Part 35

Eventually, Annabelle messaged back with a succinct, ‘5:30.’

Even over text, she had that casually demanding way about her. My peers absolutely would have responded by offering the time as a suggestion, but this felt like it had already been decided. Or maybe it just read that way because I had resigned myself to being available for whenever she was. If I had been attending my regular group project meeting, then I would have countered with something else.

The ‘me day’ wasn’t particularly relaxing. Not only was there the impending make-up session with Annabelle to worry about, but I also felt guilty for lying to pretty much everyone about being sick when I felt perfectly fine. Technically, it could have been a ‘mental health day,’ which was honestly more accurate than the former. But that phrase was rather hit or miss on how it was received, despite being a perfectly valid reason for staying home.

I did manage to get a decent amount of work done without any classes or commitments to distract me throughout the rest of the morning and afternoon, but my focus was still fairly inconsistent compared to my usual mindset. As for the collar and everything that had led up to it, I ultimately decided to leave the upcoming conversation with Annabelle unscripted. I had tried to verbally plan things out before, but that clearly hadn’t ended well. There was no way to steer the conversation where I wanted it to go when the unpredictable eighteen year old so effortlessly managed to keep me off balance.

This time around, I would keep my attention on a single concept instead of all the specifics surrounding it. Removing the collar. That was my priority, and I would try my very hardest to keep Annabelle from pulling my attention elsewhere until we had resolved things there. Pet or not, I couldn’t go about my real life in the kinky accessory. I could already imagine her reminding me of all the things I had so foolishly repeated and affirmed throughout that intimate massage, but this wasn’t about my dynamic with her. I had a reputation and an image at my university to worry about.

Any conversation with Annabelle, however, required the impossible redhead to actually be there. There were a lot of things I had braced myself for while doing my usual routine of parking around back and taking the servants’ entrance, but I hadn’t considered the thought that she might leave me waiting. According to Trixie, Annabelle was caught up at a social commitment and would be back as soon as she was able.

It was both a relief and an annoyance at the same time. On the one hand, I would have a little time to get settled in her suite and adjust to the environment before Annabelle started up with her games. But also, I couldn’t help but think that she was being a little insensitive at the same time. While it was very possible her young, wealthy self had something that couldn’t be ended punctually, it seemed she had found the time to message Trixie but not me.

Instead of the positive benefit that crossed my mind, I ended up being hit with yet another unexpected turn. Only after my shoes were off and we had walked halfway down the back hallway together, Trixie gestured to the familiar laundry room. “You should make yourself useful while you wait,” she said, “There’s clean bedding in the hampers, and the dryers are nearly done with the machine safe clothes. Why don’t you get started making the upstairs beds?”

While it was posed as a request, the blonde was hardly asking. She wasn’t the same kind of bossy that Annabelle was, but there was a directness to her tone that always seemed to manage to disarm me nonetheless. Or maybe I was just a pushover in the fact that I was avoiding confrontation like usual. “Fine,” I mumbled. Fiddling with the backpack slung over one shoulder, I at least followed up with, “But then I need to get set up for my tutoring session with Annabelle.”

“You should really call her ‘Ms. Annabelle,” Trixie said.

“But she said-”

“I know what she said. It doesn’t mean it’s the right or respectful thing to do.”

“Trixie-”

“Bedding, Meredith. Then come right back down, yes?”

Lightly blushing, I just nodded. Maybe it was the house itself that kept me from having any backbone whatsoever, or maybe I was just middle class and not remotely prepared for this kind of lifestyle. Not Annabelle’s way of talking, or the embarrassing way that Trixie assumed that I was as much of a servant as she was. Regardless, I did as I was told. Taking the heavy basket, I made my way upstairs and started in Annabelle’s room even if its location at the end of the hall wasn’t the most efficient first stop.

After setting my stuff down, I got to work making her bed in the adjacent room. Of course she had a fucking king bed despite being a single girl who definitely didn’t need that much space. Even with a partner- No, I wasn’t going to start visualizing things like that. Though I managed to push those intrusive thoughts out of my mind, I could feel the idle blush linger as I went through the arduous process of getting the fitted sheet into place without anyone else helping me. The rest was simple enough afterwards, but I still made the effort to get the pillows and comforter to look as perfect as possible.

If I was being honest with myself, it was more because of that always existent need to impress Annabelle, rather than feeling the pressure to get it right because she and her family were super rich and expected such perfection.

The rest of the rooms were mostly a challenge in the fact that I didn’t know where any of them were. After testing door after door, I eventually found the necessary guest bed and master bedroom that had bare mattresses. I wasn’t sure if it was better or worse than being in Annabelle’s room. It was fine in terms of what had subtly flustered me before, but it felt weird being in a stranger’s bedroom. I literally hadn’t met Annabelle’s parents yet, and now I was making their bed like a maid.

Little did I know, it was about to get so much worse.

When I returned to the laundry room with the empty hamper, there was a uniform waiting for me on one of the higher hangers. Trixie gestured to it the moment I entered the room. “Try this on, Meredith.”

“W-what?” I asked. Surely she couldn’t be serious! I wasn’t actually a maid, and I was more than capable of doing chores in my casual clothes. Hadn’t I proved as much? If not with the bedding just now, but also when I helped out those other times? Either way, the suggestion was too much. “Umm, no. Sorry, Trixie. I’m a tutor, not-”

Cutting me off like usual, she said, “Annabelle is going to be another hour, and it won’t do if someone sees you looking like that while you’re helping out. Will you at least try it?”

Another hour?! My heart sunk at that. The time she had given me had resulted in a gross amount of traffic as I crossed the city around 5 PM, and it wouldn’t be much better if I tried to leave now. Although even without the interstate being congested, my apartment was a far enough drive that leaving and coming back would only give me a few minutes at my place. If anything, I would just find a nearby coffee shop. That would be more comfortable than getting work done at Annabelle’s house, and was easily preferable to dressing up like a maid and doing chores.

“Then I’ll come back in a little while,” I replied. After all, I wasn’t that much of a pushover. I was still a rising star in mathematics, and older than both Trixie and Annabelle. The uniform was a bit beneath me, even if I had been pressured into doing all kinds of chores instead of strictly tutoring. “Annabelle can message me when she’s available.” For all I knew, one hour could easily turn into two and suddenly eat up my whole evening once adding the session itself and the commute home to the equation.

Trixie just frowned. “You’re saying you won’t even try?”

It was the third time she had used that word. ‘Try.’ As if this was something as simple as eating a vegetable or a new meal, when it was clearly more complicated than that. Unfortunately, that complexity was the very reason why I couldn’t bring myself to simply say ‘no’ to the question that wasn’t that black and white. “I’m saying I’m a tutor.” Might as well repeat some of my own words if she was going to do the same.

Rather than responding right away, Trixie just gave me a curious look. The following silence was deafening, and it was surprisingly effective. And why? It’s not like I thought I was better than her. God knows I had plenty of friends with waitress jobs and similar gigs that required uniforms. But that didn’t change the fact that tutoring lended itself towards being more comfortable. Plus it was one on one, and I was only supposed to answer to Annabelle. Not her maid, or whatever official title Trixie had. I was fairly certain no one had ever told me. My lips parted to potentially say something else to break the silence, but I couldn’t think of anything that was worth saying. Just like that, I was all kinds of awkward and uncomfortable, especially as I started noticing the collar a bit more in the silence.

Finally, Trixie spoke again. “Put the uniform on, Meredith.”

In less than a minute, I had been ‘defeated.’ It’s not like it was a battle, or even an argument, but I thought that I would have a little more resolve in terms of leaving and getting back in my car. Instead, a simple minute of back and forth with Trixie had me going along with what she wanted. “Okay,” I quietly said. Blushing all over again, and in disbelief that I crumbled so quickly without Annabelle even being present to influence things, I took a hesitant step forward towards the maid outfit looming in front of me.

The version Trixie had on was pretty telling in terms of what I would look like. It wasn’t at all the cliché slutty kind you might see on Halloween or in some lewd video online. Instead, it was an interesting combination of simple and classy, no doubt designed to look proper for the Alodia family while also being pragmatic in terms of doing chores. While I obviously preferred the more modest variety, that still didn’t mind that I was particularly enthused to put it on. And yet there I was, hesitantly pulling the subservient outfit down from where it was hanging.

“I’ll give you a minute,” Trixie said.

Once she saw that I was willing to try it on, she stepped out of the laundry room and closed the door behind her.

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