Training Days and Nights

“We’re taking Vera to a party in Atlanta, William said to me Monday evening.  “I need you to turn her into Scarlet O’Hara.  Start in the morning and have her ready to go by Friday morning.”  It was the first time William had mentioned Vera to me by name in some time. 

“What did you have in mind?” I asked innocently. 

“She needs to wear a corset like in the movie.  She needs to look like Vivien Leigh.”

“She’s a middle aged woman who’s had children,” I said, astonished.  “I think you’re asking too much.”

“Don’t feed her for a few days and work on her hair and make-up.  She doesn’t have to be perfect, she just has to look like she’s the daughter of the owner of a Southern plantation before the war.”  William walked to a dresser and pulled out an old-fashioned whale-bone corset with eyelets and hooks.  I’d only ever seen one in the movie and it looked like an exact replica.

I held it up to myself and then gave William a dubious look.  “We could starve Vera for a month and she wouldn’t fit into this.”

“Then you have your work cut out for you,” William said with a dark undertone.  “Don’t disappoint me.”

The next morning I took Vera to the gym.  William has a large workout room behind the garage that is fully equipped with all the latest machines for losing weight – or torturing a slave.  I brought the corset as well.

“Here’s the problem,” I said as we stepped into the gym.  “You need to fit into this by Friday so try it on and let’s see where we stand.”  I hadn’t spoken to Vera since we brought her home from the Black and White Ball, but I was determined to keep my discomfort around her to myself.  She was the perfect submissive, with no hint of control issues or pride.  She slipped into the corset and I played the role of Mammy and tried to cinch it up tight and closed in the back. 

“You will have to lose a few pounds so no food until you do.  Water and vitamins, and keep the corset on at all times.”

“I can barely breathe,” she said with a slight panic.

“From what I remember of the books that have mentioned corsets, your body has to reshape itself over time, which we don’t have a lot of.”

Vera was naked except for the corset and her collar and leash.  I walked her over to the treadmill and tied the leash to the machine.

“You ever do much running?” I asked as I started the treadmill and increased the speed.

“Some in high school, but I wasn’t very fast.”

“Sprints or distance?” I let her settle in to a slow jog.

“Cross country.”

“Good.  Let’s start you off with six miles in an hour.”  I cranked the machine up to six miles an hour.

“I’m not sure I can do that,” Vera said as she gripped the rail of the treadmill. 

“Sure you can,” I said and cranked it up to seven miles and hour.  “Don’t touch that control panel or you’ll regret it.  Now I’m going for breakfast.”  I left the gym.

Two days later, after extensive workouts and little food and water, Vera was still at least an inch away from fitting into the corset.  I re-laced the contraption every few hours to make sure we were molding her body into the tight hourglass it was designed to produce, but I knew we had to step things up.  Vera was exhausted and dehydrated but did not complain.  I was disappointed – I wanted to use the riding crop William had produced at my request but found no excuse to use it.

Wednesday afternoon William stopped by the gym to check our progress.  He had been largely absent during the days and came home after dinner without asking about Vera and my assignment.  I was nervous when he appeared unannounced.

“Let me see how close you are,” he said to me as he motioned to Vera to turn around.

“I think you need to tighten this up a bit.”  He undid the laces and walked Vera to one of the weight machines.  He tied a line to the hook on one side of the corset then handed me the line he tied to the other side, crossing the two lines to pull the corset even tighter before he laced it up. 

“Pull harder,” he said to me as Vera gasped for breathe. The two side of the corset were still a half inch apart as he tightened the laces.  “You still have work to do.”  He left us abruptly.

“You heard him,” I said to Vera.  “Back on the treadmill.”

“I can’t breathe,” she said with greater panic than before.  “I can’t run if I can’t breathe.”

“Sure you can,” I said as I tied the leash to the treadmill.  “We just have to give it our all.” I took out the riding crop and tapped my hand.  I cranked up the speed to ten miles an hour.

There was terror in Vera’s eyes as she saw the speed increase and the riding crop whistle at her naked ass whenever she faltered.  She supported herself on the rails of the treadmill and ran for her life as I rained blows on her bottom cheeks.

“You’re doing great, Vera,” I said with a little giggle.  “Just ten more miles and we’ll see if we can get that corset closed the way William wants it.”

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William flew the three of us to Atlanta on Friday as promised.  Vera looked spectacular in the same dress Scarlett wore in the opening scene in the movie and I looked elegant in a sleek black evening gown that matched William’s classic tux.

I could not imagine what kind of party we were going to or how the evening would play out, but the contrast between us could not have been greater. 

We landed without incident and were whisked by limo to a towering mansion the most expensive neighborhood I’d ever seen.  The street was lined with mansions that made the house we were staying at in the Bahamas look pale in comparison.  William still had Vera collared and leashed as we walked into the main ballroom and all the guests stopped dead to look at us. 

Vera was radiant.  I hadn’t noticed before just how much she looked like Vivien Leigh but with her hair done up the same as the scene in the movie and with her new hourglass figure, she could have passed for Scarlett in a heartbeat.  I was almost overwhelmed with pride and envy.

The room full of guests was a sight as well.  All of the men were variations on a theme of William.  They were impeccably dressed, tall, masculine and very black.  Most looked like they played professional sports, some looked like they still could.  It wasn’t the same crowd that we saw at the Black and White Ball – they were leaner, younger, more striking.  William, who never looks out of place or overshadowed, almost looked just that way. 

The ladies who accompanied them were almost as stunning.  Every last one of them was tall, thin, elegant and blonde.  They looked like younger, richer, better versions of myself.  I tried to hold back tears, only partly with success.

“Gentlemen,” William said in a voice meant to be heard.  “As promised, I give you Scarlett O’hara.  On a leash.”

The men stood in unison and began to applaud, then they started to cheer, then the cheers became thunderous.  The women stayed in their seats and looked at the men, almost as amazed as I felt. 

“Thank you, thank you very much,” William said as the cheering faded.  “I know how much this means to all of you, and I know what you came here to see.”  William walked Vera to the center of the room and paraded her around in a small circle.  The cheering began again, a little more intense than the first round.  Then William stopped and faced Vera.  He dropped the leash – it was the first time I’d ever seen him do that in public.  He reached for her shoulders, as if to pull him towards her, but instead he ripped the dress from her with a violence I’d never seen before.  Vera stumbled forward and he caught her, stood her back up, now nearly naked except for the corset, and William ripped the remaining shreds of the dress from her with a flourish.  After tossing the dress aside to the screams of the men and the astonishment of the women, me included, William grabbed the leash again and yanked it a little too hard, almost pulling Vera off her 3 inch heels.  Williams paraded around the room to the thunderous applause and whoops of the men and then headed for the door.  He reached out to me and I walked to the entrance as the cheering subsided once again. 

“See you in the hood, gentlemen!” William shouted over the ovation.  “See you in the hood.”

With that we climbed back into the limo.