Isabelle and Mr. Bête

The next days were relatively normal. There was no further word from Linda and they soon forgot about her, Jean-Marie had made her the pasta he had wanted to and she had another thing to compliment him about. He had less reason to scold her for mistakes at work and she felt good when he praised her for jobs well done.

She did get curious again after seeing him come out of the forbidden room one evening, looking a little distressed.

'Are you okay?' she asked.

He took a deep breath. 'I'm fine. What did you need?'

She handed him a copy of a contract. 'Just wanted to give you this for final approval. Legal has cleared it.'

'Thank you.' he said and glanced at it. 'Anything else?'

She shook her head.

'Then I'll be done for today. Good night Isabelle.' he said and went to his room.

'Good night Jean.' she said softly and looked at the forbidden room for a moment before heading down to her own room.

***

'So, how far have you guys gone?' asked Samantha during lunch one day.

'Hmm?' said Isabelle, unsure if Samantha meant her.

'Well?' Samantha asked again, Colette leaning a little closer.

'Who? Me? With whom?' asked Isabelle.

'Yes, you. With him.'

'Him?' Isabelle wondered, then came the obvious answer. 'What? With Jean!? I couldn't! I mean, I don't even know if he likes me all that much!'

Colette chuckled while Samantha looked suspiciously at Isabelle. 'Jean, eh? You already got that close?'

Isabelle realised her mistake and sighed. 'Something happened a short while ago and I called out to him. Nothing important, but he later said I could call him Jean in private if I wanted to.'

Samantha nodded. 'You're also the first assistant who's happy to be around him.' she said. 'You even work harder after words from him instead of groaning and complaining.'

'I think he's also been in a better mood lately.' said Colette, smiling deviously at Isabelle.

'I wouldn't know anything about that.' said Isabelle. 'I've only known him for a short while.'

'I know. Been here long enough to see the change.'

Samantha leaned back. 'So, we're looking at the start of something new.'

Isabelle blushed. 'I don't know about that.. I think he's just happy I work well as an assistant..'

'Well, then we'll just have to think of the right ways to seduce him.' chuckled Colette and she and Samantha listed any sweet and naughty ways to get him to notice her, embarrassing Isabelle sometimes when she imagined herself and Jean-Marie in some of the suggested situations.

'Then again, maybe he's just softening you up, and then eat you alive one unsuspecting night.' Samantha said, growling menacingly.

'I wonder if she'd mind that.' chuckled Colette. 'I wouldn't.'

'Colette!' said Isabelle, faking indignity. 'Behave!'

'He could also grab you, then torture you to satisfy his lust for blood.' Samantha said. 'He did make plenty of assistants disappear after all.'

'They just quit.' said Colette, chuckling.

'You know, plenty of rich men have weird hobbies.' Samantha said. 'Does he have a secret place, like a cellar?'

Isabelle thought of that forbidden room, but didn't want to imagine him doing horrible things in there. 'No, and if he did, I'd still have to keep it secret.' she said.

Samantha nudged Colette and leaned closer. 'She's in on it. We'd better be careful around them.'

Isabelle spent the rest of lunchtime defending Jean-Marie from all the sinister plots the others came up with.

***

Jean-Marie came up to her at the end of the day. 'A client called to have a quick meeting so I won't be home until later.' he said. 'Your wardrobe will be delivered at six which means you'll have to go home alone today.'

She nodded. 'I'll wait until you get back. Shall I prepare something for dinner?'

He shook his head. 'No, I will bring something for us when I come back.' he said, walking to the elevator.

'Okay. See you later.' she said and prepared to go home.

Soon after she came home a van arrived with her new wardrobe. The young man helped her carry in the boxes from Hilda and Franz and the shoes selected by Melissa. She gave him a big tip and then took a minute to watch the stack of boxes, feeling like she was looking at the presents underneath the tree at Christmas when she was a child.

'Damn, if I don't get any gifts from now on, I wouldn't mind.' she said to herself, then moved all the boxes into the small service elevator next to the stairs.

On her floor she unloaded and put everything in her room, so she could arrange her closet after a shower and dressing in something more comfortable.

There was one box with new shirts for Jean-Marie, she brought it to his room and hung them in his closet. When she came out of his room her attention got drawn by light coming out from under the door on the opposite side.

The lunchtime fantasies of Samantha and Colette came back to her and made her curious. She wondered for a moment if he really did hide something sinister in there, then dismissed her paranoia. She figured it would likely be some embarrassing hobby, like collecting dolls, or plush animals, or other toys. Although she didn't get the impression he'd be interesting in anything like that. And something like that wouldn't make him upset when he left the room.

Her imagination got the best of her and she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight if she didn't satisfy her curiosity. Putting the empty box she had taken back near the stairs, she moved carefully to the door as if there might be booby-traps.

She leaned closer with her ear, listening for any sound on the other side of the door. With everything silent, she tried the door handle and turned it slowly. There was still no sound when she pulled carefully on the door and found it unlocked. Opening it just enough to peek inside, she couldn't see much because it was darker in there.

She knew she had to leave it at that, but the lure of mystery and having to know if she was safe staying in his home was too much. Opening the door further she saw a crib in the middle of the room, lit by a dim spotlight. In front of it stood a simple chair, and something had been arranged on the floor around it.

Now she did feel creepy shivers along her spine. He just might have a sinister secret and it would be better to find out now while he was gone, in case she needed to get away. Looking inside at both sides of the door for anything like a trap or something, she went into the room and moved slowly towards the crib.

A sigh of relief came over her to find it empty, apart from a couple of plush toys, one dog, one cat, and both stained with something black. The items on the floor were something else. There were newspaper clippings, some official looking documents, pictures. She knelt down and looked closer at the pictures of a young man and woman having fun. She picked one up where the man held the woman in her arms at what looked like a pool. She was a pretty woman, brown hair like her own, kind eyes, slender legs. The young man had shoulder length black hair and the long black shorts with tribal motive he wore made him look a little like a thug. Then she noticed it. The young man in the picture was Jean-Marie!

She looked at the other pictures and they were all from the same woman, most together with him. And then she saw one with the crib in the background and her holding the two plush animals. She looked at the crib in front of her to confirm it, but it was the same. Only, the crib here had black streaks on its otherwise yellow surface. She moved closer and noticed a light scent of burning. She touched a black streak and it gave off on her finger. Soot, she thought. The same cause of the stains on the plush animals.

Moving back she saw a picture of Jean-Marie on one of the clippings. It told how a local boy had been disqualified from boxing because of excessive aggressiveness. Then some more clippings about the so called Beast winning fights. Now she understood why he was able to take the punch from Avery and knock him out with one hit. He must have been a willing fighter because she saw police reports, charging him with violence. That didn't seem like the Jean-Marie she knew, and the young man being happy with the girl in the pictures.

She looked at the other clippings and they reported about a fire at a home with one victim. She took one with a picture of the burning home and read it. It mentioned the fire was probably caused by a short-circuit and smoke suffocated the one victim who was home at that time, a young woman of nineteen years. Her fiancé had entered the burning building to save her, but despite getting her out she had already suffocated from the smoke.

The door slamming against the wall startled her.

'WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?' shouted Jean-Marie. 'I TOLD YOU YOU COULDN'T COME HERE!'

Isabelle fell back on the floor as he stormed towards her with big strides.

'WHY DID YOU COME IN HERE!?' he shouted and grabbed her by her arm, pulling her up roughly.

'OW!' Isabelle yelled at the painful grip.

'TELL ME, WHY DID YOU COME IN HERE!?' he shouted at her again, shaking her.

'I DON'T KNOW!' she shouted, trying to pull free. 'I got curious because I didn't know what was going on in here!'

'You broke my trust!' he said. 'Do I have to punish you like a little kid!?'

'OW! You're hurting me!'

'Hurting you!?' he said and pulled her to the chair, sat down and pulled her over his knee, her t-shirt moving up enough to leave only her panties to cover her firm ass. 'I'll show you what hurts!' he said and gave her a smack on her bottom.

She let out a yell at the sharp sting from his hand.

'I trusted you!' he said, smacking her again, sending another sharp sting of pain through her flesh and a yell of pain from her throat. 'I let you live in my home so you wouldn't have to worry about the household!' The next smack left a longer burning feeling on her skin and she couldn't hold back her tears from the pain. 'I make you breakfast and dinner to keep you healthy!' The smack at the crease of her thighs shot a sting through her back and her crotch, making her yell from the bottom of her lungs. 'I give you new clothing so you won't feel out of place among the rich clientèle!' The sting became only a little less, but the wave of pain became clearer, making her whole bottom hot while she cried out. 'I give you a new car so you won't have to worry about using yours!' Now the hit against her ass made her feel like the time she got spanked after breaking a precious glass statue. 'I guided you into becoming better at your work!' His hitting started to make sense as the guilt of receiving his kindness and then breaking his trust welled up. 'I trusted you! And you broke it!' The hit from his hand sent a wave of burning heat through the flesh of her bottom and her crotch, making her twitch her hips up. 'I trusted you, dammit!' She still felt the pain of his hand hitting her bottom, but the pain of guilt grew stronger. 'You betrayed me!' he said and she cried from the shame of hurting him. 'I only asked one thing of you..'

He took a few deep breaths, then pushed her up on her feet in front of him. She kept crying and wiped her cheeks ineffectively.

'Do you understand why I had to punish you?' he asked.

She nodded and sobbed 'I'm sorry.. I'm really sorry..', barely audible over her crying.

He stroked her hips gently. 'Come.' he said and pushed her gently toward the door.

She let him take her to his room where he left her standing in front of a couch. He went into his bathroom while she tried to stop her tears from coming. Her whole bottom felt hot and she felt her crotch throbbing with her heartbeat, sending a strange sensation through her abdomen and she pressed her thighs together to try to stop it.

When he came back he sat down on the couch and opened a jar of skin cream. 'This is to sooth the pain and prevent any lasting damage to your fair skin.' he said. 'So please turn around and lift up your shirt.'

She looked away, feeling bad for having him take care of her again. 'You don't need to..' she whispered between sobs.

'I do.' he said firmly. 'I can't have you in pain all night.'

She turned around shyly and lifted her shirt to bare her butt to him. He put some cream on his hands, spread it and then applied it carefully on her reddened cheeks. The sudden cold made her flinch and tighten her bottom, which caused a burning sensation to spread through it.

'Relax.' he said softly. 'It'll feel better soon.'

She nodded and sniffed, wiping away her last tears and tried to relax, letting the cool sensation of his creamed hands seep through her flesh.

'I didn't mean to hit you..' he said softly, sadness filling his chest. 'But I lost it when I saw you look at a past I have a hard time dealing with..'

She shook her head a little. 'I did break your trust and deserved my punishment.' she said, blushing when his hands moved slowly along her tush.

'I will tell you the whole story.'

She looked back at him. 'Don't, if it's too much. I won't ever ask.'

'No, you might as well know. I should have dealt with it years ago.' he said, applying more cream on his hands and massaging it onto her skin as he caressed her whole behind with his fingers. 'It started when I lost my mother at a young age. My father had already started his business and I spent my time after school on the street instead of in an empty house. My friends weren't the most gentle of people and we often got into fights. I take it you also saw the police reports.'

She gave a quick nod, feeling the burn in her flesh slowly being replaced by the soothing sensation of his hands on her skin.

'About a year later a local boxing coach saw me fight and offered to train me as long as I stopped fighting on the streets. I agreed because I wanted to make use of what I was fairly good at.' He stroked his thumbs along the crease between her bottom and her thighs and it sent an itch through her crotch. She clenched her teeth to stifle any strange sounds. 'I did well for a while, but I became too aggressive during games. The coach warned me he would kick me out if I went too far after almost sending a junior to the hospital. I went on a drunken binge to feel better but it made me feel only worse. It was then when she met me, drunk and crying in shame at the riverside.'

He took a deep breath and swallowed. 'She had seen me fight once and thought I was just a mean bastard, which was why I had gotten the nickname of "The Beast". But when she saw me cry it changed her heart and she sat next to me until I was done, and we started talking.' He smiled softly at the memory. 'Her gentle nature rubbed off on me, and soon I managed to keep my anger in check, and the couch said he was proud of me. Of course I had to thank her for all of it. We grew closer and it didn't take long for us to talk about the future and I asked her to spend her life with me. She was the best thing that happened to me at that time and I didn't want to lose the one good thing I had. She said yes and we soon started living together in a little house I had bought with help from my father.'

Isabelle felt his wonderful hands massaging her whole bottom now and resisted the urge to push it harder into hands.

'A few months later she told me she was pregnant, which was a special occasion since her family had a genetic defect, making it hard for the women to have children.' he said, moving his fingertips on slow circles. 'I was so very happy and decided to give up on boxing, which I wouldn't have made any real living with, and accepted my father's offer of a job at the company. I wanted to provide the best life for my love and our child. The future looked bright and we started decorating the baby room. My father said he was proud to see me become a father of my own.'

His hands stopped moving and she looked back to see him stare into nothing in front of him. He lowered his hands and she turned around to sit on her knees.

He looked at her, sadness filling his eyes. 'They said the fire had started with a defect in the water cooker. It caught fire and spread to the kitchen curtains. The plastic and wood created a toxic smoke while Cheryl was asleep, having taken painkillers for the headache she had that day. I arrived at home when the fire just started spreading through the ceiling. I stormed into the house, yelling her name. I don't remember much, only that a burning beam fell on my back before I found her and carried her out of the house when the fire department arrived.' A tear fell down his cheek and Isabelle's chest started to ache. 'She didn't move when I called out her name. I somehow started doing CPR, desperate to get her breathing again. Firemen came to me, pulling me away as I fought them to save my girl, while they only tried to resuscitate her. They tried for a long time, but it was no use. I had lost my girl and my unborn child.. Our future..'

Seeing the tears flow down his cheeks pained her and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his face into her chest and running her fingers through his hair while she silently cried with him. 'I'm so sorry to put you through this again..' she whispered.

'All that was left was the crib and the toys..' he said, his voice hoarse and he held her tight.

After a long time, he moved slowly back out of her embrace. 'Thank you..'

She fixed his hair and gave him a gentle smile. 'You're not supposed to thank the one who had to be punished.'

'I do when she has shown remorse and actually helped me lighten the burden from my shoulders when I should have talked about it sooner.' he said, then chuckled softly. 'And let me touch her smooth behind afterwards.'

She blushed, remembering the whole sensation of being touched and his gentle care. 'I might just do something bad again with such punishments..' she said softly, then plucked at her shirt, wet from their tears. 'I should freshen up.'

'Yeah,' he said. 'And I still need to make dinner.'

'See you downstairs in fifteen?'

'Yes.' he said and watched her leave his room and glance back at him before she disappeared from view.