Epilogue

Juliette's forehead was nearly touching Linda's.  Even though the two were only inches apart, it didn't feel like either was invading the other's personal space.  Instead, it felt strangely intimate.

Linda received Juliette's gaze as though it pierced through her physical being and directly into her soul.  She kept her eyes upward and fixed on Juliette's face.  She couldn't will herself to look away.  Juliette looked downward toward Linda with an expression that was one part sympathy, one part understanding and one part disappointment.  Of course, Linda found the disappointment troubling.

"Linda dear, I know that you haven't been with us for very long, but I've grown quite fond of you," Juliette said sweetly as she slowly backed away from Linda.

"You must swear to me that you will never disobey an order or be inattentive again," Juliette continued while drinking in the entirety of Linda's predicament.

Linda didn't even try to speak, but she smiled with relief and obediently gave her head a slight nod.  Unfortunately, the onlookers couldn't discern her smile as it was obscured by the muzzle gag strapped tightly around Linda's head.  Similarly, nobody could see the grimace that she made when she attempted her nod.  Linda's ponytail had been pulled back so tightly and attached to the back of her posture collar so that even the slightest movement caused searing pain across her scalp.

"I know that you will behave from now on," Juliette said on Linda's behalf.

"And I won't hold your indiscretions against you in your new position at the estate," she said reassuringly.

Linda knew that the words sounded comforting, but she didn't like where Juliette's monologue was heading.

"In fact, I've decided to promote you to a higher position, and use your experience as a model for the entire staff."

In her peripheral vision, Linda could make out a remote controller in Juliette's hand.  Juliette held it higher for Linda to have a better look, and she smiled as she pressed one of the buttons.  Linda, mercilessly strapped into a vertical hogtie, was wearing nothing but ballet boots.  The tightly wrapped package that was Linda was slowly lifted by an electric motor humming high above the ornate front hall.  She came to a stop nearly three stories above, suspended just under the chandelier.

The leather panel that covered Linda's nose and mouth prevented Linda's coworkers from hearing the gasp of surprise when she began her ascent, but her eyes grew unusually wide, and a tear trickled down one cheek.  At the peak of her journey upward, she swayed slightly as she struggled furiously in her bonds due to the lingering effects of the red pill.

Slowly, the onlookers disbursed and continued on with their daily duties, each a little more motivated because of the new ornament hanging in the hall.  Linda tried to scream, but just as the muscle relaxing gas began to wear off, a time-released mist of the gas would be expelled from a dispenser inside her gag keeping her silent.

Juliette stood in the hall admiring Linda's dilemma from below.  She couldn't help feeling just a little bit responsible for Linda's indiscretion with Dan and Amanda since Amanda didn't actually win the competition, as she confided in Linda.

Because the results were an exact tie, as Juliette had suspected from the start, she knew that Dan and Amanda would not be satisfied with any arrangement dictated by others.  She knew that they would try to escape once they heard the results – and she let them.

As Juliette stood in the hall daydreaming, she noticed Tara and Beth crossing the foyer on their way to a staff meeting.  Juliette called them over and instructed them to let Linda down and release her in 20 minutes.  Juliette further instructed them to escort her to her room and gave the three of them the remainder of the day off.  She suggested that they go to the employee lounge to relax over some margaritas.

Juliette walked away content and musing that she was right about Dan and Amanda from the start.  They were a one in a million couple.  They were made for each other – just like Juliette and her late husband.  Maybe someday she would track them down to tell them so.

Miles away, Dan and Amanda felt like two mice fortunate enough to scurry under a couch after being swatted and toyed with by a well fed cat.

* * * * *

Links to Leather or Knot Chapters 1-20:
1.   First Impressions
2.   The Job Interview
3.   Dan's First Modeling Session
4.   Things Get Personal
5.   Amanda’s in a Bind
6.   Dan’s Private Modeling Session
7.   A Lapse in Judgment
8.   Honesty is the Best Policy
9.   Dan’s New Position
10.  The Employment Agreement
11.  Juliette’s Domain
12.  Dan’s Preparation
13.  Amanda’s Decision
14.  The J-2010 Training Harness
15.  Amanda’s Mistake
16.  Linda’s New Job
17.  On The Job Training
18.  The Final Tests
19.  Test Results
20.  Epilogue