NEW AT MICHAEL ALEXANDER STORIES! The Arcade Series: The Crane

It is rarely a good thing when the phone rings in the middle of the night. Unless you happen to be an insomniac or the night shift guard at some warehouse, the dulcet tones of the phone at two in the morning, waking you from a sound sleep, is almost like fingernails on a blackboard. For me that sound was the death knell I dreaded more than anything else: work, invading my personal time and space for some trivial irascible matter. I had gone to bed around eleven o’clock that night after spending a fascinating four hours playing Halo. Halo is especially captivating after you’ve had a few beers. And at one forty-five in the morning, I was feeling less than friendly as I picked up my cell phone and flipped it open.

“This is Jeff” I said, or at least I hope I said. It was entirely possible that it came out as an unintelligible mumble.

“Hello Jeff, this is Fadi, from FunPlace. I just wanted to call you and let you know that three of your employees have left their cars in our parking lot and please remind them that this is not allowed.” His voice was totally serious.

I blinked, trying hard to kick start my mind into gear. Fadi was one of the night managers at FunPlace, a huge mega-entertainment facility that hosted a wide variety of wallet emptying fun, including my arcade. Fadi’s thick Indian accent made what he said into something that could only remotely be called “Engrish”, but having dealt with the man on several occasions I was slowly picking up his vocal idiosyncrasies. Worse, this phone call was exactly the kind of bullshit I had to put up with as a business partner of FunPlace. My arcade was technically a revenue share business, meaning that I split the revenue in exchange for a place to set up. It made me somewhat independent, and Fadi resented it. Tonight’s phone call was a perfect example, as if calling me at two o’clock in the morning to complain about cars being parked over night at the facility was an issue I could do nothing about right this minute. It sure as hell could have waited till the morning.

“Uhhh…All right, Fadi. You had to call me at two o’clock in the morning to tell me this?” To be honest, I was pretty sure Fadi didn’t care. I didn’t work for him, nor did he work for me, and he probably enjoyed the opportunity to needle me a little. He resented my independent streak and the ability to buck the establishment.

“Oh no, the real reason I called was to tell you that you left your digital camera on one of the air hockey tables in the Main Concourse. I wanted to tell you that I put it on your prize counter.”

Why would the digital camera be out on an air hockey table? I asked myself. I had purchased a cheap digital camera a year or so ago in order to take pictures of some of our tournaments and parties. It was just one of those little extras I did. I normally kept the camera locked up in the office. It wasn’t an expensive one, so it wasn’t worth stealing, but it shouldn’t have been left on a game out on the main concourse.

“Thanks Fadi. Are you sure the girls aren’t still there?” I asked, suddenly concerned. It was, or actually had been, a Friday night and Jacqueline, Becky, and May had been scheduled to close. Jackie was a freckled faced natural red-head with one of those rarely seen Irish bodies, neither too thin nor too fat. She was my lead attendant and usually very responsible. Becky was my wild child, a stunning brunette with a fashion sense that leaned more toward black leather and handcuffs, and Maybelyn was a Latino girl with golden skin, a few interestingly placed tattoos, and a derrière made for spanking.

“No, they are not here, but I also had to turn the lights off…and some of the games.” Fadi replied. “You need to make sure your employees turn off the electricity. It is very expensive.”

I grunted something non-committal as my mind churned over the new information. Sitting up, I finished brushing the cobwebs from my mind.

“All right, Fadi” I said. “Thanks for the tips. I’ll make sure everything is taken care of.” I hoped my tone was polite enough. There was a few seconds of silence and then Fadi hung up.

“Bastard” I muttered as I put down my cell phone.

It took me only five minutes to put on something a bit more respectable than a pair of boxers and I grabbed my phone and keys and headed down to the car. Fadi’s little report had me concerned, especially with Jackie leaving the lights on. Something wasn’t right and I intended to find out what was going on.

The Arcade Series: The Crane completes the tale of Jeff, an arcade manager whose three errant employees have gotten into trouble before. This time however he's got all three to worry about, and when he arrives at the arcade, he's in for a BIG surprise! Now available in the VIP Lounge's NEW STORY ARCHIVE!

M/f+, torture, teen, job, humiliation, toys

"The Crane" joins the other New Story Archive collection including "Abduction", "The Arroyo", "The Trip (A Breanne Novel)", "Punishment:PFG" and of course "The Invitation". Join today to get access to all these new stories, Breanne's Assignment Archive, Character Profiles, the Choose Your Own Destiny story: The Club, and much more!