WARNING! This story is only for adults over the age of 18 and contains Strong Sexual Content. It is intended as a work of fiction for ADULTS only, and the author does not in any way condone similar behavior.
If you are under the age or 18 or reside in a state, nation, or planet that prohibits such behavior, stop reading immediately!!!
The Challenge CH15 PT1 "Endgame"
By mailto:sfmaster@att.net
Archiving permitted, reposting is permitted; but only if you include this statement of limitation of use and notify the author by e-mail. The author forbids you to make, distribute, or sell multiple copies of this story on paper, disk, or other fixed format.
However, individual readers may make single copies of the story for their own, non-commercial use.
Copyright (c) 1998 by mailto:sfmaster@att.net Revised January 2002
Attn: Readers please feel free to send e-mail to the author. I do want to hear from you!
"The Challenge" by mailto:sfmaster@att.net
Chapter Fifteen: Endgame
Part One: Past and Present
Sunday November 15, 1998
.........Janet closed the last of Erica's Journals, dated 1992, tears in her eyes. She cried, and placed her head in her hands, and sobbed loudly, no longer caring if she awakened Tina or not.
The tears splattered on the leather of Erica's last journal, like raindrops. Wetting the dry leather that had remained in the safe for years until Tina's chance discovery six months ago.
"Oh Erica!" Janet cried, "I forgive you, I know you loved me. Why couldn't you tell me when you were here that you were dying?"
Suddenly it was all clear to Janet, why Erica had lied about the reason for her leaving her position as Mistress. How she did not want to be an object of pity, but wanted to go out in a memorable fashion.
Looking at the dates involved, Janet realized that Erica had lived a long time with her leukemia. Perhaps it had gone into remission, maybe even a cure?
But Erica had not returned to reclaim her estate, instead she had let Janet continue and develop into the Mistress that she had been trained to be.
Janet dried her tears with a tissue, even as more tears flowed. She remembered how Erica had placed herself in submission to her last slave, and Janet's harsh use of her, finally drawing blood.
"Now I understand, Erica," said Janet to herself.
Janet remembered Erica's mistreatment at the hands of her first Master, and then being beaten by Lauren. Janet now understood why Erica came to be the good Mistress that she was.
Erica may have been a demanding Mistress who had tested Janet to her limits, but she had never forced Janet to do anything without her consent. Janet had never been humiliated by her, in public or in private.
Finally, Janet had come to love her Mistress Erica, even as Erica was planning to put her in competition with Tiffany. Not knowing that Tiffany had allied herself with Lauren, her enemy.
Janet glanced at the clock, and saw that it was already past one in the morning. Monday morning! And she had an important business meeting at nine!
She replaced the last volume in the safe, then closed and locked it, along with the wooden panel. Janet closed the lights, and ran off to bed.
Part Two: Humiliation
Monday November 16, 1998
Janet placed her briefcase on her desk before she hung her coat up in her office. It was raining, and she had worn her London Fog raincoat. She had chosen to wear a conservative DNKY blue business suit since she would be making her presentation at a major staff meeting.
"Janet," greeted Clara, her secretary.
"Yes, Clara. Lousy day, isn't it? Is there any coffee?"
"The President called, he said to join him in his office the minute you arrived."
"I'll be seeing him at a meeting in a half hour, I have to go over my notes."
"He said immediately," stressed Clara, concern on her face.
"Ok, I'll go over there now," answered Janet as she grabbed her purse from the desk.
"I'll call and say that you're on the way."
"Thanks," said Janet, wishing that she had gotten some coffee first.
Walking to Ron's office, she wondered what was so important. The project was completed, she would make her presentation, and everything was on schedule. So what was going on?
"He's expecting you," said Audrey, Ron's secretary, "go right in."
"Thanks," answered Erica as she knocked, then opened the door.
"Enter."
Janet opened the door, and entered Ron's office. He wasn't alone; also in the office was Steven, one of the corporate attorneys.
"You wanted to see me?" asked Janet as she closed the door.
"Yes, Janet, please sit down. You know Steven."
"Yes, we met last year," answered Janet as she sat down in front of Ron's desk.
"I don't know how to begin this Janet. Do you remember that takeover attempt last year?"
"What about my presentation?"
"Canceled, along with the meeting."
"What! I've been working on that for weeks!" cried Janet.
"That's academic now, Janet. Please listen, this is very serious. Last year, we fended off a takeover attempt. Now it's back, with a vengeance."
"I don't understand? What does this have to do with me?"
"In the last few months, a firm that we never heard of before has bought enough of our stock to hand over control to the buyout firm that wanted to sell us off last year."
"You're not making any sense, Ron. How does this relate to me?"
"CB Enterprises, Hong Kong, has said that unless you're fired and accused of misusing your expense accounts, we'll be acquired within days. I'm very sorry; Janet, but you're the price of our independence. You have to be fired under humiliating circumstances."
"No! I've worked hard here!"
"Janet, you have. But the choice is clear. Either you go, or the whole company gets broken up and sold. Think of all the people who'll lose their jobs!"
"Can I think this over in my office?" asked Janet.
"Sure, call me when you're ready," answered Ron.
Janet sat in her office alone. She had a cup of steaming coffee in front of her, and wished that it were a sherry instead. Outside, it was lightly raining, which matched her mood perfectly.
Buzz!
`Who's calling me on my cell phone?' thought Janet.
"Janet here."
"Morning, Mistress."
"Cheryl?" asked Janet.
"Gotten the news yet?"
"What news?" asked Janet surprised to hear from her slave, "wait a minute, CB Enterprises, Cheryl Branford Enterprises, that's you!"
"Correct Mistress. Don't make too much of a scene about your public humiliation before you leave, there's more to come. I suggest that you accept the terms of your dismissal, no matter how humiliating. Including misuse of your expense account, and so on. It'll go easier on you if you do. Once you've cleaned out your desk, come join me in the Diner down the road. Quickly please? Bye."
The connection was cut on the other end, and Janet was in shock again, for the second time since Midnight. She stared at the cell phone, wanting to smash it to little pieces on the floor. Tears fell from her eyes, as she contemplated her firing.
"Good morning, Mistress," greeted Cheryl, seated in a booth, "please join me."
After Cheryl's phone call, Janet was delivered a sealed note from her suggesting that she accept her terms of dismissal. Tearfully, she had gone back to Ron's office, and agreed to the humiliating terms of firing. Which would include a small notice in the Wall Street Journal the next day. Then Janet had been allowed to clean out her desk, and had left Xylex for the last time. She had then pointed the car towards the Diner, and to meeting with Cheryl.
"Why?" Janet demanded.
"Take off your coat first Janet, we're going to be here for a little while. Before you drip all over the seat."
Janet removed her raincoat, and hung it on the nearest rack to their booth. It was late morning, and the rest of the breakfast crowd was still leaving.
"That's better, Janet. Much more ladylike."
When they were seated, Cheryl called a waitress over for coffee for the two of them, but did not begin speaking until they were alone.
"How does it feel being fired?" asked Cheryl.
"I've been fired before. Why Cheryl?" Janet demanded.
"Because you liked that job, that's why," answered Cheryl, "no other reason."
"Do you own CB Enterprises?"
"The family firm."
"Is that the price you wanted?" asked Janet, fearful of the answer.
"No," answered Cheryl, sipping her coffee, "that was just a little demonstration of my power. Yours is with the lash and crop. Mine is with the purse."
"What do you want?"
"Don't rush things, Janet."
"All right, then. I'm listening."
"Good," said Cheryl, "you trained me very well, Janet. I can't look at a woman with a leather skirt on without wetting my panties, and the thought of being cropped gets me excited. I'm a slave."
"Is that what you wanted to tell me?"
"This Friday night, Janet, I want to use you, alone in your Dungeon. Just the two of us, without Tina present, perhaps you could send her off to Lori, I'm sure that she'd love that cage in the playroom."
"You want to use me?" asked Janet.
"Yes, naked and in your own Dungeon, but with me in control, Janet. So you can feel my lash."
"No."
"If you refuse, I have several packets of information about you that will be delivered to local reporters, gossip columnists, and others. Your world will crash in on you Janet, you will be the object of scorn and derision in Greenwich."
"No!"
"I made three requests on you, and you have honored two. It's time to do the third; else you will no longer be a Mistress. Not in Greenwich, anyway," threatened Cheryl, steel in her voice.
"If you want to use me out of anger to punish me physically, and to hurt or harm me, no. I did not train you that way and you did not perform in that manner when I offered you the chance to use others," protested Janet.
"Mistress, I am a very rich woman, able to buy and sell companies at a whim. I even own an island in the Caribbean with a staff loyal to me. Now I could have had a Dungeon built there and had the two of you abducted, serving me as slaves forever. Or have Tina silently taken while I force you under the lash. Instead I want to do this without force, please send Tina away. Then I'll use you once, and you'll never see me again."
"I did exactly what you wanted me to. I trained you like any other slave, with love and respect, without hurt or humiliation. This is how you reward your Mistress?"
"Yes, in a manner of speaking. Do you know who I am?"
"No, you stopped me from investigating you, remember?"
"Yes I did. On Friday night, after I unlock you from the thrashing I'm going to give you, then I'll tell you who I am. Then you shall never see me again. You took someone very close to me and turned them into a slave, now that I know and understand just what submission really means."
"Who?" asked Janet, "who was it?"
"That's for me to know, Mistress. Do you accept my use, or even more humiliation? Decide now, Janet. All it takes is one phone call."
"Yes," cried Janet softly.
"What was that, slave?"
"Yes," answered Janet, tears in her eyes, "I accept your use, Cheryl."
"Friday, Mistress, I'll be in touch. You can pay for the coffee."
Janet was left alone in the booth, crying silently, tears in her eyes. In less than two hours, she had lost a job that she had liked and enjoyed. Then she had been forced to accept humiliating terms of dismissal to save the jobs of her friends and co-workers.
Now Cheryl had revealed that she had been behind it all, with a demand that she wanted to use Janet for her own reasons. Janet took a few bills from her purse and placed them on the counter, put on her coat, and left for home.
"Mistress?" greeted Tina, "why are you home so early."
"I was fired, Tina. For misusing my expense accounts," answered Janet as she handed her wet raincoat to Tina in the foyer.
"Mistress, you barely used those accounts," pointed out Tina.
"Yes, Tina. That's quite correct, I wish to be alone in the library. I do not wish to be disturbed."
"Yes, Mistress. I understand."
Janet locked herself in the sanctuary of the library, and poured herself a stiff drink now that she was finally alone. She sat behind her desk, and wanted to cry. But she was out of tears for the moment.
Humiliated. She had been humiliated by a woman that she had placed so much effort into training correctly.
There they had been together in the diner, with Cheryl clearly wearing the small leather collar around her neck and Janet's ring on her finger. Cheryl had first humiliated Janet by the manner of her firing.
Now the price of her continuing as a Domme was her use by Cheryl, alone. What kind of person would Cheryl be when holding the lash? Janet had agreed, there was nothing else that she could do.
Just like when Cheryl had forced herself upon Janet in June, blackmailing Janet into training her. Now Janet was blackmailed into being used by her own slave.
In the safe was the money that Cheryl had been giving her for her training, just like the rest of Janet's other clients. Janet's blackmail was of a quite different kind, a physical one. First it had been to train Cheryl, now it would be her own body under the lash as the roles of Mistress and slave were to be reversed.
Except that when Janet had used Erica, she had been a Domme for more than a year. Cheryl, meanwhile, had been a slave for just six months, and had used another slave only twice before.
Part Two: The Interval
Wednesday November 18, 1998
"Tina?" asked Janet.
"Yes, Mistress."
Janet and Tina were in the library together, going over the reports on Janet's other slaves in training. It was strange again being home without her job and she missed both the work and getting out of the house.
When she had arrived back home on Monday, Tina had been a little suspicious. Janet had told her that she was let go in an economy move, that her position had been eliminated.
Until Tuesday when there was a small one inch long piece in the Wall Street Journal saying that she had been fired because of misusing her expense account, and her position at work. Tina had found the piece, and come running to show it to Janet.
"I don't believe it," said Tina, "you've rarely used your expense account, never had a company car, and refused that promotion. Why would they let you go in an embarrassing manner like this?"
"That's private, Tina."
"No, Mistress. That's very public what they did to humiliate you."
"Thank you, Tina, that will be all."
Tina had never mentioned it again, but Janet knew that look in her eye. Janet knew that Tina had not believed her, and was suspicious of the explanation.
So Janet had plunged back into her work as a Domme, and had realized that Cheryl had taken up a lot of her time. When she had weighed herself on the on the scale this morning (naked, of course) she found that she had lost five pounds.
But it was seeing herself nude that had really scared her. The thought that she was going to be naked again, and under the lash of Cheryl that was potentially frightening.
"What if she does want to hurt me?" asked Janet to herself.
They worked together, discussing Dinner, running the Mansion, and slaves, which was Janet's main concern. But when could she tell Tina about her ruse to get out of the mansion?
"Tina, I have to tell you something," Janet began.
"Yes, Mistress."
They were seated at the kitchen table, manila folders spread out on the table, drinking Cokes together.
"I have arranged that on Friday night, you are to be used by Mistress Lori. So you can take the Toyota to Brookline, be used by her Friday and spend the night, then return on Saturday."
"Mistress?" asked Tina, shock on her face.
"That's right, Tina. Just a one day use by Lori."
"Yes, Mistress, it would be interesting to be used by Lori," answered Tina.
Janet looked directly into Tina's eyes and saw that her slave was lying. Tina would have no intention of going to Lori's. Instead Janet knew she would go to Stephanie's and tell her the whole story, on Friday.
"Thank you, Tina," Janet answered.
"What about Cheryl this weekend, Mistress?"
"I shall be alone with her, Tina. I'm quite able to handle her myself, thank you."
"Of course, Mistress," answered Tina.
Janet had avoided talking to Tina for the rest of the day when the phone buzzed into life.
"Mistress Janet, is it all arranged?" asked Cheryl.
"Yes, damn you. It's all set, Tina will be going off to Lori's on Friday morning."
"Very good, Mistress. I see that you know how to take orders as well as give them. I hope that you perform as well under my lash."
When the connection was severed on the other end, Janet felt like smashing the cordless phone against the floor.
Wednesday night had been a disaster for Janet. Dinner had tasted like sawdust, for she had no appetite. She had tried to entertain herself with books and television, and nothing held her interest.
Then Tina had walked into the library wearing nothing but a robe, collar and leash, and asked Janet to use her. Janet had refused, and Tina had left her alone, disappointed.
Finally Janet had gotten into bed, and after a short time, Tina had joined her. They had made love together slowly, and Janet had a series of disappointing orgasms, and had failed to excite Tina at all.
"I'm sorry Tina," said Janet, "my mind isn't into sex tonight."
"It's about Cheryl, isn't it?"
"You know I won't talk about that, Tina. Please don't ask again."
"Yes, Mistress," answered Tina, concern on her face, "then tell me about Mistress Erica instead."
Janet lay back on the pillow, in all of the years that they had been together, Tina had never asked about Erica.
"What do you want to know?" asked Janet.
"Why did you want to serve a Mistress?"
"I was always having problems with the strange submissive feelings that I felt deep inside. When my friend told me about Erica, I jumped at the chance to serve her."
"Did you love Erica?" asked Tina.
"Yes, very much," Janet answered, "more than I loved another person in my life. Even though every weekend I served Erica I had new stripes on my body afterwards."
"Did she ever hurt you?"
"Never. She tested my limits all right, scared me a few times, but no. It was Lauren that hurt me, remember?"
"Yes, Mistress."
"Tina, I don't want to be rude, but I've had a bad couple of days. This is the best pillow talk we've ever had, but I want to sleep."
"Yes, Janet," answered Tina, "but I can't help thinking that somehow Cheryl and Erica are connected somehow, that the reason for Cheryl's presence is because of Erica."
"Go to sleep, Tina," said Janet as she kissed Tina on the lips.
"Yes, Mistress."
Later that night, Janet awakened. She looked at Tina sleeping peacefully next to her, softly snoring. Janet had been unable to sleep decently, and now she was again awake.
Even though she was wearing a pair of flannel pajamas, and they were sleeping under a thick winter quilt, Janet was cold. It was a comment that Tina had made hours before that kept repeating itself in her mind.
Cheryl and Erica connected?' Janet thought to herself, how?'
Realizing that she wasn't going to get any more sleep, Janet silently left her bed, trying not to disturb Tina. She removed her warm terry bathrobe from the closet, and her slippers. Janet walked quietly out of her bedroom, and closed the door silently.
She walked downstairs, opening the lights as she went. Finally, in the library, she opened the safe, and removed the first few volumes of Erica's journal. Taking a Coke from the small refrigerator that she kept in the library, she began to read again from the first years of Erica's journal.
It was just one line somewhere, and in almost the beginning of her story. When Erica had been Alana, daughter of wealth, not destined to be a slave.
"So they are connected," said Janet softly.
End of Challenge CH 15 PT1