1Part One: The Breakup

       It had been a month since Meryn had broken off her relationship with Rick.  They had been going together for over a year, and she had begun to think that maybe this was the real thing.  Then she had found out that he had had weekend flings with not one, but two different women at different times, weekends that she had spent home alone, accepting his excuse that he had to be away on business.  When she had confronted him when she had discovered the truth, he hadn’t seemed overly apologetic at all.  After all, he had said, they weren’t married, or even engaged, and he felt it perfectly okay to see other people, to make sure, he had said, that they were indeed right for each other.

       She couldn’t believe what she was hearing, and so she said that under the circumstances, she felt it was perfectly okay for her never to want to see him again.  And she hadn’t since that night, nor talked to him or responded to the two calls he had left on her answering machine.  The fact that he had only tried to call her twice only further confirmed to her that she had made the right decision, but that depressed her even more.  She had really liked Rick, maybe even loved him, if she really knew what love was.  She had certainly hoped it was going in that direction.  None of her other relationships with men had ever gone as far.  They usually broke it off with her.  This was the first time she had done the breaking up, and in a sense that made her feel a little better.

       In reality she knew however that this was a cop-out.  She really hadn’t wanted to break up, but he had left her no choice.  What was it about her that made men treat her like dirt?  She knew, without being too vain, that most people felt she was very good looking, with a nice body, was intelligent, and as her friends always said, she was fun to be with.  She never had any trouble getting boyfriends.  She just had trouble keeping them.   She was too giving, some of her girlfriends had said, always trying extra hard to make her boyfriends happy, and they always seemed to take advantage of her, and it would fall apart.  Maybe her friends were right, but she couldn’t help who she was.  Why couldn’t she meet someone who wanted to give a little back to her, meet her halfway.  God, she was depressed..

       

       

1Part Two: The Mystery

       Meryn hadn’t spoken to Natasha in over two months.  Natasha had been one of her best friends.  They worked at the same corporation, although in different departments.  Natasha was in systems  operations, and Meryn was an investment analyst, but they had worked on several projects together, and had become close, often calling each other several times a week, double dating, or just hanging out together on weekends.  They would take turns consoling each other over failed relationships, although Natasha always blamed the men for her failures, always being the one to break it off, while Meryn most often blamed herself, trying to figure what she had done wrong.  Natasha always chided her for this, and said that men were basically skunks, and needed to be molded into useful arm candy, and she was going to find one, you better believe it.  So far she apparently hadn’t been very successful, but that didn’t seem to bother her much.

       So when Meryn and Rick began going out regularly, she thought Natasha would be happy and supportive of her.  But Natasha had quickly taken a dislike for Rick, and rarely failed to let Meryn know it.  It didn’t help that Rick didn’t particularly like Natasha either, so over time Meryn and Natasha drifted apart, the phone calls and getting together becoming less frequent, and finally ending.  They would see each other at work occasionally, say hello and exchange a few superficial pleasantries, making a point of avoiding mentioning Rick.

       Things had reached the breaking point about two months earlier when she saw Natasha at work looking more that usually happy and vivacious.  Curious, Meryn approached her and asked how she was doing.  “Certainly better that you.” Natasha had replied, and while Meryn didn’t understand exactly what that had meant, she did realize that in some way it was a dig at Rick, and it had angered her.  She hadn’t spoken to Natasha since.

       Well, maybe Natasha had known something at the time that Meryn only found out later.  It certainly seemed that Natasha had been right about Rick, but that didn’t make it any easier.  This was without doubt the lowest she had ever felt after a breakup, and she realized she sorely missed having Natasha to talk to about it, to bulk up her spirits, and help her pick up the pieces.  So one night, swallowing her pride, she called Natasha on the phone.

       “Tash, this is Meri.”

       “Meri!  How great to hear from you.  This is fantastic.  How are you doing?  Oh what a stupid question.”

       “No, its not really, and I’m glad you didn’t hang up on me.”

       “Hang up on you?  Never.  I’ve missed you so much, especially now, but I didn’t think you wanted to talk to me.  I was so glad when I heard you had broken up with Dickhead.  No, that’s not right of me.  I know you liked him, and I shouldn’t be saying things like that right off the bat.”

       “Oh, that’s alright Tash.  It isn’t as if you weren’t  right about him”

       “More than you know Meri.”

       Meryn let that one pass.  God, had it been even worse than she had known?

       “You were too good for him Meri.  You’ve always been too good for any of them, but especially him.”

       “Yeah, well in this case you’re probably right.  But what am I supposed to do?  It’s not like I choose them to be like this.”

       “Maybe you do.  But that’s an old argument between us.  What you really need to find is a man who knows you’re too good for him and acts accordingly.”

       “Right.  But that’s much easier said than done.”

       “No, believe me, it’s actually easier done than said.”

       “What’s that supposed to mean, Tash?”

       “It’s just that there are more situations like that around than you would ever believe.”

       “Yeah, like you’ve been so successful finding the right one.”

       Natasha didn’t answer  right away and Meri worried that she had offended her, but they had always been able to jibe each other playfully.  Then another thought came to her.

       “You’re not saying that you’ve got something going, are you Tash?”

       Again Natasha did not answer right away, but then she went on.

       “Well, I... Oh what the hell.  I’ve been dying to tell someone, and who better than you Meri.  Especially now.”

       “Tell me what?”

       “You know I’ve never been satisfied or happy with the types of relationships I’ve had in the past, and so I started looking for something different.”

       “Yes?”

       “Meri, I’ve got to tell you I’ve found something that’s changed my life, and it’s absolutely fabulous.  I’ve never been happier.”

       “What?   Tell me what you’re talking about?”

       “No, it’s better that I show you Meri.  Yes, definitely.  And Meri, I think it’s something that would be perfect for you too.  Really.  If you just keep an open mind.”

       “Tash, stop being so mysterious will you, and tell me.”

       “No Meri.  It’s better this way, believe me.  Can you come to my place for dinner Friday night?  You’ve got to come, and you’ll see everything.  I won”t take no for an answer.”

       “Okay, okay, I’ll come.  But this better be as good as the build up.”

       “Even better.  Great.  7 o’clock.  I can’t wait to see you and show you what’s happened for me.  And I really do think it could be great for you too Meri.  Just keep an open mind.  Friday then.”

       “Sure Friday.  I’ll be there Tash.”

                                                                                               

                                                                                               ‘

       

       

1Part Three: Prologue

       Meryn had to admit that Natasha still had a talent for getting her out of her doldrums.  The phone conversation had really piqued her interest, and it was all she could think about for the next several days.  At times as she thought about it, it had almost sounded like Natasha had had some kind of religious experience, or had become involved with some kind of cult.  Or worse.  But she knew Natasha better than that.  She was too fiercely independent and individualistic to get involved with anything like that.  It didn’t seem though that it could only be that Natasha had a new boyfriend, maybe one that was lasting a little longer than usual for her, maybe a little more serious than she had ever had before.  That didn’t seem to Meryn to be something that Natasha would be keeping such a secret, that she wouldn’t even hint about it over the phone.  And she had said that it was something that she had to show Meryn, not just tell her.  Something that had changed her life.  And it was something that she thought Meryn would like as well.  She just had to keep an open mind.  What the heck was that supposed to mean?  All Meryn could finally conclude was that Friday couldn’t come fast enough.

       After an interminable several days, Meryn finally found herself excitedly ringing Natasha’s apartment doorbell a little after seven on Friday evening.  Natasha answered the door, swept her into her hallway foyer and immediately hugged her tightly.

       “Oh Meri, I’m so happy to see you.” she said ending the embrace, “I was so nervous that you might not come.”

       “Of course I came.  I said I would.  And I’m just as happy to see you.”  After a moment, “Why did you think I might not come Tash?”

       “Well I know things haven’t been good between us the last couple of months, but that’s water under the bridge.  Come in, come in.  I have so much to tell and show you.

       With that Natasha took Meryn’s hand and led her into her apparently newly well appointed livingroom.  She guided her over to the exquisite sofa and matching love seat that were set at a ninety degree angle to each other.  She sat Meryn down in the middle of the love seat, and then sat down herself at the near end of the sofa.  On the corner table between the furniture, were two poured goblets of white wine, and a tray of assorted cheeses.  Natasha was wearing a dark violet silk kimono that came down to just below her knees.  It was tied at the waist to perfectly accentuate her wonderful figure.  The V-shaped opening in front hinted in just the right way to her well proportioned cleavage.  She was wearing a matching pair of open toed slipper pumps, and her perfectly pedicured toenails were painted in the same color.  It was an outfit to be noticed.  It made Meryn, in her plain beige cotton blouse, mid length wool skirt, and her brown flats feel decidedly underdressed.  Natasha had always been the more stylish of the two, but Meryn found it hard to believe that Natasha had gotten dressed like this just to have dinner with her.

       As they sipped their wine and talked about old times, seemingly to Meryn just to break the ice, she couldn’t help but notice how nice and neat and clean the apartment was.  Natasha had never been a particularly tidy person.  She hated housework, as she often said, and in the many times in the past that Meryn had been over, the apartment had always been in a state of general disarray .

       “Tash, your apartment looks absolutely fabulous.  I can’t believe you put it all together like this just for me tonight.”

       “Oh it’s kept in much better condition than I know it used to be Meri, but I made very sure it was in perfect order for tonight.  This is a very special night.  I hope for both of us.”

       This was the opening they both apparently were waiting for, and Meryn decided as the guest in the dark, she would make the first move.

       “So Tash, you know I’m dying to find out.  What’s the big mystery?  What are you going to show me that has changed your life?”  She asked with a smile.

       Natasha returned the smile and took a deep breath.

       “Meri, you know better that anyone that I had never been able to find a relationship that suited my needs.  I’ve always had a forceful personality,” That’s quite an understatement thought Meryn.  “and none of the boys I ever went out with were what I was looking for.  I finally figured out that I was looking for all the wrong things in all the wrong places.”

       Natasha paused, and then plunged on.

       “About nine months ago I started cruising the Internet  regularly.  Meri, it’s unbelievable how many different worlds and types of people and relationships are out there, and I finally found one that was for me.  I read and researched many different websites, joined chat rooms, and came to know for sure that this was for me.  It is who I am.”

       “I really don’t know what you’re talking about Tash.”

       “I know you don’t.  Not yet.  But you will.  Just let me go on.  After a couple of months of major  research I felt I was ready, more than ready, to take the plunge for more personal contact.”

       God, she was talking about an internet relationship.  Meryn had always had the impression that those could be pretty dangerous.  What had Natasha gotten herself into?

       “I was very careful and selective.  I had been guided by internet friends to sites that were deemed safe and reliable, and I carefully screened all responses to my personals.”

       She really was talking about internet dating.  Meryn would never have believed Natasha would do something like this.

       “My first few forays weren’t particularly successful.  They didn’t meet the standards I had set for myself.  Then there was one that was promising, and it developed reasonably well over a couple of months, but for one particular reason it wasn’t right for me.  I knew this for sure when three months ago I hit the jackpot, and it’s been nothing but fantastic since.”

       “Tash, you’ve got to let me know.  Have you finally found the right man?”

       “Not exactly a man.”  Noticing Meryn’s eyes widen, Natasha laughed and hurried on, “Oh don’t worry, it’s not what you’re thinking, It’s not a woman either.”

       “So what ARE you talking about?” an exasperated Meryn exclaimed.

       With a smile Natasha turned away toward her bedroom, and in a much louder voice she called

       “Scott, come out now.”

       Meryn looked over to Natasha’s bedroom door, and was stunned when a man with male-model looks stepped out into the livingroom.  He looked to be about 6 foot 2, but what completely took her breath away was that the only the only thing he was wearing on his incredibly buff body was a pair of bright pink satin  women’s panties.

       She continued to gape wordlessly as he walked briskly over to them, fell to his knees before Natasha, bowed his head down and kissed both of her feet before saying “I am here for anything you desire Miss Natasha.”  After that he remained bent forward on his knees, leaning on his elbows, looking down at the floor before her feet.

       “Tash,” Meryn could barely whisper out her question, “What is this?”

       “Ah, the mystery begins to be revealed.  This is what I wanted to show and share with you Meri, but I think I’ll let Scott here begin the explanation.  First things first though.  Scott, this is Miss Meryn, whom I’ve told you all about.  Are you forgetting your manners in not properly greeting her?”

       With that, the nearly naked man pivoted on his knees, crawled over toward Meryn, bent forward, kissed the tops of both of her shoes, and said

“Please accept my most humble greetings Miss Meryn.”  She had been too surprised to move her feet away, and in reality it had happened too quickly for her to do anything.  With that, he pivoted again and reassumed his head down kneeling position in front of Natasha.

       “That’s much better Scott.” she said to him.

       “Tash, I don”t get this.”

       “Scott, kneel up, and kindly explain to Miss Meryn what This is.”

       Scott rose up to an upright kneeling position, leaned back on his legs, and arranged himself at a 45 degree angle between the two women, and began speaking as if he was having the most casual conversation between old friends.

       “I am Miss Natasha’s slave.  She owns me body and soul.  My only true purpose in life is to serve and obey her, and my sole reason for living is to provide for her comfort and pleasure.”

       “That was very nicely put Scott.” Natasha said with a smile.  “You may go now and finish making our dinner.”

       “Yes Miss Natasha.” With that he bent down, kissed her feet again, rose and hurried off to the kitchen.

       Speechless, Meryn watched him go and then turned back to Natasha.

       “Tash, I still don’t understand what’s going on here.”

       “It’s exactly as he said Meri.  He’s my slave. Totally.  He does everything I demand, and obeys my every whim.  24/7.

       “You mean he’s here all the time?”

       Natasha chuckled “Well, I did have him move in with me about three months ago, but he’s not here ‘all’ the time.  He does have a job.  He owns his own software company, and he does have to go down to oversee it’s management now and then.  But it’s a well established and very successful company, and he’s got more than enough underlings to do all the daily drudge work, so most of his time can be spent doing drudge work for me.”

       “Like what?”

       “Look around you.  You know what kind of slob I used to be at home.  But you see how spotless the place is now.  Scott is responsible for all of the housework.  I don’t lift a finger.  From the first minute in the morning when he wakes up to prepare my breakfast, until the time at night when I allow him to go to sleep, he’s working for me all the time.  And I make sure he’s always on his toes.  If I can’t think of anything more for him to do, he spends the rest of his time on his knees at my feet.”

       “But what does he get out of it?”

       “Does it matter?”  Natasha could see Meryn’s sharp, disbelieving look.  “No Meri, it really doesn’t matter.  Look, Scott is a slave.  How he feels about anything really has no importance.  Oh I guess he gets some kind of life fulfillment out of meeting my every  want and need, and that’s okay by me.  I get to reap all the benefits.”  She paused for a second.  “And the sex Meri is unbelievable.  Anytime, anywhere, and anyway I want it.”

       Meryn could finally see this entire bizarre situation approaching some semblance of understandable reality.

       “Well, I can see how that might be a real enticement to all this.  Judging by the prominent bulge I saw in his ...um...pants, he’s pretty well endowed.

       

       Natasha rocked back and laughed.  “You’ve got it all wrong Meri.  And

you misjudged him by at least a half”

       “How so?”

       Natasha turned toward the kitchen, and in a loud voice commanded, “Scott, come in here.”  As he hurried in she told him to remain standing in front of her, but facing Meryn.  Without saying a word, she then pulled his panties down to his ankles exposing him totally for Meryn to see.  If this act hadn’t startled her enough, what was presented unsettled her even more.  Scott’s entire penis was encased in some plastic contraption that was about four inches in length from base to tip curving forward and down.

       “What the heck is that?” Meryn couldn’t help but exclaim.

       “We call it his cock cage” Natasha answered.  “It’s locked in place and only I have the key.”

       “What in heaven is it for?”

       “Well it certainly isn’t heaven for Scott I suspect.  It’s meant to keep him in his place, a constant reminder of what he is, and who owns him.  And it also keeps him from any unpermitted playing with himself.”

       Meryn felt herself  blushing sharply.

       “It doesn’t come off often, but when it does, my little slaveboy stands at attention a good eight inches.   Twice what you thought.”

       “But if it’s always on, how does he...um...you know...ah” Meryn felt her face reddening even more.

       “Oh, there’s an opening at the end that lets him pee.  I imagine it takes some effort and practice and aim, but that’s his problem isn’t it.”

       With that Natasha pulled up Scott’s panties, gave him a slap on his backside, and told him to get back to his work.

       After he had gone, Meryn couldn’t help but ask, “But if that thing is almost always on, what about all of this wonderful sex you were talking about?”

       “That’s also where you have it wrong Meri.”  She paused.  “You don’t fuck a slave.  You use him for your pleasure.  His hands, his fingers, his mouth, and most especially his tongue.  Anywhere and everywhere that you desire.  As much and as often as you want.  And I want it a lot, believe me.”

       “And he doesn’t ever get to...um...you know...cum?”

       “I don’t go out of my way to be cruel.  Men do have physiologic needs that probably have to be met to keep them healthy.  And I like to always have something to dangle out there as a reward for him now and then.  It helps keep him enthusiastic in seeing to my needs.  But not too often or it loses it’s aura.  Maybe twice a month, and always at a time and method of my choosing that will provide me with some kind of amusement.

       “Wow.”  Was all Meryn could say.

       “It really is fantastic Meri, and I really believe that it would be perfect for you.  Especially now.”

       “Oh God no, Tash.  I could never.”

       “I don’t mean all of it.  Not right away.  I mean I know you’re not born to it like I now know that I am.  But I really do believe that every  woman should have some part of something like this.  It would make them all a hell of a lot happier in life.   It’s an opportunity to explore it a little bit that I think you should really try.”

       “What opportunity?  I don’t have any idea how, or inclination to spend the time and effort to go searching the internet trying to find some stranger who wants to be some kind of servant I don’t even want.”

               

       “But you don’t have to put in the time and effort.  I’ve already done all the legwork...or footwork if you will.”

       “What are you talking about now?”

       Natasha  waited a few seconds.

       “Remember I told you that before I found Scott, I had another potential candidate who was working out reasonably well.  In some ways even better than reasonably well.  For a couple of months I had him coming over regularly, although I never had him move in.  He just wasn’t my type, but I have to admit he always tried awfully hard.  But when Scott came along, well there was no doubt that Scott was the one, and I’ve only used the other one a couple of times since, when Scott has to be away on business for a day or so.  I can’t have my needs uncared for for any length of time, now can I?”

\

       “So what does your insatiable need for warm bodies have to do with me?”

       Natasha smiled at the playful cut.  Oh, she had really missed Meri.

       “When you agreed to come to dinner the other night, I gave Jeremy, that’s his name, a call and told him to be readily available tonight in case he was needed.”

       “For what?  Scott’s here.  Are you going to show me a menage-a-trois now?”

       “No, no, no.  For you Meri.  For you to meet him.   Have him attend to you tonight.   Get a flavor of what it’s like .  I really think you’ll enjoy it.  What have you got to lose?  And if you do like it, I can tell you that Jeremy is going to be more that available.  What do you say?”

       Meryn had been so flustered by the evening’s events that she had been unconsciously sipping constantly at her wine and had now downed almost three glasses, and was clearly feeling the effects.  She knew in her heart that this scenario which Natasha was immersed in, was not for her.  God, it was so weird.  But the wine certainly lowered some of her inhibitions, and she didn’t want to seem like some kind of prude, so she didn’t immediately refuse, like she probably would have done if she had been thinking more clearly and drinking less.

       “Gee Tash, I really don’t know.”

       “Of course you don’t.  Not yet.  That’s why you have to try it.  Here tonight in a safe, controlled environment.  Look, I’ve always been a take charge person, and now even more so.  I’m making a command decision .  I’m calling him right now.”

       With that she picked up a cell phone that was on the corner table, pressed one button, clearly a speed dial, and in a couple of seconds was speaking into it.  “Jeremy, I have need for your services tonight.  Be here in five minutes.”  And with that she hung up.

       

       

1Part Four: The Summons

       When Jeremy finally received the phone call he had been fervently praying would come, he had been sitting in his car, parked down the block from Miss Natasha’s apartment, for over two hours.  She had told him to be available any time after seven, so he had gotten there around six just to be sure.  It was now after eight, and he had begun to be afraid that she wouldn’t need him after all.  He really didn’t expect that she would call him to tell him that, so he would just have to wait, all night he guessed, if need be.  He certainly didn’t want to miss any chance of being called back into her service.

       For as long as he could remember, Jeremy had always felt that women should be placed on a pedestal, to be worshiped and adored.  He always tried to treat any woman with whom he had ever tried to have a relationship, with that type of deference and respect.  But he never had been able to get to first base with anyone.  He understood the reason, of course, but he had never been able to do anything about his one obvious shortcoming.  After years of discouraging rejections, he had just stopped trying.

       Initially he had felt guilty and embarrassed about turning to the internet to indulge his fantasies.  He never went into chat rooms or tried to contact anyone, but he had slowly discovered web sites that eventually led him to understand what he really was.  He was a submissive.  He wasn’t a masochist, he learned.  He didn’t yearn to be mistreated, and certainly not to be beaten or tortured.  He just wanted to find someone who needed to be taken care of, to be pampered and served in all ways desired.  Romance, he understood, would never be part of this type of relationship, but he had given up on that a long time ago.  He could certainly dream, however, of being accepted and maybe even appreciated.   All he would ever ask in return was to be allowed to worship and adore her.

       Of course he realized that this was an extremely unlikely fantasy to ever become real, especially for someone like him.  But he had grown so lonely in his private life, that he began contemplating some of the personals that were posted on the web sites he frequented.  After a long period of internal debate, he finally screwed up his courage and answered one that he thought seemed the most promising.  That encounter did not go well, nor the next one he answered.  He wasn’t what they were looking for, the women told him at the initial meetings, and he suspected, as it had been in the past, he knew the reason why.  It took him several months after these two failures to try one more, and likely his last time.

       It was then with surprise and delight, that after Jeremy’s first meeting with Miss Natasha, she had ordered him to return again.  And then again and again.  It wasn’t long before she had him coming to her apartment on a regular basis.  It was apparent to Jeremy that Miss Natasha was as much a beginner in this type of situation as he.  She was constantly experimenting with different facets of the relationship, expanding on what she liked, and discarding whatever didn’t suit her.  That he often didn’t care for some of these experiments had no relevance.  What went on between them was always at her direction and whim, and he knew that this was how it had to be.  If he sometimes felt she was unnecessarily nasty, he would chide himself that who was he to question  what was necessary .  He only knew that she had finally given some purpose and direction to his personal life, and he didn’t want to contemplate, even for a moment, the possibility of losing that.

       He felt a great deal of anxiety then, when about four months ago, after almost two months of practically daily service, she began calling him over less frequently.  She eventually told him that she was in the process of training a new slave, and while that went on she would be needing him less often.  His anxiety became fear when he briefly met this new person, Scott, one day when he had been ordered over, and Scott was apparently just leaving.  He immediately saw that he was at a major competitive disadvantage with Scott.  His worst fears were realized when three months ago Miss Natasha informed him that she had decided to have Scott as a permanent live-in slave, and that she would only need Jeremy on occasion from then on.

       Jeremy had been devastated.  The only possibility for a long term relationship that he had ever had, was now apparently gone just as he had begun believing that he had a chance.  Unable to give up all hope, he jumped at the opportunity when she called him over twice in the subsequent months.  Maybe, he rationalized, if he was even more diligent and ardent in his service she would consider taking him back.

       It had been over six weeks since she had last called him, and he finally had begun ro resign himself that she was done with him.  Then he received this most recent call.  This time however, she had only told him to be nearby and available.  He didn’t know what to make of that.  Maybe she had become dissatisfied with Scott.  Maybe Scott’s one big advantage didn’t offset a deficiency in service that Jeremy had hopefully proven to be more able to provide.  It was what he thought about constantly anyway, but tonight it may actually come to pass.

       With these high hopes Jeremy hurried to Miss Natasha’s apartment after her summoning had blessedly come.  These hopes were immediately dashed when he was met at her door by the sparsely clad Scott, who ushered him into the hallway, then tersely told him to undress and present himself in the livingroom.  Without another word Scott then turned and went back to his own duties.

       Oh God, what was Scott doing here, Jeremy thought as he began to undress and rapidly fold his clothes to put in the hall closet.  He tried his best to stifle his disappointment.  Why was Scott here tonight?  Did Miss Natasha want to dominate two slaves at one time?  He would certainly not enjoy that, and shuddered slightly when he thought of some of the possible implications.  In the end, he knew it didn’t matter what he thought.  He had been summoned to serve, and he would.  He had no choice.

a

1Part Five: The Introduction

       Meryn had  flinched when the doorbell rang not three minutes after Natasha had ended her call.  She realized how unsettled she was by the whole situation, and she wished it would just go away.  She was even more startled when she saw that it was Scott, undressed as he was, who went to answer the door.  Her spirits rose momentarily when, not thirty seconds later, he emerged alone from the hallway, and went back to the kitchen.  Maybe this Jeremy had decided to leave when he had found out what it was all about.  Her silent hopes went unrealized however, when a minute later a new person emerged from the hall.

       Like Scott, Jeremy was dressed only in a pair of bright pink satin panties.  That was where all comparison ended however.  Somewhat shorter, probably about five-eleven, he had a pleasant enough face, Meryn conceded.  But what was most striking about him was that he was significantly overweight.  No, that was way too mild, Meryn concluded.  He was fat.  And his ample belly and love handles made the pink panties look markedly more ridiculous on him than they did on Scott.  She couldn’t help but cringe.

       She was relieved when it didn’t appear that this Jeremy had noticed her look as he hurried over to kneel before Natasha.  As Scott had done before, he bent down and kissed both of her feet, and then said, “I am thrilled to be summoned to serve you once again Miss Natasha.”  With that he knelt up and leaned back.

       “Prompt and punctual as always Jeremy” Natasha answered.  “That is a good first impression.  I’d like you to meet a very dear friend of mine, Miss Meryn.  And Jeremy, it is very important to me that you continue to impress tonight.

       Turning to look for the first time at Miss Natasha’s guest, Jeremy noted that although plainly dressed, especially as compared to Miss Natasha, she was extremely pretty, even though she seemed tense and uneasy.  As he knew was expected he bent down, kissed both of her shoes, and then offered “It is an honor and very great pleasure to be presented to you Miss Meryn.”  With that he knelt up and smiled’                

       Meryn had to admit that he had a very nice smile.  It lit up his entire face including his eyes.  It induced her to bring forth a small smile in return and nod in acknowledgment even as she was unsure of how to verbally respond.

       “Miss Meryn is my guest for dinner tonight” Natasha went on.  “We haven’t seen each other for a while and have so much to talk about.  As Scott will be very busy as always attending to me, I brought you over tonight Jeremy to attend to Miss Meryn.  You will care for her every need tonight as if it was for me.”

       Watching Jeremy closely, Meryn thought she saw a flicker of disappointment flash across his face.  This was quickly replaced by another of his smiles as he spoke to her again.  “It will be a cherished privilege to be able to attend and serve you tonight Miss Meryn.”

       Responding to his smile again, and the seeming sincerity of his words, Meryn found some voice this time to respond, “Ah...thank you Jeremy.  I’m sure I will...ah...appreciate any of your efforts.”  Her reply must have been acceptable because it was met with an even brighter smile.

       “Good.  Now that we’ve taken care of that” Natasha added, “Jeremy, I believe Scott could use your assistance in finishing up the preparations for dinner.  I’m starving.”

       “Yes Miss Natasha.”  With that Jeremy bent down and kissed Meryn”s shoes again, knelt up and said, “By your leave Miss Meryn..” and remained unmoving.

       Meryn belatedly realized that he was waiting for her permission to leave.  She looked over to Natasha and saw that she was surprised as well and even slightly annoyed.  Well, Natasha had given him to her for the night hadn’t she?  Still, she didn’t want him to get into any trouble on her behalf so she hurriedly said, “Yes, of course, go on Jeremy.”  With that he bowed his head slightly, rose and went join Scott in the kitchen

       “I still don’t know about this Tash.”  Meryn said as soon as he was gone.

       “I know he’s not much to look at Meri.  Now you can see why I got Scott.  But he’s very attentive and enthusiastic, and will do anything he can to please you.  So just relax and take it as it comes tonight.  You’ve got nothing to lose, and I really do believe you’re going to enjoy all the pampering you’re going to get tonight.”

       What was Meryn going to say.  They hadn’t even had dinner yet, and she didn’t want to insult Natasha.  Not when she was trying to rekindle their friendship, although given this night’s surprise events she wondered if that was such a good idea.  No, Meryn had to admit that in her own very weird way Natasha was trying to help her.  So she would just go with the flow for the rest of the night, and hope that the evening would end quickly.

       A short time later, Scott, with Jeremy following, came in to indicate that dinner was ready.  He offered his hand to help Natasha up, and Jeremy did the same for Meryn.  Natasha then took Meryn by the arm, and led her around the corner to the dining area, with the slaves following behind.  Meryn noted that there were only two place settings at the table, set across from each other.  Scott pulled out a chair to seat Natasha at one, as Jeremy did for Meryn at the other.  They then went into the kitchen, and brought out a plate of salad for each of them’ Jeremy serving one to Meryn, and Scott placing the other before Natasha.  That service done, they went to opposite ends of the table and knelt down.

       Meryn was so unsettled that she had trouble focusing on Natasha’s conversation about events at work.  She ate her salad very quickly, and when finished was surprised when Jeremy arose, approached her, and politely asked if she would like more.  She could only nod no, and Natasha then announced that she too was finished with her half eaten salad.  Taking their cue, the two slaves removed the salad plates, and then returned from the kitchen with a platter of sliced steak, sauteed Brussel sprouts, and two baked potatoes.  Jeremy then placed some of each on Meryn’s dinner plate, politely asking each time how much she desired, as Scott did with Natasha.  They then returned to their kneeling positions at the ends of the table.

       “I hope you will forgive me for the rather plain dinner Meri.”  Natasha offered “Scott isn’t a very good cook yet, so I thought I would keep it rather simple tonight.”

       “Everything has been fine Tash.”  Meryn then decided to finally ask the question that had been bothering her throughout the meal.

       “What and when do they eat, Tash?”

       “Oh, you mean the slaves?  Why our leftovers of course.  Although looking at Jeremy, I think it would be a blessing if we didn’t leave anything tonight.”  What a cruel thing to say Meryn thought as she couldn’t help but glance at Jeremy.  “But I want to keep Scott healthy, so I always allow him to make a little more that I usually need.  So don’t worry Meri, there should be enough for them to pick over while they’re cleaning up”

       Meryn’s appetite seemed to decrease after that, and she softly declined each of Jeremy’s polite inquiries of whether she desired more .  As the slaves cleared the table, Natasha announced that she had a surprise dessert, which Scott then brought in.

       “Tash.  Wow.  A strawberry rhubarb pie from Grandma’s.  You remembered it’s my favorite.  When did you have the chance to go get it?”  Meryn asked, knowing that Grandma’s was an hour drive outside the city.

       “I didn’t.  I sent Scott today.  I wanted something special for you, and I know how much you like it.”

       Feeling somewhat better after a large piece of her favorite pie, Meryn and Natasha retired back to the livingroom while the slaves cleaned up.  Natasha wasted no time after they sat down.

       “Well, what do you think about all this Meri?”

       “Oh I don’t know Tash.  I really don’t think it’s for me.”  That was really putting it mildly Meryn thought to herself.

       “I know he’s somewhat grotesque looking Meri,” That was a way too harsh assessment thought Meryn, although she had to admit that she had always been turned off by fat men, “but he’s well trained, and he’s already broken in, so he’s perfect for you to try it all out with, at your own pace.  If you don’t like it, get rid of him.  But if you do, and I really think you will if you give it a chance, I’ll help you find someone much better, like Scott.  They’re out there Meri, believe me.  Think of Jeremy as a starter slave.”

       Meryn didn’t want to think of anything of the sort.  She wanted nothing to do with any of this.  She had to let Natasha know.

       “Tash, I just can’t.  I don’t think it would be right.”

       Natasha misunderstood.  “Oh, because you think that you’re taking him from me.  Nothing of the sort.”  And before Meryn could reply Natasha shouted for Jeremy to come in.

       Jeremy hurried in from the kitchen, knelt and performed the now familiar obeisance to Natasha, and then knelt back on his knees.

       “Jeremy, one of the other reasons I had you come over tonight,” Natasha began without preamble, “was to inform you that I will no longer be requiring your services.  Scott has been meeting my needs quite adequately, and I think you can understand why you are no longer necessary.”

       Meryn couldn’t help but notice the terrible hurt that registered on Jeremy’s face as he listened to Natasha’s pronouncement.

       “But it so happens that Miss Meryn may be looking to take on a slave, and if you’ve impressed her tonight, she may consider you on a trial basis.

       What was Natasha doing?  How could she even think?

       Jeremy slowly shifted on his knees to face Meryn. His attempt at a smile could not fully mask the wound he was still feeling.

       “It would be a tremendous privilege Miss Meryn if you would allow me the opportunity to be of some service to you.”

       Meryn could only blink her eyes as she struggled to find something to say to him.  Finally, “Jeremy,” she said softly, “I don’t think so.  This is not something I think I want.”

       Silence.  She couldn’t say any more.

       “Of course not.” Natasha interjected.  “How unforgivable of me Meri, to expect you to take my leavings.  You certainly deserve something better than someone else’s   reject.  I’ll help you find someone much more suitable.”

       Meryn was furious.  How could Natasha be like this.  She looked at Jeremy, whose head was now bowed, his lips compressed as if he was biting them.  No one deserved to be treated like this, and she was not going to allow Natasha to have her become a party to Jeremy’s rejection.  Not twice in the same night.  Against her better judgement, but in anger she spoke up.

       “That won’t be necessary Tash.”  Back to Jeremy more softly   “What I was trying to say Jeremy is that this is not something I want to discuss tonight.”  A pause to consider, then a plunge ahead.  “Tomorrow is Saturday.  Do you know the coffee shop on the corner of Taylor and Vine Street?”  A block from her brownstone.

       “No Miss Meryn, but I’m sure I can find it.”

       “Good, meet me there tomorrow around eleven, and we can...uh...well talk about this some more.”

       “Thank you Miss Meryn.  I will certainly be there.”

       Meryn nodded, and then to Natasha, “Well Tash, it’s certainly been a most interesting evening.  You’ve clearly taken my mind off other matters for the moment, so thank you for that.  But I find I’m very tired now.  I think it must be the wine, and I think I should be going.

       Natasha smiled as she accompanied Meryn to the door and kissed her on the cheek.  “Well done Meri”

       Don’t bet on it, Meryn thought as she said goodnight.

       

s

1Part Six: Saturday Morning

       Meryn usually slept late on Saturdays, but not this late.  Part of it was probably the wine from the night before, and part of it was clearly her tossing and turning once in bed as she tried to make some sense of what had gone on at Natasha’s.  She definitely was upset with herself for arranging to meet with Jeremy today, but it had been a spur of the moment, angry reaction to Natasha’s inexplicable viciousness towards him.  Well, she would meet with him, be pleasant, but put an end to this thing as nicely as she could.

       It was with a groan when she woke and realized it was already 10:15.  She was supposed to meet him at eleven, and she didn’t like being late for anything.  She rolled out of bed,, quickly showered, dried her hair, deciding not to comb or brush it, but only to pull it back with a band.  She quickly slipped on a sweatshirt, a pair of jeans and sneakers, and decided against any makeup.  She wasn’t trying to impress anybody anyway, was she?  Despite these best efforts it was ten after eleven before she left her apartment.

       The coffee shop was only a block from her place, and she secretly hoped that her now being fifteen minutes late may have led Jeremy to believe she wasn’t coming, and leave.  These hopes were dashed when as soon as she entered the shop, she saw him sitting by himself at a corner table.

       Jeremy saw her at the same time, smiled broadly, and got up immediately to come over to greet her.

       “I’m so glad you decided to come today, Miss Meryn.”  He said as he led her back to the table.

       “I said I was going to come didn’t I?” she answered sharply.  As he pulled a chair out for her to sit, she spoke more mildly.  “That wasn’t fair of me, Jeremy.  Please forgive me for being late.”

       “There’s never any need to apologize to me for anything, Miss Meryn.”

       She glanced around anxiously.  “Look Jeremy, we’re in a public place, just Meryn, please.”

       “Of course...Meryn.”

       At that point the waitress came over to take their order.  Meryn ordered a yogurt with fresh strawberries and a café latte.  The waitress looked to Jeremy, who looked down, and then tentatively at Meryn.  In a perceptive flash, she realized that he was actually waiting for her permission to have something.

       “Jeremy, please get something.  I don’t like to eat alone.”

       Jeremy beamed again as he ordered a bear claw honey bun and a café latte.

       Meryn decided to begin their conversation with a safe topic by asking him about himself.  He told her he was a junior high school English teacher, hence his nice way with words she thought.  As he described his job, it was easy for her to see how much he loved it.  After several minutes of detailing for her how he went about trying to get young teenagers to be as passionate about literature as he was, he sheepishly apologized for dominating the conversation, and asked Meryn about herself.

       Meryn had no great desire to go into any great detail about her life, but after telling him about her job as an investment analyst, his apparent real interest spurred her to go on in greater depth about things at her job.  She found him an attentive listener, and his occasional perceptive questions stimulated her to discuss things that she hardly ever talked about with anyone except at work.  Usually there however, people were only interested in her facts, not her opinions, which she now voiced freely to this stranger who, surprisingly, seemed very interested.

       After they ordered their second café lattes, and Jeremy his second bear claw, she began telling him about her personal interests, and family.  She learned that, like herself, he only had his mother left.  Unlike her, he was an only child, while she had two older sisters, both married and now living hours away.  She enthused that she envied them their children, and how she loved being with her two nieces and nephew, but how she wasn’t ready for anything like that herself.

       Meryn marveled to herself at how easy Jeremy was to talk to, and then even surprised herself even more by bringing up her recent problems with Rick.  After going through the entire process leading up to the breakup, she really appreciated that Jeremy didn’t try to placate with empty platitudes, but only opined that this Rick must be one stupid idiot to have lost so much for so little.

       After what she thought was about thirty minutes, Meryn realized it was already 12:30, and she hadn’t even brought up the reason for the meeting.  She had to admit that she found Jeremy to be a very nice person, but she knew what he was looking for, and she also knew that she had no interest in being involved with it.  So, taking a deep breath, she resolved to get this over with, once and for all.

       “Jeremy,” she started in a tone that indicated a change in their conversational direction, “About last night.”

       “Meryn, please let me apologize for my behavior last night.”

       Now she was puzzled.  “What do you mean?”

       “Well I know you must have thought it was very rude of me to seem so unenthusiastic about wanting to serve you.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  It’s just that at that moment last night I...” he fell silent.

       “You have nothing to be sorry about, Jeremy.  It was Natasha’s behavior that was atrocious.”

       “Oh no.  Miss Natasha had every  right.  I just  wasn’t expecting it.”  Again a flash of hurt across his face, this time quickly replaced by one of his special smiles.  “But I really do want you to know, Meryn, that I would  really like the opportunity to do things for you.  It could be any type of thing you’re comfortable with.  Not because of last night with Miss Natasha, but because I really want to.  For you.”

       God, this was going to be harder than she thought.  She was really going to have to hurt him again, but he had left her no choice.  She suddenly realized that she didn’t want to do it here in public.  It just wouldn’t be fair or nice for him, but it had to be done soon.  Today.  She couldn’t let this drag on any longer.  So she grabbed at the only solution readily available to her and said, “Jeremy, I’m not comfortable with this conversation here.  My apartment is only a block away.  Let’s finish it there.”

       “Whatever you like, Meryn.”

       He called for the check.  When he went to pay for it, Meryn objected, insisting that they split it.  “This isn’t a date you know.” she snorted.

       “I understand that perfectly, Meryn.  But please let me take care of this.”

       It was only a breakfast bill.  It wasn’t worth arguing about, so she let it go, and was rewarded again with one of his smiles.

       As they entered the front door of her apartment, Meryn suddenly had a horrid thought, and she whirled around to face Jeremy as he closed the door.

       “Don’t even THINK about taking off your clothes.”  She snapped.

       “No, of course not Miss Meryn.”

       Back to the Miss stuff again, she thought.  Oh well, this will be over soon so why bother.  She turned around and walked into her livingroom, and instantly saw it with new eyes.  Though not by nature a sloppy person, nothing like Natasha, since her breakup with Rick she had not had the energy or inclination to do any cleaning.  And the thing of it was that she hadn’t even noticed.  Now for the first time since then she had a “guest” in the apartment, and she was horrified at what a mess it was.  Papers and books were strewn all over the place, pillows and chairs were askew, several pairs of shoes were scattered around the floor that obviously hadn’t been swept or vacuumed in quite a while.  She knew that the kitchen and bedroom were even worse, and forget about the bathroom.  She was totally embarrassed, and this made her more angry and determined to say what she had to say to him, and get this over with.

         “You have a very nice place here, Miss Meryn.”  He said as she turned back to him.

       “Yeah, well it suits me fine.”  She retorted.  More calmly, “Look Jeremy, you seem like a nice enough person, and I enjoyed our talk this morning very much, but you have to understand, I want you to see, that I don’t need any help around here.”

       Jeremy didn’t immediately reply.  Instead he slowly surveyed the livingroom, and Meryn couldn’t help but follow his gaze.  When he finished and looked back to her, she couldn’t help herself.  She burst out laughing, and wasn’t the least put off when he joined in.

       When she was finally able to compose herself again, she continued more lightly, “Okay, I guess I didn’t mean what you actually see around here.  And anyway,” she casually gestured toward the room, “this is all really just a temporary aberration.”

       Jeremy nodded.  “I would consider it a very special favor, Miss Meryn, if you allowed me to help you take care of this...aberration.  Temporarily of course.”

       Meryn was exasperated.  What was she going to do with this guy?  She slowly looked around the room, and then thought to herself, Why not?  The place really was a mess.  If this guy was so determined to try to clean it up for her, Why not?  She’d let him have at it for a couple of hours, then tell him what an inadequate job he had done, and that this clearly wasn’t going to work out, and then get rid of him.  At least then she would have an excuse, and it wouldn’t be so personal.  She’d feel a little less guilty.

       “Alright, alright Jeremy.  If you’re so fired up to tidy up this place for me, you have my blessing.”  He brightened visibly.  “But I want you to fully understand, that despite appearances around here, I’m really quite finicky.  So if your effort don’t quite meet my expectations, then we have to agree that that will be that.  Are we clear on that Jeremy?”

       “Whatever you say Miss Meryn.  Than you very much.”

       “Good.  Okay, it’s 1:15.  I’ve got a bunch of errands to do this afternoon so I’ll leave you to your venture.  I’ll be back around five.  Knock yourself out.”

       “I will Miss Meryn.  Thank you again.”

       

1Part Seven: Saturday Evening

       In reality Meryn really didn’t have any errands to run, which did not  brighten her disposition after she had left her apartment.  She hadn’t shown Jeremy where any of the cleaning materials were.  Let him figure that out.  He was on his own.  She wondered what she was going to do with her afternoon.  She still had to do the final preparations and run through for her big presentation at work on Monday, but she had planned to do that on Sunday, and she just wasn’t up for it today.  With nothing better to do, she went to a movie, and sat through an interminably long comedy she hadn’t found funny, and this did nothing to improve her mood.  On the way home she decided that she really didn’t feel like cooking, so she stopped off at the grocery store to pick up a few items including a microwave dinner for supper.  She then geared herself up for her final confrontation with Jeremy, where she would thank him for his inadequate efforts, express sorrow that it hadn’t worked out, bid him goodbye, and that, thankfully, would be that.

       When she opened the door to her apartment at 4:45, she was met with an incredibly mouth-watering smell coming from the kitchen.  Following her nose there, she found Jeremy bent over the oven.

       “Miss Meryn, I didn’t hear you come in.”  He said when he saw her.  “Please forgive me.”

       “Jeremy.  What are you doing?”

       “Making dinner.  I hope you don’t think it presumptuous.”

       “But there was nothing in the place to make dinner with.”

       “I know, so I took a quick run to the grocery to pick up some things.  Please say you don’t mind.”

       “No.”  She mused.  “It smells delicious.”  And if he wanted to waste his time shopping and cooking, he couldn’t have had much time to clean.  That would make it all the more easy to find fault and be done with this.

       “It’s got about fifteen more minutes to go Miss Meryn.  Why don’t you relax in the livingroom, and I’ll bring you a glass of wine.”

       “No, no wine today please.  I’ll just go freshen up a bit.  Let me know when it’s ready.”

       With that she walked into the livingroom and was met with her next surprise.  Everything there was picked up and put in it’s proper place.  She saw that the floors had been swept, the rugs vacuumed, and all the furniture dusted and polished.  Entering her bedroom she found her bed made, several days worth of clothes previously piled on a chair had either been put away or put in the hamper.  A massive accumulation of odds and ends on top of her dresser were now neatly stacked and organized, and as far as she could tell, all accounted for.  A foray into her master bathroom found all of the tiles and porcelain of her tub, sink and toilet gleaming, and the jungle inside her medicine cabinet made civilized.

       This was unbelievable.  How had he been able to do all this, shop and make dinner in less than four hours.  As she continued to try to comprehend, Jeremy approached her bedroom door to let her know that dinner was ready.  Numb, she followed him to her diningroom, and saw that there was only one table setting.  This, she decided, would not be.

       “This is not Natasha’s place, Jeremy.”  She turned to him quietly.  “I told you earlier that I don’t like to eat alone.” an absurd statement in that she almost always did.  “Please get yourself a place setting so we can eat together.”

       “Sure Miss Meryn.  Anything you say.”

       After he had set up his place, he brought in platters of food, which he identified as veal rolantini, a broccoli with blue cheese casserole, and a spring mix salad with walnuts, craisons, dressed with a raspberry vinaigrette.  He then carefully served her first before himself.  All of it tasted every bit as good as it looked and smelled, and she took small amounts of seconds of each item, unusual for her.  With her permission, Jeremy had much larger portions of seconds, and even thirds.  As he cleared the table he began to apologize for not having the time to make a dessert, but he hoped she would like what he brought instead.  He then brought out a strawberry-rhubarb pie from Grandma’s.  When she asked how he had been able to get that for her, he replied that Grandma’s was on of his favorite places too, no great surprise there she thought unkindly, and he had driven out to get the pie for her this morning, hoping that he would have the opportunity to give it to her.

       This was all too much Meryn thought, enjoying her piece of her favorite pie, and watching Jeremy down two pieces.  Later, as she sat in the livingroom while Jeremy finished cleaning up, she frantically strove to figure out how she was going to get out of all this.  He had made it incredibly hard.  There was no way she could say that he had done a lousy job.  Anyone would see the lie in that.  She decided to try to let him down as easily as possible, compliment him on what he had done, but explain that none of this was what she wanted.

       “This is all rather impressive, Jeremy.”  She said as he came into the livingroom after he was done.

       “Thank you Miss Meryn.  But I’m really sorry I didn’t have the time to get to everything.”

       “What can you possibly mean?”  She was clearly mystified.  “The place is immaculate.  It hasn’t been this clean since the day I moved in.”

       “Oh there are a number of things I just didn’t have the time to get to.  Mostly the laundry.”

       “The laundry!!!”  She exclaimed.  The laundry.  Her laundry.  He was actually talking about doing her laundry.  A job she hated, even in the best of times, and which she hadn’t done in almost a month.  She wondered if he knew there was more to it than the overflowing hamper in the bathroom.  She had three extra laundry bags full and stuffed in her closet.

       “I couldn’t find a washer and dryer in the apartment, and I didn’t know where the local Laundromat is.”  He went on.

       The laundry.  She had to put a stop to this right now.  But how?  He’d done everything and more than she had asked.  She had to find some excuse, something that he wouldn’t or couldn’t do that would giver her an out.  But what?  He seemed to be able to do everything.

       Looking at him as he “waddled” over to bring her a cup of tea she had requested, an idea suddenly presented itself.  She had to give him a task that he would surely fail at, and she suddenly knew what it was.  The idea repulsed her, but she was desperate.  She just had to get out of this situation, but it was important to her that he would feel that she had given him a chance, but he hadn’t succeeded.  She saw no other way without outright rejecting him as Natasha had.  That she couldn’t bring herself to do.  Steeling herself, she quietly but firmly said.

       “Jeremy, I want you to go into my bedroom and take your clothes off.  Everything but your underpants.”

       She could see that he was definitely surprised by this.  An order was an order however, and he got up and went into the bedroom.  After a few minutes she followed him in.  Seeing him standing there undressed, she grimaced when she saw that he was again wearing those awful pink panties.  This time Jeremy couldn’t help but notice her reaction, and as he dropped his head, she realized that he had misinterpreted the reason.  She started to apologize and explain, but stopped herself.  This actually would suit her plan more.  She was going to hate herself for doing this, but he had given her no choice.

       She brusquely told him to follow her into her bathroom.  When he had entered behind her, she pointed to an item on the floor and said “Step on the scale Jeremy.”

       Jeremy hesitated for a moment, the first time he had done so for anything she had asked, but then he slowly stepped forward and on to the scale.  Since she hadn’t ordered it, he did not look down.  Meryn came over and did so instead.

       “Two hundred and ninety seven pounds.”  She reported.  “Jeremy.  You’re obese.”

       Jeremy now looked down.  “I know Miss Meryn.  I’ve always been this way.  I’ve just never been able to do anything about it.”

       “Well, if you want to be able to...um...be allowed to come here, you’re going to have to do something about it.  I don’t like fat men, Jeremy.  But I’m going to give you a chance.”  His head came up at this.  “I’m going to give you one week to show me you can lose a significant amount of weight.  For me Jeremy.  Do you understand?

       “Oh yes Miss Meryn.  I’ll try my best, I promise.”

       “I think you’re going to have to do a lot better than that.”  Way better she thought.  “And Jeremy, I’ll be the judge of what is a significant amount of weight.”  This was just in case he was able to lose one or two pounds, which she thought unlikely anyway.

       “I understand Miss Meryn, and I really want to thank you.”

       God, he wasn’t making this easy.

       “Okay Jeremy, you can step off the scale and get dressed now.  One week from today we’ll weigh you again and see if this is going to work out.  And Jeremy...”

       “Yes Miss Meryn?”

       She paused.

       `”I don’t want you wearing those stupid panties any more.  I want you to wear your own underpants.”  On a whim.  “What do you wear anyway, boxers or briefs?”

       “Which do you like better, Miss Meryn?”

       She had never given it much thought, but decided she liked boxers better.

       “Briefs.”  She said.  It would make his rolls of fat stand out more, and make it easier for him to see his failure.

       “That’s what I wear Miss Meryn.”  And they both smiled.

       After Jeremy had dressed and was getting ready to leave, he turned to Meryn and asked.  “Miss Meryn, I was wondering...”

       Here it comes, she thought, the negotiations about how much she expected him to lose.  No way she was going to give him a number like five or six  pounds.  He just might go all out and starve himself for a week to make it.  Unlikely to succeed, but she wasn’t taking any chances.

       “Yes Jeremy?”

       “...if I could come back over tomorrow to finish everything up.”

       She stopped, and then thought, why not.  She might as well get some benefit out of this whole thing.

       “Sure Jeremy.  Why not.  But I like to sleep late on Sundays.  So why don’t you come over around noon.”

       “Whatever you say, Miss Meryn.”

       “And Jeremy...”

       “Yes Miss Meryn?”

       Another pause.

       “The washer and drier are in the basement.  I’ll give you the key tomorrow”

       “Great Miss Meryn.”

       As he left Meryn could only shake her head.  The laundry.

       

       

1Part Eight: Sunday

       Meryn woke up about ten o’clock the next morning, took a leisurely shower, got dressed, and made herself some bacon and eggs for breakfast.  She did not make her bed, or clean up the kitchen after herself.  Might as well take some advantage of the situation for the short time it would last.  She was not at all surprised when at exactly 12 noon her doorbell rang.  What did catch her unawares however, as she opened the door to let Jeremy in, was that he was holding two large bags of groceries.

       “Jeremy, what’s all this?”

       “I thought I’d get things for dinner ahead of time this morning, Miss Meryn, so I wouldn’t have to rush out later.”

       She really hadn’t thought about him making dinner again for her tonight, but last night’s had been so delicious she couldn’t put up much of an argument.  Still...

       “Jeremy, I can’t really let  you be buying my groceries for me.”  He looked crestfallen.  “I want you to figure out exactly how much you spent last night and today, and we’ll split it fifty-fifty.  No arguments.  Okay?”

       “Whatever you say Miss Meryn.”

       “What are you making?”  Something fattening she hoped.  “No, don’t tell me.  Last night was so good.  I think I’d like to be surprised again tonight.”

       She then told him that she was going to her office for the afternoon to finish preparing for a very important project presentation she was making the next day at work.  She would be home around five.

       “And Jeremy, here is the key to the basement for the washer and dryer.”  She said handing it to him.  “The cleaning materials are on the shelves to the left.”  She added this time.

       “Great.  Thank you Miss Meryn.”

       With that she was off to the office.  She had done most of the research for the project, and she would be the one doing most of the actual presentation of the data.  Her co-worker, Michael, who had been assigned as team leader, would be making the introductions for each section, and providing concluding analysis, but it would be mostly from work she had done.  Michael had joined the company after her, but was clearly more adept at working the system than she, and was recognized to be someone on the fast track within the company.  If the presentation went well, and the project was given the go-ahead as she felt it would be, all of the members of the team would benefit and be rewarded, but Michael more than others, certainly more than her.  Well, she took great satisfaction in realizing that her work was good, but at times she wished that she would get more personal recognition for it.  She just wasn’t  very good at promoting herself.

       Although she worked hard throughout the afternoon, her thoughts occasionally wandered to wondering what Jeremy was accomplishing in her apartment.  On the way home, she hesitated, then stopped to purchase an item she didn’t think she would need that night, but decided to get it just in case.

       Upon arriving home at about ten to five, she was met with a different, but equally delectable aroma.  This time Jeremy greeted her at the door with his smile, informed her that dinner would be ready in about ten minutes, and asked if she would like him to bring her something to drink.  She told him to save it for dinner, that she had a few things that she needed to do, and to let her know when dinner was ready.

       Dying to discover what all Jeremy had been able to do that afternoon, she entered her bedroom.  The first thing she noticed was a large collection of her delicates and undergarments neatly folded and stacked on her long cedar chest at the foot of her bed.  She briefly wondered  why he hadn’t put them away, but curiosity got the better of her as she marched over to her closet.  Had he found the three full bags of laundry she had stuffed inside?  Pulling open the folding double doors, she was taken quite aback.  The laundry bags were gone.  Her hanging clothes, which had been shoved haphazardly and in disarray along the rack, were now hung neatly, including a large number of those just laundered.  And all of those that had needed it had apparently been ironed.  The shelf above that had been a morass of scarves, hats, sweaters and sweatshirts all mixed together, was now organized with all the contents separated and folded.

       What was most amazing to her however, was her shoes on the floor.  If Meryn had one clothing vice, it was shoes.  She owned over thirty pairs, and although she had several shoe racks on the floor of her closet, most of the shoes were strewn in a jumble, so that even she, at times, had trouble finding the right two together.  Now they were all neatly assembled on the racks, in categories, starting with her high boots on one end, followed by low-cut boots, a number of pairs of high heels, a larger number of pumps, then her many flats, and finally a couple of pairs of running shoes and slippers at the other end.  Looking closer, she realized that except for the running shoes and slippers, all of the shoes had obviously been shined.  How had he done that?  She didn’t have any shoe polish.  He must have brought it with him, in several different colors.

       She was brought out of her reverie when Jeremy came to her bedroom door to announce that dinner was ready.  She noticed that, as had been the case the day before, he did not enter her bedroom uninvited when she was in it.

       “I’m sorry I didn’t put those away for you, Miss Meryn.”  He said to her indicating the clothes on her cedar chest.  “I didn’t think you would like me going into your dresser without permission.”

       Comprehension dawning, she gratefully acknowledged it.  “That was very considerate of you Jeremy.  I’ll put them away myself later.  And take care of some things so that there won’t be a problem in the future.”  What was she saying, she wondered.  Oh well, she had given him a week after all, so the opportunity just may present itself in that time for him to straighten up her soon-to-be safe dresser drawers.

       Meryn then allowed Jeremy to escort her to the diningroom, where she was pleased to note that the table had two place settings.  After pulling her chair for her, as she sat, she asked.

       “What delicious surprise have you prepared for us tonight?”

       “Well I realized that I hadn’t asked what type of foods you like, Miss Meryn,” he started, “but I saw several fish cookbooks in your cabinet, so I made you a brook trout almondine.  And a ratatouille for a vegetable.”

       Very impressed, she allowed him to serve her a healthy portion of each, and after finishing that she allowed him to give her a generous second helping of both.  She noticed that he only took a small piece of fish, and one spoonful of ratatouille, and no second portions at all.  Maybe he was going to make a serious attempt at this, she thought.  Not that it mattered, as she felt that there was no way he could continue this for an entire week.  And she was going to be the final judge anyway.  Still, she couldn’t help but be pleasantly touched that he was going to try.

       During dinner, he asked her about her project and the presentation that she was giving the next day.  She explained that it was an investment proposal and prospectus that she and her team had developed for long term implementation by the company.  They were presenting it tomorrow to the CEO, the President of the company, and key members of the Board of Directors.  If they were pleased with it and gave the go-ahead, which she thought they should, it would be a lucrative new venture for the company, and her team would be a major part of the development.

       When Jeremy expressed further interest she began to outline the project to him in very general terms, but as he continued to ask very perceptive questions, she began to go into depth, and became excited and animated as she explained more and more of the minutiae.

       Rather than starting to seem bored, as she would have anticipated of someone not familiar with her field, he apologized several times for asking her to explain things that he didn’t quite understand.  She then came to the sudden realization that when her team practiced dry runs of presenting the proposal among themselves, they did so in the data speak that they were all well versed in.  Although the people they would be speaking to tomorrow, her bosses, were more familiar with this type of information than Jeremy, they were still likely to often be confused by the technical jargon that filled the report.  She then made a special effort to answer Jeremy’s questions in more plain English terms, and was pleased when he clearly seemed to understand.   This had definitely been her most illuminating practice run.  She would have to make sure to brief  Michael about this tomorrow before they started, so that they would do the same with the bosses.

       As the discussion had gone on quite a while, she allowed Jeremy to help her to a third serving of trout, he again not taking any himself.  When she had finished, he told her that he had made her a special dessert.  Although already very full, she didn’t have the heart to refuse him, and he brought out a home made strawberry-rhubarb tart.  When she commented that there was only one, he replied that that was all he had time to make.  She let this go at that, although she knew the real reason.  She sampled the tart, and soon devoured it all, telling him truthfully that it put Grandma’s pie to shame.

       After he had finished clearing the table and cleaning the dishes, Jeremy joined Meryn in the livingroom, where she had been sitting doing some very heavy thinking.  He asked her if there was anything more she needed him to do.  She paused for several seconds before answering, and then decided.  She asked him what time he usually got off from work every day.  He told her about four-thirty.  She then took out the item she had purchased on her way home earlier and gave it to him.

       “This is a key to my apartment Jeremy.  If all goes well, I’ll probably be going out with the team for a few drinks to celebrate tomorrow evening, so I don’t think I’ll be home until about seven.”

       Jeremy’s face beamed.  “I’ll have dinner waiting for you Miss Meryn.”

       “I was hoping you’d say that.  I’ll see you tomorrow.”

       “Whatever you say Miss Meryn.”

1Part Nine: Monday

       As she was driving home from work the next day, Meryn admitted to herself  how tired she was.  And frustrated and upset.  The presentation had gone very  well.  As planned, Meryn had been the primary presenter, standing in her high heels at the podium for over three hours.  What bothered her was that except for asking her for an occasional clarification of her data, all of the questions from the Board were directed to Michael, who had brilliantly utilized her advice to simplify his answers for them so that they clearly seemed to understand.  At he end, the proposal had been approved, and the project given the green light to proceed.  While everyone on the team had been congratulated by the bosses, the most effusive praise had been directed to Michael.  It really upset her that he appeared to be getting most of the credit for the research and analysis that had primarily been done by her.  She had little doubt that after today, Michael would be named project manager.  While she would clearly be included as a valuable contributor, it depressed her that she seemed to be becoming viewed as little more than a data wonk, and not as leadership material.

       Feigning a headache, she begged off from joining her team members for celebratory drinks after work.  As she arrived home, she lamented the fact that she had had Jeremy return that evening.  Oh well, she thought, at least she wouldn’t have to worry about making dinner, although she really wasn’t very hungry.  She decided she would eat quickly, and then send Jeremy home.

       Entering the apartment at 5:45,more than an hour before she was expected, she muttered a barely audible response to Jeremy’s greeting, and hurried directly to her bedroom.  She couldn’t wait to change her clothes, and particularly take off the high heels that had been pinching her the entire day that she had been standing in them.  She put on a tee shirt, a pair of cutoffs, and her slippers, and went back out to the livingroom and collapsed into her sofa, staring into space.

       After a couple of minutes, Jeremy came in and offered her a cold glass of lemonade, which she silently accepted, barely acknowledging him.  As he remained standing there by the sofa, she finally looked up at him.

       “What Jeremy?”  She said somewhat more sharply than she had intended.  It was not his fault she felt as lousy as she did.

       “I was just wondering Miss Meryn how your presentation went today.”

       “Fine, I guess.”  She answered in a resigned voice. When he continued standing there without speaking, she added.  “Is there any thing else?”

       “Well, it just seems that you’re very tense and upset.”

       “I’m just exhausted Jeremy.  It was a very long day, and my feet are killing me from standing in those high heels all day.”

       “If you’ll excuse me from offering Miss Meryn, but I think I might be able to do something that might help with both of those problems.”

       “And what might that be?”

       “Dinner is simmering and about thirty minutes from being done, so in the meantime I’d be very honored to give you a nice foot massage.”

       A foot massage!  She had never had a foot massage before.  No one had ever offered to give her one.  Her first inclination was to graciously refuse, but she was intrigued.  And her feet really did ache.

       “Um...okay Jeremy.  That does sound interesting.”

       Jeremy smiled his smile and quickly disappeared into her bedroom, returning seconds later with a bottle of her scented body lotion.  He knelt down in front of her, took off her slippers, poured a generous amount of lotion onto his hands rubbing them together to warm it up, and then carefully picked up her right foot and began slowly and gently kneading it.  He continued like this for several minutes, silently, before putting her first foot down, applying more lotion to his hands, rubbing them, and then picking up her left foot to begin the process anew.

       Meryn did feel some tension begin to lessen as her feet began to feel much better.  It was at this point that Jeremy broke the silence.

       “So how did the presentation really go Miss Meryn?”

       Why was he breaking the mood, she thought.  She was just beginning to relax.  Still, she realized, she did want to talk about it with somebody, and it was probably better to do so with someone who was not involved.  As he continued massaging her feet, she began to tell him about the meeting, how well it went on the surface, but how she was bothered by how her role had been marginalized.  Instead of offering a bland commiseration, Jeremy surprised her by asking questions about each of the team members, particularly Michael, and about each of the bosses, particularly the President, Mr Martin.  She found herself going into great details about each of them, what she felt were their strengths and weaknesses, and her likes and dislikes about each of them.

       After she had finished, Jeremy observed that it might be important for someone to ask Mr. Martin if he still had any questions and some of the ramifications of the data, that some of it might be confusing, particularly as much of the analysis how been presented through the biased filter of Michael, who was not as completely familiar with the material as she.  Meryn sat back and considered this.  She had noticed that Michael had glossed over several somewhat important issues during the meeting, and had even gotten several minor points wrong.  At the time she didn’t think it was a major problem, but maybe Jeremy was right.  It was crucially important that the Board, particularly Mr. Martin, had a full and complete understanding of the project for it to succeed.  She decided that she would try to find a way tomorrow to speak to him, to make sure that all of his questions were answered.

       Thinking that this whole conversation had only taken about five minutes, she was surprised to realize that it had been over a half an hour.  Jeremy had continued alternately massaging her feet throughout, and they now felt wonderful.  She, herself, felt completely relaxed, and suddenly very hungry.  She mentioned the latter fact to him, and he grinned, put her slippers back on, and rushed to get dinner on the table.

       After seating her at her place, and serving her a large portion of beef bourguignonne over wild rice, taking a very small amount for himself, they continued their conversation.  Meryn now went into what she liked about her job, how excited she was about the project, and things she hoped she could accomplish in the future.  Once again, Jeremy’s questions and observations helped her to look at things in different ways than she had before, and as she retired into the livingroom again, sipping her tea while he cleaned, she reflected how  well and optimistic she now felt as compared to when she arrived home.

       When Jeremy was finished in the kitchen, he came in to ask if there was anything more she needed him to do before he left.  She answered no, but then added as he was leaving.

       “You were right about your foot massage Jeremy.  It was really very nice.  I think I would really like it if I could have another one tomorrow night.”

       “Absolutely Miss Meryn.”  He beamed as he left.  “Whatever you wish.”

1Part Ten: The First Week

       When she arrived home from work the next evening, Meryn was in a much better mood.  She had indeed found an opportunity at work to ask the President, Mr. Martin, if he had any questions or needed any further explanations about the prior day’s presentation.  As it happened, he did have several issues he wanted to discuss, and he was very pleased that she was able to clarify some areas of confusion that he had.  She realized that he had had some misconceptions that could have posed problems in the future, and they both agreed that it was very good that they had discovered and taken care of these issues at this early stage.  On his way home he made a point to stop at her desk to tell her how much he appreciated her bringing these things to his attention.

       Jeremy greeted her at her front door, and indicated that a tall glass of lemonade, and her slippers were waiting for her in the livingroom.  When she got there she also spied the bottle of body lotion, and as she sat down on the sofa, he knelt in front of her, and with her permission, removed her shoes and knee high stockings, and began massaging the lotion onto her feet, one at a time.

       Sipping her lemonade as he worked, she told him about the events of that day with Mr. Martin, and he was very excited for her.  She continued on about other things that had happened during the day, with Jeremy listening avidly, and before she knew it, a half an hour had passed too quickly again.  Jeremy finished his ministrations to her feet, and then went on to serve her another lovely dinner.

       The same pattern repeated itself the next two days as well.  Jeremy would have a cold drink waiting for her, and would settle down on his knees massaging her feet as she would unwind by discussing her day’s events with him.  This always lasted at least thirty minutes, after which she always felt thoroughly refreshed and relaxed, and they would then proceed onto dinner.

       On both of the days, Meryn was able to tell him how Mr. Martin had initiated further discussions with her, and how he seemed very interested in her opinions. 

       On Friday he called her into his office and explained that he had been invited to an all day conference the next day, Saturday, and he wondered at this late date whether she would be available to attend it with him.  He’d had already asked Michael, earlier in the week, to go with him, but he now felt that two heads to advise him were better than one.

       Meryn immediately agreed to go.  She was so delighted and excited by this turn of events that she readily accepted an invitation from several of her co-workers to join them after work for some TGIF drinks.  Driving home later she admitted to herself that she couldn’t wait to tell Jeremy the good news.  It was at that point that she realized that she hadn’t called him to let him know that she was going to be so late.

       That had really been quite thoughtless of her she knew.  She wondered anxiously if he would be upset with her.  This appeared to be a very real possibility when he did not greet her at the door as he had been doing all week.  Rushing to the kitchen she found him furiously working over the stove.

       “Miss Meryn, I’m so sorry.”  He said when he saw her. “I think I overcooked dinner.  Please forgive me.  If we eat it right away, maybe it will still be alright.”

       Seeing his consternation, Meryn reluctantly decided to forego her nightly foot massage which she had come so quickly to look forward to.  As Jeremy seated her at the table, she realized that he had deflected all the blame for the lateness of the dinner onto himself .  As he served her her portion of poached salmon over sauteed spinach, she decided she would apologize to him later.  She then excitedly told him about her invitation to the seminar the next day.

       She was somewhat deflated by his reaction to this news.  While he expressed happiness about it, he seemed somewhat reserved.  When she tried to engage him in further conversation he appeared to withdraw even more.  Maybe he really was upset with her, she thought, but after watching him for several more minutes as he busied himself clearing the table, she realized that he wasn’t angry, but instead very nervous and tense.  And she suddenly felt she knew the reason why.  She had almost forgotten with all that had taken place over the week.  Tomorrow was his weigh-in, and, she sadly reflected, this was all going to be over.

       Meryn now believed she understood how much this all meant to Jeremy.  As she reflected back, she had to admit to herself that the experience had been very different, and far more enjoyable than she could have imagined.  She had come to like Jeremy quite a bit, and far more than from the benefit of his meticulous attention to her domestic chores.  She realized that it was his obvious interest in listening to her, and his perceptive discussions with her that she valued the most.  She began to toy with the idea of telling him tomorrow that the two to three pounds she now felt it was likely he lost judging from the minuscule amounts he had been eating the past week, would be enough for him to continue this a while longer.  She reluctantly rejected the idea however.  It wouldn’t be fair.  It would just make it that much harder for them both when it inevitably had to end in another week or two.  It was best to get this over with tomorrow.

       Still, she mused as she was sipping her tea in the livingroom as Jeremy was finishing cleaning up the kitchen, he had done everything she could have asked of him in the past week, usually without her ever needing or thinking to ask.  She found herself wanting to do something for him, to give him some token to express her appreciation, but she could think of nothing that seemed appropriate.  As she thought back to all of the events of the past week, an idea did begin to occur to her, and the more she considered it, the more right it seemed.  It wouldn’t be enough, she thought, but she sincerely believed it would at least be something he would like.

       When Jeremy finally came out to ask if there was anything she would like him to do before he left for the night, she told him that she would probably be eating  on and off at the conference tomorrow, so not to make dinner for her then.  She didn’t tell him the real reason.  She didn’t feel it would be right.  It would be like he was preparing his own last meal.  She told him she would probably be home around six.

       “There is one last thing you can do for me tonight, Jeremy.”  She continued as she noted the disappointment on his face.  “I think I would really like my foot massage that we postponed earlier.”

       Jeremy graced her with his first real smile of the evening.

       “Sure Miss Meryn.  Right away.”  And he disappeared into her bedroom, returning several seconds later with her lotion.  Falling to his knees, he slipped off her shoes and socks, and silently began applying himself devotedly to the care of her feet.

       After several minutes, Meryn was ready to test her theory.

       “You like feet ,don’t you Jeremy.”

       A slight pause, then a quiet, “Yes Miss Meryn.”

       “Do you like my feet?”

       “You have the most gorgeous feet.”

       She was very pleased.  She had always thought she had nice feet.  Now for the acid test.

       “Would you like to kiss my feet, Jeremy?”

       He stopped completely.  Then in a voice barely above a whisper.

“Oh God yes, Miss Meryn.”

       She smiled broadly.  She had been right.

       “You have my permission.”  She said softly.  “Kiss my feet, Jeremy.”

       Jeremy remained absolutely motionless for several seconds, as if the enormity of her offer had overwhelmed him.  He then began to raise her right foot that he had been holding, and bent forward to meet it halfway.  He gently placed his lips on the top of her foot, let them linger there for several moments, and then carefully put her foot down.  He then lifted her left foot , also meeting it halfway, kissing it in the same way in the same place.  He then gently put that foot down, and remained kneeling with his head bowed.

       “Is that all you feel my feet deserve?”

       He looked up at her immediately.

       “Oh no, Miss Meryn.  Not at all.  It’s just that I didn’t think...I mean...that you wouldn’t want...”

       “Kiss my feet like you think they deserve, Jeremy”

       He smiled again and nodded.  He carefully picked up her right foot again and bent forward to kiss it softly on the top.  He then slowly kissed down the top of her foot to the base of her toes and then across.  He then deliberately, gently, almost  reverently, kissed the tops, tips and bottoms of each of her toes.  He proceeded across the ball of her foot, along the side, up into the arch, and then around the bottom, the sides and the back of her heel.  He progressed around both sides of her ankle, returning to the top of her foot for one final lingering kiss.

       Placing her right foot down, he gently picked up her left foot and began the same sequence.  While he had been completely silent before, he now began to softly speak as he proceeded, just loud enough for Meryn to hear.

       “Thank you for this wonderful gift Miss Meryn.”  He murmured as he progressed across her toes.  As he worked across the bottom of her foot.  “Thank you for allowing me to be of some use to you this past week.  It’s an experience I will always cherish.”  Finally, as he came up around her heel and ankle.  “Most of all, I want to thank you so very much for giving me a chance to prove my worthiness to you.”  As he finished on the top of her foot where he had begun.  “Even if I don’t meet your expectations tomorrow, it was an opportunity I will always greatly treasure.”  One last kiss, and he put her foot back down.

       Meryn had been thoroughly enjoying the homage that Jeremy had been paying.  But as he had gone on like this, she began to feel empty.  All she could offer was what she felt was a very inadequate, quiet, “Thank you Jeremy.  That was very special.”

       As he left for the evening, Meryn began to feel a very deep sense of loss.  Tomorrow had to be the end of this, she insisted to herself.  For both of their sakes.

 

1Part Eleven: Judgement Day

       At the conference the next day, Meryn found her mind wandering frequently to worrying about how Jeremy was going to react to the evening’s events.  She found the conference stimulating, and was able to focus enough to answer any questions, and discuss the issues raised with her boss, Mr. Martin.  She noted with satisfaction that he referred to her as often as he did with Michael.  When the conference ended at four however, she was pleased that after thanking them for attending, Mr. Martin indicated that he had to leave right away.  She really didn’t want to have to socialize today.  She wanted to get home before Jeremy arrived.

       She was thus very surprised when, upon arriving home, she found Jeremy in her bedroom folding a last batch of her laundry, and putting it into her now neatly arranged dresser drawers.

       “Jeremy.  What are you doing here now?”  She asked, perhaps a little too harshly.  “I told you I didn’t need you to make dinner for me tonight.”

       He looked up and smiled, but this time it did not include his eyes.  “I’m sorry Miss Meryn.  As you ordered, I didn’t make dinner.  But I felt I needed to come over today to get some things done for you.  Make sure the place was spic and span.”

       For the last time, she thought he left unsaid.  Meryn sat down on her bed.  This was all too much.  She needed to get this over with as soon as possible.  But she wanted to let him down as easily as she could.

       “Jeremy,” she started quietly, “I just want you to know how much I appreciate everything you’ve done this week.  It has been a far different, and much nicer experience than I could have ever believed.  But I just don’t think it can continue.”

        His eyes were cast down.  She was making a mess of this she thought.

       “We did make a bargain though.”  She sighed.  “So let’s see how it goes.”  She stood up and looked away.  “Do what you have to do.”  She said barely audibly.  “I’ll meet you in the bathroom.”

       Jeremy joined her there a minute later.  She couldn’t suppress a ghost of a smile when she saw him wearing a pair of white briefs.  He didn’t look anywhere near as ridiculously fat in them as she had supposed he would, and she was secretly happy about that.

       Without a word, he took a deep breath and stepped forward onto the scale.  Again he refused to look down, and Meryn saw that his eyes were closed.  She also realized that he was trembling.

       My God, what am I doing to this man, she thought despairingly.  She had to end this now, once and for all.  Bending forward, she peered down at the scale.  Her eyes widened.  “Two hundred and seventy eight.” was all she could say.

       Two hundred and seventy eight.  She looked again.  Nineteen pounds.  She was thunderstruck.  Jeremy had lost nineteen pounds.  In one week.  She had never heard of anyone losing that much weight in one week.  But he had done it.  For her.  Oh, he was getting something out of it for himself as well she knew.  He was proving his worthiness to her, he had said.  Because she had asked.  He had done it for her.  She was staggered by what this all meant.

       Her attention was drawn back to Jeremy as she heard him speaking.

       “I’m so sorry Miss Meryn.  I tried my best.  I really did.  But I’ve never been able to do this no matter how hard I try.  I’m so sorry I failed you.”  He was trembling more violently.

       Meryn put her hand on one of his forearms and gripped it tightly.

       “Jeremy.”  She said urgently.  “You lost nineteen pounds in one week.  That’s incredible.”  She wanted desperately to reassure him.  “I’m so very proud of you.”  The trembling diminished slightly, as he opened his eyes and looked at her, disbelieving.

       “But Jeremy,” she continued as she guided him off the scale and back into the bedroom holding his arm the entire way, “you have to continue to lose weight.  Oh, I can’t expect you to lose this much weight every week.  That would be unhealthy, and I don’t want that.  Ever.  But I want you to continue to lose.  For me. And I know now that you can and will.”  She added one more time.  “For me.”

       Jeremy’s face went from disbelieving to a look of wonderment as he considered the implications of all that she had just said.  His smile now definitely included his eyes.  As Meryn let go of his arm, and indicated that he should dress, she suddenly realized that she was famished.  In truth, she had not eaten anything during the day at the conference.  She had been too nervous about this evening.  She decided that she was going to make them both some dinner.  When he started to protest, she insisted.

       “No Jeremy.  I want to do this.  I know you’re probably not going to eat much, but it will be my small contribution to help celebrate your achievement.”  He said no more.  Meryn was the boss after all.  And maybe now, he fervently hoped, for a good while longer.

       Leaving him to get dressed, Meryn went into the kitchen to see what she could whip up in a hurry.  She decided on Spanish omelets, as they were easy, quick, and she knew she could make good ones.  As predicted, Jeremy ate only a small portion, but declared so sincerely that it was the best omelet he had ever eaten, that she almost believed him.

       While he cleaned up, which he had insisted upon, Meryn sat in the livingroom and contemplated everything that had happened that evening, and what all she had gotten herself into.  She felt strangely content.  She certainly didn’t know where this was all going to go, but Jeremy had earned the right to continue on a while longer.  And she was content, indeed happy now, to see it through.  Oh, it would probably end at some point, maybe sooner rather than later.  It was still all so strange.  But she decided now to let it play itself out.  He had proven to her that he deserved that.

       As he came in to ask if there was anything more she needed from him tonight, she smiled.  “I think you owe me one of your wonderful foot massages Jeremy.”  This time he worked on her feet for over an hour, as they talked first about the conference that day, and her hopes and aspirations for her project.  They moved seamlessly on to other topics, laughing and sharing confidences, and getting to know each other better, now, as she reasoned, there was a good reason for them to do so.

       After she felt that she was as relaxed and comfortable as she could ever be, Meryn suggested that she would find it very nice if Jeremy wanted to repeat his special foot adoration of the night before.  He was ecstatically happy to comply.   As he ever so slowly and gently performed his worship of her feet, he began thanking her again for the opportunity she had given him to serve her.  He thanked her for the faith she had shown in him.  And he promised he would always do everything he could do to never let her down.  She never let on that she had had very little faith in him.  It didn’t matter now, and she didn’t want to ruin a moment she was thoroughly enjoying.  She would let nothing bring her down tonight.

       When his homage was finished, Meryn told him there was one last thing she needed him to do before she retired for the evening.

       “Anything Miss Meryn.”  He replied.

       “I want you to go to the linen closet and get out some sheets and a blanket,” she told him, “and put them on the couch in the livingroom.  I’d like you to sleep over tonight.”

       Jeremy’s eyes widened as he rushed to obey.

       “And Jeremy,” she said to him after he had fixed up his bed on the couch, and she was entering her bedroom for the night, “Tomorrow I’d like you to go to your place, and bring back some clothes, and whatever else you need.  I think I’d like you to stay over a couple of more nights as well.”

       Jeremy’s smile lit up the room.  “Whatever you wish, Miss Meryn. Whatever you want.”

1Part Twelve: The First Month

       The next morning, Meryn woke up at about 8:30, much earlier than she usually did on a Sunday, but there were new circumstances in her home to which she found herself unexpectedly excited.  She got up and put on a long robe over her nightgown, and cautiously peered out into the livingroom.  The couch was empty, and there were no sheets or blankets.  Had Jeremy decided to forget the whole thing and leave?  After all this, that would be a major disappointment.  She then heard noise in the kitchen.

       “Good morning Miss Meryn.”  A fully dressed and smiling Jeremy greeted her as she entered the kitchen.  “I didn’t know when you might be getting up, but I have a breakfast of blueberry pancakes all set to make for you whenever you’re ready to eat.”

       Meryn decided to take a quick shower while he made the pancakes, which he served her when she returned.  She noticed that he had taken none, and when she asked, he replied that he never ate breakfast.  She wondered if that was always the case, or just in the last week.  She decided not to press the matter, as he joined her for coffee.

       Later that day, he did go to his apartment and brought back a couple of days worth of clothes and other necessary items.  Several days quickly became every day, and a routine began to develop.  He continued to be diligent and meticulous in performing all the household chores, always making sure that Meryn never had to lift a finger at home unless she insisted.  He always woke up before her, stripped the couch, then showered in the bathroom off the second bedroom that had been converted into a computer room.  He then prepared and served her breakfast, joining her for coffee only.

       As he had to be at school before she had to be in her office, he left before her, but was always home first in the evening.  He would begin to prepare dinner, and then greet her at the door when she arrived home.  The first order of business was then to bring her a large cold drink in the living room, and proceed onto her daily foot massage.

       This had rapidly become Meryn’s favorite part of the day.  While she had to admit that the foot massages in themselves were heavenly, she came to value her conversations with him during them even more.  She usually began by discussing her day at work, and was continually amazed at how he always seemed to lead her to have a fresh and different outlook at things.  He was anything but an expert in her type of work, but he seemed to have an intuitive sense in how to put information together, and his observations, which she began to actively solicit, helped her immensely at work in putting her best foot forward.

       His dinners continued to be exceptional, even after she suggested that they begin to have simpler fare as she was afraid that the gourmet type meals he had been preparing might begin to bankrupt them.  She continued to insist that they split all household expenses fifty-fifty, although she paid her entire rent, and made sure that he not give up his apartment.  His portions at dinner remained very small, and at the end of the second week he had lost another eight pounds, and an additional seven by the end of the third.  While he was very disappointed with the decreasing amounts he was losing each week, she reassured him that she was very pleased with his progress, and thirty four pounds lost in three weeks was tremendous.

       At he end of each night, after Jeremy had finished his evening chores, during which Meryn would watch TV, read a book, or talk to friends on the phone, she made a daily ritual of his adoration of her feet.  She began to call this his evening devotional.  Before going to bed, she would summon him, and he would kneel before her, and begin his veneration.  This was her second most favorite time of the day, and she came to believe that she enjoyed having her feet kissed almost as much as he enjoyed kissing them.  During this time, he would always find new and creative words through which to offer his devotion as his lips traversed the length and breath of her feet.  He would first thank her for permitting him to so worship her.  He would then express his profound gratitude for having been given the opportunity to serve her that day.  He would always end by humbly begging her to be allowed to continue to serve her again the next day.  As she would say goodnight, she would always respond to him in the affirmative.  She would not yet allow herself to contemplate the time in the future when she would eventually have to say no.  That was not for now.  As Jeremy would leave to go to bed on the couch, and she nestled under her own covers, she invariably went to sleep with a smile.

       Meryn hadn’t talked to Natasha for over two weeks after that first night when she had met Jeremy, but she ran into her one day at work.  Natasha voiced her concern that Meryn had been avoiding her, and apologized to her once again for trying to foist a loser like Jeremy on her.  Meryn replied that on the contrary, things had, and were going very nicely with Jeremy, and she thanked Natasha for making the introduction.  Natasha immediately became very interested, and began pumping Meryn for information, but Meryn remained very sparing in her details.  For some reason she just didn’t want to go into depth about the developing relationship, especially with Natasha.  When Natasha continued to press, Meryn suggested that they meet the following day for lunch.

       “Meri, you have to tell me what’s going on.”  Natasha insisted as their lunch was served to them at a café near to the office the next day.  “It’s only fair.  After all, I supplied him for you.”

       Meryn was actually enjoying having Natasha beg her for information for a change.  “It’s just like you said Tash.  Jeremy is absolutely fantastic when it comes to housework.  He doesn’t allow me to do a thing.”  She then went on to describe many of the domestic duties that he performed so admirably.

       “I’m not interested in your laundry, Meri.  You know that.”  Natasha snorted after listening to this litany for a while.  “I want to know what’s really going on”

       Meryn had no desire to tell Natasha about Jeremy’s nightly devotional.  Somehow that was just too personal.  Still she did think it reasonable to offer, “He does give me the most wonderful foot massages every day.”

       “Finally something worthwhile.”  Natasha muttered under her breath.

       “And, of course, as you know, he’s the most fabulous cook.”

       This brought Natasha up short.  “No, I didn’t know that.”  She admitted.  “I never had him cook for me.  Of course it wouldn’t come as a great surprise to anyone that Jeremy has a way with food.”

       Before Meryn could reply to this snide remark, Natasha went on.  “That’s one area where Scott is still woefully deficient.  He’s still a terrible cook, and he pays dearly for that , let me tell you.  Still I’d be careful if I were you Meri.  You don’t want the whale harpooning you with too many great meals or you might start packing it on just like him.

       Meryn had been annoyed with Natasha’s original remark, and now she was really upset.  She started to retort about all the weight Jeremy had lost, but then held back as a better idea occurred to her.  She would let Natasha discover that for herself, and it would give Jeremy an opportunity to outshine Scott in something.

       “As you can see Tash, I’m not very comfortable talking about all this.”  She began.  “Why don’t you and Scott come over to my place for dinner on Saturday, and you can see for yourself what’s going on.”

       Natasha thought that was a great idea, and they finished their lunch by agreeing to meet at Meryn’s place on Saturday night.

1Part Thirteen: The Dinner

       Meryn was disappointed in Jeremy’s unenthusiastic reaction when she told him about the dinner plans for Saturday.  She wondered, with an unexpected pang of jealousy, whether he was still distraught over Natasha’s rejection of him, and she now worried whether this get together would reopen a wound.  Maybe he was just concerned about another in the flesh comparison with Scott.  Well, that was in large part what this dinner was all about, to show off Jeremy in his new and improving light, and in circumstances where he had a clear advantage over Scott.

       Despite his obvious misgivings, Jeremy poured himself into the effort of ensuring that everything was perfect for the event.  By Saturday the apartment was even more spotless than usual, and he spent the entire afternoon working on the dinner.  He was so busy with last minute preparations that when the doorbell rang it was Meryn who went to answer it for him.

       As soon as the front door was closed behind Natasha and Scott as she welcomed them in, Scott dropped to his knees, kissed her shoes, and thanked her for allowing him to accompany his mistress for the evening..  She had not expected this, and rather clumsily asked him to get up.  Natasha snapped her fingers and he immediately arose.

       Meryn couldn’t help but regard Natasha.  Her friend was dressed in a mid knee length black leather skirt, which covered knee high stiletto heeled black leather boots.  She wore a bright red blouse with a studded black leather vest.  The effect, as intended, was stunning.  She’s really playing the game to the hilt, Meryn mused as she hugged her in greeting.

       Walking Natasha into the livingroom, she did not initially notice that Scott did not accompany them, but remained in the foyer.. After bidding Natasha to sit, and offering her an already poured glass of wine, she was about to comment on this, when Scott reappeared.  She noted with distaste that he was once again wearing only his pair of pink panties.  He hurried over, fell to his knees, and bent forward on his elbows at the side of Natasha’s feet.

       “So where are you hiding Jeremy, Meri?”  Natasha asked, paying no attention to the prostrate Scott.  “Slaving away in the kitchen for us I trust.”

       Before Meryn could reply, Jeremy appeared.  To her complete dismay, he was clad only in his white briefs.  He strode over, knelt before Natasha, kissed her boots, and proclaimed.  “It is my very great honor to be allowed to assist Miss Meryn in entertaining you tonight Miss Natasha.”

       “And I’m sure it will be very entertaining indeed.”  Natasha responded, eyeing him with a smirk.  “My, my.  Meryn must be working you very hard Jeremy.  I do believe you have lost some weight.”

       “Thirty nine pounds.”  Meryn blurted out proudly in spite of her annoyance, the most recent five pound loss having been noted earlier that day.

       “Well done Meri.”  Natasha crooned.  “Now he’s just sloppy fat, instead of disgustingly obese.”

       Meryn was incensed.  How dare Natasha.  She was about to issue an angry rebuke when Jeremy spoke up.  “Miss Meryn is very conscientious in assuring that I strive to become as healthy as possible.”

       “As well she should.”  Natasha answered.  “An owner should make sure that her property is well maintained.  Sometimes it’s just so much harder to do than others, though.  That’s why I so greatly applaud her for her accomplishment here.”

       Her accomplishment.  Meryn almost choked.  She was going to set Natasha straight right now.

       “I think even greater congratulations will be due Miss Meryn when you finish your meal tonight.”  Jeremy rushed forth again, before turning toward Meryn.  “And Miss Meryn, dinner is now  ready, so with your leave, may I escort you and Miss Natasha into the diningroom?”

       Meryn bit down on her anger, and silently thanked Jeremy for diffusing it so effectively.  She really didn’t want to ruin the evening.  Accepting Jeremy’s hand to help her up after he had risen, she heard a snap of fingers again, and saw Scott scramble to his feet to assist Natasha.

       Proceeding into the diningroom, Natasha expressed surprise when she noted that there were four table settings.  Meryn was going to have no more of this.

       “I like to have Jeremy eat with me.”  She answered evenly.  “So I thought it would be best if we all ate together tonight.”   She was ready for an argument.

       “Anything you say Meri.”  Natasha responded pleasantly.  “I’m just a guest here tonight.  This is your house.  Of course you make the rules.”

       After seating the two ladies at the table, Jeremy was ready to present his feast.  It began with a personally cut medley of fresh strawberries, pineapple, kiwi, melon, blueberries and raspberries drizzled with cognac.  This was followed by a freshly made wild mushroom soup, then a spinach salad topped with Gorgonzola, chopped walnuts, fresh apple chunks, mixed with a balsamic vinaigrette with Italian herbs.  Finally the piece-de-resistance, a made from scratch paella brimming with chunks of lobster, whole prawns, clams, chicken, and sausage.

       Throughout the meal, the two slaves were constantly jumping up from their seats to serve their ladies each course, and seconds when desired.  In between, they were able to sit down and have a portion of each themselves.  Scott made it a point to not take any more than the very small amounts that Jeremy allowed himself, and if he was disappointed in the meager servings, it certainly was more than he had anticipated being allowed to have.  Other than their service, the slaves were ignored, as Natasha somewhat dominated the conversation with Meryn, mostly discussing events at work, and mutual friends and acquaintances.

       The dinner was culminated with what had definitely now become Meryn’s favorite dessert, Jeremy’s homemade strawberry-rhubarb tart.  When these were finished, Jeremy not having one himself, Natasha finally saw fit to exclaim.

       “Meri, this was the most unbelievable meal I have ever had.  Every part of it was fabulous.  You did a fantastic job.”

       Not this time vowed Meryn.

       “Oh come on Tash.  You know Jeremy made everything tonight.”

       “Of course I know that you used Jeremy to help you prepare this extravaganza, but just like any other kitchen utensil, he’s just a tool, another piece of equipment for you to use.  You’re the one responsible for creating this wonderful evening, and to you goes all the credit.”

       Meryn again felt her hackles rising, but before she could refute this ridiculous claim, Natasha went on.  “And I really should send Scott over to you for lessons.  He’s still such a disaster in the kitchen.”

       At least there was that, Meryn thought, remaining silent.  Natasha, in a backhanded way, had finally acknowledged Jeremy’s superiority over Scott in something.  It was not enough however.

       “Meri, I need to talk to you about something else as well.”  Natasha continued.  “While the slaves clean up, why don’t we retire to the livingroom.”

       Once there, and seated across from each other, Natasha leaned forward and began almost breathlessly.  “Meri, come on.  You’ve been holding out on me long enough.  You’ve got to tell me more about you and Jeremy.”

       Meryn didn’t quite understand the sudden change in Natasha’s tone and demeanor, but she welcomed it.  It was more like the old Tash, before any of these Mistress-slave games.  It might give her a chance now to do what she had been trying to do all evening, extol Jeremy’s virtues.

       “Okay Tash.  You’re right.”  She offered hopefully.  “Tell me what you’d like to know.”

       Natasha grinned conspiratorially like a young school girl.  “The sex, Meri.  The sex.  Isn’t it as fantastic as I said?”

       Of all the questions Natasha could have asked, this one was totally unexpected.  As the relationship between Meryn and Jeremy had been evolving over the past month, sex had never been part of her equation.  She had never even considered it, and she struggled now to find a way to explain this to Natasha.

       “Sex.  God no, Tash.  Not at all.  I mean it’s only been two months since Rick.  I mean...I couldn’t...not Jeremy.”  She stammered.

       ‘Oh Meri, you’ve got it all wrong again.”  Natasha shot back.  “I don’t mean intercourse.  I told you before, you don’t fuck your slave.  You use him.  As a sex toy.  His hands, his fingers, his lips, his tongue, any way and any where, and as often as you want.”  She paused for emphasis.  “But never his prick.  That would make him something he’s not.”

       Meryn didn’t know what to say.

       “And Jeremy is very good at it, Meri, you can believe me.”

       This jolted Meryn out of her silence.

       “You...and Jeremy?”  She had never thought.

       “Of course.”  Natasha replied.  “Why do you think I kept him around as long as I did.  In a lot of ways he was almost as good as Scott.  As long as I kept my eyes closed.”

       Meryn was now truly speechless.

       “And speaking of pricks, Meri.”  Natasha continued.  “Have you put Jeremy in a cock cage yet?”

       “What?  No.  Never.  I mean, why on earth would I ever want to do anything like that?”

       “To keep him from masturbating of course.”  Natasha went on urgently.  “Lord, Meri, here you are, denying yourself all this time, and he’s probably out there whacking off twenty times a day.  It’s not right Meri.  It’s just not right.”

       Their conversation was interrupted at the point when Scott and Jeremy reentered the livingroom, bringing in after dinner drinks for them.  After Scott gave Natasha hers, he went down on all fours in front of her, and as Meryn watched with disgust, Natasha nonchalantly put her booted feet up onto his back and began sipping her drink.

       For some reason that she couldn’t really understand, this angered Meryn, but before she could express it in any way, Jeremy presented himself in exactly the same way on all fours in front of her.  She was outraged. She stared at his back in astonishment as he knelt there waiting.  Reluctantly, she decided that she didn’t want to embarrass or risk any further denigration of him by Natasha, so she slowly placed her own feet onto his back, slouched in her chair, and sat there seething.

       Receiving only terse replies to her further attempts at conversation, Natasha realized that Meryn was really angry.  And she was sure that she knew the reason why.

       “Well Meri, this has been an absolutely wonderful evening, but Scott has got a long night ahead of him,” she flashed Meryn a knowing smile, “so I think we really must be going.”  With that she took her feet of Scott’s back and snapped her fingers.  He immediately scrambled to his feet, and hurried from the room toward the foyer.

       “And Meri, I really believe you should consider very strongly what we discussed earlier.”

       Meryn took her own legs off Jeremy and sat forward.  “As always it’s been a very educational night with you Tash.”  She said flatly.  “I can assure you that I am going to think long and hard about what I learned tonight.”  With that, she got up, and studiously ignoring the still kneeling Jeremy, she took Natasha by the arm, and escorted her toward the front door.

       When the two arrived in the foyer, the already dressed Scott dropped to his knees, kissed Meryn”s shoes, and thanked her once again for his inclusion.  Meryn didn’t even bother to answer, and at another snap of Natasha’s fingers, he stood up.  As Natasha leaned forward to kiss Meryn on the cheek, she whispered one more time.  “You’ve really got to do something about this Meri.”

       “I will Tash.  Believe me I will.”  She replied as she opened the front door.  She couldn’t get them out fast enough.

1Part Fourteen: Fireworks

       As he got up from his knees, while Miss Meryn was seeing Miss Natasha and Scott to the door, Jeremy was very anxious.  Though he had never encountered it before, he knew that Miss Meryn was upset, and had been for much of the evening.  He just didn’t know why.  He had tried so hard to do everything he could to make the night a success for her, so that she would be proud of him in front of Miss Natasha.  But he had obviously failed.  This was made all the more apparent to him when she walked briskly past him from the foyer, and proceed into her bedroom without saying a word.

       Jeremy didn’t know what to do with himself, so he stood there numbly as if in a trance.  If only she would tell him what he had done wrong, so he could beg forgiveness and promise never to do it again.  An even more frightening thought began to occur to him.  What if tonight had just been another opportunity for her to compare him directly to someone like Scott, and he had come up wanting again.  He thought back to the cryptic conversation Miss Meryn and Mis Natasha at the end of the night.  Was Miss Natasha offering to find someone new and better, like Scott, for Miss Meryn as she had threatened to do once before?  And was Miss Meryn considering it, and was just struggling to find any excuse to tell him he had to go.  Jeremy was beginning to panic.

       His fear rose to a new level when he heard her sharply call him to come into the bedroom.  He entered nervously and saw that she had changed into her nightgown covered by a long robe, and was sitting on the side of her bed.  She indicated that he should kneel before her.

       As he looked up at her from his knees, he could sense that she was still upset and very tense.  For several long moments she just stared down at him frowning.

       “So Jeremy.”  She broke the silence sternly.  “Explain to me why you felt it so necessary to take off your clothes tonight.”

       He took a deep breath before answering.  “I’m so sorry Miss Meryn.  I know you don’t like me to undress, but when I saw from the kitchen that Scott had done so, I didn’t want Miss Natasha to think you didn’t have the same control and respect from me.”

       “And you think that prancing around nearly naked is a sign of respect for me?  As Natasha said, Jeremy, this is my house, and I make the rules.  Don’t you ever forget it.”

       “Never again Miss Meryn.  I swear.”

       “And that footstool stunt Jeremy” she added, “what on earth could you ever have been thinking?”

       He bowed his head.  He knew now he had completely failed her tonight.  Every choice he had made had been wrong.  But he would answer her question truthfully, no matter what the consequences.

       “I was thinking” he admitted quietly “that at that moment there was no place in the world I would rather be.”

       Meryn lowered her head and allowed herself a small smile.  She could never remain angry for long with Jeremy.  And, in reality, she hadn’t really been angry with him now.  She knew that everything he had done tonight had been an attempt to please her.  She understood that it was another issue entirely that was really bothering her.  It was time to broach it, but she didn’t quite know how to proceed. 

       “Jeremy” she began tentatively.  She paused a moment longer.

“Do you masturbate?”

       His face reddened.  “Yes, Miss Meryn.”

       Of course he did.  How could she think otherwise.  The more important question.

       “How often?”

       He hung his head.  “Almost every day.”

       “Sometimes more?”  She asked.

       “Sometimes more.”

       Natasha he been right.  Meryn didn’t know if it was that fact, or Jeremy’s admission that was refueling her anger.

       “How dare you.  How dare you do that in my house.  Under my roof.”

       Jeremy’s head snapped up.  “Oh no Miss Meryn.  Not at all.   Not  here.   Never.”

       “What do you mean?  You just told me you jerk off a couple of times a day, but now you’re trying to tell me you don’t do it here.”  Her eyes widened.  “You mean you do it at work?”

       “God no, Miss Meryn.  I would never do that.  Please believe me.  You don’t understand.”

       “Don’t play games with me Jeremy.  You say you do it several times a day, but that you don’t do it anywhere.  Explain to me what I don’t understand.”

       He swallowed.  “You asked me if I masturbate, Miss Meryn, and I do.  But never here.  I wouldn’t...I haven’t...Not since...”  He paused.

       “Since when Jeremy?”

       “Since I met you Miss Meryn.”

       Now it was Meryn’s turn to pause.  Then...

       “You’re telling me that you haven’t done anything like that since the day you met me?”

       He could only nod.

       “Why not?”  She was perplexed.  “Doesn’t being here...All of this...Don’t I turn you on?”

       “Oh God yes Miss Meryn.  Since the day I met you I have never been so stimulated.  Every day, every minute that I’m with you.”

       “Then why?”  She was truly puzzled.

       Head hung once again.  “Because I didn’t think it was right.  I shouldn’t...I wouldn’t...without...”

       She was almost afraid to ask.  “Without what Jeremy?”

       “Without your permission.”

       Meryn rocked back slightly.  For the first time she actually realized that this wasn’t all a game to Jeremy.  She was somewhat frightened by the amount of control he had given her, unasked for, over him.  She was staggered by the implications, and she struggled to understand what it all might mean.  She knew she was at a crossroads, and critical decisions had to be made.  For several long, long moments she looked down at him silently.  She decided.

       “Jeremy.”  She asked quietly.  “Did you ever give pleasure to Natasha?  Sexually?”

       Face reddening again.  “Yes Miss Meryn”

       “Did you enjoy it?”

       Now blushing furiously.  “Yes Miss Meryn.”

       Her face now softening.  “I think I would very much like for you to do something like that for me tonight.”

       He just looked up at her without speaking.

       Oh my God, he’s going to refuse.  After all this, she thought desperately.

       “Miss Meryn?”  He finally broke the silence.

       “Yes?” she quavered.

       “I really want you to enjoy this.  I think it would be a lot better if you lay back and try to relax.”

       She smiled.  She really was acting like a schoolgirl doing it for the first time.  In a way though, this was a first time.  Like this.  She lay back on her bed with her legs still bent over the edge.  And waited.

       The first thing she felt was his hands working their way under her robe beginning to caress the outside of her thighs.  He continued this for several minutes, gently and slowly stroking her outer legs.  And she did begin to relax.  She then felt his lips softly touching the inside of her right knee, then slowly kissing his way up her inner thigh.  When he reached her panty covered mound he lightly brushed over it with his lips, eliciting a slight moan, before kissing her left inner thigh to her knee.  He then proceeded to softly lick his way back up her thigh.  Reaching her panties this time, he nuzzled the area with mouth and nose, her hips slightly thrusting in response, before licking down her right thigh.  She was starting to become very wet.  Inside.

       One more time, Jeremy licked his way up her thigh, now more strongly and broadly with his tongue.  When it reached her center, its own wetness struggled to meet hers the cloth of her covering.  Get them off, she screamed in her mind as her hips began to gyrate more.  As if he had actually heard her plea, his hands reached up and pulled her panties down and off, his tongue then returning immediately to her lower lips.  It pressed through, found her clitoris, and began gently licking.  Her moans became groans, her back arched, and as his tongue became more insistent, she came heavily.

       Responding to her cry of joy, Jeremy’s tongue began thrusting in and out more forcefully, inspiring further spasms of pleasure for Meryn.  Wave upon wave of her orgasm continued for over a minute, his tongue working furiously throughout, before it began to subside, and then slowly, peacefully, came to an end.

       As she settled back into a very satisfied rest, she became aware that while Jeremy’s attentions had diminished, they had not ceased.  His tongue had continued to gently lap inside her outer lips producing a very strange sensation.  This was a new experience for her.  While she had had oral sex before, it was usually as a part of a sixty-nine, and it had always ended when her partner had cum.  She had never had it continue beyond her own orgasm.  As his tongue began to probe into the depths of her inner recesses, she felt herself begin to respond again.  It was a much different feeling from earlier, deeper and more sensual.  An almost guttural sound escaped from her throat as her pelvis once again started to sway, a warmth and vibration beginning to suffuse her entire body.  She then felt his tongue recede to attend her clitoris once again, but he replaced it below with a different invasion of her sanctum.  Thinner and less intrusive than a penis, but clearly more personal, his finger explored her entire vault, circling her cervix, pushing and pulling into all of her walls.  And her vaginal muscles rushed to respond, as if to try to catch and embrace and hold it within.  But as it continued it’s elusive, delicious movements, her hips began to more vigorously rock.  Just when she thought that she stand no more, a second finger joined the first, spreading and thrusting and filling her entire being.

       She exploded.  Her back arched, her fists began pounding the sides of her bed, and in a distance she heard screams that could only be her own, as fingers continued to thrust back and forth within.  And she came, and she came, and she came some more.  For over a minute and well into two.  And she began to hear a hoarse voice between the screams, first saying, “Oh my God, oh my God.” followed by “Don’t stop.  Please don’t stop”, then finally, after over two minutes of unfathomable ecstacy, a labored surrender, “Enough...Please...Enough.”  And her pleas were heard, as fingers and tongue were gently withdrawn, and she collapsed back into an unreachable haze.

       With her heart pounding and her breathing labored, Meryn tried to comprehend what had just occurred .  Her first orgasm had been as good as many she had had in the past.  But the second one.  She could find no concept or words to describe.  She had heard the term “the earth moved”, and she had indeed felt something shift within her.  Even that however, seemed inadequate to the unique nature of what she had just experienced.

       After several minutes, as her heart finally began to slow, she realized she had lost awareness of Jeremy.  Feeling a new sensation however, she lifted her head with effort and looked down.  She saw that he had lifted her legs up onto the bed and was kneeling at the end, gently kissing her feet.  Letting her head fall back, she lay there for several more minutes in blissful exhaustion.  Finally, as her heart and breathing returned to something approaching normal, she raised her head once again, propped a pillow under it, and gazed down.

       “Jeremy.”  She finally called to him softly.

       “Yes Miss Meryn.”  He answered.

       “That was wonderful.”

       She could see his smile between her toes.

       “Thank you Miss Meryn.”

       After several more moments she called again.  “Jeremy.”

       “Yes Miss Meryn.”

       “Would you like to cum?”

       He stopped his adoration.  A hoarse, almost strangled reply.  “God yes Miss Meryn.”

       She pushed herself up slowly to sit on the end of the bed in front of him, and looked down into his upturned face.  Finally she offered.

       “If we didn’t include intercourse or oral sex,” she began “is there any way you would like to cum that would be special for you?”

       He tried to speak, but failed, and then hung his head.  She believed she understood why.

       “It’s alright Jeremy.  I really do want to know.  If it’s something I can’t do, we’ll try to find something else.”

       He looked back up.  Face beet red again, he answered hesitantly.  “If you could let me lie down in front of you Miss Meryn...and...stroke me with your feet.”

       Meryn smiled.  “Take off you pants Jeremy and lie down on your back.”

       He stood up, pulled off his briefs, and lay down on the floor on his back in front of her.   It was the first time she had ever seen his penis.  It stood straight up, five inches into the air, thick and throbbing, covered and glistening with copious amounts of precum.  Meryn knew from experience that it was the underside of the shaft where most sensation lay, so she placed her left foot at the topside of his penis to anchor it, and then lightly brushed, barely making contact, the length of the underside with her right big toe.  This produced a low pitched groan.

       “Did you like that Jeremy?”  She cooed.

       “Oh yes Miss Meryn”

       She stroked him again, again barely touching the shaft.  This time it was greeted by a thrust of his groin.  She repeated it a third time, causing him to begin to hump the air.  He had teased her unmercifully earlier, and she wanted to return the favor. 

       “Would you like to cum Jeremy?”

       “Yes, yes Miss Meryn.”

       “Beg me Jeremy.  Beg me to cum.”

       “Please Miss Meryn.  I want to cum so badly.  I need to cum so badly.  Please, please Miss Meryn.”

       Looking down on him she saw he was struggling mightily to maintain control, his fingers clawing at the carpet, and his teeth gritted.

       “Why don’t you cum then Jeremy?”

       “Because...” he forced out.

       “Because why?”

       Through clenched teeth, every effort bent to holding back.  “Because you haven’t given me permission.”

       A flood of emotions surged through Meryn.  Exhilaration.  Power.  But most of all a sense of connectedness.  She smiled broadly.

       “Yes Jeremy, yes.  You may.  You have my permission.  Cum for me Jeremy.”

       With that she began stroking his slickened undershaft more firmly with the side of her big toe.  To her surprise he did not cum with the first stroke.  Nor with the second.  It was as if he was trying to savor every possible moment of it all.  On her third stroke however, with an almost anguished cry, his back arched and he erupted, a geyser of his cum shooting almost a foot into the air.  As he ran her foot more vigorously up and down his shaft, further spurts rapidly followed, progressively diminishing in height, but obviously not in depth of sensation.  He furiously gripped the carpet on each side of him, and his inarticulate cry became continuous, as his cum continued to issue forth in ever slowing spasms for well over a minute.  Finally his cries stopped, his back relaxed, and his penis became semi flaccid between her two feet, only occasionally now twitching and dribbling.

       Meryn remained unmoving as she looked at him breathing hard, his eyes closed, and a look of utter joy on his face.  After several minutes his panting began to subside, and he opened his eyes and gazed up at her.

       “Miss Meryn?”

       “Yes Jeremy.”

       “That was wonderful.”

       “I’m glad.”

       She waited for several seconds, but she had to know.  “Was it as good as with Natasha?”

       He looked up at her quizzically.  “I never had this with Miss Natasha.”

       “But you told me you did it with her.”

       “I said I gave her pleasure.  She never did anything like this for me.”

       Meryn nodded, guiltily pleased.  “Was it as good then as with anyone else you’ve done it with?”

       Jeremy smiled.  “Miss Meryn, this was the first time I’ve ever cum with someone else.”

       She was somewhat saddened  to hear this.  Still, there was something to be said for being a first, and for that she was very glad.  For him.  She returned his smile, then looked down at her cum-covered feet.  She lifted one up to indicate it and said lightly.

       “Ah Jeremy, do you think you could help me with this.”

       His eyes widened.

       “Of course Miss Meryn.”

       He instantly scrambled up to his knees.  She had expected him to rush into the bathroom and return with a washcloth and towel.  Instead he immediately began to lick his cum from her feet.  At first she was slightly repulsed, but he was so ardent in his efforts she sat back and began to enjoy it.  He cleaned every inch of both of her feet with his tongue, paying special attention to between each and every toe.  When he was done, he carefully set down each foot and knelt back.

       “Miss Meryn,” he offered quietly, “I just can’t thank you enough for making this the most special night of my life.  I will never forget it.”

       Meryn closed her eyes and sighed.

       “Neither will I, Jeremy.  Neither will I.”

       

       

1Part Fifteen: The Next Two Months

       The next Monday, Meryn was called into Mr. Martin’s office at work, and was informed that she was being made project manager with Michael as her assistant.  With this came a substantial pay raise and her own office.  When she expressed her very great surprise at the promotion to Jeremy during her foot massage that night, he replied that it was no surprise at all.  She thanked him for his confidence, and told him truthfully that she believed that a great deal of the credit for her achievement belonged to him.  He would accept none of it.

       The relationship between them continued to develop and grow.  With her new responsibilities she began to actively seek his advice on a wide variety of issues, and always found his input immensely helpful, particularly in the area of managing interpersonal relationships in her new role as an executive.  All domestic duties continued to be his responsibility, and this became even more important to her as she now began working longer hours, and often brought work home to do on her home computer.  Frequently he would finish his nighttime chores while she was still hunched over working at her desk.  Unasked, he would begin to massage her neck and shoulders.  It wasn’t very long before these brief massages evolved into a weekly, hour long total body massage, usually administered on Friday nights to help work out a week’s worth of tension.

       Another service that he began to regularly perform came after she treated herself one Saturday to a long delayed pedicure.  That night, during her foot massage, Jeremy asked her if she would teach him to do it.  After one lesson he already gave a better pedicure than she had ever received in a salon, and this became one of his regular weekend duties.  He, of course, as he would softly blow over the nail polish he had just applied to her toes, considered it a reward.

       His evening devotional continued to be a central and special part of their day.  Frequently however, it would now be followed by other types of enjoyment.  This would always be initiated by Meryn, usually occurring four to five times a week.  Although it never quite approached the level of that first time, she always found it to be fabulous.  She marveled at how he could find such new and different ways to bring her to such fantastic climaxes.  Early on, she had asked him how he knew how to do this all so well after claiming such limited experience.  He sheepishly replied that he read and learned a lot from the internet.  She had laughed and told him that he could always continue to experiment with his research on her.

       On each of these occasions, after she had her orgasmic fill, she always made it a point to satisfy him.  She, herself, enjoyed seeking new and creative ways, without involving intercourse or oral sex, to do so.  As was the case from the beginning, he would never allow himself to cum without her permission, and it became a recurring thrill for her to tease him to a point of seeming agony before granting him exquisite release.  She always found his sincere and heartfelt gratitude made her efforts all the more worthwhile.

       The only unhappiness Jeremy voiced during this time was with the diminishing amounts of weight he was losing.  He had lost another eleven pounds to 247 after the second month, and another nine pounds to 238 by the end of the third.  He was bitterly disappointed in these results, but Meryn continued to be extremely pleased.  As he was beginning to look ridiculous in his now baggy old clothes, she took him out to buy a new and better fitting wardrobe.  Overruling his protests, she also insisted on paying for half of the expense, arguing that she was as responsible as he for the need of these new items.  She also made sure that the selections were more fashionable than those he had previously worn.  Although still overweight, she had to admit that he was starting to cut a very presentable figure.

       Meryn had not spoken to, or seen Natasha for over a month and a half.  Part of this was because of her newly increased work load, but an equal part was due to feelings of guilt.  She had clearly become angry with Natasha both times the four of them had been together, but she had to admit that her present situation with Jeremy was almost entirely due to those events.  Natasha had introduced her to Jeremy, and in a sense had manipulated her into following up with him.. She had also been the catalyst for the breakthrough in intimacy that now existed between them.  Swallowing her pride, she called her one afternoon.

       “Meri, it’s so good to hear from you.”  Natasha exclaimed upon

receiving the call.  “I’ve really been meaning to call you to congratulate you on your promotion.  I was so glad to hear that you got it over that turd Michael.”

       “Thanks Tash, I appreciate that.  But the main reason for my call is that I owe you an apology.”

       “For what?”

       “You’ve been absolutely right every step of the way Tash, first in introducing me to Jeremy, and then encouraging me to take it the next step.”  She paused.  “The sex is fantastic Tash, just as you said it would be, and I can’t thank you enough.”

       Natasha laughed.  “That’s great to hear Meri.  I’m so happy for you.  And as much as I might not like to admit it, I’m pleased for Jeremy as well.  I always had a soft spot for him, particularly now that you’ve caused there to be a lot less of him to like.”

       Meryn bit off a sharp response to that.  It was a complement after all, and she was very proud of his accomplishment.

       “He’s lost almost sixty pounds, Tash.  In less than three months.  For me.  And that really means something to me.”

       “I guess he’s become something more than a starter slave then.”  Natasha surmised.

       “Without a doubt.”  Meryn agreed.

       “Then seriously Meri, if you really mean that, then there are things we need to talk about, things you need to do if you want this relationship to grow in the proper way.”

       “What do you mean?  Like what?”

       “I think that again this the type of thing that would be much better for

you to see and learn to do, rather than to just talk about.”  Natasha answered.  “I’ve got an idea.  Why don’t you and Jeremy come over to my place after dinner on Saturday, and I can show you what I mean.”

       Meryn was somewhat alarmed.  “I’m not interested in any kind of group sex thing Tash.”

       Natasha laughed again.  “I know you a lot better than that Meri.  Of course not.  Believe me, there’s absolutely no sex involved.”  More serious again.  “Really Meri.  I think this is very important.  I know that all this hasn’t come as naturally for you as it did for me.  Like I’ve said before, I was born to it.  But you need guidance Meri, if you want all this to continue to work.  Have I led you wrong yet?”

       “No I guess not.”  Meryn was intrigued.  As she had had to admit to herself before, Natasha had been the precipitant force for everything that had developed between Jeremy and herself.  If Natasha really thought there was something more she needed to learn and do, well she really hadn’t been led astray yet.  She might not like Natasha’s methods, but she certainly couldn’t argue with the results.  “Okay Tash.  If you think it’s that important, we’ll come.”

       “Great.  Saturday at eight then.  See you then.”

1Part Sixteen: Confession

       Once again, Jeremy was less than enthused about getting together with Natasha and Scott.

       “You know Miss Natasha is going to want me to undress when we’re there.”  He said.

       Meryn frowned.  “You’re probably right.  And you know I don’t like that.  Still,” she mused, “we  will be her guests, and it is her place.”

       “House rules?”  He asked.

       “House rules.”  She agreed.

       As that Saturday marked three months since they first met, Meryn suggested that they go out for dinner before going to Natasha’s.  They went to a very nice restaurant and had a delightful time.  While Jeremy only had a salad plate for dinner, his wine selection, and his suggestions for Meryn’s various courses were impeccable, and they both were in an excellent mood when they arrived at Natasha’s place.

       They were met at the door by a pink-panty clad Scott, who immediately dropped to his knees to kiss Meryn’s shoes in greeting.  He then rose and, as expected, indicated to Jeremy that he should disrobe.  He then guided Meryn into the livingroom where Natasha was waiting.  She hugged Meryn warmly, and they both sat, Meryn on the love seat, and Natasha on the sofa with Scott on his knees and elbows, head down at her feet.  A moment later, Jeremy entered wearing only his white briefs, knelt before Natasha, kissed her feet in greeting, and then crawled over to assume the same position at Meryn’s feet.

       “Well Tash, we’re here.”  To Meryn’s surprise, Natasha was not dressed to the nines, as she had been for their previous get togethers.  This night she was wearing a loose fitting sweat suit, as if she was planning to work out.

       “I’m so glad you came Meri.  I think this will be very important for you both.”  She replied.

       “So what is it that you feel is so necessary to show us?”

       “Ah, you want to dive right in.  Excellent.  But it’s not just to show you Meri.  I told you that you need to be involved as well.”  Meryn wasn’t so sure about that.  “But a little explanation first.”

       Natasha paused and took a breath.  “As you know, I’ve totally embraced this lifestyle, and I realize that you have, maybe, only come to enjoy certain aspects of it.  And that’s fine.  This lifestyle is a big tent, and I don’t think anyone takes part in all of it.  But there are certain  principles that must be adhered to, to make it work.”  She paused again.  “One of the most crucial ones” she continued, “is that a slave must always be completely subservient and totally obedient, and his owner must find ways to ensure that this is always the case.”

       Meryn began to stir uneasily.

       “Now I, personally, am not into whips and chains.”

       Thank God, Meryn muttered under her breath.

       “Not that there is anything wrong with that for those who are.  But it is vitally important that this dynamic be maintained, and that discipline be imposed to ensure it.  And Meri, believe me, slaves desire, they crave this discipline.  Some more than others.  For some it’s part of the sexual fabric of their psyche.  But all of them have an intense need to have our will imposed on them, and to know that there are definite consequences for any failures to meet their obligations.”

       Meryn, her face neutral, remained silent.

       “Each of us, Meri, has to find a way to do this, and I’ve developed a method that suits me very well.  And knowing you, I think it would be perfect for you as well.’  Natasha looked at her expectantly.

       “I’m listening.”  Meryn replied evenly.

       Natasha continued.  “Once a week, on Saturday nights, I’ve instituted a ritual I call Confession.  Scott crawls before me on his knees, and confesses all of his sins against me over the past week. And I keep a tally.  For inadvertent accidents, one whack.  For simple mistakes, three whacks.  For minor infractions, five whacks, and for what I deem major transgressions, ten whacks.

       Despite an ominous foreboding, Meryn couldn’t help herself.  “What in heaven is a whack?”

       Natasha smiled.  “After any confession, of course, comes Penance.  And believe me, it’s anything but heaven for Scott.”   With that she reached down under the corner table, and pulled out a previously unseen paddle tennis paddle.  It was all wood, a quarter inch thick, with a twelve inch diameter round head.  “And this is what I administer Penance with, once the tally is complete.’

       Meryn stared at the paddle, not fully believing.

       “Now you may wonder why Scott would ever confess all of his sins, particularly the major ones, knowing what it will bring.”  She took Meryn’s frown to be interest in her query.  “Well, there is no problem at all with that.  You see, Scott never has any idea what I do and don’t know.  So after he completes his confession, if there’s any sin I know he’s neglected to mention, we add ten whacks if it’s minor, and twenty five if I deem it major.  I think you can see why Scott always tries extremely hard to be very complete and forthcoming in his accounting.”

       Meryn remained warily silent.

       “But enough of explanations.  I think it’s finally time for a demonstration.”  With that, Natasha snapped her fingers, and Scott immediately crawled in front of her, and knelt upright from his prostrate position.  He then thanked Natasha for allowing him to confess his sins, and for providing correction so that he would be able to serve her better.  She coldly told him to proceed, and he began to list a number of transgressions, most of them dealing with his inadequacy with food preparation, a few with some minor cleaning mistakes.  Natasha gave all of these either ones or threes, and before long he was up to fourteen whacks.  Scott paused for a moment, and then admitted that he had been unable to completely remove a stain from one of her panties when hand washing them.  Natasha gave this a ten, and Scott fell silent.

       “Well Scott, is there anything else you wish to confess to me?”  He shook his head no.  “Twenty four then.  I must say you are getting better every week.”  She paused.  “But wasn’t my dry cleaning supposed to be ready on Wednesday, and I don’t believe you picked it up until Thursday.  Is that correct?”

       Scott’s face blanched as he nodded yes.

       Natasha turned to Meryn.  “Well then Meri, what do you think I should do?  I think we need to involve you some.  What do you think?  Is this a minor or a major sin?”

       Meryn had no desire to get involved.  But she had agreed to come over, so she would play the game, at least up to a point.

       “I guess it would depend.”  She started.  “Did you need any of those clothes on Wednesday?”

       “I don’t think that really matters.  But no, I didn’t.”

       “Then I would consider it minor.”

       Natasha laughed.  “Ah, you’re too good hearted Meri.  I would have definitely given it twenty five.  But I asked for your opinion, so a ten it will be, and I’m sure Scott will thank you profusely for that later.”  She turned her attention back to Scott.  “So that brings you to thirty four.  But before your Penance is administered, I think we should have Jeremy offer his Confession.

       “I don’t think so.”  Meryn protested.  “We weren’t prepared for any of this Tash.”

       “Oh come on Meri.  You’ve owned him for three months now.  I’m sure Jeremy has committed any number of sins in that time.”

       Before Meryn could argue further, Jeremy had crawled in front of he, and knelt up.  “Miss Meryn, please allow me the opportunity to account for my many failures in your service.”

       She looked at him long and hard.  Okay, she thought, if he wants to play the game too, she’d let him.  She had forced him to come after all.  She nodded assent.

       “Excellent.”  Natasha chortled.

       Jeremy began to confess his alleged transgressions, with Natasha keeping a verbal tally.  Failure to shine a pair of her shoes until a day after she wore them.  She didn’t even know he reshined her shoes every time she wore them, and they certainly didn’t need it.  Failure to dust her desk in the computer room when he had cleaned last week.  With her work papers strewn all over her desk it would have been a disaster if he had moved them.  Failure for several days to fix the broken medicine cabinet door in her bathroom.  Which she had broken, and it had take two days to find the special replacement part.  Failure to discover that she didn’t like asparagus before making them for her.  A culinary sin?  How ridiculous could he get after all the fantastic meals he had made for her.

       Natasha gleefully kept the count, and before Meryn could catch her breath, Jeremy was already up to fifteen.

       “And two weeks ago Miss Meryn, I didn’t have enough time to handwash all your panties, so I put some of them in the machine.”

       “That’s definitely a ten.”  Natasha pronounced gravely.

       Meryn was aghast.  Handwash my panties.  She never asked him to do that.  And she didn’t want to believe that he really did.  He had to be making half of this stuff up.  Why?  A dark suspicion crept into her mind.  Natasha had said that they wanted punishment.  Did Jeremy crave this?  She shuddered.

       “Is there anything else you have to confess to Miss Meryn, Jeremy?”

       Jeremy looked up at her with anxiety.  “One last thing Miss Meryn.  This past week I bought some new clothes for myself without you.”

       “I’m afraid that has to be another ten.”

       “Now wait a minute Tash.”  Meryn was not going to put up with this.  “He did that for me.  So I wouldn’t have to pay my half.  To save me money.  He can’t be faulted for that.”

       “Dishonesty in a slave can never be tolerated Meri, no matter what the reason.  For that I wish I could give him a twenty five, but since he did admit it, we’ll keep it a ten.”  She turned her attention back to Jeremy.  “I believe that adds up to thirty five whacks for you Jeremy, and thirty four for you, Scott.  I think it’s time to commence Penance.

       Meryn was livid, not least because Natasha seemed particularly pleased that Jeremy had ended up with more that Scott.  Well, that wasn’t going to matter, she thought, as any whacks Jeremy might receive from her were going to be the merest of taps.

       “And I think that since this is the first time for you two, Meri, I should show you the way.”  Natasha continued.  “On Jeremy.”

       “Oh no, Natasha.”  She responded hotly.  “That’s not right.  I can’t let you do that.”

       Natasha laughed.  “Meri, Meri.  As I said before.  I know you too well.  You’re too good hearted.  And this is too important.  Penance must be administered correctly for it to be effective.  If, after watching me with Jeremy, you still find yourself too kind with Scott, well I can deal with that later.  But you have to learn the right way for this to be done.”

       Meryn fully intended to put her foot down this time, and she looked down at Jeremy to reassure him.  But as she did, he silently mouthed the words “House rules” to her, and this brought her up short.  Was she going to allow herself to be trapped by her own proclaimed conditions?  Even worse, did Jeremy want her to be?  She stared intently at him, but he just looked straight ahead.  Finally she sat back, defeated, and mumbled okay.

       Responding to a finger snap, Scott scurried into the den, and returned with what looked like a miniature vaulting horse.  It came to groin high, and had two handles in the front.  Scott had Jeremy take off his briefs, and then positioned him bent over the horse, his hands gripping the handles in front.  His highest body part now was his invitingly exposed rump, which was facing the chair where Meryn slumped.

       Natasha stepped forward with the paddle, and began issuing instructions.  “I’m now going to administer your just Penance Jeremy.  You are to count aloud each stroke followed by a thank you to me.  The handles in front are for your convenience.  Do not even think to try to cover your ass with your hands.  Any such attempt will add ten more whacks for the first offence, and twenty five for any following.  When I have completed your Penance, you will climb off the horse, kiss my feet and thank me again for providing your correction.  You then will crawl over to your owner and humbly beg her for her forgiveness for your sins.”

       With that she delivered his first whack, sounding a loud crack that made Meryn jump.  “One.  Thank you Miss Natasha.”   Another.  “Two.  Thank you Miss Natasha.”  And another.  “Three.  Thank you Miss Natasha”.  She struck random spots on both cheeks, sometimes hitting the same spot twice in a row, but making sure that no spot  was missed.  She also varied the rhythm, at times stringing four or five smacks in rapid succession, and other times pausing thirty seconds or more, so Jeremy could never be sure when the next blow was coming.  By ten whacks his entire behind was a bright red, by twenty it looked like it was on fire, and his voice began to be strained.  By twenty five his voice began to crack.  By thirty his count was punctuated by quiet sobs.

       Meryn sat with her jaw clenched as tightly as her fists.  She was unable to look away.  She was numb with frustration, anger, and another, deeper emotion she couldn’t identify.  Why was he allowing this to happen?  She knew it wasn’t a game to him, and he obviously was in real pain.  Why didn’t he put a stop to it?  Why didn’t she?

       The last five whacks were delivered in a slow, excruciating manner.  Each produced an anguished grunt before the sobbing count and thank you.  After the last stroke Jeremy peeled himself off the horse, briefly kissed Natasha’s feet, and in a barely audible voice thanked her one last time.  He then crawled on all fours to a rigid Meryn, bent his head down to the floor, and began passionately kissing her feet, while in a tearful voice begged for her forgiveness.  As if paralyzed, Meryn let this continue for about thirty seconds before she whispered.  “Enough Jeremy.”  To her horror, when Jeremy knelt up, he had a raging erection.

       “Meri, it’s time for Scott’s Penance.  Please.”

       Meryn looked up and saw Scott already bent over the horse.  She had initially planned to refuse to administer it, but her anger was now such that she stood up and took the offered paddle from Natasha.  There was no way she would allow Scott to suffer less than Jeremy.

       She stepped forward and delivered the first blow, a resounding smack that was no less hard than any Natasha had dealt.  She delivered two more equally hard, paused, seemed satisfied with her effort, and then, unlike Natasha, proceeded with a steady rhythm, alternating cheeks, and didn’t pause again until she reached twenty.  Scott’s butt was now beet  red, but she was bothered that there was no change in his voice.  She gave him two rapid, harder strokes, but his count remained firm, and his thank you vibrant.  She looked closer, and was startled to see that he was erect.  The bastard was enjoying this, she fumed.  She had to do something about that.  Enraged, she swung harder, this time producing a satisfying yelp, which was repeated with her next stroke as well.  She then proceeded with four more in rapid succession, each one harder that the last, each producing a progressively more strangled cry before a now hoarsely muttered count.  She looked again and was very pleased to see that his erection was now gone.  She struck two even more vicious blows, which were both greeted with an agonized wail, before a whimpered count.  Not enough, she thought, and swung twice more as hard as she could.  The first produced an actual scream and no following count.  The second landed with a sickening thud and no verbal response, but his right hand flew off the handle and arced back to protect his behind.  Catching himself, he slowly let it fall to his side, where it hung limply.  Was Natasha going to give him another ten for that indiscretion, Meryn wondered.  No matter, she thought when none was forthcoming.  She would make sure these final two were ones he would never forget.

       As she stepped forward, gathering her strength for this final onslaught, she felt Natasha’s hand grip her wrist.  “Give me the paddle Meri.”  She said quietly.  “Let me give him the last two... Please.”  Meryn turned sharply toward Natasha, and was about to snarl a no, but Natasha repeated.  “Please.”  Meryn looked at Scott, and saw his whole body was shaking, and she noticed that her own breathing was ragged.  She took a deep breath, nodded slowly, and handed the paddle to Natasha, who took it, stepped over to Scott, and delivered two light taps.  She murmured to him, and he struggled off the horse, hobbled on his knees to the still standing Meryn, kissed her feet, and sobbing, muttered something incoherent, then he turned toward Natasha, and collapsed onto his belly, his chest heaving, his face resting on her feet, with his arms wrapped around them.

       “Well Meri, you certainly took me by surprise tonight.  I never thought  you would take to this quite as enthusiastically as you did.”  Natasha looked down at Scott, snapped her fingers, and he painfully pulled himself up to his knees and elbows.  “You have to realize though” she continued, “that there is a very fine line between punishment and injury, and you almost crossed it tonight.  I hope it’s something you learned.”  She paused.  “For Jeremy’s sake.”

       Meryn, her face a mask, stared back at her.  “I need to go home now Natasha.” was all she could say.

       “I think that would be best.”  Natasha  replied.

       Without another word Meryn walked toward the front door, with Jeremy, still naked, hurrying after.  Without waiting for him to dress, she walked out.  Less than a minute later, a hastily dressed Jeremy followed.

         

1Part Seventeen: Penance

       Meryn was already seated in the passenger seat of the car when Jeremy arrived to get into the driver’s side.  There was no acknowledgment as she stared ahead in silence.  Driving home, Jeremy had to shift his position frequently to try to ease his discomfort.  He would be feeling like this for several days he realized, but he knew it was going to be far worse for Scott.  He had been very glad when Miss Natasha had stopped Miss Meryn at the end.  He had already started to rise to do so himself, which would have broken all the rules.  But he would have done it, and not just for Scott’s sake.

       He had never imagined Miss Meryn like he had seen her tonight, and he still found it hard to believe.  She certainly seemed to have been entranced with producing such pain, and he tried to understand what that would mean.  He wasn’t a masochist, and never desired  pain, and he doubted he could take anything like tonight again from any one else.  But he knew in his heart that he could never leave Miss Meryn of his own volition.  If she wanted, if she needed this from him, he sadly concluded that he would accept it from her, willingly.  He knew he would always give her anything she wished from him, to be allowed to remain with her.

       When he parked the car in front of the apartment, Meryn got out without waiting for him to come around to open her door.  Without her key however, she was forced to wait at the front door.  When he opened it, she walked in past him.  After he had closed the door behind him, without turning around she simply said “Follow me” and walked briskly into her bedroom.

       As he entered, she sat down on the side of her bed, looked up at him, and  said  “Undress.”   He quickly rushed to obey, stripping down to his briefs when she added  “Everything”.  After he complied she told him to come stand before her, but face away.

       She stared at his still darkly reddened behind.  There were several areas that were already purpling, and would become major bruises.  She briefly wondered what Scott looked like, but immediately dismissed that thought.  With both hands she began to gently stroke each cheek of his buttocks.  She continued this in silence for several tense minutes while Jeremy wondered anxiously what she had in store for him.

       “So Jeremy, did you enjoy yourself this evening?”  She asked evenly.

       Or was it suppressed excitement he wondered.  He thought he knew what answer she desired, and he always strove to give her what she wanted, what she needed.  But he knew he could not, would not ever lie to her, no matter what the consequences.         

       “No Miss Meryn.  I didn’t.”

       Her fingers stopped moving but maintained contact.  “Well you certainly seemed excited enough.”  She contested.  “You had a big enough erection when you were begging for my forgiveness.”

       Oh God, she wanted him to enjoy it, he thought bleakly, and he despaired at not being able to give that to her.  He could only continue with the truth.

       “I’m always tremendously turned on when I’m allowed to kiss your feet Miss Meryn,” he barely whispered, “no matter what the circumstances.  I know I wasn’t erect when I was kissing Miss Natasha’s feet.”

       And Meryn remembered that this was true.  She had seen it, but it hadn’t registered at the time in her anger.  She pulled away her hands and sat still.  The silence dragged on interminably as Jeremy wondered fearfully if she was contemplating more penance for him tonight.  He remembered Miss Natasha’s final warning to her and suppressed a shudder.  He did not know if he could stand more of what he had endured earlier.  Or even worse, like Scott.  He grimly gritted his teeth and knew that he would.  He would accept anything she needed to give, and take it willingly.  For her.

       Meryn’s next words thus came as a complete surprise.

       “Oh Jeremy, I’m so, so sorry.  Can you ever find it possible to forgive me.?”

       He was so shocked he turned around to face her without permission, and saw to his grief that she was crying.  He knelt down in front of her, and took both of her hands into his.

       “Please Miss Meryn, don’t.  What could you ever think you needed to apologize for?”

       She gripped his hands tightly

       “Never, Never, NEVER will I ever let anyone hurt you like that again Jeremy.”  Tears continued to stream down her face.  “And I promise I will never do anything like that to you.  Ever.”  She continued to sob.

       He looked at her in wonder.  “Miss Meryn, I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you won’t allow anyone do that to me again.”  He gripped her hands harder.  “But if you ever want, ever need to do it to me, I will always accept it from you.”

       She gazed at him sharply.  “Want.  Need.  Jeremy, I hated every minute of that tonight.”  She shook her head.  “My greatest fear was that you wanted and needed it, and that I was going to have to try to find a way to give it to you.”

       “God no.  Never.  Please believe me.  I loathed every minute of it as well.”

       Meryn sniffed loudly to stop her tears.

       “So it’s settled then.”  She started.  “There will be no confessions in this house.  And certainly no penance.  Ever.”

       He offered a cautious smile.  “House rules?”  He queried

       “House rules.”  She affirmed.

       “And Jeremy.”  She smiled through her tears.  “You belong to me.  You answer to no one else but me.  Don’t you ever forget it.”

       “Never.”  He concurred.

       “And I certainly have to learn how to take better care of my own.”  She concluded.

       He answered with one of his special smiles.

       Fifteen minutes earlier it would have seemed inconceivable to either of them what transpired next.  Meryn stood and bade Jeremy to lie face down on her bed.  She then gently began to rub cooling body lotion onto his tortured buttocks.  After a while she had him turn over and began to apply more lotion to his testicles, and then softly to his throbbing phallus.  As his moans increased, she did not think it right to give him any more agony this night by teasing him further, and so with early permission given, she brought him, for the first time ever with her hand, to a prolonged and shuddering climax.  They giggled like young school kids as he then licked his goo from her offered fingers.  With this task completed, at her bidding, he carefully helped her remove her clothes, went down on her, and brought her to the three most glorious orgasms she had had since her first with him.

       As she nestled into her bed, completely content, she had one final request for him.  She asked him to bring the cushions and his blankets from the couch into her room.  She wanted him to stay by her bedside tonight.

       “And Jeremy”.  She told him before they both fell off to sleep, she in her bed, and he settled on the cushions.  “Tomorrow we’re going out to find you a comfortable cot. You’re going to be sleeping in here with me from now on.”

       “Whatever you say Miss Meryn.”

       As she drifted off to sleep, she felt a deep joy knowing that Jeremy was here with her.  Safe.  And he would remain so.  She would take care of her own.

1,Part Eighteen: The First Year

       True to her word, the next day Meryn took Jeremy out, and they bought a very comfortable folding futon for him to use at her bedside.  Their new sleeping arrangement was only one of several things that changed over the next several months.  The first also occurred on that first day, when she asked him to stop referring to her as Miss, and just call her Meryn.  She didn’t want him to use Meri like everyone else, but preferred that he use the more formal Meryn.  Other than her mother, he was the only one to call her by that.

       They began to go out more, to dinners, to movies, to concerts, to shows.  Jeremy exposed her to a type of culture, classical music, drama, indie films, with which she had limited experience in the past.  She, in turn, drew him into her passion for classic rock.

       She began to introduce him to her friends, and eventually at a holiday gathering, to her family.  They all liked him immensely.  He took her to meet his mother, whom she found to be an elegant lady, and with whom she developed an immediate rapport.

       In public Meryn always went out of her way to treat him with obvious respect, and frequently asked for, and relied on his opinions in front of others.  He, of course, always treated her with the utmost deference, and, as she never acted as if she demanded it, everyone thought that he was just being a perfect gentleman, for which they liked him all the more.

       She also began to take a much more active interest in his work.  She knew that he loved his job, and she had no doubt that he was an excellent teacher.  In conversations with him, she discovered that he had many innovative ideas about how to improve his course material and his school, but either out of shyness, or more likely, lack of self confidence, he never broached them to his superiors.  She strongly encouraged him to do so, and when that didn’t seem to work, she actually insisted.  Given no choice, he did cautiously approach both his department chairman and principal, and was greatly surprised when they liked several of his ideas and helped him begin to implement them.

       As had happened before, Meryn had avoided contact with Natasha for several weeks.  This time it was Natasha who broke the ice by calling her at work.  By a tentative mutual consent they agreed that except for superficial and polite inquiries about their well being, the two women would not discuss Scott and Jeremy.  With that potential issue out of the way, they soon found themselves enjoying each other’s company frequently again, meeting for lunches and talking on the phone.  Meryn once again realized what a dear friend Natasha was.  Just not her best friend anymore.  That person was now living in her home.

       At home Jeremy and she settled into a comfortable routine.  She was so busy at work that she found it easy to continue to allow him to be responsible for all the household chores.  As time went on however, she not infrequently would do one herself when he was busy doing another.  This did not please him, but she insisted that it was just more convenient at the time for her to do it.  And after all there were only so many hours in the day, and no matter how efficient and hard working he was, he couldn’t be expected to do everything, and she certainly didn’t want him breaking down on her.  This would only partially mollify him.

       The body massages, pedicures and most importantly, th evening foot massages and Jeremy’s devotionals remained the cornerstones of their relationship.  Under the narrow guidelines established early on, they continued to share intimate sexual activities, always initiated by Meryn, but always enjoyed by both.

       As their first year together neared it’s end, Meryn reflected often that it had been the best year of her life.  She had a companion whose company she thoroughly enjoyed, who was committed to seeing to her every desire, and whom she genuinely liked and cared for.  She was so content that she refused to investigate the nagging thoughts that had begun to creep into her mind, more frequently of late.  That something wasn’t right.  That something was missing.  She felt she was happy, so what could possibly be wrong?  She wouldn’t even try to answer that, afraid of where it might lead.

       For his part, Jeremy was filled with wonder and amazement every day.  Why would a beautiful, vibrant woman like Meryn want to have anything to do with him on an ongoing basis?  While their relationship wasn’t everything he dreamed of, it was certainly far more than anything he could have realistically hoped for.  Every night during his devotional, when he fervently thanked her for allowing him into her life and begged her to grant him another day, he silently prayed to God for the same things.

       He was determined to give her no cause to be done with him.  He became despondent when his weekly weight loss slowed to a trickle despite his ongoing efforts.  He had begun working out for an hour every day during lunchtime in the school gym, but despite that he had been unable to crack the two hundred pound barrier.  For the past month he fluctuated between 201 and 203, and could not seem to go lower.  Meryn, of course, told him often that she was delighted with his new physique, and was very pleased with what he had accomplished.  But he felt he needed to do more, please her more, or she would eventually grow tired and bored with him.

       That was his constant dread, and as their first year anniversary approached it began to grow.  He worried when Meryn began to do more and more household chores on her own, and he couldn’t completely accept her reasoning that it made things more convenient for both of them.  He noticed anxiously that her periods of melancholy seemed to be occurring more frequently.  It was becoming more difficult to get her out of these moods with his gentle humor which had always seemed to work in the past when she appeared down.  Another point of concern was that recently she seemed to desire sexual pleasure less often, sometimes now only once a week.  It wasn’t his own pleasure that he missed, but far more the times lost to please her.

       It was with great trepidation then that he told her one evening during her foot massage, of the opportunity that had been offered to him by his school.  He had been selected to represent them at a statewide four day educational symposium.  This was a singular honor, and many other people at school had sought it.  But they had chosen him, and this would be a tremendous boost to his career.  He just wasn’t sure, given the timing, that he wanted to go.

       “Of course you have to go Jeremy.”  Meryn exulted when he told her.  “This is wonderful.  You can’t let this opportunity go.”

       When he told her the dates, hoping against hope that it meant as much to her as it did to him, she didn’t seem the least concerned.

                                                                       

       “I know it’s our one year anniversary weekend, but this is just too important.  Don’t even think about not going.  Anyway, you’ll be home on Sunday, so I’m sure we’ll be able celebrate then.  This is great.  I’m so excited.”

       So the decision was made and he had no choice.  And she really did seem excited.  Maybe too excited.  He couldn’t help but worry that it wasn’t only about his possible career advancement.  When the Thursday morning came and he was getting ready to start the four hour drive to the symposium, she helped him pack, and made him promise to call her every night at eight.  It was one they both knew he would keep.

       That night when she got home she recognized his absence immediately.  Too tired to make dinner, she heated up some leftovers, and then didn’t seem to know what to do with herself.  She practically pounced  on the phone when it rang precisely at eight, and for the next hour quizzed him on all the day’s happenings.  She realized how much more she would have enjoyed this conversation if he was massaging her feet at the same time, and she told him so.  She could tell that this made him happy, and it made her so as well.

       On Friday she had an important meeting with an investment team from another company.  In the back of her mind she knew he worked for that company, but it took her completely by surprise when her former boyfriend, Rick, was part of the meeting.  They both acted correctly and professionally during the meeting, but afterwards he lingered, and then urgently took her aside and asked if he could speak to her.

       “You look wonderful as always Meri, and it’s really impressive how you’re managing this project.”

       “Thanks for the compliments Rick , but I’m sure that’s not what you wanted to talk about.”

       “No, it’s not.  Listen Meri, there’s something I’ve wanted to talk to you about for a long time, and I know there’s no reason why you should listen to anything I have to say.  But it would be really important to me if you just gave me a chance.  How about meeting me for a drink after work.  I promise I’ll never bother you again if you just hear me out this one time.”

       Meryn was inclined to say no, but she was intrigued.  Why not, she thought.  After all, they had been a hot item for a long while, and no matter how it ended, she had had strong feelings for him at the time.  So maybe she at least owed him a meeting for a drink.  She agreed .

       “So Rick, it’s your dime so to speak.”  Meryn started after they had gotten their drinks at the upscale lounge where they had arranged to meet.  “What is it you so desperately needed to talk to me about?”

       “Meri, you know that I’m not one to beat about the bush, so I’m going to jump right into this with both feet.”  He now had her undivided attention.  “I was an incredible fool to treat you like I did.  We had a great thing going, and I blew it big time.  You had every right to dump me like you did.  And then I made an even bigger mistake by not crawling back to you immediately, and asking you to forgive me.  I was just too proud, and then I was too embarrassed.  But I’ve changed, Meri, and I’ve spent a whole year thinking of you all the time, and hoping I could get another chance with you.”

       Meryn was completely taken aback.  She didn’t know what she had expected.  Maybe a tepid apology, and an attempt at a pick up, which she could indignantly refuse, but nothing like this.

       “It’s not that simple Rick” she said hesitantly.

       “I know.  I’ve heard you’re involved in a pretty serious  relationship, and if it’s the real thing Meri, I swear I’ll back off and you’ll never hear from me again.  But if it’s not, I just have to take this one last shot.”  He paused.  “Meri, I think I love you.  And if this thing you’ve got going is not everything you want, everything you need, then give me another chance to try to give it to you.”

       Meryn really was at a loss for words when she said.  “I really don’t know what to say.”

       “You don’t have to say anything now.  Just think about what I’ve said.  That’s all I can ask.”

       “You’ve certainly given me a lot to think about.  And I will, believe me Rick.”

       Encouraged that he hadn’t gotten an outright rejection, Rick pressed ahead.  “Can I call you in a day or so?”

       “No, I’ll call you.”

       “Is that a promise?”  He asked hopefully.

       “I promise.” was all she answered.

1Part Nineteen: The End

       Meryn was in a daze as she drove around aimlessly for the next hour.  Finally arriving home around 8:30, she was greeted by the ringing phone.  Oh God, Jeremy, she thought.  She had forgotten, and now he was the last person she wanted to speak to at the moment.  The ringing stopped, and then started again immediately, and she knew she had to pick it up or this would go on all night.  She had to make some excuse not to talk to him right now.

       “Meryn, is everything okay?  I’ve been calling for the last half hour.”  Jeremy began frantically when she finally answered.

       “I just have a splitting headache, Jeremy.”  Not very far from the truth.  “And I’ve just been trying to sleep it off.”

       “Did you take anything for it?  I can come home right away.”

       “NO.  That’s alright.  I just need to rest, but I don’t feel much like talking right now.  Is that okay?”

       “Of course it’s okay.  Take something and go to sleep, and take care of yourself, please.  I’ll call you in the morning.”

       “DON’T.  I’m going to try to sleep all day.  I’m exhausted.  Call me at eight tomorrow night.  I’ll be fine by then, I’m sure.”

       Jeremy sounded very worried.  “Okay, I know you need your rest, but if you’re not feeling better, promise me you’ll call me.  Please.”

       “I’ll be fine.  I’ll talk to you then.”

       Meryn truly was in turmoil as she tried to sort through everything that had happened.  She kept coming back to one thing.  Rick said he thought he loved her.  Love.  A word that had never been a part of any of her relationships.  And now he said he thought he loved her.  Going over and over and over that word.  She suddenly realized that she didn’t think.  She knew.  And in her heart she also knew that this was what had been missing in her life, what had been nagging at her these past few months, what wasn’t right.  Just as suddenly, it hit her that she also knew what she wanted, needed now more than anything in the world.  This revelation filled her with an indescribable joy.  It had to be.  There was no other choice.  Rick coming back into her life when Jeremy was away had to be an omen, a signal.  There was no other way to look at it.

       Jeremy.  Instantly she was gripped with anxiety.  How would he react?  She had to talk to him.  But it couldn’t be over the phone.  It had to be in person.  He had to respond as she prayed he would, or it would be a disaster.  She knew she couldn’t bring herself to force him.  It had to come from him.

       She spent the night tossing and turning, and the next day unsettled, alternating between joy and terror.  She was sure of her decision, but nervous over how to bring it about.  Jeremy was going to call at eight, and she didn’t want to discuss this over the phone, so she would keep the conversation superficial, and wait for him to come home on Sunday to have the fateful discussion.  When he did call that night however, he sensed immediately that something was wrong.

       “Meryn, are you sure you’re okay?  You just don’t sound right.”

       She couldn’t keep up the facade.

       “Jeremy, we have to talk, but not over the phone.  When you come home tomorrow,  first thing we have to sit down and talk.”

       “What’s wrong Meryn?  I can come home right now.”

       “NO.  Absolutely not.  You have to finish at the symposium, make your impression.  That’s more important now than ever.  But come home as soon as you’re finished.  Come right home.”

       “Meryn.  Please.  What’s this all about?”

       “It has to wait until tomorrow when you’re here.”  She insisted.  “But Jeremy, it is very important that you listen to me carefully tomorrow.  That you understand.  I’m really depending on you.”

       ‘You know you can always depend on me.”

       “I know.  But this time it’s more important than ever.  Please don’t let me down.”

       And she really didn’t think he would let her down.  She knew and understood him very well.  She could depend on him.  He would respond the right way, and then her true happiness could begin.  She would then call Rick.

       In his hotel room, Jeremy sat motionless for minutes staring at the now dead phone receiver.  Meryn wanted to talk to him, but couldn’t do it over the phone.  She sounded nervous and tense, but not as nervous and tense as he now felt.  Could the moment of which he had been living in constant fear  finally be coming to pass.  He knew in his heart that Meryn was not enamored with this lifestyle, not like Natasha.  It was an experience and an adventure for her, but he always knew it would never be enough.  She would want more, need more, and she certainly deserved more.  She had allowed him to worship, adore and serve her.  She had done it for him.  And he certainly did worship and adore her.  But far more importantly, from almost the first day, he knew that he had fallen hopelessly in love with her.  So many times he had wanted to tell her, but couldn’t bring himself to do so because he was afraid that it was not what she wanted from him, and would thus ruin everything.

       But now he was filled with fear that she was going to end it anyway.  If she did, he would tell her that he loved her, and plead with her to let him maintain some contact with her.  Maybe just be allowed to clean her apartment, anything to be near her occasionally.  A different thought terrified him even more.  What if there was already someone else, somebody who offered a more traditional relationship, more in concert with her own dreams and desires.  If that was the case, he was truly lost.  But he knew in his heart that he would remain committed to the most important thing in his life ... her happiness.  If there was somebody else in her life that she wanted, he would not make it hard for her.  It would crush him, but he would step aside as painlessly for her as possible, and never let her know.  He just didn’t know how he would be able to go on after that.  But that would be his problem, and he would make sure it would never be hers.

       Driving home the next day, after a virtually sleepless night, he desperately tried to think of reasons why she wanted to talk to him that didn’t involve her ending their relationship.  His hopes were momentarily buoyed when, upon arriving home, she met him at the door, hugged him fiercely, and then led him into the livingroom, asking him to sit in the chair as she sat opposite him on the sofa.  She asked him to please listen to her carefully without responding until she was done.  She then took a deep breath, cast her eyes down to her folded hands on her lap, and began softly.

       “Jeremy, this past year has been the happiest one of my life.”  Hopes began to rise more.  “But over the last several months, I’ve had a vague feeling that something wasn’t right, something was missing from my life.”  Hopes starting to become dread.  “I didn’t dwell too much on these thoughts because I didn’t want to mess things up.  But while you were away, I happened to run into Rick,”  God no.  It’s true.  His worst nightmare. 

“And we talked and he told me things, and afterwards I realized what was wrong, what was missing in my life,” her voice rising, “and I know now what I want more than anything in the world.”  She paused.  “Jeremy, we can’t go on like this.” 

       Jeremy felt as if a claw  was gripping his heart.  He struggled to control his breathing.  Meryn still was looking down at her hands as she continued, again more softly, but plaintively.  “But it has to come from you.  I want...I can’t force you...Please.”

       She now looked up at him, and saw to her horror a look of utter desolation on his face.  He’s not going to do it, she thought desperately.  He’s going to refuse.  How could she have been so wrong about him?  How could she have misjudged him so?  And what  was she going to do now? 

       Jeremy saw the terror and panic in her face, and knew he was causing her intense pain.  The woman he worshiped and adored...no damn it...whom he loved with his whole heart and soul, and he was failing her.  And she had told him that she was depending on him.  It was time to prove to her, and to himself, that as he had vowed time and again, the most important thing in his life was her happiness, and he would do anything for her.  Even this.  There was one thing he had to do however, for his own sanity, even if it might possibly cause her some small discomfort.

       “Meryn.”  He began hoarsely.  “I understand.  I want you to know that I’ll do what needs to be done.  But please forgive me if this causes you some distress, but I have to let you know.”  He gathered himself.  “I love you with every part of my being, and your happiness has always been the most important thing in the world to me.  So I won’t allow myself to stand in your way.  I’ll leave quietly so you can have that happiness with...” he couldn’t bring himself to say the name, “...with whomever you love.”

       LEAVE.  LOVE.  WHOMEVER SHE LOVED.  Oh dear God what a total disaster she had made of this.  What she had done to him.  How could she have been so blind.  Of course he would have reacted this way.  She stood up suddenly, tears in her eyes, her arms crossed across her chest, gripping herself tightly.

       “Jeremy.  No.  Leave?   Please God never.  You’ve got it all wrong.  Whomever I love?  Jeremy,”  She paused for emphasis.  “I Love YOU.”  His face blank as she rushed on.  “And what I’ve been trying to say so very, very poorly is that what I want more than anything in the world is to live all of my life with you...As your wife.”

        Comprehension slowly began to overcome a lifetime’s feeling of unworth in his heart.  “But it has to come from you Jeremy.  I can’t force you.  I can’t command this.  You have to Want it.  You have to Want... ME.”

       She closed her eyes trying to fight back the tears as Jeremy rose, stepped in front of her, took one of her hands into his own, and got down on one knee.

       “Meryn, in my wildest dreams, I could never have imagined that anyone as wonderful as you would ever want to make a life with someone like me.  If this miracle is true, you will make me the happiest and luckiest man on this earth.  I most humbly ask...Will you marry me.”

       `She opened her eyes and looked down at him.  She gently pulled him to his feet, wrapped her arms around him, and brought her lips urgently to his for the first true kiss they had ever shared.  Her tongue worked it’s way between his lips, met his, and they explored each other long and hard.  The kiss seemed to go on forever as time seemed to stop.  Breathing did not however, and their lips finally pulled apart.

       “Did you understand my answer?”  She asked mischievously. 

       He gave her one of his special smiles.

       “I’m not sure.  Let’s try again to see if  I’ve got it right.”  He then kissed her even more passionately, their tongues dancing together and becoming one.

       When this kiss finally, reluctantly, came to an end, she smiled up at him, then slipped her hand into his and led him into the next room.  She had him sit on the side of her bed, and then sat down next to him.

       “Jeremy, it’s customary that when a man asks a woman to marry him, he gives her a token of his love and commitment.”

       His face blanched.  “Meryn,” he answered anxiously, “I never could have dreamed this was going to happen tonight.”  He looked distraught. 

“I don’t have a ring.”

       She laughed gaily.  “Oh we can worry about a ring some other time.  What I want tonight is something you can only give to me.”

       “Anything Meryn.  You know that.  What can I possibly give you that you want so much?”

       She leaned forward and whispered huskily into his ear.  “I want your cherry, Jeremy.  And I want it now.”

       Would the miracles of this night ever end. 

       “It’s yours.  It’s always been yours.”

       Meryn began to unbutton his shirt, slipping it off when done.  She then knelt in front of him and took off his shoes and socks.  Standing him up, she slid off his pants and finally his briefs as his phallus jutted forward eagerly.  She laid him on his back on the bed.  She looked down on his now sculpted body which she had helped create, and she was well pleased.  And she knew it would please her countless times in the future.  Fully in his view, she ever so slowly disrobed.

       “I don’t want you to say or do anything.”  She said as she again knelt by the side of the bed.  “This is your gift to me, and I want to enjoy it thoroughly.”  She leaned forward, picked up his left foot, and began to gently kiss it.  She silently performed a devotional exactly like his, before proceeding on to his nearer right foot.  While she kissed her was around that foot, she began to tell him how much she loved him, how happy he made her, and how she would always strive to be worthy of his love and devotion.  Not only as his wife, but as his Mistress.

       ‘You’ll always be my slave, Jeremy.  But now you have a much more important  job.  Being my husband.”

       “There is nothing in this world I could ever want more.”  He sighed.

       Finishing at the top of his foot, she slowly, sensually, ran her tongue up the inside of his leg until she reached his now tightly retracted testicles.  These she lavishly laved and mouthed, bringing forth moans of pleasure.  She lovingly licked up the underside of his shaft, and moans became groans.  She then took him completely into her mouth, swirling her tongue around his entire member.  As he arched his back, she quickly released him.  That had been delightful, and was something she would be sure to explore more fully in the future, but it was not the goal for tonight.  She had a far more precious prize to attain.

       She climbed up on top of him, straddling him with his throbbing manhood in front of her.  As much as she was looking forward to this, she wanted him to enjoy it more.  But she knew him too well, and she didn’t want him struggling to hold himself back for her.  Not tonight.  Not for this.  She leaned forward and whispered.  “Cum when you will, Jeremy.  Cum into me.”  She then guided him into her.

       This was not her first time, but it had never before felt so intense and intimate.  If she thought he might cum right away, she did not reckon that this was also a most special moment for him.  He would savor it as long as possible.  And he had a great deal of experience in holding himself  back.  Only this time he was doing it for his own pleasure as well as hers.

       He began to rock forward, and she moved to match him.  He slowly increased the pace, and then the urgency.  His thrusts became more insistent as their movements became more circular.  They began to spiral down into each other, and the spiral became a whirlpool.  She fought against going over the brink.  She wanted desperately to wait for him, but she did not have his expertise.

       His cries joined hers as he seemed to sense that she could no longer hold on.  With one final massive thrust, his fingers dug into her back as he pulled her forward toward him.  And their cries merged into one scream as the earth not only moved.   It quaked.  A maelstrom was unleashed that went on and on as it sucked them both into each other, as they became one climax, one feeling, one emotion.  They gave and gave and gave to each other until they had nothing left to give.

         Except love.

       Later, as she cuddled comfortably in his arms as she lay at his side, she allowed herself to think about the phone call she would make the next day to Rick as promised.  She would thank him politely for his kind words, and then tell him that she had everything she wanted and needed in her life.  She would sincerely wish him a wonderful life, because she was certainly going to have one, with a man she truly loved, who KNEW he loved her.

       As she snuggled closer to Jeremy, she turned her thoughts back to him.  Being her husband was going to be his first and most important priority.  But she meant it when she said that he would always be her slave.  And she would continue to find new and creative ways to further enthrall him.  Because that was a need he had, and she would always work hard to meet it.  For him.  And truth be told, she admitted to herself, she had come to deeply desire... even crave... his worship and adoration.  And now most importantly, the love that underlay it.  She would make sure that he would never find it necessary to fill that need anywhere else but with her.  SHE would be his one and only Mistress.  And she would always take care of her own.

       As she began to drift off into the most peaceful sleep she had probably ever had, she realized that he had already done so.  Rest  well Jeremy, she thought dreamily.  You have your work cut out for you.

       My Slave.

       My Husband To Be.

       My Love.