The alarm on Lucy's phone started to chime. She opened her eyes a little and looked over to it. 6 AM, Thursday morning. She was a fairly light sleeper. Sean, who lay next to her, could sleep through the end of the world. Still, she turned her alarm off and got up quietly so as not to disturb him and walked into the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror. She was nude, as she was most of the time now, except for her velvet collar. It was starting to show some signs of wear, now, but the emblem on the front of it still glinted brightly in the light.
She regarded it as her most treasured possession - the very first thing he gave to her when she first came...a year ago? Has it been that long? She thought back. Such a long time, and yet, very little had changed. She settled into the routine of her daily life of serving Sean. He had high expectations of her, and she was proud enough to say confidently that she met them, at least most of the time. She quickly went through her morning routine - brushing her teeth, shower and arranging her hair, which she still kept dyed jet-black. Sean would be waking up at 7 AM, and she prided herself on having everything just so for him so that his day always started well. She finished at 6:30 and spent a few minutes picking out a nice pair of pants and a shirt for him and set it, and a pair of briefs and socks on the chair for him.
She then grabbed her phone, headed out to the kitchen, and started warming up the espresso machine. She had a few more minutes before Sean would be getting up, so she plugged her phone into a set of speakers on the kitchen counter and played some music. She found that since becoming Sean's she loved more and more styles of music now, as he was widening her horizons.
Today she picked show tunes and started humming along as she headed over to the pantry for her apron. She didn't have many choices in her life, but Sean did allow her wide latitude over the food she cooked. She used it as an outlet for her creativity. Sean always had something nice to say about a meal. Even on those occasions where a new recipe was a complete flop, he was appreciative of her efforts and encouraged her to keep trying. She heard Sean's raucous alarm go off. 7 AM.
She stood up and went to the espresso machine and started making Sean a cafe latte as she heard him start up the shower. Then she started to cook breakfast - bacon and scrambled eggs this morning - something simple. She was just putting out his plate and latte when he arrived. She straightened up as he sat down, took the apron off, and put her hands behind her back, thrusting her naked breasts out as she did so, with a smile on her face.
"Good morning, Lucy," he said.
"Good morning, Sir."
"This looks wonderful, as usual." He took a sip of the latte and added, "And I don't think I've ever had a better latte before, Lucy."
Her smile got even wider and she said, "Thank you, Sir."
"I am going to try to come home a little early from work today, Lucy. You don't need to do anything special. I'll text you when I'm on my way home."
"Yes, Sir."
He finished his breakfast and Lucy cleared the table. He disappeared for a moment in his study, came out again with his briefcase, and headed for the door. While he did this, Lucy went to the door and put on her robe. He met her at the front door and opened it. Before he left, he stood with her in the doorway and took her in her arms and kissed her hungrily, like had nearly every day since the first time he touched her. She closed her eyes and melted into his arms. He finally broke away and said, "Have a nice day, Lucy."
"Yes, Sir." she said as he walked towards the car. He turned and shut the door.
She spent a moment lost in thought. She loved kissing him. She loved serving him, and had since that first day. She thought back and realized that they never fought or argued. Not once. She didn't always like what he decided, but even that wasn't very often. More often than not, he somehow knew what she wanted and provided it for her - usually without her asking. She did a lot of work, taking care of the house, seeing to all of Sean's needs - from the mundane to the sexual. She knew he appreciated everything she did, and that in and of itself made serving him a pleasure, even when she was doing things she hated to do.
She hadn't had any money in her hands since the day she got the deposit back from her old landlord when she gave up her apartment. And she signed that check over and gave it to Sean - the last possession she had in the world in her own name.
She was a complete pauper, and yet she realized she had nothing to spend money on anyway. Sean kept the roof over her head, paid all of the bills, paid when they went shopping. She realized that since she began this life, she had not bought a single thing. Sean had even done her income taxes for her earlier this year - marking the final chapter of her previous life (he, of course, kept her refund). She'd not file next year - after all, she would have no income.
She thought back through the year that passed with satisfaction. It was a different life, that much was certain. But in giving herself to Sean, it seemed to her that she actually got the better part of the deal. She had handed him all of the responsibilities that she didn't miss having to deal with. The responsibilities she got in return were things that she felt better suited to handle, or that she downright enjoyed. She thought about all of this while sipping a cafe Americano (she too found that she liked what she could do now with the espresso machine, and didn't mind cleaning it when she was done) and nibbling on a bagel. When she finished, she got up and went to work on her chores.
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Lucy was just finishing the laundry when Sean's text message came in. She glanced up at the clock. It was 3:30. He said he'd be home in about a half an hour. She had just enough time to put everything away. He liked for her to be waiting for him by the door when he came home. She went to the living room and waited by the bay window to listen for his car pulling up to the door. When she heard it, she stood and took up a position six feet in front of the front door, with her hands in place behind her back. He opened the door and she smiled.
"Welcome home, Sir."
"Thank you, Lucy. Today was a good day. Not too much to do."
As she did every day when he came home, he headed over to the sofa and she brought him the mail. He sorted the mail into bills, junk and other, generally. He gave the junk back to Lucy and she took it to the kitchen to throw it away. Today there was no "other" mail, and he set the bills aside for the moment. "Lucy, please come over here for a moment."
She came over to him. She was curious - normally, when he came home, she'd start preparing dinner. Today, he was home a little early, though.
"Lucy, do you know what today is?"
"No, Sir, not especially."
"Today it is exactly a year since you gave yourself to me. Today is the day you gave me your apartment deposit - the last thing that was yours in the world."
"Exactly a year? What a coincidence - I was just thinking about this last year this morning, but I had forgotten the exact date."
"You have given exemplary service in that time, Lucy, and I think it's finally time to trade your training collar for a more permanent one."
Lucy sensed something momentous was happening. He walked behind her and she felt him reach up to her neck and remove the velvet collar she'd worn almost continuously for over a year. He put it in his pocket and pulled out something different. She couldn't see it, but she felt him put something stiff and heavy around her neck. He fastened it at the back and spent a minute or so fiddling with something. When he was done, he handed her a mirror.
She looked at herself. The new collar looked like it was made of a thick cable. The metal had a satin finish and was grey. Hanging from it was a small medallion of polished steel. Like the velvet collar before, it was adorned with the "+" symbol in a circle.
"This collar is unlike your last one. This one is permanent. You cannot take it off yourself. Only I can, with the key that I have here. The rules have not changed. You may request that I remove it at any time and end your service to me. But as long as you are wearing this collar, you are my property."
"Sir... It's beautiful, Sir. Thank you."
He took her by the shoulders, turned her around and embraced her, holding her tight.
"No, Lucy. Thank you."
