Flashback Three
May 1996
After Graduation
"I told you they won't understand!" Rebecca yelled. "They are, and always have been, ignorant of the kink community, and even if they were aware it would still make them extremely uncomfortable!"
"They're going to have to accept who you are and how you live your life sooner or later!!" Rig yelled back. "You might as well introduce them now so they'll have time to accept it!"
"I will tell them, Master. In time, but a collaring in lieu of marriage vows will be too much for them to handle!" she yelled again.
"YES!" he yelled louder. "I am your Master and I'm telling you you're going to do this!!"
"BLACK ROSE!!" she screamed at him.
"NO!" he roared. "You're only allowed to use the safe-word during S&M play! We agreed on that!"
Her face was almost purple with rage. Rig had never seen her this angry, much less any anger directed at him. This was their first real fight. His anger was just as vehement, though. She was his submissive. She was supposed to be doing what he told her to do. "I'm not, fucking, doing it!" she seethed and stormed off.
"Where do you think you're going!" he yelled after her. "We're not done talking about this! GET BACK HERE!"
"I'M A FUCKING SUBMISSIVE, MASTER!" she roared over her shoulder. "NOT A GODDAMNED SLAVE!!" She got in her car, slammed the door so hard it rattled the windows and sped off.
Rig just stood in his driveway. His hands were balled into fists and his body was rigid and practically vibrating in his anger. He stormed back into the house and slammed the door. "Hey!" his mother said. "No slamming doors in this house, Reggie."
"Can it, mom," Rig shot back without thinking.
"Ex-cuuussse me!?" she shrieked. "Reginald Avery Johnson you will NOT talk to me that way! I know you're angry but that's NO excuse to be disrespectful to me!"
Rig sighed and turned to face his mother. She looked just as angry as Rebecca. He walked over and hugged her. "I'm sorry, mom," he said in a choked whisper as tears started trickling down his cheeks. "I'm sorry."
"Oh, honey," she soothed. "It really is going to be alright." She paused before continuing. "May I give you a piece of advice?"
"Please, mom," Rig said, chuckling sarcastically. "Any advice would be beneficial at this point."
She looked up at him and cupped his cheek like any adoring mother would. "Let her have her way, sweetheart," she said, smiling.
Rig scoffed slightly. "That's your advice? Let my submissive dictate what I can and can't do?"
Sue placed a placating hand on his chest. "Yes, dear," she said. "You've got to remember that she is her own person and not just a piece of property that is to be used at your convenience. She has emotions and desires, wants and fears, just like you do, and right now what she's feeling is fear."
"What would she be afraid of?" Rig asked, skeptically. "I'm her master and will take care of her. She knows that."
"She does know that, honey," she assured him. "But knowing and believing are two totally different concepts."
"Are you saying she doesn't believe that I'll be there for her?" Rig asked.
She shrugged slightly. "At the moment, no. She doesn't believe that because, well, and this is going to be hard for me to say, but, you're violating her trust."
Rig's eyes went wide. "What!?" he exclaimed. "How?"
"Sweetheart," she said, "you're trying to make her do something she doesn't want to do; something she's afraid to do. Even though it may seem trivial to you, to her it's the equivalent of running down a mountain to escape an avalanche. In her mind, what you're asking her to do is impossible."
"But-" he began but she interrupted him.
"Stop," she gently begged. "Honey, stop making excuses for yourself. You want more than anything to have your collar around her neck and I get that. I understand. But you need to remember that while you're in charge, that doesn't give you absolute authority over her. You need to remember that you are two halves of a complete whole and the only way you're going to complete each other is by sometimes letting go of something you want so that she has the room to grow into her half of the whole that completes you as well. Do you understand?"
"I think so, mom," he said. "You're talking about compromise?"
"That's a part of it," she answered. "But there's so much more to it than just that." She smiled at him. "You'll understand with time. Although, if it's any consolation, I think you both are right."