This story involves characters introduced in my story "The Director's Kitten." Like that story, it contains elements that could place it in the Mind Control category.
Cat Vincent sipped her wine. A few weeks ago she had been broke, and now she was dining at a Kirby and June's, all thanks to the intervention of a man she knew only as the Director.
The couple at the next table were talking. Catherine strained to hear, while trying to look focused on her food.
"Why can't you be more assertive, Cliff?" the woman asked.
"Well, I'm not built that way, Jane" Cliff sounded a bit irritated. "If you'll tell me what you want, I'll do it."
"To be more assertive," the woman repeated. "More, well, dominant."
"That's not telling me what you want," said Cliff. "You know, a lot of women would love to have a husband who didn't mind being told to do the dishes."
"Asked, you mean?" Jane asked.
"Whichever."
"They'd love even more a man who did the dishes without asking, I suppose. But I don't mind doing them. I don't care who does the dishes, Cliff."
Cliff sighed. "Can we talk about something else, please? I'm looking at the most beautiful woman I've ever known, and I'm still madly in love with you, and it's our anniversary for God's sake."
Jane's voice softened. "I'm still in love with you, too. I just wonder if we're a good fit sometimes. Seems we both want the other to be in charge."
Cat smiled to herself. It wasn't a problem
she
had. There was no doubt the Director was in charge. He seemed to know everything about her. She knew almost nothing about him, except that she loved serving him. And tonight, he had asked her to eat a meal in a fancy restaurant at his expense and listen to the couple celebrating their third anniversary. She'd had sexier tasks, but this one wasn't exactly a hardship.
Cliff was a good-looking man, tall, athletic, with a square jaw and tousled blonde hair. His wife, Jane, was curvy, brunette, and had a lovely smile. As the evening proceeded, they became more affectionate toward each other, but the frustration that lay beneath that first interchange continued as well.
Eventually the two went home, and so did Catherine. From her laptop, she sent a message detailing every aspect of what she had seen and heard.
Two hours later, she smirked as she received an e-mail with new instructions.
***
"I sure do like a man who knows what he wants and can ask for it, don't you?" Cat asked. She was running on the treadmill. The woman next to her was Jane, who didn't seem to recognize her from the restaurant. In the restaurant, Cat had made a point of trying to blend in. This time, Cat was wearing a lowcut red spandex tank top without a bra, and she'd attracted lots of furtive glances.
Jane blinked at the stranger's choice of casual conversation. "Um, yeah, that'd be nice."
"My man is like that," Cat said. "He tells me exactly what he wants. I never have to guess, and I never have to wonder whether we're doing what he wants."
"Uh, um, good for you."
"I can tell that's what you need, too."
Jane sighed. "How do you know so much?"
"We submissives can spot each other, can't we?" The idea was silly, of course. Although the Director seemed to know all sorts of things. Maybe
he
could spot a submissive just by looking at her.
"Um, sure." As expected, Jane wasn't going to argue with her.
"I can set you up with a guy," Cat said. "Very dominant. Especially in the bedroom."
"I'm a married woman."
"Is your husband dominant?"
Jane laughed. "No, he is definitely not."
"Don't you think your marriage would be better, if you were getting what you needed from ... someone?"
"I'm not going to cheat on my husband."
"Well, maybe he'd go along with it. You never know, until you ask."
Jane shook her head, and a few minutes later left the treadmill for the shower.
Cat had gotten more used to working out lately and pushed herself. She kept running until she saw Jane leave the shower and head for the door. The other woman didn't make eye contact with her, but Cat was sure Jane would remember her if she kept wearing variants on the same outfit. Only after Jane left did Cat head for the showers herself.
It was odd to her, the comfort she felt. It hadn't been explicitly stated, but she suspected that the man she'd be setting Jane up with would be her own Master. She would have killed -- well, not literally -- her old boyfriend if he'd slept with someone else. Now she was facilitating. Ever since that night the Director had kissed her -- the night she'd also knelt on the floor and sucked his cock in the darkness -- things were different. Serving the Director's will was her purpose. If he wanted Jane to serve him, too, that was up to him. She knew there was at least one other who served. She wanted what he wanted, and did what he ordered. She'd never been happier.
Just thinking about it in the shower, she almost forgot she was in public and touched herself. She was turned on a lot more lately, more than she ever had been in her life. But she wasn't allowed to orgasm without permission.
Remembering that she needed permission to touch herself just turned her on more. She went home, reported on the conversation, and waited for the Director's next direction, hoping it would include permission to use her vibrator.
***
A few hours later, someone else reported on the same conversation. "The oddest conversation, today at the gym," Jane called it. Her husband listened as she recounted it.
"So you feel you aren't getting what you need?" Cliff asked.
Jane sighed. Had he not been listening these past months? "Yes. That's how I feel."
"And what if I'm not getting what I need?"
"What's that?" asked Jane.
"Well," said Cliff, "How would you feel if I went to a dominatrix?"
"No way!" said Jane.
Cliff shrugged. "Well, then." The silence hung there.
When Jane had started the discussion, she was still hoping it would prod Cliff into being the man she wanted, at least in the bedroom, even if just for the night. Now Cliff had moved it to a matter of quid pro quo.
Neither of are getting our needs met, so it's fair. But perhaps there is another way.
"If I said yes to the dominatrix, would you let me go --" she hesitated before choosing a word " -- go serve another man?"
Cliff pursed his lip. Jane couldn't read him. Was he angry at the suggestion? For a few moments she entertained the thought that he would grab her and force her to the bed and tell her she was his and his alone. Instead he walked away. A few minutes later she heard the familiar sounds of a video game being played in the den.
The rest of the night they barely spoke a word. They settled into bed and turned off the light. Then he said, "About the discussion earlier, we will do things however you wish, my love."
She didn't respond. She wondered if he was saying that because he wanted to get her needs met -- or if he was saying that as a way of meeting his own. Either way, she'd been given a free pass of sorts, she supposed.
Now she had to figure out what she would do with it. Cliff was soon snoring, but it took her a while to get to sleep.
***
"Hello," said Jane as she stepped onto the treadmill next to Cat at the gym.
"Hi!" Cat replied.
"I've been thinking about what you said. About my marriage being better."
Cat grinned. "Did you talk to your husband?"
