Graceful Submission (6 page)

He could tell from the inflection in her voice, just her saying the simple word hello, that something was wrong.

“Tell me.”

“I did what you asked, Master. I …”

“Not about that, not now. Tell me what’s wrong.”

Grace felt a catch in her throat. “I underestimated my new principal. He wants to get me into bed. I refused. Now, I may be out of a job.”

“You were fired? That’s sexual harassment, you know.”

“I could never prove it. Watson is questioning my students, asking those who have failed, or are close to failing, if I offered to give them good grades for money. A student of mine who failed last year told his father that he failed because he wouldn’t give me money. The Board of Trustees will start a full-fledged investigation, I’m sure.

“I haven’t done anything wrong. I would never, ever, ask a student for money or accept a bribe. I became a teacher to help people learn; to try and instill a love of reading and writing in young people. To say I would take a bribe negates all my work. It just makes me sick to my stomach.”

Toffer could tell she was fighting back tears. Her pain and anguish made him see red. He wanted to hop the first plane to
Colorado
and pop Joe Watson in the mouth.

“This is definitely harassment. You could go to the board members, tell them how he ogled you and only wants to get into your pants.”

“I don’t think they’d believe me. Even if Becca backed me up, they would think that she would say anything to help me.”

“Baby, I thought you were ready to quit anyway.”

“I am, but not like this. An accusation like this would keep me from ever going back to teaching, if I ever needed or wanted to.”

Toffer took a deep breath. His anger building by the minute.

“Quit. Just go in tomorrow and quit.”

“I can’t do that, I have a contract. Plus, I don’t want my students to suffer because of this. I’m just going to go in tomorrow and calmly discuss it with him.”

Her crying was audible and Toffer felt his anger bubble over. How had this happened so quickly? He’d known her for a week and he wanted to hold her in his arms and never let her go.

“Take a deep breath, Lolly.”

“Lolly?”

Toffer laughed. “Lolly. That’s my name for you. In your last e-mail you told me you wanted to lick me like a lollipop. So you’re my little Lolly-girl. Lolly for short.”

He smiled when Grace’s laughter came in short gasps, showing him she was trying to get her crying under control.

“Let’s role-play what you’re going to say tomorrow. We can go over the conversation and prepare you for confronting Watson. Planning will keep you calm when you talk to him.”

“Tell you what, I’ll be Watson.” Grace could hear the laughter in Toffer’s voice.

Grace’s laughter grew stronger and Toffer joined in.

“You don’t want to be me?”

“No, baby, I don’t want to be you. I want to be inside you. But that can wait. I’m in my office, waiting for you. Knock and come inside. What’s the first thing you’re going to say?”

“Joe Watson, you’re an amoral bastard with a lying tongue.”

“Hum, something tells me that doesn’t set the right tone. Shall we try again?”

Chapter Six

Note to self: You are strong and independent. Don’t allow Joe Watson’s lies to bring you down. And don’t under any circumstances allow this situation to come into your classroom.

To Do List:

Talk to Watson after school about the false accusations

Have dinner with Becca to discuss situation

E-Mail Toffer after meeting with Watson

Grace stiffened when the office aide came into her class before lunch to replace her so Grace could “attend a meeting in Mr. Watson’s office.”

Her role-playing with Toffer last night had been very helpful. They’d stayed on the phone until
two a.m.
going over various scenarios of the meeting, depending on what Watson would say and how he would react to her statements.

When the conversation had drawn to a close, Grace had sighed.

“So much for a wonderful evening playing with the toys you sent me.”

“We’ll save it for tomorrow, I mean, tonight. Make sure you don’t open the box. E-mail me after the meeting, and then call me after your dinner with Becca.”

Now, Grace stopped outside Watson’s closed office door. She took a deep breath and knocked. When the door opened her bravado disappeared. Watson was sitting behind his desk, a smug smile on his face. Sitting opposite him was Frank Medina, president of the board for the academy, and Bart Barlow.

Medina stood and held out his hand.

“Grace, thank you for joining us. We have a bit of a situation here that we need to discuss.”

“So it would seem. I would have liked to be included in this conversation from the beginning, not joining in after everyone has obviously already given an opinion. That puts me on the defensive and makes me guilty until proven innocent.”

A blush spread across Medina’s face. “I apologize for that. But I assure you, Grace, there will be a full investigation. I would like to hear your side of the story. Please, take a seat.”

Grace nodded to Watson and Barlow. Neither man had stood when she’d walked into the room. Watson looked calm and self-righteous. Barlow’s hands were clutched in his lap, his lips thinned in anger.

“I want her fired, right this minute. And I want my son’s transcripts changed to take the F she gave him off. That bitch kept my son from going to CU this fall and made him miss a season of football.”

Grace stiffened, and then closed her mouth when Medina held up his hand.

“Mr. Barlow, I respectfully request that you watch your language. This is a meeting to discuss accusations, not for a final ruling on charges filed, because no charges have been filed. I agreed to let you stay while I talked with Ms. Kinison because you assured me you could hold your tongue. If that is not the case, then you need to leave. Now.”

“Someone has to represent my son’s interests,” Barlow hissed.

“And I will tell you again, that this is not a hearing,” Medina replied. “What I would like is for you to calmly tell Ms. Kinison what you told Mr. Watson and myself. Then, I will give her a chance to respond. From there, I will decide whether to take this issue to the board or not.”

“Fine. A few days ago, Dominic told me that Ms. Kinison told him last year that unless he paid her $1,000 that he would fail her class. Dominic told her that he didn’t have that kind of money and couldn’t get it. She told him the amount was non-negotiable and when no money was offered she failed him. End of story.”

Grace shook her head. “Why did he wait almost ten months to make this accusation?”

“He’s a kid. He was scared. But the more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He missed an entire football season because of you. He lost a scholarship.”

“Dominic lost a scholarship, Mr. Barlow, because he expected me to pass him because of his, and your, status in town. I refused. That’s the real story. You and I had this discussion last May.”

“That’s before I knew you tried to blackmail my son.”

“Grace, tell me about Dominic’s grades,” Medina said.

“Dominic is a smart boy,” Grace said. “But he refused to apply himself. He failed to finish his term paper, and refused to read the novels we were reading. He said his future was in football and that he didn’t need to read Shakespeare.”

“What can you tell me about any conversations you had with Dominic about his grades?”

Grace looked at Watson, who was silently watching the proceedings. She could tell that he was enjoying every minute of it. She was so very happy for her practice with Toffer last night. Despite the fact that Watson wasn’t participating, their rehearsal helped tremendously with her nerves.

“I talked with Dominic several times about his grades. He said I wouldn’t dare fail him because his father wouldn’t allow it. He said he was above doing homework.”

Medina raised his eyebrows. “I have trouble believing, Mr. Barlow, that Dominic would wait so long to say anything. Did he give you a specific reason for bringing this up now?”

“One of his friends, Mark Stanson, is in Ms. Kinison’s class right now and is failing because he won’t pay her.”

Grace felt her stomach drop to her knees. “That’s not true. Mark, like Dominic, refused to do his work.”

“Mr. Stanson provided me with this term paper, which he said you refused to take.” Watson laid several sheets of bound paper on his desk.

The blood drained from Grace’s face. “That’s a lie. He turned in an outline and notes, but never a final paper.”

“Then what is this, Ms. Kinison? This term paper has Mr. Stanson’s name on it.” Watson’s smug look deepened. “Could it be that the paper came without the requested $1,000?”

Toffer’s voice resounded in her brain.
“Don’t let him get to you, Lolly. You’re better than that. Be a good girl and you’ll get a reward tomorrow night. Lose your temper and you’ll get punished.”

“I don’t know, Mr. Watson. But I can assure you that Mark never turned a paper into me. He told me that he thought the assignment was useless and he didn’t have time to finish it.”

“I find that very hard to believe, seeing as how Mark knows what happened to Dominic,” Watson said.

“Fire her,” Barlow said.

Medina shook his head.

“It doesn’t work that way, Mr. Barlow. I will speak with members of the board, confer with our attorney, and we will see what action needs to be taken. But I can assure you that before any action is taken, there will be a full investigation, if we find it warranted.”

Barlow stood. His voice was calm and steely as he locked eyes with Grace.

“You’d better find it warranted, Mr. Medina, or I’ll sue your school for all it’s worth.”

Medina stood and offered his hand, which Barlow shook. He glared again at Grace and left the room at a brisk pace.

“Mr. Medina, I promise you that I would never ask for money for grades.” Grace was impressed that her voice sounded so calm.

“I’ll be in touch, Grace.” He nodded at Watson. When he was gone Grace turned to Watson.

“I hope you’re happy, and that Barlow is paying you a lot of money to ruin me.”

“Why, Grace, whatever do you mean? Remember, it was you who said just last week that I wasn’t worth your attention? Why would I be worth Barlow’s attention?”

Grace opened her mouth and then closed it when Toffer’s voice resounded in her mind.
”Grace, behave.”

“You realize that the school will suffer because I refused to sleep with you? That the students will suffer? Are you so selfish that you don’t care?”

“This meeting is over. Go back to your classroom,
Ms. Kinison
, while it’s still yours.”

* * * * *

The corner seemed like a haven that evening. Grace stood naked, her nose pressed to the cold wall as her day replayed in her mind. Barlow’s angry face and Watson’s haughty smile were the worst of the memories. Medina had been supportive at first, and then suspicious when Mark’s term paper had been laid on Watson’s desk.

Becca had been sweet and sympathetic at dinner. And Grace had not cried all day. Now as she stood naked for her required twenty minutes, the tears began to fall. Fifteen years of work down the drain because she wasn’t attracted to Joe Watson.

Part of her wished she could go back to that fall day and replay the events. If Watson hadn’t had a glimpse of her chest, maybe he wouldn’t have developed the obsession that he had. They’d worked together for years and he’d never noticed her. It was just her Double Ds that had put her in his sights.

She cried softly and when the bell dinged to mark that her time was up she stayed where she was, crying softly. She was supposed to orgasm now, but the desire was not there. She sniffled and shook her head. It was Master’s orders that she orgasm. If she didn’t she would disappoint him, and although he wouldn’t know for sure she would.

Her fingers drifted south, and as she parted her folds, she realized that for the first time since she’d started her standing in the corner for Master she wasn’t wet. She rubbed gently, trying to excite herself, replaying the sound of Master’s voice in her ear.

The phone rang just as the first tendrils of wetness seeped from her folds. Toffer’s name on the display made her smile.

“Hello, Master.”

“I didn’t know if you’d be home yet.”

“I just finished my twenty minutes, and was starting to bring myself to orgasm.”

“Stop. We’ll play later. First, tell me about what happened today.”

Grace told him about their meeting, and about how students stared at her all day and whispered behind their hands.

“Even if the investigation proves that I’m innocent, there will still be people who think I’m guilty … that I took bribes for grades.”

“Don’t put the cart before the horse, Lolly. Perhaps Medina will prove to be a smart guy and see this for what it is: Revenge for bruising Watson’s male ego.”

Grace agreed, even though she wondered if that would really happen.

“You were a good girl,” Toffer said, causing her to smile for the first time that day. “Go and get your box of toys. Sit in the middle of the bed and undo the seals, but don’t open the box.”

Grace bounded off the bed and located the box and a pair of scissors. She cut the tape and fought not to peer inside.

“Can I open it now?”

Toffer’s laugh filled the line. “Put your phone on speaker, take out a toy one at a time and describe it to me.”

The first toy pulled from the box was a vibrator. “It’s about seven-inches long, and it’s red.”

“What’s next?”

Grace reached inside. “Nipple clamps attached to a long chain with a third clamp at the other end.”

“A clit clamp.” Grace shivered as Master’s words rang out. She looked at the golden clamp and imagined it on her clit. It would provide a pinch of pain that she was sure would turn into intense pleasure. She’d never thought about using a clamp on her clit.

“We’re going to save the clit clamp for when we’re face to face. But the nipple ones will be used quite a bit before you get here. There’s a few more. Tell me what else is there.”