The Fifth Ch. 12

This is the 12th and final part of the tale of a Lady and her stable of slaves

But it is not the end for the characters

12. Epilogue

As it turned out any fears about what might happen with the others at the manor proved to be unfounded. Deanna had persuaded first Jared, and then his doctors, to allow him to be discharged to the manor for his rehabilitation. She explained that she had her own gym there and that she would hire a physical therapist for however many hours a day was required. She would purchase or rent any other necessary equipment and she assured them all that she had a full 'staff' that would otherwise see to his every need. And she would make certain that he would be taken to any and all follow up Doctor's appointments so they could monitor his progress.

In the end everyone was in agreement and three days later, after all necessary arrangements were made, Jared was discharged from the hospital and came back to the manor. As he was still unable to walk, the private ambulance attendants carried him up by stretcher to the previously unoccupied bedroom on the second floor, down the hall from Deanna's room and right next to her small gym. The room had been furnished with a hospital bed, a flat screen TV, a radio, and a comfortable recliner.

The physical therapist that Deanna had hired came for four hours a day, and Thomas made sure to supervise another hour or two of exercises a day as well. Abel went out of his way to make extra special meals for him, and as he couldn't yet get down the stairs he ate in his room. Any of them would have been happy to join him for these meals to keep him company, but Deanna pulled rank and began taking all of her meals with him. Indeed, she was spending more and more of her time with him when he wasn't involved with his rehab, even, as he got stronger, spending nights with him as well.

His cast came off a week later and his physical therapy then really began in earnest. Within a week he was taking steps with a walker and within another, holding tight to the railing, he could negotiate stairs. By the third week he could walk unaided and the physical therapist marveled at his progress. By the fourth week he was going up and down the stairway with no problem and walking with only the slightest of limps, as Deanna beamed her delight.

It was evident to all in the manor that their Lady's happiness wasn't just due to Jared's recovery. It was to Jared himself and the intense connection which they had reestablished. Far from being jealous they were all extremely pleased that she had finally found her joy. None of them had ever really envisioned that their stay at the manor would be a life long circumstance. They were just happy that the Lady had given them all the opportunity to discover and delve into their deepest identities, to develop and to grow, and to understand. And she had done so in caring and mutually fulfilling way. In their hearts they would always be her slaves, but it was now time to move on, to reenter the world and to find their own individual and special ways, now confident and comfortable with who they were.

Michael was the first to leave and his was the easiest as he already spent most of his time working away from the manor. Utilizing the strong reputation he had built in so successfully managing and marketing Deanna, and with her permission, he began to take on select new clients. They were always women, all in the entertainment or media fields, and all had developed well earned reputations of being divas who were impossible to work with. People in the field soon became amazed at how well Michael was able to manage these 'difficult personalities' and successfully advance their careers almost in spite of themselves. He did it by always humbly and happily meeting each and every one of their often denigrating and humiliating demands. Deanna remained his first and foremost patron and always treated him with appreciation and respect, which he would always cherish and covet. But he was now able to further satisfy many of his other 'needs' with clients to whom he could continually cater and cower.

Thomas was the next to go. With Deanna's encouragement and financial seed money he set up his own landscaping business again. This time, with endorsements from her to high end contacts she had in the publishing and media world in the area, he got several contracts, and through his own hard and quality work his business quickly grew, so much so that he rapidly became able to employ several crews at a time. He still tended weekly to the manor which he always personally supervised, and insisted, despite Deanna's protestations, to do so for free.

Living again on his own he began working out and weight lifting again in the evenings at a local fitness club. There he soon became aware of a lady body builder who regularly worked out there as well. One evening he dredged up the courage to offer to spot for her when she was lifting free weights, which she gratefully accepted and she then did the same for him. Her name was Maureen but she liked to be called Mo. They quickly became lifting partners and rapidly became partners in other ways as well. As they began to know each other so much better they discovered that they also had a deeply shared interest in bondage. Having the more dominant personality, as he was submissive, she tended to enjoy binding more than being bound, but she did occasionally like to experience being restrained herself as long as it was by someone she could implicitly trust. Together they explored more and more intricate and creative methods of confinement, and their shared passion in this and the trust it required and engendered soon flowered into other areas and it wasn't long before the two of them became inseparable and figuratively bound at the hip.

It took both Jared and Deanna to finally convince Abel to take the plunge and pursue his long held dream of operating his own restaurant. This of course would require a large financial stake, but both of them were more than willing to become silent minority partners, contributing enough resources to get him off the ground. Abel would maintain majority ownership through his own sweat equity. It wasn't that he didn't believe that he was a talented enough chef to be successful. It was just that he wasn't sure that he knew how or could run the other nitty gritty aspects of the business. Michael assured him that he would help with marketing, but Abel needed someone he could rely on to manage the customers and wait staff while he did the cooking.

He put an ad out in the local papers and one of the first applicants to respond was a young woman named Gwen. She had been a waitress at a club in the city for a number of years and was looking to advance herself as a restaurant manager. To his great distress Abel immediately thought that he recognized her, and a quick check of the references she brought confirmed it. She was the waitress who had served the Lady and Belle that night at the lesbian club. He prayed that she wouldn't somehow make the connection, but to his dismay and consternation she did begin to look at him more intently and strangely.

"Excuse me for asking." she finally put forth. "This might seem like a funny question, but do you have a sister who lives in the area."

Abel blanched and began to lose his composure. "A sister ... ah, no ... I've never ... had any sister ... never ... any one..."

Confused by his obvious distress to her rather innocuous question she gazed at him more closely. Her eyes widened in surprise. "No... I don't believe it." she exhaled. "You're her. The one at the club that one night."

Abel's panicked silence and terrified look confirmed it all for her.

"I'm right then, aren't I? It's unbelievable."

"I think ... I think you should go." was all he could manage to stammer out.

"No, you don't understand." she rushed to assure him. "I'm Bi. I mostly like guys but I can go both ways and I liked working at that club. And you ... or the other you ... really turned me on that night and I think I immediately developed a bit of crush on you and kept hoping for weeks after that you'd come back without that Uber Femme you were with. You're not still with her, are you?"

Abel, still mostly speechless, could only slowly shake his head no.

"Good." she said, sounding relieved. "Excellent. Look," she continued in a bit of a frenzy, "It's not about the job anymore. I don't care about the job anymore. I'm kind of a take charge person and this is what you're going to do. You're going to ask me out on a date. You. Maybe if you'd like I can meet the other you some other time, but only if you want. It's you I want to ask me out. What do you say"

Overwhelmed and feeling like he had no choice, Abel did ask her out on a date. That night. And then another date, and another. He even asked her to take the job as manager and hostess of his soon to be opened restaurant. She accepted, and their two relationships, work and other, continued to grow until to his utter astonishment and thrill not two months later she moved in with him, promising that when their restaurant got off the ground they would move into larger accommodations. It was only within these confines that Belle was finally encouraged and allowed to make appearances.

It wasn't long thereafter that her namesake restaurant, 'Belle's' opened to smashing reviews and a brisk business. It soon became readily apparent that while it was Abel's magic in the kitchen that drew people and kept them coming back, it was Gwen's management skills that had the restaurant running like a fine machine and turning a healthy profit as well. Abel occasionally expressed a desire to have Belle waitress now and then, but Gwen adamantly forbade it. She did however often let Belle serve her at home. While she was always happy and proud to showcase Abel to the outside world, Gwen made it abundantly clear that Belle was hers, and for her alone.

And, at the last, there was Edward. He had been the first to approach Deanna with his own and the others' desire to move on to find their own special places in life, and allow the Lady and Jared their space and privacy. While Deanna appreciated and happily endorsed this for all the others and promised to help them in any way she could, she expressed concern about what Edward might plan to do. She purposefully didn't add 'at his age'. But he did so for her.

" I don't think you can ever truly know just how much the opportunity to finally experience and live what I had always dreamed about has meant to me, My Lady. And I can never thank you enough for all of it. But I do believe that the time has come for me to really retire from active service, and I'd like your permission to do so."

"Of course Edward. You know that. But what will you do?"

"I'm very excited about some plans that I have to expand my blog with a kind of discussion and advice forum on real life issues and problems that arise and exist in the lifestyle. Goddess knows I get a lot of private posts along these lines and I would like to make whatever small contribution to this that I'm able." He paused and offered a hopeful smile. "And I would dearly love, and would consider it the highest honor, to have Lady D be an active contributor as well and even write an occasional guest column now and then."

Deanna laughed. "I think she's be the one greatly honored and delighted." She then added. "But only on three conditions."

"Anything, My Lady."

"First, that you stay with us until you help me get all of the others sorted and settled."

"Of course, My Lady."

"Second, that you will always continue to be my editor and literary mentor."

"With the greatest of pleasure, My Lady. And the third condition?"

Deanna smiled fondly and resolutely. "That you no longer consider me your Lady, but rather as your most devoted and forever friend ... Deanna."

Edward couldn't help his eyes from watering. "You will always be my Lady, My Lady ... but always so much more so, my dearest friend ...Deanna."

********

Deanna and Jared slowly settled into their new shared life together after all the others were gone. He was finally back to full strength and almost full activities. He would never be able to play baseball again but that had never been his intention in any event. Though never explicitly stated nor specifically demanded, because he had far more experience and she very little ... and because they both innately understood that they needed it and it had to be so ... Jared assumed the responsibilities for most of the domestic chores around the manor. He even arranged to have some basic culinary instruction from Abel and before long he was a very competent cook as well.

Deanna got back to her writing with a vengeance and soon was able to complete her latest novel. After so many struggles and false directions she was finally able to bring all the pieces together so that her villainous 'hero' became a true hero in the end, not only saving the heroine from real danger, but also from herself. And to all of her readers' enjoyment and satisfaction he became the lovable rogue they were all wishing for. Critics hailed it as her most ambitious, fulfilling and signature work, and to no one's surprise it became her biggest best seller to date.

They maintained close friendship and contact with all of the others. As newcomers to the assemblage Mo and Gwen were initially very wary of Deanna. Through their men they knew much about the former relationships, and though they both had naturally assertive personalities, neither was truly a Domme. They could soon readily see however that Deanna only had 'eyes' for Jared, and no designs on their men. And more importantly they also came to realize that even though their men might always 'adore' Deanna, their love and devotion was now solely directed to them. Eventually they became far more comfortable around and with Deanna, and even occasionally sought her council, which when freely asked she freely offered, about any of the wide variety of things they might do to keep their 'boys' in line.

As to their own special and other needs, Deanna and Jared reserved those for specific and increasingly elaborate and creative play times ... their Private Dance times. These were always directed and controlled by Deanna, but were always anchored to reality to the rock that was Jared. Both knew that they now had the best of both worlds, and they would never allow anything to ever threaten that again.

*********

Their wedding took place on a bright and slightly crisp autumn day at the manor. As two well known public figures ... Deanna having become a somewhat mysterious, increasingly reclusive but wildly successful author, and Jared a former baseball star who had recently acquired a bit of a bad boy barroom brawling aura ... press attention to their nuptials was inevitable. But Michael was adept in handling such PR issues. He made it known that the wedding was to be small and private but he promised to everyone that they would get their needed 'inside' coverage information after the fact. Thus he kept at a distance and controlled the media beast.

Thomas made sure that the grounds were immaculate, especially the areas for the ceremony and reception, which were beautifully festooned with flowers of all kinds. Abel planned, made and supervised the catering and hired all the necessary wait staff. About fifty people were invited including a number of those in the publishing and entertainment fields with whom Deanna had become friendly through her books and film adaptations. Jared had invited a number of old teammates and friends as well. But their most special guests, of course, were their former 'companions' from the manor.

It was a simple and traditional wedding. They were married by a local Justice of the Peace. Edward served as Jared's Best man, and Deanna, after asking Gwen's permission, which was gladly given, had Belle serve as her Maid of Honor. It was a very festive and happy affair, and everyone in attendance noted how the groom continually doted on the bride, and how she could barely stand for any time for him to be out of her sight and not at her side.

And with permission from all of them readily granted, Edward, making sure to carefully mask names and locations as always, enthusiastically detailed and chronicled it all, both then and onward, for his ever expanding and ever hungry multitude of followers, on what had now become for all of them, his must read blog.