Breathing Through the Struggle

All characters over 21 and are purely fictional and any likeness to other folx, real or fictional is unintentional.

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Sofia sat at her cluttered desk, the hum of a small fan doing little to alleviate the Texas heat. Papers were strewn everywhere, blueprints mixed with financial statements, and a half-empty coffee cup sat precariously on the edge. She rubbed her temples, feeling the familiar tension building. "Breathe, Sof," she whispered to herself, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath in, holding it for a moment, and then slowly exhaling. She repeated the process until the knot in her stomach loosened and glanced back down at the day's agenda - finance meeting up first, the worst.

Starting a mechanical engineering company had always been her dream, but the reality was proving to be a relentless challenge. The initial excitement had given way to sleepless nights, a breakup with her then boyfriend, and constant worry about finances. Her first product, a revolutionary energy-efficient motor, was still in the prototype phase, and the costs were mounting. Every day brought a new obstacle, and every night she lay awake, wondering if she had made a colossal mistake dropping out to start her company.

Sofia's strong exterior was a necessity. To her small team, she was the unshakeable leader, the one who always had a plan, the one who knew the product inside and out, the one who exuded confidence. But inside, she battled waves of anxiety. She had learned to manage it over time with breathing exercises and sheer determination, but it was a constant struggle with no outlet. She couldn't afford to show weakness, not when so much was riding on her shoulders.

One evening, as she was going through her emails, a subject line caught her eye: "InnovateTech Conference - Your Gateway to Investors." Her heart skipped a beat. This was the conference where the top investors in the industry gathered, the perfect place to pitch her motor and secure the funding she desperately needed. But as she read through the details, her excitement turned to tears of despair. The registration fee alone was far more than she could afford, not to mention travel and accommodation costs.

Sofia leaned back in her chair, tossing her brown hair over the back and staring up at the ceiling. "How am I going to make this work?" she muttered. She knew this conference could be a game-changer, but the financial burden seemed insurmountable. Sofia sat alone in her office, twirling her fingers through her hair and churning through potential solutions. Stay with friends there? Ask her mom, again, for more money? Cut her salary? She spent the next few days trying to figure out a solution, but every option seemed to lead to a dead end.

Then, one morning, as she was flipping through a trade magazine, a small ad caught her attention. "Help Needed: Booth Staff for InnovateTech Conference. Travel and Fees Covered." Her pulse quickened as he read the details. One of the companies attending the conference was looking for extra hands to help man their booth for the weekend. In exchange, they would cover travel and conference fees.

Sofia couldn't believe her luck. This was the opportunity she needed. She could man the booth in the mornings, and then spend the evenings seeking out investors and networking! Or, or, the other way around, if they needed her in the evening, then she would network in the mornings! Perhaps they could even get her into one of the slots for the elevator pitch series, she could finally have her two minutes in front of hundreds of potential investors!

She quickly drafted an email, introducing herself and explaining her situation. She hit send and sighed with relief, collected her things, and headed to her first meeting.

Halfway through Ismahan's materials sourcing update, Sofia's throat went dry. She had no idea what the booth she had signed up for even was. They were so vague in their description that she had not a clue what their product was, who they were, or what she would even be doing for them! What sort of company would let an unknowledgeable strang...

Ismahan cleared her throat, "Sof, you ok with that? First few prototypes might be a bit cheaper, but we think they'll still work."

"Yeah, I trust you Iz, let me know how I can help make sure we have the real materials as soon as possible. Sorry all, my stomach isn't feeling great, I've gotta step out for a bit, but I'll see you all at lunch?"

Sofia headed back to her office and double checked the ad. Not a single detail on the company, but how bad could it be for an all expense paid gig?

When the reply finally came, she almost didn't dare to open it. But there it was: an offer to join their team for the weekend, with all expenses covered. Sofia bit her lip, scanned briefly over a several page docier, skipped a few pages, signed and faxed them back the forms. "Probably just some NDA shit" she thought.

Sofia felt a surge of relief wash over her. This was her chance to get her company the exposure it needed. She spent the next few weeks preparing meticulously. She desperately wanted to make sure she was ready to pitch her motor to any potential investor she might cross paths with. She rehearsed her pitch in front of the mirror, tweaking and refining it until she could deliver it flawlessly. She went on a shopping spree - "though to be fair it was more for the company than her", she reasoned, selecting out some business skirts and blouses, pausing on the length but continuing citing it matched her personality.

The day of the conference arrived, and Sofia found herself on a plane to Boston. As the city came into view, she felt a mix of excitement and nerves. She reminded herself to breathe, taking slow, deep breaths to calm her racing heart. This was it. This was her opportunity to make it for her company, for herself.

The first morning of the conference, Sofia woke up early, she felt like she could rule the day. She went for a run in the gym, treated herself to an oak milk latte, and filled herself on waffles and fruit at the hotel breakfast buffet. "This is one heck of a nice hotel they are laying for," Sofia thought to herself, "they must be pretty successful whomever this is!" She shower, put on her best go at business makeup, ironed out her new black skirt, blazer, and blouse, and packed up her laptop satchel. "First stop, the young innovators talks!"

She spent the morning on and out of mini lectures on tips for small innovators, women in business, leadership, mini networking sessions, and found herself a few friends and brief network acquaintances.

"Not too bad" she told herself in the mirror as she freshened up after lunch, "now I just gotta get through this booth demo before the evening pitch sessions". She clicked her tongue nervously for a moment, inviting back in the nerves that had been on the back of her mind since sending that first email. She quickly dismissed the nerves and walked past the booth room, they were still setting up, but would be opening up in an hour for the first product showings of the conference.

She stopped by the conference host at the door, showing them her exhibitor badge she had been emailed, and they let her through. Sofia walked inside, pulling up the last email that she had seen.

"Meet our rep by the staging area at least 1-hour before the booths open. Give us a call if you cannot find them or are running late."

Sofia rubbed her smartwatch on her wrist nervously, "here goes," she muttered to herself and walked towards the staging area.

A young man stood on the side near the curtains covering the staging area from the rest of the conference center. Sofia looked around briefly, assumed he must be the rep, and walked up to him.

"Hi, I'm Sofia, I signed up to help out at a booth today?"

"Yes, Sofia, thanks for coming on time. My name is Ethan, we have lots to prepare, did you bring a copy of your paperwork?"

"This guy is kinda cute," Sofia thought to herself. "Oh! And yes, I have it right here for you" Sofia chirped, pulling the paper from her satchel and shoving it towards him. She instantly chastised herself, this was not the time or place to act in any way but professional.

"Thank you," he flipped through the pages, doubling checking the signatures, "you understand and agree to everything?"

"Yup," Sofia responded, reminding herself it was all probably just NDAs and shit.

"Great, right this way, let's get you acquainted with our crew." Ethan motioned through the curtains to another staging area and led Sofia to an area behind a large booth setup. She hadn't seen this one from the front and wondered to herself how a company that could afford that couldn't afford to send enough people to man their booth. She couldn't help but check out Ethan's muscular arms poking out from his rolled up dress shirt and butt perfectly framed by his blue dress pants.

Ethan pushed another curtain aside and led Sofia into a makeshift room with a collapsible table, chair, and a second man, seemingly almost more muscular than the first. She felt her face blush as her mind checked out the two men in their business clothes which perfectly outlined their muscular forms. A blond woman in her mid-thirties stepped through a break in the curtain on the other side.

"Hi, you must be Sofia right? I'm Helen, the founder of Clik-Down" the woman said with a French accent pushing through her otherwise commanding tone. Sofia shook her outstretched hand. "You've now met Ethan, and this is Jake, they will be manning our booth with you today and tomorrow, so happy you could join us!"

Helen eyed Sofia up and down, pausing her eyes briefly at the short hem of her skirt and the dip in her blouse.

"Jake," Helen continued, "perhaps a change of plans for today, I suppose we may get more visitors with this one without the wardrobe change."

"They had a change of clothes for me?" Sofia thought to herself, "that seems odd, they asked for me to wear business professional."

"You've read through everything, Sofia?" Helen asked, glancing at Ethan who nodded.

"Yes, ma'am, I have and gave Ethan my signed copy," Sofia responded, shifting her weight in her high heels. She suddenly wondered if she should have gone for flats today instead, but she thought the two inch tan heels just looked so nice against her toned legs and black skirt. She could feel Ethan eyeing her legs and felt herself grow slightly wet at the thought of him liking her outfit.

"Great," Helen responded, "boys? Can we please get her prepared before the room begins to fill?"

"Yes of course!" Ethan quickly responded, pulling his lingering eyes away from Sofia's legs.

She briefly felt cold as his gaze tore away and chastised herself for the feeling. She noted that Helen seemed to have a similar power over the boys, but in a different way she just couldn't quite pinpoint.

"Turn towards me, please."

Sofia did as she was told and heard a briefly clinking behind her. She eyed Ethan as she stood there hands dangling by her sides and she debated trying small talk to get to know him.

Her thoughts were cut short as Jake pulled her arms backwards behind her back.

"What the fuck?" Sofia snapped, trying desperately to pull her arms back but to no avail as Jake easily held her elbows together with one hand. She felt cold steel touch against her wrists momentarily before wrapping fully around each wrist and clamping down, just below her smartwatch.

She tested her restraints, tight, but with barely enough wiggle room to move. She suddenly felt very, very helpless and small in the little makeshift room.

"What the fuck?" She repeated, more of a question than a statement and Ethan tilted his head.

"You read the full form yeah?" Ethan questioned. "We are a law enforcement restraints company, showcasing our newest, unpickable restraints sets."

Helen eyed Sofia and stepped out of the room, leaving the boys to deal with her. "Another confident bitch, shut up in two seconds by my little company's inventions," she muttered to herself. She was glad she wasn't the one on display this time, the ads were to thank for that. She had received so many replies and stalked LinkedIn after LinkedIn to find the best candidates. Too bad she hadn't thought of this her first go around or she would've never had to put herself out there, paying someone else's ticket in was way better than her own humiliation as she tried to explain her invention while investors gawker at her wrists in restraints.

"I... What am I supposed to be doing??" Sofia demanded as she felt Jake slide another set of cold cuffs around her ankles. He fastened an extension of each cuff under the bridges of her heels, sinching and locking her feet in place in the heels.

"You'll be modeling our newest restrain system, of course," Ethan responded, eyeing the progress around Sofia's ankles. "We'll do the pitching, you just have to stand there and model for us, let the investors and customers take some pictures to bring back to their bosses, and then you'll be done at 5."

He sounded so nonchalant to Sofia, but she felt her heart racing faster and the sense of entrapment growing. "Her? Exhibited in front of her business peers in restraints like a criminal? Like a model prisoner?? No, they can't see me like this!" To her surprise, she also felt herself growing wetter and wetter by the moment imaging the thought of herself, completely restrained, at the mercy of these two strangers, and exposed for all to see. "No, what I absolutely cannot!"

"You already signed the contract and we paid for your everything, you just need to hold up your end now. That is, unless you have another person on standby for you and can pay us out double for all of our efforts?"

Sofia stammered. She had no way out, she couldn't afford this trip, maybe she shouldn't have even taken this trip in the first place. "No," she softly replied, eyes falling to Ethan's shoes and her arms going limp behind her back, accepting her fate.

Jake reached around her, securing a belt to her waist and cuffs behind her back, pinning them in place such that her elbows protruded backwards. She tested them pensively and realized she could not make more than a slight movement with her elbows. Her eyes moved up to meet Ethan's, he looked at her with such hunger and lust she felt as if her knees might buckle.

The moment was cut short as Jake pulled her abruptly, moving her slowly forward into another room, her newfound restraints limiting their pace and throwing Sofia further into a feeling of helplessness.

She found herself in a new room that was decorated to look like an upscale jail cell, "maybe for white-collar crimes?" she thought. The sides were open to the rest of the booth like a stage, with little metal bars in the front and a fake concrete bench on the insides. The rest of the booth was lined with different restraints devices and depictions of men and women wearing them as well as technical drawings showcasing the "new unpickable locks!"

Jake pushed on her shoulder and Sofia sank to her knees in front of him, feeling like a prisoner looking through the bars at the rest of the conference area. She suddenly felt both very sexy and very exposed to be wearing business attire like the rest of the attendees, but with her new jewelry as well that they would soon be admiring.

She looked up at Jake, towering above her, stopping short to admire the bulge in his pants before meeting his eyes. She quickly realized he was eyeing her with a look of astonishment. She looked around her and realized he had probably meant that she was to take a seat on the concrete bench, not on her knees.

She tried to stand up but immediately failed and sank back to her knees, eyeing her captor. He let out a short chuckle and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her up and plopping her on the bench where she was meant to be without much of an effort. She found herself imagining what else he could be capable of with that strength and her situation, before blurting out "thank you".

The attendees began to filter in, and the booth quickly filled with folx, many looking through the display devices while Helen, Jake, and Ethan walked them through the benefits. However, a good majority of the folx instead were watching Sofia as she struggled against her predicament and shifted from side to side. They snapped pictures of her, whispered to each other, and pointed. She felt exposed and humiliated, but could do nothing more than struggle to find a comfortable sitting position.

Just as she thought she had found a way to sit, a group of three men walked in through the open side of the cell and pulled her to her feet. She began to object but quickly realized they were paying little attention to her, and a lot of attention to her wrists being her back. The grabbed her arms and played with the cuffs, pulling and pushing on them as Sofia tried to maintain her balance in her heels. They took pictures and talked between themselves, grabbed at her ankles and shoes, pulling at the bonds and seeming satisfied.

They left a few minutes later, only to be replaced by another group, running a similar routine, and then another. Sofia felt as if she were in a daze, she was soaking wet underneath from all of the proding and restraint and gawking, and she hoped against all odds that no one took any notice to that fact. Group after group came up, moved her around like a doll, and she just submitted to their whims as they poked and took picture after picture.

As the next group came up, she realized it was a man and a woman whom she had seen when the booth first opened. They broke from the usual pattern as the woman handed the man her phone. She posed next to Sofia, smiling, and Sofia inadvertently smiled too as he took the picture. The woman whispered into Sofia's ear about how beautiful and submissive she looked and Sofia nearly doubled over at the mention of submission. She had worked so so hard these passed few months, and suddenly she was no longer in charge in the moment. She had no say, she had to submit to anyone's demands. She had to submit to her bonds, and yet, she felt free.

The man and woman exchanged positions and the man whispered into her ear about how horny seeing her like this made him. She nearly fell into his arms as she heard this, blushing hard and desperately wanting the touch of something, someone, anything between her legs. He held her steady, then interlaced his hand into hers behind her back as they posed for a picture. She suddenly felt comforted, but so small at this little gesture and a wave of dopamine rushed over her.

He smiled at her, removed his hand, and then squeezed her butt as he pulled her into him for another photo. She nearly doubled over again at the touch, pleading in her mind for more. She looked up into his eyes pleadingly as another camera flash went off, and then they were gone.

The visitors got more and more touchy as the afternoon wore on and Sofia felt more and more needy for a touch, of anyone.

By the time the exhibition hall closed, Sofia's underwear was drenched and she could feel the cold air running up her skirt as she sat on her concrete bench. Ethan came out, grabbed her arm and helped her to her feet, and shuffled her back behind the booth into the empty prep area.

She twisted her wrists in her restraints, relieved she would be let out, but also almost wishing they had a little longer. She turned to Ethan and saw him staring at her with hunger in his eyes.

He grabbed her shoulder and pushed, Sofia sank to the ground on her knees obediently, looking up at Ethan. He looked around, undid his blue dress pants, and pulled out his cock. Sofia eyed it, it was rock hard and pointed straight at her. She looked back up at him, doing her best to give a submissive expression, and opened her mouth. He took the opportunity and leaned forward, filling her mouth. She gagged at the surprisingly length and chastised herself for being out of practice.