Restitution

THE COLLECTIVE

A DARK STAR STORY

INTERLUDE 1 -- RESTITUTION

The offices of Willoughby Fairclough had long fallen quiet for the day, indeed for the working week.

Sat behind her desk in a red button up blouse, coupled with the straight knee length skirt of a black suit set Hannah Walker had begun to hate the end of the working week. Largely because at present where once the weekend offered the pleasure of down time and mutual shared pleasures at present the lack of focus brought about by not working stripped her of her ability to be able to immerse herself in distraction and to avoid her escalating mental instability.

Another Friday evening crept around her, an evening faced alone with only her thoughts for erratic thoughts for company, thoughts which spiralled and held her life in a grip invisible to all around her but so painfully real for herself.

She let go a heavy sigh as she slid open the bottom drawer of the mini filing cabinet slid beneath her desk. Reaching inside the draw she glanced up to double check there was no one insight through the glass wall of her private office that afforded a view across the large open plan office beyond.

Two cleaners on the far side of the room would hardly notice let alone be bothered she figured as she took the one of the two 50cl bottles of Smirnoff Vodka purchased earlier that afternoon. Unscrewing the already broken cap, she poured the clear liquid into red mug sat on her desk. The bottle empty of it's contents before even reaching halfway up the inside of the mug.

Setting the empty bottle on her desk Hannah took a deep swig as she cast her eye around her office. She did not want to be here, but she could think of nowhere else she wanted to be. Events of the last two months haunted her. Her house no longer felt like her house. She could not confide in her friends, Colleagues had offered a sympathetic ear but given the nature of their relationships had little genuine grasp on the reality beyond her breakup from her long-term partner. Even the sanctuary of her parents had been lost given the mercy and subsequent they had offered to their daughter, her toxic little stepsister.

It was incomprehensible that her Father had offered Ari refuge considering the destruction the poisonous little bitch had wrought. The ignominy of her younger stepsister sleeping with her partner for nearly a year cut deep and was bad enough, the brutal reality was only agonisingly compounded by the fact that Ari had passed HIV to Logan which he had in turn infected her with.

The remorse and sorrow she initially felt for Ari as her younger sibling had spilled her heart out to her across a kitchen table three months previous had shifted to hatred within little more than forty-eight hours. The memory of that hideously painfully admission of betrayal from the man she had loved with all her heart and the Sister she thought so much of delivered so matter of factly across her dining room table had been as crushing a blow as she could handle let alone comprehend.

The mental anguish of the wider situation doubled down on her already scarred conscience following her own permitted indiscretion, that she had kept solemnly to herself. The fact that she had even committed her own impropriety still haunted her as much as the way she had been manipulated into allowing the repulsive Hector Salazar to lure and coerce her into a such a disgusting encounter in which he had brutally used her and taken advantage of her agreed surrender. A surrender made at the time to protect Logan, to protect the man who across almost the entire timeline of their relationship had been fucking her twenty-year-old stepsister.

Over the course of their relationship Hannah had turned a blind eye to many of Logan's flaws, his nuances, she knew the reputation the venue he ran by word of mouth alone even prior to even meeting him, but she reserved judgement. She had trusted Logan Hughes, forgiven the middle of the night arrivals, the no shows, his mood swings and the occasional toxic outbursts, only now did she even begin to question why and at what harm. Warning signs and obvious red flag she had consciously chosen to ignore.

She had ignored every sign she saw because she genuinely loved him, she saw through the edge of darkness that surrounded his persona to see the caring, warm, genuinely understanding man. The man she had first met, the man she had become smitten with, the man she had fallen deeply in love with.

Hannah's mind lurched. The words of Doctor Shakora, her GP, spoken only hours earlier, doing little to console her now as they had then. Talk of viral load counts and drugs to manage the disease barely registering. The overriding message was for a positive future but that seemed far removed from the in uncertainty of her reality, no words or leaflets could reassure or calm her raging mind. Hannah fixated on how she lived now with a disease that would live in her as a constant reminder of what had transpired a poison washing through her body, her veins pumping tainted blood from the sordid sexual impropriety of her stepsisters past through her body.

A disease passed to her by the traitors in her life.

Looking to a downturned photo on the bookcase to her left Hannah stifled a sob with another heavy swig of neat Vodka.

She drank to forget.

Life had never been so good, now life would never be the same again.

"Don't worry I'll turn a blind eye,"

Hannah recognised the male voice from the open doorway over her shoulder immediately. Her eyes darting to the empty bottle sat to the side of her keyboard, but she kept her hands wrapped around the mug.

"It's... it's not what..." Hannah offered turning to look back at him.

"Not what it looks like?" Jason Palmer offered by speaking across her. "I'd say it's exactly what it looks like by the empty bottle alone...don't worry I'm only interested to see if you've another bottle to substitute in for that empty."

"Afraid not..." Hannah offered on a lie as she turned her swivel chair to face him, noting his eyes cast across her nylon clad legs.

Jason Palmer stepped into her office uninvited. Dressed in a navy colour suit over a light blue shirt, his burgundy necktie sat pulled open a little scruffily around his neck, the top button of his slightly creased shirt sitting undone.

"I'm not one to judge." Jason offered as he stepped further into her office, looking down at her as she remained sat behind her desk, turning her chair to follow him. Whatever he was about to say Hannah felt would be loaded with judgement, intentional or otherwise.

He maintained a silence though as he looked back into her eyes.

Hannah could not stand him he made her skin crawl at the best of times. Visually not unattractive to look at the minute he opened his mouth on the brash cockney accent he let himself down his personality as reprehensible and vile as he was attractive to the eye. Cut his tongue out and the menace of his stare would still give him away. Dark brooding looks can only get a man so far when he has the bloated personality of an egotistical sociopath.

"I heard you've been having a tough time lately..." Jason offered coldly while stepping further into the office, headed towards her bookshelf, "...you do know if you ever need to talk... well after the... well you know...even if its awkward we are Colleagues if nothing else."

Watching his eye line slip back to her desk and the trophy still proudly displayed on her desk Hannah was not sure whether to believe his attempt at concern or treat him with incredulity he normally deserved.

Hannah glanced to the trophy he eyeballed briefly, Jason still probably looked to seek as much credit for the national award, presented several months ago, as she had deserved. The memory of what had transpired in the bigger picture that night drew a fresh shiver across her skin, causing her mind to slip to thoughts of the second bottle of vodka she knew to be secluded in the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet.

It was all Hannah could do though not to smirk as she looked up at his attempt at sincerity. Totally unsure how Jason would react if she unburdened on him the truth he dug for, if only for leverage. How would he would react to the knowledge that she'd cheated on the man she thought she loved in a hotel room with a total stranger, then surrendered to becoming a private little sex toy as a consequence, before discovering not only had her Stepsister contracted HIV but that she had passed on to disease to her by virtue of the fact the man she thought she loved had been conducting a duplicitously affair and had been regularly fucking her own sister for the last nine months, causing her to lose all faith, all trust and her family while life as she had known it had been unceremoniously destroyed in the last three months alone.

Hannah did not genuinely know how she coped with the situation herself,

"I'm good thank you Jason," was all she could think to respond with.

"Your picture has fallen over..." Jason offered his distracted gaze falling towards her book case not her, "...let me at least pick that up for you."

Hannah watched as he extended an arm to the bookshelf and flipped over the white framed picture of her, and Ari taken during their soon to be Sister-in-Law's to Hen Night only four months ago. A wedding subsequently cancelled given all the fallout from the bombshell of Ari's disclosure.

"She a pretty girl," Jason said leering at framed photo perhaps a little longer than was necessary before he set it down "Sister?"

"Stepsister..." Hannah offered dismissively "...We don't exactly talk much."

She noted the quizzical expression her comment raised, he must have noted the tone which underlined her curt response though as he made no further reference, while loosening off the tie sat around his neck a little further.

"Listen... you might not want to talk but I've a bottle of 25 year old single malt whiskey in my office..." Jason proffered, "...will you join me... save me drinking alone?"

The prospect of his company was no where near as appealing as the as the prospect of the further numbing effect the bottle of well aged Whiskey that Jason Palmer spoke of could bring.

"You know what Jason..." Hannah offered standing from behind her desk a little wobbly in her heels, "...why fucking not..."

Passing him she felt his eye cast over her as she sat down on the black leather sofa positioned against the far wall of her office, crossing her legs while keeping her skirt as close to her knee over her thigh as she could.

"25 years aged does sound appealing." Hannah offered further.

"I've slept with younger," Jason offered on a slimy grin, instantly reminding Hannah of the vile individual he truly was.

Hannah watched him leave, mindful moments later as she heard his footsteps headed back towards the door to her office not to lower her defences too far in his company, no matter how good the whiskey was.

**********

She was not sure how it had started but she allowed it to happen.

Hannah allowed it to happen and returned the passion he offered.

Kissing Jason Palmer back passionately as she felt his body weight fall across her on the two-seater sofa in her office.

Hannah needed to feel wanted, inhibition surrendered on heavy breath tainted by vodka and the now near empty bottle of whiskey.

His womanising was well known, a string of known and rumoured worked based dalliances alone surrounded him despite his senior position and the official company policy on colleague relations. In this moment though Hannah cared little for truth, speculation or policy. Alcohol heavily tainted her mind, but she knowingly surrendered to him.

In little to no time Jason Palmers hands wandered, pressing over her upper body as they continued to kiss, his hands pressing eventually firmly up over her breasts through her blouse and bra. Moments later his hands crudely and hurriedly unbuttoned the red blouse to reveal her breasts held up in a white lace effect bra. His eyes feasting on her as he broke their kiss to visually appraise her.

"Not here..." Hannah muttered softly, "We shouldn't... Not like this."

His next action swift, brutally swift but Hannah did not resist as she allowed his hands to press her skirt up her thighs, her words failed to deter him as she looked across her body to see the unbridled delight in his eyes, delight that turned to furious desire as he revealed the lace topped hold up black stockings that clung to her legs.

"We shouldn't..." Hannah whispered again a quiet objection to the circumstances that she had allowed to arise, even as she spoke she did not truly believe or fight against the feeling of intensity that washed over her.

The forefinger of his left hand simply pressed to her lips, the callous yet simple enough act coupled with a gentle shake of his head bought her silence.

Hurriedly he pulled at the buckle of his belt, slipping the belt from his waist and discarding it to the side of the sofa as he pulled open the waist of his suit trousers.

Hannah rested her head back on the cool surface of the sofa letting her eyes fall closed as he repositioned her. Without seeking consent Jason pressed aside her underwear and fully penetrate her body as he dropped his upper body over hers. The gasp that passes her lips as he uncomfortably entered her dry vagina filled the confines of the small room, he repositioned her body again for his own comfort, stirring his hip between her parted legs before slowly starting to stretch her around him as he immediately built a momentum and hurriedly started to fuck her with a brutally harsh quick deep style.

Despite the discomfort of her physical position while lay on her back across the too small a sofa Hannah let him, her mouth falling open as she arched her back and pressed her body down against his. Gasping loudly again at the sensations she felt. He lacked style but the intensity covered that short falling.

Jason never spoke he never said a word as peppering her neck and the tops of her breasts with kisses he continued to claim what she let him.

His hips thrusting deep into her as his hands clamped over the tops of her thighs pinning her legs apart as he took advantage of the opportunity she afforded him.

Hannah lay there looking up at him as he arched his back. His hips thrust on a steady motion, he did not care for her needs he sought only to serve his. Hannah's eyes fell closed as she fell his right-hand snatch at the front of her bra, pulling the underwear crudely down to expose her breasts, which were immediate manhandled as he released her thighs completely.

His left hand pressed up between her exposed breasts, coming to rest in the nape of her neck, she felt the gentle squeeze of his fingers around her throat, a gentle squeeze that began to increase in pressure along side of the frantic intensity of his hips.

"I can't believe this is happening ag..."

"Shut up..." Hannah cut across him, her turn to silence him, "...Just shut up."

Jason heeded her words, cutting short whatever inevitably cliche he was about to offer as he kept fucking her now with an increased intensity. His hand tightening around her throat,

Hannah's own hands fell over his left forearm as he fucked her, her hands firmly pushing his arm back as she craned her neck to escape his grip.

Jason looked down on her lay beneath him in his grip a dark grin passing his lips as he slowly took his hand from her throat only to press down on her right shoulder as his right hand grabbed the back of her left thigh bending her leg up towards her torso as they struggled for space across the surface of the sofa

Minutes later Hannah continued to accommodate as she received the laboured, sterile, and increasingly physically uncomfortable fuck Jason Palmer gave her.

"I need to..." Jason breathlessly offered, "...I need to move you."

Given her discomfort Hannah, simply nodded in agreement.

Moments later he slipped from her, and she found herself unceremoniously hauled up from the sofa. On unstable legs, as he kicked his trousers from around his own ankles, Hannah found herself all but dragged towards then positioned face first across her own desk. As Jason brutally swept aside the keyboard, empty vodka bottle and several pages of printed documents Hannahs mind barely focussed on the cliche before she felt him kick apart her legs. No sooner had his left hand pulled aside her underwear once more did she feel him roughly entering her again but from behind. His full erection sinking now with relative ease back into her walls and she lets him take control of her once more.

Her breath left her body on his harshness, with her skirt sitting bunched around her waist. Hannah dropped onto her elbows holding her self up as he took her with a far more dominant style, lowering herself for her own comfort so that her forehead came to rest on her forearms as she accepted him, widening the gait of her stance to accommodate him deeper.

Hannah let Jason put in the effort breathing heavy under the exertion she absorbed as she maintained her surrender, sating her need to feel wanted even by the unpleasant hand of Jason Palmer.

His style was brutal and harsh like an animal he simply sought to claim her, to breed her. As his intensity grew Hannah reached her hands to the sides of the desk, her fingers gripping tightly the edges of the furniture as he fucked her without consideration.

The tops of her exposed thighs dug into the edge of the dark wooden desktop as he continued unabated, tensing her grip Hannah braced once more then pushed back to ease her discomfort. Pushing back only goaded him, he saw her action as a challenge. Hannah locked out her arms in defiance as his pelvis slapped against her.

"Jason... Jason you're hurting...."

"You feel good Hannah..." Jason offered on short rasping breath ignoring her plea. "...Oh, so fucking good... it's his loss."

His words stung as he spoke, she pressed back once more only to feel his right hand slip through her hair to clench the back of her neck tightly. Hannah baulked at the tension of his grip over the back of her neck. His superior body weight and his physical position over her pinned her. His arm pressing down harshly forcing her down onto he desk.

"No Jason." Hannah gasped on a pained little plea.

He ignored her using his power over her as Hannah kept a grip of the desk, and he kept a grip over her, fucking her with no regard for the pain he caused her. Hannah gritted her teeth. The alcohol that had addled her mind moments earlier punctuated by the reality lancing her conscience, as the foolishness of what she permitted dawned on her.

"Please Jason..." Hannah pleaded, "...Please."

"Hold still...hold still for me Hannah," Jason coldly offered in response.

His grip intensified on the back of her neck his left arm pressed down, the clench of his fingers digging onto the side of her throat as his left hand clenched her bunched skirt over her hips and pulled her body posture towards him. |All the while his dick lanced her prone body harshly on repetitious deep thrusts from his hips as his pelvis slammed against her exposed buttocks.

Looking up she saw the distorted image of what played out in the reflections of the powered down monitor usually connected to her laptop.

She could not see him clearly, but she could see her own reflection as he now ravaged her.

Hannah panicked his control triggering memories of Hector Salazars abuse of power, visions of her own reflection in the mirror before her. Her body trapped, objectified, while he claimed what she offered him voluntarily, a privilege he abused in the restriction of the medieval restraint he locked her into

As Jason fucks her holding her down warm tears flood her eyes at the clarity of her memory and the realisation now of how Jason replicated that control if not physically but metaphorically.