This is a continuation of “To Serve” in which Anne discovers her true vocation – to serve Mike Andersen the Marketing Director of Fulcrum where she has now accepted a job as his special personal assistant. Many thanks to those who provided feedback to the first part of this story and helped me frame this continuation.
Anne returned to the office after Stockholm and spent the first few days moving in to her new office. Mike had not returned with her but gone off to another client elsewhere in Europe. He had however told her that they should spend the long bank holiday weekend together at his beach house. So when an e-mail arrived in her in-tray from Mike Andersen she opened it without delay. The message was however, short and very much to the point.
“Pick you up from office at 5 o’clock. Don’t bring anything other than a toothbrush. Don’t be late.”
Anne had expected something more, perhaps some words of affection, but then again it was the office e-mail system and it was Mike sending the message. He was not one to waste words.
She thought long about what to take for the weekend. She looked at her clothes wondered if she needed a bathing suit, some smart evening clothes. She also remembered that he had said just a toothbrush. Was that just a figure of speech or did he mean it. Mike usually meant exactly what he said, but just a toothbrush for a long weekend? No, she had to take something more. In the end she threw a spare pair of jeans a couple of tops, some clean underwear and her toilet bag into a bag.
That was how she stood outside the office building on that Friday. A T shirt blue jeans and small grip bag in hand. 4:55 at least she was not late, although everyone else except security had already left for the long weekend. She saw Mike in his open top dark blue Porsche drive round the entry road and come to stop in front of her.
“Some toothbrush.” His opening words took her by surprise. She at least expected a Hello!
“Just a few things” she smiled back at him “nothing much.”
His fixed emotionless face told her before his words that she had got it wrong. “I meant what I said” he said “lose the bag inside and come back with your toilet bag only. And hurry”
“I’m sorry Mike, I just thought that…” she stopped, knowing that excuses were not required and quickly turned back into the building and hurried up the stairs to her desk. She took out her small toilet bag from the grip and pushed the rest under her desk. Retracing her steps as fast as she could, she climbed into Mike’s car. She barely had time to fasten her seat belt before Mike drove off pointing the car into the weekend traffic and the rush to the coast. “Don’t disobey me like that again.” Mike’s simple statement said volumes “when I ask or tell you to do something, I expect you to do exactly as I say.”
“Yes Mike. I understand I will try and do as you say.” She looked downwards, her eyes fixed on a small mark on her jeans.
No further words were said. As the car weaved its way through the traffic they talked about the job in Sweden, her new office, her next project and Mike’s recent visit to Germany. They stopped for a light meal at a small restaurant and talked more about work. Then they were on open roads once again and the noise of the wind rushing past the speeding car meant that no further conversation was possible.
At about 9 o’clock, Mike pulled off the main road and drove down a narrow lane. Anne could smell the salt water in the air and knew that they must be getting close to their destination. Eventually, when Anne thought that they may not see another house, Mike pulled the car through a gap in the hedge and stopped outside a small weather boarded house.
Anne imagined that Mike would own something bigger, but she could tell what the attraction was. She thought it beautiful, probably about 100 years old, two storied and painted a pale eggshell blue. At the front was a small veranda which looked through a gap in the sand dunes to the beach.
When Mike unlocked the door and led her inside she was surprised. She was expecting small rooms in keeping with the exterior impression, but instead she saw that the whole interior had been opened out. The ground floor was just a single room with a small kitchen dining area in one half of the house and a lounge sitting area in the other, dominated by a stone-built open fireplace. A log fire was already alight so (Anne assumed) Mike had somebody to look after the place for him.
Above the kitchen area was a balcony floor supported by large wooden beams adorned by hooks, ropes and other fishing gear. She could just make out the shape of a single large bed and a small room. The house was simply but comfortably furnished, the whole giving a gentile, comfortable air. Mike has good taste she thought to herself.
“The bedroom and bathroom are upstairs” Mike’s voice broke the silence and her thoughts.
“Go and have a shower and come back down.” Anne was not going to question or disobey. “I will get some coffee and drinks. You will find some clothes hanging in the small wardrobe, wear the blue tonight.” “And only that” it was the first time he had looked at her properly since they had arrived. She could see in his eyes that this was another order that he expected her to carry out exactly.
Anyway, He had said clothes? This man had clothes for her? He had bought them for her? It explained why she only needed a toothbrush. She was intrigued.
She grabbed her small toilet bag and ascended the stairs. The balcony was dominated by a large wooden king sized bed covered in dark blue satin sheets. Above it, a roof light gave a view of the evening sky. To one side was a large triple wardrobe, the other side a smaller one with just a double set of doors. She pulled the doors open.
Inside were about ten hangers, each with a different garment, all of which looked expensive. She brushed her hand across them before picking the blue one off the rail. It was a silky smooth satin in royal blue. She looked at the label – Victoria Secrets – and checked the size. It was correct. How? Then she looked properly at the dress. The back was plain but the front was buttoned at the neck with a deep slit below that which would, Anne estimated, reach down to her navel. Then she noticed the sides, the two halves of the dress were laced together loosely so that the wearer would be partially open to view. She immediately became embarrassed. She knew she did not have the figure for this type of dress. She had seen models and film stars wear them, also much better endowed than her meagre 34B bust line. She quickly looked into the drawer below, inside a range of silk and lace lingerie. She wanted to look but the noise of Mike moving around below told her that she had better get on with complying with his wishes.
She opened the only door and walked into a surprisingly large bathroom. It contained a Jacuzzi corner bath, a large shower cubicle, toilet and washbasin all of which were in white and set against dark blue wall tiles. Spot lights lit each area of the bathroom.
She quickly stripped off her jeans, T-shirt and underwear and stepped into the shower. She found some sweet smelling shower gel and turned on the mixer tap. She washed herself thoroughly, luxuriating in the warm water, in her mind comparing her surroundings to the simple over-bath shower in her own small little apartment.
Time was must be ebbing away she thought so she turned off the tap and stepped out grabbing one of the large fluffy towels. She looked to wear she had hung the dress and noticed that her clothes had gone. Mike must have taken then while she was in the shower, hidden from her view by the condensation on the shower door. Satisfied she was dry; she took the dress off the hanger and stepped into it. The material seemed to glide over her as she pulled it over her shoulders. She reached up to the neck and fastened the single button, then looked at herself in the full length mirror at the end of the room. She admired the way the dress moved around her body as she altered position. She had been right about the front, it did indeed reach down to her belly button and she wished she had more breast to do justice to the line of the dress. She felt wonderfully naughty, it was like being naked and clothed at the same time. She walked out of the bedroom and down the stairs to Mike who was sitting on the large sofa in front of the fire. The material felt wonderful on her naked flesh, she enjoyed the sensation, especially as it moved across her breasts. She could feel her nipples harden in response to the silky caress of the dress.
Mike handed her a drink and motioned for her to sit alongside him. She sipped the tall clear liquid; vodka and tonic, her favourite, how did he know?
“Anne” Mike began his voice still firm and authoritative but now with a hint of warmth “first, let me tell you how wonderful you look in that dress. Blue is my favourite colour and it suits you”
“It’s lovely Mike. Not what I would normally wear,” she smiled as she said it “but it feels wonderful and I like to wear it because you like it.”
He smiled “It is yours Anne, everything in that wardrobe is yours; yours to wear every time you come to this house.”
“I don’t know what to say” Anne started, embarrassed by his generosity, pleased that they would apparently be doing this again.
“Say nothing and listen” Mike’s voice was serious now.
“When you are here you will wear only the clothes that I tell you to wear – nothing else”
“This will be our special place. A place where we will enjoy each other to the full. You will have experiences beyond your dreams, but to enjoy them will involve trust, a trust that I will never ask of you anything that you do not want to do.” He held his hand up to stop her reply, before continuing.
