The Kingdom Ch. 13

I stowed my phone in my pants pocket and looked around to see if anything needed to be done to the place before Eric's arrival. To my pleasant surprise, Katie appeared to have already straightened everything up. The trash from the previous night's dinner had all been disposed of. The bathroom was in perfect condition and the bed had been tightly made. Katie had even placed the uneaten chocolate mints back on the pillows. The perks of having custody over a former hotel maid, I thought.

Having nothing else to do, I seized the moment to read a bit more of the Kingdom Handbook while I quickly used the restroom.

Exactly 10 minutes after Eric's text, I heard a knock at the suite's door.

"Pool boy, at your service," Eric greeted enthusiastically as I pulled the door open.

"Hey," I replied awkwardly, stepping aside so he could enter. Eric wore a bright orange and green bathing suite, flip-flops, and a tank top. Over his shoulder was a large duffle bag.

"Man, it's way colder outside than I thought it was," Eric said shivering as he stepped inside. "The pool better be at least 80 degrees!"

"So, how long do you think this'll take?" I asked as I closed the door behind him.

Eric made an impressed whistling noise as dipped his fingers into the heated pool. Like a kid in a candy store, he walked around the suite exploring the space. "Once I'm all set up- between the great room and kitchen, it shouldn't take more than... ehhh 20-25 minutes." Disappearing into the bedroom, Eric continued, "And then maybe another 10 for the bedroom and bathroom!" A few seconds later, he reemerged, chewing a one of the chocolate mints that Katie had left on the pillows.

"So, around 35 minutes?" I asked

"More or less," Eric replied with a smile. He stepped into the kitchen and began unloading the contents of his duffle bag onto the table. I stood awkwardly beside the table as I watched him set up his laptop and the complicated array of devices.

"Can I... help with anything?" I asked.

"I don't think so," Eric replied without looking up from his work. "Actually-" he corrected himself. "If you could power off all the Wi-Tricity coils, that'd be helpful. EMF causes too much interference."

I blinked in confusion. "Uh, what?" I asked.

"The Wi-Tricity coils," Eric repeated, looking up at me as if I was supposed to know what that meant. I merely shrugged back at him. "The copper-colored lamps like... that one over there by the sofa," He pointed to the end table where a tall modern-looking lamp sat. "Should be another one in the bedroom as well."

I stepped over to take a closer look. I was surprised that I hadn't noticed the lamp before. Seeing it now, I could tell that it was clearly different from the lighting fixtures I'd chosen when I designed the suite.

"There's an off-switch on the base in the back," Eric clarified.

The neck of the lamp was basically a tall glass vase with thick copper wires coiling up the inside. I circled the end table and located a switch just above the power cord on its base. I flicked the switch to its off-setting, but nothing happened. The lamp remained lit.

"Um, and what does the off-switch do, exactly?" I asked, perplexed.

"Stops it from emitting electromagnetic waves," Eric said, keeping his focus on the instruments in front of him.

"And... why was it emitting electromagnetic waves?" I asked, suddenly feeling intellectually stunted.

Eric turned to face me, wearing an incredulous expression. "Seriously?"

"Dude, you're speaking a different language right now," I laughed. "I have difficulty working the toaster oven."

"How do you think collars are powered?" Eric asked.

I blinked at him as I contemplated his words. "Wait- are you're saying that these lamps charge devices over thin air?"

"Of course!" Eric laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. "I thought this was your second year at the Kingdom," he added. "Didn't you ever wonder why the batteries in your collar never needed to be changed?"

"I... honestly never thought about it," I replied, shaking my head in amazement. "That's incredible!" Flicking the switch on and off again, I examined the lamp closer. I had no idea that this technology even existed!

"It's a brave new world, red," Eric chuckled as he stood to his feet holding a scope-looking device up to his eye. Squinting, he peered through its lens, scanning the room.

I was about to ask him what this new contraption was, but the phone suddenly rang across the room.

I walked quickly into the kitchen and picked up the receiver on the wall. "Hello?" I asked.

"Hello, is this Jodie O'Connell?" asked a low monotone voice.

"Yes," I replied shortly.

"Hi, this is Roger Felton from Sycamore Market," the voice explained. I suddenly recognized the voice as the market employee who had barged in on me naked the day prior. "I'm sorry to call under these circumstances, but we have your slave in custody. I'm afraid Miss Huff was caught shoplifting."

"What?!" I asked loudly, making Eric jump and turn toward me. "Bullshit!"

"I witnessed it personally, ma'am," the man named Roger replied in his annoying monotone voice. "Seeing as how she has a probation collar, I figured I'd pay you the courtesy of contacting you before security."

I could feel my blood pressure spiking. There was simply no chance that his allegations were true. She was obviously being set up! "Where is she now?" I asked.

"We're holding her at the checkout counter," he responded.

"Okay, do not touch her," I warned him. "I'll be right there." It took every ounce of restraint I possessed not to cuss him out right then over the phone. Before I gave him a chance to answer, I hung up on him and slammed the phone down on the receiver.

"Everything okay?" Eric asked, his face looked concerned.

I let out a frustrated sigh, shaking my head in disbelief. "No, I- I gotta go," I replied bluntly, grabbing my jacket from the kitchen chair.

"O-okay," Eric replied, clearly unsure of how to respond. "Do you want me to pick this up another time?"

"No," I answered, as I walked past him. "Please finish what you're doing... I just... I- I'm sorry, I've gotta go."

"Okay," Eric replied, dumbfounded. "Good luck!"

I didn't respond as I stormed out of the suite. I was definitely seeing red as I ran down the stone stairway and shoved my arms into my jacket. I cursed under my breath, livid that I once again found myself in the middle of another shit storm.

Less than a minute later, out of breath, I ran up to the Sycamore Market and stormed inside. The market was almost entirely empty and, like the day prior, loud rock music blared from the overhead speakers. To my left, I saw the fat toupee'd asshole named Roger typing on a checkout computer. My heart dropped as I saw Katie sitting on a chair behind him with her hands behind her back, most likely restrained. I could tell that her eyes were red and she'd been crying.

"Ah, Miss O'Connell," The man named Roger said upon my entrance. "Thank you for coming so quickly."

"Let's cut right to the chase," I said forcefully, storming straight over to him "Whatever you thought you saw, you were mistaken. Katie wouldn't steal anything."

"I admire your loyalty to your slave but I know what I saw," he replied calmly. "When Miss Huff arrived, I noticed she seemed tense and kept looking over her shoulder. Almost immediately, I witnessed her discretely putting items of clothing into her backpack."

"Okay," I replied dismissively. "Katie, what actually happened?" Katie opened her mouth, her eyes nervously glancing back and forth between Roger and me. "You clearly didn't do this," I coached her. "So, what were you doing that he mistook for shoplifting." Katie's mouth quivered, almost as if she were scared to speak. She was clearly having difficulty weighing a response.

"Katie," I pressed her forcefully. "Just tell the truth."

Unable to stall anymore, Katie replied in a meek voice, "I wasn't taking anything. I was... putting things back."

My heart suddenly dropped in my chest as the puzzle pieces all came together. Dammit Katie, I thought. The dumb ditz wasn't stealing anything. She was caught returning the clothing that I'd accidentally stolen the day prior!

My face softened, indicating to Katie that I understood what she'd done. Katie's hesitation to defend herself was out of the fear of implicating me! I took a deep breath, quickly devising an explanation to offer Roger.

"That... makes more sense," I broke the silence in a soft voice. Turning to Roger, I took at deep breath and attempted to deliver my explanation in a less combative tone. "After you barged in on me naked yesterday, I was... understandably flustered and I left here in a hurry. It wasn't until I got back to my room that I realized that I'd accidentally taken some of the outfits I'd tried on in the fitting room." Roger's eye widened. "Katie was clearly trying to do the right thing by returning the items."

Roger paused for several seconds, staring at me with a dumb blank expression. "So, just to be clear," he replied in monotone, "You're confessing that you were actually the one who shoplifted these items?"

"I didn't shoplift anything," I responded, feeling my combative side quickly resurfacing. "Like I said- I forgot they were still in my bag when I left. I was still recovering from the shock of having my privacy violated."

"And you decided to wait... until the next day to return the items?" Roger asked skeptically.

"I didn't realize I still had the outfits until last night when I saw Katie try one on," I countered.

"You used the outfits?" Roger asked looking surprised

"No!" I replied defensively. "She just tried on the catwoman suit. And then she took it right back off. It was on her for like, two minutes, tops."

"Well, then we can't take it back," Roger retorted.

"Fine," I replied angrily. "I'll pay for it. I'll pay for everything. Look- it was an honest mistake. And, quite frankly, one that would never have happened had my privacy actually been respected in the first place."

Roger said nothing for a few moments and merely stared creepily at me. Finally, he reached across the counter toward the phone. "I think this circumstance will probably be best handled by security."

My hands instinctively shot up to my hips. "Seriously?" I asked, louder than I'd intended. "You're gonna call security over this? Over Katie trying to return items?"

"Look, we take shoplifting very seriously here," he replied, picking up the phone. "It's important that we document it on our ends by contacting the authorities."

My jaw dropped open in disbelief. I wanted nothing more than to give the bastard a black eye. I looked over at a distraught Katie who was still seated behind the counter with her hands behind her back. My heart broke for her as I saw her struggling to hold back tears. The poor girl was just trying to look out for me... again.

As I stared at her, my eyes came to rest on the red probation collar around her neck. More than anything else, her probationary status made this situation far more dangerous for her. After just having reread large portions of the handbook, I'd become aware of all the detriments of probation. Just like in the real world, there was far less leniency given to rule-breakers with probationary status. The reason why a person had been placed on probation was insignificant. The red collar was essentially the scarlet letter of the land and its wearers got one strike as opposed to three. With Katie on probation, security was more likely to throw the book at her than to exercise any semblance of grace...

It was in this moment that I reached across the counter and pressed my finger onto the phone's switch, ending his call. Roger looked up at me in surprise.

"Miss O'Connell?" He asked.

"No," I said definitively. "No. I'm not gonna let you call security over something so absurd."

Roger paused before replying," Miss O'Connell, I'm going to have to ask you to desist."

"What do you want?" I asked, keeping my finger pressed down on the phone switch.

"Excuse me?" Roger asked.

"I said, what do you want?" I reiterated. "What's it gonna take for you to move on from this?"

He responded, as if a broken record, "Like I said, we take matters of shoplift-"

"Yes, I know. You take shoplifting very seriously," I interjected sarcastically. "But we both know that's not what this was. So, I repeat- what is it that you really want?"

The both of us just stared at each other for several seconds until Roger slowly placed the phone back on the receiver.

"There is one arrangement that could work," he replied in a low voice as he leaned forward. I was instantly putt off by his creepy shift in tone and demeanor. "One of our residency employees called in sick this morning. Her shift was from 8 to noon. If your slave was willing to fill in for her shift, I suppose we could overlook this."

"Shift doing what?" I asked skeptically.

"Modeling," Roger replied, nodding over my shoulder. I turned around to see a latex-clad living manikin, locked into a star position at the end of the aisle.

"No fucking way," I replied bluntly as I turned back toward him. "That's not happening."

Roger leaned in closer to me, causing me to wince from his bad coffee breath. "In that case," he countered, "I guess I'll be calling security."

"What other options are there?" I asked, forcefully. "I'd be happy to join her. You'll essentially have two free employees for the morning shift. Put us to work. Modeling's out of the question, but I'm sure there are other jobs to be done."

"None that I'd entrust to thieves," he replied coldly. "Those are your options. The girl models on the floor for three hours, or I let security sort this out. Take your pick."

I could feel my heart racing as I glared at the asshole's ugly-ass face. Finally, I made up my mind.

"I'll do it," I said between gritted teeth. "Katie walks out of here right now and I'll be your model."

"What?" Katie interjected. "Jodie, no." Without looking away from Roger, I held up my index finger toward Katie, signaling her to be quiet.

Roger's mouth widened into a grin, revealing a mouthful of crooked teeth. "Looks like you found door number three after all," he said in an impressed tone. He continued staring at me contemplatively for several seconds before straightening up and concluding, "You've got yourself a deal."

"No!" Katie said more forcefully, standing to her feet.

"It'll be fine," I said to her reassuringly. "It's just three hours."

"You don't need to do this," she pleaded as she stepped over to me. "Just let him call security."

I forced a smile, attempting to put her mind at ease. "I don't trust them," I replied. "Look- just go to the spa, relax, and then we'll meet up for lunch, as planned."

"Jodie. No," Katie argued, shaking her head.

"That's an order," I replied with a wink. Katie pursed her lips, exhaling in disapproval.

I leaned around her to see that a zip-tie was what restrained her wrists. Grabbing a pair of scissors from off the counter, I leaned over and cut her hands free. The zip-tie fell to the ground revealing painful cut marks on her outsides of her wrists. I suppressed the guttural urge to cuss at Roger for cinching the zip-tie so unnecessarily tight.

"I'm so sorry, Jodie," Katie said in a whisper, clearly holding back tears.

"Katie," I chuckled, taking her face in my hands. "It's three hours. That's 48 minutes less than the runtime of the Fellowship of the Ring." A weak smile spread across Katie's face. "I'll be fine." I looked down at my phone that read 8:56am. "You've got four minutes before your spa appointment starts. Scram."

"Thank you," Katie whispered.

"Alright," Roger interjected snapping us out of our moment. Once his register was closed, he began walking away toward the back of the market. "Miss Huff, you're free to leave. Miss O'Connell, follow me, please."

"See you back at the suite around noon," I said with a smile. Katie nodded as I turned and walked away.

My confident façade vanished the instant that Katie could no longer see my face. Three hours was a terrifying length of time to be bound, gagged, and sexually tormented. If the information placards in front of each model were accurate, I'd be wearing a vibrator, anal-spreading pear plug, and TENS patches over each nipple. Each purchase made would trigger these devices to activate simultaneously for a duration that reflects the dollar amount spent.

No sooner did we reach the end of the center aisle, a chorus of high-pitched moans and protests suddenly filled the large room, indicating that a purchase had just been made.

Against the wall by the water fountain, a shiny pink manikin threw her head backward in visible distress. My eyes caught a glimpse of her gloved fingers frantically groping the air as I passed her. My face flushed with rage as I contemplated the misery of joining these women in their tortures...

I followed Roger through the "STAFF ONLY" door, past the rows of inventory-filled cardboard boxes, and into the employee break room. I noticed that there was now a partition down the center of the room, essentially dividing the space in a locker room on one side and a workshop of sorts on the other. On the workshop side were several large ominous pipe structures that I'd never seen before.

"First things first," Roger broke the silence, "You won't be able to use the bathroom until the end of your shift, so you'll need to evacuate your bowels and bladder now."

"I'm good," I replied bluntly.

"Oookay," Roger replied, seemingly unconvinced. "Because it's a three hour shift-"

"For fuck sake," I replied louder than I intended, "I went before I left."

"Fine," he replied, raising his hands defensively as he turned away. He then began sorting through a cardboard boxes stacked against the workshop wall. "Let's see, you look to be about a size small, correct?"

"Depends on the day," I muttered curtly. Roger looked over to me, unsatisfied with my answer. "Yes, I'm a small," I clarified, rolling my eyes.

"This'll do," Roger said, as he lifted a plastic-wrapped package and brought it over to me. I took it from him and pulled out a gold latex catsuit. "Alright. Now remove your clothes and get greased up," he continued. "You can store your belongings in locker number nine."

"Greased up?" I asked, confused.

"With lubricant," he answered. "Located in the dispensers on the wall. It'll help the latex slide on."

I stepped over to the locker room side of the break room and began removing my socks and shoes. I shook my head in disbelief that I was actually going along with this. How the hell was I so predicament-prone?! Adding to my disgust, I could feel Roger's eyes burning into my backside as I hesitantly undressed, marking the second time in two days that the asshole had enjoyed the pleasure of seeing me naked.

There were so many expletive-laced objections I wanted to voice in this moment. But instead of giving into temptation, I forced myself to think of Katie. As odd as it was, I was able to find a bit of peace knowing that I was saving her from three hours of torment.

Once I was completely nude, I placed all of my belongings inside the locker, and stepped over to the nearest lubricant dispenser. I shivered as I applied the cold greasy substance over my body.