Note to the reader. This story contains themes of mind control and non-consent/reluctance. If this in anyway offends you please find another story. If you read on please know, it is a slow build and sets the groundwork for many, many possible pathways going forward. As always, comments and suggestions are always welcome.
Special thanks to Kenji Sato for help editing.
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Salisa Resnik is a thirty-six-year-old bank manager living in Mississippi. Her husband is a kind, understanding man she had met in college and married fourteen years ago. Understanding in part, because Salisa has a nineteen-year-old daughter who was the result of a drunken night in high school.
That night, however, brought her the joy of her life, Kaitlyn. So she considers it a gift of fate that was meant to be. Nonetheless, that night made her life so much more complicated. Mothering a child while in high school and going on to get a bachelor's degree in finance in college, took a tremendous amount of patience and dedication, along with understanding parents.
Her father was born of Serbian immigrants and worked in a cotton mill his entire life, and her mother was raised on a farm in Mississippi. She was a stay-at-home mom to Salisa and her two older brothers, Faris and Mathias. They had already moved out when Salisa was born, unexpectedly late in her mother's life.
Her father, Samir passed away when she was twenty-eight at the age of seventy-eight. Her mom, Martha, was a few years younger and had just turned seventy-nine and lived in a townhome nearby. Her mom was her life saver, helping raise Kaitlyn and babysitting countless hours in high school and college for free.
Kenny was the first man in college who didn't turn and run when he found out she had a two-year-old daughter. After they dated for a year, she let him meet Kaitlyn for the first time and he'd loved her ever since. He even adopted her as his own, once they were married since the baby daddy wanted nothing to do with her, and Salisa was more than happy to not include him in her life. She never tried to chase him down for financial support.
Kenny was admittedly bi-sexual, which he disclosed on the first date after Salisa, disclosed Kaitlyn. He never really had the sex drive of the typical man, but sex was good, sensual, and regular over the years averaging twice a month, which suited Salisa just fine.
Kenny was a manager of a local Chili's but had recently lost his job of twelve years when the restaurant closed. They were not hurting for money, but with Kaitlyn in college and his income lost, the pressure on Salisa had increased dramatically.
Her bank, and employer, was in the midst of merging with Truist, one of the large chains that had several branches in town, in addition to the four branches her current bank held. Salisa was not too worried, because she learned early that her location was the top performer of the ten combined branches, one of the newest buildings, and the most geographically isolated.
There was no danger of her branch closing. The real anxiety had come from learning that she was a top contender for regional manager, which would put her in charge of all ten branches. That would entail managing the closure of three branches, and eliminating the jobs for some of her colleagues.
She would begin interviewing on Monday for the new position, so her stress levels were growing by the minute. When she got home Wednesday evening, the house was empty. Kaitlyn was off at college at Vanderbilt, and she hoped Kenny was interviewing for a new job. Although, she really wanted to vent a little.
She walked on eggshells with Kenny as his confidence levels had dropped, after the restaurant failed. She tried to encourage him by reminding him he had one of the oldest locations in the state and it performed well for years. He tried to convince management to upgrade, but then covid hit and funds dried up. He did a good job of milking the life out of the facility and kept it afloat longer than most.
Now, as she faced the uncertainty of new management of her own, and the possibility of a new, expanded role; the weight of the world seemed to rest on her shoulders. Needing to vent, she decided to go for a run. She quickly ditched the skirt and suit jacket for running shorts and a sports tank-top.
With her phone in her running shorts thigh pocket, and Bluetooth headphones, she fired up Spotify with Dua Lipa and began her run. The neighborhood was a newer development with wide sidewalks and two park areas with running paths. As she started down the block, she noticed some new neighbors moving in.
A woman that looked to be forty-ish waved at her, then returned to directing the movers. She wore shorts and a tee, and had an aura of elegance, even in her moving clothes. Salisa thought about getting her mom to bake her something, to welcome her new neighbor.
As she ran, she could feel the stress levels begin to lower. She ran the three blocks to the first running path and circled the park twice, for a total of a mile and one half.
Unfortunately, on the second lap, she let her mind go back to her work issues and by the time she finished, she was stressed again. Frustrated, she decided to go to the second park, about a quarter mile past the house in the other direction. This time, she ran double-time, determined to run the stress out.
The increased speed was helping, and she was gonna run the second loop in record time and forget about everything. She ran back on the opposite side of the street and as she neared her house her phone buzzed. As she stopped to check it, her eyes rolled, and she gave a growl. Then she noticed the new neighbor was watching her from two houses away.
Salisa gave her a frustrated smile, and pointed at the phone, expressing her frustration. The woman gave her a knowing bump of the eyebrows and returned the smile. When Salisa saw it was Kenny, she felt bad.
"Hey hon, how's it going?" she asked, cheerily.
"Well, Mark called and talked me into golfing this afternoon and we're thinking about getting a few drinks in the bar, They have a dinner special going on in the clubhouse. Do you mind..."
Salisa was disappointed, but Kenny sounded so much happier than he was that morning. So, she quickly gave her blessing.
"Don't worry, you have fun. I'm on a run, I'll take a shower and have some leftovers. It's all good." She was panting.
"You sure? How was your day, by the way. Sounds like maybe not so good if you're running hard. Anything new with the merger?" he asked, as Mark asked him something in the background.
"Nothing new, go have fun, I hear Mark. Talk to you later." She hung up and sighed.
She walked slowly, panting, trying to motivate herself to get back to running.
"There's just never any 'me time', is there?"
Salisa looked up, startled. Her inner voice had already spit out an answer. 'There hasn't been 'me time' since I was sixteen.' But she quickly pushed the negativity back and put on a smile.
"Sometimes, it seems that way." She reached out a hand. "Hi, I'm Salisa. I live right there with my husband Kenny and daughter Kaitlyn."
"Dr. Addison Mertow. Pleasure to meet you."
Salisa thought, 'Doctor, oh boy, I can already feel the condescension.' Expecting a clammy, limp handshake, she was quite surprised. Her grip was firm and her hand warm.
"Welcome to the neighborhood, Dr. Mertow, let me know if...?"
"Let me start over. Call me Addison. I sometimes put my title up as a defense when I meet new people. You'd think a psychologist wouldn't get nervous around people."
Salisa thought, 'Wow, for being nervous, she sure makes eye contact.' Her blue eyes never looked away.
Salisa smiled and shook her hand again, also not breaking eye contact. "Welcome to the neighborhood, Addison, I'm Salisa. If there's anything you need, I'm two houses down and willing to help. In fact, if you need a bank, I'm the manager of the Neighbors Bank, about a mile from here. I can hook you up."
"Bank manager? Impressive. And I love the name. Neighbors Bank, really? Sounds perfect. In fact, I don't have a bank yet. Are you working tomorrow?"
"I am working tomorrow, starting at nine. But, full disclosure, we'll be Truist soon, they just bought us for a merger," replied Salisa. "But, it's a great bank close by and has great people."
"You sold me. I'll have to come by tomorrow." She looked down at their hands, not wanting to be the first to break contact.
Salisa released her grip and smiled again. "How's the move going?"
"Actually, very well; the movers are wrapping it up. I'm gonna call it a day and figure out what to do for dinner," replied Addison.
