Chapter 3
Owen
I gritted my teeth, grinding them I was so pissed off by that little brat. She thought she could mess with me whenever she pleased, and she was so wrong. I didn't want to have to punish her because I know where it could lead. But she was no longer an enigma, she was just a brat. And there was only so much he could take from her.
I briskly strode away from her and her antics. There was work to be done.
I felt a sharp jab in my left shoulder and turned to see Olivia behind me, grinning from ear to ear like a kid in a candy shop. "Not a good time at all, Olivia."
"I was just making you aware of my presence, that's all." She put a hand on her voluptuous hip, jutting it out dramatically.
"Time to train you. What you're wearing will do for tonight, but tomorrow you will be expected to be dressed appropriately."
"Sheesh, yessir. What crawled up your butt, huh?" I ignored her, walking to the hostess stand. She followed close behind me, a little too close to irritate me, I'm sure.
We stood at the hostess station for a while, while I explained the ins and outs and what would be expected of her. She followed along and didn't annoy me much for a bit, which was nice. It seemed when she had something to do, annoying me was lower on her to-do list.
"If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me or Kat. I have to go train Aleesha now."
"Be careful, she might flirt you to death." I rolled my eyes. Was she jealous? Or just being herself?
Olivia
I didn't know why I felt that twinge of jealousy at Owen's words. Something about Aleesha bothered me, the way she flaunted herself at Owen. And he didn't seem as annoyed with her as he did me. Although yes, I went out of my way to irritate him. But still, I wanted him to look at me, in my eyes like he did everyone else. As the days went on and I kept being obnoxious, he seemed to pull away from me more and more. Normally it was a kind of warm-up technique I used on people, and they ended up adoring me or hating me. I didn't want Owen to hate me, and I just wasn't sure why. Why I was so affected by him.
I stood at my station and tried to look and act professional. Kat joined me from time to time, answering questions and pointing out training tips. Owen steered clear of me for most of the night. It had only been an hour or so, and I was growing bored. The club wasn't too busy and there wasn't much to do. I started thinking about my past and Thomas's face plastered itself into my minds eye. I started to panic; what if he came here? My breathing got faster and my chest started to heave.
Kat took notice and put both hands on my shoulders to steady me. She looked in my eyes and told me to relax and take three deep breaths. I did as she said and felt mildly calmer, but still a bit panicky.
"I think we should go find Owen and have a chat, Olivia. We'll continue your shift tomorrow if that's alright with you."
I just nodded as she brought me upstairs to Owen. There was an office that I didn't see up there before, tucked away in the back. It was spacious enough and furnished lavishly. Dark brown leather. She guided me to sit in one of the leather armchairs and regarded Owen. "I have to go hostess. Olivia, you need to help us help you." She left briskly, the door slamming behind her. I had no idea what she meant by that.
I looked at Owen sitting behind his regal desk. He looked up at me slowly, saying nothing as if he was waiting for me to break the silence. I stubbornly refused, crossing my legs haphazardly.
Owen sighed heavily, rolling back from his desk, crossing his hands over his chest. "What do need, Olivia?"
I suddenly completely forgot about Thomas and wanted nothing more than the truth from him. "Why don't you like me? You can hardly even look at me in the eye."
He paled, getting a confused look upon his normally tanned face. "What do you mean? You annoy the hell out of me. As far as
liking
you, I don't like very many people." He looked uncomfortable and I relished in it.
"So, you don't like me?" I wasn't letting it go.
"You're not my favorite person, but I feel protective over you," he admitted.
I felt a swelling in my chest as he spoke the words. I didn't expect that answer. He may not like me, but he felt protective over me and that was just as good in my opinion. It meant I had some sort of leverage over him. No matter how small, it was something.
It's simple, Olivia. I am here to help you. What isn't simple is your story. You haven't told me what exactly happened between you two. How did you end up with him and how did everything that happened ensue? I need to know these things about you in order to better help you."
I didn't believe him; I knew he wanted to know my story for his own benefit and not mine. Which made me not want to confide in him at all, but I knew I was backed into a corner.
I sighed, "I met Thomas on my twenty fifth birthday. Some friends threw me a surprise party at this local pub we all worked at. Thomas happened to be there. I was going though an emotional time, what with my previous dom being in a fatal accident. I had been with him, Eddie, since I was nineteen. He was my first dom and master. It hadn't been more than a year since the accident when I met Thomas. He swept me off my drunken feet. It started with just scenes at the club, er, here, every week. Then, he offered for me to move in with him when I lost my apartment. Everything was falling apart around me, and it seemed Thomas was my light at the end of the tunnel. What a joke. I was naïve, or just stupid. I followed after him like a lost puppy. I moved in, moved in all my stuff, even my cat. Things went well for a couple of months until he started to get weird." I looked down at my fingernails, picking at some dirt under my nail.
"Weird?" Owen asked.
"Yeah, he started to get really possessive, like more so than what's normal."
"What's normal possessive?" He looked genuinely curious.
"Like controlling what I wear on dates, not letting me hang with other dudes and whatnot. This was different. He stopped letting me see my friends slowly over time, until they stopped trying to contact me. He started to throw away some of my things and replace them with 'better' things. He started to control what I wore and what I ate. Even when I showered and went to bed. Then my cat went missing and I know he did something to him, my sweet Sully boy."
My eyes started to prick, and my throat became thick, making it hard to swallow. "He always hated that cat and how much I loved him. After I accused him of getting rid of Sully, he beat me for the first time. He tied me to his St. Andrews cross in the basement and tormented me all night. It was one of the worst nights of my life. The same night, he took everything important and locked it in his safe. He even took my phone so I wouldn't be able to contact anyone. He forced me to be at his side almost 24/7. He even started to work from home. I was forced to sit between his feet under his desk and pleasure him whenever he felt necessary."
I felt sick saying the words, my stomach roiled, and I gagged, putting my hand over my mouth. Owen didn't say a word, but I had never seen the expression he had on his face. It was a mixture of disgust and empathy.
"I don't know what else to say. It just kept getting worse until one day I found my phone under his pillow while he was showering and I sent a text message to one of my old friends, begging for help. I deleted the message and texted her again to tell her not to respond, but she did of course. Thomas found out immediately and locked me in the basement all day. He must have texted her back and explained it was a mistake or something, because no help came. Or maybe she just didn't give a shit about me at all. That was the night I packed a bag while he was showering again and made my escape plan. I knew I had to get out at any cost. That's when I ran into you and Kat," I finished.
Owen didn't speak or show any sign of it. He sat back, hands still over his chest, looking perturbed.
"That's the bulk of it, there was a lot of little stories inside that story that I could tell you, but it's disturbing. All the things he did to me and made me do."
"I can't," he blurted.
"What?" I squinted my eyes in genuine confusion.
"I can't listen anymore. I'm going to kill him." He looked dark and foreboding all of a sudden. He loomed over his desk, hands splayed on the surface of it, staring into my soul. I had wanted him to make eye contact with me before, desperately, but now I wanted nothing more than to look away.
"Owen, it's okay, it's all over and done with." I tried to reassure him, anything to make his hackles go down.
"I'm going to throttle that motherfucker for what he did to you." His jaw was clenched tight, and he fumed in anger. I could almost see the heatwaves rising off him. He moved abruptly and ripped of his jacket, pushing his sleeves up to the crook of his elbows. He ran a hand through his perfectly gelled hair, mussing it.
I had never seen him in such a state, and it made me wet. I was so moist between my thighs, my sex pulsing. I was mortified at my reaction. I felt my face flush, my body too.
"Olivia?" I looked up to Owen staring at me quizzically.
"I-I'm sorry, what?"
"Where did you just go?" He furrowed his thick brows together.
My face reddened deeper. I looked down in my lap.
"Oh. No." He put his face in his hands and sighed heavily.
"I'm sorry." I looked back down in shame.
"Don't be. It's fine. You're just human."
Not
the response I was looking for. He must not like me the way I like him. I was so disappointed, I suddenly wanted to cry. I hated him. Hated that I spilled my guts to him, and he still had nothing to offer me. I don't even know what he could offer, just something, anything.
"I'm just horny. It's not you, it's just been a while for me, that's all," I spat out bitterly.
He looked taken aback and opened his mouth to say something when I stood abruptly and left his office. "Fuck you, Owen."
Owen
Mental illness was a bitch. One second, she was 'normal' and then next, she was in a rage. I couldn't read her like I could read others. I had a knack for reading people, but she was difficult for me for whatever reason. I didn't try to follow her, I just let her go. I would try to speak with her later after I got some work done. I would also be doing some digging on BPD, so I could hopefully read Olivia a bit better. I sat, sighing and unlocking my desktop. Suddenly the door flew open and Aleesha walked in topless.
"Aleesha?" I furrowed my brows together.
"Hi, Mr. West," she said in her high-pitched tone. It was slightly irritating.
