Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.

The Real me

Chapter 10 – Off the clock.

No One's POV

Recovering the ability to speak, Tori stammered. "Cat. You're a…."

"A dominatrix? Yes. Just like my mother." The red hair girl said, with a measure of pride.

Tori was just plain astonished. "I can't believe it, so is mine. I had no idea."

Cat looked equally surprised. "Me neither."

Tori then looked over at Hayley, who was still too stunned to speak.

"Hayley is your submissive? I thought you hated her, after that business at Karaoke Dokie with her and her friend Mara."

"Tara." Corrected Hayley in a snide tone of voice.

Cat turned and slapped Hayley in the face. "Did I tell you to speak, bitch?"

Lowering her head, Hayley quickly apologized. "I'm sorry mistress, please forgive me."

Cat huffed. "Don't' apologize to me, apologize to Mistress Tori and make it good. Next time, I'll pull out buttercup."

"I'm sorry mistress Tori." Hayley replied, looking very apologetic.

Tori raised an eyebrow. "Buttercup? Is that one of your stuffed animals?"

Cat smiled brightly. "No, it's my favorite whip. Of course I have others, there's Mrs. Sparkle, starshine and daisy. Don't you name all your whips? Where to you get yours?"

"Uhhh….no. I get my from that place on Arkwell avenue. You know the place next to the doughnut shop. It's called the dark half."

"I've never been there, I got to Delia's leather store on Maplewood. How is your place?"

While Tori and Cat got engrossed into a somewhat surreal conversation about whips, Jade who was irritated by Hayley's correcting of her mistress, not to mention the fact that she hated Hayley anyway, glared coldly at the sub. She gave her best cold hate filled glare and made a point not to blink. In the past when she did that, one lasted more than about 45 seconds before starting to freak out.

It didn't take more than 20 seconds before Hayley started to shift her feet uncomfortably. Keeping it up, Jade intensified her gaze; After about 30 seconds, Hayley began to squirm, causing Jade great delight.

At 39 seconds, Hayley not being able to stand it anymore, screamed. "JADE! STOP STARING AT ME."

Cat quickly glared at Hayley. "Quiet! You me and Buttercup will have a little discussion about this later."

Hayley lowered her head. "Ok, mistress. I'm sorry mistress!"

Tori, also annoyed, turned to Jade and gave Jade a hard slap in the ass. So hard it left a red mark. "STOP FREAKING OUT CAT'S SUB!"

Now looking very sad, Jade quickly apologized. "I'm sorry mistress Cat and Mistress Tori."

Tori then turned to apologize. "I'm sorry, you know Jade. She gets a bit overprotective sometimes. Come on let's get a booth and talk."

"Sure."

As they emerged from the bathroom, it suddenly occurred to Tori, that not only were things a bit awkward between her and Cat, but they were even more so for Jade and Cat. Tori, despite her need to dominate, didn't want to see anyone get hurt. So instead of talking about whips, she decided it would be better to see where everyone stands right off.

Near the bathroom, Tori could see one of those deep recessed booths and it happened to be empty. Pointing to it, Tori said. "Cat, let's go there."

As they arrived at the booth, Cat and Tori sat down. Both Jade and Hayley stood there waiting.

Tori looked to Cat. "I think for the sake of our friendships, you me and Jade need to talk. Not only talk but talk freely. Do you agree?"

Cat nodded. "Yes."

Tori then turned to Jade. "It's a bit unorthodox, here especially, but I think it's important that we settle this. So Jade, tell you what. For the next 5 minutes, you're off the clock. You can do and say what you want. I just want to remind you that this is an important night, so please be mindful and not draw attention to yourself."

Jade's face registered surprise. "Are you sure Mistress?"

"Yes Jade. I am."

Cat looked to an expectant looking Hayley. "Pet, go to the bar and get Tori and I, Two cosmopolitans, one whisky sour for Jade and whatever you want for yourself. Take your time."

"Yes Mistress Cat." Hayley said, before departing.

Jade then plopped down and gave Cat an incredulous look. "Seriously Cat? Hayley of all people."

"You should talk, miss Tori's slut." Cat shot back defensively.

"Girls, stop it." Tori barked.

That quieted them down and after a moment's pause, Tori took a deep breath.

"Jade, Cat, Look. I'm just as shocked as you are. We're all friends and I'd very much like us to stay friends. Cat you picked Hayley and I picked Jade. Neither of us has any right to judge the other as long as they're happy. Jade, if Cat's happy, than you should be happy for her. You don't have any right to judge either."

Jade sighed. "I'm sorry Cat.,"

"I'm sorry too, Jadey."

Jade rolled her eyes. "Don't' call me that, not here." A moment later Jade burst out laughing when she realized realized how absurd it was to ask not to be called Jadey when she had a slave collar around her neck, in a bondage club.

Tori and Cat quickly started to laugh in turn.

After the laugh, Cat smiled. "I knew you were dating, but I never guessed."

Jade looked directly into Cat's eyes. It was hard for her to say it, but she needed to simply come clean. It was easy to be out in front of strangers, harder in front of friends. "Cat, I'm not only a lesbian but I'm very submissive. I belong to Tori. I'm hers. I'm love the lifestyle, I love her, I love serving her. I hope you don't think….."

Cat cut her off and took her hand. "No, I don't think any less of you. I want you and Tori to be happy. In fact I'm glad you both are in the lifestyle. Other than my mother, I didn't have anyone to talk to about it; other than the submissive I trained on. I was also afraid of what you would have thought."

"I'm sorry I acted badly. I guess I was a bit hurt that you didn't' tell me. But again, I didn't tell you. It's not easy to explain this lifestyle. I guess I didn't understand that you picked Hayley, of all people."

At this point, Tori's mother walked up. "I see you've found Cat."

Looking a bit disappointed, Tori said. "Mom, did you know about Cat?"

Holly Vega, nodded. "I know Cat's mother, Karen, through our group. Each of us knew the other's daughter was in training to be a dom. And we both knew that you were friends. But for security and privacy reasons we elected not to tell you, as neither of you needed to know. In addition, you were both in training and thought that may interfere with it. We figured you would find out soon enough anyway. I am sorry. I know Karen is as well."

Tori, Jade and Cat nodded in unison, as her and Karen's reasoning made sense.

"Mom, It does makes sense. I hope you not mad, but for a few minutes I told Jade she was off the clock. I felt that we needed to sort this out right away. We're good friends and we didn't want anything to come between us."

Holly looked to Cat, to Jade and then back to her daughter. "Believe it or not, I approve. I can't speak for the judges, but you're doing it discreetly. I seriously doubt it will they'll notice. I'll say nothing to them about it. Friends are important and there is a time for everything. Being able to be honest about what you think and feel in a strange situation as this, is a good idea. It's very mature and prevents misunderstandings. That said, Cat. I'm going to find your mother and let her know that you've all seen each other and are settling things nicely. Don't' worry about Karen, I know she'll appreciate you working things out like this as well. You're secret is safe with us."

Jade was worried what Ms. Vega would think about her being off the clock. But her understanding was a great relief. "Thank you Mrs. Vega. I've known Cat along time and I greatly appreciate Tori letting being able to say what I need to. Tori's very special and she shows me that more each day. You've trained her well."

Holly smiled and put her hand on Jade's shoulder. "I'll step out of character myself for a moment and say, You're very special yourself. You've made Tori very happy and I greatly appreciate that. You're very welcome."

"Thank you Mrs. Vega." Cat said.

"Thanks mom."

"Just don't take too long. Tori you and Cat still have more people to meet. It won't look good if you don't circulate and mingle." She then paused and as she was about to walk away she said. "I love power and how it makes me feel. But with power comes responsibility, part of that responsibility is knowing when to let go."

As Holly left, Cat turned to Tori and Jade. "How did this all start?"

Tori was the one to answer. "I knew that I wanted Jade the second I saw her. I sensed right away she was a complete submissive. The way she just focused on me, I just knew." Tori then went into a brief recap of their experiences, much to Cat's delight.

Cat then thought for a moment. "I always suspected she was a sub."

"Was I that obvious?" Jade groaned.

"How about you and Hayley?"

Cat grinned. "I always liked girls, especially ones that did what I wanted. When I met her I knew she was a sub Just like you did with Jade. I happened to take a spinning class, because I wanted to be able to spin and not get dizzy. You know that's actually an exercise class with exercise bikes?"

Both wondering how Cat could enslave Hayley and at the same time not know what a spinning class was, Tori and Jade just looked at each other briefly, before letting Cat continue.

"Well, she was in it with me. Without her friend Tara, I knew I could pull her in. I made sure I was her exercise partner. It a bit of a long story, but essentially it was all a matter of letting her think, she was in charge. First I convinced her that I was a better friend than Tara. Once Tara was gone, I slowly convinced her that girls weren't all that bad. Her daddy and mama let her do anything she wanted. She needed a good dose of both love and tons of discipline. She really loves that. It was easy to lead her down the path, now she never wants to go back. She's mine now. We were going to come out as a couple pretty soon. She's not all that bad. I'm so happy for you both."

"Thank you." Said Jade, still looking a bit embarrassed.

Sensing Jade's discomfort, Cat took her hand. "Jade, don't worry. I'm still Cat your friend since 3rd grade. I would never do anything to hurt you or Tori. Hayley wouldn't either, I'll see to that. I don't think any less of you and in fact I'm happy you've found your place. Don't worry, outside of here, I'll never even let on that I know this. Don't worry Jade, I've got your back."

Cat then looked to Tori. "We'll have to have lunch alone and discuss this. When no one else is around. Dom to dom."

Tori nodded. "Yes, we should. I see that Hayley is coming back. I think we need to get back on the clock. Do you have anything else to say before you punch back in Jade."

"Thanks for understanding Cat. I appreciate that."

"No problem Jadey."

With an evil smile, Tori quickly commanded. "Jade, You're back on the clock."

Cat giggled. "You put her back on the clock just to stop her from protesting me calling her Jadey, didn't you."

Tori's evil smile widened. "Yep."

Having returned, Hayley handed out the drinks and stood passively next to Jade. Needing to get back to the party, they moved back into the main part of the room. There, they decided to separate and continue with the meet and greet. Each needed to make sure, they didn't miss meeting anyone.

Tori as she led Jade around she watched how the other dom's acted with their subs. Some were rather affectionate like she was. Some were much colder and aloof.

After rejoining the party she got into a conversation with a dom named Erica. She was an 30 some year old advertising executive and was quite learning about Hollywood Arts. Erica wanted to know more about the school, as she had a very musically inclined niece, who she thought may fit there perfectly. Behind her on a leash, was a girl of about 20 years old with strawberry blonde hair, dressed in skimpy red Victoria's secret negligee.

At one point in the conversation which was going well, Erica unhooked her sub's leash. "Pet." She commanded coldly. "Get me a vodka martini"

The girl bowed. "Yes Mistress."

The conversation continued, with Erica asking various question about the staff and the courses available, when Erica's sub returned.

She waited patiently as Erica reattached the leash and then she handed Erica the drink.

After taking one sip, Erica grew angry and threw the drink in her subs face, before slapping her. "I clearly told you I wanted a Marini with Gin, just how stupid are you! Perhaps a few lashes of the whip will make you remember my drink over right next time. Just wait till we get home!"

Tori knew perfectly well that Erica had ordered a vodka martini and had no idea why she did that. It seemed very unfair. Tori wondered if was some kind of game she likes to play or perhaps she simply was a bit crueler than the rest. Either way, Tori quickly concluded that whatever was going on, it was none of her business. So she just made a pleasant smile and waited for Erica to return her attention to her, all the while, saying nothing.

Tori quickly got back to the conversation and acted as if nothing out of the ordinary happened at all.

Tori moved on and continued to meet the other dom's, making a point, to spend at least few minutes talking to each of them.

After another hour Marla, the woman who identified herself as the head judge, Came up on the stage with a microphone. She made a motion to the DJ, who quieted the music and addressed those present.

"Welcome members, welcome applicants. I see everyone is having a good time and getting to know each other. Very good. But we must get down to business, which is seeing if our potential new members are up to the task. From what I've seen so far, I think we have an excellent group of candidates."

The dom's in the crowd quickly cheered.

"Now we can't just let them in, they've got to prove themselves and here is where they start. I want all three new potential members and their subs on stage right now. Time for the first test."

Tori who had been relaxed, suddenly felt extremely nervous, as if a whole colony of butterflies had suddenly taken residence in her stomach. She had no idea what would be required of her or Jade once she got on the stage. But she knew it was important.

She yanked on Jade's leash and for a moment, looked at the Goth. Instead of her bland placid smile, Jade smiled more intensely and gave her a look of confidence, just for a moment. It was a look that wordlessly said. I'm ready to serve you and I know we can do it.

Bolstered by Jade's look of confidence, Tori smiled and led her towards the stage.

"Come on pet, It's showtime."