Cor Aut Mors

Copyright owned by Ripley 2024

I want to thank Terry once again for his superb help in editing and polishing this. It's a lot of writing so anything he may have missed is all on me. I'd also like to thank snow for her help in thinking through the ideas to make the story what it was. I debated publishing this in three sections as it is quite long but upon the advice from other authors taking part in this writing challenge, I am posting it together. I've been working on this over the last 9 years and am very happy to finally finish it. Thank you to soflabbwlvr and everyone else at Lit who helped me with the push this story challenge gave me to get it over the finish line! I hope you find it worth the time to read.

Part 1

As Kiley backed into the street parking spot, she spared a glance at the dashboard clock. She was still doing pretty good on time, although the spot was farther away from her work than she expected. If this was going to be typical, she would need to give herself a bit more time. She had done that today since it was her first day.

"Thank goodness," she thought. The last thing she wanted was to start out being late. That was a quick way to lose her job, and she couldn't afford to do that. "That would be crushingly bad," she told herself.

Getting out of her Honda Civic, Kiley opened the trunk and grabbed her bag. As she walked briskly in the direction of the restaurant, she wrapped her trench coat around her and tied the belt. Despite that, it was obvious just how short her skirt was. With each stride, one of her long legs slipped through the opening to reveal itself. It wasn't quite 4 PM and there wasn't anyone around, but it was a reminder to button her coat completely up when she left at midnight.

"Just stay out of trouble," Kiley told herself. That advice was sometimes hard for her to follow, but it didn't change how good it was. She was glad she had on her walking shoes and not the heels they expected her to wear while working. It made it easy to keep up a brisk pace and she arrived at the restaurant with five minutes to spare.

It was a typical Italian restaurant with a brick facade in front, although the lack of windows was a little unusual. There were a couple of guys hanging around outside leaning up against a car and chatting. They eyed her as she approached but otherwise didn't do anything to acknowledge her. She turned right before the restaurant and walked down the alleyway to the back, per the instructions.

At the back entrance, there were a couple more guys. Whatever they were talking about, they both stopped immediately as she came around the corner. Unlike the guys in front, both of them said hi. Kiley recognized one of them from her interview. While others asked questions, he stayed in the background, just listening.

"Hi Kiley. We weren't introduced the other day. I'm Tony," he said as she drew near. She took his outstretched hand and shook it. He was a big man with large hands that closed around hers more delicately than she guessed he was capable of.

"Nice to meet you, Tony," Kiley replied. She looked over at the other man. Substantially older than Tony, he was also bigger. With a jagged scar visible on his shaved head and a crooked nose, Kiley guessed that he had seen his fair share of fights.

"That's Bud. Hey, Bud, say hello to Kiley. She is the new waitress in the bar," Tony told him.

While Tony seemed friendly with warm brown eyes, Bud was the opposite. His eyes were a pale grey blue, and when he looked Kiley in the eyes, she felt a little shiver go down her back.

"'Llo," Bud said. His voice was deep but relatively soft. Unlike Tony, he didn't offer his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Bud," Kiley said. The only acknowledgement she got was a nod.

"Here, let me take you inside," Tony said. Holding the door open for her, he followed close behind as she went into the restaurant. Coming around a corner, she found another hallway bisecting the one they were in. "Turn left," Tony told her.

Just before turning, Kiley glanced right and saw it led to the restrooms. "We use those restrooms too?" she asked.

Tony chuckled. "Sure. You think we are fancy enough to have one just for employees?"

"Sorry, stupid question," Kiley said, feeling a little blush. Hopefully there wouldn't be many others. She pushed through a door marked employees only and found herself in the kitchen. The aroma of Italian food surrounded her and she inhaled deeply. She couldn't help smiling at how good it was. The kitchen was relatively full as virtually all the staff were in there right now.

In addition to a couple of busboys and three people cooking, there was a group of women over by some lockers. They all had on something similar to Kiley. As she looked at them, Kiley immediately saw the difference between what she had on and what the waitresses in the restaurant wore. Her black skirt was a good four inches shorter, and she had on a cherry red tank top that exposed more of her breasts and wasn't long enough to avoid showing off her lower back if she bent at all. The regular waitresses had tops with short sleeves and wouldn't expose them like that even if they bent way over.

Kiley made a silent little sigh. "The things I do for the job," she thought to herself. She wondered if the customers were gropers. Eyeing one of the other waitresses dressed like her, she hoped that they got along. It would make things so much easier.

"Put your stuff in one of the lockers," Tony told her. "Then Jimmy wants to see you in his office." He leaned against the wall while he waited for her.

Walking over to the lockers, Kiley slipped in between a couple of the waitresses, murmuring an apology. They moved apart enough to give her room to take off her coat. After she put away her coat, Kiley couldn't help pulling down on first her skirt and then her top. It had been a while since she wore clothes this skimpy. It would take a little while to get used to it.

Putting her bag in the locker, Kiley fished out her work shoes. They were as comfortable as they were going to get with almost three-inch heels. With rubber soles and cushioned insoles, they were still fashionable. At 5'9", she was already tall without the heels. With them on, her legs looked like they went on forever, especially in their fishnet tights. She was easily the tallest of the waitresses, although that was nothing new to her. Recalling when she put herself through school by waitressing, Riley remembered using her height to intimidate anyone who wanted to give her a hard time. That included staff as well as customers.

Checking her makeup before closing the locker, she decided to reapply her lipstick. It was a couple of shades more noticeable than she had been wearing for a while. While it too made her a little uncomfortable, Kiley admitted that she looked hot. Her fair skin almost glowed in contrast to the colors of her uniform. She tugged at the neck of her top to pull it up a little further from her bra. There was nothing that could reduce the amount of cleavage showing.

"Okay, ready," Kiley said as she shut the locker and turned back towards Tony. He started to walk through the front door of the kitchen into the main part of the restaurant.

Following him, something dawned on Kiley. Taking a couple of quick steps, she caught up to Tony. "Pardon me, Tony, but I noticed a couple of the lockers actually had padlocks on them. It never occurred to me to think I would need one," she said as diplomatically as she could. She left the obvious follow up question unasked.

"I wouldn't worry about it. A few people aren't the trusting type, but that's their problem. Your stuff is safe. Anybody who touches someone else's stuff without permission doesn't last here long," he told her.

Kiley nodded as if reassured. "That kind of works as a warning just as well as setting my mind at ease," she realized. Fortunately, that wouldn't be a problem for her. Stealing from her coworkers was the last thing on her mind.

Tony led her over to the opposite side of the restaurant. There were a couple of doors there. "Manager's Office" was on one door. In the other, it had a sign saying "Mr. Balotelli's Office." They paused at the first one and Tony knocked.

Kiley met Mr. Balotelli during her interview, along with his wife. While Jimmy asked most of the questions, the restaurant's owner asked some of his own. Most of the time, it seemed as if his wife whispered in his ear right before he asked them. Those questions most often were about her background and where she worked before.

The two were a striking couple. While Mr. Balotelli was quite good looking, it was more suave than macho. Even Jimmy was bigger than he was, and he was much smaller than the guys like Tony and Bud were. Unlike the bulky suits that they wore, Mr. Balotelli's suit was perfectly cut to highlight his trim body.

While he was good looking, his wife was gorgeous. Kiley thought that she must be one of the best-looking women she had ever met. Average height, she seemed to be perfectly proportioned for how tall she was. Whether it was her pear-shaped breasts, her thin waist, or the curve of her ass, it created a powerful impression. Her almond eyes were an effortlessly smoky mixture of blue and green.

Feeling uncomfortable with the attractiveness of the owners, Kiley tried to focus her attention on Jimmy, the manager, during the interview. Still, she got the vaguest feeling that Mrs. Balotelli didn't quite like her. With her shiny blonde hair, light hazel eyes, and high cheekbones, Kiley was familiar with jealous wives and girlfriends. She only hoped it wouldn't get in the way of the job.

As she heard his voice tell her to enter, Kiley wondered whether Jimmy would be alone. Tony held the door open for her and then shut it behind her, leaving to do whatever he did. For a moment, she wondered exactly what that was. "Never mind," she told herself. "Eventually it will be obvious. It's none of my concern now."

Fortunately, Jimmy was alone. On second thought, maybe it was unfortunately. Kiley felt his eyes rove over her. She felt a little shiver run down her back, completely unlike the one she got from Bud. Unlike the dead eyes of Bud, Jimmy's were almost too alive.

"Turn around slowly," he said without even greeting her. Trying to control her nervousness, Kiley obeyed until she faced him again. "Smooth your skirt in back," he told her. Once again, she followed his instructions. Leaning forward, he looked at her. It was disconcerting how his eyes fixed on her breasts.

"Bend forward," Jimmy said. Feeling her face flush, Kiley did what she was told. "Stop," he said when her body was just about parallel with the floor. "Okay, straighten up," he told her. She was unable to avoid looking him in the face as she did so, but the big grin on his face made her deeply regret it,

"Alright, turn around and face away from me," he said. Hidden from his view, Kiley closed her eyes, dreading the next direction. "Bend over and touch the floor," his voice came again. For a brief second, Kiley contemplated rebelling. "I can't blow this job," she reminded herself, and then obeyed.

From behind her, she could hear Jimmy's chair roll backwards with a little squeak of the wheels. His soft footsteps came up behind her and she gritted her teeth, waiting for the grope.

It didn't come.

"Stand up," Jimmy said, close behind her. Kiley carefully stood back up, making sure not to sway and touch him. "Your skirt is riding up too much," he told her. "Pardon me," he said as his fingers touched his waist. His fingers slipped under the waistband. Forcing herself not to pull away, Kiley felt him shift the skirt back and forth, slowly edging down just a bit.

"Bend over again," Jimmy instructed her. This time, he grunted in approval.

While she was still bent over, Kiley heard the door to the office open. As she snapped upright, she heard a woman speak. Looking over with her face flushing a deep red, she saw it was Mrs. Balotelli.

"Damn it, Jimmy. I told you to leave the help alone," she snapped. Stepping into the office, she shut the door behind her.

"I didn't touch her, Michelle," Jimmy said in a whiny tone. "It's Kiley's first day and I just was helping her with making sure she had the skirt on right. Don't want her exposing herself." He tried to smile and pat Kiley on the shoulder. She managed not to flinch, but she couldn't suppress the tiny expression of revulsion.

The beautiful woman walked up to him and lightly pushed him away. "Get out, Jimmy. Go check to make sure we're ready to open," Mrs. Balotelli told him. "And if I catch you bothering her or any of the other girls..." She paused for a moment, glaring at him with her intense eyes. "You won't like what happens."

It surprised Kiley to see how pale Jimmy became. His eyes flicked around nervously, and he almost ran out of his office, slamming the door behind him. Clearly, the owner's wife was more formidable that she initially thought.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Balotelli, I wasn't flirting with him or anything," Kiley said. "I wasn't even sure exactly what he was doing." As the other woman raised her hand, she fell silent.

"I know Kiley. I'm not upset with you. You had no way of knowing what he is like," Mrs. Balotelli said. "Now you do. If he tries anything else that you don't want, let me know." Her expression turned fierce as she fixed on Kiley with a look similar to the one she gave Jimmy. "But Kiley, if he gives you attention that you do want, rethink your employment here. I won't have that."

Unable to stop it, the look of revulsion flashed across her face again. "Don't worry, Mrs. Balotelli, I've got no interest in Jimmy." Kiley met her eyes without wavering. It was true. Jimmy was the last man with whom she might get involved.

After meeting Kiley's gaze for a moment, Mrs. Balotelli smiled and nodded. Combined with her stunning good looks and smoky eyes, it was an almost erotic smile. "I'm glad to hear it. I told Robert and Jimmy that you were the right one. I hate being wrong."

Somehow, the distance between the two women had shrunk and it seemed to Kiley like Mrs. Balotelli was almost as close to her as Jimmy was before. The aroma of her perfume surrounded her. For an instant, Kiley wondered if she too would touch her. Unlike with Jimmy, she couldn't bring herself to mind. "The woman oozes sex," she thought.

When the other woman abruptly spun and walked away, Kiley let out the breath she was unconsciously holding. A tiny part of her felt disappointed. As Mrs. Balotelli held the door open for her to head out to the restaurant, Kiley pulled herself together. "Entanglements just make doing my job even harder," she told herself. "And the job's what matters."

Walking through the door, Kiley paused and looked back. "Thank you, Mrs. Balotelli. I won't let you down." The smoky eyes looked into hers again and she nodded.

"I don't think you will," Mrs. Balotelli said as she shut the door behind her and then walked over to enter her husband's office.

Kiley caught a glimpse inside. She had an impression of it being somewhat larger than was obvious, and not at all like an office in an Italian restaurant. The door shut quickly enough that she couldn't even figure out why she thought that. Shaking her head, she went into the bar.

As she entered it, Kiley saw the other two people working in there. They both glanced over at her. The woman stopped straightening things up and gave her a sympathetic look.

"Survived your encounter with Jimmy "The Hands" Mancini?" she said, after first looking around to make sure it was just the three of them.

The comment helped to break what could have been an awkward silence and Kiley chuckled. "Yeah. I was saved by Mrs. Balotelli," she replied.

"Oh? Well good. Stay on her good side and you will do okay. I'm Talia," the other woman said. When she put out her hand, Kiley shook it. They eyed each other, keeping their thoughts hidden.

In many ways, they were opposites. While Talia had short black hair and cut in a wedge, Kiley had golden hair that was just past shoulder length. Talia was also much shorter with a more voluptuous figure. Whereas Talia was soft and rounded, Kiley had the build of an athlete. Her outfit displayed her breasts, but without threatening to spill out like Talia. Her olive complexion was also in marked contrast to Kiley's pale skin.

Both of them were good looking, just in different ways. Talia was the girl next door with a little turned up nose and brown doelike eyes. She was used to being described as cute. She looked at Kiley and felt a little envy of her new coworker. "I bet no one ever called her cute," she thought. "They all say beautiful."

It was true. Her high cheekbones, symmetrical face and lips that were plump without being too big made Kiley look like someone who could have modeled, especially with her long legs. Her eyes were a light hazel, with lashes that seemed almost obscenely long. What seemed to make her all the more attractive was the smile that seemed to be her usual expression. It touched her eyes as well as her mouth, lighting her face up.

It made it impossible not to feel an initial warmth towards her. Talia found herself smiling as they let go of each other's hand. "And you're Kiley?" she asked.

"Kiley Cooke, that's me," she said as she looked over Talia's shoulder at the bartender.

"Nice to meet you, Kiley. I'm Frank," he said. With grey hair and a mustache, he was older than either of them. Kiley guessed he might even be older than the two of them combined. His face was narrow with a large, hooked nose. He probably had never been thought of as handsome, but it was a friendly face.

"We'll be opening in a minute or two. So we don't have a lot of time," Talia said. "Have you been a server before?"

Smiling wider, Kiley nodded. "Of course. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have got the job otherwise. I worked in a bar in San Francisco for two years until I got a job in an office as an assistant. It's been a little more than a year since then," she told them.

"Okay, well we pool our tips and divide them equally at the end of the night. That way Frank gets his fair share," Talia said. She gave Kiley a half smile. "We don't know you, and so don't take this wrong, because we say it to anyone who is new. Don't short the tip jar. Girls don't last who do that."

Looking at both of them, Kiley nodded. "You won't have any trouble from me. Fair is fair."

"Good," said Talia. Just then, her watch beeped. "We're open. Usually, we get business before the restaurant does." She leaned against the bar and looked at Kiley. "So, San Francisco? What brought you to the East Coast?"

Kiley grimaced and didn't answer for a moment. "Honestly? It was a guy. I followed him. You know how it is," she said. "I thought we were in love. Turned out I was wrong." She sighed. "So I ended up over here, no job, no guy. And I was too embarrassed to go back."

"Fucking men," Talia said. She glanced at the bartender. "Sorry Frank."

"Hey, I'm not offended," he said. Looking over at Kiley, he said, "I'm sorry to hear that. Some guys are real jerks, but not all. Someday, you'll find one who treats you right."

Before Kiley could say anything in reply, a couple of men walked in and sat down at a table. The three of them looked at each other. It was a slightly awkward moment, but Kiley just nodded at Talia. "You were here first," she said.

"Okay, I'll take that half, and you take the other half, and we'll just switch off for those out in the restaurant," Talia said as she began to move over to the customers. Kiley nodded and watched her serve them. She didn't watch for long. More customers were coming in and Kiley was soon busy.

Several times during the evening, Kiley noticed Frank getting a text on his cell phone. Each time he prepared some drinks and then Talia took them into the Balotelli's office. Once she was in the dining room when she saw Talia heading to the office. Curiously, the door opened just as she got there, as if they saw her coming. As she headed back into the bar, Kiley looked over at the offices. She caught a glimpse of a security camera mounted in the corner.