Katie's Place Pt. 01

Katie sat on a hard wooden chair looking disappointedly at the place she's inherited. What the solicitor had described as 'commercial premises' was not on the high street, but up a small, rarely use alleyway. No passing traffic and no chance to realise her initial hope of opening a high class clothing store.

The place itself comprised the basement and ground floors of a unit in old brick built commercial block. It had a small reception area and an empty room behind that didn't seem to serve any purpose. In the basement there was a further room containing three large cupboards. The place was clean and stylishly decorated in white with red feature walls. She stood up and walked around her new place, trying to imagine what, if anything, she could do with it.

Katie had recently quit her job as a shop assistant, one of a long line of failed jobs. She had the intelligence, but hadn't found anything to inspire her to make the necessary effort. She was 21 years old, limited qualifications, even more limited cash and no idea on how to make more. But she did now own this place.

For the last year she had lived in a bedsit, which was small and always in a mess. Her sink was always full and she was always behind with her laundry. The underwear she was wearing right then had been dirty when she'd put it on that morning.

Katie looked up with shock as she heard a knock on the front door. She stood totally still, wondering whether she'd imagined it. There it was again. Katie felt her heart race up as she slowly stepped forward in her old worn out, sockless trainers. She reached the door and turned the large silver key that was sitting in the deadlock.

Outside was a good looking guy who must have been in his late thirties. He was wearing a suit, without a tie and with a few shirt buttons undone to give him a casual look. As soon as he saw Katie, his casual smile changed to a look of surprise and then to a look of slight embarrassment.

"Is Emily here?"

"No," Katie stammered in reply.

"Oh. Sorry to have bothered you." He started to walk away.

"Emily was my Aunt," Katie called after him.

He stopped and turned, with a look of concern. "Was?"

"She's no longer with us. Car accident."

He stood there in slight shock as he ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair. He didn't seem to know what do to or say.

At Katie's invitation, the guy followed her into the small reception area and they sat down on the wooden chairs facing each other. Having each said their condolences to the other, they sat saying nothing.

He watched the slim girl sitting in front of him. She had her hands on the edges of her chair and was nervously fidgeting. Her eyes darted around the room, occasionally resting on him for just a second. She was sniffing slightly, although he wasn't sure whether that was from a cold or just grief.

Her long brown hair was up in a very untidy pony tail. Her white t-shirt and denim shorts were unironed and in need of a wash. Her shoes were in need of chucking out. She was medium height, slightly slimmer than perhaps she should have been, but attractive enough, particularly on the rare occasion she smiled.

He watched her eyes. They were large, brown and surrounded by unusually long lashes which gave her a slight Disney appearance. After a few more minutes to reflect on the news, he stood to leave.

"What did my Aunt use this place for?" she asked, not moving from her seat.

"Oh... you know," he knew it was a poor answer as soon as he's opened his mouth.

"No I don't!"

Katie had now stood up and walked over so that her back was resting against the front door. Although she looked light enough for him to pick up with one hand, he knew he couldn't leave. She crossed her slim arms and looked at him.

"Tell me!"

"Storage, mainly," he replied.

"Storage? Of what?"

He was starting to feel uncomfortable. He would either have to forcefully move the young woman or tell her things he had no intention of sharing. He watched as she reached to her side and turned the key in the door before withdrawing it and slipping it into her pocket. The 'forcefully move' option was getting harder.

"People," he finally said as he stepped back and leaned against the small counter.

Her open mouth and look of complete surprise confirmed his suspicions that his girl was not ready to learn more about her Aunt.

Still in possession of the key to the front door, she walked passed him, down the stairs and into the basement. Unable to open the front door, he followed.

The small windowless basement had three heavy steel doors along the back wall and behind each door was a small windowless space; 6 feet by 4 feet and only 6 feet high. Each had a heavy grille in the middle of their concrete ceiling.

It had been a warm summer and the heavy brick and concrete walls seemed to act as a heat sink, creating an oppressive atmosphere. The dim wall lights in the basement only added to the unique ambiance that had no doubt led many astray.

"You mean my Aunt held people in here?!" the young brunette exclaimed.

He didn't reply, but even so it only took Katie a few moments to get the full message.

"That's why there's a tap and drain in the corner!"

He nodded.

"And I bet it I go back upstairs I can see down through that metal grille."

She ran back up taking two steps at a time. With one foot either side, she bent down and pulled up a metal hatch. Looking down between her long legs she could see through the heavy grille and into the cell beneath.

"At least I could explain the mystery for you," he smiled as he walked back to the front door.

"I just don't understand why anyone would want to be locked up."

"Yes, I know."

"Well you came here today!" she said having taken up her previous position between him and the front door.

"It's hard to explain," he smiled as he waited for her to open the door, "I guess it's just the opportunity to give away complete control to someone else and remove all need to think or make decisions."

Katie considered this for a few moments.

"You know... I can always lock you up if that's what you want," Katie offered.

He smiled and shook his head, "Thank you, but no that's fine."

"Why? That's why you came."

"Well yes, with Emily."

The truth was that Emily had been both incredibly attractive and incredibly seductive, with a way of controlling him that extended way passed just sexual.

"What's wrong with me?" her hands were back on her hips.

"Nothing..."

"Well it's up to you."

"Look, I appreciate the offer".

Katie still hadn't taken the front door key from her pocket and so he still wasn't at liberty to leave. He tried the handle just to check.

"It's locked," she said matter-of-factly.

"You could unlock it."

"Yes, but what other plans do you have tonight?" she asked as she looked straight into his eyes.

As he smelt Emily's perfume still engrained in the room, it seemed that her niece had also inherited some of her dominant tendencies.

"Well yeah, I didn't book a hotel."

"Hotel? You mean you stay all night."

He could see the exhaustion in her face, it had obviously been a long day. She seemed more relaxed now, but no doubt just wanted to go home and crash.

"You're tired," he said as he motioned towards the locked door.

"Look, its easy enough for me to lock you up, especially as I seem to have just inherited a jail. One click of the padlock and you get what you came for."

The indecisive look on his face was enough. She took him by the wrist and led him into the back room. Still unsure of how to play it, he followed the now bare foot woman, briefly glancing at her butt as he went.

"So how does this work?" she asked.

It was a rhetorical question as she immediately closed the door of the first cell and slid the bolt across with a force that sent a clang around the small enclosed space.

"And then it locks with the padlock," he added.

"Why do I need to lock it" she asked innocently, "you can't open the bolt from inside."

"True, but it makes it more secure and personal," he finally replied, "not only will I be trapped, but you will be the only person in the world able to free me."

"OK" she said as she shrugged her shoulders and bent down to thread the heavy padlock in place behind the metal shield which prevented it from ever being cut off.

Katie stood up and tugged at her denim shorts that were beginning to ride up into her butt. She pulled the key from the lock and swung it from the small key ring.

"And then I leave this on the bus on the way home," she joked.

The look on his face told her that it wasn't the right thing to say and she quickly tucked the key right down into the front pocket of her shorts.

"I'm sorry, I'll keep it safely in here," she smiled as she repeated patted the front of her shorts.

He handed her the cash which she immediately counted and then with a big grin on her face, stuffed into the back pocket of her shorts.

"OK, this time with you inside."

He waited for her to unlock the same door and, feeling slightly embarrassed and self conscious, he walked inside. He turned around only just in time to see the door bang closed behind him. It was only then that he realised he was in the pitch black as he hadn't told her about the lights. He walked up to the door and pushed, but it was too late, he was the wrong side of two inches of steel.

As he laid in the dark concrete box this thoughts jumped from one thing to the next. Emily was no more, but who was her niece. Could he trust her? It was too late to worry about that now. Whoever she was, she had a great figure. No, he mustn't think like that, she must be fifteen years younger than him. What was her name? He should have asked her? He'd given away all control to a girl whose name he didn't even know.

His thoughts were stopped as the mystery woman lifted the metal cover and looked down at him through the heavy grate.

"Oh it's dark down there!"

"Yes, all light switches... and door handles are on the outside."

Katie jumped up and with one bare foot still standing on the grate, started to play with the light switch.

"On. Off. On. Off," she giggled as she played with the switch.

He looked up from underneath her wondering if he'd made a mistake by letting her lock him up. She wasn't taking this seriously. Would she even remember to let him out?

But when she had tired of playing with the light, she sat down on the edge of the grille with her legs hanging down between the bars. She swung her legs back and forth as she drank from a bottle of beer.

He had to grab her feet to avoid being kicked in the face as they swung towards him. He looked up at her slim figure sitting on the barred grille above him and as he did so, started to inadvertently massage her feet.

"Mmm that's nice," she smiled.

"What?"

"My feet, it's nice. Keep going."

"What's your name?" he asked.

She giggled as she let down her hair so that it hung untidily around her head.

"You really don't know much about me, do you."

"Well maybe you should tell me."

He ran his lips up her calf muscles and watched as tiny goose bumps started to form. She smiled, threw her head back and took another sip of beer. Whether it was the situation or just tiredness, the mystery woman was starting to look more and more attractive.

He reached up and ran his hands up her thighs. Katie let him do this, partly because it felt nice being touched by this sexy guy, but also because she was taking note of the very expensive watch on his wrist.

"OK, until tomorrow," she purred as she pulled her legs out from between the bars and stood on the grille above him.

He instinctively tried to reach up through the grill and touch her body that was now hopelessly out of reach. Instead he had to quickly retrieve his hands as Katie lowered the metal hatch that covered the grille and locked it with the padlock. He sat down on the hard cell floor, now sure that he wanted to spend the night as her prisoner.

Katie sat down cross legged on top of the hatch in one of her yoga positions and started to breathe more slowly. Right then she was earning more cash per hour than she had in her last job and all she had to do was look after a key.

She stood up and pulled her dishevelled hair back into a ponytail. Her tight shorts were starting to ride up again and so she reached behind her to pull them down. She slipped into her old trainers walked back out to reception.

Once there she turned off the main power switch, plunging the whole place into darkness and with very little light coming from the alley outside, the place had a very quiet and still mood. Katie unlocked the front door and stepped out in the evening air, warm even though the sun had set.

Katie locked the front door behind her and slipped the silver key in beside the padlock key. She assumed he'd be OK, after all what trouble could anyone get into inside her concrete cell. She stuffed her hands into her pockets and walked quickly down the alley and joined the busy main street less than one hundred meters away. As she walked, she started to plan for the next day. Things were not going to work out quite how her guest was expecting.