It was late August, and Wanda Catron was ready to return to school for her second attempt at her senior year, Her first attempt, the previous year, had been aborted by death and personal disaster.
But Wanda had changed over the summer. She had met someone online, and had accepted her Collar. She was now the online slave of Donna Mettert, who was known as Alluringsweetlady to most, and Mistress Sweet to Wanda.
They had met the previous April, and been Collared a month now. Donna was encouraging Wanda to go to school and finish her education, and Wanda wanted to finish now. She had a goal in mind, both short-term and long-term. However, tomorrow's goals were secrets, at least to Donna.
Donna was the mall manager at the Northwest Arkansas Mall in Fayetteville, Ark. She was a tough but fair manager, especially since she had been mute since the age of four. But the mall was one of the best-run in America, earning honors year after year.
Wanda told Donna online one night that she was ready to return to school, but needed a week to take care of some personal business. Donna said she understood and hoped that Wanda would keep in touch with her during the week she would be gone. Wanda smiled inwardly, and publicly promised that she would indeed keep in touch.
The next morning, Wanda went to the Salt Lake City airport. Her flight took her to Atlanta, and from there on another connecting flight to Bentonville, Arkansas, landing at 3:30, nearly nine hours after she had taken off. A trip to the Hertz rental counter got her into a Mustang, and after a search on the map, Wanda was heading south towards Fayetteville.
An hour later, Wanda was sitting in the Northwest Arkansas Mall, staring at the entrance to the mall offices. Suddenly, all her muscles were jelly. She stared at the door, working hard to will her body to move.
A person walking by caught Wanda's eye. Short, about 5-3, with stringy blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. A flower patten dress draped over her body, which would normally seem too small to Wanda. Now, however, the dress was perfect, as was the woman wearing it. Wanda had seen her Mistress, Donna Mettert, for the first time.
Donna walked into the office doors, and caused Wanda's muscles to start responding again. She stood up and walked through the office doors. She saw a door close at the end of the hall and assumed it was Donna's. But her way was blocked by a large counter and an equally large secretary.
"May I help you?" the enormous woman said.
"Yes," Wanda replied. "I'd like to speak with Donna Mettert."
"I don't think you can, Miss. She's a busy woman."
"She'll see me. Tell her Wanda's here."
"Wait here." The woman nearly filled the entire hallway as she waddled to the door that had closed. She entered (how, Wanda didn't know), then came out a minute later. Again she slowly waddled back to her desk.
The fat woman turned right, and SHE was there, her beloved Donna, walking behind Blubbo the secretary. Her eyes looked at Wanda a second, then they lit up like a Christmas tree. A big smile flashed on her face, and she almost leapt over the counter and into Wanda's arms. Wanda caught the exuberant Donna and the women kissed as Blubbo tried not to look.
Donna led Wanda past Blubbo and into her office. There Donna took out a note pad and scribbled quickly. When she handed it to Wanda, the note said "What are you doing here?"
"I came to be with you, Mistress," Wanda said. "I need you so much, and I love you. However, I'll leave if you ask me to."
Donna scribbled quickly. When the pad returned, it said "Stay. Let me make arrangements."
Donna picked up what looked like a phone, only much larger, and placed it in something that looked like a computer keyboard. She typed, and then she heard a voice on speaker box. Curious, Wanda came around the corner of the desk. Quickly Wanda scribbled "TTY phone", then typed more.
The voice came back. "Yes, Donna, I can watch your baby for a few days. What's going on?"
Donna typed and Wanda watched over her shoulder. "Something's come up, and I'm going out of town for a few days. You sure you're all right? Anything I can get for you?" Donna scribbled for Wanda's benefit, "My mom."
"No honey," her mother said. "Just be safe. Your baby will be all right. you take care of the little one you're carrying, too."
"I will, Ma," Donna typed back. She hung up the phone, then paged for Blubbo. When she waddled in, their hands flew as they spoke in American Sign Language. Wanda had started studying ASL when she learned about Donna's disability, but she quickly got lost trying to follow Blubbo and Donna's conversation.
When Blubbo squeezed out of Donna's office, Donna straightened some files, putting things on her desk in order, and signaled Wanda to follow her. They left the office and headed to the private parking area for mall employees. Wanda saw they were going to Donna's car and tapped her Mistress on the shoulder. When Donna turned, she said "I have a car here."
Donna had brought her pen and paper. She wrote fast, then showed Wanda. It said "Leave it. You won't need it for what we'll be doing tonight."
Wanda got into Donna's car. It was an older model Chevy, with a baby seat in the back seat. Donna drove out of the enclosure, and drove out of town for a bit. She headed northeast and ended up at Rogers, Ark. There, she drove until she saw a cheap motel and started pulling in.