HIRED HELP
Chapter 36
"Oh god! This guy is loaded!" Laura said after Richard had left
the room.
Laura and Jennifer were sitting in the main living room, across
from each other. Jennifer was wearing her black satin dress that she
had worn to the musical. Laura was garbed in jeans and a T-shirt.
"Mother doesn't know about this, right?" asked Jennifer.
Her sister shook her head. "I didn't say a word to her. Are
you really gonna do this without telling her?"
"We're having a slightly more formal elopement, that's all,"
rationalized Jennifer.
"So, how the heck did you meet this guy?" she asked.
"Well, it's really a long story," said Jennifer. "But I was
fired from my last job, and the debt collectors were closing in on
me..."
"I don't know if I like the sound of this," Laura said.
"Richard advertised for a live-in maid," she said. "I really
needed the money, and I was lucky that Richard hired me."
"Uh huh," said Laura, sounding unconvinced.
"Well, obviously a little more happened," said Jennifer, looking
down and turning slightly red, "But in the end he proposed to me."
"Why do I have the feeling that you're leaving out a *lot*?"
asked Laura.
"Well..." temporized Jennifer. She's going to find out soon
enough, she thought, either when she's fitted for her dress or at the
wedding. "He's a little kinky," she said.
"With all this money?" said Laura. "I could put up with a
little kinky," she said. Laura looked around, and did not see
Richard anywhere. "What's he into, anyway?" she said in a
conspiratorial whisper. "Spanking? Bondage? What?"
Jennifer had no idea that her sister knew about such things.
Before she could reply, she heard Richard's footsteps.
"I brought refreshments," said Richard, carrying a tray with
three full glasses on it.
Jennifer took one, then Laura did. Richard sat down next to
Jennifer as her younger sister asked a question. "You're obviously
well off," she said. "Why don't you have a servant or three to bring
the drinks out?"
"Well, I had one," said Richard. "But it seems that I'm to
marry her in two weeks. That has changed our relationship a bit," he
said. Richard looked at Jennifer. "Afterwards, we can talk about
bringing any more employees on board," he said.
"I see," said Laura as she sipped her drink.
Jennifer crossed her legs. She was wearing black six inch heels
on her feet. Rubber stockings covered her legs. Laura stared at her
older sister's feet for a long moment as her shoes became visible.
"Jennifer has an appointment to have her dress fitted at ten on
friday," said Richard. "Could you make it at ten-thirty?" asked
Richard.
"Probably," said Laura. "I don't think I work till three on
friday. I'll check. Where is it?" she asked.
"The sign said FS incorporated," said Richard. "It's off of
sixty third street. Ask for Mary."
Laura throught about that. "That sounds familiar somehow," she
said.
"We wanted to talk to you ahead of time," said Richard, "because
we're not exactly having a traditional wedding,"
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"The wedding is going to be here, not at a church," said
Richard. "And it's going to be a theme wedding. All guests in
appropriate costume."
"That's cool," she said. "Theme, like a medival or civil war
theme?" she asked.
"Something like that," said Jennifer.
"What's the theme?" asked Laura.
"I'll be blunt," said Richard. Jennifer braced herself,
prepared for the worst. "It's kinky outfits, fetishes, and bondage,"
he said.
Laura's eyes opened wide at this, in spite of Jennifer's
previous hint. "My god," she said softly.
"Can you see why a church is not an appropriate setting?" he
said.
"Um, yea," she said. Now it was Laura's turn to look away and
blush.
"We will understand if you have a problem with this, and don't
want to participate," he said.
"I... god, I don't know," said Laura. She looked up at
Jennifer. "You're really gonna do it this way?" she asked.
"For Richard, anything," she said, with a smile. Richard
returned her smile, but only halfheartedly.
"I'm... geez, this is so strange," said Laura.
"How can we help you to make up your mind?" asked Jennifer.
"I'd really like to have you there."
"Well, maybe if you told me what I'll be wearing for this
'theme' wedding? And what I'm supposed to do?"
"Well, it won't be too different from a normal gown," said
Richard. "It's... acutally, it's fairly close to something that
Jennifer has in her wardrobe now," he said. "Would you like to do a
bit of a dress rehersal, so to speak?"
"That would probably be good," said Laura.
Laura stood there in the red rubber hobble dress. From the
shape of her body underneath, it was obvious that she was wearing a
corset underneath. Six inch red stiletto heels were on her feet.
"You look wonderful!" said Jennifer as Laura slowly turned in place.
She was very unsteady in the heels, and Richard had to steady her
more than once.
"All you have to do is walk down the aisle," he said. "You will
have the best man there to lean on," said Richard.
"This is so weird," said Laura.
"I'd really like to have you there," said Jennifer.
"All right," concluded Laura. "I'll do it."
With her sister gone, Jennifer sat down on a chair and looked at
Richard. "Richard," she said. "There's something that's been
bothering me," she said.
"What is that?" he asked.
"Well, I've lost track of time, and I'm not quite sure, but I
think my period was supposed to come yesterday or today," she said.
"What if..." she asked.
Richard smiled at her. "I'll bet you anything that you're not
pregnant," he said.
"H... how can you be so sure?" Jennifer asked.
"This issue came up once before, with Susana," he said. "I had
a vasectomy," he said.
But he's so young, thought Jennifer. "You don't want kids at
all?" asked Jennifer.
"Not exactly," said Richard. "But I know what my preferred
lifestyle is, and I don't want accidental children. I have at least
a dozen frozen sperm samples, however, in case I... in case *we*
should want to have children."
This made Jennifer feel better. She knew that she did not want
a child now... but that might change someday.
