The Collaring of Chloe Ch. 35

The Collaring of Chloe

Chapter 35 - Chains and Offices

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Being back in the Warston-Clark building, going up the familiar old elevator, with its unique aroma of stuffiness and bureaucracy, felt surreal coupled with the new sensation of being in a leashed collar and her limbs fettered. Alvin's casual air with the oddity of the situation made it even more surreal seeming. She found herself wondering just how much she really knew about the man. He'd seemed only mildly surprised by the sight of her retrained and that had seemed more directed at simply seeing her again, not the chains. Considering how firmly he seemed to be championing her right to be like this, he might well have his own little secrets at home.

As she heard the metallic ping of the elevator reaching the third floor, a wild tingle of excitement passed through her, simultaneously nervous and exhilarated at what she was doing. She hoped that they wouldn't immediately get ejected by someone or, worse yet, get sweet Alvin in trouble for allowing them to come up at all. The security guard didn't seem to be very worried about his decision, so she tried to let that comfort her concerns.

She felt the sense of familiarity grow as they stepped from the elevator and out into a smallish alcove. The pseudo-casual décor of the niche, little more than a landing for the elevators, had not changed at all, still seeming at odds with the austere industrial style of the building itself. She grinned at the ornate vase full of fake pampas grass, set on the small faux-cherry end table, that had greeted her every day of her tenure here. How many times had she stood there, staring at the gaudy thing as she waited for her elevator to leave?              

"So, how you two meet?" Alvin asked as they exited the alcove into a much larger hallway. To their right, the hall went only a couple dozen feet before ending at a pair of double doors, wood paneled and weathered, leading into the area where Chloe used to work. An electric card reader said beside it glowing ominously. The other direction lead to a number of conference rooms, small offices, and other facilities.

The stretch of hallway was currently only occupied by a pair of maintenance men, situated almost right across from the elevator niche, busy doing some upkeep on a large, mural-style, display piece that showed all the various logos for the different business that Warston-Clark parented. Neither man spared them even a glance, too intent on their work to notice. A small part of Chloe pouted at their focus, wanting to be seen all hobbled by chains and on a leash. Being seen made it feel more real and exciting.

"Through a friend, in a way." Master said vaguely, eyeing the large display curiously for a moment, before swinging his attention towards the pair of double doors. "I assume that's an off-limits area." He said, pointing to the illuminated scanner. She wasn't sure if he was purposefully changing the subject to be evasive, either for her benefit or simply not wanting to have to explain their unique dynamic, but Alvin didn't seem to notice if he was.

"Technically, yeah, but they ain't passing state secrets or anything." He replied jocularly. "I figure you'd want to see in there, since I believe that's where Miss Ryan worked at." He looked to Chloe. "Right?" He asked, apparently not completely sure.

"Yep." She agreed, smiling ear to ear. "I'm kind of flattered you remember me so clearly, sir."

Alvin flapped a hand dismissively. "Oh, pashaw. All the security staff remembers you and all those snacks you'd bring in." He gave a chuckle.

"Snacks?" Master asked, shooting Chloe a wry look and a raised eyebrow.

"I'd sometimes stop at a donut place and pick something up or bring in cookies." She explained sheepishly, giving a slight shrug of her shoulders that made the chains rattle softly. She noticed out of the corner of her eye, that the sound attracted the attention of one of the workmen, who looked over at them.

"Yeah, well, most people here wouldn't." Alvin said, walking over to the card reader and running a small card attached to a retractable lanyard on his belt over it. A soft click came from the door. "So, yeah, we remember you." He gave her a wink.

As they started into the room beyond, she glanced back at the two men, now with a perfect line of sight to see the chains looped through her restraint cuffs behind her back. Both of them were staring in confusion, obviously not quite understanding what it was they were seeing. It made Chloe giggle and she wiggled her hands behind her back to make the chains waggle for them and gave them a wink.

Both men grinned back at her, apparently finding the scene quite interesting. One leaned over to the other and whispered something that made the other man's eyes widen. Chloe imagined it as something dirty, given the way their expressions shifted, which she found she rather enjoyed. It made that thrill running through her spike up wonderfully.

As they entered the large space past the doors, they were assailed by the smell of paper, industrial carpeting, and rubber erasers, yet another thing that called up that feeling of familiarity in Chloe. The majority of the vast room was filled with rows of cubicles, though a large bank of business machines, multifunction copiers mostly, made up a sort of oasis at their center. One side of the room was clear of cubicles, though that wall held a line of small offices, in front of which was situated the desks of administrative assistants, as well as a little nook for coffee.

"This is the financial reporting room." Alvin said in a hushed tone, though he swept a hand out, as though he were a tour guide indicating some little point of interest. "Not sure what all they do in here, but I'm sure Miss Ryan does." He glanced towards Chloe with a slight smirk.

"Actually, I already have a pretty good idea." Master whispered back, taking in the whole of the room with an interested expression. "Basically, just analysis and recording, right?"

Chloe gave a wobbly nod, thinking that it wasn't all that basic or that easy to simplify, but at the end of the day, a lot less boring of a description than the full one would be. While much of what they did was essentially just crunch statistics and create materials for higher ups to be able to track company progress, the department really did a lot more than that. Her own job had been to construct reports not for upper-management, but for investment accounting, so they could adjust production rates of the various industries. However, now that she thought about, she supposed that amounted to much splitting hairs.

Stifling a yawn, she realized that just thinking about it made her feel bored. Looking around, she considered that there wasn't anything here that she missed at all. Even the coffee station had been lackluster, with cheap brands and bland everything. She'd spent years here, but the full total of her significant memories of the place wouldn't fill one of the cheap Styrofoam cups.

"Anyone you want to say hello to?" Master asked her quietly, still glancing around.

Chloe opened her mouth a moment, then closed it. She'd never really made any real friends here; or any significant social connections, really. The only exception would have been Donna, the woman who'd introduced her to the lifestyle, but she'd changed jobs shortly before Chloe had left herself. While there would be people who she knew enough to be generally recognized, there wasn't really anyone she felt the need to see again. It almost amazed her now, thinking about it, just how little she'd really engaged with anyone. Ironically, it seemed that the only people she'd really connected with here was the security desk crew.

Looking around, trying to think of anyone that might at least be worth introducing Master to, even if just based on the interest of what they did, she noticed that a few of the admins were looking their way now. And none of them had very pleasant expressions on their faces. When she spotted one of the admins picking up a phone and talking furtively into it as she stared at them, she felt a strong urge to suggest they take their leave.

"I think we might should go, Master." She muttered, worry starting to erode the fun of the moment.

Both men looked over in the same direction she was, though they reacted differently than she did to what they saw. Alvin seemed to shrug it off as nothing worth being concerned about, but Master straightened, smiled, and began leading them towards the nearest assistant's desk. Chloe gawked at him as she followed along at the end of her leash, surprised at his temerity. She was starting to feel a thin thread of panic, worried that this had been a mistake to begin with.

However, in instant later, that feeling gave way to a rush of exhilaration as the picture of the moment shifted in her mind from 'Chloe Ryan all trussed up' to 'Master leading his slave'. Swallowing her anxiety, she straightened her back and put a smile on her face. Looking to Master, she felt a swell of affection for him, a strong desire to please him with her loyal obedience. Focusing on that, she pushed herself further into the slave mindset, trusting him to deal with whatever may come next.

"Good afternoon." Master said politely, as they arrived to the first desk, the woman behind it a middle-aged woman named Coleen. She was obviously looking far more at the chain he was holding and the collar it led to, than either him or who was in that collar. She did not look happy.

Despite her scowl, she dragged her gaze up to meet Master's and spoke in a fairly polite tone. "Good afternoon, sir. Can I help you?" She shot a quick look at Alvin, her brow furrowing for a moment, as if accusing him of something, but quickly looked back to Master and her expression lightened again. However, it still didn't look all that friendly.

"My name is James Brooksend." Master said gracefully, making no indication he was even aware of her rather off-put expression. "My companion, Chloe Ryan, used to work here." He gave a gesture to Chloe with his free hand. "She wanted to show me around, if that is okay. We have a security escort." He glanced towards Alvin a moment before looking back.

"Also, while I'm here, I wanted to see if there was someone I could talk with." He produced a business card from a pocket. "Who would be best to speak with about seeing if your company has any excess property estate that the company is interested in liquidating?"

Coleen's mouth worked silently for a second, seeming uncertain how to react to any of what she'd just heard. After a moment, she awkwardly took the offered card from Master, peered at it, and then looked up with a more tolerant-seeming expression. "Oh, I'm...er...I'm not sure." She began, obviously still trying to reorganize her thoughts. A moment later, she blinked and looked to Chloe, seeming only now to have just registered the first thing Master had said.

"Why, that is you, Chloe." She said, her tone straining to sound polite. "Are you...I mean, how are you?"

Coleen had never been especially friendly to Chloe during the time she'd worked her, always seeming as though Chloe was a bit beneath her. Seeing her so off-footed and uncomfortable made Chloe feel a bit of her courage returning. She stepped forward a little, making sure that the chains sounded just enough to call attention to them, and smiled.

"I am doing very well, ma'am." She said demurely, keeping her voice low, even though she knew the soundproofing in all the cubicles would have muffled her even if she'd spoken at full volume. "I know my current state may seem a little irregular, but this is how I'm most comfortable."

Coleen frowned a bit, taking in the collar and chains, seeming as though she were considering whether to respond to that or not. "Well, I'm not sure it's all that decent--"

"Technically, she ain't breaking any decency laws, ma'am." Alvin broke in. "Nor does the company's ordinances have anything specifically against it."

She shot him a deep frown, but didn't argue. Chloe felt a rush of affection for the man, though she really hoped that all this didn't land him in trouble, or worse, cost him his job. Again, though, she noticed that he did not seem overly concerned. In fact, he almost seemed determined to make the point. She was really starting to think he might be a member of the kink community himself.

"Excuse me." Came a brisk voice from their left. "This is a restricted area." They turned to see a stern-looking man in a rather gaudy tie coming up to them. He was balding and thin-lipped, with a very unpleasant air about him. Chloe recognized him immediately as Mister Webber, the head of the department. She'd never had much direct experience with him, but had always gotten the impression that he wasn't the most open-minded of people.

Master turned to regard Webber with a polite smile, extending his hand out, which Webber pointedly didn't take. "My apologies, sir. I don't mean to intrude, but perhaps you can help me." He lowered his unshaken hand gracefully, but didn't back down from his confident posture or let his pleasant expression falter as he waited for the man to respond.

However, all Webber seemed to see was the chain leading from Master's other hand to Chloe's collared neck. He glared at it a moment before finally looking Master in the face. "I'm going to have to ask you leave. I'm not sure why you were let in here in the first place."

Alvin started to say something, possibly to defend his decision to bring them, possibly to simply apologize and say he would escort them out, but Master spoke first. "Chloe Ryan, my companion here, used to work in this department." He gestured to her with the hand holding his end of her leash, as though intentionally calling attention to it. "She wanted to show me where she used to work." As if by magic, another one of his cards seemed to suddenly have appeared in his other hand. "And I wanted to see if Warston-Clark is willing to sell me any of the property you just shut down."

Both Chloe and Alvin looked at Master with surprise, Chloe more-so than the security guard. Where had this come from? How did he even know that they had shut something down? She hadn't even realized he had business cards until he'd produced one for Coleen.

Mister Webber seemed caught off guard too, though his surprise seemed more based on the realization that this man was actually here as a business interest. He paused a moment, his jaw flexing as he considered his response. "I wouldn't be who could help you with acquiring any sellable assets. You'd need..." He paused again, his posture shifting into a more closed language, his face tightening.

Before Webber could say anything else, especially any sort of rebuke, Master further extended his hand, still offering the card and said. "I understand, sir, but as the head of this department, you would know whether any property assets are currently available or if they have already been pre-sold. I don't want to waste your time, but I also don't want to waste my own."

Webber's eyes narrowed a little, but he took the card, glancing at it. "I'm afraid I can't really speak to what the company's holdings are." He sniffed stiffly, but did seem to relax a little when he turned his gaze back to Master. "However, I will say that you...you could speak with Edith Buxley about it. You would be better making an appointment and coming back..." He pointedly cleared his throat. "in a more professional capacity."

"Who would I speak to in order to set that up?" Master asked smoothly, completely unruffled by the implication being subtly made.

Webber looked at Coleen. "Can you call up Edith's assistant and set that up for Mister Brooksend, here?" She flinched at being addressed, having become engrossed in watching the drama before her unfold.

"Yes, sir." She said quickly, lifting a receiver as Master stepped closer to her desk to work out the details of his appointment.

Moving a little closer to Chloe, Webber heaved a breath, seeming irritated, but his eyes flickered recognition of her. "Chloe Ryan?" He asked her, blinking in surprise, apparently only just registering that Master had introduced her as such.

She gave a smile and a nod. "Hello, Mister Webber, sir. I hope you are well." She made a little dip of her body, by way of some form of greeting gesture. The way it made her chains clink only seemed to further call Webber's attention to her currently fettered state.

"I am." He said simply, his surprise at seeing her apparently having stolen some of his thundering temper. "It was a shame to lose you, your replacement hasn't been even half as good as you were." He actually gave her an awkward and plastic-seeming smile.

"I'm sorry to hear that, sir." She replied sympathetically. "I hope they are able to improve quickly. I wouldn't think my position would be that difficult."

Releasing a sigh, Webber shrugged. "It takes a certain mindset, I think."

She nodded, conceding his point. It had been deeply mind-numbing work, but she had attacked it the way she did most things, determined to make it as close to perfect as she could. Still, she'd hated the job entirely. She imagined someone who couldn't put a dedication to the job over any feelings they might have about it, most likely, wouldn't put in the same effort she had.

"I apologize for us intruding, sir." She said, lowering her head a little. "Like my Master said, I just wanted to show him where I used to work."

"Master?" He repeated slowly, his eyes drifting towards Master.

"Yes sir, by my own desire." She said quickly. "I have pledged myself to serving him."

Webber's gaze snapped back to her and he peered at her as though she'd just grown a horn from the center of her forehead. "Is that why..." He awkwardly gestured at the collar and chains.

"Yes sir." She replied brightly, proudly adjusting her posture to best show them. "This is what I want."

"Well, you're welcome to whatever you want to do in your personal time, Chloe." He said grimly. "That said, however, I think you should have a bit more discretion in a public place. It is inappropriate to walk around in public like that."

"I apologize for any perceived offense, sir." Chloe conceded. "Though I don't see why this should be considered indecent. I'm fully dressed and just walking around."

"I didn't say it was 'indecent', I said it was inappropriate." He replied coolly. "You are a woman being led around on a leash by someone, as though you are some kind of animal. I wouldn't think a lot of normal women would find that very funny."

Chloe opened her mouth to respond, but stopped, finding herself at a loss regarding his logic. While she didn't consider it the business of anyone else, male or female, that she enjoyed walking around in a collar, leashed to her Master, it was a fair point that it might ruffle a feather or two. Looking towards the desks of the other administrative assistants, all of whom looked a bit scandalized, it was obvious that 'might' wasn't even the correct word. They definitely had their feathers ruffled.

However, a moment later, registering how he'd used the words 'normal women', she found her own coming to her. She looked respectfully at him, keeping her expression meekly pleasant. "Of course, it also does look rather sexist that all these offices are full of male supervisors and all their assistants, secretaries really, are female?"

Webber blinked in surprise a second, before his brows furrowed together at the implication. "There are plenty of female executives in this company, as you should know. The fact that the admins in this department are all women isn't any kind of reflection on the company, Miss Ryan." He said sternly.