The Intern

Chapter 12

"There is no way in hell I'm wearing that."

Challenge flashed in Levi's steel blue eyes and a small smirk curled the corner of his mouth. He lowered his one hand, which was still holding the offensive fabric, and instead held up a collar balanced on two fingers. It wiggled gently in its position; a simple black strip of leather adorned with nothing more than a thick ring that would no doubt have a leash attached to it by the time it made its way onto my neck.

"This then."

"Fine, whatever. That and what else?"

"Just this."

I felt the color drain from my face as I stared at the collar, which was suddenly far more intimidating than it had been two seconds ago. The thought of being collared by this man was something that I was only just beginning to consider, but being paraded around in front of everyone in nothing more than a strip of leather was something else entirely. It was bad enough that he had made my first introduction, 'Hey, I'm Eren and this is me coming.' I was not about to give him any more opportunities to humiliate me, at least not tonight. Somehow I knew he would have my resolve whittled back down to nothing in less than a day's time.

"Okay, give me the damn shirt." I held out my hand towards the fabric that made my skin crawl every time I looked at it.

He held the shirt out of reach, which was something he was only able to achieve in high-heeled boots. "Watch the attitude, brat. Keep it up and I'll make you put on the collar as punishment."

"Haven't I been punished enough already?"

He gave a small roll of his eyes and threw the shirt at my face. I caught it in one hand and unrolled it to stare at the hideous magenta accented by tacky black sequins spelling out the words, 'Shopping Diva.' I meant to groan inwardly, but I knew the sound had made it out of my mouth when he started to chuckle, the sound low and amused. As much as I wanted to set this shirt on fire, it was almost worth it to hear him make a sound that was as close to a laugh as he had gotten.

"This isn't yours, right?" I eyed the monstrosity, sure of the answer but wanting to get a little dig at him anyway.

"Fuck no," he threw the black spandex pants in my face as he scoffed, "Like I would ever own something like that. No, Maria came in one night with that little number on and I made her take it off. I have a strict black and red policy in my club, and even if I didn't, that would never make the cut."

My mind drifted back to the three drag queens I had seen on stage and remembered that Maria had been the largest of the trio; far larger than me. I pulled on the shirt, which may as well have been a miniature muumuu, and tried to adjust it so that it didn't pop right off my shoulders. Eventually I had to settle for leaving one shoulder uncovered, and I started to contemplate the benefits of nudity and a collar when I rolled up the black tights Levi had handed to me. These did not belong to Maria, and I wondered briefly if they were Levi's. They were too small for me, but the tent of a shirt managed to cover the bulge I made in the stretchy material.

The entire outfit paired with my shiny black work shoes had me looking like some sort of deranged tap dancer. Levi didn't even attempt to hide the shit-eating grin that had taken over his face. It was such a fantastic display of emotion and I would have been stunned if I weren't so pissed off about my current situation. I looked like a pink nightmare.

Levi wiggled the collar in front of my face. "Suddenly this doesn't look like such a bad option, does it?"

"It's too cold to be naked."

"I can warm your ass up, if you need."

I eyed the collar and looked away before I could allow myself to consider it as a viable option. "I'd rather not go back out there naked after everything we just did."