ASHLEY'S MISTAKE

by Pixie Isobella (2023).

Moira smiled at Ashley. ‘I’ll leave you in Brandon’s capable hands. Have fun learning to obey, my dear.’

The woman had left without looking at Ashley, who was still stunned in shock. She wanted to stand up and leave, just walk right out, but she was also determined to finish the mission.

I should just leave. I know I should. But I can’t go back to the station with nothing. And there is something going on here. I just don’t know what it is.

‘You’re not going anywhere, darling,’ said Brandon, as if he had heard her thoughts. ‘You’re staying right here with me.’ He chuckled a soft laugh, then kept speaking, each word clearly enunciated and precise.

‘You’ve forgotten how to move. You’re going to sit here, still, motionless. Until I tell you that you can move again.’

Terrified, Ashley felt her limbs become leaden and heavy. Her breathing quickened as she realised she couldn’t move. She couldn’t lift her arms from out of her lap where they were sitting. She couldn’t lift her feet off the ground.

What the hell was this?

‘Very good,’ the man murmured, his voice rich. ‘You’re very receptive. One of the best we’ve had today. You’re going to be a success, my dear.’ He leaned back, crooking one knee high over his other leg and clasping his hands around it.

‘But first, let’s get rid of that silly name of yours. Then we can start on your clothes.’ He smirked at her, a gleeful light in his eyes. ‘Listen to me carefully. You’re not Ashley Trentham any more. You don’t answer to that name. If anyone calls it out to you, you don’t respond. Is that clear, you little slut?’

Ashley shuddered, his words enfolding her with an eerie terror. She felt her brain accepting what he said as true and she fought desperately, somehow, to escape the compulsion.

‘Yes, it’s clear,’ she said, her lips stiff as she fought to stop them moving.

‘Good,’ Brandon said, rich approval surging through his voice. ‘Such a very good girl. Tell me, what is your name?’

I am Ashley, I am Ashley, my brother calls me Ash… At the station they call me ‘Leelee’ and ‘Ashen’ and I hate it.

‘I…’ Ashley paused. I am Ashley. The words screamed at her but they wouldn’t come out of her mouth. ‘I… don’t know,’ she said eventually, nonplussed.

He laughed out loud. ‘Such a silly, silly girl who doesn’t know her own name. Very good. Let me see…’ he consulted the file on the desk in front of him. ‘We don’t have a ‘Blossom’ yet. Let’s call you that.’

A strange fear was creeping over Ashley’s skin - my name is Ashley, damn you - as she listened to his words. The unwelcome heat from the tea was surging through her now, it felt almost as if she had soft, warm, glowing electricity in all her veins.

I’ve been drugged. Fuck. This is a disaster. Even if I make it out of here, I’m never going to live this down.

‘Your name,’ said the man, ‘is Blossom. Just like a sweet dairy cow. Isn’t that nice? An unassuming little flower, ready to be plucked. Ravished. Violated. Fucked.’ He smirked at her, a nasty little arrogant smile on his lips. ‘We’re naming all the female intake after flowers and fruit at the moment. So that you know your job is to be sweet and tasty.’

Ashley shuddered, trying to tear her eyes away from his. She wondered if she could break free for long enough to force herself to throw up. The tea churned bitterly in her stomach. She had to get out of here.

The man kept talking. ‘Repeat after me. ‘My name is Blossom. I answer to Blossom. Please call me Blossom. When I hear someone call me Blossom, I look up and smile.’’

No, no, no. Ashley fought to stop her mouth making the words but she couldn’t. Her lips moved without her volition. She felt numb, desperate to fight whatever the man was doing to her, but unable to find any weapons.

Her voice came out her mouth, sounding faint but still, unquestionably, her own voice. ‘My name is Blossom. I answer to Blossom. Please call me Blossom. When I hear someone call me Blossom, I look up and smile.’

‘Good girl, Blossom.’

Horrified, she realised she was lifting her chin, just slightly, her mouth smiling, a sweet, innocent, hopeful smile at the cruel man across the desk. I am Blossom. I answer to Blossom…

‘Wow,’ he grinned, the first truly genuine response she had seen from him. ‘You’re so freaking receptive. Let’s test it, shall we? What’s your name, girl?’

‘Blossom,’ she said, feeling warm and flushed as she said the word. ‘My n-name is Blossom.’ 

‘Good girl. Do you like sex?’

‘Sometimes’, she answered, unable to stop herself answering honestly. Inside, she was trying to fight the strange warmth that kept flooding through her, forcing her to do whatever he told her to do. My name is… My name is… Ash… I am…  I need to stop myself listening to him and then I’ll remember that my name is… My name starts with…

‘You like sex sometimes,’ Brandon said, his tone making a joke out of her answer. ‘You’re going to learn to enjoy it all the time, aren’t you, Blossom? Because that’s why you’re here.’

‘Yes,’ she said quietly, looking at him and smiling. When someone calls me Blossom, I look at them and smile. ‘I’ll learn to always enjoy sex.’

‘That’s my girl.’ The man picked up another piece of paper, studying it intently. She couldn’t tell if it was for real or if he was play-acting. I must get out of here… She tried desperately to lift her arms but they stayed, sullen and heavy, unmoving in her lap.

‘Now that we’ve got your name sorted out, let’s get to business. You must think we’re stupid,’ Brandon said, not lifting his eyes off the page. ‘You do realise that we know the face of every police officer in this town? Do you know what that means, Blossom?’

It means I’m fucked, she thought. Dammit, I need to remember my name. It’s Blossom… No, it’s Ash… Ash-something. Or another name that starts with ‘A’...

‘That means,’ Brandon continued without waiting for an answer, ‘that we can’t keep you here in our operation. We’ll need to keep you moving. Luckily, I’ve got the perfect solution. I can solve two problems with one…’ he paused, winking at her. ‘Two problems with one little ravishable flower.’

He picked up his mobile from the desk and stepped away towards the windows. ‘Sit still and be quiet in your stall like a good little cow while I make a call.’

Now is my chance, while he’s not looking. Ashley fought wildly to get her arms to move but they wouldn’t. Some other part of her brain was refusing to act, reminding her that she needed to obey, she needed to be quiet and sit still. Like a good little cow called Blossom… Like a good little flower, sweet and receptive.

Eventually she stopped struggling, realising it was pointless. Instead she directed her attention to trying to overhear what Brandon was saying on the phone.

‘She’s sitting in front of me. I think you’ll like her. We’ve called her Blossom.’

‘Yes, come and take a look. I’d like to suggest that you take her in payment for the payment we owe you. Normally, she’d be worth more but I need to move her fast. They'll be looking for her but I know you know how to make girls vanish.’

‘Excellent. We’ll see you shortly. She isn’t going anywhere.’

Dim terror flowed through her. She kept working to remember, to force her tongue to say the words. My name… My name is… I have to remember. My name is…

Brandon hung up the phone and stepped back across to stand behind his desk, looking down at her sitting still in her chair. ‘You’re such a good girl, Blossom,’ he said softly.

She looked at him and smiled, and it even felt like a real, genuine smile. The type of smile she hadn’t even been able to fake for the last few months of hell in her job. Brandon smiled back at her.

‘Your new owner is coming to look at you. I think he’ll like you. And you’re going to sit still, sweet and compliant, while he gets here. Aren’t you, Blossom?’

My name is Blossom. Of course it is. That’s why he keeps calling me Blossom.

‘First of all,’ Brandon said, ‘take off your shirt. You may move your arms and upper body to do this. Your legs must stay still.’

It was the tea, she thought horrified as she started to undo the buttons down the front of her white work shirt. I am a freaking puppet. He’s turned me into a puppet. Brandon reached out to take her shirt from her.

‘I’ll take that,’ he said, smiling. ‘You won’t be needing it anymore.’

Ashley’s breath came fast and heavy as if she had been running. Without the shirt, her breasts felt so very exposed in just her work bra. She had worn a lacy bra today, knowing that it made her large breasts a pretty shape inside the shirt. Knowing that having pretty breasts would distract people and mean she was less likely to be suspected.

Now, she flushed, wishing her breasts weren’t so very exposed, or so very sexual looking. She wished she could stop Brandon, seated again across the desk, from looking at them with such a knowing look in his eyes.

‘No, darling,’ he said, as if he had guessed what was in her thoughts. ‘You’re a toy now. You have to sit here, nice and quiet, waiting for your new owner. He’s on his way here as we speak.’ He smiled at her. ‘Have another sip of your tea, Blossom. We do need to have you on your best behaviour, don’t we?’

Unable to stop herself, Ashley reached out and lifted the cup to her lips, taking a sip and swallowing. The warm, bitter milky tea ran down her throat, and she wanted to cry.

I am trapped.

‘Good.’ Ashley hated how the approbation in the man’s voice made her flush with pleasure. He kept speaking. ‘I suggest you do your best to please your new owner. He can be harsh with those who displease him.’

She was silent and he shrugged. ‘It’s up to you. I recommend you try to be as sweet and obedient as possible.’

Brandon sat and worked at his computer while Ashley sat in her chair, unable to move. Her breasts in the lacy bra felt exposed and vulnerable in front of her, like there was a target painted on them.

She kept repeating to herself that she needed to try to resist, she needed to get out of here. She needed to get back to the station to report this. She had remembered her old name now - Ashley - but it felt so flat and dull. Such a boring, trite name. She knew that if someone called her that, she would just ignore them.

Every so often, Brandon would look across at her and tell her to drink more of her tea. Each time, immediately, automatically, she did, picking up the teacup of now-cold tea and taking a long sip. At one point, the young woman from the front desk with the white hair brought a new cup of tea, placing it in front of her.

‘How’s it going?’ she asked Brandon, nodding her head casually at Ashley.

‘She’s going to be a hit,’ he said. ‘Less than an hour under the influence and already she can’t disobey me. Look at her! She's delicious. I’ve called her Blossom. But she won’t be yours, I’m afraid, Cat.’

The young woman sighed theatrically. ‘Why not? I never get the fun ones.’

‘Because she’s a police officer. Or she was a police officer. Silly cow. I’m giving her to Carlisle to pay off our debt. He’ll make sure she never comes to light.’

He glared, frowning at a piece of paper in his hand, and then ripped it sharply in half. ‘At least, there’s a silver lining. I’ve heard on the grapevine that her superiors don’t like her very much, so hopefully they won’t look too hard for her.’

Brandon sighed as he sorted the papers on his desk. ‘Our time here has come to an end. We’ve attracted too much attention, Cat. Today is the last day. Moira is organising packing up downstairs as we speak.’

‘Oh, boo,’ said the woman called Cat, wrinkling her nose in displeasure. ‘Well, the climate here is terrible anyway.’ She looked across at Ashley and winked. ‘You like your sex rough, right, little flower? I’ve heard Carlisle can be brutal.’

‘I… don’t know,’ said Ashley, flushing. She hated that she had to answer their questions, even the embarrassing ones.

‘Awww,’ said Cat, pouting, her hand on her hip. ‘Such a sweet little innocent, aren’t you, Blossom?’ 

The young woman stepped across, running the back of a finger down the side of Ashley’s face. She giggled.

‘Your skin is so soft. Don’t worry. Carlisle will teach you to like it rough. Or one of his bodyguards will do it for him. He’s a good client but the last bitch didn’t work out. He broke her in half like a doll. So we have to give you to him. I do like your boobies, by the way. Nice and big.’

Cat’s breath was warm on Ashley’s skin. She seemed so real and alive. At some deep level, Ashley couldn’t understand why Cat could move and talk while she couldn’t.

What have they done to me? I have to get out of here. I just have no idea how. No-one at the station is going to miss me for hours.

‘Anyway,’ said Cat, ‘I guess if Moira has started packing up, I had better go and help her.’ She winked at Ashley. ‘Good luck with Carlisle. He’s a nasty bastard. I’d say I was sorry for you but I’m pretty peeved that your lot decided to investigate us. After all the protection we paid for too!’

She bent forward and quickly kissed Ashley straight on her lips. Ashley gasped to feel the softness of the woman’s skin touching her so intimately, like a lover might. Cat’s soft hair tickled her face and she wanted to cry, because she still didn’t understand what was happening.

Cat stood up, kissing her fingers and waving them at Ashley.  ‘Bye bye, boob girl. Enjoy being Carlisle’s fucktoy!’ She turned and soon Ashley heard the door shut behind her.