Protected By Her Controlling Boss

Angela shuddered as the cold metal that had just graced her wrists began to wrap around her neck before locking into place. Though she longed to raise her hands to her neck and feel her new collar, she already knew better than to move without permission once ordered into place. Just moments before his voice had given her a warning, a chance to take back everything she had agreed to. Only four months ago, she had been an average person simply going about their day when her mother, Janice, had called. Angela frowned at the name on her phone's screen. Her mother never called her. Not for something good, not unless Janice wanted something from her. The last time they spoke, Angela's mother informed her of her father's failing business and her sister's university costs. Angela had finally given in and wired her mother another $25,000 to cover the tuition costs after Janice had threatened to show up at her office and make a scene. Angry tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered the one time she tried to refuse her family. Her mother showed up crying and screaming in the lobby, her phone out, live streaming to an audience on the internet who had called Angela a horrible daughter while never knowing what was actually going on. Without being given the chance to explain nor defend herself. In delightful cruelty, Janice had revealed the name of Angela's company, and phones were already ringing at reception with complaints about her and demands for Angela's resignation. Even though the hubbub had calmed once Angela agreed to send her mother money and the company had released a statement on their social media explaining that an employee's personal life should not conflict with their employer's business, behind closed doors her manager had screamed until red in the face. Sweaty, Mr. Arthur had been infuriated as he wiped his brow and told Angela there'd be no second time. If anything like this happened again, she'd be instantly fired. Since then, Angela had tried to keep a low profile and carry on as dutifully as she could, but she was near her breaking point. At some point, the phone had stopped ringing, then started again, barely a moment had passed since the previous call had ended. Angela had been on the way to the coffee shop a few businesses down from her building when the call from her mother had stopped her dead in the middle of the sidewalk traffic. She had been so caught off guard, so anxious about what was about to happen that she failed to answer her phone. This immediate second call sent Angela's stress levels into overdrive. Clearly, something was wrong, and Janice would not stand having to call a third time. Jumping to her senses at the third ring, she barely managed to answer the call before Janice would hang up and try again. "Hi, mom! Is everything okay?" Angela moved to the side of the pedestrian traffic to prevent herself from blocking someone else and held her breath, waiting for the tirade to begin. "Angela Louise, how dare you make me call you a second time. How many times have I told you? You stupid girl. Answer the phone as soon as I call! You know I never want to waste my time with you, let alone having to repeatedly call you over and over again, " Janice had screamed into the call. "I'm sorry, mom. I was walking and didn't hear my phone over the noise. Once I realized my phone was going off, I couldn't get to it in time. You know I wouldn't just ignore your call," Angela pleaded in response. She began walking toward the coffee shop again, counting her steps, her breathing, and every person going by. She was using every possible trick she knew to calm her voice down. Any sense of unease or possible disrespect from her and she'd regret it. Sweat started to pool at her lower back and under her heavy breasts. She regretted the outfit she had chosen today. It was too warm outside and sweltering under her mom's raging. The white dress was shorter than knee length, but the heavy material kept her warm. Normally, the office was freezing, so she had added a navy blazer to the outfit. It was too much. Her toes were slipping in her heels. She wanted to sit down so badly and was grateful when the coffee shop was in sight. The odd hour had left plenty of seats open. "I know better than to trust what you say, Angela, " her mom hissed, "anyway, I don't have time to set you straight. I called you for a reason." "At least she's getting to the point right away, " Angela thought to herself. "Listen, your father's company has gone out of business. He was able to last through all the layoffs, but in the end, the profits just didn't recover." Angela could hear the displeasure in her mom's voice. Anyone who wasn't useful to her had no place in Janice's life, and her longtime husband was no exception. "You know he's over 60 now, and it will be hard for him to find something else this close to retirement. So we're considering retiring now and downsizing a bit." The disgust was more than obvious now. "I'm sorry, mom, truly. How's dad handling this? Is he okay, " Angela asked, only thinking of how stressed her dad probably was right now. "Who cares about that? Honestly, you should be worried about me and Angelica anyway. You know she's in her final year of school and studies so hard she doesn't have time to work, " Janice's mom spat as Angela finally reached the coffee shop. Angela struggled with the door while juggling her bag and the phone still glued to her ear. With a sigh of relief, Angela hurried to her favorite table near the back, away from the people and the noise but with a great view of the passersby on the street. "Don't sigh at me in that tone, you brat!" Damn, Angela didn't realize her mom would hear that and think it was about her. It wasn't, but it was, she supposed. She put her purse in a chair near the wall and then hung her blazer off the back of the chair to keep it from wrinkling or picking up a stain from whatever sticky mess might be hiding from her. She sat down, took a breath of relief, and slipped her feet just out of her heels to let some air cool her down. "Mom, that wasn't..." But before Angela could respond to her mom, Janice interrupted her. "I don't care. Anyway, just listen to what I'm going to tell you." Angela furrowed her brows. What could she do now? Her savings were drained from her mother's constant demands for money. The woman had no sense of financial responsibility at all. "Since your sister is almost done with her degree, it's up to you to cover the costs of her final year, including spending money. Your father and I also need money to pay for movers, and you better be here this weekend to help us with cleaning up the house and packing." "It's happening already?! How are you two already ready to move and didn't tell me beforehand? Plus, you know I have no money right now. I'm living paycheck to paycheck, just covering your allowance and the mortgage for you and dad. Then you demanded I pay Gela's college fees. I don't have anything, mom, " Angela tried to stop herself from crying into the phone. She was at her witt's end, her family had simply drained her of every single dime and penny possible and, now, at merely 26 she had no savings, no cash, maxed out credit cards, and maybe $46 in her back account currently. "I promise you, Angela, if you do not stop asking me questions and just listen, I will make you regret it. Now, as I was saying, we expect you here to help us cover our outstanding bills." Angela bit her tongue to stop from interrupting and explaining she had no money again. "I know you are such a lazy cow that you don't have any money right now. You've got nowhere near the potential your sister does. Yet, we paid to put you through school, but all you could find was some generic office job. It's no wonder you don't make enough to support yourself, let alone your family." "The thing is your father is, well was, very respected in his field, and one of the company's former clients came to him with a proposal." It was with that statement Angela felt true foreboding and dread. Whatever her mother was about to tell her could not be good at all. What kind of proposal could her father's work acquaintance have that could possibly result in Angela covering her family's expenses. Nothing was making sense. "You remember Jameson from West Construction, right? Well, he left his father's company to open his own law firm. It's doing quite well." Angela was completely lost, Jameson? She definitely didn't remember him, nor did she understand the jump from construction to law. "Mom, please, I really don't remember who you're talking about or what law firm you mean? What are you trying to say?" "Ugh! Goodness, you are so dumb. I'll spell it out for you. Jameson is Mark Rose's son. He's been working for his father in the company's legal department for the last few years but decided to leave the family company to expand their reach into other fields. Mark's other son is opening his own marketing firm, too, after spending several years honing his skills at the construction company. They're such good boys. They know how to help out their family." "Okay, but what does that have to do with me?" "Angela, I swear when I see you next, I'm going to slap your smart mouth into next week. Stop interrupting your mother. Fine, anyway, you are to quit your job and go work as the office manager for Jameson's law firm in Houston. In return, he'll pay us the money we need and cover your basic living expenses and room and board. Your father and I plan to introduce you to Jameson tomorrow after we finish packing the house up, so bring something nice to wear." Angela's mouth hung open, simply dumfounded with what her mouther had just said. After a moment's pause, the two women spoke at the same time. "Angela, are you still -" "What do you mean - " "What do you mean what do I mean? I mean, you're going to go quit your job, pack a bag for the weekend, and get your ass over here right now and help your family." "But, " Angela sputtered at Janice before taking a breath and starting over, "Mom, I can't just quit my job. I need to give notice, and besides, I have never managed a law firm, and I don't want to move to Houston." "Nonsense. I've already called your office and spoken with your boss. Mr. Arthur is such an agreeable man. He was delighted to hear you're quitting. This way, they don't have to fire you and risk having to pay you severance or have you get unemployment; you're no longer a liability to them." All Angela had wanted was a cup of coffee to get her through the rest of the afternoon as she was supposed worked over time and now her mom was telling her she had to uproot her entire life, her boss wanted to get rid of her, and she needed to leave her home just to help her parents out of their own mess? Frustrated, Angela practically yelled at her mother through the phone, "You can't just call my boss and quit for me. There's no way they'll accept that. I have to go, mom." Angela knew she'd regret hanging up on her mom later, but now wasn't the time to worry about that. Grabbing her jacket and bag, she hurried out of the shop without getting any coffee and returned to her office in the blink of an eye. There he was, standing in the doorway to his office, eyeing Angela's empty desk and waiting for her to return. The elevator doors opened to show Angela her boss's awful form, hovering in giddy anticipation for what was about to happen. "Miss Grantham, how nice of you to finally return. Let's discuss things in my office." Angela hated Mr. Arthur, a slob of a man, he enjoyed making her uncomfortable, standing too close to her, speaking down to her, but mostly, he treated her as less than a person. In his eyes, she was just a peon to push around as he saw fit, something to merely play with when bored. Even though he'd never actually touched her, Angela was always worried he would. Mr. Arthur waited for her to sit in front of his desk before closing the door. Great, now she couldn't request that he leave the door open and she was at his mercy in the room alone. "Miss Grantham, I hear you've decided to leave our company for new experiences elsewhere, " the evil man smirked at her. "I have to say I'm surprised to see you go." He leered at her, waiting for her response while walking over to his desk only to stand directly in front of her. "Mr. Arthur, I've done nothing to make you think I'm quitting. I haven't handed in my resignation, and whatever my mother may have told you isn't the truth. I have no intentions to leave." She hated sitting below him and having to look up at his awful smirking face. "That's a shame, Angela." Surprised at the sudden personal address, Angela glanced up at him, "What's a shame, Mr. Arthur?" "Well, either you agree with me that you are quietly choosing to quit, or I'll have to call security and HR to tell them about your behavior." "What could you possibly mean by that, " Angela hastily responded before adding, "sir?" "Well, how could we employ a woman like you? Everyone just saw how brazenly you walked into my office and asked me to close the door. No one would disagree with me if I said that you tried to come on to me for a raise, would they? After speaking with your mother, I've decided to cooperate with her to get you out of this company." The man leaned back a little while still looking down at her before inching just close enough to touch her if he wanted. "We both know that with my statement and your mother backing me up by detailing your feelings for me..." He uncrossed his arms before leaning over her and lightly stroking his knuckles down her arm, "it would be so embarrassing if I threw you out of my office right now with your hair messed up and dress disheveled." He stopped rubbing her arm to grip her tightly, tight enough to leave marks where his hand was on her upper arm. "You know I'll do it and enjoy what I can from you before tossing you out. Can your reputation handle that?" The bile began to rise up in her throat.