The corperate underworld, A beauty to be tamed (open)

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Eventually a rack of skirts and scarves think and bold with deep blues,greens, and dark purples. Ivy actually caught herself mid-smile as she took hold off a dress long enough that it would clearly cover to her ankles and had beach colors with light blue and gold detailing. She picked the skirt up and held it against herself looking down at it. She moved a little watching the way it swished. It was a lighter and higher quality fabric than she had anticipated ever laying hands on in her life. She ran her fingers over the designs lost to the world as she seemed almost reverant of the garment that seemed to have every color her eyes had ever changed in emotional moments.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Allen Brown

He smiled as he watched her, finally she have found something that she seemed to like and that was a step in the right direction. From his point of view at least, he stopped and watched her admire the clothing, he nodded the manager forward,

"Anything she wants."

She nodded and moved slowly closer, careful not to startle Ivy.

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy flinched slightly looking up as the woman approached. "These are...lovely" she said quietly, her eyes cast downward as she ran her fingertips over different dresses. All of them long and flowing targeting an elegant yet bohemian style. She glanced at the woman. "I've never seen so many beautiful things before..."

 

[DeathsKnight]

"Thank you dear, we do try to serve a wide variety of clothes. Do you see anything that you would like to keep?"

Cristina or Tina as people called her, was very intrigued by this woman.

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy smiled a little and nodded hesitantly lifting an ankle length dark blue dress with a green scarf. "...I really like this" she said quietly and looked up at the woman. "Do you think its okay?" she asked with a small frown glancing in Allen's direction. She looked back at the other dresses and bit her lip seeming to debate her own tastes.

 

[DeathsKnight]

"Why don't you try it on dear? It is a very nice color and cut, I'm sure that it would suit your complexion and eyes very well."

Tina smiled,

"But surely you don't just want one dress? Go ahead look for anything you want..."

She leaned slightly closer,

"Believe me, Allen will not mind, he may be hard, but he can be just as gentle as well."

She gave a friendly wink and looked over the other dresses.

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy hesitantly chose 2 other garments and looked to the woman to be directed to where she should try them on. "This would be more than enough" she said to Tina with a timid smile that faded quickly when Tina mentioned Allen's potential for gentility. "...I don't know about that" she said her eyes hardening. "Where I am from the company you keep rather defines you." she said somewhat harshly.

 

[DeathsKnight]

"Then you still need to learn a lot about the man my dear."

That was all that she was going to say about Allen,

"Come along, let's get you into those dresses and see how you feel about getting more. I am a woman and dear, three dresses is never enough."

She gently led Ivy towards the changing rooms.

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Once she had been shown to the fitting room and closed the door Ivy stared into the full length mirror for a long moment between removing the lingerae like gown she had been forced to wear, and the beautiful dresses. She lifted her fingers to trace her face on the glass reflection and then picked up the dress with the deep blues and golden threading. She actually smiled when she wrapped the scarf around her neck that came with it and stood staring at her relfection having never imagined herself in such garments. She cracked the door and peered her head outside looking for Tina.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Tina was waiting patiently outside, she noticed Ivy peeking through the door and smiled at her.

"Come on out dear, let's see how you look."


*******************************

Allen on the other hand was busy browsing through the sports section, for a moment he wondered if Ivy had done any sport before and if she would like to do something. He shook his head, here he was thinking of her like a date, which she clearly wasn't.

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Stepping out of the fitting room with her arms crossed over her chest , Ivy took a deep breath and looked at Tina and down at herself. "Is it okay?" she asked lifting a corner of the skirt to show that the length was a bit past her ankle and turning. "I feel....I dont know if I should be wearing this" she said keeping her arms folded as she looked down at herself criticly seeming to for the first time notice the bruises on her limbs in various places from her less tolerable encounters in the shark tank she had been plucked from by Allen. "can you tell me anything about him?" she asked in a very low voice that was almost a whisper,

 

[DeathsKnight]

Tina ran an expert eye over Ivy as she turned,

"You look very good dear, I think you will be the talk of the town."

She noticed the bruises, but said nothing about them,

"I can tell you what I know, why don't you ask me and I'll answer if I can?"

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy chewed her lip for a moment fumbling with the fabrics as she gazed at her own reflection. "What does he do?...How is he so wealthy....?" she frowned. "Is he very dangerous?" She felt she already knew the answer to that question but still felt it worth asking. "And how long have you known him....I dont know if i know the right questions, anything you can tell me may help" she said her eyes conciously scanning the area for potential exits.

 

[DeathsKnight]

"He is one of the more dynamic young tycoons, he may not seem like it, but he works very hard, managing and owning six companies takes a lot of work, but it also have made him a wealthy man. Of course there is a shady part of his business which he conceals so well that only very select few actually knows about it. How dangerous he is? My dear not even I will venture a guess, I can tell you that he can be deadly."

She glanced around,

"We have known each other for five years and trying to escape will only get you onto his bad side, so far he have been very kind towards you from what I have seen."

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy arched an eyebrow studying the woman's face, finding no apparent reason to lie there she swallowed and turned her back to the mirror. "What am I to do then?..." she muttered to her reflection clearly expecting no response. "Is there anything else I must do?" she asked without taking her eyes from her mirror self.

 

[DeathsKnight]

"Just do as he asks of you my dear, as long as you go along with him, I am very sure that you will not come to much harm...well he haven't harmed me or any other lady that he had brought here."

She gently cleared her throat,

"If you wish to take that clothes you can fit the rest and then perhaps just browse quickly around if you see anything else you like? Like Allen said, what you pick here is yours to keep."

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy turned slowly to face the woman approaching her as she spoke. When she was standing no more than a few inches from Tina, she searched her eyes for a long troubled moment. "How did you come to be here Tina?" she asked are eyebrow arching in a manner that made her appear almost regal, her chin uplifted as she continued. "just do as he says...." the last words trailed off in a whisper that betrayed the severity of her expression.

She didn't wait for an answer as she scanned the area and spotted what looked to be clothing more appropriate for the outdoors and comfort. An outfit intended for jogging, all black with a hood found its way into her hands along with a few other articles more sensible to her current environment. Finally finding her way to the window that looked out into the street she stared, she stared and she studied, The words "where am I?" forming loudly in her mind.

 

[DeathsKnight]

"Like any other girl here comes here, study and then find a work, that is the only way. I started at floor clerk and now I'm manager, if you think that Allen helped me you are sorely mistaken. He never rewards a person unless you perform above the goals that he sets. I like that outfit, should keep you safe and concealed."

Tina turned to look out of the window with Ivy.

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy nodded and tried to make her eyes adjust to the bright city lights in the street. Her mind raced at the sights before her, The cars that rushed past and the noises of business offended her ears even with the glass between herself and the sidewalk. She scanned the store looking for Allen to gauge the distance between herself and him, and lastly the door.

She looked at Tina for a moment and then took a deep breath praying for strength and suddenly dropping everything she held short only the black hooded jacket. She darted for the door.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Allen Brown

He had noticed them moving closer to the window and when Ivy bolted he was already running. He caught her just shy of the door opening, slamming her into the metal door frame.

"Now now is that a way to treat Tina? Stealing from her and leaving her to face me? And I mistook you to be brave."

He hissed the words in her ear, then grabbed her wrist and twisted it up behind her back, forcing her to the tips of her toes.

"In fact I should be breaking your arm for your insolence, but not here, not now,"

he shoved her away from him and straightened his suit.

"Tina please place the lady's things in a bag and put it on my account...I am a man of my word..."

He allowed that to hang in the air for a while, then with a flick of his wrist the driver and a guard grabbed Ivy and dragged her outside, tossing her rather hard handedly into the car. Allen followed and locked his door as he settled in, he did not speak, but it was clear that he was pissed off.

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy bit back her urge to cry out in pain feeling her arm wrenched behind her back. She sucked a breath in through her teeth making a low hissing sound stumbling forward when she was released. She recovered quickly but did not turn to face Allen, her head was dropped to her chin as she spoke quietly. "I am sorry for causing trouble for you Ms.Tina, I would not want you to come to harm you have been kind to me" she said as the driver and guard caught hold of her arms. The guard gruffly taking hold of the arm that had been twisted behind her back was instantly reward as she turned to meet his eyes a gaelic swear "Téigh trasna ort féin" meaning essentially 'go fuck yourself', as she spat in his face before being tossed into the car where she pressed herself against the other side of the car. She made a point of not looking over at Allen, keeping her gaze either in her own lap or the window and sitting as straight and still as she could manage her face lacking any noteworthy expression.

 

[DeathsKnight]

He looked out of the window for a while and then he finally spoke, his voice was calm and controlled,

"B'fhéidir gur mhaith leat gcuimhne do manners bhean óg. D'fhéadfadh chaillim mo temper agus tá rud éigin a dhéanamh gríos a choinneáil suas láithrithe."
(You might want to mind your manners young lady. I might lose my temper and have to do something rash to keep up appearances.)

He did not care if his use of the language would shock her, he knew quite a few and he was sure that if she knew a language he did not know he could learn it. He looked back at her, the anger gone from his eyes,

"What was that all about? Did you really think that I would let you escape that easily?"

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy kept her gaze fixed on the window though, she wasn't really looking at anything but the faint reflection of herself in the glass. Her posture changed, tensing up when he spoke in her own language. She had to close her eyes to bite back the shock of hearing it again. She did not answer his question at first, only in a small voice barely audible commented,
"I don't know that I can find in my own memories the last time I heard my language spoken by any other than my own lips..." She inhaled deeply and forced herself to exhale slowly. "I am not property to be kept, If I see the chance to escape a shark's illusion that I am...I will take it. I would expect any sane creature that breathes to desire freedom and to fight for release from imprisonment , no matter how pretty the cage."

 

[DeathsKnight]

Allen Brown

A sardonic smirk crossed his lips as he looked outside,

"Who said that I own you? I did not say that I claim you, neither did I lay any hand on you apart from preventing your escape into the dark underbelly of a place where you will end up much worse than just some entertainment for bored, rich men."

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy opened her mouth to speak, but her breath caught in her throat and she could not find her words. She turned to look at Allen studying the back of his head as he watched the passing of scenery through the window. She kept her face as emotionally void as she could as she struggled internally to decide what to make of the man. Finally, she clenched her fist and sighed deeply. "I'm sorry" she whispered "I was irrational and my action was from panic an was not thought through, that is the kind of behavior that has brought me to this place. You have been kind, and I dishonor myself with my actions"