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UnBroken	By : OddDoll Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Het - Male/Female Views: 6172 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
- 16
Unbroken
By Odd Doll
Chapter 15
When Severus awoke she was gone, as she had said she would be. The room was dark and silent, and he was alone again. From the hall came the unfamiliar cadence of American voices, like the strange music of an alien culture. At one time this assault upon his sense of what was familiar and routine would have left him seething with annoyance. But in the past fourteen months he had learned to accept and endure any indignities life threw his way. Moreover, he found the ebb and flow of the sounds in the hall, rising as people approached his door and fading away as they passed, as soothing as the intermittent sounds of nature. He anticipated them, listening for the faint murmur of voices or the steady tap of footsteps that reassured him he was not entirely alone.
He knew he should think about their situation. He would have been content to drift along in his sea of apathy, but danger skirted the edges of his awareness. Phoebe demanded attentiveness.
Severus closed his eyes and directed his mind down old paths of plotting and intrigue, long overgrown from lack of use. The memories filled him with both loathing and a contradictory sense of comfortable familiarity. He drifted off to sleep still analyzing the motives and agendas, personalities and weaknesses of their enemies.
*****
As Severus lay in his hospital bed thinking about Phoebe, she lay in her own bed, thinking about him. Her plan had been to have a shower, change her clothes, and make an appearance at the office. But after her shower she collapsed onto her bed and did not move for almost an hour. She roused herself long enough to call the office and warn them that she would be in the next day. That should give them enough time to clean their desks and replace the beverages they had pilfered from her private stock, she thought as she hung up the phone and crawled under the covers.
Sleep eluded her. Her body was worn out, but her mind raced. There were too many problems circling her brain like sharks scenting blood. Each time she put one train of thought to bed with a firm 'I'll worry about that tomorrow,' another rose to take its place.
Narcissa Malfoy returned again and again and finally staged a sit-in. Phoebe needed to have a long discussion with Severus regarding that woman. He was the only one who could really put her fears in perspective.
And then there was Severus himself. He was the deepest and most disconcerting problem. How far was she willing to go to help him? She had already broken any number of laws, both wizarding and Muggle, in the effort to save him. If he needed to flee before he was ready to care for himself, would she go with him? Or would she find a place to dump him?
She wondered if he would be safer at the resort or in her home. Each had its downfalls. And what if he needed months of care, but she discovered that he was as mean and hateful as the stories suggested and she wanted him out of her life? He was a Death Eater. She must not forget that.
And Phoebe was Muggle-born.
For hours she tossed and turned in a tangle of sheets and blankets. The house was stuffy and warm from being shut up for nearly a week. Rising onto her knees, she cranked open the window behind the bed. Cool, salty air drifted in, stirring her lacy crocheted curtains, making her shiver as the breeze touched her clammy skin. She inhaled the tang of ocean scent that she associated with home and relaxed for a few moments.
Inevitably, her thoughts turned to the possibility of leaving her beloved house by the Pacific. They were melancholy thoughts, but Phoebe was not one to lie around feeling sorry for herself. Convinced that she would never get any rest until she had done something positive about the situation, she got out of bed and went to her desk. She would handle this as if it were any of the other fears and doubts that had plagued her throughout her life; she would take charge. No one would say that she wasn't strong enough, wasn't brave enough, that she couldn't handle it. Taking a pen and a yellow pad, she made lists of things to be done, information she needed, and things she must discuss with Severus. Come what may, she intended to be ready.
*****
The Madrone Resort had been a rundown, bankrupt summer camp when Phoebe assembled a small group of investors to acquire the site. The bank knew it had a treasure under the decrepit cabins and the riding trails buried in sand, and fought for every penny. It had taken eight months of negotiation to procure the property and another year to upgrade a few key buildings before Phoebe could open the resort on a limited basis. Now, nearly fifteen years later, Phoebe owned the resort outright.
That morning Phoebe walked from her car on a sandy path amid the sparse pines. It had been her decision to keep the rustic, summer camp atmosphere throughout the renovation. It was all part of The Madrone's ambiance as a place for play. Since it was still very early and Phoebe's office staff would not yet be in, she decided to take a tour of the grounds before heading to her office. A boardwalk trailed out of the woods and across the sand to the resort's private beach, where the trees gave way to low, rolling dunes, allowing an uninterrupted view of the Pacific.
Phoebe paused there and took in the view. Looking out at the early morning sunlight sparkling on the water usually filled her with peace and awe, a renewed perspective of the world and her small place in it. Today it left her melancholy, as if her small part of the world was shrinking. Danger pressed in from all sides. Phoebe dropped her gaze and turned from the sight. She cut short her tour and went directly to her office.
The reception desk was quiet as she passed it, and in the executive suite her secretary was just turning on her computer. Like Phoebe, she wore a business suit with heels, though hers was gray while Phoebe's was white. It was a terrible color for Jenny's pale blonde complexion, but suited her frail stature and submissive personality. Jenny had been one of the club's slaves but was just too smart to let go when her contract ended.
"You always look so good in white," Jenny said by way of greeting. "But you look worn out today. Rough trip?"
"The worst. As soon as you're settled, come in and get me up to date."
Phoebe had a spacious corner office, with windows that went from floor to ceiling, some with doors, and others with casement windows in the center. She opened a few of the windows to let in the crisp air and the steady roar of the surf. The sound was soothing, and she kept her windows open to it whenever weather permitted.
Jenny came in and handed Phoebe the bookings. She set a pad and pen on the edge of Phoebe's big desk and sat opposite her in a white-upholstered chair with her legs crossed at the ankles and her fingers folded daintily over one knee. She looked up at Phoebe with an expression of anticipation.
"Are you going to tell me about your trip?"
"No. Be ready to take notes. Before I forget, have Grounds get some signs to post around the boardwalk, telling people to keep out. Have them say something about the endangered flora, etc."
She made a note. "Okay."
They talked about the bookings for a while and the special needs of members that were to arrive in the next week.
"The de Tonders arrived two days ago and have been asking about you. They brought a woman with them this time."
She groaned inwardly, but gave no outward sign of her mood. I don't have time for this. But Jan de Tonder was her oldest client, from even before she purchased the resort. "Schedule them for tomorrow evening. What's the woman like?"
Jenny frowned and pursed her lips. She tapped her pen on the pad a few times while she thought. "Strange. Jan says he's training her as a sub, but really, she seems to have a wild streak in her. It's like she baits him to punish her."
"A pure masochist, maybe?"
"Maybe."
Phoebe sighed. "She has the wrong master in Jan. He couldn't dominate a toy poodle. And I suppose they want me to do her as well?"
"Yes. Jan was quite insistent about it."
"Okay." Phoebe looked down at the bookings. "We're pretty full for this time of year, and I don't have time right now to take on even the old clients or manage much of anything."
"Could we get Michael to freelance?"
"Sure. I'll call him." She thought about Steve, Michael's latest lover, and how much he disliked her, and almost changed her mind. Leadership comes from the willingness to take responsibility. "I'll do it this morning." She suppressed a sigh. "I have a few more things. Make a list. Set up an appointment with my lawyer as soon as possible. Today, or this weekend. Tell him it's urgent. If I have to pay double to get him in on Saturday, I will." Phoebe read from one of the yellow tablets she had filled the previous evening. "Call my maid service and have my suite cleaned. Again, as soon as possible. I'm planning on spending a few days there."
"We could have housekeeping do it, if it's that urgent."
"No," she said with a firm shake of her head and a laugh. Staff rarely entered her suite, and they made a game of inventing reasons to be invited inside. The Madrone's members included a small contingent of witches and wizards, whom Phoebe entertained personally. For their convenience, she kept a floo in her suite, among other magical devices. It was her home away from home, and she needed to be able to perform magic to feel completely herself and at ease.
"Maria Villa cleans to my standards."
"Okay." Jenny smiled a little.
"Call the bank and let them know I will be transferring some funds this morning. Then get the faxes ready for both my personal accounts and the resorts accounts."
"Going to and from?"
"From every account to the offshore accounts. I'll fill in the amounts." To ensure that she could make payroll, were her accounts ever to be frozen by the authorities -- her activities flirted with illegalities when not outright getting in bed with them -- she had moved the bulk of her liquid assets offshore to numbered accounts.
Jenny raised her eyebrows. "Is something up?"
"Maybe. I'll know more by Monday. And Jenny," she gave the woman a severe gaze, "one of the reasons why you are such a good secretary is that you know when to keep your mouth shut."
"I understand." Jenny nodded solemnly. She stood and went to the door, but paused. "Gary Flowers, remember him?"
"How could I forget?"
"He's still refusing the physical. He dropped by yesterday and got a bit nasty with Tammy when she said you were not in. He might show up today."
Phoebe sighed. "Sure. Might as well get it over with."
"Want in on the pool?"
"What are the odds?"
"Two to one on hemorrhoids."
"It's always hemorrhoids. I'll pass this time. I need to discourage vices like gambling among the staff."
Jenny giggled as she left.
Phoebe spent the morning digging her way out from under the mound of paperwork Jenny left for her during her absence. Employee reviews, member applications, budgets and income statements, these were the unglamorous realities of running a sex resort. At some point in the last ten years, she had made the transition from dominatrix to executive. She still worked with her oldest, most loyal clients, but she referred many of the others to her employees. She didn't miss it at all. When she ran mile after empty mile on the treadmill, she wished she could just let it go, and her aging body with it.
The warm rays of afternoon sunlight warmed her back through the windows behind her desk by the time Phoebe looked up from the yellow tablet on which she had been writing another question for Severus and realized it was after four. She tossed her papers in her briefcase and headed for her suite to Apparate to Chinatown.
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UnBroken