The Elevator

She pushed the button to call the elevator and put the bags of groceries she was carrying on the floor. Hands free, she brushed the snow off her hair and coat. The snow had been expected, but the two to four inches the weather man had predicted had unexpectedly turned into a great deal more. By early afternoon, weather reports had started throwing around estimates of a foot, maybe more, then added a warning that the wind might pick up. She was grateful for the corner grocery store, whose owners still lived upstairs and could stay open longer in such weather. She'd been able to pick up enough food to see her through a couple days if need be.

A burst of cold came from behind her. Another resident in the apartment building came in. The elevator came and she stepped on, holding the door for the man who'd just arrived.

"Thanks," he said. He pushed the button for the 10th floor. He, too, carried a couple bags holding groceries. She could see a baguette sticking out of one bag and a bottle of wine under one arm.

"Sure," she said, and pushed the button for her floor, the 7th.

They stared at the lights above the door, watching the lights move to the right as the elevator rose.

Two. Three. Four.

They heard a noise and the elevator jerked to a stop. They started at the numbers for another few seconds, but nothing happened.

"Uh-oh," she said.

He looked below the button panel and saw the emergency phone. He picked it up and soon heard a voice, "Can I help you?"

"Yes, we're stuck. The elevator stopped," he said.

"OK, we'll get a crew out there as soon as possible. How many people are on the elevator?"

"There's two of us."

"OK. Stay calm and relax. We'll get you out of there soon."

He hung up the phone and relayed the information to her. He seemed annoyed. She sighed, looked down at the bags near her feet, and sat down.

"Well, it's a good thing I bought some wine on the way home then, isn't it? He laughed and sat down across from her, leaning against the wall of the elevator. "What did you get?"

She peered into one of the bags. "Bread, cheese, lunch meat, some popcorn, but that's no help here." She looked into the other bag. "Good thing I didn't get any ice cream." She laughed. "Pop Tarts, in case the power goes out, chips, batteries, and some bottled water. How about you?"

He pulled the baguette out of the bag and tore off a piece, handed to her, and tore another piece for himself. He took a small bite, then opened his bag to reveal some cheeses, olives, a small jar of sun-dried tomatoes, toothpicks, and some sliced cold cuts.

She laughed. "Were you planning to have a party tonight?"

He smiled. "Actually, I was expecting a client, but she cancelled. I work from my apartment."

"Really? That's a great commute," she said. "What do you do?" She uncurled her legs and sat cross-legged. She pulled a bottle of water from her bag, opened it, and took a small sip.

"You might want to go easy on the liquids," he said. "Who knows how long we'll be in here?"

"True enough," she said, capping the water and setting it aside. She sighed, and leaned back against the elevator wall.

"Long day?"

"Long week," she said. "Long month, actually."

"What's got you so stressed out?"

"Work, mostly. And my stupid ex."

"Is there any other kind?" They laughed.

"I suppose not. He called me, begging me to take him back. Swore he'd dumped the tart he was sleeping with while we were married. Said he'd seen the light and saw the error of his ways, all that sort of stuff. But what he really saw was the divorce settlement papers and what he's going to have to give me for running of with that little tramp."

"Ah. One of those kind of stupid exes." He tore another piece off the baguette, and pulled out a hunk of cheese. He unwrapped it and broke off a piece, holding it out to her. "It's smoked gouda."

"Mmm! Thanks! You have excellent taste."

He nodded his head and smiled. They ate in silence for a few moments.

"So you didn't answer my question," she said.

"Your question?"

"Yes. What do you do?" She took another sip of water and brushed crumbs off her coat. She untied the sash of her long, wool coat, stood up, and removed her coat. He was surprised to see how shapely she was. The coat was too large for her and, without it on, she looked 20 pounds lighter. She sat down, curling her legs up.

"Oh. That question." He paused. "I do consulting work and some writing."

"How interesting! It must be nice to be able to set your own hours like that." She leaned forward.

"It can be, I guess. But if I don't work, I don't eat. And it's hard to give myself vacation. What do you do?"

"Accounts payable for a store. It's pretty mindless work most of the time. The bills come in, the checks go out. But at least the people are nice. What kind of writing do you do?"

He hesitated again, a bit longer this time. "Oh. Short stories, some online stuff. Nothing you've ever seen, I'm sure."

"Oh." She nodded a bit, sensing that he was avoiding her question. She sighed a bit, and looked around the elevator. "How long till they get us out of here, d'you think?"

He shrugged, glad she'd taken the hint. Not too many people took the news that he was a professional dominant and that he wrote erotic stories for a living very well. And she didn't look like the type who would, he thought, though, he admitted to himself, you never could tell. "Who knows, with this weather. Could be soon, could be hours."

She nodded thoughtfully. "My aunt was once stuck in an elevator for almost a whole day. All alone. She said she nearly went crazy by the end. That would seriously freak me out."

"Yeah. I can imagine."

There was a ringing noise. Both of them checked their cell phones, which didn't get any reception in the elevator, then realized it was the elevator phone. He picked it up and listened, saying "OK" a few times. When he hung up, he didn't look happy.

"It's gonna be a few hours. They can't get anybody out here till it stops snowing. Too bad we don't have cards or something."

She smiled, reached into her purse, and pulled out a deck of cards.

He laughed. "Do you have a corkscrew in there, by any chance?" He waved at the bottle of wine.

She laughed, and started to dig deeper in her purse. She began pulling items out, finally producing a corkscrew.

He bowed at her. "I will never again underestimate the power of a woman's purse." He uncapped the wine and offered it to her. She took the bottle, looked at the label briefly, then drank and handed the bottle back to him. He drank, then sat the bottle between them.

They stared around the elevator for a bit, and suddenly she said, "My name is Alison. I live on the 7th floor."

He was startled for a moment, having let his mind wander, thinking about what she might look like undressed. "Will. My name is Will. Tenth floor."

"Wow. You must have an nice view up there. I look straight into the top floor of the building next door."

"It's nice."

They sat quietly again for a few minutes. He pulled off another piece of cheese, and lay that between them, along with the baguette.

She sat there, trying to come up with something they could talk about, when he abruptly said, "I'm a professional dominant. I tie people up and make them do things for money."

She blinked. "Come again?"

"I am a professional dominant. I specialize in bondage. Women. Only women. I don't have any male clients. And the stories I write. They're, well. . . They're about bondage, too."

She stared at him, then seemed to realize she was staring, and tore her eyes away. She couldn't think of anything to say.

He was angry with himself. Why did I tell her that? She'll get me kicked out of the building or something. He was somewhat surprised to find himself caring what she thought about him, and tried to brush those thoughts away. "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. Let's just pretend I didn't say anything, OK?"

"No," she said slowly. "No. It's OK. I mean, it's a job, right?" She smiled a little. "Must be an interesting job. What's the weirdest thing somebody's asked you to do?"

"Oh. I really couldn't say."

She blushed. "I'm sorry. Clients must want you to keep that sort of thing to yourself."

"No, it's not that. I mean, sure, they'd never want me to tell you who they are. But I'm really not sure what the weirdest thing anybody's asked me to do is. I'd have to think about that."

She relaxed, picked up the bottle of wine, and took another drink. They'd been in the elevator for half an hour.

Gradually, they began talking about what he did. He told her that he had a room in his apartment dedicated to work equipment (she couldn't help but giggle when he said that) and that he'd been surprised that he could make a living as a dominant, but it was a big city and, well, stranger things happened, he supposed.

She sat for a moment after he finished talking. He thought she was working up the nerve to ask him something. Most people wanted to know who is clients were, if he'd seen anybody they knew or anybody famous. Finally, she spoke, and he was surprised.

"Do you think I could see it sometime? The room, I mean."

"You want to see the room?"

She hesitated briefly, and nodded, quickly grabbing the bottle of wine again and taking another, slightly longer drink. So she didn't have to look at him, she focused on picking up some bread and getting some cheese to put on it.

He watched her closely, thinking. "Sure. If you really want to."

She looked up, almost surprised. "Really?"

He nodded. "Sure." He cocked his head slightly. "You're sure you're not a police officer?"

She laughed and raised a hand, making a criss-cross motion over her heart. "Nope. Promise." They laughed.

They were stuck in the elevator for another hour and a half, during which time they talked about how they'd ended up in the city, what their hobbies were, and their favorite restaurants. When the elevator began to move again, he was a little disappointed. He held the doors open for her as she stepped out at her floor.

She turned to face the elevator. "Thank you for the wine and cheese."

"Thank you for the conversation." She turned to walk toward her apartment and he said, "I'm in 10C, if, you know, you want to come visit. Tonight would be fine," he added hastily, mentally kicking himself after he said it for sounding so eager.

She half-turned, smiled, and said, "OK."



A couple hours later, she was standing in front of the elevator. She knew that if anybody was watching her, they'd think she was insane. She'd lift her arm, then drop it, lift, then drop. She'd nearly pressed the UP button for the elevator four times. She turned, took a couple steps toward her apartment, stopped, took a deep breath, shook her head quickly, and turned back to the elevator. She quickly pressed the button. The elevator came after only a few seconds. She stepped in and pushed the button for the 10th floor, thinking briefly that maybe she should have taken the stairs. The doors opened and she stepped out onto the 10th floor.

I must be absolutely insane, she thought. He's practically a total stranger, no matter how good-looking he is, and he's a professional dominant. This can't be a good idea.

She found herself walking toward his door and knocking before she realized she was doing it. She was about to turn around when he opened the door. He smiled, genuinely, she thought.

"Hi Alison. Won't you come in?" He stood aside.

She took a few steps into his apartment. It looked like any normal apartment, nice furniture, no whips lying around, nobody chained to the wall. She laughed at herself for thinking such a thing.

He watched her survey his apartment. He'd seen countless women come in and do the same thing. He wondered, fleetingly, if she'd ask to try some of the equipment and felt a rush of excitement over the thought of tying her up and teasing her. He prided himself on his professionalism, never allowing himself to become emotionally involved with clients. A few years before, for about six months, he'd been involved in a relationship with a submissive, but it had ended and he hadn't really minded. He'd kept himself busy enough to not mind the lack of any real relationship, but now he found himself feeling a little longing. He hadn't looked for another submissive, mostly because he decided that the whole dominant/submissive thing wasn't as exciting to him as bondage.

"Would you like a glass of wine? Or water?" he asked.

"Water would be fabulous," she said. He disappeared into another room and she looked around some more. He returned shortly with two glasses of water, handed one to her and motioned her to the sofa. He sat on a chair across from her. They drank, and he could sense her discomfort.

"At least the snow has finally stopped," he said. Small talk usually eased the nerves of clients. "I heard that the City figures they'll have the streets clear by the morning."

She nodded and placed her glass on a coaster she'd spotted on the table between the two of them. "At least tomorrow is Saturday and I can enjoy the snow in the park, maybe."

They chatted for a few minutes and, when he sensed that she'd relaxed, he used a lull in the conversation to offer to show her the room.

She blushed slightly. "I'd like that," she said softly. They stood and she followed him to a door on the other side of the room.

He flicked on the light and she could see that the room was well-stocked. There was a wooden chair in the middle of the room, something that looked like a doctor's exam table only it had restraints attached to it, and, along the walls, iron rings at various heights, with restraints on chains near the floor under each set. On one wall was a giant X made of wood with restraints attached to it. She felt a rush of excitement just being in the room. On either side of the door were two large cabinets. He let her wander around the room, watched her slowly reach out to touch a few of the things. She paused by the chair and turned around to look at him.

"So, this is where you work." She waved her arm around and smiled.

"Yes. This is where I work. At least part of the time. When I write, I use the computer in my bedroom." He turned to one of the cabinets and opened it. She walked over to examine the contents.

Inside, he had a neatly organized collection of items to use for restraints: handcuffs, leather wrist and ankle cuffs, scarves, long pieces of fabric and leather, and some blindfolds. She picked up one of the long pieces of leather and said, "What do you do with this?"

Will watched her examine it and said, "I use that to tie someone to the chair." He proceeded to explain the uses for several of the other items, those used to bind his more flexible clients near the elbows, restraints specially made for hogties, and so on. Then, he moved over to the other cabinet and opened the doors. She followed.

Inside the second cabinet were items she didn't recognize at all. She looked at him questioningly.

"This shelf has gags. These are ball gags, those are ring gags. And that's bondage tape. It's specially made so it doesn't hurt coming off." He showed her single sleeve gloves, crops, whips, and a variety of vibrators, dildos and butt plugs (he noticed her frown over the latter and made a note to avoid those if she wanted to experiment with him). He explained that he kept everything thoroughly sanitized and showed her the sanitizing machine he had in the adjoining bathroom.

She perched herself on the exam table. He sat backwards on the chair and looked at her. "So. Any questions?"

She laughed. She thought for a moment, frowned a little, then said, "So you really prefer just bondage?"

He was a bit taken aback by the question, having expected something different. "Yes," he said simply. "I do. I love the art of restraining someone in a way that they're reasonably comfortable, but completely unable to move."

She nodded thoughtfully and looked away. She seemed to want to say something more, but didn't. He took a chance and said, "Have you ever thought about this sort of thing?"

Their eyes locked and he knew the answer. "Yes," she said softly.

She got up from the table and walked around the room, again briefly touching some of the items. He made a note of what she lingered over and what she avoided. She stopped behind him and he sat still.

"When I was a kid," she said slowly, "there were a bunch of kids on the street around my age. Mostly boys, which meant anytime we played any kind of game that involved a damsel in distress, I was the damsel. I always liked those games."

She hesitated and he could hear her moving around behind him. Finally, she reappeared to his side, gazing intently at the St. Andrew's cross on the wall. "When I was a teenager and began to watch movies or shows on TV that involved somebody being tied up or threatened, I began to notice that I was very interested in it. It took me a while before I realized that it made me excited to see someone get tied up."

She walked back to the exam table and sat down again, but avoiding his eyes. "My ex made me feel like I was defective or weird when I mentioned it to him. He made me feel ashamed. I hated him for that."

He stood up and walked over to her. He put his hands on her shoulders. She looked up at him. "You're not defective. We're all wired differently." He shrugged. "Some of us just got wired so that this sort of thing turns us on."

She nodded. He sat next to her, close, but not touching her. They sat in silence for a few minutes. Finally, he said, "If you ever want to try something, let me know. No charge."

She looked at him. "Really?"'

"Sure."

She hesitated.

"Are you doing anything tonight?" she asked.

He laughed and stood up. He turned toward her and looked her square in the eye. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Yes, I am."

"OK. Wait here."

It felt to Alison like he'd been gone an eternity, but he returned after less than a minute, carrying a clipboard with a piece of paper on it. He showed her a list of things that he could do and they talked over the various activities, so he could get an idea of what she'd be willing to do, what she wanted, and what she wasn't interested in at all.

"OK," he said when they were done. They established a hand signal and a safe word.

"OK. I'm going to leave the room and look over our checklist. I'll give you three minutes to strip down to your underwear. When I come back into the room, I will be in charge and you will do as I say. I will not hurt you, I will not leave you unattended while you are gagged, and I will stop if you tell me. You need to let me know if I hurt you as I'm putting you in any of the restraints. Agreed?" She nodded, and he left the room.

Alison quickly stripped to her underwear and neatly folded her clothing, tucking it away on the floor near one of the cabinets. She spent the remaining time looking around the room again. She didn't hear him open the door, and, as he walked in, he saw her staring again at the St. Andrew's cross. He knew they wouldn't use that on the first night; he doubted she had any experience being tied up properly and didn't want to scare her away.

"Sit on the chair, Alison."

She turned, smiled, then saw he wasn't smiling and hurried to sit on the chair. He took a blindfold, a scarf, the long strip of leather she'd asked about earlier, and matching leather wrist and ankle restraints from the cabinet. He slipped the blindfold over her head, adjusting it so that he was confident she couldn't see anything. He could feel her tense slightly, and put a hand on her shoulder. She relaxed almost immediately, nodding slightly. He put the wrist cuffs on, pulled her arms behind her, and hooked them together. The ankle cuffs were hooked to small rings on the legs of the chair.

"Are you comfortable?" She nodded once. Her checklist showed a low interest in pain or dominant/submissive activities. He was pleased that she had similar tastes to his, preferring the simple act of bondage. He walked around her, admiring her slender body. She wore a push-up bra, he noticed, but he didn't think she needed it. He paused to play with her shoulder-length auburn hair. She sighed a little, almost cooing.

He'd positioned her on the chair so that he could easily insert a vibrator. He picked up a small one off the shelf, one that wouldn't be uncomfortable while she sat down. He walked over to her kneeled between her legs, and used one hand to move her underwear to the side, the other to insert the vibrator. He was pleased to see she was already very wet.

Alison gasped as he touched her, then again when he used the remote to turn the vibrator on at its lowest setting. It was only a matter of about a minute before she felt an orgasm coming on, only to be denied when he shut the vibrator off. She sat on the chair, panting, and slightly slumped over. He waited a minute or so, then turned it on again for about thirty seconds, then turned it off. She was surprised when he unhooked her arms and ankles.

He helped her stand, let her stand for a minute, then guided her over to a corner where he'd placed a mat on the floor by some long lengths of rope. Will told her to kneel and she did. He told her to lie down and, after slight hesitation, she did. He reattached the wrist restraints behind her, and clipped the ankle restraints together. He let her lay there for a little, then told her to bend her knees.

Before Alison knew it, he'd hogtied her and attached her wrists and ankles to the ropes attached to the wall. It took some pressure off her shoulders, but made it seem a little more scary. She was definitely nervous about this, but he was a professional, she told herself, and he would be careful with her. Fleetingly, she thought about how nobody knew she'd gone to see him and about how he had her tied up so well that she couldn't possibly get out. The realization, instead of scaring her more, made her all the more excited.

When he knew she'd settled into the position, Will clicked on the vibrator. Alison had forgotten about it and it startled her. For the next ten minutes, he teased her with it, turning it on and bringing her close to orgasm, then turning it off. By the end of the ten minutes, she was moaning loudly. He decided to leave her tied up for a little while and went off to refill their glasses of water.

By the time he'd returned, her breathing had calmed. He was surprised to find himself aroused by the sight of her. He'd been doing this for long enough that he'd learned to control himself when he worked. But this isn't work, he thought. She's not a client. But I can't fuck her on the first date.

He closed his eyes and tried to clear his brain. It took a few minutes, but his erection subsided and he decided she'd been in the hogtie position long enough. He unhooked the ropes and the clasps, releasing her arms and legs. He massaged her shoulders and she moaned again. He reached down and removed the vibrator. She felt strangely hollow for a moment.

He helped her roll over, then eventually stand. He guided her to the exam table and had her lay down. He'd decided this would be the last part of the evening; he didn't want to scare her away. He watched as Alison made herself comfortable, then removed the restraints on her wrists and ankles. He moved her limbs so that he could restrain her using the devices on the table.

He left the room for a few minutes. When he came back in, he picked up a small ball gag and walked over to the table. He said, "Alison, I'm going to gag you now. It shouldn't hurt, but it might be a little uncomfortable at first. I need you to lift your head and open your mouth."

She complied and he slipped the gag into her mouth, then secured the strap behind her head. He watched as she adjusted to it, then sat on the chair in the room for a few minutes wile she lay on the table. He decided to tighten the restraints so she couldn't move. He used a belt attached to the tale that cinched over her stomach. He allowed her to adjust to that, then got a larger vibrator from the cabinet. He lifted her hips and pulled her panties down. She was so wet, the vibrator went in easily. She shifted uncomfortably at first; it was the largest thing that had ever been inside her.

He clicked it on and she was in heaven. It felt soooooooo good. Not enough to make her have an orgasm, but just really good. Then he turned another dial and she realized that the vibrator had another piece outside, one that rested on her clit. She jerked against the restraints and he could hear her muffled moaning grow louder. It took just a short time and she came in a great, thunderous wave of ecstasy. He turned off the vibrator and waited until she'd stopped moving before removing the gag.

When she'd caught her breath, he undid her restraints and removed her blindfold. He cranked up the table so her upper body was slightly elevated. She waited a few minutes before opening her eyes. Finally, she looked at him.

He panicked. Had he gone too far? Would she think he was horrible? He hadn't done much to her at all, yet he feared he'd lose her just as he was realizing that she might be someone he could have a relationship with someday. But then she smiled.

"Again."

I know this is for the contest but I am hoping you have more chapters to come...very nice

Very fine work Maddie.
:wow_nbs:
Well done as to form and content and makes for
a smooth and easy read.

Thanks to both of you. It's the first time I've ever let anybody but my husband read what I wrote, so I was a bit nervous about posting this.

Nothing to be nervous about...I wish I could write my feelings down like this.

Hey maddie...congrats to a wonderful story! It was a pleasure to read it and I agree with chattel - absolutely nothing to be nervous about! :)

Hope to read more from you in the future and good luck with the contest!

Thanks, Silke. Writing is something I've long wanted to be able to do better, so this is nice practice.

very nice maddie, very nice. well written, good use of short story form, good charachters, nice descriptions. all round good story!! respectfully blu

I agree with everyone else! I liked this one - it's always nice to see a little wry humour in there "Again". Purr! The slow build-up was good too.

Hope to see more of this sort of thing, maddie, I'm sure you've got some more stories in that brain of yours. Hugs,

Q xx

Wow, very good. I just loved it! I agree with the above, please give us more.

Great story Maddie!

I certainly do hope you write more as you have a great talent.

Aussiegirl

thanks for sharing your story
i agree with the others - well written and enjoyable to read....and i second the vote for more chapters! ;)

I guess there's a perk to the server being down for a couple days, combined with being at our new house and not fully moved: I'm halfway through chapter 2 and have an idea of where the rest of this will go.

This was very nice Maddie...I'm with Chattel will there be other chapters?