An Indecent Proposal by MellowJoe

JACK

It was our Friday night date night. We try to get one of those in at least once a week, and I think we manage to keep to that average. We were at one of our favorite places, a Mexican restaurant and bar called El Guapo’s. They had a really nice outdoor patio and the weather was perfect – cool but not cold, breezy but not windy.

We had struck up a conversation with the guy at the next table. It was just one of those things that happens when you’re out. He was by himself, but seemed pleasant enough. He said his name was John.

We’d been chatting with him about our future plans and when we’d have accumulated enough savings to be able to put a down payment on a house. If things stayed the way they were, we’d have enough in a year or so. This was Stage 1 of The Plan.

Stage 1 was house. Stage 2 was build equity. Stage 3 was bigger house. Stage 4 was kids.

We were young and had time. We being me, Jack Andrews and my wife Jill. Save the jokes, we’ve heard all of them. We had a nick-nack shelf in the apartment full of Jack-and-Jill themed tchotchkes from well-meaning friends and family members. We got married 2 years ago and have been living in wedded bliss ever since.

All we had right now was our one-bedroom love nest, but it was ours! We didn’t have the latest cars, but they were reliable and (more importantly) paid off. We didn’t have the biggest TV, but it worked well enough for us. Our furniture wasn’t the newest or fanciest, but it was clean and well-built.

I had just made a comment along the lines of “So, if everything goes well, we can start putting buns in the oven in five years or so”.

John replied “I might be able to help advance that timeline a bit.”

“How so?”

“I got very lucky in business a few years back. I’m in the position to offer you a very lucrative deal.”

“And what deal would that be?”

“Before I answer that, Google me. John Albright. That should establish my bona fides.”

Jill pulled out her phone and looked him up. “You have your own Wikipedia entry. Holy crap. Says you have a net worth that’s…”

“That’s probably out of date by now, but I’m north of $10 billion right now.”

“OK. So what’s the deal?”

“Despite just having met you, I like you guys, and want to help you out. So I’ll give you $1 million. That’s after taxes, so the actual amount will be $1.4 million. But there’s something I want.”

I waited for the other shoe to drop.

“I want Jill for the weekend.”

I was stunned. “WHAT? You can’t be serious.”

I looked at Jill. I can only assume that the look of stunned incredulity on her face mirrored mine. “Fuck off, asshole. Go back to your table and leave us alone.”

“This is a serious offer. She leaves her phone and purse behind and leaves with me. I’ll drop her off by 6PM Sunday and deposit the money into your account at that time. While she’s with me, she’ll do whatever I want. I promise I will not hurt her or mark her in any way.”

“Fuck you! The answer is NO.”

“I’ll go stand by the door and wait for five minutes while you discuss things. If she doesn’t join me by then, I’ll leave and you’ll never see me again.” He got up and wandered to the exit, leaning against the wall.

“Holy crap. Can you believe the arrogance of that asshole?”

Jill replied, “No, I can’t. I know that the rich live different lives, but that’s a whole different level of entitlement.” She paused. “But a million bucks would be nice.”

“Not that nice.”

“I mean, we could jump to Stage 4 immediately. Buy a house for cash, fund our kids’ college, and still have enough left over to invest. We’d be able to retire in our 40s.”

“Don’t tell me you’re actually considering it.”

“Of course not! Just saying it would be nice.”

I looked at her. “Good. Because if you did, it would destroy us.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’d never do anything to hurt our relationship.”

I paused and looked at her. I could see John watching us. He tapped his finger on his wristwatch. “Suddenly, I’m not wanting to stay here any longer. Let’s go home and watch a movie or something.”

“OK. Watch my stuff, I need to hit the restroom real quick.”

I watched as she moved toward the restrooms. She stopped to say something to John, no doubt to tell him off once again.

Suddenly they walked out the door together. I felt my heart clench up for a second, then was out of my seat running out the door. I saw her getting into a Mercedes. Just as she was about to shut the door, I screamed her name. “JILL! Don’t do this!”

She looked at me, mouthed “I’m sorry”, then shut the door. The car started out of the parking lot. I ran after it figuring I could jump on top of it or something, when suddenly I was grabbed from behind. I turned to see one of the biggest men I have ever seen grabbing me by my upper arms. “Let me go! That’s my wife!”

“Sorry bud, but Mr Albright doesn’t want trouble.”

I watched the car pull out of the parking lot and drive off at a very high rate of speed. I tried to break free and follow them, but couldn’t. He had an iron grip. I watched the tail lights fade into the distance, just like my marriage.

“If I let you go, will you do anything stupid? I have to point out that she was not coerced in any way.”

I looked at him. “What would you do if it was your wife?”

“Beat the shit out of him, of course. Which is why he sent me here to hold you for a bit. But they’re gone now, so I’m letting you go.”

I stood there for a second. The bodyguard waited for me to do anything, then got into his own car and drove off.

—————————-

JILL

“Ok. Watch my stuff, I need to hit the restroom real quick.” I hated deceiving him, but I knew he’d never agree. I walked toward the restrooms, but stopped when I got to John. “Let’s go before I change my mind, and before Jack makes a scene.”

John turned and walked out the door. I followed. There was a Mercedes waiting right outside. John got in the driver’s side. I opened the passenger door, but before I could get in, I heard Jack scream.

“JILL! Don’t do this!” His face was a mixture of surprise and hurt.

I stopped for a second, then said “I’m sorry”, got in and shut the door. It hurt that I was causing him pain, but I was doing it for us.

John immediately took off. “Don’t worry,” he said. “He’ll get over it.”

“I hope so.” I tried to put Jack out of my mind. “So where are we going?”

“I have a house a little ways out of town. We’ll spend the weekend there.”

The remainder of the trip was spent in silence. We drove for about an hour, heading out of the city. We left the main highway fairly soon and traveled on a series of ever-smaller country roads. Eventually we came to a gate. John pressed a button on a remote control and the gate slid open.

We drove down a gravel driveway for about a minute, then came up to a rather large stone house. It was two stories tall, and looked like it had been there for awhile. We parked the car out front.

“This used to be a hunting lodge. I acquired it plus the surrounding acreage a couple of years ago, and made a few improvements.” John said. “Come inside.”

The interior was quite rustic. The door opened to an entryway, which connected to a large den. We walked through there into the kitchen. John opened the door to another short hallway on the other side. It reminded me of a hotel hallway. This impression was reinforced when John opened the first door on the right and stepped inside.

“This is where you’ll be staying,” he said. “These are quarters for the kitchen staff and other servants.”

It was a small, windowless room made out of cinder blocks, which were painted in an off-white color. On one wall was an open closet, with nothing in it. Next to the closet was a bathroom. It was furnished with a bed, a dresser, and a desk. The bed was a bare mattress.

John opened the top drawer of the dresser and pulled out a folded-up piece of something that looked like cloth. “I want you to go into the bathroom, remove all your clothing, and put this on. That means underwear and shoes, too.” He handed me the bundle.

I looked at him. He made a motion with his hands, shooing me into the bathroom, so I went in and shut the door. I unfolded the bundle. It wasn’t made of cloth. It was some kind of opaque white plastic, tyvek maybe. It looked like overalls, except it was full body, and had mittens integrated onto the sleeves, and booties on the legs. OK, this was kinky, but whatever.

I stripped down, then stepped into the outfit. There was a zipper in the front. I zipped it up to between my tits, then stepped out.

“So you like this?” I asked.

John stepped up, grabbed the zipper, and pulled it all the way up to my neck. “There, that’s better.” Then he stepped into the bathroom and gathered up all my clothes. “These will be cleaned and returned to you on Sunday before you leave. There are more bunny suits in the dresser should you need to change. They are disposable. Throw them in the trash when you take them off. There are also sheets and a blanket in the dresser.” He stepped closer to me, invading my personal space. “Are you ready for your first…” he smiled. “Task?”

I nodded, dreading what was coming next.

“Clean this room. Bathroom too. It’s been months, and the place is not fit to be seen.”

“What?”

“Clean the room. There are cleaning supplies in the cabinet in the bathroom, and there’s a broom in the closet. I expect the floors to be clean enough to eat off of. Do you understand?”

“You want me to clean the room? That’s all?”

“That’s all for now, yes. When you’re done, you can make the bed and sleep. If you’re hungry afterward, there’s sandwich fixings in the kitchen.”

I stared at him.

“Go on, chop chop, time’s a-wasting, get busy!” Then he turned around and walked out, carrying my clothes, shutting the door behind him.

What else could I do? I started cleaning the bathroom. There was dried urine on the toilet. The bathtub had a black ring around it. The fixtures were covered in water spots. There was mildew on the walls in the tub.

It took me about an hour to do the bathroom. Fortunately, the room itself wasn’t that bad. I just had to dust the desk and dresser, sweep the floor, then damp mop it. The place gleamed.