Chapter 33 Colette
Darkness surrounded me as I opened my eyes. The room was void of any presence but my own. I’d gone to sleep in a bed in the condo and woken up in the basement again
Anger welled up. I was tired of being put in a box. But it was part of our agreement, and I’d deal with it.
Rossi arrived a few minutes later. It was all business with him, as usual.
He carried a plate full of fruit, toast and bacon.
“Make sure that you clear the plate of food,”
Rossi ordered.
I stared at him. I was drained, and still weak enough moving around was hard.
“Ian is in meetings because he came back early. He wants to make sure that you have a proper meal.”
He set the plate down, not quite concealing his concern.
Kindness felt strange coming from him but I would welcome it.
Breakfast eaten, I showered, feeling completely bratty and not wanting to do anything Ian had trained me for the past two months. I took the butt plug out and left it in the shower. The dungeon basement where he kept me had gotten very old.
Granted, it was one of the nicest basements I’d ever seen, and was three times the size of any apartment I have ever lived in, but it was still a place to hold me against my will.
I wasn’t going to be his toy any longer. If he couldn’t accept the things I had to offer, then he wasn’t going to get my cooperation. I thought we’d gotten past this when we talked, but apparently we hadn’t.
Ian was playing some kind of new game, and I was going win this one. I had an advantage. He wanted me as much as I wanted him.
Rossi looked at me suspiciously as I walked out dressed and ready for work. I’d done everything he’d asked without any type of complaint, which was in and of itself suspicious.
When we reached the office, I worked non-stop on the new requirements and specifications for the project we were trying to get finished. I felt bad that my not eating had caused a delay, and we were already on a tight company deadline.
I’d seen Ian throughout the day as he passed through going to meeting after meeting, but there wasn’t a chance for more than a passing glance.
Ian didn’t show up that evening with food again, but Rossi faithfully brought me another one of my favorites. He sat there eating his food at the same time, but didn’t make any attempt at conversation. I preferred it that way.
This was a new turn of events, and this time I ate everything he’d brought down. I wasn’t going to lose my will to fight this battle. I needed to regain my strength. That was all the mind games he placed in my head. Sure, I’d chosen this, but not at the cost of my health and mental wellbeing.
Day two began in much the same way as yesterday had with Rossi escorting me to work again. Only this time, Ian was sitting at his desk, acting as if nothing had happened between us.
It was time to show him how things were going to be in this new type of equation.
I was done being ignored and pushed to the side. I understood he was a busy man, but that didn’t mean he could run from his emotions or act like they’d never happened.
It was time to put a stop to his control over me.
I walked in and put my hands on his desk, waiting for him to notice me. I shook inside. Confrontation had never been a problem for me, but now, with him, it meant everything.
He finally looked up and cleared his throat.
“Is something wrong, Collette?”
His calm, cool, collected tone made me want to scream. I wanted him to break his damn control.
“Yes, everything is wrong.”
I shot a glance at Rossi, but he wasn’t going anywhere and the large oak doors on his office were closed, keeping anyone out in the lobby area from overhearing me.
“I gave myself to you. When I was sick, you rushed to my side. You were caring and attentive. Then we talked and I thought we’d come to an agreement. Now, I’m back in the basement and you’re brushing me aside.”
I took my arm and swept it across the desk in anger, knocking everything to the floor. I heaved at the emotions rolling around inside of me, bursting to come out.
“What kind of horrible person are you? Am I just a piece of property to you that you can make sure that I’m alive? Do you think you can take me out and look at me when it suits you? Am I just nothing?”
I yelled at him before dissolving into tears and fleeing into the bathroom.
I shocked myself with the tears. I knew the anger was clawing to be unleashed, but the tears. That was new. He was the only person who brought them out of me. I had never cried as much as I have over him.
Ian waited a few minutes before knocking on the door. “Collette, are you okay? If you want to come out, we can talk about a few of those things.”
I couldn’t believe that even with all that I’d just yelled at him, he still was putting limits on our relationship.
I scoffed and blew my nose.
We’d already talked and look where it got us. Could what we had even be called a relationship if I signed a contract that stated I was his girlfriend?
I opened the door and stuck my head out. I made him see my emotional turmoil.
“What did you want to talk about?”
I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Well, for starters, why did you throw that kind of tantrum?”
“You haven’t talked to me since you walked out on me. I thought it was time for you to pay attention and realize that I’m a person as well.”
“Collette, if I didn’t care about you, then I wouldn’t have flown across the world to get back here and make sure that you were okay.”
Ian sighed and loosened his tie.
“I left thousands of dollars in deals on the table to come back and take care of you.”
“Yeah, well, you’ve been pretty absent ever since.”
I mocked his attitude.
“Look, I get it. You like to talk all sexy and act all sexy, but when it comes to doing the sexy, you have a hangup. That’s all right by me, but I just want to know where I stand.”
I waved away his next words, “It’s okay, I’m not going to push it, but next time you get all ‘You chose this, crap,’ just remember, you’ve chosen to reject me and I’m not going to run into your arms again without some serious apologizing.”
He pushed his face into mine. His eyes glared into mine. His breath mingled with my own.
“I’m not sure what kind of response you were hoping to get from me, but this isn’t the one you wanted. We have work to do and can discuss your behavior later. That will certainly include getting a punishment this evening.”
His face turned a shade of red that I hadn’t known existed in the human body.
I held out my hands and pushed him away.
“Go ahead, Mr. Holdt, cuff me, spank me, do whatever you want. It’s not going to matter because I can outlast you. I’m not just a pretty doll. If you want to have a peaceful work environment, then that’s what you’ve got, boss. I’ll be the best worker you could ever ask for, but I won’t be the submissive thing you’ve had for the past two months. You’re going to be begging me to renegotiate the contract.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Collette. I’m going to make you mine, and you’ll regret that you ever had this little tantrum.”
His face could have won the World Poker tournament at that moment because I truly couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
“Do you think you can manage to do your job?”
Ian’s smirk made me want to try all the harder to wipe it off of his face.
I stood taller, and gave him my sweetest smile that would melt the heart of a good Christian.
“Yes, sir.”
If I gave him what he wanted, then maybe I’d have a chance to find out what I needed to know for the Federal Investigators to prosecute him.
“Very well. Clean up this mess and then return to the conference room where there are a few files I need to have uploaded and then configured for an afternoon meeting.”
Ian dismissed me with his voice and walked toward the large oak doors, daring me to do anything while they were open.
I stuck my tongue out, an old habit that was hard to break, before kneeling to pick up the pens and papers I’d thrown on the floor.
Rossi, my ever present jailer, wasn’t paying attention to my actions and when I crawled under the desk, I opened the middle drawer where Ian kept the key to the special files that he didn’t want anyone to know about.
I pocketed the key and finished replacing all the items on the desk.
I was going to find the answers that I wanted, or I was going to die trying.