Cutty

No character is or was ever real. No part of the story is a fantasy of the author. No part of this story may be used or posted on a site without expressed permission of the author.

The New Rules

When Donna arrived home, she found Ninon waiting for her in the kitchen.  Donna said hello and sat down at the table, too tired to worry about what might be up next, too tired to think at all.

“You skipped gym,” Ninon said.

“I had too much work to do.  I needed to…” Donna began to answer wearily.

“I don’t care,” Ninon interrupted her. “If you have a schedule, you stick to it.”  Donna looked at Ninon, annoyed. She was in no mood for this, not after a long afternoon of exhausting work.

“This will have consequences for you,” Ninon went on.  “From now on I will not take the slightest disobedience from you.  You will learn to follow the rules, strictly and without complaint, eagerly even.  If you have to go to the gym, you make sure you go, and make sure Bill is satisfied with you too.”

“I’m sorry,” Donna said, too tired to care.

“Sorry won’t cut it,” Ninon snapped. “If you disobey, you will be punished.  Anyway we see fit. And you can be sure your punishment will be so hard you will think twice before not following orders again.”

“But...” Donna tried to explain.  Damn, it was getting out of hand.   She didn’t need a fight with Ninon just now.

“No “buts” … Just do as you’re told.  Don’t fuck up again.”

Donna kept quiet, knowing that further objections would only result in more punishment, whatever that might be.  She forced herself to focus on the conversation, and act submissively.

“Okay, later on you’ll hear your punishment.  As for tonight, here’s what we’re going to do.  We’ll explain to you the new strict rules and we’ll go through your clothing to throw away everything that you’re no longer allowed to wear.”

Donna looked at Ninon, begging with her eyes that Ninon not to go through with this.  Still she kept quiet.

“You can always leave, slut,” Ninon said, noticing the look.  “It’s up to you.  However, the consequences will probably be more than you can bear. It was so stupid to try to blackmail Ms. Brendan. It’s due to your stupidity that we decided to raise the bar and let you work so hard at being a good little slut, you won’t have time to start scheming with old friends.”

Donna hung her head down.  She was too afraid to stop now indeed. She knew Ninon was hinting at her family being hurt.

“Your daughters won’t be coming home; they are with friends, -- as usual by now.” Ninon went on without pausing, knowing what Donna was thinking.  “And Robert called already.  He knows I’ll pick him up at the airport because you are too busy.  So you’re ours’, tonight and tomorrow.”

Donna started to understand how hopeless her situation was becoming.  Nothing ever went the way she wanted it, nothing at all.  Worse, everything seemed to go exactly the way Ms. Brendan wanted things to go – exactly.

“Have a cop of coffee,” Ninon instructed.  “I need you awake as we go through the new rules.”

It was the first kind gesture that Ninon had made that evening and Donna eagerly jumped on it.  She poured herself a large mug of hot fresh coffee.  How she needed that!  She sat down at the table and quietly sipped her coffee.  Ninon just looked at her, observing her.  It was a more than a little uncomfortable but Donna tried to relax as she enjoyed the coffee, making sure she appeared docile.

Work had worn her out, all afternoon she had been busy explaining things, gathering information, running around from meeting to meeting, talking to what she had decided were the most idiotic people.  She loved it, but it had been just too much for one day.

There had been so much that had been left finished. She had to postpone a number of meetings to the following week.  Her chief had approved but it meant that Donna would have all of next week’s work to get done plus what had carried over.  Again, she loved it, but she worried how she could mix such a busy work schedule with her personal life.  Especially so now that Ninon was so on her case about missing a stupid gym session.  As she quietly drank her coffee, Donna could concentrate on her current situation and glanced with some suspicion at Ninon.  Ninon’s anger, her boldness tonight had come as a bit of a surprise but Donna thought about it.  She recalled Ninon’s reaction had been the same when, during the first weekend with Robert, Donna had disobeyed Ms Brendan’s instructions by not making her “fuck” quota with Ms. Brendan’s “employee” – her own husband!

“Ninon must have been reprimanded or something like that,” Donna thought.   The last sips of hot coffee warmed her up.  My disobedience has had bad consequences for Ninon too. Just like that first weekend.  Could she be just another one of Ms. Brendan’s victims?  But how could she get her life so fucked up that now she has to sexually train innocent women?  How can she be so merciless about Vivian’s death?  Donna continued to speculate about Ninon as she finished her coffee.  Things didn’t add up. Is Ninon a predator, or a victim?  Maybe she’s just angry because she lost a large bonus that Ms. Brendan promised her.  And she keeps on losing more money each time that I disobey.  That would explain it all but it makes Ninon a very sick person.   “But then again, she would be only one of the many I’ve been forced to meet lately.”

Donna took a last sip and put the mug on the table.   “And, “ she admitted to herself quietly, “if Ninon is really a ‘sicko’, my situation is even worse than I had thought.”

“Okay, now we go upstairs.” Ninon said the moment Donna’s mug hit the table, and got up.  Donna wearily followed her.  She knew another ordeal was about to begin.  They walked to Julie’s room to her surprise.

“Undress and fold the clothing nicely on the bed, then sit at the computer.  We set up a list of rules and placed it on the Web. You’ll need to memorize your new rules over the coming days, and it’s a long list.  Nevertheless you’ll have to follow your new rules to the letter.”

Donna did as instructed.  She pulled off her jacket, folded it, and laid it on the bed. Next, she unbuttoned her blouse, then her bra, next her skirt, and at last her panties. When she was naked apart from her shoes, and all clothing was folded, she sat down at the computer and started it up.  Ninon took another chair and sat beside her.

“Masturbate as the computer starts up,” she ordered, testing Donna’s obedience.

Donna spit on her fingers of her right hand.  She spread her legs and lifted her feet up to the seat points of her chair, an action that opened her pussy up and started to rub herself.  Her wet fingers coated her clit and inner lips and quickly she felt her pussy react.  She closed her eyes to concentrate better on getting off, rubbed her tits, and pinched her nipples. After she had forced herself in the right mood, she could open her eyes again to look at Ninon. A smile automatically plastered on her face, Donna showed off how good she was in masturbating.  Just how Ninon wanted her to behave, exactly as she had been taught.

As she was busy getting herself off, Donna felt her itch come back with a vengeance. She had not felt it the whole day, but now her itch was back in her ass and pussy full force.  “Worse, the medicine is finished,” she recalled.  She would have problems tomorrow for sure.  Partly due to the itch, she came hard and fast, even before the computer had launched.  Her juices spurted out of her pussy, and she needed both hands to catch it all.  Donna knew full well that she didn’t use to cum like this but now her irritated pussy produced so much natural lubricant and with such force that when she came it was starting to spray out of her.  It seemed to Donna almost unnatural.   She licked her hands clean, and then cleaned her vagina and thighs with her hands, licking them clean. 

“You’re a fucking slut aren’t you?” Ninon said as Donna finished up, her forced smile still on her face.

“Yes Ninon, I am,” Donna promptly answered.

She thought on how thoroughly they had trained her. It had been almost as if she had been on automatic pilot when she just had masturbated.  No shame now to do it in front of Ninon, no shame to use her own spit to get wet.  Always smiling.  Although it was for Donna all an act, she really did cum. And even as she came, she was acting in all the ways that they had trained her.  Cumming wasn’t anything like it had been before all this began, when she could just let go and enjoy the pleasure.  Now cumming was just one more part of a performance that included lots of heavy breathing, passionate moans, dirty talk, moving just the right ways, just the right expressions on her face –just as she had been taught.  Difficult at times but she always pulled it off.

The computer finished, and they were ready to move on.

“Okay, let me login to the web page,” Ninon said.   Donna moved over and Ninon began to type in the home page address and password.  A web page opened with a long list of rules, neatly structured into sections.

“That’s the one,” Ninon said.  The title of the page simply read: “Cutty’s Rules.” Ninon stepped back and Donna moved back in front of the screen.  She glanced at the list and knew she was in for big changes.  Donna had expected some tough rules, but the new rules were not just hard; they were very much in detail.  And there were a lot of them.

“The rules are first split up into larger groupings – there are the ones that always apply to everything that you do.  We call these rules your General Rules.  There are rules that apply at home, and others that apply when going out to party.   There are rules for work.  Furthermore, each group of rules is then broken down into several categories like make up, clothing, behavior.”  Ninon took her time, explaining carefully, making Donna paid close attention.  “There will be no debate about your new rules and you must follow them all, and at all times. We will check up on you whenever we feel like it.  If we find you missing or failing even one rule, we will punish you.”

Donna nodded absentmindedly.  She was busy reading through the list, and it surprised her how much work they had put in to it.  Instructions about the height of the heels on her shoes, the way she had to make herself up for every occasion, even details about the number of bracelets she had to wear at different times. It would be hard, if not impossible, to know all the new rules by heart.

“The punishment will be hard from now on.  You have proven to be unworthy of our trust.  Actually, you’ve proven yourself to be a backstabbing, lying bitch.  So you had better not disobey any of these rules from here on,” Ninon went on.

“We won’t allow you to print the list or make a copy.  You will learn it by heart over the coming days from this site.  After that, we will only allow you access to the parts you have failed to learn and follow, after which you’ll receive your proper punishment.  Pain is also a way to learn the list but much harder.  I would not strongly advise that you not do it that way.” 

Donna nodded a bit, agreeing she preferred to learn the list without what she was sure would be very unpleasant punishment.  But she also knew that doing so was impossible - way too many rules, far too many instructions.  Who could remember it all?

“Good,” Ninon said after getting no response. “Let me explain the overall idea behind the list.  You will be focusing much, much more on your appearance and behavior.  At home, you will be dressed in “themes,” as we call them, the “sexy maid,” the “slutty nurse,” the “naughty school girl.”  We leave it to your own sick fantasies to find what dirty themes you can come up with.  And you will come up with lots of them.  The dress rules in the list, like the shortness of the skirts, height of the heels, apply to the themes too, of course.  Also you will behave according to a theme in order to act it out convincingly.  You will put on a very good … better said, an extremely convincing act for all who happen to be in the house.  We expect you to surprise us with your sexually perverted, kinky ideas and the people who see you living them out had better believe it.”

Donna listened as she browsed down to the section jewelry, and she read about the erotic jewelry that she was supposed to wear.  Nipple clips and rings, clit jewelry, she hadn’t even known jewelry like that existed.

“As for going out, well, the rules as detailed apply. Just go through them. You’ll be exposing yourself a lot more. For instance underwear is a total “no, no.” Until your breasts are done, you may use a push-up bra but your tits need to be clearly visible, and your nipples always rock hard and on display.  The nipple jewelry will help with that if the cold is not enough.” Ninon obviously referred to the part Donna was reading now.

“To put your mind at ease a bit, we will be going more to places where clothing like that is appropriate and we will be attending many more private parties.”  Donna wondered what sort of places Ninon hinted at. The only places she knew where short skirts, no underwear, high heels, tight t-shirts were worn, were the seedy bars frequented by hookers and their pimps, or cheap brothels. “Well, at least I won’t be out of place there as I would be in a normal pub,” Donna told herself, a cynic grin on her face. 

“As for your behavior, well basically you’ll have to play the happy slut at all times. Depending on the situation we expect you to take action or just humbly comply with orders.”

“As for conversations, if you are in control of the conversation, we expect you to chatter and babble about sex, sex and more sex. So always steer any conversation that you are in to sex.  Insist on talking about the porn movie you recently saw, tell them about some perverted thing you just did or the sick fantasy you simply cannot get out of your head.  If you aren’t in control of the conversation, always comply, agree with what is said, no matter how depraved, no matter how humiliating it is for you to do that.  We expect you to really be very actively involved in making sure that the only thing you talk about, … all anybody expects you to talk about is hot, kinky sex.”

“One detail I want to point out is how you will address people from now on.   No more first-name basis for you.  Always use the person’s last name, and I mean always.  Even if people insist on using first names, you’ll keep on addressing them by their last name.”

“Basically, you no longer will make any decisions.  You will obey the rules and when you are in doubt, you will ask to be told what to do.  To make this work at home, you’ll hand in a weekly schedule, which we will approve and or correct in advance, detailing what you will be doing.  That way, when for instance you are alone with your family, you’ll know what to do, you won’t have to ask permission from your daughters or husband.  Makes life easier for you, right?”

“Yes, ummh … Mrs. Bondain.” Donna replied, worried.

“Good, you remembered that rule.  But did you also understand you have to ask permission for everything not within the schedule from now on?  Like going away to a family or a friend’s party.  You don’t go if we don’t approve.”

“I can go to Robert’s parents this weekend, can’t I,” Donna blurted out, panicking that she would miss seeing her husband.   Ninon looked at Donna, shaking her head, a look of staged disappointment.  It took a few seconds before it dawned on Donna.

“Sorry … Mrs. Bondain,” she corrected herself.

Ninon was still looking at her with the same theatric face of disappointment, as if to suggest that Donna was too stupid to understand where she had gone wrong, but still saying nothing.  Donna really didn’t know what she had done wrong and just smiled shyly back at her.

“Who is Robert from now on,” Ninon asked her.

“Oh, ah … yes, Mrs. Bondain.  I’m so sorry.  I meant ‘Mr. Alldring.’”  Donna now fully understood just how humiliating the new rules were meant to be.

“Okay, with a little practice you’ll get used to it as will everyone around you.”

“I doubt that.  We have been always on first-name basis in my family and in Robert’s family too, my in-laws,” Donna thought. “My behavior will be unexplainable.”

“Tell me the correct sentence now.” Ninon went on.

“May I go to Mr. Alldring’s parents’ home this weekend for a party, Mrs. Bondain?” Donna asked with a bit of irritation; it was just too much for her.

“Don’t make me angry, Donna,” Ninon warned with a stern look. “I don’t like your

Tone of voice one bit.”

“Sorry, Mrs. Bondain.” Donna said, much subdued.

“Okay,” Ninon approved.  “Of course you can go this weekend; you needn’t worry about that.  It was actually scheduled and approved already, wasn’t it?  You would have to ask for permission not to go, wouldn’t you?”

That answer worried Donna. Were they planning something?  I hope not, I don’t want any problems with Robert’s parents. “I’ve worked so hard on getting them to like me.”

“Next, the sex training,” Ninon went on.  Donna browsed down to get to worrisomely-long part of the new rules that dealt with her sex training from here on.

“You will start to learn more tricks now.  For instance, you will take professional lap dance lessons. You will learn how to dance around a pole, how to undress in lots of sexy ways, how to excite men and women. After those lessons, you will be able to work at a topless bar and be a big success.”

“Also you will be taught how to masturbate with or without dildos -- up your pussy, up your ass and both.  It is actually an extension to your lap dance lessons but much more hard core.  You’ll walk around with Ben Wa balls stuffed inside you at all times. You’ll need to keep them inside you while walking, sitting, no matter where you are or what you are doing.  Tough at first, but it can be done and you will do it. They will slip out of you a few times in the beginning, especially as you won’t have underwear. This exercise will train your muscles down there properly.  Mind you, the amount of juices you produce -- and especially as these balls will get you excited, making you juice up even more -- will make it even harder to keep them inside.  But this will be perfect training of the major cunt muscle that you will need to milk any cock or dildo properly.”

Donna looked at Ninon wondering: “Is she enjoying this?”

“Also we will train you with bigger and bigger dildos until you can easily shove Lenny up every hole you have and without a problem.   When you can, Lenny and you will put on a big show for Ms. Brendan. She’ll love it.”

Donna shrugged as she thought of the thick, long black rod in the other room.  It would never fit inside her; she was sure of it.

“You were a bit daring by trying to insert it this morning or so I heard.  We’ll teach you how it is done.  You don’t stretch your pussy so far in one day; it takes hours of painful stretching of the lips, the muscles inside.  Stretching your cunt for Lenny will conflict with your Ben Wa exercise, but eventually you’ll have big holes that can flex down to grasp even a tiny dildo.”

“Your ass will be a different case, but then again you already have an enema every day, so you don’t need to hold in your shit anymore. From now on, your ass will always be filled with an ever-increasing sized butt plugs and dildos until Lenny can comfortably nestle up your ass.”

“You will also hire a professional hooker to teach you the tricks of the trade.  Apart from making you more profitable, it will also help to keep you from harm, knowing how to handle customers, what the signs of trouble are. But mind you, we expect you to learn also how to squeeze all the money out of your tricks by putting up a good, … a very good performance. Your customers – no matter who they are -- must always be satisfied.”

“These lessons will also help you with your themes, and should make living out your fantasies so much easier.”

Donna listened as she read through the parts of her new rules that controlled her behavior.  Ninon was moving quickly through those parts and Donna could not keep up but what she read was disturbing.  There were rules on how to walk, how to pose when standing still, when sitting, even how the smile in various situations.

“And also we will teach you much more of the beautiful world of bondage and sadomasochism. You have learned the taste of the whip already, but now we will teach you the etiquette of it.  How to present a whip to someone to use it on you, how to look submissive, be collared, how to walk when leashed.  Oh yes, a whole new world will open up for you.”

“How in the world does that benefit me?  Just more and more depraved abuse at my expense,” Donna decided as she read the list of whips and chains and worse with which she had to get familiar. The long list included latex clothing, corsets, boots, and of course several collars, detailing even the colors of each.  “From what I’ve experienced with SM up to now I didn’t like it and they will do everything they can to make it worse.”  Another rule required her to buy and keep ready a metal dog cage. “And I can see how they will,” she thought as she read the cage rule, which even detailed the size. 

“Now at the end of your new rules, all of your punishments are detailed.” Ninon told Donna to scroll way down.  Ninon didn’t bother to comment on the cage, although she must have seen Donna reading about it.

“Basically, you will be punished whenever we feel you didn’t follow the rules to the letter and heart.  That also applies if we don’t have proof.  So it is important for you to understand you will need to prove you are following the rules.  This can be through pictures, film, or a witness. You will not be punished only as long as we believe it.  If not, we punish you.”

Donna browsed down to find the part where the punishment was described and quickly understood that proof would be very difficult to obtain.  A witness would be out of the question most of the time. “If I’m at home, I don’t want anyone else there if I’m dressed up as a horny maid.”

“The proof, and this applies more to digital pictures and film – which, by the way, we encourage -- you can post on your own web page.  The “who” and “what” of your web page is also in your new rules.  Simply put, you’ll sign up to a service that will host your pictures, and arrange them in nice webpage galleries for people to come and see. It is a place especially for the depraved like you.”

“Anyway, back to the punishment,” Ninon continued, “this will basically consist of lashes.  Depending on the severity of the violation, we will use more painful whips, and stronger strikes.  Now we don’t want to damage you, or leave lasting whip marks, so we will also punish you internally, for instance by forcing a too large dildo inside you or coat you with painful ointments, applying electrical shocks -- anyway, just believe me when I tell you that you don’t want to let it get that far.”

Donna shrugged as she learned about her alternate punishments. Would they really shock her?

“And of course, we’ll punish you financially, psychologically, and even worse if we have to. You know where I’m hinting at.” Ninon said as Donna read through the list of punishments that could be applied. And she knew what Ninon was hinting at. If she really screwed up, they would go after her family. “I have to get them out of here somehow, away from me,” she thought.

“So it is best to follow the rules at all times, collect proof of it, supply your proof to us in the ways we accept it, and you’ll be off the hook. If not, just make sure you undergo the punishment. As you read right now, we strongly recommend you come up with your own punishment for your deeds. If you wait until we sentence you, you can be sure it will be much more and harder.”

Donna thought hard about this “Mrs. Bondain..” she asked politely

“Yes Donna?” Ninon said in friendly way.  She obviously was satisfied Donna was so timid, so under the spell of it all, not at all rebellious.

“If.. how… the level of punishment, the amount of lashes, how will I know how much to ask for?”  

“Hmmm, “ Ninon said thinking.  “Let’s just say that you will have to find out by trial and error. If you ask too much, you either will be sore for weeks or we even might change the penalty to something else, like something financial, or something electrical. Just to make it something that we think is bearable for you. If we find the punishment too light, we take over and things will be worse for you.”

Donna fell silent as she thought about it. Another new problem in her life; if she didn’t follow the rules because for instance her family would never understand, she would have to agree, … no, she would have to devise her own punishment to satisfy Ms. Brendan.

“Okay, now the only place where just the general rules apply is work. We don’t want to get you fired due to misbehavior although you’ll be a lot sexier and close to what is unacceptable,” Ninon explained. “That is why most of the parts are divided into sections detailing rules when at home, when going out, and when at work.  Ms Brendan is more than pleased with your work up to now so she has given you more freedom for that part of your life.”

“Well, at least that is something,” Donna thought sarcastically

“Ok, now let’s go through the dress rules in more detail as we have to work through your wardrobe later. Let’s start at the bottom. Shoes, from now on only 4-5 inch heels or higher. The models, brands, styles that you are allowed to wear are listed. You may not deviate from this unless with explicit permission, and then only if the shoe is whorish enough.”

“As for boots, only latex is allowed, and they have to end above the knee. Other boots are just not really to Ms. Brendan’s taste, and therefore not allowed.  Again, you may deviate if you can prove it to be necessary.”  Donna thought about the few boots she had, and if Ninon also included the winter boots. She really liked that pair.

“Going up we have stockings, socks. With respect to socks they must be long, ending above the knee, no more sport socks or the like.”

I will freeze my feet of that way, Donna thought, With those open porn shoes, just wearing stockings.

“Stockings the same thing,” Ninon went on as the detailed rules passed by. 

In links, they even pictures to explain the idea. The links were all to porn stars. And the majority of them were brunettes just like Donna. They even looked a bit like her, if somewhat younger.  Donna understood they wanted her to look like these porn stars. They had linked her to those pictures so she not only would know what to buy and wear, but also how she had to look overall.  Now, she would have to mimic whores in public.

“Garter belts are allowed. Fishnet stockings too, those are even preferred, the bigger the net size, the better. At all times underwear is forbidden unless we explicitly tell you to wear something. If you have to wear underwear for some reason, it has to be a string, a microstring and the like. Anything else won’t do.”

“Shorts only when extremely short, showing a large part of ass, and they must be tight.  Cameltoes are expected.  No more of those baggy things that you were used to.”

“Tee-shirts only when tight and cut high, preferably showing a part of the breast.  Blouses same thing, tight, short.  Tops are preferred, must be tight and sexy.  Dresses, only those showing a lot of cleavage. They must be thin, preferably see through, and erotic.”

“Well that leaves of course the real erotic clothing, like corsets and so on. They are allowed, needless to say. Actually corsets are a nice way to shape your body.” 

Donna read down through all the rules and linked her way to a few pictures as well.  She got the idea quickly and knew her wardrobe was in for a big change. “I have almost nothing old that will pass these rules,” Donna conceded.

“Again, we do allow you to wear business clothing but as per the general rules, there must be at least one visible erotic item on you. Like a blouse that is tight and thin, showing your nipples, stockings ending just above the skirt, so the onlooker sees the garter belts when you walk, a partly visible corset, you get the picture.”

“That’s the end of it.  Now, you’re going to fetch us some drinks, Coke or something like that for me.  I will go to your room to start removing unwanted clothing.  You will join me with the drinks and help me.  Bring some garbage bags with you when you come up.”

“Okay, … Mrs. Bondain.” Donna said, still getting used to not calling her Ninon.  She got up and walked downstairs as Ninon went into her bedroom.

“All these rules … ,” Donna wondered, “I can’t possibly learn them all and they know it. I’ll have to guess at times what to do, what to wear, and hope I satisfy to their demands.”

She poured drinks in the kitchen for each of them.  “That’s really what they want.  Me guessing, confused at what they’ll accept.  I’ll have to overdo it for safety.  Or I’ll unknowingly break the rules, I’ll have to admit it and humbly supply a punishment for myself. Either way it is too sick for words.”

As she walked up to her room, she thought of Vivian again.  “The threat to my family is still too big right now.  I’ll have to go along for now.  And they know I have to.  Ms Brendan knows…”

When she entered the room, her own bedroom, there was already a pile of clothes on her bed, clothing that had to go.  “Ah, there you are,” Ninon said as she stood up from the drawer she was going through.

“You take over from here. First, fill the bags with the clothing on the bed; next, go through the drawers.  I have seen you can throw basically everything away apart from the business clothing.”

She took a large sip from the Coke, and sat down on a chair.  “If something is okay,

I’ll say so.”

Donna stood speechless staring at the pile of clothing.  She saw her favorite sweater, her blouse she got for her birthday from Trixy, and she just froze.  “This is too much,“ she thought as reality hit her. “They really want me to remove everything?!  What will I wear tomorrow?  Or in the weekend?”  Ninon saw Donna’s panicked look.  She stood up and walked over to her with a friendly smile.

When she was close to Donna, Ninon looked her in the eye, and Donna looked back, submissively, begging her to stop this. Next thing Donna knew, she had received two very hard slaps to her face.

“Oouch!” Donna replied, feeling betrayed. “Why did you do that?”  Ninon just slapped her two more times.

“Obey the rules, Donna!” she said sternly, followed by two more slaps.  Donna stepped back as she felt her burning cheeks with one hand, holding up the other in surrender. “Okay, okay,” she shouted.  “Okay, Mrs. Bondain,” she quickly added as she saw Ninon stepping forward to hit her again.

“Now will you follow the rules,” Ninon asked, still threatening to slap her again.

“Yes, yes, Mrs. Bondain!” Donna replied as she braced herself for another hit.

“Okay, start working on the pile and be quick about it,” Ninon said as she let her hand fall and walked back to her chair.

Donna stood still for a moment as she felt her cheeks burn. She looked miserably at Ninon walking away from her and sighed. “I don’t have a choice,” she thought as tears of frustration welled up in her eyes. Donna fought not to cry; she didn’t want to give Ninon that pleasure. Donna understood that Ninon meant business and that if she didn’t pack her own clothing, throw out all that she had collected, Ninon would be even harsher.  Donna had no good option.

Donna started to pack her clothes, which were thrown carelessly on the bed, into the trash bags. She did her best not to look at what she was throwing away.  It would only make her cry. “Why am I so weak,” she cursed herself. “Why is this happening to me?”

Donna told herself to bide her time and just go along as she did always, and had to for now. Thus, all the clothing on her bed ended up in three large bags, under Ninon’s watchful eyes

“Great, now go through all the other drawers, and the closets. Do you have any more clothing in other places?” 

“Maybe by the washing machine, … Mrs. Bondain,” Donna answered.

“Okay, we’ll check there too, later,” Ninon said as she signaled her to continue.  Donna, like a puppet, walked to her drawers and went through them.  For a moment, she thought to ask Ninon not to force her to do this but one look into her eyes and Donna knew it would be useless to beg.  Instead, Donna emptied every drawer and every closet that held her things during the next half-hour.  Donna noticed Ninon didn’t help, she just sat and gave instructions, which was basically “on the bed.”  When she was finished, a new huge pile of clothing was on the bed.  In her drawers, there were a few thongs; most of them recently bought; plus a few shorts, also given to her by Ms. Brendan. In the closet, her new business suits were all that were left from her collection, together with two or three evening dresses, one of which was the one she had to wear on her first weekend with Ms. Brendan. Her fine collection of clothing had all but disappeared.

“What’s in the boxes up there?” Ninon asked.  Donna looked up and saw the boxes filled with old clothing she and Robert specially put aside some time ago.

“Hmm, clothing, old clothing we saved” Donna added, “..Mrs. Bondain.” She saw Ninon thinking and added quickly.  “We… these clothes have special meaning, we don’t wear them anymore, it is just to remember our past, like a sweater from our university, my prom dress…my wedding dress.”

“Let me see them.” Ninon said.  Donna eagerly complied.  She definitely did not want those boxes to be thrown away. Not her wedding dress, her baby dress.  She showed everything to Ninon, explaining why she wanted to keep them. She ended up begging on her knees, in sheer desperation.

“Get up, Donna,” Ninon said. “Big girls don’t beg.”

Donna complied and hoped that her show of submission had helped.

“We will let you keep the university sweater, the prom dress, the wedding dress, and all other items you wore from up to 16, the rest has to go.”

“But…”

“No ‘buts,’ or everything goes,” Ninon said.  “You just do as your told, or else …,”

Ninon added, a mean streak in her voice.

The exhausted Donna gave up, again. “At least I saved some dresses,” she told herself as she placed her wedding dress back in its box.  But no doubt, they have some sinister plan to use these clothes against me.  Donna forced herself not to think about it, although it was obvious. It made her wish she had just thrown everything away.

In the next hour, the house was cleared of all her clothing. Only a short fur coat was hanging downstairs, plus a long raincoat, which she could only use for work.

Her shoes also were almost all gone, leaving just the high-heeled ones, the only ones she had used lately. Heartbroken, she had thrown away all the beautiful shoes she had collected over the years.  Some really pretty ones but the moment the heel was too short, even begging to keep it for a theme didn’t work.  They all had to go, even the winter boots she loved so much.  “Ms. Brendan hates that type of boots.”

Nine huge bags were carried outside to the garbage bins. She even used her neighbors’ bins to get rid of all the bags. As she walked back into the house, she was cold, tired, and wanted to sleep. She felt drained and lost. It was as if she had been throwing away her life. Ninon saw her walking in and smiled at her “Why so down, Donna?” she said cheerfully “You’ve done a great job, and should be proud.”

“I’m sorry…N..Mrs. Bondain, Donna replied. “I think I’m just too tired now.”   She hoped Ninon would show mercy and let her go to bed.

“Ok, let’s go to bed then.”  Clearly, Ninon meant together.

That wasn’t what Donna wanted but she nodded, and followed Ninon up the stairs after she had closed the house for the night and turned off the lights.