Author's Note: Thank you for reading all the way to the second chapter. I appreciate that. I'm just becoming acquainted with Literotica's tools, so I apologize if the first chapter was too short or lacked action-- I thought I could tack on the continuation of the story as a second chapter after publishing, but it looks like the way to go is to write and publish this next part separately.
A big inspiration for this story is Nancy's Descent by JustineBishop. I find my mind sometimes involuntarily wandering to it when I'm masturbating, having sex, or going about my daily life. It ended on a cliffhanger years ago but it still inspired a fixation that I can't escape from, so go read it, if you enjoy sitting with the feeling of powerlessness against whoever or whatever may ensnare you.
RR
Olive met her own gaze in the mirror of her Prius and quickly broke it to glance at the GPS directions to the law offices of Galois and Stevens. She was driving with one hand on the wheel while she bit down and tugged on the nail of her left ring finger. Biting her nails was a nasty, stress-borne habit that she had really tried to break, but driving always seemed to set it off, as she was still getting accustomed to navigating the hectic chaos of the city streets by car. Besides, it wasn't the only bad habit whose grip she had to worry about escaping, anymore.
At least his name isn't on the practice. He hasn't made partner yet.
Thinking about Paul working underneath his professional superiors brought Olive some meager comfort.
It's not like he runs the place. He can't have that much power there. And he can't have any more power over me than I allow him to.
No sooner than she had finished the thought, Olive admitted to herself that it wasn't true. If she could control how much sway Paul still had over her, she wouldn't be so tense right now. Her body told the real story. Her brow was furrowed, her jaw clenched, her thighs tightly squeezed together as if to confine her arousal. She couldn't lie to herself. It was all she could do to keep her hand on the wheel and her eyes on the road.
Olive ruminated on her time with Paul, to try to sort out the whirling storm in her head-- her resentment, her fear, her desire to succumb, and her need to hold herself together. He had been the Dom to end all Doms for her. The man that made her tuck her tail between her legs, turn on her heel, leave the city and its kink scene, and settle into a cozy monogamy with her ex. It wasn't exactly because Paul had treated her poorly (except when she'd begged him to, of course). He wasn't a scary guy. No, what scared her most was the weakness she seemed to have for him.
As Olive remembered, she had been unhealthily consumed by her submission to Paul. When the stress of family and school got to be overwhelming, she could just relax into her role as his pleasure pet, where the expectations were clear and she could never disappoint him. She developed a pseudo-addiction to that sense of peace and purpose, when the ever-turning gears in her brain could slow to a sensual rhythm, her jaw slack and her knees wobbly, and she could just drop to the floor and hand over the reins to her mind and body for a while. She never wanted to leave his apartment, but in the morning she always had to.
At the end of the day, Olive could not will Paul to be similarly consumed by her. She couldn't make him belong to her the way she hoped she might if she were good enough, sweet enough, interesting enough, and persistent enough. But she was, after all, just a college student, several years his junior, someone he could easily get what he wanted from with a little wining and dining. She was easy to impress, easy to conquer, eager to be conquered. She wasn't sure if she had ever impressed him.
Her sole consolation prize for losing herself wholly in her submission was the memory of when she had been his for a brief moment in time, memories she was ashamed to admit still thrilled her and turned her on. After a few years of recalibration in a more egalitarian partnership with someone her own age, who practically worshipped the ground she walked on... the effect these memories were having on her now made Olive feel rather pathetic in her adult life. She did not want to see a man who made her feel pathetic. Her shame at her past self and her deep desire to be full of his cock again were all mixed up. Introducing that chaos into her working life made for a heady cocktail of confusion. And here she was, driving to his office.
Your destination is on the right.
What would be worse-- if he remembered her, or if he didn't? If the pervasive impact he'd left on her psyche was mutual, and he'd spent lonely nights stroking his cock to the memory of dominating her, or if she was merely an insignificant blip on his radar? As Olive gingerly eased into a parking space, she realized she truly didn't know what outcome she'd prefer. After all, now in her mid twenties, she couldn't wield the persona of precocious-ingenue-teen-sex-kitten anymore, and when you outgrow that label, there's a million other damaged girls desperate for the approval of an older man waiting to take your place. Paul probably had one under his desk servicing his cock at that very moment, and three on speed dial.
Olive stepped out into the street, rounded her car to grab the box of files from the passenger seat, and marched to the office door with the somber resignation of a doomed man approaching the gallows.
With both hands holding the box of files, Olive turned her body to push the glass door open with her hips.
No turning back now.
A harried receptionist in a rumpled blouse was typing feverishly behind the front desk. The furniture and lighting were swanky and upscale, but the overall effect was still cozy and inviting. The kind of place designed to make you feel at ease sharing all your secrets. The receptionist paused her assault on her keyboard to look at Olive.
"May I help you?"
"Um, yes, I'm from Bleecker and Nash, I have the requested documents for discovery in the Stadtler case." The words rushed out of Olive's mouth in a hurried spurt as she felt heat rise to her cheeks. "Can I just leave them here with you?"
The receptionist gave no indication she had picked up on the pleading tone in Olive's voice. "Actually, would you mind bringing them to Paul's office?" she said coolly. "He may want to review the disclosures with you so he can send you back with any further requests." She pointed a long, gold-tipped nail down a hallway behind her. "Second door on the right."
Fuuuuck.
"Okay, no problem!" Olive squeaked as she wondered if there was something else she could have said to back out, if she'd lied about being in a rush, or deferred the document review to Kent, or faked a family emergency. She crooked one arm around the box of documents and practically tiptoed to the door, tapping on it lightly with her fingernail.
"Come in."
Olive swallowed hard, pushed down on the door handle, and stepped into the office of Paul Kleinfeld. She averted her gaze from the man at the desk, desperately trying to find something else in the room to notice first, and her eyes instead found a modest loveseat for clients, a shelf full of books, and a banker's lamp, the vintage green kind one might see at an old library. She wasn't exactly expecting a sex dungeon on the other side of the door, but it was still uncanny to see what it looked like for him to be in his element at work.
Finally, she turned to face him. His 30s had been kind to him so far, it seemed. He was wearing a well-fitting but unremarkable charcoal suit. Crisp white shirt, burgundy tie and pocket hanky. His dark hair was thinner than when she had seen him last, and his face a little rounder, with an equal amount of worry lines and smile lines. Olive could also see herself in a mirror mounted on the wall behind him. Age had softened her edges, too. Her thick, wavy brown hair was piled into a bun. She was grateful she had chosen a dark purple top to wear today, as the color hid what she suspected were massive sweat stains. Her grey pencil skirt hugged her hard-won curves, the result of many breathless evenings doing home workouts on her floor. She looked professional, but she also looked better than ever. What a relief.