Chapter 6 - The Waiting Room
It had been five hours since Ross had first set foot in Jennie's truck,
but he had no way of knowing that. The last thing he remembered was Jennie
saying "We're here. Now, how am I going to get you inside?" Of course, having
been blindfolded, he never saw Jennie place the chloroform filled cloth over his
nose. Coming to, he didn't know if he had been out for minutes or hours, but he
could tell he was no longer in the truck.
Looking around, Ross found himself seated in a spectacular wood paneled
game room. The vaulted ceiling of sculpted plaster was easily 30 feet high, and
stained glass skylights gave the room a rich colorful glow. The room's
centerpiece was a regulation size billiard table. Cues, racks and other
accessories were found along the perimeter in fine oak cases. At the near end
of the room were various classic arcade games, a ping pong table and an air
hockey table, all in mint condition. Paddles, balls, and air hockey accessories
were contained in a fine oak case along the wall opposite the pool cues. The
contents of an adjacent case were concealed by a pair of elaborately carved
doors which opened from the center.
The far end was the more interesting portion of the room. In front of a
large bay window, there was a theatrical stage of some sort. Beautiful velvet
curtains obscured most of Ross' view, but being slightly opened, Ross could see
a little of the onstage area. Although he couldn't completely see them due to
the direct sunlight shining through the window, Ross could make out the
silhouettes of some kind of odd shaped furniture. Judging by his present
predicament, he imagined that they were instruments of restraint, like cages or
racks, but he couldn't honestly say for certain.
Turning his head left and right to get a better sense of his
surroundings, Ross' view was obscured by the sides of the large leather chair in
which he was seated. He was only now realizing that it was a rather comfortable
chair, at that. Thick leather straps that matched the burgundy upholstery
encircled his neck, chest and abdomen. The restraints kept him seated firmly,
but comfortably. Looking downward, as much as his situation would allow, Ross
surmised that his knees and ankles were similarly restrained.
His arms were surprisingly free, but for the leather cuffs around his
wrists. Ross was startled to find that he could actually move his arms and had
a wide range of motion. Each wrist cuff, while not attached directly to the
chair, was connected to a steel cable that passed into the respective arm of the
chair through a hole that was aligned with the wrist in its natural resting
position. The steel cables appeared to be attached to a spring-loaded coil
within the chair, providing a slight pull toward the chair's arms. Even with
the tension, Ross could move his arms about freely.
On a table adjacent to the chair, Ross found his books. Jennie was
apparently a girl of her word, this time. Just as she had said, she had driven
him to her house, and provided him with his books. Next to the books was a
remote control with red and green buttons. After a brief examination, Ross
realized that this was no ordinary remote control. The buttons didn't match up
with the typical entertainment center. All of the green buttons had cryptic
symbols on them. The four red buttons, labeled "Call", "Talk", "Open" and
"Close", seemed like the buttons for him. Starting left to right, Ross pressed
the "Call" button and heard a distant buzzer. A moment later, Jennie's voice
whispered through speakers embedded in Ross' headrest.
"I'm at the far end of the house, but I'll be there in a moment."
Jennie reassured.
With nothing to do but wait, Ross' curiosity prodded him to press the
next button. Since his lips were still fused together, the "Talk" button seemed
a bit futile. Nonetheless, he held it down for a second to see what might
happen. Jennie's voice again graced his ears.
"I'd love to talk with you, but I think you're at a bit of a
disadvantage."
Ross heard the beginnings of Jennie's giggle as she let go of her "Talk"
button.
Even though no one was there, Ross shrugged. "On to the next button."
He thought.
"Open" apparently referred to the curtains concealing the stage. Once
he pressed the button, an electric motor caused the curtains to be opened,
revealing two pieces of furniture on the stage. The piece on the right appeared
to be an upholstered sawhorse. It was made of dark oak and black leather. The
steel rings on various places made it pretty clear that it was meant to restrain
someone. The second piece was in the center of the stage. It was tall, and it
hung from the ceiling by a thick metal chain. It looked like an oversized,
elongated birdcage, but he really couldn't make it out because of a velvet drape
that covered it. He knew that he might reluctantly experience either or both
pieces later, but at that moment he was just thankful to be in the comfortable
leather chair.
Just then, he felt fingers running through his hair from behind the
chair. He reflectively reached back to grab the hand, but his wrist restraints
reminded him that he had little or no control. His arm came to an abrupt stop
when the steel cable reached its limit. Jennie laughed, and stepped around to
the front of the chair.
She was apparently naked but for a luxurious towel that she had wrapped
around herself. One hand held the towel while the other held a tall glass of
lemonade over ice. She set the glass on the table next to his books and said.
"I trust I retrieved the correct set of books?"
Ross shook his head and motioned to the glass.
"Oh, that." Jennie started. "I thought the commotion of the last few
hours might have made you thirsty."
Ross responded with what sounded like a hum.
"Yes, I know. It will be hard to drink in your condition, but I can fix
that."
Another hum seeped from below the duct tape still covering Ross' face.
"Look. Here's the deal. I'm supposed to keep you gagged until all of
the guests arrive, but I just feel so sorry for you." Jennie paused.
"The way you're taped up right now is pretty light weight, but also very
effective. To get the same effectiveness from a conventional gag, it might not
be as comfortable." She explained.
"I suppose I could remove the tape and unglue your lips so that you can
drink the lemonade, but when you're finished, I'll have to gag you with a more
cumbersome device. Is that what you want?" She asked.
Ross thought about it, and shook his head. He figured it couldn't be
any worse than having his lips glued together.
Jennie turned and walked toward the oak case with the elaborately carved
doors. Upon opening the doors, Ross could see the contents, and they sent
shivers down his spine. Leather and wooden paddles, crops, gags of all sorts,
various restraints, probes and locks filled the cabinet. Jennie reached for a
box and a bottle on the topmost shelf and brought them to the table next to the
chair. With an item in each hand, Jennie relied on a tucked portion of the
towel to cover her, but it failed. Just as she arrived back in front of Ross,
the towel slithered to the ground, and Ross' eyes grew wide over the duct tape.
Startled, Jennie quickly set the items on the table and pulled up the
towel.
"Damn! You weren't supposed to see that. Just pretend that never
happened." She said exasperated.
But Ross couldn't pretend. To his surprise the towel didn't reveal
Jennie's nude form, but an enticing black corset and push-up bra. Suddenly,
Ross' comfortable leather chair wasn't quite as comfortable, and he squirmed in
his seat to distract himself from the sudden tingle that he could do nothing
about.
Rather than comment further, Jennie went straight to the work of
extricating Ross' jaw. She removed a pair of safety scissors from the box and
carefully cut the duct tape away. It took her some time to work it free from
his hair, but she was careful and gentle, and Ross hardly felt a thing. Next,
she withdrew several cotton-tipped swabs from the box and dipped them into the
bottle labeled "Nail Polish Remover."
"Now, this may not be pleasant." Jennie explained. "The adhesive that
I used on your lips is an epoxy that can be dissolved using ordinary nail polish
remover. Be careful not to get any in your mouth." She advised.
As Jennie applied the nail polish remover, the smell was overwhelming,
but his lips slowly parted. Eventually, Jennie had completely removed the
epoxy.
Ross' first words were "The nail polish remover is all over my lips."
"Here, let me." Jennie offered as she used the upper portion of her
towel to gingerly wipe the residue from his lips.
"Thank you." Ross said at last, and he took a long sip of the lemonade.
After setting the glass back on the table, he swiftly grabbed Jennie by
her wrist and squeezed tightly.
"What exactly is going on, here?" He asked forcefully. "I insist you
tell me why I'm here."
Jennie barely resisted.
"Remember when we were in my truck this morning?" Jennie asked calmly
and rhetorically. She slowly continued. "I said it then, and I'll say it now.
You're in no position to demand anything. The nicer you are, the nicer I'll be,
but no matter what I'll have my way."
Ross thought about it for a second. This was as free as he was probably
going to get, so he decided to exert what limited control he had.
"Look. I'm not letting you go until I get some answers." He said
grabbing her other hand wrist and squeezing both wrists even tighter.
"Well, now that's not very nice." She whined softly. "And since you're
not being very nice, I won't either." She said with tears welling up under her
deep blue eyes.
With that, her expression turned from distress to defiance. She glared
straight into Ross' eyes and swiftly jerked her wrists, but instead of breaking
free, her towel once again fell to the floor.
She stopped, and looked down at the towel. Ross couldn't help but
admire her beauty.
"That does it." She said impassively. Then she commanded in an
authoritative tone "Punishment!"
A voice recognition unit embedded within the chair converted her command
into a strong electric shock administered through each of the restraints. The
pain caused Ross to release his grip on Jennie, but she didn't back away. She
didn't need to.
"I'm sorry." Ross offered in a raspy voice, still recovering from the
shock.
"Sorry doesn't cut it." Jennie responded. "What's with you? I give
you your books... a comfortable chair... freedom of movement to study... I even
let you drink from my lemonade, and in return I get this dramatic display of
testosterone?"
"Really, I'm sorry..." Ross offered.
"Nope. Not good enough." Jennie said flatly. "Look, I don't need to,
but I'll tell you why you're here." Jennie paused. "It's because of exactly
that type of controlling behavior."
After another pause, she shook her head and said "I think we're through,
for now."
"So, we don't get to talk?" Ross pleaded. "You're just going to put a
gag on me and leave?"
"No, we aren't going to talk." Jennie replied. "I have nothing to say.
As far as the gag..."
Jennie again resumed the authoritarian tone recognized by the chair, and
she commanded "Silence the slave!"
Resuming her normal tone, Jennie explained "The chair renders a gag
unnecessary."
"How?" Ross questioned, but the chair answered for Jennie.
A sensor in the neck restraint was designed to pick up the sound waves
generated by the captive's voice, and energized an electrode at the base of
Ross' neck. After shaking off the pain, Ross realized that any sound he made
would be followed by a painful shock. Jennie was right. He would stay silent.
A knowing smile crossed Jennie's face as she stared at Ross.
"There were a couple of ways that we could have had some fun here this
afternoon. Although this way is only fun for me, it will have to do."
With that, she reached down to pick up her towel, hung it over her arm
and started toward a door near the side of the stage. Stopping mid-step, she
turned around and looked at Ross.
"Let's have just a little more fun, shall we?" She teased.
Ross swallowed, but stayed silent.
"Right. No need to answer. Pick up the remote and press the green
button in the third row, center."
Ross braced himself, but did as he was told. The button activated an
electric winch connected to the velvet drape covering the apparatus in the
center of the stage.
As she watched for an expression on Ross' face, she said "Even though I
could restrain your wrists, I'll leave them as they were so that you can study
if the mood strikes."
As she finished her sentence, she smiled as Ross' expression turned to
disbelief.
The velvet drape had been removed.
The drape had, in fact, covered a cage, but it wasn't empty. In the
cage was Ross' roommate Scott.
"No need to wonder what your roommate is up to this afternoon. He's
hanging around with you." Jennie mused.
Ross let out a soft "No!" But it was not so soft as to avoid activating
the electrode.
Jennie turned to leave and said to herself: "That'll teach you to mess
with Jennie."
