Chapter 2. Coming On Board
That same afternoon, after pleasuring herself with me -- and me with herself -- in the training room, Myrna took me to her office to explain the business that we were launching, and the role she saw for me. The first point she made clear was that although my contract would be with Keyholders, it would specify a probationary position of six months duration with the new company, LifeMates, under herself as its president and CEO. On successful completion of that probation, I would be collared by Mistress Myrna as her full-time life partner and personal assistant. We would then run this company together.
The premise of LifeMates' business plan was that executives and senior people in every field were desperately overloaded and in need of assistance that only trusted intimates could provide. In effect, these assistants had to share their superior's lives and be their
alter egos
-- meeting the same people, breathing the same air in conference rooms, eating the same food at social functions and (why not?) sleeping in the same bed for stress relief and relaxation. Of necessity, such relationships would be a kind of marriage: a D/s marriage built around our clients' demanding careers, with or without the D/s sex games and paraphernalia. As in a marriage, the couple would succeed or fail, rise or fall together. They would need to satisfy each other's needs for close companionship and sex (if they wanted some), because, typically, they would have little time for much else. LifeMates would make its profit by promoting such relationships and helping them to work as expected.
One large part of my job would be to travel and socialize with Myrna in demonstrating and marketing our services, modeling the submissive role in such relationships while she modeled the Dominant. In effect, I was to be a shining example of the product that LifeMates hoped to sell. I would also be responsible for recruiting and training aspiring submissives of both sexes to prepare for roles with client Dominants (trained by Myrna) who wanted assistance of this kind. In due course, as the operation grew, Myrna and I would be training trainers rather than customers and their prospective assistants, but the work would be essentially the same. The trainers whether of Dominants or subs would need to know their roles to perfection, and we would need to prepare and supervise them.
* * * * *
In her business plan, Myrna had needed names for the two roles in a lifemate relationship. I was becoming Myrna's 'sidekick' or 'proxy' while Myrna was my 'Primary' or 'Alpha.' Up till now, Myrna had been imagining these roles, but Myrna and I would now be inventing them on the fly as we tried to live them. The Alpha/proxy relationship would differ from conventional D/s in that the proxy, though obedient and respectful to the Alpha was not imagined as a slave, or bed-pet (though he or she might play those roles for pleasure), but as a full, though submissively obedient, partner. It would be like a marriage in many ways, except that its power dynamic would be agreed and understood up front, and could go either way. The woman would not necessarily obey her man (as per the Biblical injunctions), nor would their decisions be negotiated or fought out case-by-case as in most modern marriages. Instead, the submissive party would typically have a delegated sphere of autonomy and responsibility with the understanding that significant issues would be discussed and taken jointly, with the Alpha having the final word.
Few actual marriages achieve the standard of intimacy and shared competence that Mistress Myrna had in mind.
To the extent possible, my job would be to merge with Myrna -- become like a second eye and hand and leg to her -- but without losing my own individuality. For what Myrna wanted from her proxy -- what our future clients would learn to expect and receive from theirs -- would be a complementary person -- autonomous, though always respectful and submissive. A second eye is useful precisely because it gives a
different
picture than the first, though sharing the same object of attention. The double vision adds a dimension to the visual field, which allows the person to see in depth. Similarly, a second hand allows us to hold something while we work on it with the first. A second leg allows both legs, and the body above them, to walk in a chosen direction. In such ways, the submissive lifemate should be far more useful than an obedient slave. He or she adds a second temperament, skill set and perspective to the primary's, while never pulling in a different direction. Of course, all this was just an ideal, but an ideal we would make real to the extent possible.
While serving her in this submissive role, Myrna told me, I would have two areas of primary responsibility: In effect, as LifeMates grew, I would become its vice-president in charge of training and recruitment of qualified submissives to clients in need of same. Myrna would find the clients, and we would collaborate on matching and support. I would also have primary responsibility for the production of our written materials: articles and press releases, and -- as soon as possible -- a publishable handbook on the theory and practices of lifemate relationships. Of course, Myrna would review my work and have me make whatever changes, but the initial versions of all our training materials, magazine articles and press releases would be my responsibility.
It would indeed be an absorbing and demanding job, drawing on themes from my own life. I could see why Charles had passed my file to Myrna, and why she had hired me. Our common love of that Donne poem made it clear. The lifemate relationship as we proposed to model, teach and sell it, was just such an affair of 'twin compasses' and unequally shared responsibilities, in which one 'foot' establishes goals and holds a centre while the other runs around, doing much of the actual work.
As for remuneration, she told me, I would be paid the same as she was, and in the same way, after the initial probation period, once I was fully installed. "Except for pocket money which you will draw from salary as needed (and as I or the KI Finance Officer approve), we'll share the same room and board. Travel expenses will be approved and reimbursed. Most of your salary will go into a savings account, or into a managed investment fund of your choice. When we retire, we will both be fairly rich, with plenty of money for a comfortable old age whether or not we stay together."
When I protested that as my boss she should be paid more than I was, Myra explained to me why equal remuneration was necessary. "First, you will be giving yourself to the company just as I am." Outside of work activities and our relationship, you will have almost no other life. You will not have time for one. Second, it is necessary for us to model the relationship that we're proposing to teach others. You will be my subordinate and submissive, but not my inferior. We will plan together, and then you will mainly execute (under my review, but at your discretion) what we jointly decide. I will approve your budget and expenses, but you will spend it. Neither of us will actually need much money for ourselves, as we'll be living very well, with the company paying most of our expenses.
"But you will be Mistress," I objected. "I will be under you and junior to you."
"You will be under me," Myrna replied, "but not inferior. In all we do, we will participate together in our different roles. It's true that I came to work for KI and LifeMates long before you did, and that I will have to teach and train you to function at the level we will need. But accepting you as my equal is my gift to you, while competent obedience is your gift to me. Your duty is to be worthy of my gift; mine is to be worthy of yours. Is one less valuable than the other? We're going to be telling our clients that they are two sides of the same coin. They will do want they want, of course, but we'll be recommending this same arrangement."
And so I gave KI the coordinates of my savings account checked a couple of times to see what funds were going in and then forgot about it. The Company accountants filed and paid my taxes, gave me room and board and pocket money, and took care of all my expenses. The rest of my salary and bonuses went automatically into personal investment accounts set up and managed for me by expert money-people. Along with Mynra, as LifeMates prospered, we became effectively wealthy without having to think about our personal assets at any time.
She went on, "There are things you need to know before you accept this job offer. Our D/s relationship will be shaped and constrained by several factors: by the requirements of the LifeMates business, by my position with Keyholders, and by some other commitments. You need to be aware of these constraints, and must agree to abide by them, irksome as they may sometimes be. I must be confident that you can handle them before I can make our relationship permanent. That's mostly what the probationary period is for."
"Mistress," I replied "as your submissive, I will do my best. That's all I can promise until I know more."
"Fair enough," she replied. Just promise that if something comes up that you have a problem with, you will let me know at once.
"That I can promise, Mistress"
"Very well. Here's what I can tell you:"
"The main thing you already know: that we are both working for Keyholders Inc. Just as you will take orders from me, I must sometimes take orders from Mistress Amanda, the founder of KI and LifeMates' controlling shareholder. On occasion, I must also consider the wishes and opinions of Charles Thorncliffe, our contract officer. though he doesn't actually boss me. In status, I am his superior, but he does not report to me, and I can't give him orders. His opinions and wishes are important to us because if he and I have a disagreement that we can't settle between ourselves, Mistress Amanda, the founder and CEO of KI (whom you will meet) will have to call it. Then we may find ourselves bound by her choices against our own desires and judgment. So I must always take Thorncliffe's views into account when I make my own decisions. Is that clear enough?"
"Indeed, yes, Mistress," I answer her. "I've worked in a corporate environment before. I understand chains of command and corporate politics."
"I know you've worked in that environment. That was one of the points Charles Thorncliffe noted on your resume, and why he brought your file to my attention. You were a valuable discovery, by the way. It wasn't easy to find a trained, experienced bisexual submissive with an MBA and some experience working at senior level in a large corporation (which is what KI has become). Still it's only fair to warn you that as my personal assistant, you will need to handle yourself like a senior executive with clients, subs and the general public, which, at the end of the day, is what I am."
"Understood, Mistress. Thank you."
"OK. There's more. At home, you will obey and serve Bernice as you would me. That includes sexual services as and when she desires them unless they conflict with some specific task or commitment to me. She is herself a Mistress, but you will address her as 'Ma'am' because I am the only Mistress you can have. She reports to me here but is my equal in status at Keyholders. In this house, her wishes are my own. Those are the terms of my arrangement with her."
"May I ask why, Mistress?"
