text: “Ahhhh yes. Now where do we begin with Lucy?... The first thing everyone notices about her is her hair. It shines golden. Bleach blonde actually... Just like her personality. During those winter months - you know, when it’s dark when you arrive at the office and when it’s dark when you leave - well she’s a shining light... And why not? Who doesn’t need a bit of cheering up at 6:40am on a Tuesday morning? It certainly wasn’t the tea that had me coming back... I could even say, at times it tasted like fresh horse piss! No... It was something most people don’t understand anymore, a certain class, a connection, a candour. She played the role of host perfectly, a smooth blend of frankness, service and... and respect. In years gone by she would have run an establishment for the local gentry, or nobles - or something. As it was, she was a waitress at a greasy spoon just off the A34. But she played the role marvellously... Just marvellously... After a while, we got to know each other quite well. She would always joke about what a lucky woman Mrs. Dowd was... I would joke about how one of these days I was going to leave Mary and run off with her... Yes, a very pleasant woman. Well then, you can understand my surprise when one morning, while in the toilets just before work, I heard two of the regulars chatting. A gruff voice let slip a secret. It turns out our Amy was making a little money on the side. Working discreetly shall we say. I mean, she can’t have been making much as a waitress... But what shocked me was the nature of it you see - she was a dominatrix! Imagine that! I can see why though, she understood roles very well. A good actress.... Psychologically gifted... As a gentleman I never made a peep about it, but you can be damn sure that I watched her a more closely after that! People are like that.... They lead you one way... Then they take you another... The next big surprise came a few days later. She was distracted behind the till one morning. Reading a book or something... I only noticed because we’d normally be having a chat at this point, but instead my only company was the breakfast news on the radio. So, interest piqued, I made my way over to her. Without making a sound, I leant over the till to have a look. Well, I’d never seen her move so quickly in all these years! Like a rat up a drain pipe that book was out of sight! She managed the situation well, as though nothing had happened, and the conversation ran smoothly before I headed out to work. But something changed. From that day on... A look... A feeling... Yes, some sort of distance had grown between us. She was watching me and I was watching her. Of course, it’s only natural for a man to feel a certain... frisson, in such a situation. But you must understand, as a married man... No, it was a purely intellectual curiosity. So, there I was, Mr. Nosey Parker, like a basset hound sniffing for blood. It was quite innocuous at first, just a peek into her car at the car park, through the passenger window. Well, let me tell you, there was... there was... well there was a lewd instrument! Just there, laying on the seat! I tell you, I almost had a heart attack! Oooh she wanted to get caught, I can tell you that. She knew I was sniffing around, and she wanted to get caught. She was leaving me tracks... What’s a man to do in such a situation? There we were circling one another like... like a whirpool, it was only a matter of time before we... plunged down into the sinkhole, as it were. Anyway, like a fool, I decided to take the initiative. I took the day off work. I went into the café as normal, suit and all, of course. So as not raise any suspicion you see. Then I parked my car around the corner, just off the T-junction, and waited. What was I thinking! Well, there it is, that’s what I did. So, I waited until... it must have been just before midday. Out pulls her little coral red Fiat 500 and starts off down the road. I followed just behind. It was rather exciting, but there I was cool as a cucumber, hanging back a car or two. I almost lost her when she turned off just after Stafford! But the hunt was on! Twisting and turning we meandered through some country roads. It was all becoming rather personal, what with the single lane and the hedge rows obscuring everything else. Tunnel vision. Just me and the back of her car. Just me staring at her... behind. Well eventually, she turned off down a dirt track towards the most derelict looking barn you have ever seen. Luckily, I saw a layby on the other side through a gap in the hedge row. What a find! But then I’ve always had the best luck. Without giving away the plot I drove on and parked up at the layby. To cut a long story short, I crept round to the front. The heavy front hung loosely from the top hinge, just, ever so slightly... squealing in the wind. My heart was racing and my blood pumping! What if... what if I saw... Well I skulked through... into the darkness... There were no lights in there, you see, just slats missing in the roof, through which great... shafts of sunlight thrusted into the dusty dinge. Blinking, my eyes adjusted to the gloom, when, there in front of my eyes, I saw... I saw a dungeon. A scaffolding of straps and chains and what not. I couldn’t quite take it all in! Then just as suddenly... darkness. When I came to, I was hanging. I was groggy... Strapped up by my arms and legs, just like this... I remember the drool running down my chin like syrup. I was gagged... Then, from the shadows she emerged... Mistress Lucy...She... She was... I had never seen her like that before... In a tight leather corset, with... And so imperious, such an... She looked at me like she owned me! ‘Hello Piggy’ She says! Her! To me! Well I was shocked, as you can imagine, but there was more, there was... a fire, do you understand? I tried shout, to call out for help, but it came out as a muffled whimper. ‘You’ve been a bad little Piggy haven’t you, following me around in the shadows.’ I struggled... I kicked out, I tried to break free... I did... ‘Mistress isn’t happy.’ I noticed the garden shears in her hands, and I tried... I really tried to break free in a twitching frenzy... ‘Mistress isn’t happy and you are going to make it up to her.’ My screams just came out as a bubbly moan. ‘She’s going to train you, she’s going to turn you into a good Piggy slave or...’ The shears clapped twice like snapping of a hungry crocodile. ‘Mistress wants you to kill Mrs. Dowd and serve Mistress from now on...’ Oh how I screamed... “ The feverish glimmer of his eyes was the only light shining from the abyssal black of the gimp mask. He had been declaiming in this manner for some time now, his zipped-up mouth muffling the monologue. Mark was pouring with sweat. He couldn’t help but notice the pair of garden shears in the gimps hand. “So you see,” whined the gimp. “Everyone learns to serve her, but in the beginning, we just need a little help.