Dilemmas of Summer 2015 - Batch 4

Sam’s Internship Interview

“So then Samantha, explain to me why you want this internship?”

    Sam fidgeted nervously, one hand flicking back strands of her very long, frizzy brown hair, the other hand clasping the hem of her short, dark green skirt. She’d picked this piece of clothing, along with her white short sleeved blouse with black collar, dark nylons and ankle strap high heels, to try and impress her interviewer whom, she presumed, was going to be a bloke. Just her luck that her interviewer happened to be a woman.

   Fiona, the young woman interviewing her, stared at Sam through her square shaped spectacles, her deep purple hair cut into a bob, drumming the pen in her hand against the notepad on her desk. She wore a dark blue, short sleeved office dress with a black belt around her waist, which she also wore with tan nylons and bright blue high heeled pumps. Fiona waited a second for Sam to answer, and when she didn’t she said in a manner that was neither encouraging nor chiding, “Take your time and relax dear.”

   Sam didn’t take too kindly to being called dear, but she held her tongue and replied, “Well…I’ve always been interested in sports and fitness, so the chance to work for a company that specialises in sports merchandise is one which I’d greatly enjoy. Plus I’d get the chance to work promoting the new range from star football striker Barry Blaine, who’s probably my favourite player in the league currently.”

   “Well you’ll be joining us at an exciting time,” Fiona told her. “We’ve just signed a deal with Barry to be the first chain to stock his latest clothing line. The last time we took on such a deal we sold out of all our stock within days. So your internship will be a hectic and busy one. Can you give me an example of a time when you had to multi-task and meet tight deadlines?”

    Sam struggled to think of a good example, so she blurted out the first thing that came into her head. “Well, there was this one time I was kidnapped by some masked goons, so I had to try and loosen my bonds while trying to avoid the attention of my captors. That’s a pretty good example of multi-tasking and working to a deadline.”

   Fiona didn’t seem all that impressed by her answer. “Well that sounds like a very unique situation, but I doubt it will provide you the relevant experience you need for a position within our business.”

   “I beg to differ,” I said as I leapt out from my hiding place behind the curtains, balaclava over my face and coils of rope in one hand and a pistol in the other. “It’s actually going to be very relevant experience for this role.”

   “Who are you? Get out of my office!” Fiona demanded angrily.

   “I don’t think so lassie!” I replied firmly, before I threw some coils of rope in the direction of Sam. “Sorry to potentially gate crash your interview, but I need you to tie up your prospective employer!”

    Sam didn’t object to this turn of events, silently unravelling the rope, pulling Fiona’s hands behind her back before looping the cord around them. Fiona was a lot more uncooperative, huffing and growling as her hands were effectively secured. “You can’t do this to me. I’m a busy career woman!”

    “Well you’re about to take an extended lunch break!” I told her. “Take a seat on top of your desk while your candidate ties your ankles together!”

   Fiona tutted at me before she sat on top of her desk with her nylon clad legs dangling over the side. But she said nothing until Sam crossed her ankles over and proceeded to lash them together, at which she snapped, “At least do me the courtesy of explaining why you are doing this?”

   “I’m after your first batch of clothing from Barry Blaine’s latest fashion range,” I replied as I eagerly watched Sam binding Fiona’s knees together. “I know many collectors who are willing to pay top dollar for his latest merchandise before they go on general sale.”

   “You’ll never get out of this building with them in your possession!” Fiona insisted. Any further words of defiance were curtailed when I produced some cloths, one of which I forced into her mouth, before using another to cleave gag her.

    I then turned to Sam and said, “Time to put that past experience to good use.” Sam did nothing but stare forward with a look of defiance on her face as I proceeded to lash her hands together behind her back. Once secured I made her sit on the desk as well, positioned back to back with her interviewer. As I began tying her feet together I remarked, “Look on the bright side gorgeous, you’re bound to get the job after going through this.”

    Grimacing a little as I looped ropes above her knees she answered, “If this is going to be a regular feature of the job I might have to turn it down.”

   I smiled behind my balaclava as I held a cloth to her lips. “Well as another positive, at least you won’t have to answer any more questions for a while.” Sam stared up at me with her bright blue eyes before she begrudgingly opened her mouth, allowing me to stuff it inside before ensuring it stayed in place with a clave gag pulled around her head and frizzy brown hair.

   For the final touch I took the longest length of rope yet, and wound it around the upper bodies of the two young ladies, binding them back to back. Once finished neither of the girls could break away from each other, and were limited to jiggling their shoulders, flexing their dangling legs and mewling through their stuffed mouths as they watched me scour the office searching for the merchandise that would make me rich.

    That was, until Sam’s mobile phone started ringing.

    I quickly found it in her handbag, and checked the caller ID. It was an unknown number. I looked to her quizzically, as if asking what to do. Raising her eyebrow at me she asked, “Rrrr yyyynnn ggggnnn tttttt ggggttt tttthhttt?”

    Spurred on by her encouragement I pressed answer, and holding the phone to my ear I said, “Hello, Sam’s phone.”

   “Good afternoon, Dennis Crompton here. Could I speak to Samantha please?”

   “Er sure,” I answered, immediately dropping my persona as a devious office invader. “I’ll just go get her, she’s a bit tied up at the moment.”

    “Hhhhhllllrrrrrsssss!” Fiona remarked, both she and Sam also realising that this was a suitable point to press pause on our role playing game.

     But instead of untying Sam, I instead removed her gag and held the phone to her ear. She shot me a knowing smirk as she said, “Hello, Sam speaking.” Her smile didn’t last however as she listened to what this person was saying. “…Yeah I was going to set off in an hour or…oh…you mean that you don’t…well shall I come in anyway…Ok…no thank you for telling me…bye.”

   As I ended the phone call for her I noticed how glum Sam suddenly looked, but I let her have a second to compose herself before she told both Fiona and myself what had happened.

   “That was Dennis Crompton, the bloke who was going to interview me for that real internship this afternoon? He’d just calling to say that he’s reeeeeaaaally sorry, but they’ve just filled the position and they won’t need me to attend my interview.”

    “Wwwwwtttt?” Fiona asked her younger sister, trying to look over her shoulder at her.

    “What happened, what did he say?” I asked her.

     With a sigh Sam replied, “Just that they’ve filled the position for the internship, nothing else. Makes me wonder why I even bothered applying for the internship in the first place.”

    “Don’t worry, you can use the experience of applying for this internship when you find the next one,” I tried to tell her reassuringly.

   Managing to summon a smile at me Sam replied, “I guess you’re right. I do appreciate you and Fiona helping me out with this role play as well, helping me prepare for it and everything.”

   “In our own unique way of course,” I laughed. Then I couldn’t help but cheekily add, “And there is one positive to you not having an actual interview now.”

   “And what would that be?” Sam asked, though I could tell from her expression that she knew full well what I was alluding to.

   As I re-stuffed her mouth and re-applied her cleave gag I answered, “Well you don’t need to be rushing off this afternoon, so now I have more time to find out where Fiona has stashed that merchandise!”

   “Yyyyyllll nnnnvvvvrrr ffffnnnnddd ttttt!” Fiona told me defiantly as I walked around to ensure the purple haired girl’s bonds were secure, eyeballing me through the pair of replica spectacles balancing on the bridge of her nose.

   “Wwwwwllll gggttt ttt ffff ttthhhsss!” Sam growled as she began bucking against her bonds, testing their effectiveness.

   Our role playing game now firmly back underway, I enjoyed the sight of the two young women writhing and twisting against each other, before I said in my best evil villain voice, “Well then, are you going to tell me where you stashed that merchandise, or do I have to loosen your tongues?”

   I held the feather duster up for the Godsister Snoops to see, and they reacted with muffled exclamations and wide eyes.



The Ninja and the Pirate

   As the midnight hour arrived Aurora found herself in a very familiar situation. For most girls her age a familiar situation would entail being out partying with her friends, or staying out late with a young lover. Not so for the green eyed brunette. Her familiar situation was spending the evening as a female ninja warrior, protecting the citizens of Courtlyn City from evil and crime.

   And getting bound and gagged in the process.

   Aurora huffed as she stared up at the lone, low hanging light bulb that illuminated her makeshift prison, a small cabin in a ship moored up at the city docks. She was held in place by strong ropes binding her against a metal pipe placed near the wall, pulled about her upper body and arms and tying her hands together behind her and around the pole. Her knees and ankles had also been bound for good measure, and strips of duct tape kept her stuffed mouth sealed shut, muffling her grunts of exertion.

   As she sat down on the floor Aurora chewed angrily on what had once been a mask covering her mouth and nose, but was how serving as an effective muzzle. She fumed as she jiggled her conjoined hands and stamped her booted feet. Her red and black Ninja uniform, designed to allow her to sneak around undetected and move freely when in combat, did little to alleviate the discomfort of her bonds. She found the knots strong and unyielding. She’d had plenty of experience in trying to loosen restraints like these in her training (and beyond it) and she knew full well when a knot was going to take a while to dislodge.

   As her numbing fingers continued their attempts to pry herself free, she thought of how she’d ended up like this. It was the usual scenario. She uncovered evidence of a gang of goons operating somewhere in the city, she investigated them and found evidence against them, she roughed them up a bit, she ended up getting captured, before she inevitably got free and finished the job, before making her escape before the police arrived.

   Yet the inevitably getting free part was definitely behind schedule this time. The goons onboard this docked ship, whom Aurora had been investigating because of a tip off that stated they were part of a smuggling ring, knew how to tie an effective knot, and they’d done a number on her after successfully repelling her surprise attack. As she continued to strain and stretch she knew it was going to take time to wriggle free.

   Time it seemed that she did not have, as she heard footsteps approaching her position. Aurora lifted her head to retain an air of defiance as she watched the circular wheel that opened the door being turned. She wasn’t going to let those goons think they had defeated her.

   But it wasn’t her captors.

   “Well ahoy there!” remarked the young woman roughly the same age as Aurora, a wry smile on her rouged lips as she took in the sight of the bound and gagged ninja.

   “Wwwwwwmmm rrrrrr yyyymmmm?” Aurora said through her gag in astonishment, her green eyes fixed on the strange young woman in front of her. Her head from her nose upwards was concealed by a Zorro-esque mask, with a long blonde ponytail protruding from underneath it. She wore a dark shirt covered by a brown waistcoat, black gloves on her hands, the outfit completed by brown pants and black boots. Inside her belt was sheathed scabbard type sword and a long whip.

    Aurora had to repeatedly blink, trying to check she wasn’t seeing things. It seemed that she’d been stumbled upon by some kind of…pirate?

   This pirate girl analysed Aurora in return, eyeing up both the girl and her predicament. “Wow, they really did a number on you didn’t they? Nice get up by the way. What are you, some kind of ninja? Kunoichi? Samurai?”

    “Kkkkknnnccccchhhnnn!” Aurora replied, wriggling in anticipation, beginning to wonder why this woman wasn’t helping her to escape.

   This intruder had a surprise for her, and held up Aurora’s utility belt for her to see, the one the smugglers had taken off of her when she’d been captured. “I wondered who this belonged to when I found it. So what are you hear for? To steal my booty I imagine? Well tough, that loot belongs to me! Those goons stole it from me, and I’m stealing it back!”

    “Mmmmnnn nnnnttt ssstttllllnnnn nnnntttthhhnnnn!” Aurora protested, realising this pirate girl had got the wrong end of the stick.

   “Hhhhmmmmm, I know pirates and ninjas aren’t supposed to get on, but I don’t think it’s fair to leave you at the mercy of those smugglers. That would be mean. I think I’ll stash you somewhere out the way for now, then I’ll come back for you when I’ve found my stuff. Sound fair?”

    “Nnnnmmm, lllltttt mmmmgggg ttttt ffffff tttthhhhssss!” Aurora cried, watching on as using her own kunai, the pirate girl cut the ropes binding her ankles and knees, then the ropes binding her to the pillar. Aurora was hauled to her feet by her strange rescuer, but her arms and hands remained bound, and her mouth gagged, as she was frogmarched out of the cabin and onto the deck.

   As Aurora was guided against her will along the corridors of the ship the pirate girl behind her said, “I guess you’re wondering who I am then? Well you can call me Crystabel, pirate warrior of justice. I sail the ocean seeking to right wrongs and defeat evil doers, and make a fair bit of money doing sonnnnmmmgggg.”

    “Nice of you to introduce yourself Crystabel,” the smuggler goon announced as he leapt out of the shadows and clamped one hand over the pirate girl’s mouth, using his other hand to disarm her and throw her weapons to the ground.

   As the fuming Crystabel was wrestled to the ground by her attacker, Aurora saw that her utility belt had been thrown just ahead of her. She had just enough time to bend down, scoop up one of her kunai and hide it in the palm of her gloved hands before back-up arrived to help restrain the furious pirate girl.

    A little while later Aurora found herself at the prow of the boat, nervously gazing out onto a hastily constructed plank that led over the side of the ship and ended with a drop into the deep water below. Stood on it, and being prodded and coerced forward was Crystabel. Her hands bound behind her, her upper body tied with more rope and hobble ropes affixed to her booted ankles. Her mask had been removed, revealing the pretty face of the blonde haired girl to Aurora and the smugglers, but only for this mask to be used as wadding underneath the layers of tape plastered over her mouth.

   “I can’t think of a more fitting end for a meddlesome pirate such as yourself than to walk the plank!” the lead smuggler sneered as Crystabel was forced to take another tentative step towards her doom. “Don’t worry, we’ll be sure to put your booty to good use!”

    “Yyyyylll rrrggrrrrttt ttthhsss!” Crystabel insisted angrily, causing the smugglers to laugh even harder.

   But they hadn’t noticed what Crystabel had. That in their eagerness to subject their pirate captive to her peril, they failed to realise Aurora was using her concealed kunai to cut through the bonds. With one final tug her hands became free, and then moving like lightning, elbowed the goon nearest to her in the stomach, winding him instantly.

   The other smugglers were completely caught off guard by her attack, allowing Aurora to take out two more with well-timed roundhouse kicks, before striking at the weak spots of another who bore down at her, paralysing his muscles and allowing her to easily disarm him. One more dived at her but Aurora somersaulted out of the way so that the man blundered into the wall of the ship and banged his head against it. Soon it was just the ninja and the lead smuggler. He swung one punch at her, and another, and another, all of which Aurora blocked with ease. Then after a powerful jab to his stomach she then positioned her back against his waist and treated him to a forceful over the shoulder throw, leaving him sprawled over the floor in some discomfort.

   “Hhhhyyy wwllll ddddnnnnn!” Crystabel said in approval as Aurora helped her down from the plank onto surer footing. After cutting the pirate girl’s bonds with her kunai Aurora finally removed her tapegag and spat out her mask wadding, while Crystabel did the same.

   “Thanks for the save,”Crystabel then said to Aurora. “You were pretty good, you know, once you ditched the ropes and everything.”

   “Well thanks for helping me out too, even if you only did it unwittingly,” Aurora answered. “What will you do now?”

   “I’m going to go collect my stolen booty back,” Crystabel answered. “Unless of course, you’re going to try and bring me to justice too?”

   Aurora figured however that after the events of this night, whoever this girl was deserved some kind of break. “You have one hour before I call the authorities,” Aurora answered, before she ran and jumped into the shadows engulfing the ship, leaving Crystabel stood alone amidst the groaning, inert smugglers strewn across the deck at her feet.



Bella and the Case of Cliché Evasion

“You picked the wrong abandoned warehouse to come snooping around in Miss Jade!” spoke the muscled, bulky goon referred to by his accomplice as Sirloin.

   “Yeah, didn’t your mom ever tell you not to go around sticking your pretty nose in other people’s business?” said the second bulky goon, who went by the name of Ribeye.

   Bella would have said something snappy and witty in response, but the white rag pulled over her lips and knotted behind her head over her bright red hair prevented her from saying any intelligible. She couldn’t move much either. The ropes wound about her form and her outfit, consisting of a dark jacket over a pink top, blue skirt, tan nylons and black knee high boots, help her fast to the chair she was bound against. Her conjoined ankles were affixed to the crosspiece, her hands bound over the chair back, and her torso and lap welded to the seat.

   Bella stared daggers at her two meatheaded captors through her glasses, writhing against her bonds a little and stamping her booted feet defiantly. They’d caught her snooping around this abandoned warehouse searching for evidence against their employer. And so once again the intrepid and beautiful Bella Jade found herself a bound prisoner at the hands of nefarious no-gooders, and she was going to have to use all of her wits to escape from them.

    But both Sirloin and Ribeye weren’t going to do the courtesy of leaving her alone to commence an escape attempt. Instead the two muscled goons were keen to gloat at their pretty captive. “Ooooo you’re in for it now sweetheart!” Sirloin guffawed. “Our boss will be here soon, and he don’t take too kindly to nosy snoops like you.”

   Trying to get some information from them, Bella asked through her gag, “Wwwwsss yyyrrrr bbsssss?”

   Seeming to understand her, Ribeye replied, “He’s an up and coming criminal genius. There’s no-one in the criminal underworld like him. Trust me, you’re in for a world of…”

    “WHAT ARE YOU TWO DUNDERHEADS DOING?”

    Ribeye and Sirloin snapped to attention as their boss made his dramatic entrance. Bella stared at the tall, skinny man with dark hair, dressed in a tweed suit with a bright red cravat and brown shoes, as he walked across the abandoned warehouse to their position. He didn’t seem to be all that pleased with what he’d seen, but his fury was directed at his cronies, not at the caught snoop.

    “S-sorry boss. We just caught this nosy dame trying to bust our operation,” Ribeye explained.

    “I can see that!” their boss roared. “But just what do you think you were doing binding and gagging her in a dusty abandoned warehouse. I mean, you couldn’t have acted more clichéd if you tried.”

    “Yeah but boss, where else could we have stashed her?” Sirloin protested.

    “That’s not the point,” the boss exclaimed. “If I am to be revered and feared across the world I have to avoid falling into such obvious narrative trappings. Do you understand?”

   Ribeye and Sirloin nodded sheepishly in response. Satisfied he’d made his point, the boss stepped forward to the bound sleuth and removed her gag. “Many apologies for subjecting you to such a clichéd predicament, Miss…?”

   “Jade, Bella Jade,” the redheaded sleuth responded. “And you are?”

    “Dudley Deverre, soon to be the most infamous crook and villain across the world,” he answered with an air of pompous triumph. “I will have the criminal underworld under my control, and without falling into the tired tropes that have permeated the villain profession for so long.”

    “Sounds great,” Bella replied, musing his fantasies. “So…you letting me go from this cliché set up then?”

   “Oh goodness gracious no,” Dudley replied as he pulled her cloth gag back in place. “I can’t have an escaped snoop ruining my reputation. No, instead I just need to hold you captive somewhere far less clichéd.”

    One long car journey later…

    “Aha this is much better,” Dudley announced as he finished wrapping silver duct tape around Bella, binding her from feet to shoulders to the central pillar of the isolated log cabin which he’d taken her to. Gesturing outside the window to the sprawling pine forest outside, he added, “Surrounded by the beautiful isolation of mother nature. Not a soul or a cliché in sight.”

   But before he could apply strips of tape over Bella’s lips she said, “But this is still a pretty clichéd scenario. You know, the captive damsel held in the log cabin in the woods. You haven’t seen many horror movies have you?”

   “…Well…not as such…”

    “And this is an abandoned log cabin as well isn’t it?” Bella added. “You’ve taken me from the abandoned warehouse to the abandoned cabin. Basically you’ve transported me from one cliché to another.”

   “Hhhhmmmm you make a fair point,” Dudley remarked as he slapped strips of tape over the wriggling Bella’s lips. “Tell you what, stay here for a bit while I find somewhere even less clichéd than before.”

     One long plane journey later…

    “Now this is more like it,” Dudley exclaimed happily as he pulled back the red velvet curtains, revealing the picturesque view over a Scottish loch from the castle room in which they were now staying. “Bet you’ve never been held prisoner somewhere so fancy before Miss Jade?”

  As Bella struggled against the ropes from where she was laying on the bed, arching her back to try and pull her feet free from the ropes connecting them to her hands in a tight hogtie, she said, “Can’t say I have. But this is perhaps the most cliché place of the lot. The damsel held in the castle tower? And is that a secret passageway behind that bookcase? There is, isn’t there?”

    “Be quiet Miss Jade!” Dudley snapped as he pulled a cleave gag between her teeth, getting fed up with her constantly pointing out his tendency to fall into the damsel in distress trope. Bella grunted into the cloth in frustration, wondering where he would take her now.

   One long boat journey later…

   “Ok, now this surely can’t be beaten!” Dudley announced after having a swig of his cocktail from where he was lounging on the sandy beach of the tropical island they’d journeyed to. “There’s no way anyone has ever held anyone captive on a desert island before.”

   Bella, now dressed in a bright red summer dress with white polka dots, was enjoying the beautiful tropical sunset almost too much to point out the obvious. But with all the ropes wound about her body, fixing her rigidly against the sun lounger she was laying on, she couldn’t help herself. “Er, have you ever heard of a certain someone called James Bond? He’s saved loads of damsels from secret bases on tropical islands. In fact most super heroes have at some point staged a rescue from an island like tthhhssssmmmmgggg!”

    “OK that’s enough!” Dudley roared as he shoved an apple from the hotel’s complimentary fruit bowl into Bella’s protesting mouth. “I will be the most feared criminal mastermind in the world, and to prove it, I will hold you hostage somewhere nobody will ever expect.

   One long journey involving boats, planes, cars and a couple of segways later…

  “Now this is a scenario worthy of my genius,” Dudley announced in triumph, peering happily at the handcuffed Bella Jade through the bars of the police cell he was holding her in. “Who would ever expect a villain to hold a damsel in distress in a police station? What a foolproof plan. Nobody would ever anticipate something like this in a million and one damsel in distress scenarios.”

    “Got to admit, it’s a pretty unique scenario you’ve finally devised,” Bella told him. “Though I think I’ve found one fatal flaw in this plan.”

   “Which is what?” Dudley asked disdainfully.

   Bella responded by taking a deep breath before screaming at the top of her voice. “HELP ME! I’VE BEEN KIDNAPPED BY A MANIAC!!!”

  And of course, that was the cue for every single police officer in the building to burst into the room and place the villainous Dudley Deverre under arrest.

   Soon Bella Jade was back on the streets of her hometown, congratulating herself on a job well done. Another devious villain behind bars thanks to her. Of course she’d had to endure several damsel in distress scenarios to bring him to justice, but the thrill of defeating villainy made it all worth it.

   But she didn’t expect a white van to pull beside her on the sidewalk, and from out of it a familiar pair of muscled, balaclava wearing goons to grab and haul her inside.

  “Miss us sweetheart?” Sirloin sneered as he wrestled the squirming and squeaking Bella to the floor.

   “You’re going to be our hostage until they release the boss for us,” Ribeye announced as he wound rope around her wrists, binding them behind her back. “And I think we’ll do so from a nice, traditional abandoned warehouse. Sound good Sirloin?”

   “I agree Ribeye. Sometimes you can’t beat a good old fashioned trope,” Sirloin answered brightly as he looped rope around Bella’s booted ankles.

   Bella wanted to disagree with them, but all she could add to the conversation through the cloth gag over her lips was a garbled, “Nnnnnmmm, nnnnttt gggggnnnn!”