The Domination of Dominica Dunn: Discovering New Worlds of Sexual Sensation

by Divine, Daniella

  ‘You underestimate yourself, Mom. You’re still hot, and you’ve got personality, too. You’re not some dumb airhead with nothing in her brain except thoughts of boys and blow jobs.’

  ‘Jo! Please. I don’t know what you mean.’

  ‘Yes, you do. There are plenty of girls in school like that. They will do OK as long as they can maintain their looks. But one day when the wrinkles start to show, their loving husbands will kick them out in favor of some airhead who is twenty years younger. That won’t happen to you, though. You will still look good when you are fifty, and you will still have all your personality.’

  ‘I don’t want to think about being fifty. I’m having trouble coping with the idea of heading towards forty.’

  ‘Well, the point is, you will do just fine. I hope I look as good as you when I hit my thirties. And if I have a multi-millionaire boyfriend on my arm, I will be very happy indeed. Especially if he is that good looking, too.’

  ‘He’s not my boyfriend. He’s just…a good friend.’

  ‘Whatever..’

  After breakfast, Dominica gives Jo a tour of the house, carefully avoiding the door that leads to the basement dungeon. There are some things that you really don’t want to share with your sixteen-year old daughter, and that was one of them. Jo is amazed by the house, running from room to room with uncontained excitement. Dominica can’t blame her. It is somewhat spectacular, after all.

  They take the steps from the terrace down to the beach, and enjoy some quality mother and daughter time skipping along the sand at the water’s edge. The water is cold but refreshing on their bare feet, the sun warm on their skin. When they finally climb all the way back up to the terrace, they are both hot and exhausted. Neither of them is too surprised when the silent waiter magically appears with long, cool iced drinks.

  The morning passes quickly, and Dominica realizes she needs to get a move on if she is to do anything useful today. She finds Thomas, the driver, and a short time later he is driving her and Jo back to the ruins of their house. He waits in the car while they go and inspect the damage.

  When she sees the house, Dominica’s heart sinks. She has been pushing the thought out of her mind for the last few hours, but now she is standing in front of the burned-out building, she starts to feel intensely emotional. This was her home – their home. And now it is gone. All that is left is an empty shell. The walls are still standing, but the interior is burned out completely. Any hope of salvaging some of their possessions disappears immediately. The few things that are not burned out are so smoke damaged they are worthless.

  They have lost everything. Years of hard work and saving quite literally gone up in smoke.

  Thank God her insurance payments are up to date. The only other consolation is that the fire service prevented the fire from spreading to neighboring houses. That could have been a real tragedy. But as it turns out, the only buildings affected by the fire were Dominica’s house and garage.

  The garage…oh, no…my car.

  ‘Oh my God, Jo…I hope the car is OK.’

  ‘Oh, of course. It’s in the garage. I hadn’t thought of that.’

  The two of them run around the side of the property to the double garage that stands to the side of the house. There is no doubt that the fire reached the garage – Dominica noticed that as they walked up the drive. But did it spread inside?

  The garage door is smoky, but still in one piece. She grabs her keys and unlocks the garage door, throwing it upwards to reveal the contents within. Even before she sees anything, Dominica senses the acrid smell of smoke and ash.

  Bad news.

  The car is there, but it is obvious it won’t be going anywhere ever again. All that is left is a burned-out shell, blackened and filthy with sooty grime. It wasn’t the most expensive car in the world – a regular white Volkswagen Golf, but it was reliable and fun to drive. And it had been hers. But not anymore. Now it was about to become the property of the scrap yard. This is the final straw. Dominica clasps her hand over her mouth in despair.

  ‘Oh no, not the car as well! It’s just too much. That’s everything…everything’s gone. Our whole lives have been wiped out, just like that. We’ve got nothing, Jo. Absolutely nothing.’

  Jo squeezes her hand. ‘Yes, we have, Mom. We’ve got each other – and we’ve got our lives. There are plenty of people who have died in fires like this. We are lucky to be alive. But we are still here, both fit and healthy. Nothing else really matters.’

  Dominica calms down a little at the thought. ‘Yes, I guess you’re right.’ She squeezes Jo’s hand in return. ‘In fact, I know you’re right. It’s just so hard to take it all in. Everything has happened so fast.’

  A voice calls out from the house next door. Maryanne, standing in her doorway.

  ‘Hey, you two. I’ve been expecting you. I’ve got comfort food cooking. I guess you could use some of that. Come over here and get some before Herb eats it all.’

  There’s nothing more they can do to salvage anything, so Dominica and Jo accept Maryanne’s invitation. After the coldness and blackness of the ruined house, it is so pleasant to stand in a real home again. They find themselves in Maryanne’s big, warm kitchen, eating muffins straight from the oven. They taste delicious. Maryanne is a very good cook, which no doubt explains why Herb is packing a few more pounds than is good for him. Maryanne bustles around the kitchen making fresh coffee as if it is her mission in life.

  ‘I figured you would need something to cheer you up when you came over, so I’ve been cooking all morning. I couldn’t think what else I could do to help. I did have cupcakes as well, but Herb ate them all when I wasn’t looking. So you’ll have to make do with coffee and scones.’

  ‘Coffee and scones make the perfect combination,’ Dominica says. ‘Thank you for being so thoughtful. How did you know we were coming over?’

  ‘Your feller mentioned it when he was here. What’s his name…Mike?’

  ‘You mean Max? Was he here?’

  ‘Oh yeah, Max Rockford, of course. How could I forget. But yes, he was here earlier with some blonde woman. All boobs and bum. You know the type. Attractive though. Max seemed to know her very well. They stayed for about an hour, looking around the place. Then they came over and asked me all sorts of questions.’

  All of a sudden the fire has gone completely from Dominica’s mind. Now she has a bigger disaster to worry about.

  ‘Some blonde woman?’ Dominica is dumbstruck. She was right along. All this time, she thought Max cared about her, that they had something special going on. And all the time he had ‘some blonde woman’ on the go. She feels devastated. Jo catches her eye.

  ‘Hey, Mom. Don’t jump out of your pram. I’m sure there is some simple explanation.’

  Yes, a very simple explanation. Ms Dominica Dunn is on the scrapheap and Miss New Executive Girlfriend has taken her place. You can’t get much simpler than that.

  Maryanne realizes she has said the wrong thing. ‘Oh, I see. Sorry…I wasn’t thinking about what I was saying. Jo is right, it’s probably nothing. I’m sure she’s nobody. But why would he bring some woman here? Look, cheer yourself up…have another scone.’

  But Dominica is not in the mood to be cheered up. She doesn’t want scones, or coffee, or sympathy. She wants Max back in her arms…as far as possible from ‘some blonde woman.’

  She knows she is being irrational, but this is exactly what she has been dreading for days. She gets up, spilling coffee but barely noticing.

  ‘I’m sorry, Maryanne, I have to go. Jo…why don’t you stay here for a while. Maryanne will look after you. I’d like to be alone for a little while. I’ll come back to pick you up later.’

  ‘Hey, no – Mom…’

  ‘Don’t argue, Jo, please. I need you to stay here.’

  Before either of them can voice an opinion, Dominica crashes out of the door. She stumbles down the driveway and climbs into the back of Max’s car.

  ‘Thomas, can you take me to my
office, please.’

  She gives him the address, and the journey to the office passes in something of a blur. With her house gone, the office is the only place left she can call her own. Ever since she met Max, she had this undercurrent of worry, thinking that all of this must be too good to be true. Plain common sense said that a highly-desirable bachelor like Max would have a long train of women queuing up for his attention. And he was a regular, warm-blooded heterosexual male. The testosterone does the talking, she is well aware of that. How could a healthy man with a very healthy sex drive resist the attractions of ‘some blonde woman’ – or more likely, ‘some blonde women.’ More likely still, ‘lots of blonde women…and quite a few brunettes and redheads, too.’

  It was all too depressing. Thomas pulled up outside her office, and offered to wait for as long as necessary. For a moment, it is a relief to get back to work. Leila and the rest of the staff are delighted to see her, and suitably stunned by the news of what happened to her house. They want to chat, to get all the gory details, but Dominica is in no mood to waste time. She throws herself into business matters, trying to bury personal thoughts under a mountain of work.

  She is happy to discover that everything has been running along smoothly without her. She catches up with what is happening with various client accounts, and gives Leila instructions. The afternoon passes quickly. She calls Maryanne and apologizes for rushing out so abruptly, but Maryanne assures her there is nothing to worry about. She asks to speak to Jo, and is relieved that Jo is OK, passing the time by chatting on Facebook and updating her friends on all her news.

  ‘Take as long as you want, Mom. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. I’d rather you sorted yourself out. I’ll be here when you’re ready.’

  Soon it is gone five o’clock, and the office descends into silence as everyone heads homewards. Dominica sits at her desk, enjoying the peace for a moment. This humble office is the only piece of real estate she owns in the world now. At least, the only one that is habitable. It’s the only place she can call home. It’s a very strange feeling. She had started to feel at home at Max’s place…but of course, that was foolish. She should have realized she was nothing more than a passing novelty, a new toy for his basement dungeon, a fun fuck who was now past her sell by date.

  Well, now that reality had set in, she would have to make some serious choices. Maybe she and Jo could bunk up with Maryanne for a few days while she looked around for a place to rent. It wouldn’t be perfect, but then again it would hardly be ideal to be at Max’s place with various young and sexy blondes smirking and talking behind her back.

  Her thoughts are interrupted when she remembers Thomas. Heck, he has been waiting patiently downstairs for hours. No doubt he has seen a few women come and go in Max’s world, but he has been unfailingly polite to her. She feels guilty about making him wait so long, but when she reaches the car, he is unperturbed by the delay.

  ‘I can wait as long as you wish, Ms Dunn. Mr. Rockford made it very clear that I am at your service all day today.’

  Yes, keeping the discarded soccer mom happy while the big boss plays with ‘some blonde woman.’

  ‘Thank you very much, but I’d like to collect my daughter now, and then return to Mr. Rockford’s place.’

  Dominica has every intention of confronting Max, and getting the bad news over in one go. At least then she will know where she stands. Jo runs down the drive when she sees the car pulling up, glad to see her mother returning safely, and they leave with a friendly wave to Maryanne. Jo attempts to make small talk on the drive to Max’s place, but Dominica is in no mood for conversation.

  As they pull up the long driveway, Dominica has mixed feelings. She has had some good times here in the last few days – great times, awesome times. But now she has the feeling it was all a sham, that she was just another pawn in Max Rockford’s game of life. What if they get to the house and his latest Miss Executive Girlfriend is there with him, showing off her youthful boobs and bum, her tummy unsullied by childbirth, her face unburdened by the marks of the passage of time?

  When they walk into the house, there is no sign of Max. Jo runs off to her room, excited to be back in this world of opulence and splendor. But for Dominica, it all has something of a hollow ring now. She wanders from room to room, hoping to see Max and get the bad news from him direct. But he is nowhere to be seen inside the house. She steps outside and looks around the grounds.

  Nothing. There is no-one about apart from a gardener rolling around the verdant green grass on a tractor-sized ride-on mower. The terrace, too, is empty. Dominica looks over the low wall and watches the surf roll in, the waves relentless and eternal, mindless of the traumas and worries of the human world beyond. It is not so long since she and Max rolled in the surf together, new lovers enjoying the freshness of a budding relationship.

  Has that relationship already become old news? Worth nothing more than yesterday’s newspaper? It is all too much to bear. She turns away from the terrace, leaving the ocean to pound ceaselessly on the sand for a few more million years to come. The day is becoming cooler now as the sun sets beyond the ocean. Birds are flying home to roost in the trees around the property, and the daylight is softly changing to the monochrome shades of twilight.

  Where is Max? It’s not like him to be Mr. Invisible. Suddenly Dominica wishes she hadn’t asked herself that question. Now she has a vision of Max hidden away in some distant bedroom in the house, making wild passionate love to the new Miss Executive Girlfriend. She imagines him admiring the perfection of her youthful body, her firm breasts and tempting buttocks, and wondering why he ever bothered with a tired old soccer mom…

  She shakes her head to dispel the vision.

  Pull yourself together, Dominica. Behave like a grown-up, at least.

  She walks around the far side of the house, away from the ocean. On this side, there are several outbuildings used for storage and as workshops, plus a huge quadruple garage. Dominica wanders past the outbuildings, now deep in thought and paying little attention to her surroundings. But as she rounds the corner to the doors of the long garage, she stops dead in her tracks. She draws her breath in sharply - sharply enough to make the two people standing in front of the garage turn and look at her.

  One of them is Max, and he blinks at Dominica in surprise, as if she is the last person he expected to see at that moment. And the other person is – well, some blonde woman.

  Not just any blonde woman. This is the kind of woman who turns men’s heads wherever she goes. The I-could-be-a-model-or-even-Miss-Universe-if-I-wanted-to type. Like Maryanne said, all boobs and bum. Not a stick insect like the supermodels who grace the covers of Cosmopolitan, but a real woman with all the right curves in all the right places. Her natural blonde hair curves cheekily around her face, and she looks immaculate in a top that shows plenty of cleavage, and a skirt that doesn’t leave her legs to the imagination.

  In other words, pretty much the ideal woman.

  If you’re a man, that is. If, on the other hand, you are an older woman trying desperately to hold on to your man, she is a vision of hell. The two of them were deep in conversation when Dominica rounded the corner, apparently whispering secrets to each other. Certainly, they are standing very close together.

  Dominica is lost for words, and so for a moment is Max. But he soon recovers and waves to beckon her over.

  ‘Ah, Dominica. I wasn’t expecting to see you just yet.’

  I bet you weren’t Max…seems you had other things on your mind.

  ‘Let me introduce you. Eleanor, this is Dominica. Dominica, this is Eleanor. She’s my…

  She’s your what, Max? Your Miss Executive Girlfriend? Your latest shag? Your replacement for me?

  ‘…personal assistant.’

  Oh, really?

  Dominica shakes hands politely with Eleanor, now uncertain what to think. ‘Nice to meet you,’ she lies. ‘I believe it was you who was at my house today, with Max?’

  Eleanor looks a
t Dominica apologetically. ‘Yes, I’m so sorry about your house…it’s absolutely awful. But how did you know I was there?’

  ‘The next door neighbor. She has nothing better to do than stick her nose into everyone else’s business.’

  Max intervenes between them. ‘Oh, Maryanne. She’s a busybody all right, but she was very helpful, too. She answered a lot of questions for us.’

  Dominica is intrigued now. ‘Yes, I remember she mentioned that. What kind of questions?’

  ‘Just about you – and Jo. And your home.’

  ‘But why?’ None of this makes any sense. Why were you asking questions about me? If you wanted to know something, why not just ask me direct? I told you I like things to be open.’

  ‘Ah, but that would spoil the surprise!’ Max says.

  Dominica looks from one to the other, now more confused than ever. ‘What surprise?’

  Eleanor stretches out her hand and offers a small, square device to Max.

  ‘Why don’t you just show her, Max? I think it’s the right time now.’

  Max smiles. ‘Well, OK. We weren’t quite ready yet – you caught us unawares. But anyway, here goes. I hope you like it.’

  He holds the device in his hand and presses the button at its center. It is a remote control for the end garage. Dominica watches in confusion as the garage door slowly rises, the metal hinges groaning as the door rises to horizontal level.

  ‘Come and take a look,’ Max says.

  As the three of them approach the garage, Dominica sees there is a car inside. A brand new one. Then it hits her – it is identical to her own car, a white Volkswagen Golf. The difference is that this one is the more expensive GTI model, with all the extras that she could not afford. And unlike her tired old model, it’s brand spanking new.

  ‘Hey, it’s just like my car,’ she says. ‘Well, at least how my car used to be, before the fire.’