Page 15 of Body Slave

Ben stared at his glass, worrying the frost with his thumb, for long seconds. “Yeah, I know. You and Mom always said you hoped I’d take over the business. And I really admire how you and she built it up from nothing. It’s just....” He stopped and blew out a long breath. “Even though I’ve got a degree in business, I’m not really interested in lumber and home improvement.”

The master grunted, and not a happy sound. “Just what are you interested in then?”

“Computer games, actually. Not that I have any illusions about creating them,” he hastily added. “But I would love to work on the business side of promoting and distributing them.”

The master grunted again. “Games.” Even a lowly slave could hear the derision in that one word.

“It’s a multi-billion-dollar industry, Dad.”

Leaning forward, the master said, “I’m sorry my little multi-million-dollar company isn’t interesting enough for you, son.”

Ben groaned. “You know it’s not the money, Dad, or the prestige. Tanner Lumber and Design is a great company. I just told you how I feel about your success. The reason you and Mom did so well is because not only did you work hard, you felt passionate about your business, too. I want that for myself.”

“So what do you expect me to do, take on a new partner, sell out? Because I can’t keep it up on my own and I won’t live forever. Your mother didn’t,” he added in a low, pained tone. Despite everything, Oliver felt bad for the man.

“Oh, Dad. How about Deidre? It’s as much her legacy as mine.”

Shoving his glass in Oliver’s face, the master leaned back again. “Your sister has just finished her sophomore year and she’s majoring in art history.” He snorted.

“There’s a tie-in to interior design with that major.”

Oliver hurried to refill the master’s glass.

“Maybe. But it’s still two years away before she can help, and she’s not even here to offer up an opinion. Unlike you, she’s traveling the whole summer before starting her junior year abroad. We won’t see her until next Christmas.”

Oliver looked briefly at Ben after handing the master his drink to see if he wanted another beer. Ben wore such a look of misery, he wanted to go and comfort him. Knowing better, he returned to his kneeling position and wished heartily for the meeting to be over. It was making both men unhappy, which meant that the master would take that out on Oliver later. More importantly he hated seeing Ben sad.

“She’s had a hard time accepting Mom’s death,” Ben said in a quiet voice.

“We all have,” the master replied with a big gulp.

Reaching up with his free hand, he dug his fingers into Oliver’s scalp and pulled his hair for a few seconds. He winced at the relatively mild discomfort and mentally gave his master a pass for being so mean. The man’s psychic pain obviously exceeded Oliver’s physical one, and if manhandling Oliver gave him some peace, so be it. It was one way to be useful in life.

Ben took in a large breath and let it out loudly and slowly. “Okay, how about this; I come to work for you, learn the business, and fill the void left by Mom until Deidre comes home and the three of us can discuss the future of the company. I can’t guarantee either of us will end up taking over. Maybe you should take on a partner or plan on selling it at some point. But I’m willing to buy us some time. It’s too soon to be making any major decisions anyway.”

The master gave him a strained smile. “Not the answer I hoped for, but it’s a fair compromise.” Standing, he extended his hand and Ben rose to take it. “We leave at seven tomorrow morning. I like to get in early and stay late.”

“Fair enough,” Ben agreed with a quick shake. “I’m going to go up and turn in early then. You know I’m not a morning person, so I need my sleep.”

The master chuckled and patted his son on his back as he walked by. His gaze followed Ben out the door, which the young master closed quietly behind him. Then the master plopped back down on the couch and motioned to the spot between his legs. “Over here.”

His tone held more weariness than bite. Oliver couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. He maneuvered himself into position, determined to raise the man’s spirits. And if in his mind, he comforted Ben instead? Well, who was to know? Who got hurt by the deception?

Except himself, of course.

****

Ben didn’t bother to hide his surprise when Oliver came out of the house with his father and climbed into the front seat of the car. The slave looked especially handsome in pressed jeans and a nice T-shirt. He didn’t look at Ben, simply kept his gaze down as usual, but it appeared the bruise on his face had faded and nothing showed on his pale skin. That eased Ben’s mind considerably. He knew his father wasn’t happy with the compromise solution about the business and had spent a restless night worrying that he’d taken his unhappiness out on the boy.

His father smiled broadly this morning, however. He clapped Ben on the shoulder in greeting before slipping into the back seat. With a quick nod of thanks to Joe, who held the door open, Ben joined him. On the ride to the office, he listened to his father’s enthusiastic recitation of the day’s agenda with only half of his attention. The other focused on the boy in the front seat. Of course Joe and Oliver kept silent, and because his father made no mention of it, Ben was still mystified as to what his father intended by bringing his body slave to work. It worried him a little that his father had an unpleasant plan involving the use of the slave for the day. But there was still no sign of what that might be throughout the morning.

While his father gave him an extensive tour to reacquaint Ben with the layout of the warehouse and the workshop, Oliver trailed behind them. Every person in the place, slave and free person alike, at least glanced at the body slave, although no one dared ask his father about him. By the time they were back in the main office, Ben felt more than at home again. He was confident of doing a more intensive survey of the inventory on his own, so he left his father sitting behind his massive desk. Oliver kneeled by his side in typical fashion, his father stroking the slave’s head.

Ben wasn’t sure if that conveyed a good thing or a bad thing, but knew there was nothing he could do about it one way or another. Instead, he concentrated on learning the details of the warehouse so that his father would be happy with the day’s progress. Keeping him in a good mood was the best way for Ben to protect Oliver. It sucked that he had to mollify his own father to prevent him from being hurtful to another human being.

Putting aside his concern, Ben sauntered through the huge stacks of lumber and other products being held for shipping to local retail sellers of lumber products. He inhaled deeply. He had always loved the smell of wood and could remember spending long days just running around the place when he was younger. This business might not be his passion, but it interested him to some degree and he really did admire how his parents had worked to make their small start-up business a large company.

They employed dozens of people and owned dozens more slaves. The two groups of people worked side by side, the slaves obvious only by their simpler clothing and metal collars. The sight of them dimmed his happiness a bit. He’d forgotten that part of his parents’ success was built on the cheap backs of slave labor. They didn’t have to be paid, of course, and only cost the company the lesser expense of room, board, and security to keep them in place. Still, there weren’t guards patrolling with cattle prods the way he’d seen in other companies and most people appeared to be at least well-fed and if not happy, content.

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