I first saw her at the local Borders. She slipped a book out of the erotica section, hid it behind the magazine she was carrying, then took it back to the philosophy area and read it for some time, twitching a little in the armchair hidden between the stacks. I watched her furtively, first from fiction, then from travel. When she left, she slid the small volume onto the shelf by the chair.
Curious, I walked over and retrieved it. It was entitled "The Maid and the Master." It was a vintage volume, Edwardian by the tone. A young woman, entirely inexperienced in the matters of the flesh, is sent to serve as a housemaid at a remote estate. The master, a dark, older military man, intrigues her and slowly draws her in to a subservient relationship. A first, a slap on the wrist for some minor failing. Later, a light caning, though with her bloomers still on. Then, a spanking on her bare buttocks.
As the punishments escalate, so, too, does her excitement. Finally, she succumbs to him totally, to only to punishments, but to his carnal needs, and even to those of his guests.
I looked up from the book and saw the girl who had left it there watching me from the corner of her eye. When I met her gaze, she blushed and looked away, taking refuge in the gardening section. She was slight, barely five foot, with light red hair and flawless, pale skin. Her breasts were tiny, her hips narrow. She was attractive, but also obviously shy. Her carriage demonstrated a lack of confidence. Her plain, pulled-back hairstyle, complete lack of make-up, ill-advised glasses frames and drab fashion choices indicated no sense of power. She was likely in her early twenties.
She picked up a couple of books and went to sit at one of the tables near the coffee bar. I bought a large tea and walked over to her table.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" I asked, looking her directly in the eyes.
She looked up, surprised, and then looked around at the numerous empty tables. "I, um, there are lots of seats . . ."
"Yes," I answered. "But I would like to sit here."
She started to speak, stopped, then nodded. "OK, I guess."
"Thank you," I said, taking the seat directly across from her. I continued to look directly into her face.
She flipped through her gardening volume, occasionally glancing up quickly. Finally she spoke in a feathery voice without looking up from her book.
"You're making me uncomfortable," she said.
"I suppose I might be," I answered.
She nodded again.
"I enjoyed the book you left on the shelf in the philosophy section," I said.
She looked up, her mouth open. "I wasn't reading it, I just found it there."
I gave her a stern, narrow smile and shook my head. "No. You picked it up from the Erotica shelf and hid it behind your magazine. You read it in the armchair behind the last stack, then you slipped it into the empty spot at the end of the shelf. Next to a copy of Augustine's confession, ironically."
"You've been watching me."
"Yes," I said. "I like watching you."
She closed her book. "I think I should leave."
"That's your choice," I said. "But I don't think you want to."
She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it and looked down into her lap.
"Look up please," I said.
She did.
"You aren't going to leave, are you?"
She shook her head.
"Answer me verbally, please."
"No," she said.
"Why not?"
"Please don't make me answer that."
"But you want me to make you do things, don't you?" I said.
Again, she nodded.
"Answer me, please."
"Yes."
"Yes what?"
"Yes, I want you to make me do things."
"What sort of things?"
Her face was flushed now, and her breath short.
"Bad things. Things with my body."
"You've never been with a man, have you?" I asked.
She shook her head.
"If you come with me, I will use you. I will have others use you. Is that what you want?"
She nodded.