Unconventional

Part One

The resort is commonly called ‘The Elms’. It’s surrounded by lush green forests, clear blue lakes and hills. Secluded and yet within a day’s drive of several major Midwest cities. Once the playground of the upper classes, it was now a resort for those of more modest means. A place where families and couples could get away from the hustle and bustle of metropolitan life and enjoy the peace and quiet of the country.

Unfortunately tastes change and more families gravitated to theme parks and other more exciting places. More and more couples preferred to go where there were clubs and other forms of entertainment. The state of the economy wasn’t helping either. The local town was suffering a deep setback when their biggest employer the tire plant closed shop and moved their operations south. Then the department store closed. The next biggest employer was The Elms.

The Elms was still a well-kept, well-run resort thanks to Shannon Wallis. She became the General Manager by chance. She had a career with a major hotel chain, going from one junior management position to another but as the years passed since her completing Hotel Management School she found herself going against younger, more aggressive competitors. Her prospects for promotion dimmed and at the age of 38, she felt that she was going to be stuck at mid-management level with no chance at the top spot. It was at that same time that she heard about the General Manager opening at The Elms. She researched the history of the resort and decided to take a chance and apply. She thought that if she was successful there, it would be a stepping stone for more prestigious jobs.

The interview went surprising well. The owners were a semi-retired couple with no children or other close heirs. They were quite wealthy and The Elms was the smallest of their properties. She was told that the resort while in good condition and still profitable in the spring and summer, was marginally profitable in the fall and was usually closed down for the winter months. Shannon was undeterred and said that she could keep The Elms in business despite the winter shutdown. After a short time she was offered the job of Vice President and General Manager. Shannon was pleased but it took a toll on any personal life she had left. She had no one in her life except for her parents and brother. They lived on the West Coast so she only kept in contact with them through telephone calls and emails.

Two years later The Elms was firmly in the black for nine months of the year. The fall and winter months were still the worst and Shannon could see the effect the shutdowns had on the staff, most of whom greatly depended upon their jobs at the resort. She tried introducing winter sports programs, heavily discounted rooms, a state of the art fitness center and even a refurbished spa, but not enough of the general public cared for spending the winter months at The Elms.

Shannon was troubled. The owners were concerned about the bottom line and the fact that The Elms wasn’t contributing enough profits to be worth keeping open. Shannon had grown attached to some members of the staff including her assistant manager Jody. Jody was a local girl who had worked for The Elms for several years. She had started as a housekeeper and worked her way up to her current spot. She was Shannon’s good right hand and it would be especially heartbreaking to see Jody lose her job.

Fate however, had other unique plans. Shannon was sitting in her office completing plans for the winter shutdown which was only two months away. She sighed as she knew that unless there was a significant uptick in occupancy, the possible closure of The Elms was more certain. Her last meeting with the owners indicated that she had at least a year to do something dramatic to convince them that The Elms was worth keeping open.

A phone call interrupted her thoughts.

‘Shannon Wallis, how may I help you?’ she said.

‘Ms. Wallis, my name is Julia Simmons, room 415. I would like to discuss holding a multi-day event at your resort this coming January.”

“I’m sorry Ms. Simmons, but The Elms will be closed from December 15th …”

“I assure you that our offer will beneficial and profitable to all parties concerned. But I would like to discuss this with you in person. May I come down to your office?”

Even though she would have to refuse the booking, Shannon was curious and agreed to meet. Ten minutes later Julia Simmons entered the office and closed the door behind her.

Shannon held out her hand. ‘Ms. Simmons..” she started to say.

“Call me Julia.”

“Julia. I will have to disappoint you by saying that The Elms normally closes from January through March and we do not book events as the costs for holding them will likely exceed any receipts.”

Julia smiled. “You have 600 rooms available?”

“610 and 10 specialty suites.”

“What if I could guarantee a full house for four days?”

Shannon couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Every room and suite for four days… In January?”

Julia smiled. “Yes.. and we will need all the ballrooms, the meeting rooms and full use of all the other facilities.”

“Not that I would look a gift horse in the mouth, but surely there are other places ..”

“Oh we have. In fact we had our convention booked, but a change in ownership forced us to seek a new location. I will be honest. The Elms was not our first choice, but I remembered it when I used to come here with my family during the summer. I booked a room here and checked out how the place has done since that time. I’m very impressed with how well you’ve maintained the place. I’m now convinced that I made the right choice.”

Shannon was surprised. Not only a full house but ballrooms, banquet facilities and everything else that would guarantee that The Elms’ profit for the year would be more than enough to convince the owners to keep it open at least for another season. Then she came down to Earth. There was a catch somewhere.

“Julia. The amount needed to open The Elms would be rather substantial.”

“I can arrange for a deposit to be wired today. Would fifty percent be sufficient?”

“Well... I really didn’t expect this.” Shannon replied. “I hadn’t even bothered to make a rough estimate as I didn’t anticipate this kind of an offer.”. She pulled out a pad and calculator as well as her rate sheets.

“Take your time Shannon. May I call you Shannon?” asked Julia.

“Well, wait until I finish this estimate. You may not want to be on a first name basis when you see the amount.”

Julia laughed. “I won’t beat you or anything like that… If you don’t mind.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m certain that it will be worth the price.”

Shannon completed the estimate. She looked at the figures and then at Julia. Julia kept smiling and crossed her legs. Shannon hadn’t noticed before. Julia’s long legs were encased in a pair of stiletto heeled leather boots. They didn’t just go up to her knees. But they went even further and disappeared under her skirt; her leather skirt. Shannon realized that Julia was also wearing a black leather bolero-style jacket.

Julia chuckled as Shannon’s reaction to her clothing was now obvious. “Yes, I love wearing leather. How about you?”

Shannon didn’t know what to say exactly. She finished the estimate and handed it to Julia. “No.. I, I am more conventional when I comes to clothing.”

Julia looked at the estimate. “Well, we all have our own personal tastes. Leather on bare skin feels wonderful. Does this estimate include set up and tear down time for our exhibitors?”

“Yes it does. Usually one day for set up and a half day for tear down.” Shannon replied, slightly relieved that she avoided continuing the subject of Julia’s clothing. She didn’t want to be rude to Julia, but she was getting a bit uncomfortable.

After a couple of minutes of silence Julia looked up from the paper. “This is acceptable. In fact it’s excellent. If you’d like I’ll call my fellow group members and have the deposit sent this afternoon.”

Shannon couldn’t believe her luck. This would save The Elms and her staff’s jobs. But again she had reservations. She had to be completely up front with Julia as to the difficulties involved.

“I will have to tell you that while we can open up for those four days…”

“Five and a half.” Julia interjected. “Remember the set up and tear down times for our exhibitors.”

“OK, five and a half.’ Shannon continued. “We may have difficulties in arranging a full staff. We hire college students in spring and summer. Getting even half of them to work these few days may not be possible.”

“As long as the rooms are kept clean, the food hot and the fitness center and indoor pool are ready 24 hours we can overlook the short staff.’ Julia replied. She then took the pen out of Shannon’s hand and signed the quote agreement. “I will notify my friends to send the deposit . I will speak to you again this afternoon to confirm receipt of the funds.”

Julia then opened the door and left the office. Shannon didn’t know what to think. She was surprised, happy and puzzled all at the same time. In ten minutes’ time she had saved The Elms from certain shutdown, helped keep her staff’s jobs, but she also felt manipulated by Julia.

Jody peeked in the doorway. “Shannon, is everything OK?” she asked.

“I don’t know… Maybe a just made a great deal. Maybe I just made a big mistake.” Then she realized that in her excitement she never asked Julia what kind of group was meeting there. “Damn I’m stupid!” she said to herself.

Jody looked at Shannon with a puzzled look on her face. Shannon wasn’t making sense. “I was going to work out before going home. You want to join me?”

Shannon nodded her head. A good session on the treadmill might clear her head.

* * * * *

It was just after 2:30 in the afternoon that Shannon received word that the deposit had been credited to The Elm’s account. In addition, she received an email with some file attachments. One of the documents was a non-disclosure Agreement. Shannon started reading the agreement and noticed the name of Julia’s group: Bindem, Goode and Tyte LLC.

“That’s a little strange. “, she thought and continued to read the forms. As she read them, she was shocked at their contents. “Oh, shit… shit… SHIT!” she cursed herself. She had been too quick to make the deal and not question what Julia’s group did.

The document was for a four day BDSM convention called ‘Spanks for the Memories’. This was a sex convention! There was no way she could book this! Not at The Elms! Shannon grabbed the phone and called Julia’s room.

“Julia… we have to talk. There is no way we can book your group.”

“I can’t come down now, I’m rather b…”

“Then I’ll come up there.” Shannon interrupted. She hung up the phone and went up to Julia’s room.

Julia opened the door, wearing only a black leather robe. Shannon hesitated at first but then entered the room.

“According to this email everyone here will have to sign this non-disclosure form.” said Shannon. “I will have to discuss any legal forms with our attorney before asking anyone to sign….” She then looked at a figure on the bed. It was a man wrapped up like a mummy! He was completely encased in rubber bandages and wearing a rubber gasmask.

“Like I said, I am rather busy.” Julia said. “I can’t leave him alone like this. It took me an hour to get him wrapped up and it will take at least a half hour to undo everything.”

Shannon looked at the squirming ‘mummy’. Then she started turning red at what she had stumbled into.

Julia once again smiled. “That’s perfectly understandable. But we want our privacy respected, and those who would talk about us and our convention are not wanted.” Julia continued. “Our members are doctors, teachers, government workers and many others who want nothing more than to socialize with friends and explore their common interests.”

Shannon recovered somewhat but couldn’t stop staring at the bound man. “I agree that the privacy of our guests should be respected. But I must also look after the rights of my employees.” responded Shannon. “I also have to think about the reputation of The Elms. This is a family resort.”

“That’s in deep financial trouble and in danger of being sold or shut down.” Julia replied. “I’ve done a bit more research into your problems and I would think that a reputation would be the least of your worries. Besides the confidentiality agreement should keep things hushed up nicely.”

Shannon was now getting a little miffed at Julia’s attempt to push her around. “I will not have my people sign things that …”

“Then we should forget about this deal. You need to understand that no one should reveal what will be taking place..”

“If something illegal is going on…” Shannon cut in.

“Nonsense! There is nothing illegal. We want to ensure that what goes on at the convention is not revealed by a bunch of blabbermouths.”

“I can’t agree to this.“ Shannon said tersely. “I’ll make arrangements to return your deposit.”

Julia was silent for several seconds. “Shannon, please understand I’m in a tough spot. This is our group’s 25th anniversary and you’re our best chance to salvage our event. I’m sorry if I seem to be a bitch, but I’ve put over a year and a half of work into this, only to have it yanked out from under me by some tight-assed junior exec.”

Shannon wasn’t sure what to say, but she knew the type of person Julia was talking about. She had to work with a number of those ‘tight-assed junior execs.’ herself.

“Julia”, Shannon finally said. “Please understand that this is nothing personal…”

“It’s personal to me. I put everything I had into making this a success. I made promises to a lot of people, important people..”

“This is just not something that the owners would ever agree to.”

“Then don’t tell them.” Julia replied.

“I can’t possibly do that. I have to maintain my integrity to my job and my employers..”

“Who aren’t around and who are about ready to sell you down the river for a quick buck.”

Shannon was startled. “What are you talking about? Things are bad but..”

“I said I did my research.” Julia replied sharply. “The owners are in negotiations with an outfit to turn the Elms into a senior living center. That means you and most of the others will be out of a job unless you can show you can turn this hotel around and make a significant profit. “

“I don’t believe you.” , said Shannon. Where did Julia hear this garbage?

“I have connections to a company which has been approached to bid on the demolition job.” Julia explained. “Now I’ve just put my ass on the line by revealing this bit of confidential information to you. That’s how much I will go to save this convention from disaster.”

Shannon still could not believe what she heard. The owners had assured her that The Elms was still safe for at least another year. How could they betray that trust after everything she had done to keep The Elms going?

“I’m going to have to check this out.” Shannon said. “I can’t believe it and..”

Julia’s voice softened. “I know..I know. It’s a shock and coming from a complete stranger. Let’s talk about this tomorrow morning.”

Shannon walked to the door. She turned to Julia to say something but stopped as Julia removed her robe and let it drop to the floor. She was dressed in only a black leather corset.

“Do be a dear and put the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door.” Julia asked. “My slave and I are going to have a very intense night.”

Shannon was slightly numb as she left the room, closed the door and slipped the sign on the door handle.

* * * * *

Was Julia telling her the truth? Shannon wondered if this was just an elaborate lie to convince her that the owners were going to stab her in the back by selling The Elms without her knowledge. After sitting in her office for a couple of hours, Shannon called her friend Emily who was in the acquisitions department of her last employer. Emily told her that she had heard of The Elms being for sale and that the property was considered a ‘white elephant’ and the owners were making plans to have it redeveloped.

Shannon sat at her desk, stunned that after all her hard work and sacrifice The Elms’ owners had deliberately withheld the truth from her. She had given up everything: Her job, her family and her boyfriend, and this was their thanks for pulling the hotel from the brink of complete financial disaster.

“Fuck Them!” she said to herself. She’d start sending out her resume and to hell with the Elms! To hell with the owners! To hell with.. then she thought about the others. Whatever happened to The Elms would likely mean they faced the possibility of being out of work. She was especially worried about Jody. Her mother had died a couple of years ago and she was alone. She didn’t have a college education and her prospects in finding another job were worse than most others.

Shannon glanced at her desk and her eyes focused on the papers from Julia’s group. “No, I can’t do this.” She said to herself. But then, what else could she do to save The Elms? The money was just too good to pass up. She would never get this opportunity again. No, this wouldn’t just hurt the hotel’s reputation but what would any other employer think if they found out what she had done?

Then again… Shannon looked at the non-disclosure agreement. If it was as iron-clad as it looked nobody would dare ever let it be known what went on, even the owners would be bound by the terms of the agreement and if they told anyone about the BDSM convention they’d be sued. To make sure, Shannon contacted her own attorney who agreed to look at the papers. Shannon spent the next couple of days nervously anticipating his call. Finally she got his confirmation that the Agreement was indeed something that allowed no ‘wiggle-room’ or exceptions. If anyone breathed a word of what went on at the convention, Julia and her associates could drag The Elms, the owners and any individual who revealed the convention activities through the courts for years.

This was the easy part. Now Shannon had to figure out how to get this thing to work. She looked out of her office door and saw Jody at the front desk. She walked over to her and asked her to join her at the fitness center. Jody was puzzled as she had worked out with her that morning. A second session was very unusual and Jody was starting to worry that there was something wrong. Shannon had seemed quite worried these last couple of days.

As soon as they got to the fitness center they changed into their workout clothes. Shannon checked to see if anyone was around. At this time of the day it was pretty much unused and they would have plenty of privacy.

After a half hour Shannon mustered up her courage and motioned for Jody to join her in the sauna. As the steam rose Shannon took a deep breath and told Jody the whole story. Jody was in shock at what Shannon was going to do and couldn’t respond for several minutes. Finally she recovered enough to say “Shannon have you any idea what you’re doing? This is crazy!”

“I know Jody.“ Shannon replied, “But what else can I do? They want the whole hotel. It’ll put us firmly in the black and the owners will have to reconsider selling.”

“But a sex convention? This is wrong!”

“It’s wrong to just sit there and let you and the others get kicked to the curb. This way you’ll have jobs for a while longer.”

“There’s no guarantee the owners will keep The Elms open.”

“And there’s no reason to believe they will pass up the money.”

“Once they find out…” Jody began.

“They won’t… if we don’t say anything.” Shannon interrupted, and explained to Jody about the Agreement . “My lawyer told me that it was extremely binding.”

Jody said under her breath. “Binding… appropriate.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Well, it’s either this or just about everyone here will be out of a job in less than a year. Mike, Rachel, Eugene.. everyone.”

“This will freak everyone out, and speaking of staff how are we going to get enough people to run the hotel?”

“That’s why I told you first Jody.” Shannon replied. “I want you help me in calling all the college kids who have worked here the last couple of years, and I mean everyone. The convention will be just before the next semester starts for some of the schools around here, so the kids might need the extra cash. Don’t tell them what the group is..”

“Lie?”

“No. Not lie. Just omit the details. Mention human relations, or it’s a social gathering… just don’t mention it’s a BDSM group.”

Jody looked at Shannon and wiped the sweat off her brow. “This is crazy… crazy.”, she said. But she realized that there was a lot at stake here. “OK… when do we start?”

“Right away. I’ll take employees starting letters A through H. You work letters I through Z. If we are lucky a third will be interested. If we are even luckier we may get half of them to sign up.”

“That’s going to still make us short of a full staff.”

“We’ll figure it out.” Shannon said. She tried to smile. To give Jody some assurance that things will work out, but even she was doubtful that they’d succeed.

* * * * *

In four days of telephone calls and emails Shannon and Jody had exhausted the employees list. All the college kids who had worked at The Elms had been contacted and as Shannon guessed, about a third expressed interest in a four to five day temp job. The money was the most attractive. Shannon had offered a nice bonus to those who immediately accepted. By the time they were finished Shannon and Jody had succeeded in getting two-thirds of a full staff committed for the convention. They sent out the non-disclosure agreements and received all but a handful of them back signed. Fortunately the agreements did not specify the activities and Shannon knew that once she revealed the full nature of the convention a number of the signers would walk away. But at least they wouldn’t dare tell anyone what was to happen at The Elms.

Shannon then had Jody start preparations for opening The Elms for the dates of the convention. All the usual vendors had to be contacted for food orders, supplies etc. In addition they would need workmen for the set up and tear down, as Shannon had agreed in the contract. They too had to sign the non-disclosure agreement and they did so without question. Times were tough and even just a couple of days in January was preferred to sitting around with no work at all.

Shannon emailed Julia. She wrote her that The Elms would be ready for January but there were some things they would have to discuss and special conditions that would need to be met. Julia responded and agreed to travel to the Elms for to a face to face meeting to go over the details of what will be needed by the convention participants.

Two days later Julia arrived at Shannon’s office. She was accompanied by a young man of medium build. Shannon had surmised that this was the man that Julia had mummified in her room.

“Shannon, this is Billy.” Julia said. “He is my assistant and my slave. You already met but he was not in the position to introduce himself.”

Shannon instinctively held out her hand but Billy looked at Julia.

“Go ahead Billy.”, Julia said. Billy then took Shannon’s hand. “It is a pleasure Mistress Shannon.” He responded.

“No Billy. Do not call her Mistress. Forgive me Shannon. He assumed that you were a member of our group.” Julia then glared at Billy. “Never assume anything boy.” She said sternly.

“Forgive me Mistress.” Billy said meekly.

“Unpack everything then go sit in the corner.” Julia ordered Billy. Quickly he unpacked Julia’s laptop, a printer and a number of other items. Then as Shannon watched, he went to the corner of her office and went to a kneeling position with his hands behind his back and his head bowed.

Julia smiled as she looked at Shannon’s startled expression. “Shall we continue?”

“Uh… yes. I’d like to call in my assistant Jody. She needs to know the details as well.”

“And what has been her reaction to all this?” Julia asked.

“She thinks it’s crazy… and I’m in agreement with her. But we’ve gone this far so we might as well get it done with.”

“It’s crazy? Well I’m in agreement with you. If we had exchanged places I’d think so too. But I’m glad there are no hard feelings. There aren’t any, are they?” Julia smiled at Shannon .

Shannon wasn’t angry, at least not at Julia. She had gone into this of her own free will. It was funny though. Once she had time to really think about it there must have been ways that she could have found to get herself out of this mess.

Shannon glanced over at Julia. There were things that she admired about her. Things which were similar between them. Julia was committed to her goals just like she was to hers. They were both loyal and trustworthy to their friends and associates. Yet Julia had an air of command about her. Even standing there and saying nothing Julia looked as if she was in charge of everyone and everything around her. No wonder Billy as so subservient to her. It was something that Shannon admired, and although she was respected as a manager and person, it just wasn’t the same.

Shannon called Jody into her office and introduced her to Julia. She was about to introduce Billy when Julia held up her hand. “Don’t bother with him right now.” She said and looked at Jody. “My, you are rather young to be in this submissive position. Twenty –one?”

Jody replied, “I started here when I was fifteen, and I’m twenty –three.” She then looked at Shannon with a quizzical look.

“I think we should go over some additional ground rules.“ Shannon said, a firmness in her voice. “One of the rules is that my employees are not to participate or made to participate in your group’s activities.”

“We only allow participation of consentual..” Julia started to reply.

“No participation whatsoever.” Shannon interrupted. “It was difficult enough to get enough people to work these few days. I will not have them in the position of feeling pressured to do something they find objectionable.”

Julia nodded her head. “Yes Shannon, I agree that things will be awkward enough. I will make it known to our members to keep their hands off the staff.”

Shannon continued,”No nudity in the public areas. No sexual activity..”

Now it was Julia’s turn to interrupt. “You’re kidding? What do you think this group does… knit baby booties?”

“I mean no..no… oh shit!. No fucking in the lobby, the pool or other facilities!”

Julia started laughing. “Now how long did it take for you to muster the courage to say ‘fuck’?”

Jody began giggling. She couldn’t help it. Shannon was always careful with her words and never swore in front of people.

Shannon was silent for a few seconds. Then she returned the smile. “Ok.. come on. You know what I’m after here. The hotel you had booked before must have had a lot of conditions as well.”

“Look I’m in agreement with you on a lot of things. We can come up with rules which we can both live with. Just please bear in mind that this will be the first time in years that our group will be free to express themselves without having ..”

“To deal with tight-assed junior execs.”

“Let’s have some coffee and work out the details.” Julia said. She then turned to Billy who was still motionless in the office corner. “Boy, go get the three of us a pot of coffee and… would you like anything else? “ She asked Shannon and Jody.

Jody responded. “That’s not necessary, I’ll be glad to get it.”

“But I didn’t tell you to get it sweetie.”, Julia replied. “This is why I bother keeping him around. Is this what you always do for Shannon?”

Shannon looked at Jody. She could see that she was intimidated by Julia. “Jody does these things because she wants to, not because I order her too. “

“Very well then, the both of you can go… and bring me a fresh croissant as well.” Julia commanded.

After Jody and Billy left, Shannon looked at Julia. “Jody is a good kid and she‘s not a member of your little club.”

Julia had a gleem in her eye. “Really? I’m usually very good at reading people. Jody seems to me to be a natural submissive… and maybe something else.”

“What else?” asked Shannon, a little bit of anger in her tone.

“Oh, nothing… just that she seems more comfortable taking orders from you.”

“Don’t you say anything more about Jody. “ Now Shannon was angry. Julia was getting things go too far.

Julia laughed. “Oh can’t you see I’m trying to push your buttons? I’m sorry. I’m just messing with you.”

“Jody is off limits.. period.” Shannon said tersely. Julia was too manipulative for her. “Let’s just not say anything more and get to work.”

“Sure” Julia replied. There was definitely a vibe about Shannon that Julia had picked up the first day they met and now she was even more sure of it. Time would tell if her instincts were right.

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13.11.12