Chapter 5: Nicole. Sunday Week 1 of Tessa’s stay

My brief conversation with Slave Tessa prompts me to review the files of the four young women who won the competition. When I first heard of their pending arrival, I asked Monique why an exclusive club like La Chatte Heureuse would involve itself with a competition that was ruthlessly promoted with all the razzmatazz of a circus. Monique had no involvement with the promotion, which was apparently handled by the shadowy organisation that owns La Chatte Heureuse. I sometimes worry that we’re involved with some criminal organisation, but Monique assures me that everything is perfectly legitimate, and that the secrecy about ownership is to preserve the reputation of the fine upstanding pillars of the community involved.

I check on the terms of Slave Tessa’s prize and I’m soon satisfied that she can apply to join the special event at no extra cost. Although I’ve previously reviewed the profiles of the four prize winners, I now take the time to study their profiles in more detail. Unlike the regular members of La Chatte Heureuse, the four women haven’t been required to complete the usual sophisticated personality analysis to check they are suitable for the caste they have chosen. Instead a much less thorough questionnaire and interview was conducted. While the Lady caste is suitable for nearly every visitor to the island, those wanting to stay here in the Mistress and Slave castes are normally subject to much stricter criteria. That’s particularly so if the planned stay is longer than a couple of weeks. While Slave Tessa passed the criteria set in the questionnaire and interview, I still have reservations that she’s suitable for a six week stay in the Slave caste.

“Sorry for interrupting, Madame Nicole,” says Slave Brooke who has been covering the reception desk while I’ve been studying these files. “Madame Selena would like to talk with you for a few moments.”

“Sure,” I reply. “Show her through to the small office. I’ll be with her in a few moments.”

I recall that Selena was the mistress I assigned to show Slave Tessa around yesterday. Perhaps Selena has gained some insight into Tessa’s capabilities. Although Selena and I are regarded as equals within the Mistress caste, our backgrounds and personalities are completely different. What arouses Selena is often a big turn-off for me, so we agree to differ on several subjects relating to the treatment of slaves. Our mutual dislike for Madame Faye’s obnoxious behaviour towards slaves is one of the few issues we wholeheartedly agree on. That, and agreeing that Faye deserved the punch Selena delivered. I would have punched Faye myself were it not likely to have resulted in me being fired. Going back to living in my car is the last thing I want to face.

“Good morning, Selena,” I say as I walk into the small office. “How can I help you?”

“Hi, Nicole,” replies Selena. “I want to extend my stay here by a couple of days for the purpose of putting Slave Tessa through a Flower Assessment.”

La Chatte Heureuse has four different personality tests that are used to assess a slave’s liking and tolerance for different kinds of treatment. Collectively the tests are called a Flower Assessment, simply because each test is named after a flower; Fern, Cornflower, Rose and Buttercup. If a slave successfully completes one of the assessments, her club records record the achievement, and a green, blue, red or yellow metal flower is attached to her necklace. That in turn makes her easier to match to mistresses looking for certain traits in a slave. Generally its a win-win situation. Both mistress and slave are matched with a partner who likes the same things.

“Extending your stay won’t be a problem, but we’ll need Slave Tessa’s agreement to put her through an Flower Assessment. Tessa isn’t a club member, so there’s limited benefit to her in achieving the award. Which test are you proposing she takes?”

“A Buttercup test,” replies Selena. “Yeah, I know my normal preference is for a Cornflower type, but I think Slave Tessa is a natural submissive, and my intuition says that she leans heavily towards the Buttercup type. She’s here for six weeks, which she’s going to find is a test in itself. I think she deserves a chance of matching up with mistresses who will give her the treatment she needs.”

I can’t fault Selena’s logic. For a mistress who has been guilty of overstepping boundaries before, Selena sometimes shows a compassionate side to her nature.

“If Slave Tessa agrees to the Flower Assessment, then the club has no objection,” I reply. “I’ll see if one of the Lady caste will volunteer to act as observer, otherwise I’ll ask one of the administration staff to observe. The Buttercup assessment requires some rope bondage. You are normally into cuffs and chains. Can you manage to conduct the assessment on your own, or are you going to need help?”

“Umm ... I was going to ask you if you would attend to the rope bondage part of the assessment. I can manage the rest on my own.”

“OK. I can do that. But first we need Slave Tessa’s agreement. Let me check where she is at the moment.”

“She’s in the work party servicing the rooms in the recreation building,” replies Selena, clearly paying close attention to Slave Tessa’s movements.

Normally I would wait until a work party has finished a task before commandeering one of the slaves. However, I’m mindful that Selena will want a yes or no answer soon if she is going to reschedule her activities for the next few days. Consequently I go with Selena to building E5 and locate Slave Tessa. She’s busy changing bed linen and she doesn’t initially see us arrive. When she does, she is understandably nervous at our sudden appearance. However, to her credit, she reacts towards us like any well trained slave should, and drops to her knees with her head bowed.

“Madame Selena has a proposal to make to you, and I’m here to explain what that means if you agree,” I say to Slave Tessa.

The three of us move to another room where we won’t be overheard. I firstly explain about the Flower Assessment tests and why they can be useful to both slaves and mistresses. I then let Selena make her proposal and her reason for doing so. Slave Tessa goes thoughtful for a few moments.

“How do you know that the Buttercup test is the right one, Madame?” asks Slave Tessa.

“From my observation of you yesterday and what you’ve told me about yourself,” replies Selena. “We won’t know for sure until you complete the assessment, but my years of experience tell me that it’s the right one for you.”

“OK, I’ll take the test, Madame. When and where am I to do it?” asks Slave Tessa.

“Report to the reception desk tomorrow morning instead of going to the Slave Holding Area,” I reply. “You can register for the special event at the same time if you still want to do so. I’ve checked your prize award and it allows you to participate in a special event.”

“Yes, OK. Thank you, Madame Nicole. Madame Selena.”

“Right. Now you had best get back to work before your overseer punishes you for slacking,” says Selena, knowing full well that nobody will inspect her work until the work party has completed the task, and slaves never rat on each other to a mistress.

Slave Tessa scurries back to her duties while Selena and I go back to the administration building.

“I presume you wish to confirm your extended stay,” I say to Selena. “How many extra days do you wish to stay.”

“I’ll check out on Friday, if that’s okay,” says Selena.

I quickly check the transport schedule for Friday and confirm there are spare outbound seats on the boat and bus. I make the necessary arrangements to extend Selena’s stay. As she has already used up her annual allowance of ‘free days’ on the island, the extension is going to cost Selena a tidy sum. It strikes me as unusually generous of her to go to that expense for the sake of a complete stranger. I suspect she has a much deeper interest in Slave Tessa than she is admitting.

With everything organised, Selena goes about her business while I resume my review of the four competition winners’ files. I’m more comfortable about Slave Tessa’s choice now that Selena has given her initial appraisal. I don’t worry too much about Nadia and Raewyn as the rules governing the Ladies caste are straightforward and few people have difficulty with abiding by them. Madame Kylie is a different matter, however. She certainly has the right social background for the Mistress caste, but she’s a novice with the dom-sub lifestyle. Most of the mistresses will eat her for breakfast if she doesn’t meet their exacting standards regarding the ‘proper’ control of slaves. Perhaps I should ask Rebecca to have a quiet word with Kylie and take her under her wing.