Page 8 of In Her Own Way
Shift change happened every day at six o’clock p.m. and then again at six a.m. Victoria was early to take over for her cousin Erin. Erin owned the self-storage facility, Addison Storage, outright and liked to be on site working security during the day. When Victoria called her cousin a month ago, a week before fleeing Denton Heights, Erin enthusiastically offered the couch in her one-bedroom, third-floor walkup. Erin told her she could absolutely use some girl-cousin energy, because her two older brothers were driving her insane. As usual.
Erin hadn’t wanted to join the family business, Addison Construction, where Victoria had been headed before the shit hit the fan right after she turned eighteen.
“Hey, cousin,” Erin said when she spotted Victoria letting herself into the security office off the main building. “Did you have a good day?”
Victoria clamped her lips shut and let the smile light up her face.
“No fucking way,” Erin said and smacked Victoria in the chest. This was the Addison family’s way of showing love. “You got lucky down at Scarlett?”
Victoria nodded. “She was nice.”
Erin scoffed. “‘Nice,’” she quoted. “Well, there you go. My cousin has more game than both my idiot brothers.” Erin was a pretty young woman with light sandy hair, just like Victoria’s, but preferred keeping it long. She currently had it tied back in a functional ponytail. She was tall, like all the Addison cousins, but was the shortest at five foot eight. She was a year younger than Victoria, and both were younger than Erin’s brothers. Eddie was two years older than Victoria, while Donny was one. Their respective fathers were brothers, and the cousins had all grown up together. “You’ve been here, what, almost three weeks?” Erin asked with a chuckle.
Victoria nodded. “Yep.”
“Geez.” Erin and Victoria had been close growing up, that is, until Victoria got stupid and her father gave her an ultimatum. She either admitted she’d stolen the copper out of the building sites the family construction company had been working on, or she enlisted in the Army.
She wasn’t a snitch. That could have gotten her into more trouble than standing up to her father, so she told him to fuck off. One slap across the face later, and she was down at the recruitment center. Army it was. Of course, he didn’t realize she’d signed up for the Army Reserve, a part-time gig as opposed to full. She’d been eighteen at the time, didn’t need his signature on anything, and basically left home for four years. She lived near the training center in Edinburgh, an hour south. Homeless and hungry, she took any odd job she could find until she found one at a local elementary school, working in the cafeteria. Yep, she had been a cafeteria lady for a brief time. That led to a job in maintenance at the same school. Two years into her Reserves gig, she applied for and got her first-ever security position at the school. She loved it. She loved the kids and loved keeping them safe. It was the first time she’d ever had real power.
When she looked back on that earlier time, she knew her father had actually done her a favor. Not that she would ever tell him that. The Reserves and her security gigs were the beginnings of her journey into dominance. She liked it. She was good at it. When her commitment to the Army was finally and blessedly finished, there was no way she was going back home. She scoured the internet for school security jobs and found one in Denton Heights, Ohio, of all places. It was there she met Rikki Carmichael and Rikki’s Aunt Matilda, who mentored her in her fledgling role as a Domme.
“Fucking afternoon delight,” Erin said, still impressed with Victoria’s exploits. “I’m so glad you’re here. I hired Donny for the night shift for a while, but he was good for nothing.” Erin groaned. “Love my brothers, but you know.”
Victoria laughed. “Yeah, I do know. And then there’s that whole ‘Loyalty to Family’ thing they beat into our heads.”
Erin scoffed. “That and ‘Family First.’ But hey, listen, Vic, if you’re here to stay, you won’t be on nights forever, I promise. It’s just, you know, the new guy gets the shitty shift.”
“No worries. No people. All good.”
Erin stood up and grabbed her bag and coat. “Speaking of people, we do have one person I’m kind of bending the rules for.”
“Who?” Victoria glanced at the row of security cameras, including the two covering the parking area, but didn’t see anyone.
“C’mon, I’ll show you, and then you can walk me out.”
Victoria followed Erin out of the security office into the quickly chilling night air. The storage facility consisted of several rows of side-by-side, non-climate-controlled, garage-type units, although Erin did plan to build a climate-controlled building in the back woods behind the current facility one day, when she could afford it. They headed away from the exit toward the back corner nestled near the stand of woods.
“How’s business?” Victoria asked as they walked. “Is owning a storage facility lucrative?”
Erin laughed. “Nah, but it pays the bills and ishonestwork.”
“Mmm,” Victoria said. The wordhonesthad been laden with meaning, but she didn’t touch it. She didn’t have to because once they rounded the corner, she saw the open storage door and a short stocky guy with disheveled short dark hair standing inside, wiping sweat off his brow with a workout towel.
“Hey, Kimo,” Erin said. “This is Vic, the new night security.”
“Oh, hey, cool.” Kimo stuck out his hand. Victoria shook it and nodded her greeting. He pointed at Erin, “She tell you the deal I got going here?” He pointed to his home gym set up in the storage space.
Erin answered. “I’m allowing him to work out here for a total of one hour after we close. Then he gets escorted off the premises.”
“I have questions,” Victoria said.
“His girlfriend threw him out, apparently,” Erin said and looked at Kimo with raised eyebrows. “Do I have that right?”
“Yeah,” he said. “She’ll take me back soon. I think. Maybe.” Kimo picked up some hand weights and began doing curls. “I had no place to put my shit, so storage place it is.”
“He works until 5:30 and can’t get here until 6:00,” Erin said.
“Closing time,” Victoria offered.
