Lara Swift is Colonized Ch. 01

First, she pointed out the tip jar. She argued that there's no law regulating tips, and that the owner could re-work the program to get better performance from Cassandra. Patrons would give all the bathroom tips to the manager, then he would give a percentage of them to Cassandra based on her feedback for the day's work. People would fill out a survey ranking her on different metrics using a five-star scale, and any score less than five would result in a reduction in her tips. If someone didn't fill out a survey, that would be an automatic zero since they were obviously unimpressed with her work. Cassandra would be forbidden from begging for a higher score or even mentioning the program, of course, to avoid pestering women.

What better way to keep her jumping through hoops and bending over backwards to make people happy?

The manager smiled as he heard this; the customers were good tippers and he could probably use it as a way to pad the restaurant's earnings at Cassandra's expense. Even if it were a bad idea, he recognized Robin Woodward, and he would probably do it just to keep her as a customer. She was a taste-maker, and a single post on her social media page could attract hundreds of customers.

"I just think, she could definitely be doing a better job. I complained that my feet hurt twice and did she offer to massage them for me? No! They're even clean, I had a long bath just this morning."

Lara rolled her eyes. She wanted to argue against Robin, but it would just put the manager in an uncomfortable position and he would obey the blonde brat anyway. She made a mental note to donate some money to Cassandra anonymously, to at least give her the option to get out. Somehow, she doubted the Creole girl's contract allowed her such freedoms.

"We will do our best to implement these ideas, ma'am. And thank you for sharing them! I will talk about this with the owner of the restaurant. If he likes it, I'm sure we could give you both a free lunch, in gratitude."

Robin smiled, and soon the girls left together. Lara thought: of course the free lunch went to the girl who was worth millions, while the laborer lost her hard-earned tips.

Lara wondered why she remained friends with the girl; it was sort of like sharing a sleeping bag with a venomous snake. Sure, Robin might be nice enough presently, but was she ever that far from sinking her fangs into Lara just for fun? In fact, the snake might be better because at least it couldn't make long-term plans against her!

At the end of this reminiscing, Lara realized something terrifying.

She hadn't told anyone where she was going! She told her friends a vague story about an expedition that might take several months, and she had dismissed nearly all of the house staff before her departure. The only hope she had was in her solicitor, Edwin Montgomery, with whom she had left a sealed envelope to be opened if she didn't return in two months' time. Lara groaned; she had at least two month in this hell, and who knows how much time after that until he marshaled enough resources to find her?

The days stretched ahead of her; pink and tasteless and deprived of any sensation except for what this horrible institution wanted her to feel. She tried to be optimistic: at least there was a light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how distant. And although she kept daydreaming, they increasingly seemed like pointless distractions from her present situation. What did it matter the wind in her hair as she rode a motorcycle, if she was now a prisoner strapped to a motionless bicycle seat in a padded room?

Lara bowed her head as much she could in spite of her tight leather collar, and felt the beginnings of despair creep on. It was shapeless at first, an unwanted safety net that froze her in place and prevented her from moving anywhere productive. Its weave was impossibly strong, made of the same frilly pink material that brushed against her soft, pampered feet. And it seemed to be shrinking against her.

In four months' time, she was due before a judge in a decisive meeting concerning her inheritance dispute with Uncle Errol. Would she make it out in time?