Fresh Meat

The crisp breeze of the spring air whistled past Angie's bare legs. It had been three weeks since her confrontation with Victoria, and much had changed. The weather had warmed a little for one, and for another, Victoria had bought her some new clothes which she felt more comfortable being seen wearing. Her current dress was distinctly summary, a little optimistic for late April in central Ireland, but she also wore the jacket she used when taking riding lessons with Keats to protect her bare arms from the cold.

Mary was more sensibly dressed for the time of year, curls of her sproingy red hair escaping from the edge of her beany. Standing in the courtyard, Victoria’s car waiting, the two girls looked at each other fondly.

“Are you sure you’re going to be alright?” Mary’s concern was good-natured rather than critical, the big decisions had been made weeks ago.

“You mean with Victoria?” Angie smiled and shrugged. “I’ll admit, our relationship is a work in progress. We’re still getting a wider feel for each other, but my feelings haven’t changed. And this place won’t fall apart just because you’ve left.”

“How’s my replacement?” Mary asked tentatively.

“Swedish and open-minded,” Angie laughed. “Miriam is hopping mad that she isn’t her subordinate, but we mostly ignore that. I think Anika will be quite capable of feeding me and pulling toys from places where the sun doesn’t shine for the foreseeable future.”

Mary wrinkled her nose with distaste, “After all you managed to get Mrs McCarthy to agree to, you still let her do that?”

Angie nodded grudgingly. “Everything with Victoria is a negotiation. She likes showing her dominance and allowing her to can grant me other concessions, like real shopping trips and proper clothes.” She waved her hand across her new dress to illustrate.

“What about you? What are your plans?” Angie asked.

“Well, my parents are in the black again and I’ve loaded the last of my stuff.” She pointed over her shoulder to the black Bentley Victoria had herself driven around in when she wanted to show off. “Driver’s going to give me a lift back to Dublin. Mrs McCarthy apparently wants something picked up, so it’s not a wasted journey.”

“And in the longer term?” Angie asked quietly, intensely aware that she was losing another close friend.

“I’m going back to Uni.” Mary shrugged bashfully. “I’ve got my SUSI grant organised to start in September, and Mrs McCarthy dropped a healthy donation towards my tuition fees on me.”

Angie couldn’t help but show surprise. She hadn’t known that. Since writing off the debt of Mary’s father and releasing her, things had been strange between the two women. Certainly, Mary had headed home at her earliest opportunity and had only come back to pack up her belongings.

“You didn’t know that?” Mary was surprised, too.

“No, but I keep taking toys in awkward places because it leads to Victoria doing unexpectedly generous things like that.”

Mary pulled the girl into a tight hug. “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done.” She pulled back and held the girl at arm's length. “Is there anything I can do in return?”

Angie felt pensive. She struggled with relationships and knew if she did nothing, this would be another which fell by the wayside. “I’m really going to miss you, and as you might have noticed, I don’t really have any friends out here anywhere near my own age.”

“How old are you, by the way? You never told me.”

“Officially, I’m seventeen.” Angie gave a rueful smile.

“Officially?”

“Victoria has one of her crooked lawyers making up a new identity for me, birth certificate, passport, everything. On those, I just turned seventeen, and that’s all that matters in the eyes of the law.”

“Wow,” Mary blinked. “Why all the paperwork?”

“Victoria wants to write me into her will as her heir.” Seeing the question on Mary’s face, Angie continued. “Given how suddenly her husband died, she knows that there's no way to prevent the unexpected, but she can make plans. She always has plans.” Angie didn't like the idea of Victoria passing all her wealth on to her; it was a lovely thought, but she really wanted the woman herself, not her riches.

Mary nodded, somewhat taken aback. Angie shook her head and resumed her train of thought.

“Anyway, what I used to like doing was finding a cafe with a good view and people-watching with a friend and a hot drink. I don’t really do parties or crowds; watching from the sidelines was always plenty for me. Would you like to join me, this is, if you can tear yourself away from your studies and student parties?”

“Girl, I’d love that. There’s a great place in Dublin that’s perfect, but are you sure Mrs McCarthy will let you out?”

Angie bobbed her head uncertainly. “Eventually, I think. I work very hard so that she can feel secure in me. I trust her with my life, but she’s scared of losing me like she lost her husband, so I negotiate, and I make concessions here and there.”

“Have you at least had that tracking device removed?” Mary asked in a low voice.

“No, and I don’t want to.” Angie declared brightly, much to Mary’s confusion. “Life is significantly better all around if Victoria knows exactly where I am whenever she needs to. She feels more secure, and I know she can find me if I get into trouble.”

“That’s quite a leap of faith.” Mary was a little startled.

“Well, I am in love,” Angie pointed out, smiling brightly. “It’s another concession, but I don’t feel bad about it. In fact, it makes me feel safer.”

Mary frowned at the mention of safety. “Is Janik still around?”

“God, no. Victoria had him tie up some loose ends and then pack his bags weeks ago. I don't know how much she gave him to leave, but he didn't fight it. His replacement is short, female, Polish and very capable. She doesn’t speak unless she has something useful to say, which means I like her. Also, I get to practice my Polish with her, which is great.” Angie beamed. She had taken to Victoria’s new ‘henchwoman’ as she thought of her, and it felt good to be able to roam the estate without feeling Janik’s unseen threat.

Mary certainly looked pleased at the news of Janik’s departure. “I’ll give you my e-mail address, and we can arrange a meet-up.”

Angie looked embarrassed. “I’ll take that address, but I don’t have one of my own yet.” Seeing the question forming on Mary’s face, she elaborated. “I can’t use my old one, and internet access is a thorny issue with Victoria.”

“She doesn’t let you online?”

“Not yet. I think I’m just going to let her have unrestricted access to read my e-mail and see what I surf on the internet. I don’t have anything to hide from her, and that way, she’ll be able to feel secure about what I get up to. Just bear that in mind if you message me and don't send me anything which you think might unsettle her.”

“Damn, girl,” Mary whistled wistfully.

Angie nodded, understanding her trepidation. She liked her privacy, but extending her personal bubble to include Victoria didn’t feel like such a stretch, given how close they were now. She was careful not to make too many demands on Victoria’s privacy in return, trusting her to do what was in Angie's best interests. Of course, that led to a lot less choice on her part, but Victoria made good choices in her place, and for the moment, she was comfortable with that.

As Cooks's husband Bob, usually referred to simply as ‘Driver’, came out to begin the long journey to Dublin, Mary pulled Angie back into a crushing hug. “I’m really going to miss you, girl. Take care of yourself, and come and see me soon.”

“I will,” Angie smiled, her eyes misting.

The sound of creaking leather echoed around the wooden panelled walls of the playroom as Angie tested what little freedom she had in the bondage chair. She hadn’t been in it since her kidnap, and now she realised what a seriously well-built piece of furniture it was.

Angie had asked Victoria to tie her up tight in order to shift the balance of power in the older woman’s favour. Victoria was naturally suspicious, so Angie was honest when explaining that she wanted to ask something difficult and give her the opportunity to walk away should she not want to continue the discussion.

Victoria had simply raised an eyebrow and subsequently trussed her up as she was now. The straps were extremely secure, but at least she was clothed. Victoria had bought her an all-in-one Lycra suit to wear for their more bondage-orientated sessions. Not that it didn’t have zips in key locations, but not being completely naked prevented unhelpful distractions, which was useful at times like these.

“I really, really miss my mum, my grandma and my brother. If I’m honest, my sisters and my stepdad, too,” Angie began from her restrained position.

Victoria squinted down suspiciously at her from her commanding position, decked out in imposing leather, especially for the occasion.

“I don’t want to see them.” Angie stopped and tried to look up at her captor. “Actually, that’s a total lie. I'd really, really love to see them, but I won’t.”

“What are you after, macushla?” Victoria asked, eyeballing her intently.

“Whenever I think about my family, it hurts," Angie admitted. "I think about the pain I’ve caused them because they don’t know what happened to me. They probably think some dirty old man carried me off, and my body is buried out in the woods somewhere.” It had been nearly three months since she had gone missing, and all that time, they had been suffering.

Victoria made no comment and waited for the girl to continue.

Angie fidgeted a little, causing more leather creaks to echo around the room. Finally, she took a deep breath and forged ahead. “I want to send them a postcard. You can post it for me from one of your overseas trips to make it untraceable. Something short: Just that I didn’t choose to leave them, but I am where I am now, and I’m happy, safe and secure. I want to tell them that I miss them and I love them, but I can’t come home.”

Angie had accepted that she had made her decision to stay with Victoria and leave her family, but that didn’t mean she could leave them to suffer while she enjoyed life. She stared intently at the older woman, not in the hope that she would agree, merely that she wouldn’t turn tail and leave. The silence stretched out as Victoria considered her request. Angie didn’t want to upset her with inane prattle; she had staked her case, and now she needed to let her lover and protector make a decision.

“I think that would be an extraordinarily bad idea.” Victoria declared eventually.

Angie’s heart sank. She knew arguing with Victoria was fruitless, but she still wanted to know if there were any other options they could explore. “OK?” was all Angie could manage before the familiar shape of a ball slipped between her teeth and was quickly secured via a leather strap. She made a questioning noise which she knew Victoria would recognise.

“Your family know you’re dead, and so do the authorities. Mr Janik and I went to very great lengths to convince them using hair and blood samples we took from you.”

Angie’s eyes opened wide with shock. She had assumed it had appeared to everyone that she had just been grabbed off the street, but knowing Victoria, she wasn’t surprised that the scheme had been much more complex.

“Your family have already dealt with the pain of your death, which they believe was the result of a tragic accident. Telling them you're alive would re-open the wound and cause a fair few complications with the authorities, were they to find out.” Victoria seemed to be debating with herself whether to say more, but eventually, she continued.

“Also, the postcard might not reach them. They’re due to move house.” Angie made another questioning noise around the gag. She had gotten very used to communicating in that way since meeting Victoria.

“I took the liberty of poking the local education authority to get your brother more attention so that he could hopefully be included in mainstream school, with appropriate support, of course,” Victoria admitted reluctantly. Angie made a startled noise. That must have taken time, she realised.

The older woman paused, looking pensive. “And I saw to it that your mother was offered the position of shift leader at the supermarket she works at.” Angie made another noise of surprise.

“And I used a bit of influence to see that your step-father was offered a job at a bespoke wooden furniture maker in Perry Bar.” Victoria seemed embarrassed by the revelations. "So you see, they have more money coming in, so they can afford to move somewhere a bit less cramped."

Tears streamed down Angie's face; she couldn't help herself. Finally, her family, who had struggled so hard, were on an upward trend, and it was down to Victoria. But why? She couldn't fathom the older woman's motives.

Victoria reached forward and gently brushed her tears away. "Don't cry, my dear. Why all these tears?" Expecting a real answer, she removed the gag, allowing the girl to speak once more.

"I don't know how to thank you." Angie stuttered between sniffs.

"Oh, I think you've done plenty already," The older woman continued to stroke her face tenderly.

"But why would you do all those things?"

"Mostly to get them to move on quickly after your death," Victoria shrugged. "Their well-being wouldn't cost me much, and it seemed a reasonable return on my investment."

"But what did you expect to get out of it?"

"Why, you, of course, acushla." Victoria pointed out as if the answer were obvious.

Angie laughed. And cried. And laughed some more, relief filling her heart. After all the uncertainty, all the pain she had felt for her family, they were fine. Perhaps saddened at her sudden demise, but like her mother upon her biological father's death, they would move on and they would prosper.

Finally managing to pull herself together, Angie looked up at her lover as best as her bonds would allow. "Can I have your babies?" She joked.

"Not until you're eighteen." Victoria replied pointedly.

Angie's eyes opened wide, not sure if Victoria was being serious or not.