Seven Days of Service – Day Six
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The next morning, I left my house to do something I'd never done before; see what time the Harbor Bar actually opened for business. As it turned out, Harbor Hattie and her husband opened the bar around 10 a.m. for the early lunch crowd and while she was surprised to see me at that hour, she was pleased as well. I stopped her from plopping my Guinness in front of me as I entered, but still indicated to her that we needed to talk. Cocking an eye at me, she grinned and motioned for me to wait while she settled in the rest of the customers.
When she returned to hear what I had to say, she assumed that stoic look that I'd become familiar with through the years. When I'd finished, she simply winked at me and told me to bring Cathy around after the afternoon's activities and she'd play it by ear. In the meantime, she mentioned to me almost off-handedly, that the game I was playing was extremely addictive and to be sure that I was prepared to accept the consequences.
Thanking her, I returned home just in time to see Cathy pull into my driveway, dressed a bit better than usual since we were having guests, and she wasn't sure what the rest of the day might bring. The collar was still prominent on her neck as instructed, so I figured she was still conforming to the terms of our deal. My "mind's eye" however, was able to visualize every square inch of her naked body beneath that façade. In recognition of this, my cock had already begun stirring, much to my discomfort.
Ushering her quickly into the house, I told her to change into her bikini and report to the kitchen for further instructions.
While she was changing, I recalled the taunts that she'd shot at me in earlier weeks of the contest. Her promise to have me serve as the host to a party of her girlfriends in a "ball-bag" was particularly irritating. What she didn't know right now was exactly who I had invited to our little BBQ. This time I'd taken an opportunity to invite the project leaders from her department as well, since they'd be joining me in working on this contract. If I remembered correctly, that would make it three males and two females in their party if everyone showed up, seven of us in all.
As Cathy returned to the living room I marveled at how well she filled out a bikini. She was almost as sensuous in the bikini as she was in the nude. The outfit that she had on was not overly revealing, but enough of her was exposed to pose a serious challenge to my resolve. I reminded her that she was going to be the appointed hostess for my little get-together and expected that she behave accordingly.
My guests were expected around 1 p.m., so I had plenty of time to prepare for their arrival and to make sure that Cathy knew what her responsibilities were to be during the visit. She was expressing a bit of annoyance that we wouldn't be alone for the afternoon, but I assured her that her service duties to me during the get-together were as hostess; nothing more. I also promised to take her out of the house after the party and treat her to the Harbor Bar again if she behaved herself.
Looking suspiciously at me, she reluctantly wandered back to the kitchen to prepare the snacks that I had ordered the day before. The only consolation she had at this point was that I had allowed her to wear something. I was sure that she'd have objected otherwise and she'd have been within her rights to call "foul."
Finally, my guests began to arrive and I greeted and escorted them into the living room in preparation for the basketball game beginning at 1 p.m. Cathy and I had spread out the snacks on the end tables and coffee table in anticipation for the event, but she remained in the kitchen for now, partly I guessed out of embarrassment. She'd have done the same to me if she'd won, so I had little sympathy for her plight.
All of those invited turned up for the game, much to my surprise. It must have had more to do with the conditions of the "Deal" more than anything else, I thought. Some bit of novelty in their lives I suspected. Nonetheless, they settled into the chairs and couch to get comfortable for the sporting event on TV with drinks and snacks.
Wanting to surprise my guests and give them "visual" proof that I was actually using my contest prize, I turned and shouted towards the kitchen, "Cathy, please bring a cold six-pack out here for our guests."
I watched as five faces turned to me, a question mark on each of them. After waiting a bit for the refreshments to arrive, I decided to return to the kitchen to see what the delay was.
Just as I was about to reach the doorway, Cathy slowly walked out with six beers balanced on a serving tray. Glaring at me as she passed by, she walked into the living room and stopped abruptly. Walking up to her I saw that her face and upper body had suddenly turned bright red and from the look on her face it wasn't from simple embarrassment. She was furious! Suddenly I could see that this wasn't going to be the cakewalk that I thought it'd be.
I stepped up to her and attached the silver chain to her collar, allowing the end to dangle between her breasts. This time there was no expression of surprise or resistance, as she merely accepted the action, still glaring at one of the project managers that belonged to her department. It was Sonia, I recalled, but I didn't like the chemistry that was taking place right now between them and I used the chain to re-establish some control until I could find out more.
Seeing Cathy standing before them in a bikini, collared, with the chain hanging down from the chrome ring, Sonia began to smile wickedly. Watching her, I was reminded of a cat that had spotted her prey. It didn't take a genius to figure out that there were some bad vibrations coming from them.
Getting up from the couch, Sonia approached Cathy, circling around her like some predatory beast. The effect was a little unsettling and it occurred to me that I apparently wasn't privy to some aspect of her department's politics.
Finally, stopping behind her, Sonia stretched up and hissed into Cathy's ear, "How does it feel to be
else's
slave for a change?" As she said that she reached to the bow holding Cathy's bikini top in place and pulled the string, releasing her beautiful breasts for all present to see.
As the bikini top fluttered to the floor Sonia snarled, "A slave doesn't deserve the dignity of clothing."
Recovering my senses, I jumped forward to restrain Sonia from going any further, but I had to inform her that she'd violated the hospitality of my house. Taking her arm, I escorted her off to the side and reminded her that despite Cathy's position while in my home she'd still be Sonia's boss come Monday.
I saw a look of shock on Sonia's face as the realization of what she'd done sunk in and expected some sparks in our department when everyone returned to work the following week. Hoping to defuse any future difficulties between the two, I brought her back into the group to see how we could fix this situation.
Returning to the living room, I was surprised to see that Cathy had not replaced the bikini top while I'd gone. Instead, she was still standing where I left her, still holding the tray of drinks, still bare-chested. The rest of the room was staring at her in awe, still shocked at the scene that had taken place just moments ago. The three guys were struggling with "issues of the groin" I noticed and the remaining lady, Barbara, simply sat there shaking her head with a small smile on her lips.
I bent over in front of Cathy, retrieved the bikini top and took the tray of drinks from her hand. I then instructed her to replace the top and turned to serve the cold drinks to our guests. As I did so, I noted that Barbara had begun to laugh. Annoyed, I asked her what was so funny.
"Sonia," she replied. "She's had her sights set on you ever since she found out that you were single. You just never noticed. I think she just figured out that she'd finally seen her competition."
"Competition?" I asked. "Not hardly."
Barbara looked at me for a moment, then chuckled and said, "Yeah, right." A quick glance at Sonia however, showed me that there might have been a little truth in what she said.
Looking at the group as Cathy covered herself with the bikini top once more, I asked them how we could "even the score" a bit for Cathy after this little display of humiliation by her subordinate. Everyone fell silent for a couple of minutes, and then surprisingly, Arthur broke out with, "If I were Cathy, I'd settle for a 'tit for a tat.'"
We were all taken by surprise. Arthur was usually the last person to offer a suggestion in group meetings and when he did, most of the folks present didn't understand exactly what he was trying to say. Only if you paid particular attention to where his conversation was directed did you stand a chance of understanding him.
"Tit for tat" I remembered, was an old expression of balance; like an "eye for an eye" going back to the 1500's. He was actually suggesting that Sonia be humiliated in the same manner that she'd embarrassed Cathy. Cathy had caught on about the same time as I did and simply smiled.
"How about it, Barb?" Arthur asked as he glanced over at her. Barbara had been following our little drama with a frown between her brows as she tried to figure out what he'd meant by his comment.
"A tit for a tat, Sonia," I said. "What'll it be?"