Caught And Collared 02

The next day seemed to drag on forever. I had a massage client coming in and needed to do my own chores after doing Julie's for the last 3 days. I put on a nice pair of slacks and a button down shirt and a sport jacket. I must have tried on a dozen shirts trying to decide how obvious I wanted the collar to be. But since she had so pointedly remarked on it, I chose a collarless shirt that left it very plain. I walked over to Julie's house, arriving at the dot of seven. As I walked up the drive I got a text that the front door was open and to come on in. Julie was checking some things in the oven and asked me to pour her a glass of wine. I saw the bottle on the table and poured her a glass and took it to the kitchen. I handed it to her, and she smiled.

"I'll be out of the kitchen in a minute. Why don't you get yourself a drink and I'll meet you in the living room."

I got a beer and a few minutes later Julie joined me in the living room.

"I really do appreciate all you did for me this week." She paused for a moment, "Can I ask you a personal question?"

I nodded.

"There is more to it than just being bored in retirement and liking to help, isn't there?"

I smiled. "Well, honestly. Yes."

"The collars you wear. Tell me about them."

"They represent part of me that I haven't gotten to explore very much in life. I like the way they feel when I wear them and I like the way they look"

"And that goes along with doing things for someone else?"

"Yes."

Julie looked at her watch and stood.

"Time for dinner".

I followed her into the kitchen and as she plated things up I took them to the dining room table.

Dinner was delicious. She was an excellent cook. Over dinner we just talked about idle things and about her upcoming schedule.

"I've got a busy couple of weeks coming up, Tim. I am traveling next week and then I'm having a lot of work done on the house and I need to keep working during the renovation. Would you like to discuss doing some more work for me?"

"Sure," I said. "I have some things scheduled myself, clients and personal projects but I have time to help you out."

"I'm not sure how to ask this...but I'm willing to compensate you for your time and effort. More than just dinner, I mean."

"I don't know about that. I guess it depends on what type of work. If it is just errands like the dry cleaner or FedEx that I can do while I do my own things, I'm happy to do those. What are you thinking"

Julie looked like she was wrestling with something.

"To be honest, I liked telling you what to do last week. I didn't intend it that way. I meant to ask you politely if you would do some of those tasks, but I was distracted and just sent the list. I was going to apologize for that but you seemed to enjoy it. And to be honest I enjoyed just handing that off to you."

She looked almost embarrassed at having said that.

"Do you want to continue that?" I asked.

She looked at me for a moment.

"Yes"

"I'd like that too"

We both fell silent. I don't think either of us was sure how to continue.

"Let's clear the table," I said.

"Yes. Why don't you." Julie looked at me directly and said nothing else. I nodded and cleared the table. As I took the last of the dirty dishes, I raised the wine bottle and raised one eyebrow. She held out her glass and I filled it. I went to the kitchen and loaded the dishwasher, cleaned the pans and put everything away and came back to the table.

"I'm not sure how to proceed. I really enjoyed that. I don't have any experience in this."

"I don't have much either," I said. "We can just decide what is right for us."

Julie looked at her watch.

"I am spending most of tomorrow with my sister. I have an early flight on Monday. Should I arrange a car service?"

"No. I'll handle that. What time should I be here to drive you"

"Five a.m. We can talk on the way to the airport about my needs. Please turn out all the lights and lock up on your way out."

And with that, Julie stood up and walked down the hall to her room. I washed her wine glass, set up her coffee maker for the morning and closed everything up.

Monday at 5 a.m. I walked up her driveway and the garage opened as I approached. Julie was entering the garage so I opened the passenger door and she got in.

"My bags are inside."

I got her bags and put them in the back, got in the car and headed for the airport.

"This is a very busy and important week for me. I will not have a lot of time. I wanted to think about this experiment that we are starting, but I got wrapped up with my sister all day yesterday. I know that I want to hand things off to you and expect them to be done. How much of your time and energy can I have this week?"

"I have clients each day this week, plus a few projects to handle of my own. But outside of my fixed client hours, I can make my schedule fit your needs. I'd like to do as much as possible for you."

Julie was silent for a few moments.

"Ok. Here is what I want to do. I have updated the to do list. I want you to check it every morning and night. I want a written update posted there every evening by 8. Confirm that you have done everything and any reason why you didn't complete a task. I will update that list by 7 in the morning. Clear"

"Yes, ma'am."

"I'm not sure I like Ma'am, but until I think of something better, that will do. I know that you often change collars when you go out, but anytime you are doing tasks for me, I want you to wear the one you have on now."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Also, I have several contractors coming this week to quote some work. The names and numbers are on the to do list. Make arrangements directly with them so they can get in. Questions?"

"No ma'am."

We drove the rest of the way to the airport in silence. I pulled up to the drop off, got out and opened her door and then got her bags out. Julie thanked me and walked into the airport.

I dropped off her car and walked back to my house. I checked the list but there wasn't too much on it yet. Some dry cleaning to be exchanged, some mail to send and the contractor list. It was still early so I did my workout, my walk and my breakfast and then made my initial calls to all the contractors. I made appointments with them that worked around my schedule and then went to Julie's to get her errands done.