A Better Wife (Epilogue)

Eleanor opened her eyes as the strange door in front of opened up. She was lying in some sort of machine and now the door to the machine had opened. Gingering stepping of the machine, she looked around and saw that Brian was in another machine just like her. And just like her, he was just waking up.

She was about to step towards him when her eyes locked onto the table between them. A red burqa was on the table and Eleanor couldn’t help but touched it with her hand. She was holding it up to her face when a similar voice called out to her.

 

“Ellie,” Eleanor looked up and saw that Brian had stepped out of the machine. He was smiling at her. “That was some trip eh?”

 

Brian was happy and Eleanor had to agree with him. It was some trip. “Yes, it was great.”

 

Brian nodded in acknowledgement and said the words that would forever changed their lives. “This virtual reality program is superb. Man, too bad it had to end. I wouldn’t mind living like that forever.”     

 

A wave of strange feelings came over Eleanor. Her mind and feelings were in flux and she felt that she would fall over. Then she sensed the touch of the burqa on her face and she realized what she had to do.

 

“Who said it had to end?” she asked. She smiled at the confused look on her husband’s face and placed the red burqa on top of her head. Brian’s face changed and a great smile appeared on his face. Seeing that smile, Eleanor knew she was doing the right thing as she let the burqa flowed over her. Instinctively, she knew what the next step was.

 

Stepping forward toward Brian, she knelt and then bowed. Eleanor then turned her head, rubbing her head against the feet of her husband. A sense of contentment and pride filled her! Eleanor marveled at her submission and how good it felt. She felt like she was floating in the clouds. She did not know how long that lasted, it may have just lasted for a few seconds but for her it felt like hours.

 

“Enough”

 

At Brian’s voice, Eleanor stood up. She looked at her husband and even through the burqa, their eyes met. They knew nothing would ever be the same again.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

The two monitors on the wall could have been showing the same scene from a movie. Both monitors were showing a woman in a burqa kneeling and bowing at the feet of a man. One of the monitor was showing Brian and Eleanor, while the other was showing Brandon and Sandra.

And the two couples had all the men in the room transfixed. Mayor Richard Evans, the man who put all this together, had a rueful smile on his face. He couldn’t help but shake his head. In truth, he never thought the experiment would have gone as well as it did.

Of the remaining men in the room, John Mitchell was the first to recover. He looked away from the monitors to his fellow conspirators and obviously liked what he saw. Looking around, Evans could understand why. Hal Green and Anwar Brown, the two scientists in the group, both had a triumphant smile on their faces while Rahim bin Ismail had a look of awe on his.

Evans understood what they were all feeling. It was a feeling of seeing the impossible and trying to figure out how it was going to benefit himself. They do not see the big picture likes Evans did; everything was about to change for all of them!

“Gentlemen,” John waited for everyone to look at him before continuing, “As you can see, this operation has been a total success.”

Rahim was the first to reply. “Will your programming hold?”

All eyes turned to Hal. “We believe so.” Hal said. “Our virtual reality machines at Immersion can…transform the views of our subjects. Usually it takes a few sessions before we can alter the minds of the subjects but with the…mind-control gas provided to us from The Creed, the programming now takes only hours to complete.”  

“But will it hold?” Rahim asked again.

“Only time will tell,” to his credit Hal answered without hesitation. “But yes, we believe it will. The minds of the four test subjects are now forever altered.”

Richard Evans gave a small cough to get everyone’s attention. The last thing he wanted was for the group to dissolve into an argument. He understood he needs to grab the bull by the horns if he was to get what he wanted.

“Everyone, about 20 years ago I set up the Male Alpha Party in this small town of Water Springs. The idea I had was to return the town to an older way of thinking, when women were first and foremost wives and mothers, and to return men to their natural position as undisputed leaders of the human race. Mostly, we have succeeded. However, in a small town like ours, there will always be a tiny group of men and women who do not believe in our doctrine. I invited all of you here to fix this problem and it seems with the help of two of the groups, The Immersion Project and The Creed, we have found a way to do so. Prof Hal Green, Dr. Anwar Brown; let me to be the first to applaud both of you for a job well-done”

The men in the room clapped their hands as the two scientists made their bows to the room. Evans’ speech wasn’t exactly true. The M.A.P original ideas were far more radical than making women wives and mothers but he knew he had to be careful with the group. He even had a speech prepared in case the experiment failed but frankly he had hoped to use this one. A mind-control machine that takes just hours to forever altered the minds of its subjects was without doubt an amazing achievement. On the applause died down, the group discovered that Evans wasn’t done.

“However this project wasn’t the only reason why I invited each of you here. The thing is we, the M.A.P, we are but a small party in a small town. Like I said earlier, the M.A.P wanted to return men to their natural position as leaders, and to return women to being wives and mothers. Each of you in this room is a member of a group or organization that believes, to some extent, the same thing.” Evans waited to see if anyone would disagree. Luckily, no one did. He continued, “However we are all facing problems with society at large. A simple example would be Sun Horizon. Mr. Rahim, you are part of the Sun Horizon Group. Your company is multinational with interest throughout the world but is based in the Middle East. Your desire to import the company culture of Sun Horizon to America has been met with protest and lawsuits.” Evans waited for Rahim to give a reluctant nod before going for the finish. “I wish to invite Sun Horizon and each of your group to setup a base here in Water Spring.”

The looks in the room ranged from shock to curiosity to simple calculation of what this offer means. John was the first to ask the question everyone was wondering. “Mayor Evans, what are you offering exactly?”

“Simply put, our mission of total male superiority is something that is beyond the scope of the M.A.P. We can’t do it. We are a small party in a small town. The M.A.P wish to expand, the town needs to grow, and that’s the main reason why I invited all of you to my town. The only hope we, any of us, have to accomplish our goals is to help each other. Alone, with the political climate as it is now in North America, none of us has any chance.”

“But what is it you are offering?” John asked again. A lawyer by trade, he was nothing if not meticulous.

“You setup shop in Water Spring, you invest in the town, you help the town grow; and in return I promise that you will be free of any lawsuits from our town. You do not have to worry about how legal your research is or being exposed in the papers. In short, you setup in Water Springs and as long as you do not harm the residents of the town, you are free to do as you pleased.”  

Smiles and laughter ringed around the room. It was a deal too good to say no to.

A Better Wife (Part 5)

The sun was shining when they left the cottage but the air was still cold. Walking 3 steps behind Brian, Eleanor found another great advantage of the burqa. It was warm!

 

Beneath her burqa, she was a long sleeve red dress given to her by the resort. It reaches to the ground and was more conservative than what she usually wears but now she was glad for it. Although the cold air was clearly affecting her husband, Eleanor was warm and comfortable under her burqa.

 

Their cottage was one of the furthest situated from the mansion and the duo enjoyed their slow walk to the mansion where they were supposed to have their breakfast. Eleanor looked around at the other cottages and wondered which one was Brandon and Sandra assigned to. Each couple was assigned a private cottage for their stay and it was something Eleanor appreciated.

 

As they entered the mansion, Eleanor couldn’t help but marveled at the inside of it. She didn’t really have time to walk around yet but from what she could see, it was designed like some sort of old school English mansion and was extremely well-made.

 

Brian knew exactly where they were supposed to go and they soon reached an imposing oak door. Without hesitation he opened the door and the sound of slaps could be heard from the room. Taking a quick look at each other, Brian and Eleanor tentatively took their first steps into the room. They immediately saw where the sounds were coming from.

 

The men were each sitting in a chair at the centre of the room and among them was Brandon. He was sitting in his chair and a woman in a sky-blue burqa was across his lap.

He had flipped the woman’s skirt and burqa over her legs and pulled her panties down to her knees. The sound ringing through the room came from Brandon slapping the woman’s buttock. Brandon’s hand rise and fall in quick succession and the couple could do nothing but stared in amazement.

 

Eleanor immediately knew it was Sandra on Brandon’s lap and was amazed not only by the woman’s position but also by the fact she was stoically taking the hits without a sound. The exposed round ass on show was as red as a fresh apple and from the look of the redness, Eleanor could see they had been at this for awhile already.

 

The rest of the men were all looking on with grins with on their faces and with a quick glance, Eleanor noticed that her husband had one too. Eleanor wasn’t surprised. Sandra’s creamy white/red buttocks were a sight to behold and she wondered herself how it would feel if Brian one day dragged her over his knee and…disciplined her. She was amazed by the thought and by the fact how good the thought felt. 

 

As she watched Brandon rained another blow on Sandra, Eleanor discovered that she was getting wet at the sight of Sandra’s spanking. Eleanor felt a strong desire to get Brian back to the cottage for another round of sex but instead she just stood transfixed at the scene. After too long, Brandon finally stopped and flipped Sandra’s burqa and dress down her legs. Sandra stood up and immediately fell to her knees. The men laughed.

 

A few of the men clapped and one even congratulated Brandon on “showing his wife her place”. A dismissive wave of his hand had Sandra standing up and rushing to pull up her panties. She then rushed to the far side of the room. Only then did Eleanor noticed the rest of the women kneeling there facing the wall. Sandra joined the line and took her position at the end of it.

 

“Go,” Eleanor looked at Brian and her husband whispered again. “Go join the women.”

 

With that, Brian walked towards the men at the centre. Following Sandra’s example, Eleanor quickly shuffled to the far end of the room. A quick count let her know that all the other women were there and she was the last to arrive. She quickly took a position beside Sandra. Following their examples, Eleanor knelt and placed her hands on the floor in front of her. Her upper body then leaned forward till her face was directly in front of the wall. It was not enough.

 

“Women, I want your faces in that wall. Smash your faces against it!”

 

One of the men shouted the order and Eleanor instinctively knew it was for her benefit. She lean forward some more till her face was now touching against the wall.

“Remember, your faces crushing against the wall!” Another man shouted. “Be one with the wall!”

The men laughed at the joke and a wave of humiliation came over Eleanor. She on her hands and knees in a roomful of men, and she now had her face against a wall. But even that was not enough. Eleanor leaned further forward and forced her face further to the wall.

She was left in that position for over half an hour.

Eleanor felt terrible, as if she wasn’t even a human, just a piece of furniture left in a corner. Her humiliation was further increased when she heard the men standing up. Continuing their conversation, the men left the room without a word to their women. Eleanor maintained her position along with the other women but as the minutes ticked away, she realized that the men were not coming back. Humiliation turned to anger. The men had gone for breakfast, leaving the women behind unattended. Eleanor felt like leaving her position just to spit the men.

Hours later however, she was still in her position. Eleanor’s stomach grumbled with hunger but she kept her self-control and her position, not truly knowing why. It just felt wrong to leave her position without a specific order from a man. This was true even though she was in some pain. Her knees had been in pain for some time already and Eleanor had to shift her weight between her knees just to maintain her position. To keep her mind off the pain, she played in her mind the various reasons why she was willingly staying in her humiliating position.

She couldn’t come up with anything that sounded reasonable and Eleanor couldn’t shake the feeling that she was doing something wrong just by staying here. The feeling that she was meant for more than this, that she was more than just some wife kneeling on the floor. However at the same time, she also couldn’t shake the feeling that she would be doing something terribly wrong if she moved without permission.

Her confused mind was only given a rest when she heard the sound of a door opening. Eleanor was dying to take a look at the door and see who came in but without orders she didn’t dared to. She heard the door closing and footsteps coming towards them. Long minutes lasted without a sound being made. Then a voice boomed.

“All girls will stand”

 

Eleanor tried to stand as ordered but her knees would not cooperate with her. The numbness in her legs threatened her balance and she had to put her hands on the wall to prevent herself from falling. Pain wrecked her body as Eleanor heard a swooshing sound. Eleanor cried out in pain as she then heard the sound again, only this time down the line.

 

“No hands on the wall! Stand up straight!”

 

The male voice boomed again. Eleanor quickly took her hands off the wall and put them by her side. She thought that it was unfair of them to punish the women for not obeying an order that was never given but she wisely kept her mouth shut. She heard the swooshing sound a few more times and some cries from some of the women down the line but soon all the women were standing in a straight line with their hands by their side.

 

“All girls will turn to the right”

 

Eleanor turned sharply to her right. Last in line, she could see all the women in front of her and the 3 men looking over the women. Eleanor saw that all 3 men were wearing comfortable T-shirts with jeans and that they all had bushy beards on them. Two of the men were carrying a cane while the last had a video camera in his hand.

 

The video camera startled everyone and Eleanor could see that a few of the women dropping their heads. Eleanor did so as well. It’s one thing to be a faceless obedient wife at a private company retreat; it’s another to have video evidence recording it all.

 

“All girls will placed their hands on the shoulders of the girl in front of her”

 

The man with the camera was the one giving the orders and with the canes in full view, Eleanor quickly placed her hands on Sandra’s shoulders. One of the men with the canes spoke to the first woman in the line and when she raised her hands, the man tied the hands up with a rope. The other man with the canes then went down the line, placing a black hood over the heads of all the women. When the hood came down, Eleanor lost what limited vision she had. Total blackness enveloped her. Then she felt the line moving.

 

Eleanor was in a panic. She was blind with no idea what was going on but with Sandra moving in front of her, she had no choice but to follow. The moment she did, she understood it was the right thing to do. The man had ordered the girls to place their hands on the shoulders of the girl in front of her and there were no orders given to let go. So Eleanor had to move along or risk losing the shoulder of Sandra. Evidently, it was the right thing to do. The sense of pride that came to Eleanor for doing the right thing was quickly snuffed out by a comment from one of the men.

 

“Move closer to each other girls, you’re all on camera here”

 

Shame filled her as the men laughed. Eleanor again felt like a fool obeying these nonsensical orders and in her mind she wondered what she was doing it for. The answer came unexpectedly.

 

“Quiet you two! These women are obeying for their husbands! There’s no greater glory than that for a woman.”

 

The admonishment came from the man who had been giving the orders so far, the man with the camera, and immediately the pride Eleanor felt earlier returned. Yes, she would look like a fool once she sees the video. Yes, she was walking in a line like a small like child but she would be doing it with pride.

She was doing this for her husband; for his career; for his and theirs future.

 

Eleanor’s mind relaxed. She felt that the men can do whatever they wanted to her for the rest of the day and it would not matter. For her husband, she would deal with any humiliation the men can dished out.

Eleanor knew the man was right; for a wife, for a woman, there’s no greater duty than doing things for your husband!

 

PROGRAM COMPLETED…PLEASE WAIT! END PROGRAM, WITHDRAWING CREED GAS FROM POD…PLEASE WAIT! OPENING DOOR… 

A Better Wife (Part 4)

“Incredible! Just incredible! All this in just 3 hours?”

“3 and a half to be exact but I know what you are saying. The gas we got from that Creed group is increasing compliance from the subjects by quite a margin.”

“Even after you had to distill it?”

“We’re not going to get into that again are we John? I told you I had to do it! The gas invented by The Creed increased dominance in male subjects and increased the submissive natures of the female subjects. I dilute it by about 50% and these are the results. Imagine what will happen if I didn’t?”

“So you’re saying this gas is only half as potent as what they used in the Creed?”

“That’s correct John. Frankly, I have a hard time imagining how the women in that group even manage to function.”

“Though constant orders Hal. Constant orders.”

“What?”

“From what I gather, the Creed is a male supremacy group founded by a chemist. He’s the one who discovered the gas and all their women are located in an underground bunker of some sort. Gas is pumped in and a series of orders are constantly issued to them via a loudspeaker.”

“You sounded almost happy John?”

“In a way…yes! You should be too Hal. This is wonderful news! Without the gas, it would take our VR machines days to get this result. If we increased the potency of the gas…”

“Our clients are very specific John. Sun Horizon wants their employees functioning. In fact, I’m afraid this might be too much for them.”

“Oh don’t worry about that. Don’t give me that look Hal, this is an experiment and everyone knows it. I can’t say that for sure but I have confidence Sun Horizon wouldn’t have put up these 4 names to us if they were worried about losing them forever to our machines.”

“Well, you can safely tell Sun Horizon the minds of their two employees and their wives are intact thanks to me. I took all the risk management I could. That’s why I cut the potency of the gas by half.”  

“Okay then…when will the subjects be ready?”

“At this rate, I say in another 3-4 hours. You want to call the client now?”

“Clients, Hal. We have 2 of them and I think I will. Let’s get them up here and see the results for themselves.”

 

Eleanor woke up to the sound of running water. Opening her eyes, she raised her hand to her eyes and touched something that wasn’t her face. She smiled beneath her burqa.

Eleanor once read in a fashion magazine that good fashion is a dress that hugs you, that makes you strong and feel protected. If that was true then she was in no doubt the burqa was the best piece of fashion ever created. She felt so warm and protected that the burqa was almost a security blanket for her. When she fell asleep last night, the thought of sleeping in the burqa just came naturally to her.

The sound of running water stopped and Eleanor raised her head looking at the shower room. She had been waiting for Brian last night to return but fell asleep before he returned. She was half-wondering what the men were doing all night when her husband stepped came out of the shower room.

All thoughts left her mind. It was nearly inexplicable. Eleanor had seen her husband walked out of the shower in his bathrobe hundreds of times before but this was different. She felt a strange feeling coming over her and a need to look away from him. Brian saw her looking at him in the burqa and gave a big smile to her. He was enjoying the sight.

“Hi sleepyhead. Finally awake I see.”

Brian’s joking manner sealed the deal for Eleanor. She slowly pulled her burqa up and lifted up her legs, spreading them wide for her husband. Brian’s eyes popped up and mouth hung open. “Sorry sir,” Eleanor said. “But I fell asleep while waiting for you.”    

 

Brian slowly walked towards the bed before stopping beside it. Eleanor pulled her burqa higher, to her waist. She was letting her husband see that she wasn’t wearing anything beneath the burqa. Needless to say, he was smiling widely at the prospect.

 

“Who are you and what have you done to my wife?” he asked as he came onto the bed.

Brian tried to lift the red burqa fully over her but Eleanor stopped him.

“Your wife is trying to get into the “Sun Horizon spirit”.” Eleanor teased as she untied the knot of Brian’s bathrobe. “She was wondering if her husband was willing to teach her some of the “Sun Horizon” ways.”

 

“Oh yes he would.”

 

With that, Brian entered her wife. Usually their love-making was slow and sensorial but today it was anything but. Brian was much more physical than usual, thrusting in and out of his wife with a passion that had been missing from their marriage for far too long. As Brian moved up and down her body, the mesh of the burqa moved as well and Eleanor found that her sight was impeded. This meant she had to depend more on her senses and her body reacted accordingly. She was more sensitive to her needs as well as that of her husband’s, moving her hips in tune with Brian’s thrusts. At the climax, both of them came together and more than a bodily experience, it was also spiritual as Eleanor felt their spirits joined together.

 

It was without question the best they ever had.

A spent Brian got off Eleanor and laid to rest beside her. A few minutes later, after getting his breath back, he said the biggest understatement of the year.

“That was good.”

Eleanor giggled and snuggled up to her husband in her burqa. Strangely, being in the burqa made the snuggle more arousing than ever before. “Yeah and just imagine we could have that for the whole night yesterday.”

Brian couldn’t help but laugh along. “Sorry about that then. If I had known, I would have walked faster!”

“You guys went for a walk?”

“A hike more like it” Brian thought for a moment before answering. “We had the meeting, then a hike in the woods. Have to be at least 10 miles, then a campfire where we slept for the night. Had to hike back here just before dawn too!”

Eleanor was surprised at the men’s program. It was very different from the women. “That sounds kind of tough.”

“It was,” Brian agreed. “Nice enough I guess, but tough at the same time. What did you girls do?”

Eleanor wondered if she should tell him about the time facing the wall but thought better of it. It seems kind of stupid to complain about that when you compared it to a 10 mile hike in the woods. “Nothing much; we had a nice dinner and then were send back here to our rooms.”

Brian looked at his wife for a second before chuckling. “And there I was worrying about you too!” Eleanor snuggled closer to her husband. The fact that he was worried for her made her felt special. “So what you do for the night?” he asked again.

“I read a book.” Eleanor laughingly handed over the book sitting on the desk beside the bed.

Brian looked at the title and laughed. The book was titled “How Females Should Act” and the title was pretty much what the book was about. Brain opened the book immediately and read the first page where the chapters were indexed.

“Submissive, Pleasing, Obedience, Respectful, Ornamental, Elegant, Nurturing, Passionate, Grateful, Subservient, Compliant, Attentive, Appreciative and Thankful. These are the chapters of the book?”

Eleanor laughed along with her husband, though for a different reason. “Yup, it’s supposed to teach women how to treat their husbands. It’s exactly quite informative.”

Brian looked at his wife in surprise. “You read it? The whole book in one night?”

“While you were sitting by a campfire, I was in this comfy bed reading a bed.” Eleanor laughed. “What can I say? I know how to enjoy myself!”

“Enjoying yourself? That’s not in this book! Aren’t you supposed to be helpful and attentive to me instead?” Brian pointed at the book he was still holding.

“Oh how do you want me to serve master?”

Brian answered the mocking voice of Eleanor with a straight answer, “Well wife, you can start by massaging my legs. I may have cramps after the hike”

 

Instead of a comeback, Eleanor surprised herself and her husband by getting up on her knees and started massaging the legs as ordered. Looking back at her husband, she could see he was clearly shocked by her actions. Still, he managed to croak out a reply.

 

“Now that’s unexpected.”

“A woman should respect the man she belongs to, should comply with his wishes when he desires anything from her. She should be appreciative and take pleasure of the fact that she could be of help to the man that owns her.” Eleanor recited. “It’s a passage in the book.”

“Man, I need to read this book. A man can get use to this.”

 

Eleanor smiled beneath her burqa. A woman could too.

  

A Better Wife (Part 3)

“Eleanor…you can’t be serious?”

Sandra was shouting again and the woman was beginning to get on her nerves. Eleanor turned towards Sandra and patiently said, “Look Sandra, we just met so I don’t know you but if this is too much for you, the door is right over there.”

 

Eleanor pointed at the door of the mansion for emphasis and it was enough for Brandon. Brandon offered his hand to Brian which Brian accepted.

 

“Good luck man. See you back at the office.” 

“Wait a minute,” Sandra looked at her husband in surprise. “What are you doing?”

Brandon gave his wife a weak smile and said, “Let’s go dear.”

“Wait!” Sandra said immediately and Eleanor was sure now the other woman also had the same feeling as her. She was just too proud to accept them…or at least that’s what Eleanor thought.

 

Sandra shook her head in surprise. “I can’t believe this. Give it to me!”

“What?” Brandon’s eyes widen in shock.

“The burqa!” Sandra said. “Come on, before I changed my mind.”

 

With some surprise, the 2 men handed over the burqas to their wives. Eleanor had seen enough news to know how the burqa was supposed to be wore and found to her surprise that it was the easiest thing to wear. Once she got the skullcap in place on her head, she just had to let the burqa roll down loose over her body.

 

Even more surprisingly was how comfortable she felt in it. All the horror stories she read and seen on the news didn’t tell her of the immediate sense of security she felt behind her burqa. Amazingly, Eleanor felt a feeling of love for the burqa and didn’t think she would ever want to take it off. It was a thing that protected her from the outside world and it was hers. Looking at Brian’s face, she could see that it was just as exciting for her husband.

 

With the mesh of the burqa impairing her sight, Eleanor found that she had to turn her whole body towards Sandra to get a good look at the other women. She was just standing quietly in her sky-blue burqa. Instinctively, Eleanor knew the other woman loved it as well.

 

Her feelings didn’t changed even when she was told that by Brian that the men had a meeting and the wives were to wait at a lounge room on the ground floor. Eleanor just submissively nodded her head and saw that Sandra was doing the same.

 

As the men went up to the first floor for their meeting, Eleanor, Sandra and Safiyah were directed by the receptionist to the lounge room. As the men left, Eleanor heard Rahim congratulating the other 2 men on passing their first test at the retreat. Eleanor felt her knees going weak at the praise. She had done something that helped her husband. She felt immerse pride in it, though also a little guilty. This was not what the suffragettes fought for.

 

The receptionist opened the door and the 3 women entered the lounge room. A strange sight greeted them. 7 women in burqas of various colors were already in the room and each of them was standing in a line, shoulder to shoulder, facing the wall. As the door closed, Safiyah walked and joined the end of the line. After a few seconds of indecision, Eleanor walked towards the line and joined the women. A few seconds later, she felt Sandra’s shoulder touching hers.

 

A sense of peace fell over her.

 

For once in her life, Eleanor felt herself truly at peace. It was as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders. She immediately, instinctively, understood why. For the first time in her adult life, Eleanor did not have to do anything. Together, with the other 9 women beside her, she can let go of all responsibility and just wait for instructions on what she need to do. No thinking, no action, no movement was required of her; she just need to stand and wait there.

 

A shiver went up her body. It was bliss. The bliss went on for some time, broken only when a male voice was heard.

 

“All girls turn around and face the centre of the room.”

 

The order came into the room from a loudspeaker somewhere and almost as one, all 10 girls turned around. In the centre of the room was a low round table full of food and water. Eleanor quickly realized her stomach was rumbling. She must have been standing there for hours.

 

“All girls stand around the table.”

 

Without a word, Eleanor moved towards the table. All the girls stood around the table and waited for the next order.

 

“All girls will sit”

 

Eleanor sat down on the floor as instructed. Once on the floor, the next order came almost immediately.

 

“All girls may eat and drink the food and water on the table. You may lift your burqa. You have 1 hour.”

 

None of the girls moved. Eleanor was hungry but she also did not want to stand out too much. She waited for someone to make a move first. Unsurprisingly, it was Sandra.

 

Sandra lifted her burqa over her head and looked pointy at Eleanor. Left with little choice, Eleanor lifted her burqa with regret. It was amazing but in a few hours, she had felt more attached to her red burqa than any piece of clothing she had ever worn. The rest of the girls soon followed and Eleanor found herself unsurprised at the faces of the girls she saw.

 

There were girls of various ages, of different ethnic background, and most possibly of different education and social standing. Yet all of them were willing to stand in this room from hours, just waiting for orders given to them by a man none of them had seen.

 

However Eleanor understood why everyone was willing to do that. They were all wives whose sole duty today was to provide help to their husbands. Their presence here in this room was solely for the benefit of their husbands. Eleanor found her hand rubbing her burqa and found herself grateful for it.

The burqa had helped her become a better wife. It was amazing caused Eleanor never thought of herself as that kind of girl but she suddenly realized how important it was to her to be a better wife for her husband. With the burqa covering her face and body, she was not just Eleanor but Eleanor wife of Brian. With the burqa over her, she could be less of a person and more of a wife; a wife who was more selfless than Eleanor ever could be.

 

The girls ate and drink silently. Eleanor looked around the table and understood why. The male voice didn’t give them permission to speak, so none of them did. Eleanor smile got bigger. Beneath the burqas, all girls were the same. 

A Better Wife (Part 2)

PROGRAM INITIALED! PLEASE WAIT…CREED GAS RELEASED! PLEASE WAIT…CREED GAS PURITY AT 50%! START PROGRAM…INITIALIZING…

 

“Hey sleepyhead, wake up!”

 

Eleanor’s eyes popped open and she immediately sat up. “What…” Eleanor looked around and saw that she was in a car. “Where am I?”

 

 “We…” Brian put an emphasis on the word, “are almost there.”

 

Eleanor was surprised at that and looked around. All she saw were trees and noticed that she was still in her car with her husband.

 

“Are you okay?” Brian asked.

“Yeah yeah” Eleanor said as she rubbed her head with her hand. “A bad dream, that’s all. Where are we anyway?” she asked. “I thought the retreat was near some town.”

 

“Water Springs.” Brian saw the look on his wife’s face and continued. “That’s the name of the town. The retreat is about 20 miles from the town and according to the GPS, we’re almost there.”

 

Eleanor bit down a retort about the reliability of the GPS system and tried to concentrate on just enjoying the view. The forest they were passing by was picture perfect and Eleanor had to admit the location was perfect for a country retreat.

 

5mins later, a side road that came into view with a big sign for the “Immersion Retreat”. Brian took the road and after a short bumpy ride, they came up to a mansion. Eleanor was unprepared for what she saw.

 

At the end of a driveway was the biggest mansion she had ever seen. It was gigantic with several smaller cottages surrounding it.  

 

As Brian pulled the car into a parking spot, she broke.

 

“Wow! Truly WOW!” she said. “You knew about this?”

“Hell no!” Brian sounded as surprised as she was. The couple got out of their car and took a good look around. The scenery was awe-inspiring. The mansion dominated the surroundings but everywhere they look, the couple could just smell the serious money it took to get everything looking the way it did. “I knew Sun Horizon was big but this is serious with a capital S!”

 

Eleanor was about to agree with her husband when she saw a Nissan drove up the driveway. The vehicle parked beside them and a couple got out of the car.

 

“Brandon” her husband murmured quietly. Eleanor looked at her husband wondering what happened. He did not look happy to see the man.

 

However Brian went forward with a smile and shook the hand of the other man. The 2 men exchanged greetings before Brian introduce her to his colleague, Brandon as well as Brandon’s wife, Sandra. A sense of déjà vu struck her. She was sure she had never met the couple before but can’t help the feeling that she had.

 

The 2 couples engaged in some small talk and were about to proceed to the mansion when another vehicle came up the road. This time, it was a shiny BMW. The BMW parked near their vehicles and a Middle Eastern man stepped out of the car. One look at Brian and Brandon and Eleanor immediately knew that this was someone important.

 

Both men went forward and shook the man’s hand. Eleanor and Sandra both stood a step behind their husbands and discovered that this was Rahim bin Ismail, one of the heads in the Human Resource Department at Sun Horizon. Eleanor and Sandra looked at each other and both silently agreed that this was a development they did not like. Eleanor had heard that Rahim was the man mainly responsible for the misogynistic rules at Sun Horizon. The 3 men shared a laugh before Rahim walked back to his car.

 

Eleanor took the chance to come up to the men. “What happened?” she asked.

“Don’t know.” Brandon said. “We were joking that we were supposed to bring our wives here but he didn’t and he then just laughed.”

“Said something about forgetting something,” Brian said with a shrug.

“He’s opening the trunk.” Sandra said.

 

Eleanor looked at Rahim who was now opening the trunk of his BMW. He then stepped back and…a woman in a dark brown burqa climbed out of the truck. Jaws dropped as Rahim closed the trunk and he started to walk towards the group with the woman in the burqa walking behind him. The group had barely recovered when Rahim introduced the woman as his wife Safiyah.

 

Rahim turned towards his wife and said, “Wife, these are 2 of my colleagues. This is Brian and this is Brandon.”

 

The 2 men were about to greet Safiyah when she stepped forward to them. Standing before Brian, Safiyah fell to her knees and then bowed her head at Brian’s feet. Safiyah turned her head, rubbing her head on Brian’s shoes. Brian immediately looked at Rahim and laughed nervously.

 

Rahim laughed along with Brian and said, “Just say “Enough” when you have enough and she would stop.”

 

The play on words caused Brandon to join in the laughter.

 

“Enough”

 

At Brian’s command, Safiyah stood up and walked with her head bowed towards Brandon. Standing before Brandon, Safiyah again fell to her knees, bowed and then rubbed her head on Brandon’s shoes. The 3 men laughed again with both Brian and Brandon shaking their heads in disbelief.  

 

“Enough”

 

At Brandon’s command, Safiyah immediately stood up and walked back to her husband. She took a position 3 step behind Rahim. Standing there with her head bowed, she looked like the perfect submissive wife. Rahim looked at the other 2 men and asked them a loaded question, “Guys, aren’t you going to introduced me to your wives?”

 

The 2 men knew enough to be worried. Their nervous laughs died before they slowly introduced their wives to Rahim. Neither of the women was going to kneel and bow but Eleanor bow her head low, hoping it was enough to satisfy the man. When she looked up and saw Rahim’s face, she knew that it wasn’t.

 

Rahim abruptly turned and started walking to the mansion, feeling insulted in some fashion. His wife however stood still, clearly waiting for Brian and Brandon to start walking first. Left with little choice, the 2 men raced to catch up to Rahim while the 3 women fell behind the men like good little submissive wives.

 

When they were far enough away from the men, Sandra whispered, “What was that?  Don’t tell me that’s how you greet all strange men you see on the street?”

 

Safiyah ignored the biting comment meant for her and continued walking. Sandra was about to say something else when Eleanor pulled hard on her arm. She gave Sandra a hard look. The last thing she wanted was to let this woman get her into trouble.

 

The six of them proceeded into the mansion where they were greeted by a woman wearing a niqab. Eleanor stared at the woman and another wave of sense of déjà vu hit her. Brian had told her before that Sun Horizon had imposed a dress code on all the women working in the company and most of them were now wearing the niqab while at work but she was sure she had never seen a woman in a niqab before. Looking at the receptionist however, she can’t help but felt that she had.

 

Rahim was taking the lead and he spoke to the woman in some foreign language. The receptionist nodded her head and then handed a paper bag to both Brandon and Brain. The 2 men looked at Rahim in surprise and then started to read a piece of paper that came inside the bag. Whatever was written there, the 2 men were not happy.

 

After a short while, Brian and Brandon walked toward their wives looking like they were going to their death.

 

The combative Sandra was the first to ask. “What?”

“Uh...I think we are in trouble here.” Brain pointed at both him and Brandon. “It looks like this is supposed to be a working retreat.”

“What working retreat?” Sandra asked again.

Brandon was the one who answered. “You remember the promotion I was up for?” Sandra nodded and Eleanor got a sick feeling in her gut. “Well, Brian here is my direct competitor for it and…well…”

Brandon clearly could not continue. Brian took over. “For us to get the promotion, we need to prove that we and our families…can maintain the values of Sun Horizon.” Brian took a breath before finishing. “The company wants the two of you to wear this at all time while you’re here.”

 

Brian took out a garment from the bag and Eleanor saw that it was a bright red burqa! At the sight of the burqa, Eleanor felt a sense of excitement coursing through her. It wasn’t disgust but true excitement. Eleanor really wanted to try it on.

 

“No fucking way!” Sandra shouted. “Forget it, Brandon. We are leaving.”

“What happen if we leave?” Eleanor asked. Sandra looked at her in shock. Although they had just met, Eleanor could guess what was going on in her head. Sandra may looked like she was shocked Eleanor was even considering this but inside, but she was certain Sandra wanted to try the burqa as well.

A pained Brian answered his wife. “Nothing. We can just walk out but…”

“You can kiss your chance of the promotion good-bye.” Eleanor finished for him.

 

Brian nodded and Eleanor knew she could only give one answer to her husband.

“Okay then. Give it to me and I’ll put it on.”

 

“Eleanor…you can’t be serious?”

 

Sandra was shouting again and the woman was beginning to get on her nerves. Eleanor turned towards Sandra and patiently said, “Look Sandra, we just met so I don’t know you but if this is too much for you, the door is right over there.”

 

Eleanor pointed at the door of the mansion for emphasis and it was enough for Brandon . Brandon offered his hand to Brian which Brian accepted.

 

“Good luck man. See you back at the office.” 

“Wait a minute,” Sandra looked at her husband in surprise. “What are you doing?”

Brandon gave his wife a weak smile and said, “Let’s go dear.”

“Wait!” Sandra said immediately and Eleanor was sure now the other woman also had the same feelings as her. She was just too proud to accept them. Sandra shook her head and said. “You’re right. Let’s get out of here!”

 

Darkness fell on Eleanor.

 

PROGRAM RESET! PLEASE WAIT…INCREASE CREED GAS PURITY! PLEASE WAIT…CREED GAS PURITY INCREASED TO 60%! PROGRAM RESETED! RESTART PROGRAM…INITIALIZING… 

A Better Wife (Part 1)

“Don’t worry,” Brian said reassuringly. “They will love you.”

 

Eleanor smiled weakly at her husband before quickly looking out of the window of their car. She did not want him to see her worried face.

 

For years, Brian had worked as a mid-level sales executive for a big company in America. However about 2 years ago, a Middle Eastern investment group called Sun Horizon bought over the company and started to impose several misogynistic company policies that emphasized male supremacy over their female colleagues.

 

Eleanor had been trying to get Brian to resign from the company but with the American economy in such bad shape, it was something he refused to consider. Worse, Brian seems to enjoy working at Sun Horizon and had hinted for some months that he is in line for a promotion at the company.

 

So when he was “offered” to go for a company retreat with his wife in Canada, Brian practically ordered her to accompany him to the retreat. Eleanor took a deep breath. Maybe “ordered” was too strong of a word but Brian really wanted her to come and she could pretend to be the dutiful wife for 3 days. Although she did not want to admit it, she had to admit she was nervous about the trip.

 

“We’re almost there.”

 

Eleanor was surprised at that. So far all she saw were trees. “Where are we?” she asked. “I thought the retreat was near a town.”

 

“Water Springs.” Brian saw the look on his wife’s face and continued. “That’s the name of the town. The retreat is about 20 miles from the town and according to the GPS, we’re almost there.”

 

Eleanor bit down a retort about the reliability of the GPS system and concentrated on enjoying the view. The forest they were passing was picturesque and she had to admit she could believe that a country retreat was located nearby.

 

Amazingly, there was a side road that came into view 5mins later with a sign for “Immersion Retreat”. Brian took the road and after a short while, they came up to a mansion. Eleanor was unprepared for what she saw.

 

At the end of the gravel driveway was the biggest mansion she had ever seen. It was gigantic with several smaller cottages around it. As Brian pulled the car into a parking spot, she broke.

 

“Wow! Truly WOW!” she said. “You knew about this?”

“Hell no!” Brian sounded as surprised as she was. The couple got out of their car and took a good look around. The scenery was awe-inspiring. The mansion dominated the surroundings but everywhere they look, the couple could just smell the serious money it took to get everything looking the way it did. “I knew Sun Horizon was big but this is serious with a capital S!”

 

Eleanor was about to agree with her husband when she saw a Nissan drove up the driveway. The vehicle parked beside them and a couple got out of the car.

 

“Brandon,” her husband murmured quietly. Eleanor looked at her husband wondering what happen. He did not look happy seeing the man.

 

However Brian went forward with a smile and shook the hand of the other man. The 2 men exchanged greetings before Brian introduce her to his colleague, Brandon. Like Brian, Brandon bought along a woman. Eleanor greeted his wife Sandra warmly.

 

The 2 couples went towards the mansion and Eleanor made sure she and Brian fell behind the other couple. When they were far away enough, Eleanor whispered, “What’s going on? You’re not happy to see that guy?”

 

“No, not really.” Brian whispered back. “Could be nothing but that guy is a name up for the promotion.”

“The one you wanted?”

“Yup”

“So…this retreat is a working one?”

“Don’t know yet. Let’s see.”

 

The two couple proceeded into the mansion where they were greeted by a woman wearing a niqab. Eleanor stared at the woman.

 

It was the first time she saw a woman totally covered up like that. Brian had told her that Sun Horizon had imposed a dress code on all the women in the company and most of them were now wearing the niqab while working. However this is the first time Eleanor had actually seen a women in the niqab. The woman’s head and face were covered with a black veil and Eleanor quickly saw that the woman’s body and hands were also covered by a black blouse and a pair of black gloves.

 

The woman briefly looked at Brian and Brandon, and then quickly looked down. The two men spoke to the woman and she handed them a pair of paper. The woman spoke to the men, totally ignoring Eleanor and Sandra who quietly decided to stand a few steps behind the men. Eleanor remained silent the whole time, not wanting to cause a scene but inside she was fuming at being ignored. This was not what the suffragettes fought for.

 

Her feelings were not helped when the two men walked back towards their wives after a few minutes and told them they would have to wait at a lounge room on the ground floor. It seems they had a meeting in another room first before they would join them.

 

Eleanor shook her head and saw that Sandra was looking at her and nodding her head. The 2 women were in silent agreement at the nonsense they had seen so far at this “retreat”.

 

As the men went up to the first floor for their meeting, the 2 women went to the lounge room and entered. The decor was nice and there was a bar at the end of the room. As Sandra closed the door, Eleanor walked toward the drinks at the bar. She never reached them.

 

Halfway there, her legs suddenly felt weak. Eleanor heard a sound behind her and turned around. Sandra had collapsed on the floor. A few seconds later, Eleanor joined her.

The Abandoned (Part 2)

Lisa Williams was what people in the UPF kindly called a “spacer”. She was born on a space cruiser, educated on a space station, worked in space travel. Born and bred in space, she had spent more time in space than on any planet. Some would just call her an alien.

And she was now paying for it.

Dr. Catterly informed her that she believed the planet's gravity was slightly lighter than Earth but it was small comfort to a spacer. The gravity was still heavier than what Williams was used to in space.

“Come on, you’re almost there.”

Williams looked up to the top of the hill where Kettle was waiting. It has been 3 days since she first saw the woman and since then Kettle had been the 3 survivors’ guide to their strange new world. Seeing her at the top of the hill, Williams couldn’t help but wonder how Kettle managed to get up there so quickly. Looking at Kettle’s pink jacket, black baggy pants, scarf, veil and straw conical hat, Williams (not for the first time) couldn’t help but wonder how she could be so comfortable in such a comical outfit.

Although her spacesuit has been dirtied, Williams had refused all attempts to wear the strange outfit of the locals and was currently wearing her sport top and short shorts. She had been wearing them underneath her spacesuit and she was glad of it. She knew that it had scandalized the locals when she said she would be going out in the outfit but they had been gracious hosts and accepted her request. There was just no way she was going to wear the conical hat and veils of the locals.

Looking at Kettle however did make Williams realize just how close to the top of the hill she was. Ignoring the fire in her calves and back, Williams pushed on.

The moment she reached the top, the breeze hit her almost immediately.

Williams' gaze drifted out and saw, to her immense surprise, an ocean. The golden light of the sun shone brightly on the ocean and Williams found that she could not look away from it. It took a while before she recovered.

“What…is that a sea?” Williams did not care if her shock was evident in her voice. She never realized they were so close to the ocean. “There are oceans on this world?”

“Of course,” Kettle said. “Fishing is one of the main sources of food here. Look over there!”

Williams look where Kettle was pointing. Although she did not have a watch, she figured that it had been an hour since they had set out on the walk and the hill she was on offered a good view of the landscape. Williams could see that the city they had been in was small and that not only was the city close to the sea, there was also a winding river that cut through the city.

“That’s the Kami River. We use it both for power and to travel into the interior.” Kettle looked at Williams and Williams could sense that she was smiling behind her veil. “Beautiful, isn’t it? I love this view.”

Williams couldn’t help but nod her head in agreement. A spacer she may be but even she could appreciate the view. Not only that, her body was glistening with the sweat from the long walk and the cold breeze from the sea was welcome against her face and skin.

Williams looked around the hilltop and saw that outside the path where they walked up, there was another bigger path on the other side of the hill. However they were the only ones up there. She was surprised and kind of glad no one else was up there with them.

“Yes, this is great.” Williams replied to Kettle. “But next time, let’s drive here. This walk is too much for me.” Williams’ laugh was cut short by the horror in Kettle’s eyes. “Uh,,,did I say something wrong?”

“Wo…women don’t drive. We walked!”

For the first time, Williams could hear angry in Kettle’s voice and she could not understand why. “What do you mean? Women don’t drive here? We’re not allowed to?”

“No, it’ll be wrong. Only men drive.”

“But…that’s..,” Williams tried to think of the right word to use here. “That’s so strange. Everyone drives where I come from. Don’t you ever want to drive before?”

“No,” Kettle’s left no room to debate on that. “Women suffer the whip, we do not take it!”

The conversation was getting stranger and stranger for Williams but before she could make a bigger fool of her self, she heard the sound of creaking wheels. She looked at the other side of the hill and saw the strangest thing she had ever seen.

A man and a woman had come up to the hilltop from the other path and both of them were staring at her. Williams was staring right back.

The woman was in a black bodysuit with red knee high boots and she was pulling a cart that a man was sitting in. For a few seconds, the duo was just staring at Williams but the man recovered. He cracked the whip in his hand and Williams twitched when she heard the sound of the whip hitting the woman.

The women quickly got back to pulling the cart and as they got closer to Williams, she managed to get a good look at them. Williams saw that the black bodysuit on the woman was total with only an open hood for her face. It reached from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet, leaving only her face uncovered. However she was wearing some sort of harness around her head that locked a bit across her mouth. At the end of the mouth bit were 2 leashes that the man in the cart was holding. Williams immediately understood the leashes were actually reins that the man used to control the woman pulling the cart. As they went pass her, Williams couldn’t take her eyes off them and belatedly saw that the man in the cat was wearing a tunic with a pair of normal pants.

The duo ran to the other side of the hilltop where the man pulled on the reins to stop the woman. The woman knelt on the ground and lowered the poles of the cart. The man, reins in hand, got up from the cart and guided the woman to a rail like an animal. He then put the leashes onto the rail. Williams then realized the rail was a hitching rail.

Shaking, she turned to Kettle who was looking at her with eyes of concern.

“Are you alright?” Kettle asked. “You suddenly looked pale.”

Williams quickly realized she was having problems breathing. Taking a few breaths, she asked, “What is that?” Williams pointed at the duo. She saw that the man was now wiping the woman’s face with a towel and the woman looked like she was loving every moment of it.

“What’s what?” Kettle asked.

“What’s that?” Williams asked again, this time with more heat in her voice. “That woman was pulling that man like an animal! What do you call that?”

Even with the veil covering the lower half of her face, Williams could see that Kettle had no idea what’s wrong with the picture. Finally giving up, Kettle shrugged her shoulders and said a word that bought the world down on Williams, “Transportation?”

The Abandoned

She sat in the comfortable chair facing the sole desk in the room. Placed on a raised platform, a strange woman was standing behind the desk trying to compose her thoughts. Janet Pinkerton looked at the two women beside her. Her two follow survivors, Lisa Williams and Rose Catterly, both had an impression of restlessness on their face and it’s no wonder. 

Since the time they woke, it has been one strange thing after another.

Protocol seems to have been abandoned on this planet. First, the people here did not speak English or any other known language the three of them knows off. Then there was the strange attire the people were wearing. Janet Pinkerton's gaze drifted down to the attire of the woman standing in front of them, trying to think of which planet had a fashion like that. The woman was wearing a pink jacket that covered her arms and a pair of black pants which flare out baggily at the legs.  Nothing unusual there but she was also wearing head was a colourful scarf that covered her head and her lower face were hidden by a veil. Hung on her belt was a straw conical hat that had seen some use before.

Pinkerton drew a blank.

“H…Hello”

Silence reigned in the room as the 3 women were momentarily surprised by the greeting. It was the first time since they had awoken that someone had spoken in a language they understood. All 3 of them started asking questions together and it was too much for the strange woman. She put up both hands and the questions stopped.

The woman looked to be smiling behind the veil. She put down her hands, looked at the 3 women and began again. “You may call this one Kettle. Do you understand me?”

Kettle? What kind of stupid name is that? But that was a question for another time. Janet Pinkerton stood up. “My name is Captain Janet Pinkerton, commanding officer of the science vassal Pagoda. Beside me are Lisa Williams and Dr. Rose Catterly. I demand to know what planet we are on and why no one from the UPF has come to see us yet!”

Kettle’s eyes looked at her curiously, as if trying to process some information. “You are…you are from space? UPF stands for United Planets Federation?”

The surprise was evident from Kettle’s voice and not for the first time since she woke from the escape pod, Pinkerton had a bad feeling about all this. “Yes, of course! Now where the hell are we?”

“By the council…it’s true!” Kettle's whisper could clearly be heard in the emptiness of the room.

“Miss…Kettle,” Williams asked softly. “What planet are we on?”

“This is the planet Eridani.”

Williams, Catterly and Pinkerton looked at each other. All 3 had the same look on their face. “We never heard of a planet Eridani.” Pinkerton said. “Which system are we in? What is the operating function of this planet?”

Again Kettle put up her hand. This time more firmly. “Please… captain,” Kettle bit the word as if it was an insult, “we have questions of our own. May we know what happened to you?”

Of course there would be questions and Pinkerton had been ready for a debriefing the moment she woke up. Only no one from the UPF had came to interview her. She decided to treat this as the debriefing.

“The Pagoda was on a mission to map the material contents of a comet travelling through the Tarus system. We managed to get into the tail end of the comet without problem but on our approach to the comet, our ship suffered a serious malfunction of some sort. We had to abandon our approach but traveling out of the tail of a comet carries its own risk and the Pagoda suffered complete system failure.” Pinkerton took a breath and swallowed the bile in her throat. As the captain, the failure strung her. “We…I had to abandoned ship. Now which system are we in?”

“We do not know.” Seeing the looks on the 3 spacefarers, Kettle explained further. “We do not remember. All we know is that this planet was once called 82 Eridani. Over time, the 82 was taken away and now we just call our planet Eridani.”

“Lost!” Pinkerton and Williams both looked at Catterly the moment the words came out of her mouth. Catterly’s mouth was open in disbelief but she continued. “They are lost. We crashed on a planet filled with lost colonists.”

Pinkerton looked back at Kettle and for the first time truly saw her. It was so obvious she couldn’t believe she didn’t put two and two together. Kettle’s dress was a dead giveaway. There was no way a modern woman in this time would wear something as strange as that. Her thinking however was broken when she noticed that Kettle was shaking her head.

“No, not lost,” Kettle said. “We were not lost. We were abandoned!”

A Strong Girl (Part 5)

As she opened the door to her house, Lucy did it with both dread and curiosity. After her beating (there’s no other word for it) in Abdullah’s office, she was sent back to the sales floor while Simon and Abdullah spoke about his contract with Sun Horizon.
 
After that episode, she was curious about how Simon would react now in the comfort of their home. She opened the door and saw Simon waiting for her. He moved towards her with purpose and any doubts Lucy had were swiftly forgotten when he planted a huge kiss on her lips.
 
Lucy heard a sound and realized it was the door being closed. They were working their way to the sofa when Lucy tripped. Both of them fell and Lucy gave a cry as her still sore bottom hit the floor. Simon didn’t stop.
 
He literally ripped her shirt off her. Friends of Lucy would tell you Lucy never giggled in her life, that she just wasn’t that kind of girl, but Lucy giggled now. This was fun!
 
She helped Simon with the shirt but they both stumbled with her jeans. Simon gave a chuckle and said something about now knowing why skirts were better on woman than pants. Lucy silently resolved never to wear pants, trousers or jeans ever again.
 
They finally got the jeans off and Simon pulled her panties halfway down her legs. Lucy was working the panties off her legs when Simon lowered his shorts and shown off his penis.
 
Simon’s tool was, to be polite, below average and Lucy had more than once cracked jokes about it with her girlfriends. However it was eager now and Simon entered her without warning. Not that it mattered to Lucy. She had sent the whole day thinking of Simon and she was wet and ready for him.
 
As usual, the sex was quick but it was also different. Lucy could feel the intensity of each stroke. Simon was more…brutal, like he didn’t care about whether he was hurting her. Lucy realized with a start that this was what had been missing from their love-making. The intensity and the lack of care from Simon was great for her. She much preferred this to the usual care Simon showed when they were having sex. It was as if she had been given a new perspective of how sex should be!
 
Lucy never remembered a time when she had an orgasm. Lucy never had a great sex life, and frankly never thought much about it. To her, it was something like a myth girls tell each other. In her mind, Lucy thought maybe she had one before but she just didn’t know it. Now Lucy realized she had being lying to herself. She never had an orgasm before because she never had this feeling before in her life. She felt that she was having an out-of-body experience, as if she was alive and yet unconscious at the same time.

It was bliss!

---

“Wow!”
“You can say that again,” Lucy giggled. Both she and Simon were laid out on the floor after their session and Lucy hugged her husband closely to give him a kiss. “You were great!”
“So were you. The best I ever had by a long shot.”
Lucy kissed her husband again. “Yeah well, we need to try and top that from here on out!” Both of them laughed. “So,” Lucy knew she need to poach the situation carefully, “you know why it was so good this time?”
Simon gave her a weak smile. “It could be sensory depravation. I read that women who were deprived of touch gets a…”sensory overload” so to speak when they finally have someone touch them. With you covered up in a niqaab the whole day, maybe that’s why.”
“I’ve been wearing the niqaab for close to a year now and we never had sex like this before.” Lucy smiled back at her husband. “You don’t really believe that do you?”
“No,” Simon admitted. “Not really.”
“It was the cane.” Lucy said.
“It was the cane and the niqaab together,” her husband corrected. “It was probably the combination of both that made us so…responsive.”
“The pain and the niqaab for me, and the delivering of the pain for you.” Lucy kissed her husband again. “Never thought you were into these kinds of things.”
“Well...I never did anything like caning a woman before of course but…always thought about it.” Simon guilty admitted. “It’s not something you talk to your wife about.”
“Well, that’s going to change buddy. Wait…no, it’s “my lord” now!” Both of them laughed again at that. “You know where we can buy a cane?”
“You sure?” Simon seemed surprised at the suggestion. “I mean…”
Lucy never let him finished. “We just had the best sex ever. Don’t tell me you don’t want to do this again.”
“I do but…only if you’re sure. I mean you could get hurt with the caning.”
Lucy laughed again at her husband and kissed him. He can be such a fool at times. “Don’t worry about me. I’m a strong girl.”
“So…I should sign the contract with Sun Horizon?”
Lucy was shocked. “Simon Kelly, don’t tell me I took the beating today for nothing! You didn’t sign?”
Simon defended himself. “Well after today I thought you might change your mind. I told him I have to talk to you first before anything. Abdullah gave me a day.”
Lucy sighed in relief. “Ok. Call him tomorrow and tell him we will sign the contracts.” Then she suddenly remembered something. “Wait, there might be a problem.”

---

Lucy heard the security guard walked past her and silently wondered if he was as bored as she was. For the past hour, she had been kneeling there in her black niqaab uniform awaiting her turn and it was boring as hell.
 
It had been 3 weeks since she told Simon about the impending lawsuit by the women of Sun Horizon and after a discussion, the couple decided to inform the company about it. It wouldn’t do to have him start work at a company his wife was suing.
 
Lucy told them everything, and even went to one more meeting at the law firm to get further information for the company. She didn’t really think she was betraying the girls because she hadn’t signed on the dotted line. She only gave a few verbal agreements indicating she was interested in joining but she hadn’t signed on anything confirming she was joining the lawsuit yet. If anything, the way things were going, she might have helped the girls out. 
 
Simon told her Sun Horizon didn’t really seem surprised at the news of the lawsuit. The company was expecting something like this but they still wanted her to go to another meeting to get some information, mostly about anyone currently working in Sun Horizon who was in the lawsuit. So she went to another meeting at the law firm, asked around and gave the names to the company.
 
3 weeks later, here they were.
 
Everyone knew something was up when rumors whirled that the Deputy CEO of Sun Horizon had arrived. When all the girls in the company were told to report for a one-on-one interview with him and some senior executives, anyone who knew of the lawsuit knew what it was about. Personally, Lucy was surprised it took Sun Horizon so long to do something about the case after her information.
 
Of course even with the early exodus of girls from the company, there were still over 50 girls currently working at Sun Horizon. The girls were called in batches of 10 to wait on the 50th floor of the building and one by one, the girls were called in for a private meeting with the executives. Of course this being Sun Horizon, no seats were provided to the girls. While awaiting their turn, the rest of the girls were made to wait on their knees outside the office. Less surprising for Lucy was the fact that the executives wanted to see her last.
 
This meant that she had already seen 9 veiled bodies crawling into the office. Lucy had been quietly waiting on her knees with her hands clasped behind her. The girls had been warned not to speak to each other and the security guard was there to ensure the order was followed.
 
The door opened and the girl who entered before her crawled out. A female voice inside the office called out her name. Lucy started crawling the moment she heard her name.
 
Once inside, she heard the door being closed and an order was issued to her by the female voice. “Please go to the marked spot on the floor.” There was a red square on the floor and Lucy crawled on her hands and knees towards it. Once she got there, she turned and waited on her hands and knees for permission. After a moment, Lucy heard a noncommittal cough and moved her hands behind her back. She made sure her knees were shoulder length apart and her head was looking down at the floor.
 
An unfamiliar male voice asked her a question, “Ms. Lucy Rice?”
“Yes sir”
“I thought you are married?”
“Sir, this girl is but this girl kept her maiden name after marriage.”
“It is very unbecoming of a loyal employee of Sun Horizon. You will remedy that fault the first chance you get.”
It sounded like a suggestion from the man but Lucy was in no doubt it was a clear order. “Yes sir.”
“Good. You may look up girl.”
 
Lucy looked up at the 3 men sitting behind the long table. On the left was Abdullah, the head of human resource; on the right was Rahmat Khan, a Pakistani who was the head of sales. In essence, Rahmat was Matt’s boss which meant he was Lucy’s boss as well. Between the 2 men was Hardi al-Katatni, the Deputy CEO of Sun Horizon. The fact that he had flew from the Middle East showed how serious the company was taking the lawsuit. There was one other person in the room. A girl was kneeling to the right of the table. Dressed in a sky-blue burka, the name-tag read “Jenny”. If Lucy had to hazard a guess, she would say Jenny was a personal secretary to one of the men.
 
Hardi spoke again. “Girl, Sun Horizon wishes to thank you for the information you provided to us on the lawsuit. Frankly, we had been expecting it and had engaged a firm to defend Sun Horizon from such an unjust lawsuit. Our lawyers were greatly helped by your info however and as such Sun Horizon is ready to reward you for your loyalty to the company.”
 
There was silence in the room and Lucy quickly realized she was expected to say something. “Thank you sir. This girl wishes to thank the company for their kindness.”
“First off, we will be offering you the same deal we are offering all the other girls in the company.” Hardi made a show of looking at the papers in his hands. “For withdrawing your name from the lawsuit and an agreement not to involve yourself in any future lawsuits against the company, we will offer you a contract for 3 years with a sign-on bonus of 2 months.”
Lucy was surprised at the offer and quickly asked. “Sir, this girl is not in the lawsuit and this girl and her husband had already agreed to a new contract with the company.”
“We know that,” it was Rahmet who answered her question. “However the rest of the girls in the company do not know how we got the info of the lawsuit and we understand the tough position we would put you in if the information got public. With this, you can maintain your innocence with the rest of the girls. Just inform them you would not be joining the lawsuit as you would be taking up the company’s offer. This would be accepted by everyone as many of the girls who crawled in before you took our offer already.”
Abdullah took up the speech from there. “The company however would like you to continue to monitor the situation with the girls in the company. You are to report to the company any of the girls who took up the company’s offer but still intend to sue the company for any reason. Also, you are expected to inform us on any girl who badmouthed the company in any way, shape or form.”
“Sir, people always talk. It’s a natural thing.”
“Still, you are to inform us of the matter. No matter how trivial it seems, we want to know.” Abdullah gave her a wicked smile. “Don’t worry about how important it sounds to you. Let your betters worry about that.” 
“So you want me to…” Lucy bit her tongue and controlled herself. “The company wants this girl to spy on the rest of the girls?”
“We wish you to help ensure the smooth operation of the company.” Hardi chipped in with the cream. “We also want you to help any girl having doubts to make the ‘right’ decision regarding taking our deal. If you agree, the company will give your husband a 6 month sign-on bonus.”
Lucy was shocked. A 6 month bonus at Simon’s salary was…a lot of money! However she had to ask another question. “What about the girls who refused to take up the company’s offer? Is this girl supposed to report them as well?”
“Any girl who refused to take up the company’s offer would be asked to immediately resign from the company.” Lucy reeled from the news but Hardi didn’t stop. “However they would not be asked to pay the financial penalty for breaking their contract and Sun Horizon would still pay them their salary for the month.”
 
That made Lucy felt better. Most of the girls had spoke of leaving and now they could do so without paying any penalty. The fact that they still would be paid for the month almost made it a fair deal.  
 
“Do you agree with the terms?” Hardi asked.
There could only be one answer for Lucy. “Yes sir, this girl agrees.”

---

Danielle got to Lucy the moment she stepped back into the office and bundled her into the pantry.
 
“Well, what happened?”
“Probably the same that happened to you. I waited on my knees for an hour before finally crawling into the office where they asked me questions about the lawsuit; then they made me an offer in return for withdrawing my name from the lawsuit.”
“You didn’t say yes, did you?”
“Actually, I did.”
Even though she was wearing the niqaab, Lucy could see that Danielle was surprised and slightly fearful of her answer. It’s surprising how much you could tell just from looking at someone’s eyes. Lucy silently chuckled to herself that this was one skill she could have never picked up if not for wearing the niqaab.
 
“Why did you do that Lucy?”
There was a slight accusation in Danielle’s voice but Lucy knew this was going to happen and was ready with the answers. “Money, stability and a job for the next 3 years. It’s that simple Danielle.”
“Don’t give me that! If it’s money, you would get plenty once we win!”
“And how long will that take?” Lucy asked patiently. “Danielle, you need to think things through. If you don’t take the deal, you will have to resign. Even if you win, and it is a “if”, Sun Horizon would appeal and it would be years before anyone sees any money. What are you going to do in the meantime?”
“Get another job”
“In this economy? Come on, we both know how bad things are out there and do you really think someone out there is going to hire you once they find out you are suing your last employer?” From her eyes, Lucy could tell that Danielle had not thought of that. Time for her to strike while the iron was hot. “I’m not the only one who thinks this. The 3 heads up on the 50th floor told me a lot of the girls had taken up the offer.”
“And you believed them?”
“Why not? It’s the sensible, logical thing to do. Jennifer took the deal as well.”
Danielle went from being surprised into shocked. “Jen…Jennifer? No way!”
Frankly Lucy was surprised as well when Abdullah told her the news. It was at this moment the other 2 girls came into the pantry. Jamila and Suriani saw the argument between Lucy and Danielle and the 2 girls quietly went to the counter to start preparation for the snacks. Lucy realized the time and turned to look back at Danielle.

“Look Danielle, I’m not arguing with you on this. Everyone needs to make their own decision. For me, I had made mine and I will respect your decision whichever it is but you must think things through. If you sign the deal, you get a job for the next 3 years. If you do not, you will be jobless with little to no prospect of getting another. That means no money for the next few years because it will take at least that long for the lawsuit to clear the courts. That is if you win the suit.” Lucy waited for Danielle to digest everything she had said. Then she went for the kill, “If you want my opinion, it’s not a risk worth taking. Jennifer thinks the same way I do and that’s why she took the deal. As a friend, I say take the deal. It as good as any you are going to get.”
Danielle’s eyes went wide with horror but Lucy was glad to see that there was some understanding there as well. Danielle said, “You don’t seem to have a problem admitting the fact you taken the deal?”
“Why should I?” Lucy asked back. “I made my decision and I’m not ashamed of it. I did what’s good for me and I suggest you do the same thing. Don’t make any decision for the sake of sisterhood or any crap like that. Make a decision that is best for you.”
After a second, Danielle nodded. She knew everything that was said was true. “I’ll think about it.”

Lucy nodded her head and smiled beneath her veil. She knew she got Danielle. Lucy watched as Danielle walked out of the pantry and turned to the counter. She was surprised to see that the snacks and coffee had already been prepared for her. There was even a notebook on her trolley stating the orders of all the men in her area. She looked at Jamila and Suriani in question and Suriani was the one who answered her unspoken question.

“We knew you would be late so Jamila and I took the orders of everyone in your area. Just follow the notebook and it will be fine.”
Lucy nodded in thanks and quickly made a decision. She was going to be here for the next 3 years and it was about time she began to build bridges in the office. “Thank you both but from now on I think we need change the areas we are all in charge of.”
“We do?” Suriani asked.
“Yes. The two of you had been splitting Michele’s area between you. There are 3 of us in the office so it is only fair I do my part as well. I’m sorry it took me this long to realize how unfair I had been. From now on, we’ll spilt Michelle’s area between the 3 of us equally.” 
The 2 girls nodded in acknowledgement. The clock stuck 9.30am and the 3 girls pushed out their trolleys. Now for the second part of Lucy’s plan to build bridges in the office. She should need to especially submissive and obedient to the men from now on. Lucy smiled beneath her veil.

Her panties were getting wet just thinking about it.