The Slave by Laura Antoniou Page B

sighed and
answered.
    “ I stayed home, Roy. And did the
fucking dishes. I tell you, life’s a bitch when a slave can’t get a
good master.”
    “ Awww, poor baby. You can come over
and I’ll be your master.”
    “ Yeah, right. Roy, you’re a fucking
slave, honey, and you just wanna get laid.”
    “ Well, a man’s gotta try, right?” More
laughter sounded out.
    “ All you guys gotta try. I swear, one
night you’re all masters, but let one mistress get on the line and
you’re all foot slaves. I need a real man,” Cutiepie whined.
“Someone who’s really the boss. Like Mark.”
    “ Thank you, Cutie,” responded the man
whose voice had welcomed Robin to the line. “But I have my hands
full.”
    “ Anything more than a handful is
wasted, buddy!” someone added.
    Robin sighed, heavily. That line was tired
among the freshmen. God help any adult who thought it was witty.
And this was where she was going to find a master or mistress? Not
bloody likely. She was going to hang up when she heard yet another
voice.
    “ Hello! Any submissive sluts out there
who need some phone domination?”
    “ Hi Bob,” chorused a few of the voices
on the phone. Robin drew her knees up to listen for a little while
longer. What on earth was phone domination?
    “ Hi, Master Bob,” purred Cutiepie.
“When am I gonna get to meet you?”
    “ Anytime you want, Cutie. On the
phone. Care for another session with my toy bag? Call me right now,
and you’ll get it all.” His voice was very deep, and compared to
the others on the line, much more assured.
    “ Oh, you tease. You know I’m on the
courtesy line. Lemme call you later.”
    “ No. Now. I want to see how much
you’ll give up for me.”
    “ And what will you do if I get off...
the phone I mean!” Giggles and muffled laughter flooded the line.
“Will you do all the things I like?”
    “ I’ll do whatever I want, Cutie. Take
it or leave it.”
    “ Whoa!” came several
exclamations.
    “ Such a tough guy,” someone
muttered.
    “ Well, be that way. There’s no one
else out here except for me and Thea anyway, so you wasted your
call!” Cutiepie did actually sound miffed.
    Robin swallowed hard and said, “I... I’m
here.”
    “ Hey!”
    “ Who was that?”
    “ Is that a new girl?”
    Voices crowded each other, and Robin almost
slammed the phone down. But she held onto it, hoping that Bob
hadn’t left.
    “ Who’s out there? Is that you,
Destiny? Or is it Lola?”
    All the women seemed to have
made-up names , Robin thought . Quick! What do I call myself?
    “ Um. This is...” Her mind shut down on
her. What could she say? Oh God, what a time to freeze; isn’t it
just like her, the pervert who couldn’t say her name! Then she drew
a deep breath and said, “I’m Perverse.”
    That got a hearty laugh. “So are we all,
honey, so are we all!”
    “ Hey, Perverse! Waddaya look
like?”
    “ Waddaya into?”
    “ Are you dominant or
submissive?”
    “ What are you wearing?”
    The questions were fired off in rapid
succession, all of the inquisitors male. Robin bit her lip, trying
to figure out what to say, when Cutiepie’s voice cut through the
noise.
    “ Hey, cool it, fellas, cool it! You’ll
scare her away with all your fucking questions! Perverse, you still
out there?”
    “ Yes.”
    “ Well, speak up, honey, we all wanna
hear ya. What’s your story?”
    Robin panicked again. “I... I don’t know
what to say.”
    “ For starters, are you dominant or
submissive?”
    “ Submissive.”
    “ Oh good!” some male voice said.
“Wanna call me?”
    “ Um, I don’t know,” Robin replied.
“Why should I want to?”
    “ Oh! You’re a virgin!” Cutiepie
laughed, and Robin flushed. “Tell the truth, Perverse, you never
called this line before.”
    “ This is my first call,” Robin
admitted.
    “ Well, welcome to the line, sweetie.
And don’t sweat the little boys; they’ll back off after a while.
What are you looking for?”
    “ I don’t know.”