was. She kept a straight face
- part of her job - and she watched as John grabbed his briefcase and opened
it. In the first slot of his briefcase was where he kept it... always handy...
always ready to show Carrie what she had signed.
John placed the contract on the
bed. He patted it.
“It’s been almost a year, Carrie,”
John said.
“I know. I remember.”
Carrie remembered the night she was
in John’s killer expensive apartment. She had just lost her job and was desperate
for anything that ‘normal’ and would keep John happy. He had proposed the
contract to her, explaining the details of his sexual needs. When he wanted
her. How he wanted her. Outside the bedroom, Carrie aided John in getting the
necessary deals for his company. By any means necessary.
That’s what Carrie did for a
living, a complete secret to everyone, even Jessica. As far as Jessica knew,
Carrie took some college classes, wrote a book or two, and lived off a generous
inheritance from a great aunt that was long dead but in reality never existed.
John licked his fingers and began
to flip through the contract. He stopped at a page and read it, nodding.
“What’s wrong?” Carrie asked.
“Well, right here, it clearly
states that you must come when I come,” John said. “It’s the contract. The
punishment...”
Carrie swallowed.
The
punishment.
Sometimes it was handcuffs.
Sometimes it was rope. Sometimes it was chains. Sometimes John would disappear
for a day or two and send Carrie pictures of him with other women. Women,
according to him, who would abide by the same contract but without the same
benefits. Those benefits for Carrie included being paid for her work within the
contract (when it pertained to John’s company), being allowed time away from
John without question, and even a set amount of times when Carrie could command
their sexual encounters.
“And of course,” John said, “if I’m
correct...” John flipped more pages in the contract. “Ah, here it is. You still
have a few times to use, if you need me to help you over there...”
John smiled.
Carrie thought about it. There was
no way her body was going to calm down. She would need John tonight. Really
bad. But she would need it in silence. Poor Jessica had been in her room for
almost twenty-four hours. Ever since Carrie came home with John last night,
Jessica had been in her room, thinking, not acting like herself at all. Of
course, Carrie and John weren’t at the movies... they were researching for
another project. One of the biggest projects John needed Carrie for, if not the
biggest. What everything in the contract had really been leading up to.
“The developer for the condos,”
John said, bringing the conversation back to topic, “is a real asshole.
Something about the land makes him feel like he owns the world. We rejected him
for financing, thinking it would break him a little... this guy has a
brother-in-law who’s a banker. That was my error, a research error I guess. But
this needs to be fixed. Tomorrow night, Carrie, I want this fixed.”
Carrie thought about what to do.
The way her mind could turn wicked so fast surprised her, but it made her feel
alive. It gave her a purpose. She hoped to someday share her secrets with
Jessica. It would make a hell of a story, one that Carrie would love to share,
but she’d have to remain quiet about it. That, of course, would have to come
once the contract expired. There was set of rules throughout the contract,
explaining that Carrie was not allowed to speak to anyone about the contract or
her job. The confidentiality was the most important part of the contract, and
perhaps it came with the greatest punishment - John’s choice.
“There’s nothing to worry about,”
Carrie said. “I have an idea.”
“That’s why you’re the best for
this stuff,” John said.
He grabbed the contract and threw
it into his briefcase. He slammed it shut.
“Listen,” he said, “I’m going to
leave early. Since