This... Ch. 05

When I got home, I rushed inside and undressed enough to take a better look at the anklet that now adorned my leg and that would give my Mistress up to date information on my location. Looking at the soldered band of steel with the two almost ornamental looking bulges, I tried to convince myself that it looked enough like jewelry to pass if seen at a gym. But what kind of man wore an anklet? Certainly not me. I didn't even wear a ring, even when married. This would certainly garner attention, and I began to wonder whether I should begin to change my workout schedule, start showering at home.

As I pondered this and began to change fully into more casual clothes for the evening, the phone range. It was Her. "Yes, Mistress," came my formal greeting.

Without any small talk, She began: "you have standing permission to be at home, at your office, and on the route in between. For anything else, you require my permission. And I do mean anything, boy ... lunch out, dinner out, drinks after work, shopping ... anything. Understood?"

"Yes, Mistress, I understand ... i am to ask permission for anything else."

"No, lee," Her voice was steely. "You ask questions ... you beg for permission. As in 'please, Mistress, i beg Your permission to have lunch with a co-worker.' I will usually say yes, because as you know I am not unreasonable. But if I say no, that is final; you will accept that I have a good reason, even if you don't understand it, and will remain where you are. Am I clear, boy?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"Good. Since this is the first day of this new regimen, I will give you two hours to run any errands you need, to stock up on food and other staples, in case I confine you to your house for a couple of days. It is now 7:35; I will check on your whereabouts at 9:35 ... and you'd best be back at home. Or you will regret it."

Without another word, She hung up ... and I hastened out to the nearest Jewel, frantically making a mental list of foods and other items I would need to have stored in the house. Milk, juice, cereal, bread, frozen pizza, yoghurt, soup, coffee ... I piled items rather indiscriminately into my cart, keeping an eye on my watch, even though I had plenty of time ... my head spinning with the sound of Her words echoing in my ears. As I waited in line, I drummed my fingers on the cart, racking my brain to think if I'd forgotten anything, casting furtive gazes about wondering if anyone had any idea what was happening to me, if they could see the small bulge sometimes visible on my ankle. Telling myself to calm down, I collected my thoughts as the cashier rang me out and bagged my items. Sitting in my car for a few minutes, I reviewed what had happened and how I felt about it. I was nervous and thrilled and scared and enticed and worried and aroused and ... and hell, a number of other things I didn't even have names for. One thing that was certain, though, is that I was uncertain that I had the strength to go where She was leading ... but there was another certainty, too: that I could not turn back now. So, as a light rain began to fall, I started the car and drove home, checking my watch as I pulled into my driveway, noting that I was back well in advance of the curfew She'd put on me.

As I put away the groceries, I suddenly caught a strong, fresh whiff of Her perfume, which caused me to start, in something like fear. I checked the house quickly; She was not here ... but She had been, very recently. Nothing appeared out of place or changed, but the knowledge that She had been in my house struck me as intensely intimate and made me feel vulnerable.

Keeping my cell phone with me, hoping - or perhaps fearing - that She'd call or text, I settled in to watch some television, confined to the house for the evening. But something was wrong with my cable, the screen showing nothing but static. Grumbling to myself about the quality of my cable provider, I checked to see if my wireless were down, too; not surprisingly, it was. Fumbling with an out of date Yellow Pages, I was looking for the service number and steeling myself to talk (really complain ... again) with a call center operator in Mumbai or some such place when my phone rang. It was Her.

"Yes, Mistress."

"Good boy, lee." Her voice was rich with satisfaction, it seemed to me. "Did you get the things you needed from the store?"

"Yes, Mistress, thank You."

"I have noticed that it is becoming second nature for you to thank me for everything I permit you, lee ... and that demonstrates that you are learning and internalizing the lessons you need. And that pleases me very much." She paused for a moment, I suppose to let Her words sink in. "I was at your house earlier. Did you know that?"

Smiling, my hunch confirmed, I nearly whispered. "Yes, Mistress, I thought I'd smelled Your perfume."

Without warning, there was a sudden shift in Her tone. "Are you standing, lee?"

It flashed across my mind to lie, but I couldn't. "Yes, Mistress, I am."

Her command was as curt as it was immediate. "On your knees. Now."

For a few awful moments, all I could hear was the sound of my own heart racing as I knelt in the middle of my living room. Then Her voice again, steely. "I will deal with this impertinence next time I see you. But just so W/we are clear, when you are at home and speaking with Me on the phone, you will be in a proper posture of respect. Do you understand me, boy?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"Good." Again, like a passing storm, Her mood seemed to shift, to lighten. "Is your cable down?"

Taken aback and immediately curious, I answered, "yes, Mistress."

"And your internet?"

"Yes, Mistress, that too."

"I know, lee. I've had them disconnected. I do not want my boy wasting his time - which I hope I needn't remind you is really my time - watching TV or surfing for porn on the internet. I will permit you a radio, the use of your iPhone for answering e-mails, and books." I was too shocked to speak as She let Her words sink in.

"I may permit you to watch some TV, under my supervision, if I ever decide to let You visit my home. And I will take you to movies on occasion. In the next few days, I will be shifting your cell phone to my service, which will permit me to monitor whom you speak and text with. I will also set very strict "parental controls" on your phone's internet access, just in case. Of course, any time I demand your phone, you will turn it over to me immediately ... and I'd best not find anything on it that shouldn't be there. Understand?"

"Yes, Mistress," came my meek reply.

She continued: "I have removed from your bookshelves several volumes that are inappropriate for you" - my mind raced mentally around my house, trying to guess which - "those that remain, you may read as you care to. I very much like the fact that you are well educated, lee, and well-read ... and I want to encourage that. But, from now on, you will require my permission before you buy any new book. Understood?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"Good boy. I am very generous with my pets; I will often purchase the books you desire for you ... and I have books that I will have you read. Now, lee..."

"Yes, Mistress?"

"I am extraordinarily pleased with how you've cleaned the house and fixed my new suite. You have good tastes; I was especially impressed with the linens, the new duvet, and the towels. You did well, lee."

"Thank You, Mistress."

"But there is more to be done. You will remove everything from the walls in My bedroom save for the framed mirror across from the bed. I will be bringing My own artwork in for decoration, to make the space more mine." She paused to let the stress on that last word sink in. "I mark what I own, lee ... you will keep that in mind."

"Yes, Mistress." I don't know if my wavering voice gave away the deep blush that spread across my cheeks at Her word, Her threat ... or was it Her promise.

"Also, my room is too dark. I will give you leave in the coming week to find another suitable lamp or two, floor lamps, I think."

"Yes, Mistress."

"It is getting late, lee, and I have other things to do this evening. But there is one more matter. Rise and go quickly to your new room. Let me know when you are there."

Obeying, I rose to my feet, tried to shake the stiffness from my muscles and knees, and hastened down to what had been my guest room. "I'm there, Mistress."

"And kneeling?"

"Yes, Mistress" ... I had not forgotten Her (pardon the pun) standing orders.

"Good boy, lee. Now there is something under the bed for you ... pull it out."

Lifting up the bed skirt, I reached under, felt something padded and covered with fabric, which I pulled out, exposing a large, black canvas dog bed. Embroidered in red stitching around the edge were the words "Dr. Anna's boy lee."

There was silence on the other end of the phone as Mistress gave me a chance to take in Her gift. After a long moment, She continued, voice warm, confident, and assured, as though this were the most normal conversation in the world. "That is My name, Anna." She pronounced the word softly, with long, rounded A's, a vaguely exotic timbre to Her voice. "Let me make this crystal clear: you will never, ever address Me by My given name. If you do, even by accident, I will hurt you very badly. That is a name for my family to use, my friends, my co-workers, my patients. You, my dear, are none of those things ... you are my boy, my pet, my slave. In private, I am 'Mistress' to you, in public 'Ma'am.' But I did want you to know the name of the Woman who owns you, in case anyone should ask. Any questions, lee?"

"No, Mistress," I said, shaking my head as though She was actually in the room with me, which in hindsight it seemed She was.

"One more thing ... lee is the name you came to Me with. As I told you the night W/we met, I rather like it ... but I may decide to change it, perhaps informally or perhaps legally. As your Owner, that is My right, and I may decide to exercise it. If you stay with Me, you accept that as a possibility. Again, I will ask, do you understand and agree?"

"Yes, Mistress," I swallowed hard, my mouth dry. "I understand and agree."

I could feel the pleasure in Her response. "Excellent, lee, excellent. As you grow in this, and as W/we grow together, you will learn not just to trust but to embrace My judgments about such matters... Now, I need to run and you have some chores to do. Before bed, you are to clear the walls in My room and store those items safely away; I may have other uses for them later. You are also to strip the linens from the guest bed, launder them, and put them away. And lee, you'd best not give Me any reason to suspect that you sleep in that bed ever again ... your new bed is now on the floor. I will permit you one blanket of your choosing, but no sheets. And, in the mornings, you will store your new bed back under the guest bed where you found it, safe from any prying eyes." After a pause, she added, "by the way, if you don't already do so, you sleep naked from now on. Not a stitch on you when you turn in." Another pause, as though She were reviewing a mental list. "I think that's everything. Do you have any questions about anything W/we've discussed tonight, lee?"

As my mind raced, trying to ensure that I'd gotten everything, I whispered, "no, Mistress, I don't think so."

"All right ... good night, lee. Sleep well, keep Me in your thoughts, and have a wonderful day tomorrow. I will speak with you soon." And the line went dead.