With Open Arms Pt. 02

Jennifer winced at her comment. "I take it you've never lived through abuse?" she asked.

Sensing she'd done wrong, Liza hung her head. "No, I haven't, and I'm in no way belittling what she's going through. I'm sorry if it seemed I was, and I understand that the mental anguish she's enduring must be significant. My point was that she's likely in no immediate physical danger, that's all."

Sliding off the desk, Liza squatted down in front of Jennifer's chair and asked, "You say you think you love her, how does she feel about you?"

Jennifer sighed, feeling apprehension at the question. "I'm not one hundred percent sure about now. But I know she was in love with me for years before the first time we ever kissed. I know that she left town months early for school because she felt I had rejected her even though I hadn't. She cut everyone from back home off and communicated with no one, or at least that's what we thought. It turns out she did communicate with her younger brother the whole time only he kept that to himself until he knew she was coming back home. I know she has strong feelings for me; she's made that clear to me. I think she's still in love with me, but she's afraid to admit it because she's unsure of how I feel about her."

"And what's holding you back from telling her?" Liza asked.

Jennifer slumped back into her chair and brought her hands to her face as if covering her shame. "I thought I told her the other night, but a mutual friend pointed out to me that my approach to doing so might have been somewhat obtuse."

"What, I'm in love with you was too much of a challenge?" Liza teased.

Jennifer pulled her legs up into the chair and buried her face between her knees, moaning, "Not you too. I get it; I'm hopeless when it comes to this romance stuff. I panic and practically break out into hives, but I do love her," she said, and then as if the thought had finally sunk home, she repeated it, "I am in love with her."

Liza smiled and said, "Okay, we got you over that hurdle. Now let's see what we can do about the training part. I teach Brazilian style jujitsu and Krav Maga, and both can be used very well for self-defense. Jujitsu is excellent to know in close quarters type combat, while Krav Maga gives the added benefit of also teaching you to defend yourself against an attacker with a weapon. Which one you choose to go with is strictly up to you."

Finally, coming out from behind her knees and dropping them to the floor, Jennifer asked, "Why can't you teach them both to me?"

Liza cocked her head to the side, studying the woman before saying, "Because it would involve a lot of expense on your part and a great deal of time on both our parts. I'm not cheap. My rates run at seventy-five dollars an hour for private instruction. If we worked together ten hours a week for three months, then maybe you'd have a good enough base to be able to defend yourself against a competent attacker successfully."

"So let's see, that's one hundred and fifty a day, or seven hundred and fifty a week, or three grand a month, or nine grand over the duration, sound like a deal to me. When can we get started?" Jennifer said without hesitation.

Shocked at the younger woman's flippant acceptance of the cost, Liza said, "How about tomorrow afternoon at one?"

Two weeks later, Jennifer stumbled into her apartment and made her way to the shower shedding her clothes as she went. It had been a particularly grueling session with Liza today that had involved her playing what Liza had referred to as "bull in the ring." Two of her friends had agreed to help out during the training session. Jennifer had found herself in the middle of the sparring mat surrounded by the three women. One by one, they would come out with an attack that she was supposed to defend herself against using one of the counters and defenses she had learned over her time with Liza. As soon as Jennifer had successfully defended or lost, that person would leave, and the next attack would come. It was designed to test her ability to think when she became fatigued. Liza pointed out to her that being able to do so at critical times could be the difference between life and death.

Jennifer had fared okay at the start, but as she became more fatigued, her judgment and reaction times had become affected, resulting in her routinely losing round after round. She'd been discouraged after the two hours was up feeling she'd let both herself and Liza down. Liza had been thrilled though pointing out that experienced combat veterans often failed at that exercise when pushed to exhaustion but that Jennifer had far exceeded her expectations. She'd pointed out how successful she'd been in the early round and how Jennifer had managed to battle to a stalemate during the middle rounds. Yes, she frequently lost in the late rounds, but only when her fatigue was so severe that no reasonable person could expect otherwise.

As she showered, Jennifer's mind turned to Marianne. She'd only glimpsed her twice during the two weeks since the incident in the gym. Once had been when returning from training. Marianne and the bitch had been getting off the elevator as she'd been checking her mailbox. They'd made eye contact for the briefest of moments before Zoe had stepped between them, cutting off any further communication. The second had been as she sat in a coffee shop around the corner, drinking a latte with Kacy. They'd spotted the not so loving couple as they walked down the sidewalk headed towards their apartment building. Zoe's face held a scowl of displeasure on it while she gripped Marianne by the wrist and seemingly dragged her along behind her like a wayward child. It had taken all she could not go after them, but again, it had been Kacy who had cautioned restraint. She pointed out a time would come when Jennifer would likely have to confront Zoe, but that should only happen after she'd been able to make clear in no uncertain terms how she felt to Marianne.

As she stepped out of the shower, she heard her cell ringing. Wrapping her body in a towel, she made her way across the bedroom and picked her cell up from her purse. Looking at the screen, she pressed the button to connect the call.

"Hey, Kacy, what's up?"

"I was working tonight and was wondering if maybe you could stop by to see me? I might have some information for you that you'd be interested to hear," she answered.

Jennifer didn't feel like going out tonight. She'd worked out this morning and then followed that up with a grueling two hours of combat training in the afternoon; she felt physically exhausted. Still, Kacy had been a good friend not only in the way they interacted but also by not pushing for a second round of sexual festivities after discovering Jennifer's feelings for Marianne.

"Okay," she replied, "but I can only stay long enough for a drink or two. Liza put me through the wringer today, and I don't have a lot left in reserves."

Kacy seemed pleased, saying, "Great! I get off at nine tonight. Get here a few minutes before, and we'll have a couple of drinks, and I'll fill you in on all the latest gossip I've been able to gather on your favorite couple."

When she arrived at the club, Kacy immediately waved her over to the bar. Pulling her over to the side away from the other patrons, she leaned across the bar and said, "They just showed up about a half-hour ago. They're out of the dance floor right now. If you can hang back over here until I get off, I've worked it out to where we have some private seating where we can get a perfect view of what's going on without them being able to know we're here."

She then handed Jennifer a gin and tonic before going back to serving customers. Jennifer nursed the drink, not downing it too quickly even though that's what her nerves were begging for at the moment. She caught sight of Marianne and Zoe once as they came off the dance floor to the bar for a quick drink. To the casual observer, Marianne might have seemed as if she was enjoying herself. But anyone knowing the woman would her know body language telling a different tale all together. She was always trying to distance herself from her domme only for Zoe to pull her back in close. Even then, the upper portion of her body would lean away as if hungering for escape. As they stood at the bar, Zoe wrapped an arm around her waist, keeping her close, while Marianne stood with her arms crossed as if in a defensive posture. Jennifer was relieved when they at last headed back out onto the dance floor.

When Kacy was finally relieved of her duties, she took a moment to slip into the back and change clothes. Once she reappeared, she grabbed Jennifer's hand and led her through a door that read, "Employee's only" and into a back hallway.

"You're not supposed to be back here, but I got permission from the manager to do it just this one time, she owed me a favor," Kacy said. Jennifer couldn't imagine what the wild young Asian beauty had done to earn such a favor, and wasn't sure she wanted to either.

She led them to a door where she used a key card to gain entry to a stairway leading up to what appeared to be a control booth and security room. An attractive black woman was running the music and lights through a control panel located on the far wall. To Jennifer's right were two men with a definite military bearing to the way they dressed and carried themselves. Sitting on a couch to the left was an attractive brunette in her late twenties to early thirties, who was a sight to behold. She was above average in height and had a willowy type figure with small breasts. She was wearing a gingham type shirt tied up underneath her pert but petite breasts. The blue jean skirt she wore hung just low enough to cover the goodies between her thighs, and as she made to stand up, it was clear she wasn't wearing any panties. Her outfit was made complete by a pair of sheer white thigh high stockings and what she'd once heard Darren refer to as "fuck me" pumps. Her relatively short hair was in two piggy tails tied up into little balls and resting on top of her head. She looked like the prototypical streetwalker out of a bad eighties movie.

Kacy pointed to the back wall and said, "That's Danielle, and the two brutes to your right are Chris and Mike. They make sure everything keeps running, and everyone stays safe. She then turned towards the waiting-woman to our right. "And this...well, this is Trixie. She's into the lifestyle and is a sub for one of the more powerful women here in town who happens to be a domme. Tell her what you told me earlier tonight, Trixie."

The wannabe hooker turned to Jennifer and said, "My mistress and I recently partied with Zoe and her girlfriend. You know the type get together where gifts are exchanged, with Marianne and me being the gifts. Anyway, after the festivities Marianne and I were out on the back deck talking and sharing a joint, I'm telling her how much I love life now that I've found my mistress when she tears up. She admitted to me that she was miserable and though she liked some aspects of the lifestyle, that her mistress was cruel and could be quite hateful. And then she hesitated a second before she admitted that she was in love with another girl anyway."

"Well, go on, tell her the girl's name," Kacy prodded her.

Holding up both hands, Trixie said, "Okay, okay, I was getting there. She said the girl's name was Jenn, and she'd been in love with her since high school, but she wasn't sure how this Jenn felt about her. She said this girl had admitted to feeling the same way but hadn't come right out and told her that she loved her, so she kind of felt trapped."

Kacy poked Jenn in the shoulder, saying, "See, I told you so," and then turning to Trixie said, "By the way, Trixie, this is Jenn."

Trixie's face lit up, and she said, "Wow, you should tell her how you feel. The girl is seriously unhappy, and I felt guilty knowing what she had to go home to that night. She seemed depressed, and I've been trained to spot that in my pupils."

"Pupils?" Jennifer asked imagining Trixie teaching a class full of young women on how to be streetwalkers.

Jennifer looked down at her outfit and imagined what the pretty blonde must be thinking. "Sure, don't let the outfit throw you. In real life, I teach high school. This look...well, let's say my mistress knows I get off on humiliation. In that way, I'm a lot like your Marianne."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Jennifer asked, sounding a bit confused.

Kacy put her hand on Trixie's arm and said, "She's not familiar with the scene, Trixie. You'd better explain that last part."

"Oh, gotcha." she told Kacy before turning to Jennifer and saying, "Sorry about that, see, I like being humiliated by my mistress, and she gets off on doing it to me. You know," she said, waving her hands down her body, "making me dress like a slut and go out in this ridiculously short skirt with no panties on. Telling me what a slut or a whore I am. Loaning me out to her friends like I'm just a sex toy. Marianne's the same way. She loves all that stuff; it gets her motor running and makes her come harder. But also like me, she wants to be loved and cared for; my mistress does that for me. Her mistress is just a cruel bitch that can only get off by threatening or causing physical pain, and like me, Marianne hates that."

Trixie placed both hands on Jennifer's shoulders and said, "Look, if you love her, you'll tell her and get her away from that freak. Then if you do, make sure your willing to fill all her needs," and then as if to emphasize her point, Trixie reiterated, "all of them."

When they'd said goodbye to Trixie, they both wandered over to where Chris and Mike were monitoring the security feed. "Hey, you big lunkheads, this is Jenn, Jenn; this is Chris and Mike." Both guys mumbled greeting but never took their eyes off the screens in front of them, apparently taking their jobs very seriously.

"Where are they?" Kacy asked the one called Mike. He pointed at a spot on screen two and then used a toggle switch to zoom in on Zoe and Marianne in high definition. "She's behaved herself so far tonight. I haven't taken my eye off her the entire time they've been here. If you ask me, though, her girlfriend is just going through the motions. Her body is making all the right moves, but the expression on her face says her mind is completely elsewhere."

The definition was so good on the cameras that Jennifer could make out the blue in Marianne's eyes. It made her ache wanting to hold her. She could see the lifelessness in those crystal blue eyes and wanted nothing more than to bring life back to them. Looking at them reminded her of a line from what she thought of as the last great song of the classic rock era.

She's got eyes of the bluest skies

As if they thought of rain

I hate to look into those eyes

And see an ounce of pain

Her hair reminds me of a warm, safe place

Where as a child I'd hide

And pray for the thunder

And the rain

To quietly pass me by

Oh, oh, oh

Sweet child o' mine

"Wait," said Kacy, "can you zoom in on the blondes back?"

Jennifer leaned in, trying to see what it was she was looking for on the screen. "What do you see?" she asked.

Mike zoomed the camera in as far as it would go and allowed the image to auto-focus. Once it did, you could see the hints of what appeared to be a bruise poking out from underneath the short, halter top type dress she was wearing.

"I'll kill the bitch," said Jennifer rising and heading towards the stairs. She barely made it halfway there before Kacy was in front of her, with Mike blocking her way as well.

"You can't confront her here, Jenn. If you do, you know, it's likely to become physical, and if that happens, then the lunkheads here will have no choice but to detain you and call the police. You'll go to jail, get trespassed from the bar, and likely find your girlfriend gone before you can get bailed out."

Jennifer balled up both fists and headed over to the couch, where she sat down and buried her head in her hands. Kacy sat down next to her and put her arm around her pulling her in. "Listen, baby; I know this is tough right now. But I'm working on a solution that will give you ample opportunity to get your girl back. If you can be patient for about two more weeks, I should have an entire weekend where her cunt girlfriend will be out of the picture. That should give you all the time you need to make your play, and if we believe Trixie is believable, and I think she is, then that should be all the help you need."

"How about this," Jenn said, "tell me your plan, and if I think it might work, then I'll wait; if not, I'm headed downstairs where I'll take my chances with going to jail if it means being able to beat that bitches ass."

Kacy just smiled and said, "See, you might have a little domme in you after all."

Chapter 8: Open Arms

When she'd first heard Kacy's plan, she'd been skeptical. There were so many moving parts and things dependent on others that she had no control over that she had a hard time accepting it would w details of the plan that she saw all her friends had been working behind the scene. It was still risky, but she would control what she could and play her part to perfection, of that she was sure. Other than that, she would have to trust her friends.

The first big step had been to convince Liza to further accelerate my program by adding another hour to our weekday routines to be carried out late in the evenings. She had at first balked at the idea saying it was too much, but after Jennifer had brought in Kacy to explain the details of her plan, did she finally relent.

Interestingly enough, the chemistry between the butch domme and very feminine Kacy was palpable. Little miss "I'm not a submissive" seemed about ready to drop to her knees by the time their conversation was over. To make things more interesting, every time she wasn't working, she was there to watch Jennifer train or more correctly, to watch Liza train Jennifer.

When she'd stayed late after one of the late-night sessions to supposedly help Liza put everything away and disinfect the mats, she was sure something was up. When the diminutive Kacy had turned up the next morning in what was a pair of Liza's sweatpants and a t-shirt from Liza's gym, she said nothing. As tempted as she was to ask Kacy if she could see her collar, she let it go.

When their last session was finally over, Jennifer was sure she was ready for whatever might occur with Zoe. The only wild card in their plan was where it would happen. There were a few safeguards in place that should limit their exposure in certain areas. Jasmine's would be covered both inside and out. The entire security team had already given pictures of Zoe, and she was no longer a welcome guest of the club.

The school was another area of concern. With both Jennifer and Marianne enrolled in classes that would be starting in the next week, it would be a prime place for her to attempt to reattach herself to Marianne. That particular area of concern had been handled by of all people, Trixie's mistress. It turned out that she was the Dean of Science and as such, held sway over the future of any student within her purview, and that included Zoe. When the time came, it would be made clear to her that any attempt on her part by herself or through third parties would likely result in harassment charges that could lead to her expulsion.

That same Dean had also provided the essential vehicle required to remove Zoe for the weekend in the form of a science conference to be held on the campus of Stanford University out west. She was the only representative chosen from the chemistry department, a very prestigious honor indeed. The only shortcoming of the weekend event was that there was that it was a very long and involved conference with housing provided on campus. That means that the school representatives were not allowed to bring guests.