Isabelle and mr. Bête

Isabelle gets ready for the ball

Chapter 03

A sting on Isabelle's bottom woke her up with a yelp. She turned around to see Jean-Marie standing next to her bed, his arms folded across his chest.

'Good morning ms. Anderson.' he said. 'You wouldn't wake up when I called you.'

The haze of sleep ebbed away and the sensation on her bottom told her what he had done to wake her up. No one had dared to spank her since she'd been a little girl and she glared at him for the brutality.

Before she could scold him he spoke again. 'Despite looking very fine, freshen up and get ready for work. I expect you down in the kitchen for breakfast.' he said with a little smirk and left.

It was then that she realised she wore nothing but her panties and stockings and grabbed her pillow to cover her perky breasts. 'Damned!' she said, feeling foolish for her late reaction.

A refreshing shower lightened her mood but she was still angry at his barbaric behaviour when she stepped into the kitchen downstairs. The scents of fresh baked bread, tea, coffee, cheese, fried eggs and bacon triggered her stomach and she forgot most of her anger.

'Tea or coffee?' he asked while he finished frying the eggs and bacon.

'Coffee, please.' she said, surprised at seeing him at the stove.

He turned off the stove, poured her a mug of coffee and saw her expression as he set it down for her on the high table. 'What?'

'Ah, I expected you had people making you breakfast.'

'I like to do it myself.' he said, serving the eggs and bacon. 'Then I can eat what I feel like having.'

She inhaled the scent of her coffee and thought it was the best she had ever smelled before.

He placed the rest of the breakfast on the table and sat down. 'Eat. You'll need the energy.'

'Thanks.' she said and enjoyed one of the best breakfasts she had, even if it was simple in comparison to some hotels she'd been before.

'Keep two hours free on your and my schedule at the end of this afternoon.'

She nodded. 'What can I put in it?'

'Just set it to out of office.' he said and continued eating.

She would have preferred to know what they were going to do, but let it slide for now. It was probably another visit.

When they were done he covered what was left.

'Don't you need to put it away?' she asked.

'Rosanna, the housekeeper will be coming soon. She always has breakfast here because she loves my kitchen and cooking in the morning.'

Isabelle could understand it, it having the same Mediterranean holiday feeling as the rest of the building, and thought it was very kind of him to leave breakfast for her.

Down in the garage she took out her car keys, but Jean-Marie held another set in front of her and nodded at the small black convertible.

'What's this?' she asked, recognising only the Honda badge.

'A little car which has only been released in Japan, but I found it fun to drive. I think it suits you better as the company car.'

She looked back at him, making sure he wasn't joking at her expense. He took her hand, placed the keys in it and pushed her gently towards the car. With a little hesitation she sat into the driver's seat when he opened the door for her.