The Birthday Party Ch. 00: Prologue

My dear readers: This is a prologue, if you will, of how the events of Tristan's birthday party transpired.

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He really didn't know why he did it. He wasn't even sure he was going to get away with it. He wasn't so much worried that Lisa was going to find out, he was worried that this wouldn't turn out the way he desired it to and then, surely, all hell would break loose. Thoughts ran through his head of what she'd do to him if she found out he was behind it all. He envisioned being in her stocks, which she loved to place him in. Past memories of his legs getting weaker the harder she beat him filled his brain and, frightening as it was at the time, he was already very hard thinking about it all. He still couldn't believe that they were actually together. One time at The House changed everything for him but, the second she opened the door, he knew it was her. It had to be. They worked together for so long, so closely and, despite her best efforts to conceal her identity, he was not fooled. It was her hair. He would often sit across from her desk, staring at her gorgeous long brown hair. He fantasized about running his fingers through it...smelling it...burying his face in it and drinking in her lovely scent. ...but it wasn't just her hair, either. It was because he loved her.

Over time, the more power and dominance she exercised over him, there was some part of him that wondered if she'd ever submitted to anyone...if she had ever really experienced all the things that she was putting other people through. True, him and countless other men and women, for that matter, loved what she did to them but, he wondered, could she take it or was she honestly not wired that way? His curiosity increased as time went on and then there was that one day where she took both himself and Elise into her dungeon and tried, in her own special sort of way, to get them to be friends. After that, his thoughts became very serious. Could she take what she dealt out? He was determined to find out. Working for Lisa for the amount of time that he did increased his tenacity and he was going to find out come Hell or high water.

He thought back to just after he agreed to submit to Lisa. He inquired as to how she got the means to be a Domme, professionally. She mentioned a name...Tristan Andrews. After that, he knew he was going to find some way to see if Lisa could take pleasure in the same tortures she subjected others to. If anyone knew the answer, it would be this man, whomever he was. Knowing that he had his own sort of fame, it occurred to Daniel to go through any means possible to find him. He went on the internet and typed in his name and, sure enough, found out everything he needed to know. After that, it was a rampage of phone calls, e-mails and messages. His fervency was fueled by the fact that he wanted to know if Lisa could, essentially, be broken. He had to know. He was obsessed with the fact that, perhaps, he could take control of her without her knowing. He already knew how he wanted it to be done. He just needed Tristan to make it happen and he was sure this was the man to do the job. Lisa trusted Tristan in a professional sense. He was her mentor. She would probably do anything he asked of her and that's what Daniel was trying to find out.

A month went by with no contact from Tristan. Daniel spent his days pacing in front of the telephone willing it to ring but to no avail. It happened, though, on a day when he let his obsession go, that the phone rang while he was folding Lisa's laundry. When he picked up, a woman's voice instantly said "please hold" and bland elevator music flooded his ear. Daniel was the short-tempered type due to his work as assistant to the district attorney...no time for bullshit. He was already very irritated when the elevator music finally came to a halt and a man picked up.

"Is this Daniel Connor?" the man asked.

"Yeah, is this some fuckin' telemarketer thing 'cos I don't have the time or the money, asshole."

"Uh, no...this is Tristan Andrews. Apparently, you've been bombarding my office with telephone calls, leaving messages and, I swear to you, I haven't gotten through half of your emails. So you should make the time to explain yourself."

"Oh my god, Mr. Andrews, I'm so sorry," he replied, worried that he'd upset him. "Um, yeah, I'm really, really sorry about all of that but there's something that I gotta ask you."

"Yes," he said, dryly. "You mentioned Lisa which, I will have you know, is the only reason I even bothered to contact you. What can I do for you?"

"Well, um...can I...meet with you? Or something?"

Tristan sighed heavily on the other end, making his irritation overly obvious. "Mr. Connor, I'm extremely busy. How long is this going to take?"

"I understand, sir. Ten minutes. Coffee?"

"All right. Ten minutes. I will meet you at La Fleur in five minutes. Can you make that?"

"Yes, sir," he said. Five minutes was a near impossibility but he had to make this work. This was the one chance he had been waiting for and he couldn't possibly blow it now.

"Very well," he said and hung up.

Daniel almost threw the phone back down on the receiver as if it had burned his hand all of a sudden. His whole body vibrated...half-shaken, half-stunned. He could definitely see why Tristan and Lisa were such good friends. Daniel didn't really consider himself easily intimidated by anybody but Tristan's intensity over the phone made him feel about two inches tall. Despite how he was feeling, he had no time to spare. He threw on some shoes and flew out the door. La Fleur was a good fifteen minutes away but it was one in the afternoon so there wouldn't be any traffic...he had hoped there wouldn't be, anyway.

No traffic also meant no cops, which was good considering that Daniel found himself going 30 over the speed limit. He found a parking spot and ran in the door of La Fleur while checking his watch. He had made it just in the nick of time. While doing his research on the great Mr. Andrews, he had made sure to check out some pictures so he at least knew who he was looking for and, scanning the room, Daniel found him sitting in the back corner reading a folded-up newspaper. His heart started beating out of control again and he felt his body go numb. He felt his submission growing stronger as he continued to feel very small and insignificant in the presence of someone that meant so much to Lisa. Well, it was now or never...he made his approach.

He slowly walked over to Tristan's table and just stood there looking at him. Tristan, of course, noticed him right away but didn't bother to look up. It was all part of the game. Daniel, not knowing what to do, cleared his throat a little and Tristan looked up at him with a half-smile. "You must be Daniel...you made it on time. Good for you. Sit."

Almost instantly, Daniel plopped down in the chair across from him still giving him a look like he was a puppy waiting for its next command. Tristan stared back at him, very clearly annoyed already. Daniel felt that this wasn't going to go well for him at all.

"Young man, as I recall, you are the one that asked to meet me and made it sound terribly urgent. I told you I'm very busy so can we please make this fast?"

Shaken, Daniel muttered, "Um...yes, sir. Well, I told you that I'm Lisa's friend and..."

Tristan cut him off. "Yes, how is Lisa anyway?"

"She's good. Um...well, truth is...I'm more than just her friend. I'm her...um...sub."

As soon as he said that, Tristan perked up and the dull look in his eyes went away in a flash. "No kidding!" he said, obviously happy about that. "So she's still at it, eh? Oh, good for her...good for you! She's quite skilled, isn't she...little devil. So, what can I do for you?"

"Well, sir...I know that you and Lisa go way back and she said that you even helped fund her house and stuff...and, well, okay. I'm just gonna say it. I wanted to ask you if you could help me with something. I want Lisa...to submit...to me."

Once that registered, Tristan burst out in laughter. "You? Oh come on now. You can't even talk to me without shaking! ...and Lisa submitting? Christ, man, do you even know her? That's preposterous. You! Ha! Oh my god, that's the funniest thing I've heard all day!"

Daniel didn't know what sparked his anger but it came on like a sickness. It consumed him all at once. He felt his face get hot and red. His breathing got heavier. Thoughts ran through his head of leaping across the table and strangling Tristan. Perhaps it was because he wasn't weak for submitting to Lisa. That was a choice. He loved her, she wanted his submission so he gave it to her willingly. He wasn't a lesser person for being submissive. In fact, he presumed himself stronger than most for wanting to give everything to a lovely, brilliant woman like Lisa. Hell, even the fact that she was a woman didn't matter. It was the fact that, as a person...as another human being, she was lovely. Obviously, Tristan thought he was some helpless creature that was on a lesser plane of existence than people like him and Lisa. It was time to correct Mr. Andrews.

"Sir, with all due respect, I don't find anything funny about that. The only reason you make me nervous is because I know Lisa respects the hell out of you and the only reason I contacted you is because I want certain things to go down between me and her. Now, you can sit there and laugh at me all you want and think I'm weak or whatever but the fact of the matter is, I can just as easily do what I'm planning to do with or without you so you can either stop being my problem and start becoming my solution or you can just...fuck off...sir."

Tristan sat there with his jaw on the floor. Daniel thought he was going to pass out. They both just sat there looking at each other in silence for what seemed like an eternity until Tristan broke the ice and said, "Okay." Daniel blinked and said, "Yeah...okay," as if to say, "Ha! I win."

"So, Mr. Connor...what exactly can I help you with?"

Daniel leaned in to Tristan, ready to share his master plan. Tristan indulged him and leaned in as well, secretly laughing to himself thinking this was all terribly silly...but also kind of cute. He was honestly intrigued, though, and couldn't wait to hear what Daniel had up his sleeve.

"See, sir...the thing is...I've always wanted to know if Lisa could ever, like...get what she gives, y'know? Like...can she take as much as she dishes out? So my plan is to get her to take it and you're gonna help me."

Tristan smiled and said, "...and just how am I going to do that?"

Daniel leaned in even more and, tapping his finger on the table, said, "You're gonna train her to be submissive and then I'm gonna have my fun with that for just a day but I don't want her to know it's me. I...haven't really figured it out past that point. I guess I just wanna see her suffer...for me. Does that make any sense? Can you even do that?"

Tristan folded his hands in front of him and looked down. "Can it be done? Possibly. You were right to come to me about this, though. I can guarantee you she would only think of me to pull a stunt like this one. ...and it's actually quite brilliant. Her trainer in dominance now wants her to be submissive." He chuckled. "Quite brilliant. Oh this could be quite good, you know. Yes..." he said, trailing off.

"So you'll help me?" said Daniel.

"I think I can, yes. I'll have to think more on how we should go about this but my diabolic thoughts rarely take a backseat no matter how busy I am. I'll get back to you very soon, Daniel. For right now, though, I have to go."

Tristan stood up and Daniel immediately stood as well. They shook hands and Tristan chuckled again, shaking his head as he departed. Daniel was very excited how enthusiastic Tristan seemed to be about the whole prospect. He knew his plan was going to go down exactly the way he wanted it to. For now, though, it was time to get back home. Lisa would be back shortly and he couldn't wait to see her.

As Daniel pulled in the driveway, he noticed Lisa's car was nowhere to be found, which surprised him. It was a Monday afternoon...there's no way she could be that busy. He got out of the car and walked up to the front door. There was a small folded piece of white paper taped to the door with "DANIEL" written on the outside. Confused, he opened it up. It read:

Mine,

Turns out today won't be as quiet as I thought. Meet me at The House.

~Yours

He loved it when she did cute things like that. He went inside to freshen up a little and then raced back outside. It only took him a little while to get to The House and, when he arrived, he noticed there were a lot more cars outside than normal. There must have been something big going on. He got out of the car and straightened himself up. He always got the same nervous/excited feeling every time he came there. It was reminiscent of the first time; although, at that time, he never would have thought that he'd be head over heels in love with the crazy lady that ran the place.

He knocked on the door and Beth answered almost immediately.

"Hey, Danny Boy," she said, slyly.

"Hey, Beth. Is Li...uh...Kathryn here?" He almost called her Lisa...Beth didn't seem to notice the mistake.

"Of course. She's a little busy right now. Come on in, hon."

Beth always made Daniel uncomfortable because she was extremely gorgeous and she was constantly hitting on everything that got near her. She almost looked like every 40's pin-up poster Daniel had ever seen and she knew it, too. Her hair was fire red, her skin was flawless and ivory-colored, her eyes were the color of pure emeralds and she stood at a cool 5 foot 8. Her attire today was a white sundress with red cherries printed all over it, a thick black patent leather belt with an oversized buckle and black patent leather peep-toe heels. She was certainly dressed to the nines but she always was.

Daniel walked in and hung his things neatly on the coat rack inside the door. Beth stood there watching him with her ever-cocky smile and said, "Can I get you anything while you wait, sweetie?"

"Sure...uh...a beer?"

"Comin' right up, sugar," she said with a wink and sashayed off into the kitchen.

Daniel shook his head with a smile and went into the parlour to make himself comfortable. There were a few magazines on the coffee table and he flipped one open to pass the time. Shortly after, he heard footsteps coming his way. He didn't bother tearing himself away from the article on renewable energy and soon felt warm hands cover his eyes.

"Guess whooooo!" said an overly-cheerful voice.

"Uhhh...Beth?"

The hands left his eyes and Daniel opened them immediately to find who the stranger was. He immediately grinned ear to ear.

"DANNY!!" It was Elise. She opened up her arms to give him a hug and Daniel leapt off the couch to return it. They embraced tightly and she gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "How are you?!" she said.

"I'm good! Really good, actually. How are you?"

"Oh you know...same old thing," she said with a shrug and a smile. "So what are you doing here? Appointment or..."

"Dumbass," said Beth returning with Daniel's beer. "He wouldn't need an appointment. He lives with Kathryn for God's sake. His whole life's an appointment. There ya go, sweetie." She handed him his beer with a little wink. Daniel accepted it feeling awkward at all her passes.

"Oh," said Elise, feeling obviously a little stupid. "Sorry, Daniel."

Daniel smiled warmly at Elise and said, "No, it's fine. She actually told me to come here. She said her day was gonna be busy."

"Yeah," said Elise. "Turns out it's some big wig's birthday or something today...it was a last minute thing but they're paying a LOT of money so she took it. We could always use the extra cash."

"Well, that's good. I guess I'll just..."

"Hello."

All three of them turned at the voice that interrupted them. It was Lisa...well, Kathryn at this point, in all her glory.

Daniel smiled humbly and said, "Hello, Ma'am." He made sure to keep the utmost sense of decorum at The House. Lisa appreciated it and it kept their relationship very harshly outlined in front of the girls. They were always very relaxed at home, obviously, but work was work and Daniel respected her as a professional so he made sure to maintain his role.

Kathryn walked toward Daniel and gave him a hug. "I see you got my note," she said.

"I did," said Daniel. "Busy today, huh?"

"Yes," she said with a heavy sigh. "Totally last minute but it should be a lot of fun for all involved. I see Beth got you all set up."

Daniel looked at the beer on the table. "Oh! I hope that's okay, Ma'am."

"Pfsh! Go nuts! I don't care. Apparently, Monday's a good time to party." He couldn't tell if she was smiling or being sarcastic so he looked in her eyes trying to probe for more emotion. She looked back at him and patted his hands as she whispered in his ear, "Seriously, have fun! I love you..."

Daniel smiled at her and he said, "So what's all going on today?"

Kathryn went over to her appointment desk and grabbed a small, ragged notepad. "Well, let's see. Girls, go see what Marisa is up to. She'll need to be here to hear all of this, too."

Elise piped up first and said, "Yes, Mother!" and ran upstairs. Daniel sat next to Kathryn on the sofa feeling almost out of place until she put her gloved hand on his knee and looked at him as if to make him feel more relaxed. It was so hard to be close to her, though, when she was all business like that. Not only was she visually intimidating but her very essence, her composure, the way she carried herself...everything was so...calculated. Daniel knew with all his heart that she loved him. It was just very hard for him to feel it when she was playing the role of stern, strict Kathryn and not warm, loving Lisa.

Elise soon came back down the stairs with Marisa in tow and the girls all took seats around the sofa to listen to what Kathryn had to say.

"All right, ladies, as you know, we've got a last minute party to plan. It shouldn't be that big of a deal 'cos we've got more hook-ups than we can count but, still, I'm going to need 100% participation from each of you...understood?" They all nodded, solemnly. It was so interesting to Daniel that each of these three girls had such distinct personalities...Elise was the shy little princess, Marisa was the outgoing, fun one and Beth was the total vixen but whenever Kathryn spoke to them, they, too, turned all business. All six of their eyes were fixated on her as she relayed their instructions and they didn't dare look away from her. She certainly had a commanding presence.

"I know it's a little different this time because our party guests have arrived and they didn't let us know but we can pull this off. As you all know, Mr. Clemmons has been coming here for a while and he's been very generous to us. All I really need is a little bit of catering, some drinks and some creativity on your parts, Beth and Marisa. Elise, you'll be used as well but, well...that's up to them." Elise nodded. She was purely submissive so all she needed to do was make herself available for use. The other two, however, had very dominant sides to them so they would take care of the others. Of course, Mr. Clemmons would be in Kathryn's hands.

After perusing her notes a little more, Kathryn looked up at the girls and said, "That's all I have for the three of you. Any questions for me?" They all shook their heads "no" in unison and, with that, Kathryn stood up and said, "Very well. Get to work." She looked at Daniel and said, "Mr. Connor, follow me." He dutifully stood up and followed Kathryn upstairs to her bedroom. Once inside, she locked the door, spun around and looked at Daniel. Daniel smiled and said, "Hey you." As if, all of a sudden, it was on fire, she ripped off her mask and, with a huge grin, ran toward Daniel and jumped in his arms. "Hey back," she said and gave him a deep, passionate kiss. He set her back down on the ground and smoothed her hair back with both hands and kissed her again.