Chapter 87: Melissa: Mistress Duties

Melissa

With less than forty-eight hours to go before the contractors arrive, I’m starting to feel as though things are coming together. The last of the furniture and dungeon equipment should be moved by the end of today, leaving all of tomorrow to do a final check. Kirsty has the transportation under control. No member departures or arrivals are scheduled for Monday, so the contractors have exclusive use of the ferry for their equipment and staff. The barge has already be relocated to the jetty near the dam, ready to move the heavier equipment and materials.

Not everything has been plain sailing. I only belatedly thought to ask about the amount of noise the work would generate, and we made a late decision about closing E3 as well as E4. While the continued unavailability of the Northern block of accommodation is frustrating, it’s perhaps a blessing in disguise. We’re going to have enough difficulty keeping the forty or so members on the island away from the work as it is.

Moving the dungeon equipment would be easier if Amber wasn’t wearing shackles, but she chose to be in the Bondage slave category, so the club must play its part. That means I must place her in my work party, since I’m her temporary overseer until Madame Rebecca can find someone suitable for the task. Hopefully one of the visiting mistresses will accept the role. The staff mistresses don’t have the time with so many staff taking leave during the quiet part of the year. Most of us have been working extended hours with minimal breaks since the club re-opened. That’s created a backlog of leave we are only now tackling in earnest.

“What’s this piece of equipment for, Madame Melissa?” asks Amber.

Madame Rebecca will have instructed Amber to address her overseer as ‘Madame’ so I don’t correct Amber in addressing another member of the Slave caste as such. The title feels strange to me, but not entirely unpleasant. Madame Chloe and Madame April have both been pressing me to switch to the Mistress caste but I’ve steadfastly refused. I just don’t think I’m Mistress caste material. Besides, I actually enjoy the Slave caste lifestyle.

“That’s a Sybian,” I reply. “It can be used to give pleasure as a reward, or torment a victim mercilessly.”

“Is using it part of the Bondage slave routine?” asks Amber.

“There’s no set routine for a Bondage slave,” I reply. “What happens to you depends on your overseer and your own fetishes. La Chatte Heureuse doesn’t tolerate torture or cruel treatment, but everyone has different boundaries. What happens to you over the next fortnight is up to you as much as your overseer.”

“Yeah, that’s what Madame Rebecca explained. How long do I have to wear these shackles?”

“As long as your overseer thinks they are necessary. If you keep failing to address your overseer as ‘Madame’ then the shackles are likely to remain.”

“Oh! Sorry, Madame,” says Amber, with almost convincing regret.

We press on with moving the dungeon equipment from the E4 basement. First we stack the items in a room on the floor above, before starting to move them to the Tower dungeon. I was hoping to get additional help from one or two of the others in the group moving furniture into E3, but they aren’t making as much progress as I hoped. Perhaps I need to supervise their work more closely.