Submission by Ella Ardent

she tried on her lunch on Friday. It was three inch wide satin in a
purple that perfectly matched the hood.
    She surreptitiously checked.
    “A lot of ribbon,” the clerk said
with a smile as she measured out the lengths. The pile of purple satin on the
cutting table made Joanna’s mouth go dry. The clerk was an older woman,
silver-haired and efficient. She was obviously trying to make conversation.
“What’s it for?”
    Joanna hesitated, not wanting to
tell the truth, not able to think of a plausible lie. “I’m not sure,” she said,
forcing a smile. “My roommate asked me to pick it up for her.” She shrugged and
caught a glimpse of a poster showing kids dressed up for Halloween. “I think
it’s for her Halloween costume, but she always wants to surprise everyone.”
    “Well, there’s enough here for her
to be a purple satin mummy,” the woman said cheerfully. She snipped the last
length from the roll and began rolling it up in her hands. “Wouldn’t that be a
sight?”
    Joanna couldn’t summon a coherent
word to her lips. Was that what he was going to do to her? Bind her completely
in satin ribbon? And then what?
    Eat her?
    Take her from behind?
    Give her to Rafael?
    Or share her with the Countess?
    Joanna had to grip the edge of the
counter, she felt so lightheaded.
    As she walked back to the office,
her hood and her ribbon in her purse, she looked at all the people hustling
past. How many of them knew first-hand about the Plume? How many of them had
been aroused with peacock feathers? How many of them were naked beneath their
raincoats?
    She stopped on a corner, waiting
for the light to change and noticed the extremely high heels of the woman
standing beside her. She wore sheer stockings and a raincoat that just brushed
her knees. Joanna noticed the dark scarf at her throat.
    Their gazes met.
    The woman smiled - was that a
knowing smile? - then the light changed and she marched away, hips swinging, as
Joanna looked after her.
    Just how many members did the
Plume have?
    And how many of them had been
trained by the Master?
     
    ***
     
    By Friday night, Joanna was in a
state. She was so agitated and restless that she couldn’t even write a complete
sentence on her laptop.
    She tried. Repeatedly. Her article
on the Plume was going nowhere fast, her quick career advancement at the paper
wasn’t happening, but all she could think of was the firm grip of the Master’s
hands on her, the low magic of his voice.
    The night ahead.
    “Twitchy,” Louise said, pausing on
her way out the door for a date. “You need more of a social life, Joanna. Stop
working so much and get laid once in a while. It’s not good for you to work all
the time.”
    “Good idea. I’ll think about it.”
    “You could come tonight, you
know.” Louise stopped, holding the door open with one foot.
    “I’ve got to finish this article.”
    Louise shook her head and rolled
her eyes. “Do you listen to anything I say to you?” she said, but she was
smiling and her tone was affectionate. “Next Friday, I’m going to fix you up.”
    “Great. Thanks,” Joanna said,
wanting nothing other than to see Louise leave.
    She did.
    Joanna went straight to the shower
to begin her preparations. She’d gone back to the salon to have herself made
sleek again, wanting to ensure that the Master had her precisely the way he
wanted her to be. Her flesh was tingling, although this time it might have been
as much from anticipation as from the body wash and its mysterious ingredients.
    She’d chosen a pink lipstick, one
that matched the purple better. She decided it suited her as she smoothed it
over her lips and massaged it into her tingling nipples.
    She dressed as before, her hands
shaking as she slid the stockings over her thighs. The heels didn’t seem quite
as high as the last time. She could walk across the room now, without
stumbling, and even swing her hips. She recalled the way he’d lifted her almost
off the ground with one arm and had to