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“Today, we toast to the engagement of this young and happy couple.” Monique raised a glass of Champagne in the Receiving Room of the Manoir, the other guests at the intimate party raising theirs as well. Polite cheers and good wishes echoed in the room, with everyone’s attention turning to Sybil and her patron – now fiancée – Mr. Carlisle.

Two months ago, Sybil told her employer that Mr. Carlisle had asked her to marry him. With it came the promise that she wouldn’t be quitting work anytime soon. Until three weeks ago when Monique was informed that Sybil would be moving in with her new fiancée soon. Liketomorrowsoon.

Now I’m down one employee with no time to replace her. Monique would not tell someone as rich and influential as Mr. Carlisle that he could not have his woman, especially when said woman worked as a switch in the BDSM pleasure industry. Onething for her to spank other men while she waited to move in… but what if a man wanted to spankher? Not acceptable.

Monique was all smiles, however, as she worked alongside Mr. Carlisle’s assistant to arrange the move, from the day a crew showed up to carry out Sybil’s personal belongings, to this very party wishing them the best life possible.

It was the closest thing to a wedding the Manoir would ever hold.

“I promise to take good care of her.” Mr. Carlisle, with his arm around Sybil’s midsection, kissed her forehead and drank half a glass of Champagne. She giggled, looking every other lady right in the eye with the knowledge that she was the first in the house’s history to move up in the world. Yvette ignored her; June shrugged and drank; Grace was distracted by both her patrons, the Anderssens. Only Chelsea gave the young flapper what she was looking for – a sad demeanor that quickly turned to a smile when her patron Sam Witherspoon patted her on the shoulder to ask for more Champagne.

“Good to see real energy around here, Madam,” she said to Monique, once Chelsea made herself scarce. “Although I thought maybe my friend would be here tonight to keep us company.”

If only she knew what that sounded like. Monique had to hide her grin behind her glass. “I’m afraid that she couldn’t make it tonight.”

“Of course. Toronto called.”

Monique sucked on the inside of her cheek instead of making a disapproving face. Her dearest Helen was up in Toronto trying to convince the board of a pet supply chain to sell their company to her. Her entire career of buying and selling businesses for a better profit made her a considerable amount of money, but the appeal of it went right over Monique’s head. She preferred concentrating on one lifestyle that came with a degree of predictability. She usually knew what to expect at the Manoir.She knew how to please clients looking for a Domme or a sub for the evening. She was a natural hostess with a head for her own numbers.

Monique also didn’t have to travel around for business. More than once Helen canceled plans because she had to go to Dubai, Sydney, San Francisco… she promised to take her to one of these places one day, but Monique wasn’t interested in that. She was a homebody. Besides, if she were accompanying her Mistress on an international trip, then she expected to spend it with her. Not sitting in a hotel room waiting for Helen to get back from her business responsibilities.

No, it was much better to stay in her Manoir and make sure it ran on a day-to-day basis. If Helen’s plans changed… well, they hadn’t lately.

Not that Monique was in a huge hurry to see her.

Ever since the day she woke up to see Jacqueline Love waltzing up to the front door, Monique had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, and it wasn’t the stench of her ex-Domme stinking up the place. She didn’t come face to face with her that day two months ago. Nor did any of the Warners mention her visit. If Helen knew of it, then she never let on to Monique.

There were two possible reasons for that.

First, Jacqueline’s visit had nothing to do with Helen and she was protecting her, assuming she never found out about it. The other? Shit, it meant that Helen had no idea at all. Evelyn was the one who welcomed Jacqueline at the front door. What was she up to? Did she dislike Monique? Their few interactions didn’t lead to any belief.

All right, so there’s a third option. The one that said Helen not only knew about it but…

That they were in cahoots together.

That Monique was being strung along on some gross joke the whole time.

When she thought about it – including now, at Sybil’s going away party – her throat closed up and she could barely breathe. Nobody wanted to think about that, least of all Monique.

So when Sam Witherspoon brought up their mutual friend Helen Warner, Monique could only smile, nod that she knew Helen was in Toronto, and hope that she would change the subject.

“I’m still surprised that you two became such a quick item,” Ms. Witherspoon continued, much to Monique’s annoyance.

“What do you mean by that?”

The woman shrugged. “I see it now, but when I introduced you two I hardly thought that there would be such an attraction. In fact, when I heard about it from a third party and not directly from her, I figured it must be a baseless rumor. I see that I was wrong now. But, forgive me, Madam, I didn’t think you were interested in a relationship. I know Helen wasn’t.”

“Is that so?” This was her first time hearing such a thing.

“Her last relationship soured her on dating for a while. Granted, it was years ago, but Helen’s always been a deep romantic. When she’s not in a relationship? Phew. Loses herself in work. Barely pays attention to what’s even going on with the rest of her family. Did you know her father…? Ah, never mind, Madam.”

Monique was curious but wasn’t in the mood to speak more on the subject. “Excuse me, Ms. Witherspoon, but I’m afraid that I have some duties to attend to.”

She was released from her own words, but they remained with her as she went about the small party making sure everyone was refreshed and happy. The only woman without an appointment or client that night was June, who sat by herself in the corner. She wasn’t being idle, however. She kept in touch with the kitchen to ensure the refreshments kept coming.

I made a good choice in picking her as my second-in-command.Monique was no longer worried about leaving the Manoir in her hands. Even when Monique was there, June often oversaw some of the day-to-day operations. One of the cooks referred to as “The Other Madam.”

Those days, Monique spent more time thinking about her future. What if she moved on from the Manoir? She couldn’t leave the talent hanging with no job and no one to take care of them. The more Monique considered these things, the more she thought about talking to June about more serious matters than,“Do you have any appointments tonight? By the way, I’ll be out next weekend.”