(Note: This part deals with the lead up to a D/s relationship. Skip it if you are after steamy sex scenes:)
"So. What does the world hold for you today, Isabel?" I could almost buy his jocular manner.
"Oh, just the usual." I gave him a small smile. "And you? I hope today's an improvement on yesterday."
"Perhaps it is, remains to be seen, I think."
"Is Lynne coming round?"
"No, we broke up."
"Oh no! I'm so sorry, Jack."
I wanted to get up and hug him, but in the end I just sat there awkwardly, arms half-extended across the table.
"Don't be sorry, honey. It was going to happen eventually, I'm sure."
Honey!
I nodded, watching him carefully.
"She and I just became a routine, in the end, I think. I'm not as sad as I thought I'd be. Am I horrible?"
"No!"
"You're just too nice to say. I bet the last two days have made you reconsider the company you keep at lunch."
"Jack!"
His eyes were on mine, a resigned look in them.
"Please just be honest with me about any issues you have, Isabel. I can explain things more, if you'd like."
"Stop it, please." I was pissed off.
Jack looked at me sharply.
"You haven't done anything to hurt anyone, least of all me. You didn't want to hurt Lynne, anyway. And I'm not so spineless that I would sit here, placating you, worrying about you, if you were the kind of bastard who deliberately went about making people miserable. I respect for you now just as much as ever, and I appreciate you even more, perhaps. Who cares about your sexual proclivities? They don't impact on your kindness and your humanity. There are plenty of horrible men who are, what's the term you use, vanilla? They're vanilla and they're happily married and they go around belittling women to make themselves feel big, and you? You're the antidote to those kinds of men. I hate those men! So don't sit here telling me you're one of them!"
I lost my voice towards the end of my speech, as tears threatened to spill over. My jaw was quivering - I quickly hid my face as I tried to get it under control. I heard Jack's chair scrape back and then his strong hands were gripping my arms, helping me up and out of there. I let myself be guided, embarrassed beyond belief.
Safely in his office, I slumped down onto a chair.
He moved another chair to face mine. His thumbs gently caressed my knees. He waited patiently.
"Jack?" His name came out as a sob as the tears started in earnest.
"Bella, what's the matter?"
"That's not why you like it, is it? You don't do it because you like to make women feel like they're crap, like they're nothing?"
I rested my head in my hands and tears plopped into my lap. I felt pathetic.
Jack scooped me up and onto his lap, where he wrapped me tightly in his arms.
"Fuck no, Isabel! What going on? Where did this come from?"
I shook my head, trying to dismiss the question.
"I'm sorry, Jack." I wiped my eyes. "I'm being an idiot."
He tilted my chin up so he could look into my eyes.
"Isabel." He sounded so assured, so gently commanding. "Tell me."
"Well," I started, "it's just that I got a shock this morning, because Leon, well, he said some things. One minute he was normal, you know, obnoxious but normal, and the next he was telling me to...ah...show him my..."
I left the sentence hanging, avoiding Jack's eyes.
"And I was trapped there, and he was pretending to be talking normally to me. People walked past. And you... Christ, it sounds like nothing when I say it out loud."
"No." Jack's voice was low and dangerous. "No, it doesn't sound like nothing."
"And I couldn't bear it if you thought of me that way too, and I just didn't know."
"I think the world of you, love."
We sat that way for a number of minutes as I discretely tried to wipe my nose.
"What a fucking little prick," Jack said, suddenly.
I smiled.
"He is a little prick."
"Do you want to report him? I'll come with you."
"Don't you have a class?"
"Well, they can't expect me to hold their hands." He grinned at me.
I felt lighter already. I stood up.
"Let's go, then."
"And later I think I need to answer some questions for you."
I blushed.
"So. What does the world hold for you today, Isabel?" I could almost buy his jocular manner.
"Oh, just the usual." I gave him a small smile. "And you? I hope today's an improvement on yesterday."
"Perhaps it is, remains to be seen, I think."
"Is Lynne coming round?"
"No, we broke up."
"Oh no! I'm so sorry, Jack."
I wanted to get up and hug him, but in the end I just sat there awkwardly, arms half-extended across the table.
"Don't be sorry, honey. It was going to happen eventually, I'm sure."
Honey!
I nodded, watching him carefully.
"She and I just became a routine, in the end, I think. I'm not as sad as I thought I'd be. Am I horrible?"
"No!"
"You're just too nice to say. I bet the last two days have made you reconsider the company you keep at lunch."
"Jack!"
His eyes were on mine, a resigned look in them.
"Please just be honest with me about any issues you have, Isabel. I can explain things more, if you'd like."
"Stop it, please." I was pissed off.
Jack looked at me sharply.
"You haven't done anything to hurt anyone, least of all me. You didn't want to hurt Lynne, anyway. And I'm not so spineless that I would sit here, placating you, worrying about you, if you were the kind of bastard who deliberately went about making people miserable. I respect for you now just as much as ever, and I appreciate you even more, perhaps. Who cares about your sexual proclivities? They don't impact on your kindness and your humanity. There are plenty of horrible men who are, what's the term you use, vanilla? They're vanilla and they're happily married and they go around belittling women to make themselves feel big, and you? You're the antidote to those kinds of men. I hate those men! So don't sit here telling me you're one of them!"
I lost my voice towards the end of my speech, as tears threatened to spill over. My jaw was quivering - I quickly hid my face as I tried to get it under control. I heard Jack's chair scrape back and then his strong hands were gripping my arms, helping me up and out of there. I let myself be guided, embarrassed beyond belief.
Safely in his office, I slumped down onto a chair.
He moved another chair to face mine. His thumbs gently caressed my knees. He waited patiently.
"Jack?" His name came out as a sob as the tears started in earnest.
"Bella, what's the matter?"
"That's not why you like it, is it? You don't do it because you like to make women feel like they're crap, like they're nothing?"
I rested my head in my hands and tears plopped into my lap. I felt pathetic.
Jack scooped me up and onto his lap, where he wrapped me tightly in his arms.
"Fuck no, Isabel! What going on? Where did this come from?"
I shook my head, trying to dismiss the question.
"I'm sorry, Jack." I wiped my eyes. "I'm being an idiot."
He tilted my chin up so he could look into my eyes.
"Isabel." He sounded so assured, so gently commanding. "Tell me."
"Well," I started, "it's just that I got a shock this morning, because Leon, well, he said some things. One minute he was normal, you know, obnoxious but normal, and the next he was telling me to...ah...show him my..."
I left the sentence hanging, avoiding Jack's eyes.
"And I was trapped there, and he was pretending to be talking normally to me. People walked past. And you... Christ, it sounds like nothing when I say it out loud."
"No." Jack's voice was low and dangerous. "No, it doesn't sound like nothing."
"And I couldn't bear it if you thought of me that way too, and I just didn't know."
"I think the world of you, love."
We sat that way for a number of minutes as I discretely tried to wipe my nose.
"What a fucking little prick," Jack said, suddenly.
I smiled.
"He is a little prick."
"Do you want to report him? I'll come with you."
"Don't you have a class?"
"Well, they can't expect me to hold their hands." He grinned at me.
I felt lighter already. I stood up.
"Let's go, then."
"And later I think I need to answer some questions for you."
I blushed.
