City of Industry
Part 1
The town looked like any other near Pittsburgh, with black and gold flying from every house on every street, just another coal mining town turned steel mill turned office park in the ring around Pittsburgh, symbolizing its blend of past industry and modern business. The grunts and hoots of steel workers greeted Polly once again as she returned home. She rolled her eyes and turned to her fiancé Michael with a rueful smile. Putting him in direct contrast with the Neanderthals she’d grown up around made her even more grateful she’d found a sweet, sensitive gentleman when she left home to go to Ohio State. She’d fallen for his big brown eyes and Midwestern charms as soon as she’d started grad school.
“So this is home?” Michael said with a laugh, peering out the window. “What’s that building?”
Polly followed his finger and blushed. “Oh, God, the Beehive! Babe, if you ever have to go there, I’m doing something very wrong. It’s the most famous strip joint in town. There are more urban legends about the parties there than there are Steelers flags in the entire state.”
“Ah. That probably explains why all the men on that block are trying to look into the car. They must know the most beautiful woman in the world’s in here.” He hugged her close with a smile.
“They’re not that discerning. Makes me wonder why I came back here, but I think you can guess why my mom never remarried. Believe it or not, she has to deal with these pigs every day. Perils of being a payroll administrator. But she’ll probably tell you all about it when we get to the house. You speak finance lingo. I’m just a marketer. Ah! There it is!” She indicated a turn and pointed at the brick house at the end of the road. The well-kept garden, clean sidewalk, and meticulous landscaping made it stand out and showed that it belonged to an executive of Three Sisters of the Three Rivers, the industrial giant that ran everything Polly had ever known growing up.
“You know when I finally understood why my mom kept working for Three Sisters? When I saw her paycheck. But there’s no way I’d ever work for them,” Polly declared once they were out of the car. She tightened her hand in Michael’s, raked back her long brown hair with the other, and smiled nervously as she rang the bell.
The door opened instantly, and Michael’s eyes widened a little. Christy Mason, down to almost the smallest detail, was a 55-year-old version of her daughter, with long brown hair and an unbelievably cute face. She welcomed them in with a warm smile that might have come from a ‘50s sitcom, which always made Polly chuckle. After Polly’s father had died twenty years ago, Christy had shown no interest whatsoever in marriage, and her domestic skills were few and far between.
One look at the trashy bimbo strutting up to the man cave across the street was enough to see why Christy had chosen to remain single.
“Welcome home, Polly!” Christy exclaimed. “And this must be Michael. I’ve heard so much about you. So good of you to spend the week here after graduating. I’m so sorry I had to miss the ceremony-work obligations, couldn’t get out of them, I hope you understand. So have either of you found a job yet?”
“Ohmigod, mom! We’ve barely had a chance to look! It’s only been a week! We’re still looking for a nice house! But we both have our offers,” Polly said, a note of pride in her voice.
“I have an interview with a brokerage after we’re done here. That’s one reason why we stopped in the way we did- that way, we can go to New York after looking around here, just to see what’s available in this economy.” Michael paused for a moment, then added, “Nothing less than six figures, of course. All those years in college are not going to be wasted, and I wouldn’t want to give Polly anything less.”
“Of course, I’ve got a few firms lined up, and one seems ready to hire me on the spot,” Polly replied, wanting to one-up her fiancé. “No housewife here.”
“Wife in six months... but never a housewife. Those six figures are going towards servants for you, my dear. And maybe paying off the mortgage on that ring.” Michael smiled, and on cue Polly held up the engagement ring.
“Ah, the rock. I heard nothing but ‘Mom, you’re not going to believe the ring he bought me!’ for three months, and I certainly see why. You’ve got him well trained, Polly,” Christy said with a smile like there was some secret joke.
They unpacked the trunk and brought their things inside, where Christy led them to the basement, where they would spend the next week. “Not bad finishing, mom. You went to an awful lot of trouble for just one week.”
“Well, you are my only daughter, and you deserve the best and nothing but the best. Michael, I hope you like football. David will be by shortly- he wants to take you on a boys’ night out to see whether you’re worthy of our Polly. He’s a very loyal young man- he would have left Three Sisters if he didn’t get Steeler season tickets as part of his benefit package.
“MOM!”
“What?” Christy asked sweetly.
Sensing something brewing between the two women, Michael jumped in and said, “Polly’s the sports fan of the two of us. She should go. Do some brother-sister bonding. David’s the one man I know won’t try to steal such a priceless jewel away from me.”
“Very well trained,” Christy murmured. “I understand your reluctance, Michael, it is only the Bengals. But you’re originally from Ohio, right? Wouldn’t you want to go watch the Bengals lose?”
“Ohmigod, mom, stop!” Polly protested.
“I’m hurt you don’t want some alone time with your own mother. Or did you forget that your ‘week’ is really eight days? We’re going to the game next Sunday, dear.”
Polly’s eyes lit up. “The ‘Boys game? Oh, wow, mom! Honey, you’re going to like David. He’s not like the guys we passed on our way in. He’s the plant manager of the steel mill. He’s gotta have some sense- he’s my brother, after all.”
“This is one of those tests, isn’t it? All right. For your sake, I’ll have fun. I just hope it doesn’t end in a tie. I never did understand that rule.”
“Tie? Those don’t happen often in football, unless- oh, you’re thinking of the other football. I forgot your dad raised you on English soccer.” Polly laughed, and Michael looked embarrassed.
The ringing doorbell broke the moment. Christy opened it to reveal a broad-shouldered, brown-haired man with an easy smile and a lot of black and gold. “Hey, sis! Welcome home! You’re doing well. You look good. So this is the guy? Looks scrawny, but maybe I’ve just been hanging around steelworkers too long. Michael, right? Nice to meet you. Here, put this on, you’ll be naked at the stadium without it.” He tossed a spare jersey at Michael, who blinked at the torrent of words.
“Jeez, David, the game’s not ‘til 4 and it’s only 11! How long a tailgate are you planning? You did two racks of ribs, didn’t you? Mom, are you sure you can’t scrounge up a spare ticket for me? Do I at least get lasagna out of the deal?”
“Of course, dear. And trust me, it’ll be worth it. We just have so much to catch up on, just us girls. Michael’s had you for two years in Ohio- can I have you for just one day without him?”
“It’s okay, Pol. It wouldn’t be fair to your mom to let me monopolize you. Besides, I think I need the extra time to figure out what game I’m watching. To think, I spent my entire life trying to avoid getting sucked into the fan culture, and it comes after me in the form of my prospective brother-in-law.”
“You ain’t seen nothing yet. Polly can tell you- I usually have face paint on the cold days and body paint on the warm ones. I’ll behave myself for today, though, don’t want you getting cold feet and breaking little sis’s heart.” David let out a laugh that had a hint of the maniacal about it, and as he dragged Michael towards the door, Michael looked back in desperation and some fear.
As soon as the door shut, Christy led Polly into the den, which doubled as a home office, wearing a smile that would have chilled Polly’s blood if she could only see it. “Well, dear, I’m so proud of you. It’s been a dream of mine to see you finish grad school and move forward to be a big-time executive.”
Polly blushed. “Oh, Mom. Stop it. You’ve been my inspiration, you know that? I just wanted to make you proud.”
“Those are the sweetest words a mother could ever hear. Here. It’s nothing fancy, but I thought you might want a little something to celebrate your gift.” She reached into the desk and pulled out a bright silver box. Polly opened it to reveal that it was a music box with a sparkling mirror on the inside of the lid and a little figure of a woman dancing on top of the world. The tune was “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, and as it played, it soothed Polly’s mind, and she watched the dancer twirl around in the center as the light danced in front of her eyes.
“Wow...” she breathed, still staring, her eyes getting wider by the second.
Of course, she had no idea that Christy had been using that particular rendition of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” to control Polly from infancy, normally just to calm down her tantrums. There were certain advantages to working for Three Sisters, advantages that Christy was ready to give to her beloved daughter, and the music box was the culmination of several of them, the work of years. More than ever before, Christy hoped her plan would work. Ever since the day eight-year-old Polly had skipped home with straight A’s, Christy had planned for her to enter the ranks of Three Sisters and climb the ladder to the executive level.
She’d had help building the box. The methods often differed, but every mother at Three Sisters had to tell their daughters about the family business somehow, and whispering it into their subconscious seemed to be the most effective way to know whether they would stay or go. More than a few had rejected the idea and fled town by night, never knowing the deepest secrets of the company.
Christy Mason had decided as soon as she discovered that she was having a girl that she would not raise that kind of daughter. Looking at Polly now, fresh from grad school, she knew she had done her job. She watched obliquely as the dancer twirled, and the song played, and Polly’s eyes glazed over, the image of the woman on top of the world burning itself into her mind.
“Polly, dear, can you hear me?”
“Yes,” Polly replied, her voice flat, her gaze never leaving the box. Christy pulled it away, and Polly’s eyes didn’t move. Neither did her hands, continuing to support the box that was no longer there.
“Oh, how do I begin this? Before you go off stockbrokering and marketing and being a sickeningly happy married woman, I wanted to offer you another option: here, at Three Sisters. But to do that, I have to tell you what my real job is, what Three Sisters is really about, and how the City of Industry really runs. This is why I pushed you so hard to get that Master’s degree, so that you could rule here from the boardroom.
“Here’s the secret, dearest daughter of mine: we own the men. Of course, we make them so macho that they have the crazy idea that they’re in charge. They don’t notice who rules the roost. Besides, the pretty boys don’t hold up under the kind of stress we put them under. Only our sons and brothers are spared, like David. Our men simply aren’t productive unless they’re supervised. The rest? The ones who hoot and grunt at anything with a skirt on? We make them, and we use them. All those dangerous jobs that no one sane would do? We arrange for them to be done. And we’ve been doing it for over a hundred and fifty years.
“I know you’re wondering, or you’d be wondering if you weren’t dreaming of the power you could hold, how women like us could have done this back in the nineteenth century, and if you weren’t so distracted, you’d be able to figure it out. We’re mind controllers.” Christy sighed with relief at the confession and how Polly hadn’t reacted to it at all; after all, the popular notion of mind control revolved around witches and vampires, campfire stories and cheap horror movies. “We’re real, and we’re far more successful than any you could imagine. We use all methods, we take no prisoners, and we make more money than that boy of yours could count in his life.
“And at Three Sisters, family is the most important thing- that’s why the men related by blood are the only ones who keep their minds. I was recruited to Three Sisters right out of Pitt, but you were born to an employee. That means you can go to the highest ranks. Only your inhibitions can hold you back. You have the key.
“You won’t remember any of this consciously until you decide, of course. You’ll know you have an opportunity, and your subconscious will point you the right way. It’s really such a shame you chose such an atypical man- I abhor a waste of material- but if you take Michael down for us, you’ll show the board that you’re made of Three Sisters material. If you decide that this isn’t an opportunity you want to take, then you and Michael can leave at the end of eight days, and I’ll understand and respect your choice. Sleep now, my dearest child. Sleep and dream of the life you want. I’ll come wake you for dinner.”
Polly’s eyes slammed shut, and she slumped forward. Christy lay her down on the couch and watched her sleep for a few moments, secretly praying that her daughter would make the choice that Christy had molded her to make for ten years, before going into the kitchen to get dinner ready.
As it turned out, the only thing that could wake Polly from a sleep as deep as that was the smell of her mother’s lasagna. Something nagged her, deep in her mind, but she couldn’t put her finger on it, so she stretched and headed for the kitchen. Her mother squatted in front of the oven, taking dinner out. Polly tensed, and she didn’t know why she had the image of her mother as a predator waiting to spring on its prey. She shrugged it off as something out of a dream she had to have had, though she couldn’t remember anything about it.
“I guess moving all that stuff was more tiring than I thought. How long was I out for?”
“Oh, most of the afternoon,” Christy replied airily. “You’ve always been so cute when you try to hide your fatigue. One moment you’re smiling and saying you’re so not tired, and the next you’ve flopped over and started snoring. Why, I remember one time when—”
“Ohmigod, Mom! Stop it!” Polly exclaimed, not wanting to hear any more baby picture stories and thanking all her lucky stars that Michael was at the football game.
“Well, you are a grown woman now, so I guess we can keep those stories just between the two of us. Have you found a place in New York yet?” Christy asked, changing subjects with flightiness that was meant to disguise the probing nature of her questions.
“After this week, we’re waiting to hear back from a couple of companies, but even if they do, we might turn them down. New York’s so expensive to live in, after all.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Polly couldn’t believe she had said them. They had positions lined up and financing for an apartment, so why couldn’t she tell her mother that.
“That’s nice,” Christy said, trying to hide the mile-long grin she so badly wanted to show. The tension might be there, but deep down, Polly wanted to go through with the plan Christy had whispered to her. “A week is enough for us to show you and Michael everything this town has to offer. Who knows, you might find something here!”
“That would be lovely. I never thought much about this place beyond the mines,” Polly said, suddenly curious about her hometown and looking forward to the week she’d been dreading for three months.
Christy leaned closer and dropped her voice. “All right, dear, let’s get down to the girltalk. How is that Michael of yours?”
“Very sweet. He’s unlike any guy I’ve ever known, especially the ones around here,” Polly replied with a dreamy smile.
“No, no, no. I meant, how is he... well, when you’re alone, if you get my drift?”
“Oh. Um, slow. Very slow. Sometimes it’s like he wants me to lead. Not that, um, that’s a bad thing,” Polly said, blushing-especially since her panties were starting to tingle, even if the conversation was invasive and sordid.
“Not a bad thing at all. It’s good for a healthy relationship. And you do seem made for each other. I can tell how much you love him.”
“Yeah. I mean, he’s still a guy sometimes. You know more than anything the way guys are,” Polly said with a chuckle. Why would I say anything like that? Michael’s nothing like the average guy. Mostly. Sort of. Her train of thought wandered off track towards memories of a couple of nights at Ohio State where she had taken control of the relationship.
Christy watched the flush of arousal stain her daughter’s face and smiled, knowing that Polly had accepted the offer, whether she knew consciously what her decision was or not.” “Don’t worry about cleaning up, honey, I’ll take care of it. Why don’t you go downstairs and freshen up before the boys get back.” Polly accepted the offer gratefully and Christy picked up the plates and headed into the kitchen, humming a happy tune.
Down in the basement, Polly was already on the bed, hand in her panties, longing for her Michael to return. The conversation with her mother had gotten her hotter than she had been in a long time, and she needed her man like she’d never needed him before. Then she got an idea from a half-forgotten fantasy and ran up to her old room, looked at her old clothes and pulled out a denim miniskirt, a white and gold Steelers t-shirt, and a pair of black knee high boots. They all fit a little more tightly than they did when she was sixteen but she hadn’t changed that much. She did her hair up and put on her makeup. When she came downstairs, Christy saw her, but the only thing she said was, “Well, then, I’ll be upstairs in my room to leave you two lovebirds alone.”
Michael was back an hour and a half later, and he thanked David for his hospitality and time spent explaining the nuances of the game before going downstairs to the basement. He found Polly sitting on the bed waiting for him, eyes filled with desire, and wearing an outfit sexier than anything he had ever seen her in. “I thought you’d like to know what I was like before I met you,” she breathed, getting up and sauntering towards him.
“Well. Um. Er, you can take the Steelers- I mean have the Steelers, because I can’t understand why a touchdown is only worth 7 if you kick something after it, and how can you see what the players look like when they’re in all those... clothes.” Michael found it harder and harder to keep up his end of the conversation, because Polly couldn’t keep her hands off him.
“Why do you think the cheerleaders wear so little? Makes them easier to find that way. Just relax and I’ll show you how we treat our football heroes in the Steel City,” Polly said with a naughty grin on her face and a busy hand in his pants. His cock sprung to attention under its tender care, and he let her lead him to bed...