Work Text:
Mirror, Mirror
by zinelady
"Alan!" Shirley Schmidt called as Alan Shore was headed towards the men's room.
"Yes, Shirley?" Alan paused and turned back toward the older woman.
"Can we make this quick? I need to make a trip to the little boy's room. You could follow me in, but I find it so undignified talking through the stalls."
"I just wanted to throw a client your way. I think it's perfect for you, although the circumstances are a little 'freaky'."
"Freaky?" Alan cocked his head. "Sounds promising. Does it have cross-dressing Santas or dwarves? You know, it's getting to be that time of year again. I've already trapped three girls and Denny under the mistletoe. You're next."
"Not this time," she shook her head, laughing. "But it does have a sadomasochist."
"Oh, my favorite!" Alan leered. "Does she wear leather and carry a whip?"
"No, he wears a business suit and carries a briefcase. He is a lawyer that goes by the name E. Edward Grey. You don't happen to have any relatives into 'the scene', do you?" Alan could almost hear the quotations around the words.
"Well, personally I thought my great aunt Nettie liked to wield a wooden spoon with a little too much relish, but other than that, there's none within my knowledge." Alan shrugged. "But if you like I'd be glad to take you to a club. You could tie me up and spank me with anything you wanted. But of course you would need to wear a leather corset and spiked high heels." Alan closed his eyes, picturing the scene in his mind. Shirley in black leather, her long legs in fishnet tights, her feet encapsulated in 5 inch tall fuck me shoes. He shivered and heard his boss clearing her throat. He reluctantly gave up his fantasy and opened his eyes.
"Mr. Grey is looking for outside representation. He's being sued for wrongful termination. I'll send him to wait in your office." Shirley nodded to Alan.
"He'll be my first stop after I finish in the little boys room, but thanks to you, it may take a little longer," Alan said, evoking an eye roll from Shirley. But was that a little flush high on her cheeks? "I'll make sure to wash my hands. I wouldn't to start out our relationship on the wrong foot. Who knows how he would react? He might want to spank me. On second thought, maybe I'll skip washing my hands." At Shirley's snort, Alan smirked as he pushed open the men's room door.
* * *
Denny was so excited; he had to see Alan right away. He had picked up the perfect costumes for them to wear to the Christmas party and he wanted Alan to try his on. The door to Alan's office was open, so Denny walked in expecting to find Alan sitting behind his desk. Instead he was sitting in a visitor's chair. He took a second look. He had been sure that Alan had worn his charcoal suit with a red tie today, but here he was wearing a severe black suit, crisp gray shirt with a boring tie. Denny frowned. Maybe his Mad Cow was getting worse…
"I'm sure that I trained you better than that," Denny said, sitting on the edge of the desk and gesturing to the other's suit. "Boring is boring. We aren't boring here at Crane Poole and Schmidt. What happened to your charcoal suit? And what's with that tie?"
"Excuse me?" the man said, looking at Denny incredulously.
"Never mind, I need you to try these out for size," Denny said, dropping a small package in the other man's lap. "They said they were 'one size fit all' but you know how that goes."
"What are these?" the younger man asked.
"Pointed ears," Denny licked his lips suggestively. "It's for the Christmas party. This year's theme is Science Fiction and Fantasy. We're going as Kirk and Spock. I'm Kirk and you're Spock. I'm having your uniform custom made."
"I have no idea what you are talking about, sir," he handed them gingerly back as Alan walked in the door.
"There you are Denny," Alan greeted his friend. "I see you've met my newest client…Mister E. Edward Grey." The man stood up and turned and Denny could swear he was looking at twins. Well, not quite. His Alan was wearing his charcoal suit and red tie and his hair was less restrained. The other man was the same height, but he seemed taller with his back perfectly straight. Both faces wore the same shocked expression, however.
"Wow," Denny breathed. "I heard that everyone had a twin somewhere. Are you sure you weren't separated at birth?"
"I just have a sister," Alan shook his head, staring at the client standing in front of him. "And she doesn't look anything like him. I'm sure my mother would have told me if I had a brother."
"I don't have any brothers that I know of." Grey examined Alan thoroughly. "The similarity is amazing though."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Grey," Alan said, sticking out his hand. "I should have introduced myself. "I'm Alan Shore and this is Denny Crane; Shirley said you needed to speak to a lawyer?" They shook hands briefly, still examining each other.
"Yes, I believe my former secretary is going to sue me for wrongful termination," Grey said.
"Why did you fire her?" Alan gestured for Grey to take a seat, before walking behind his desk and sitting down. Denny sat down on the couch and took turns staring first at Alan and then at Grey.
"Her work was substandard," Grey said. "She made so many typos that I ran out of red markers, she couldn't make a decent cup of coffee, her phone etiquette was horrendous and she didn't dress professionally. She was supposed to have graduated with top honors in typing. I'm sure that, as a lawyer, you understand how important a professional secretary is to a practice."
"Well, I've had a geriatric serial murderer, a cross dressing multiple personality and a girl who couldn't balance her own checkbook as secretaries…so, yes, I can understand," Alan nodded. "Why does she say it's wrongful? She must have a case or you wouldn't be coming to us."
"Well, we also had a 'relationship' while she worked for me," Grey admitted. "It was totally consensual, but we did 'partake' during work."
"Did you fuck her in your office?" Denny asked, crudely.
"No!" Grey said. "There was never actual penetration. She would misbehave and I would punish her. It started out with spanking and humiliation and went on from there. She got pleasure from me hurting her and I … enjoyed controlling her. She had been in an institution for self harm. As long as she had me 'hurting' her, she didn't hurt herself. But I knew it had to stop so I fired her. Even I knew it was not a healthy relationship."
"Does it have to be?" Alan asked. "I've found some of the most enjoyable relationships are decidedly unhealthy. As long as you both are playing safe, it's no one else's business what you do behind closed doors. What does she want?"
"She says she wants to come back to work," Grey said. "She's talking about suing me because she knows that I don't want publicity and thinks it will force my hand. What she really wants to for us to continue our relationship."
"Has she filed papers yet?" Alan asked.
"No," Grey shook his head.
"My advice would be for you to give her job back on the understanding that her work and professional appearance is expected to be up to standard," Alan advised him. "Require her to sign an agreement that if she misbehaves to try to get you to punish her, that her job would be terminated and she would have no legal rights to sue. And for God's sake, don't spank her at the office. All your play should remain off premises and not during office hours. Have you thought of going to a club? There are several I could recommend in the area."
"Why not just marry the girl?" Denny put in, after giving Alan a strange look. They were definitely going to have a conversation after Grey left. "You could spank her then. She likes it, you like it. Plus you would get to fuck her every night."
"It's not that simple," Grey said.
"Do you love the girl?" Denny asked.
"I'm not sure if I know what love is," he admitted. "I care for her. If I didn't, I wouldn't have fired her in the first place."
"How would you feel if Alan here went over to her place and spanked and fucked her right now?" Denny asked. "She probably wouldn't notice the difference."
Denny could see the fire come instantly to Grey's eyes. The thin lips got even thinner and Denny was almost concerned that the other man would come out of his seat and throttle him.
"Your reaction should tell you something," Denny said. "This girl has got you tied up in knots. Why not give it a shot? If it doesn't work, you can always come back. We do divorces as well."
The other man seemed to think about it for a few moments before he got up.
"You've both given me things to consider. I'll go home and sleep on it."
"Let me know if you want me to introduce you to a club," Alan said. "I know some discreet ones. They cater for all tastes."
"Thank you," Grey shook his head. "But I don't think so. All those people watching. I don't need someone judging my performance. I much prefer one on one."
"So, you don't like to share?" Alan asked.
"No," Grey said empathetically.
"Too bad," Alan said. "Your lady sounds like an interesting woman…and it's so rare to find someone who likes to administer spankings rather than receiving them. There is this one woman that I'm working on. I believe you met her when you came in?"
"Ms. Schmidt," Grey nodded. "Lovely lady."
"And she's taken," Denny said, throwing a stern look toward Alan. "You keep your mitts off her, or I'll be the one administering the spanking."
"Promises, promises," Alan said, exchanging an amused look with Grey.
"Thank you, Mr. Shore," Grey said, shaking Alan's hand and then Denny's. "Mr. Crane."
"Good luck," Alan said, walking his client to the door. "Do let us know if we can be of further assistance."
Denny watched the man walked stiffly down the hallway, before getting a drink and heading out to the balcony.
"What a weirdo," he said to Alan. "Do you really get off on that crap?"
"I find a little pain can be pleasurable," Alan shrugged, sipping his drink. "I guess it's the way I'm wired."
"Weirdo," Denny said fondly. "Oh, I forgot to show you your costume for the Christmas party." He handed Alan the rubber ears.
"You want me to be an elf?" Alan asked.
"No," Denny shook his head. "You're going to be Spock. I'm going as Kirk."
"But I don't look a thing like Spock," Alan said. "I'm fat and have the wrong color hair. I'd make a better Daniel Jackson. You could be Jack O'Neil."
"Stargate?" Denny asked incredulously. "You watch that garbage? The bad guys had snakes in their heads? Kirk was better than O'Neil any day. How many women did O'Neil bag anyways? One? Two? And they stole all the good special effects like transporters and phasers from Star Trek."
"And don't worry about your hair," Denny went on. "I'll get you a wig…and I know someone that can get you a girdle if you're worried about being fat."
"I'm not wearing a girdle!" Alan protested, instantly flashing back to childhood and watching his mother try to squeeze a size 16 into a size 12 girdle.
"You did when you were Shirley Schmidtho."
"That was a corset," Alan protested. "Anyway, that was part of the costume to help with my girlish figure."
"If I promise to spank you, will you wear the damn girdle and be Spock?" Denny demanded.
Alan thought about it for a moment and then nodded.
"Okay, I'll go as Spock," he said. "But if I remember correctly, wasn't Kirk the one who wore a girdle?"
"I'll be wearing one too, you sissy," Denny said. "I can't get in the damn thing without one. Your costume will be ready tomorrow for fitting."
"You knew I'd say yes," Alan said, shaking his head, taking another drink.
"Of course," Denny said. "There was never any doubt. So, sleepover tonight?"
"Sure," Alan nodded, smirking. "I'll make sure to bring my paddle."
fin