face. "I don't--understand--" she tried to form words. "You're his superior aren't you...you said th--"

"Sure...I didn't expect him to refuse I really didn't. I really praised your ass off in that letter." She shrugged.

"Well can't you force him?"

"Oh..." She crooked her neck at Lori, like she'd just said something immoral. "You can't ask me to abuse my power and position like this Lori."

"...No god forbid." A baffled snicker escaped her mouth, as she stared at Agatha's indifferent face. "So...What?" She said, her trembling legs forcing her to take the liberty to sit down at one of the chairs in front of Agatha's desk. "What now?"

"Well..." Agatha said. She pushed her red hair behind her ear. "I'm willing to accept you back as my assistant."

Lori looked at her with narrow eyes, doing her best not to let her gaze grow aggressive. It was obvious she could give her the promotion, and she was choosing not to. Why did she ever think that a sadistic cunt like her would actually live up to her word. "You did write the letter...didn't you?" she said.

"You calling me a liar, Lori." Agatha narrowed her eyes.

"No..." she said. "I'm just...making sure."

"I did." Agatha nodded, then tilted her head. "I have a copy of it here if you like." She pointed to one of her closed drawers.

Not that it would matter by this point, but Lori was curious how much Agatha praised her in her supposed 'guaranteed ticket'. "That would be nice thanks." She nodded passively.

Agatha opened a drawer, took a piece of paper out, then tossed it forward on her desk, so Lori leaned forward and grabbed it. She gave it a quick scan, taking in its short length, then started reading.

Dear Mr. Hanlo,

Throughout the last five years, Lori had been working in my department and under my close supervision. She proved to be a hardworking, disciplined, and docile young lady with an unmistakable drive to improve.

Lori smiled warmly. She didn't like that she used the word docile, but other than that, every word hit deep in her heart. She'd have teared up if she heard those words coming directly from Agatha's mouth. She took a short glance at Agatha, and saw her return a faint smile, then got back to reading.

And for about half a year now, I had the pleasure of having her as my assistant.

Lori stopped. She'd wondered what Agatha would write about her time as her assistant, as Agatha would obviously have to lie a bit, cause her actual responsibilities couldn't be mentioned. She continued reading. She read the first line, then squinted her eyes, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. She read it again, trying to make sense of it, unable to believe the words in front of her. She took a deep breath.

She got my coffee on time, not a minute late, almost every morning. And when she'd get it wrong, she'd have no problem in taking the trip again. Memory isn't her strongest suit, but in my book, nurture beats nature, and what she lacked in intelligence she made up for in discipline and owning up to her mistakes.

Her unquestionable drive to please is off the charts, and moreover, her concern and attention to her employer's image is unprecedented. Whenever she felt like my shoes could use a polish, she'd give them one. When I merely complain about being tired or exhausted, she'd insist that I let her give me a foot message. And, her best skill, her ability to uplift the spirits of whomever she was working with is outstanding. One compliment from her was enough to put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. She once said my feet smell like roses, just to make me feel better.

Given how little she was able to contribute to work-related tasks, I would say that she was trying to compensate, and at that she did a great job. Some people really fail to recognize their weaknesses and strengths, but Lori didn't have that problem. She lacked knowledge and experience, but that didn't stop her from providing value in her own way. Some people would call her a suck up, but I think those people fail to understand the true value of Lori: she understands her place in the company, and she thrives in supporting her superiors and making their lives easier in any way she could.

She said it would mean the world to her if she could have this position, so I couldn't find it in me to refuse writing this recommendation letter for her. However, you do what you think is right Mr. Hanlo, no pressure.

Best Regards,

Agatha Ginart.

Lori froze. Mr. Hanlo had to be a close friend for Agatha to be able to right him something like this. She didn't know at what to scream. The unprofessionalism which the language portrayed. The ridiculous lengths of effort that Agatha had reached to craft this evil letter. Everything was wrong about the paper she held in her hand, everything. Her fingers tensed, ruffling up the paper, before she managed to look up with red eyes. She couldn't speak, and barely breathed as she saw Agatha's cold eyes and smiling mouth.

"You really thought I'd let an incompetent brat like you get a position she didn't deserve." Agatha shook her head. "God you are just a clueless little midget aren't you."

"I--" She took a deep breath, trying to hold her tears. "I trusted...you." She sobbed.

"Yeah...no shit...that's what I mean." She gestured towards her dramatically. "Idiot." She chuckled, giving Lori a smirk that made her boil inside. "That position needs wits honey, something you've proven over and over that you don't possess the slightest amount of."

Assault is a crime punished by law... assault is a crime punished by law... she could sue you... keep it together. Lori took heavy breaths, gripping the armrests of her chair with all her strength, holding herself from lunging forward, but Agatha's smirk only agitated her further. It was like she wanted her to lose it, like she was challenging her.

"But look on the bright side..." Agatha widened her eyes, as if to give Lori the good news. "You can be my assistant again. So why don't you be a good girl and come give mama a foot rub huh."

That did it. Lori lunged from her chair and bolted towards the red-headed cunt, arms swinging. As if Agatha was anticipating it, she robotically jumped to her feet, ready to hold off the barrage. Lori swung her punches chaotically, while screaming and shouting at the top of her lungs. She saw pure joy on Agatha's face as she was effortlessly blocking her and keeping her at a distance, the joy one would see on a kid's face while they were having the time of their life wrestling and playing with each other.

"Come on bring it you ass eating whore..." Agatha grinned as she looked down at her and blocked one swing after the other.