Iron Flogger, Episode 1

Chapter 1

Noah stared up at the stucco ceiling of his cramped bedroom. His mediocre beige North Hollywood apartment was the same this morning as it had been every morning this past year.

He awoke as he normally did, about two or three minutes before the alarm went off, restlessly waiting for the shrill command to start his day. His back ached again from being pushed to the far edge of the mattress by Violet, his girlfriend. She was splayed out next to him, snoring loudly, a puddle of drool collecting beneath her open mouth. He had fallen for her blonde hair and pretty blue eyes a little over a year ago, and it was to her credit that he had picked up his life and was no longer—

WAH! WAH WAH!

The alarm sounded, but Noah lay there, staring at the ceiling, thinking, "Just five more minutes."

Violet rolled over on top of him and turned off the alarm, mumbling and wiping her face as she rolled back, "Come on, Snookiekins, time to go to work."

Noah stared at her as she burrowed back into the pillow. "Must be nice to work for your dad and be able to make your own hours," he thought. He rolled his eyes, took a deep breath and rolled out of bed.

Shuffling into the bathroom, Noah reached for his toothpaste, and found that Violet had yet again thrown his out and replaced it with her favorite pink peppermint brand. He hated peppermint, and had told her this, but she never failed to swap them out when she slept over. He would have to wait until she was gone to get to his stash of cool gel Colgate, as it was kept in the same box as his S&M porn. He had had to start hiding a lot of things since Violet started coming over. She hated the whole "50 shades thing," as she called it, and had almost broken up with him when she found out he was—

"Mmm, time to make me breakfast?"

He started, pink peppermint foam drizzling down his chin. "Oh, uhm... I'm sorry, honey, I kind of wanted to get out early and beat the downtown traffic..."

"Just take 3rd Street and you'll have plenty of time to make breakfast. Waffles sound wonderful."

"Uh, no, there's been construction there lately. I just have time to drop off your dry cleaning and get to work."

She pouted, a small storm crossing her face. As quickly as the storm had arrived, it left, leaving behind a forced smile.

"I have to go down to Long Beach today for my Dad. I have to supervise some motor imports from Italy for some client or something."

Noah perked up. "Engines? What kind of engines?"

Violet waved her hand. "Engines. You know, the kind that go vroom vroom. Who cares what kind?"

Noah spit the rest of his toothpaste out and sighed. If it weren't for Violet, he probably wouldn't have the job he had, he reminded himself. "Well, if you find out what kind, I'd love to know. I wish I could go down with you and see them myself."

She smirked. "Is that my little engineer showing himself again?" Giggling, she pressed closer and crooned, "My cute wittle engineer with his cute wittle engineer cap?"

He grimaced.

"Oh come on, don't be a sour puss," she said, pulling away. "I know you want to know more about Daddy's businesses, but you never finished your degree. You really should be more grateful to him for getting you that nice, stable job at the bank," she said primly. "Otherwise you'd still be—"

Noah spat in the sink, interrupting her. "You know why I never finished my degree."

"I'm sorry, Snookiekins, I didn't mean to bring it up again." An awkward silence filled the room.