Cindy Ch. 01

The other shops on the lane were of a similar occupation, such as handmade shoes, boots and leather goods, a silversmiths shop, a small bakery and a tobacconist, as it said over the store, selling imported cigarettes, cigars, and tobacco. All in all, definitely old world style, catering to the rich and famous for a handsome price she suspected. All the shops front had that 'Old Curiosity Shop' look about them. Small leaded glass windows that were never really meant to be looked through, just something to let light in. All were painted in bright colors, some with Ivy growing up and across their frontage. It definitely catered to the carriage trade as they say, and if you had to ask the price, you couldn't afford it in the first place. Cindy walked up and down the lane twice before she worked up the courage to actually go in, then at last, she took a deep breath and opened the door.

A small silver bell tinkled merrily as she opened it, startling her for a moment. She expected the shop to be musky, dusty, and dim, but the air smelt fresh and clean, with a faint trace of some good quality cigar lingering in the air. The soft, discrete lighting, adding to the summer sunlight pouring in through a carefully placed skylight, enhancing the look of the old leather bound book and highly polished walnut or mahogany furniture and book cases.

"Can I help you?" A rich masculine voice asked from the back. "Oh, it you... yes, Cindy isn't it? From the Coffee shop." Cindy gulped, he did remember her, and her names and where she worked, and... She was tongue tied, unable to get one word out.

"Please, have a seat." He pointed to a leather easy chair beside a small coffee table with two finger of his left hand. It was such an elegant gesture to Cindy's eyes; her body automatically obeyed the request.

"Now then, what can I do for you?"

Even the way he said ordinary things sounded different, real, as if he really meant what he said, instead of the empty words most people use. Mostly when someone asks that question, they don't really won't to help. They say them because the management told them to.

"I... I... I came..." Cindy found herself blushing, and in the end simply held the book out. Richard Masters took the book, glancing at the spine and the title, nodding to himself.

"I wondered where I'd left this." He smiles at her, showing even white teeth and little laugh lines at the corner of his eyes, his rugged, sun tanned face turning hansom in that moment. Then he started to open the book.

"No, wait, I..." Cindy was stunned to realize she was about to confess to what she'd done to the pages, yet she had no need. Had he read it all the way through? Did he know that none of the pages were wrinkled? It didn't matter, she wanted to confess. "I had an accident..." she stammered, "I bent... um... wrinkled some of the pages."

"I see." Even saying that sounded like more like disapproval from an adult to a child.

"And I think I might have pulled one of them loose." She winced when she said that, seeing the slight frown cross his face.

Richard Master's opened the book to the folded pages, smoothing them flat again with strong fingers. He looked at the loose page, cracking the spine back to look closely at the bindings.

"It can be fixed, expensive, but fixable." He murmured, looking up at her with his piercing sea green eyes. Cindy winced hearing that.

"Um... how much?"

"Did you enjoy reading this part?" His eye never leaving hers. Cindy looked down, blushing under his gaze.

"I..." For a moment she was going to lie.

"And this other part where you dog-eared the page."

"Oh!" She'd forgotten about that.

"You should learn to use a page marker, Cindy." That's what they are for." What could she say, except.

"Yes, sir, I know."

"And you didn't answer the question," he laughed softly, "but I take it you did by the blush. It looks very becoming on you." Cindy gulped and blushed again. This wasn't something she was use to, men complimenting her on her looks. He weighed the book in his hand a moment, as if contemplating a chess move.

"As the book so clearly points out, that for any given offence, an equal and effective punishment should be administered to the culprit, don't you agree, Cindy?"

Vision of herself laid over his lap, her skirt pulled up, panties down and his strong tanned hand spanking her bare bottom flashed thought her mind, and she felt herself get instantly wet as she thought of the 'pussy' spanking described in the book.

"Yes, sir." She heard herself mumble, seeing the laughter in his eyes.

"However, such a punishment is not within my power to administer, so..." He held the moment, waiting to see if she'd respond. "...instead, I will calculate the cost of the repair and let you know."

Cindy felt a sense of relief, and disappointment at the same time. The momentary pause was clearly an invitation, yet her mind refused to grasp it significance until the moment had passed. Cindy softly bit the inside of her lower lips wondering for a brief moment if she would have taken him up on the implied offer. He stood, offering her his hand, as a gentleman should. Cindy took it automatically and stood, he held it a moment longer than necessary, and for a moment she thought he'd kiss the back of her hand. The silvery tinkle of the front door opened and a customer walked in broke the spell of the moment.

"I'll be at the coffee shop tomorrow, and will let you know the cost of the repair, Cindy. And thank you for returning the book, it's very valuable, you know."

Cindy blinked, finding herself back out in the bright sunlight on the cobbled lane. She had no recollection of walking out, just that she was here, like teleportation or something. She looked around, seeing the quaint shops and bright colors, and for a moment felt she was in another world, or time unconnected with the twenty first century.

She didn't remember much of how she got home, just that she did, or dinner, or anything else until she snuggled down in bed, going over in her mind what had happened at the shop, what he'd said, how she felt. She kept hearing him quote from the book about punishment, and the flashing image in her mind of her lying over his lap being spanked. It was too much, and her hand slipped inside her panties, only to find she was soaking wet. In retrospect, she realized he had made the offer, but the she'd had let the moment pass.

"Oh my!" She muttered between clenched teeth.

In her mind, his strong hand pulled her over his lap, lifting her skirt before slowly working her panties down to expose her bottom, then him spanking her bare bottom over and over again with his hard hand. She climaxed, not once, but three times before she relaxed in the afterglow. The intensity of the orgasms startled her, and left her shivering with pleasure, her nipples hard and alive, wanting to be touched and caressed, kissed and licked. The most she'd let anyone do was get their hand inside her blouse, never inside her bra, but more out of their small size than not wanting them to, now she did. She wanted to feel Richard Masters strong hand caressing them. Cindy shook herself, banishing the image from her mind. This was getting ridicules. He was old enough to be her father. She got out of bed and showered again, putting fresh underwear on before going back to bed, but not to a restful sleep.

She tossed and turning through the long night. Feeling grouchy and moody as the 'beast' took her to work, and she did her best not to think about a certain older gentleman who might or might not be coming in later this morning. Yet the cost of repair to the book kept cropping up in her mind. What if it was so much she couldn't pay for it? What would he do then? Demand other payment instead?

"Damn it Cindy, will you pay attention to what you are doing, girl!" The manager snapped.

"What?" Cindy looked down, seeing the mess she was making filling the sugar pots, muttering a soft curse.

"What on earth is the matter with you this morning? You've been walking around in a daze since you got here."

"Nothing sir, I just have a few things on my mind that's all."

"Well, get them back on your work, or you are out of here!" With that he turned and stomped away.

"Bald headed old fart!" Cindy muttered to his retreating back.

"That's not a nice thing for a young lady to say." A deep voice behind her murmured.

Cindy looked up, startled, recognizing the voice before she'd even looked. It was him, standing in front of the counter; his sea green eyes full of laughter, and slight smile on his lips.

"Oh... um... I..." She stammered, unable to think of one coherent word to say.

"May I have a large coffee, please?"

Cindy nodded and fumbled her way thought what should be an automatic activity, but today, wasn't. After three tries she managed to put a large mug of coffee in front of him without spilling the whole thing over the counter. She'd already done that twice.

"Thank you very much, Cindy." He added, smiling at her again.

She pretended not to look at him as he added cream and sugar and took it over to his favorite table by the window, watching him out of the corner of her eye as he sat and drank it, reading a book as he did. It wasn't her turn to buss tables today, but she strong armed one of the other girls into letting her do it, promising all of the tips as payment. Without seeming obvious, which she was, she made her rounds, clearing this and that table until she reached the one before his.

"I have the cost of the repair, if you are interested?" His voice was soft yet carrying, but she doubted anyone else heard his remark. Cindy turned, blushing slightly under his gaze, her eye flicking to the counter to see if old baldy was in sight. He wasn't.

"How much?" She asked at last, fearing the worse. The look on his face told her it was high.

"Three hundred dollars."

"Oh my!" She swallowed carefully and held her breath. Richard Masters saw the shocked looked on her face, and mealy cocked one eyebrow, his head held slightly to one side as he waited for her to continue.

"I take it from that remark, that it's more than you expected." He said at last, seeing Cindy nodded in response, waiting for the other shoe to drop. "Then, we shall have to make 'other' arrangements for you to pay of this debt." Cindy felt herself shiver.

"What... what other arrangements." She managed to get out at last.

"Cindy! Will you come here a moment, please." The mangers almost shouted from the counter. Cindy tore her eyes away from Richard Masters and looked over her shoulder, muttering a silent curse.

"It would seem you are in a bit of trouble, aren't you?" He murmured behind her back, his voice full of laughter.

"Yes!" She heard herself snap. His soft chuckle didn't help as she walked back to the counter. Richard Masters watched the sway of her hips under the uniform, wondering what they would look like without it.

"I've told you before about chatting to the customers. You are here to work! If you want to chat, do it in your own time, not mine!"

"He was just asking me a question, that's all."

"A question should only take a second or two, and shouldn't stop you doing what you are supposed to be doing out there."

"I was." She snapped.

"Don't you take that tone of voice with me, young lady, I won't put up with it." Cindy gritted her teeth and went back to clearing up, afraid to go near his table again, yet in the end she did. Picking up a bottle of 'Windex' she attacked the big picture windows with a vengeance, quickly working her way across the front towards him. As she approached, he put down the book, sipping his coffee. Out of curiously she slowed her quick swirls to read the title, seeing 'The Story of 'O' across the spine, and wondered what it was about.

"Now then, where were we before we were rudely interrupted?"

"I... I don't remember." She lied.

"Oh yes, I remember. Alternate method or form of payment for the repairs to the book." Here it comes, Cindy thought.

"It seems to me, Cindy," he paused a moment, heightening the tension, "that you would be much happier in another line of work."

"What? I mean, what did you say?"

"I was thinking, that I need someone to work in my shop, especially when I have to leave town, or attend an auction." He tapped his lower lip with a well manicured forefinger, his strong hand holding his chin. "And I was thinking that you might like to kill two birds with one stone."

"In... in what way?"

"Well, you could work for me, not as many tips, but better paying. And that you could pay off the repairs at the same time?"

"You're offering me a job?" It wasn't what she expected, and it left her blinking and slightly surprised.

"I'm sure you'd be glad to see the last of the bald headed old bath bun."

"What... what would you expect me to do?" It was a fair question.

"I'd train you..." he hesitated a moment, letting the sentence hang, "...in how to handle old manuscripts, and tell the difference between a fake and a real one, plus many other things too numerous to go into here."

"And, um, how much an hour?"

"I could start you at sixteen dollars an hour, with full benefits of course." Cindy gulped. Here she was a minimum wage slave, and no benefits, just tips, which in some week did mount up to a tidy sum. So why was she hesitating? Was there hidden meaning to his words.

"Cindy!" The manager shouted. If nothing else, that convinced her, no matter if his words did have a hidden meaning.

"I'll take it."

"I thought you might." He laughed.

"Cindy!"

"Oh shut up! She shouted back. "I can hear you, and so can the people all the way down the block!"

"What!?" The manager stood there with a stunned expression on his face, finding it hard to believe that an employee had just yelled back at him.

"How dare you..." He spluttered.

"Oh can it, you stupid idiot! I quit." She took off her apron and threw it in his face.

She stormed out and headed for the locker room amidst the clapping of the patrons, feeling angry, her face red. Now she'd done it, marveling at herself for having the nerve to do it. She just hoped Mr. Masters wasn't putting her on about his job offer. He met her as she came back out, a slight smile on his face.

"Well done, Cindy. Come and see me at the shop tomorrow morning and we'll get you set up." With a smile and a nod he left, striding down the street looking as if he owned it.

Cindy breathed a sigh of relief, as she needed the money. Dumping a nowhere job like the coffee shop was one thing, but the prospects of unemployment and no pay check another.

It was with some trepidation that she nursed the 'beast' downtown the next day, circling the block twice before she found a place to park as the 'beast' came to a stop wheezing and spluttering in its death throes. Getting out, she straightened her skirt, hoping it wasn't too short... to long... the right color, that she had the right makeup on, or too much. She brought her racing thoughts to a stop, breathing deeply and walked quickly to the lane. Here, her footsteps slowed as her heart began to race.

She chided herself for being silly. There was nothing to be afeard of, it was just a job after all, at least that's what she tried telling herself, yet she couldn't shake the feeling that this was something more. What, she couldn't say, or maybe it was just her imagination, or the need for it to be something else. Whatever it was she didn't want to go down that road, it scared her. With a slightly trembling hand she opened the door to the shop, hearing the soft silvery tinkle of the bell as she stepped inside.

"Good morning, Cindy, how are you today?"

"Good morning, Mr. Masters. Well, thank you."

"I'm glad to see you took me up on my offer." His handshake was warm and firm, not too hard, and Cindy felt a shiver run up her body at the touch.

"I'll need you to fill out a few forms first. After that I'll get you situated." He held her hand just a little longer than necessary, but maybe she was reading more into it than was there. He let go, turned, motioning her to follow. "Come."

He led her to a small, cheerful office in the back, and indicated a hard wooden, straight back chair for her to sit on as he walked around the mahogany desk. Cindy noticed that the back of the chair was low, with a thickly padded top rail, and wondered why. Sitting down in a comfortable black leather office chair, he opened a draw and extracted a folder and placed it in front of her.

"Here you go. Fill these out," handing her a pen, "I'll be in the shop if you should need me, or when you have finished." Cindy just nodded and took the pen, catching a whiff of his 'Old Spice' after shave as he moved by her out of the office.

The hard wooden seat of the chair felt uncomfortable against her bottom, no matter how much she wriggled around. It felt cold and hard, just like a spanking paddle would if applied to her rear end, she thought, suppressing a giggle. The forms were standard employment forms she'd filled out many times before. The two odd one was her written permission for him to do a background check on her, and look to her credit report. She shrugged and filled them out. It was expected in a job like this dealing with valuable books and manuscripts, she thought and probably not that unusual. The second one puzzled her as it dealt with job disputes. It detailed arbitration between the two parties without the need for legal recourse of any sort. In clear terms it required her to give up any rights to legal counsel, or recourse to the courts should a dispute arise concerning her duties and employment between Mr. Masters and herself during, and after the termination of her employment. Nor could she divulge anything to anyone about what went on in the shop. She hesitated over that one, nibbling her lower lip and chewing on the top of the pen. She didn't know if it was strictly legal for him to ask that of her, and in writing, but considering the line of work he was in, maybe it made sense, trade secrets, and all that. In the end she filled in the blanks and signed it with a slight flourish, she was done.

The rest of the day was spent familiarizing herself with the layout of the shop, where everything was. He showed her the different bookcases, and how they were arranged. His PC contained a complete database of all the books and manuscripts on the premises, on which bookshelf they could be found and the price for each. Some of them made her eyes boggle, and she wondered how anyone could afford to buy them. Her eyes flicked down the book list, marveling at the collection of rare book on display there.

"A lot of people come in and ask for a particular book, or manuscript, and rather than go looking for it, look it up on the computer first to see if we have it, or if its obtainable. If we have it, you will find the location in the index." He leaned over her shoulder slightly, pointing to something on the screen, and she breathed in the scent of old Spice as he did.

"Yes, I see." She murmured, not wanting him to move.

"Sometimes they will buy it sight unseen. Other will want to look at it. If that is the case, hand them a pair of white cotton gloves, and make sure you are wearing a pair before you go and get it."

"Oh... okay." He chuckled softly.

"The acid on your finger tips can damage the paper the old books were printed on." He elaborated for her.

"Ohhh! I see. Yes, that makes sense."

She left at the end of the day feeling elated. She had the job, and it seemed easy in comparisons to the coffee shop, and possibly more interesting. Walking to her car, she passed a 'Barns & Noble', and on impulse she went it. One of the sales people gave her an odd look when she asked if they had a paperback copy of the 'Story of 'O', but pointed to a bookshelf at the back of the store. Her eyes scanned along the titles, some seeming familiar, other not, until she located a copy of the book. A quick read of the story line made her blush, and she looked around to see if anyone was looking. She quickly made her way to the checkout counter, purchased the book and left, feeling a little naughty. After a quick snack, she told her Mother she didn't need dinner, and showering quickly she settled down on the bed to read. It didn't take her long to realize that the story was about a young woman's descent into bondage, and the subsequent enslavement to a Master. The description of 'O's punishments were lurid and detailed, and it wasn't long before her hand was inside her panties, and her bedroom full of the soft sounds of her heavy breathing and soft moans of pleasure. Sated at last, she drifted off to sleep, feeling warm and comfortable in her safe empty bed.