Revenge - Chapter 32 – Part 1 of 2

Revenge

By Karen Singer

Chapter 32 – Part 1 of 2

Early Tuesday morning, Mr. Wolford, the Feinbaum attorney, held the leather briefcase with both arms crossed over it as if protecting it.  He had spent a long night worrying about it and what he should do with all of Ruth’s information.  He’d literally spent over an hour listening to some of the recordings the previous evening with headphones on, just to verify the transcripts in various places.  Everything appeared to be noted and transcribed perfectly. 

       His office was on the bottom floor.  Hugging the briefcase, he entered the elevator and pushed the button for the top floor.  He was ignoring his own supervisor – just to protect him, and to limit the people who would have knowledge of the things he now knew.  He had decided to go over everyone’s head with it.  Well, almost everyone’s head.  The real head of the company was Harry Feinbaum.  The founder and owner of the company.  A legend among legends in the legal world.  But Wolford had decided to go to his son instead.  Richard Feinbaum, more often simply referred to as, Dick.  Dick Feinbaum, Harry’s son, was the number two man in the company.  With the information Wolford now had, he felt he couldn’t go any lower than him. 

The elevator door opened and he nervously stepped out.  There was a large area of desks in front of him used by secretaries and paralegals.  It was early enough that most of them were empty.  He turned right and continued down the hall toward the executive offices he had only been to once since he had been hired several years ago.  As rich and expensively decorated as the downstairs floor was, this part of the building was a different world.  This part of the building spoke – power!

He stopped outside of Dick Feinbaum’s office.  The door was closed.  He glanced at the desk for his personal secretary.  She wasn’t there yet.  He knocked on Dick’s door, but got no answer.  Knowing it was still early, he took a seat in the small waiting area, his arms still wrapped protectively around the leather case.

Five minutes later, two women came walking down the hallway.  One of them stopped at the desk in front of Dick’s office, the other one continued further down toward Harry Feinbaum’s office. 

“Can I help you?” Dick Feinbaum’s personal secretary asked.

“Wolford.  From downstairs, the attorney replied.  “I need to see Mr. Feinbaum right away.  It’s…important.  More than that, it’s…urgent.”

“You couldn’t send the information up through channels?” the secretary asked. 

“Through channels?” Wolford replied, totally aghast at the idea.  “I’m trying to protect those channels.  I’ve got information here that could get people killed!  In fact, it’s more than possible that several people have already been killed.  I need to see Dick Feinbaum, or maybe even his father.  And it’s vital!”

The secretary took note of not only his words, but the tone of his voice and how agitated he appeared to be.  And just as much she noted how carefully he seemed to be protecting the leather case in his arms.  “He’s not here yet,” she told him.  “But I expect he will be soon.  He usually gets here early.”

“I’ll wait,” Wolford said as he sat down again.

The secretary was sure that he would.

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

Diane checked her email as soon as she got to work.  Still no reply from The Sorceress.  Why not?  She had sent her most heartfelt plea.  She had bared her soul in that email she had composed.  And now the Sorceress was ignoring her?  Or was it possible she was hard at work, already finding a way to make Steve love her?  That was a pleasant thought.  But if it were true, she would think that The Sorceress would have at least taken the time to let her know what she was doing.  So basically, Diane was disappointed. 

“Morning Diane,” Monica said as she came into their tiny office.

“Mornin’ Monica.”

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

Dick Feinbaum strode down the hallway toward his office.  Even though he was early, he noted that his secretary was already there, as she usually was.  She didn’t like getting there after him, and she usually refused to go home before him.  He also noted someone who appeared to be waiting for him.  Someone he only vaguely recognized.  And why was he holding that case the way he was?

“Morning, Penny” he called pleasantly to his secretary.  He nodded toward the man.

Wolford stood up.  “Mr. Feinbaum,” he said.  “It’s vital I speak with you immediately.”

Dick didn’t miss the tone of worry in his voice.

“Maybe you better,” his secretary confirmed.  “He was here before even me.”

Dick looked at him.  “Please forgive me,” he said, “but I don’t remember your name.”

“Wolford.  From the first floor.  I’ve got some materials here from a new…client.”

“And you need to bring them to me?”

Wolford nodded.  “I didn’t dare show this stuff to anyone else.  Basically, it’s a time-bomb!” 

That got Dick’s full attention.  He turned to his secretary.  “Coffee please.”  He turned and opened his office door.  “Come on in Wolford.  Let’s see what you’ve got.”

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

“Have you given any thought to what we talked about last night?” Monica asked as she and Diane were working on some packing materials together.

“Talked about last night?” Diane asked.

“About Steve.  What to do with him.”

“Oh.  No, not really.  I don’t have a clue.  You?”

“Maybe a few ideas.  But I’m concerned about something else too.”

“What’s that?”

“The Sorceress.  “Last week she had her turn with him.  I guess this past weekend was ours.  If we’re supposed to be taking turns like she suggested, then it’s her turn again.”

“Oh,” Diane replied as she dumped a load of packing peanuts into a box.  “I guess we need to ask her then.”

“Yeah.  Maybe I better.  But like Carla suggested, I think that maybe it would be a good idea to come up with something new for Steve.”

“I wonder if Carla’s thought of anything.”

“Tell you what.  When we get finished here, I’ll email the Sorceress.  You call Carla and ask.”

“Fine with me,” Diane replied.  “Maybe I should call Ruth too and fill her in.  She missed the conversation last night.  She’s pretty smart.  Maybe she’ll have an idea or two for us.”

“Good thinking,” Monica said with a smile.

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

Dick Feinbaum’s coffee cup was nearly empty.  He had been sitting at his desk with Wolford across from him for nearly an hour, pouring through some of the material that Ruth McGruder had brought them.  Ten minutes after his secretary had delivered his coffee, he had called her and told her they couldn’t be interrupted – for anything! 

“So what do we do?” Wolford finally asked.

Dick shook his head.  “I’m not sure,” he replied.  “But you were right to bring this directly to me.”  Dick made a mental note to give the guy a raise.  The attorney bringing it straight to him showed that he knew what he was doing.  “Go on back downstairs now and let me think about this a bit.”

“What do we tell the client?”

Dick shook his head.  “Forget the client.  I suggest you forget you ever saw this stuff.  Let me take it from here.  “I’ll call the client myself.  I’m going to need to talk to her.  The list of things she wants are ludicrous anyway.  It’s this material here we need to be concerned with.”

“You’re sure you want me to forget about it?”

Dick nodded.  “You never saw it.  And Wolford, I won’t forget you were smart enough to bring this directly to me.”

Wolford felt better, and somewhat pleased.  He was more than glad to be rid of the…evidence.

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

For Susan, it was midmorning when she found an email from Monica.  She was glad to see one from her instead of Diane.  She still hadn’t sent a reply back to Diane, and she knew she needed to.  She quickly opened Monica’s email and read it.

Sorceress,

First of all, please humor me.  Do you have any knowledge of what we did to Steve on Friday?  I’m simply curious as to how “connected” you really are to him.  If you want to know anything further about it, please just ask and I’ll be glad to let you know.

Now, as you know, or you can probably guess, we did force Steve to do something Friday night.  You suggested that we take turns with him.  So I guess that makes it your turn now. 

For our part here, we’re looking for something new to do with him, or to him, or something like that.  Mostly, we’re tired of checking what underwear he’s wearing every day and we’re looking for some new fun with him that way.  We are open to any ideas from you on that score as well.

Please let me know if you plan on playing with Steve soon so we know how to proceed.

Thank you,

Witch Monica

Susan smiled and quickly typed back her reply.

Witch Monica,

I’m sure you’re referring to sending him to the club Friday night wearing his gold dress, and also to the guy that literally held him captive for the entire evening.  I’m also very aware of the scare afterwards where he came all too close to being shot and killed.  Most of it, I loved.  Good one on your part.  Very good!  The final part however scared me, and I can tell you that Steve was petrified.  He’s still somewhat disturbed by it.  By all of it actually.  Evidently, the guy was a real brut.

I haven’t made any definite plans yet on what to do with Steve next.  I’ve been awfully busy.  I’ll try to give it some thought perhaps tonight and let you know.  In the meantime, don’t let me stop you.  Just please keep me up to date so I know what I have to deal with.

The Sorceress

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

Ruth checked her clock.  The “witches” had all decided to have lunch together and she found she was actually looking forward to it.  The purpose of the lunch was to figure out what more they could to with Steve, a topic near and dear to her heart. 

She was just about to grab her bag and head to the elevators for lunch, when her cell phone rang.  “Hello?”

“Hello.  Is this Ruth McGruder?” a woman’s voice asked.

“Yes.”

“Please hold for a call from Mr. Feinbaum,” the woman told her. 

Elevator music came over her phone.  Mr. Feinbaum!  The head man himself?  Ruth was thrilled.  Maybe she really would get some action out of that company. 

“Ruth?” a man’s voice asked.

“Yes.  I’m here,” Ruth replied.

“This is Richard Feinbaum.”

Ruth had somehow thought that the head man’s name was Harry Feinbaum.  Had she gotten that wrong?  “Hello Mr. Feinbaum.  How can I help you?”

“The attorney you met with yesterday turned all your materials over to me this morning.  I’d like to talk with you about it.  How soon can you come in?”

“Um…I’m not sure.  I took the day off yesterday, and I don’t want anyone getting any wrong ideas about what I’m doing,” she said, softening her voice a little to make sure nobody could hear. 

“Can you come after work?” Dick asked.

“Will you be open?”

“I’ll make sure to wait for you tonight.  As late as it takes.  But I think the sooner you can come in, the better.”

“Um…I’ll call my husband and let him know to pick up the kids.  I’ll come straight from work here.”

“That will be fine,” Dick told her.  “Thank you.”

Ruth hung up her phone feeling very satisfied and hopeful.  It sounded like the Feinbaum Company was very interested in her case after all.

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

While Ruth was on the phone with Dick Feinbaum.  Monica was preparing to head out to have lunch with Diane and the other women.  While Diane as getting her things, Monica checked her email one more time.  “Got an answer from the Sorceress,” she told Diane.

Diane had been checking her email too.  And she found an answer as well.  She was anxious to read it, but since Monica was so close, she didn’t dare open it yet.  “What’s she say?”

Monica read the whole thing out loud.  “So I guess it looks like she doesn’t know what she’s doing next.”

“Maybe later she may have some ideas for us too,” Diane noted.

“Yeah.  That might be good,” Monica replied.  “Ready?” she asked as she got up and grabbed her purse.

“Uh…yeah,” Diane replied as she too grabbed her purse.  But her mind was solely locked on the email she didn’t dare open until she was alone.

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

Carla stuck a large French fry in her mouth as she unwrapped her chicken sandwich.  “Okay,” she said.  “Anybody got any ideas for Steve?  And somebody please tell me you’ve at least been thinking about it.”

“Not me,” Ruth replied.  “I didn’t hear about it until Diane called me earlier this morning.”

“Then how about you and Diane,” Carla asked.

“Um…I’ve had other things on my mind,” Diane replied.

“You okay?” Carla asked.  “You seem a bit down today.”

“I’m fine,” Diane replied quickly.  “Really.  I’ve just been…busy.  You know?”

“So how about you Monica?” Carla asked next.  “You’ve always got great ideas.”

Monica smiled.  “I know what I’d like to do to him,” she replied.

“Other than kill him?” Carla asked.

Monica smiled.  “Well, that too.” She replied.

“So what then?”

“You want to know the truth?  I was thinking of maybe something we could get the Sorceress to help with.”

“What’s that?” Ruth asked.

“Well, since the Sorceress seems to like humiliating him with feminine things,” she started.  “I think she said it was easier for her to do that than doing anything else or something.”

“Yeah,” Ruth said.

“Well, to be perfectly honest,” Monica continued.

“Just tell us already,” Carla told her.

“Well, I’d give almost anything to see that little piece of shit have to show up at work wearing a dress, or at least a skirt or something.  It would certainly serve him right.”

“No!” Ruth shouted quickly.  “You can’t do that!”

“Why not?  And I’m sure The Sorceress can actually make it happen.”

“I’m sure she can make it happen too,” Ruth agreed.  “But we don’t want to get him fired!”

“Why not?  It would serve him right.”

Ruth shook her head.  “It’s a bad idea.  If you go that far with him, then it’s all too easy for rumors to get out about what we’re doing with him.  It could all come back straight at us!”

“That’s too true,” Carla agreed.  “Good point,” she said unhappily.

Ruth didn’t want to tell them that she had personal reasons to not get Steve fired as well.  “Besides,” she told them.  “Don’t tell anyone, but I heard a rumor that Steve might have made it to the short list for the next promotions.”

“Promotion!” Monica exclaimed.  “He deserves to be fired!  I can’t think of anyone I’d rather not see get promoted.”

Ruth shrugged.  “We don’t want to get him fired.  We all could get fired instead.”

“Too true,” Carla agreed unhappily. 

“So what do we do then?” Monica asked.

“Whatever it is,” Ruth tossed out, “we’ve got to make sure that it won’t be anything that anyone will notice.”

“Bummer!” Carla grunted.  “I really did like Monica’s suggestion.

“Thanks,” Monica replied.  “But I guess Ruth is right.  Like it or not, it could all come back at us if anyone found out.  So what do we do?”

The women ate for a few minutes, talking about other matters than Steve. 

“You know,” Diane said as they were discussing trying a diffeent club next week.

“What’s that?” Carla asked just before she took another bite of her sandwich.

“There may be a few things we could consider.”

“For what?” Carla asked.  “I’m not going to any other club instead.  Gunfight or no gunfight.  Have you seen any of those other places?”

“No!” Diane countered quickly.  “I mean about Steve.

“Oh.  What?”

“Well…” Diane said, trying to figure out the best way to suggest something she had read somewhere a long time ago in some dominant submission story.  “Maybe we can’t put Steve in dresses or skirts, but there are other things we might be able to manage instead – if we’re careful.”

“Like what?” Monica asked, fully interested now.

“Well…what if…we had him wear a blouse instead of a man’s shirt or something.  And since he’s wearing a sport jacket all the time now so his bra won’t be visible, it would stay hidden under his jacket – mostly anyway.”

Carla smiled.  “I’m liking this already.  “Yeah, I think the right style blouse might just work.  And I just know how much he’d love wearing it!”  She laughed, and so did the other women.

“But there might be other things we can have him do too,” Diane added.

“We’re listening girl, so keep talking,” Carla told her.

“Well, I was thinking about….”

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