Let them sort it out on their own.

?Enough! I will not tolerate this bickering. If this continues I will make sure you are both punished. And it will not be a punishment you will enjoy. Is that understood,? I said with a voice of authority.

Both Paige and Sandra nodded remorsefully and then looked down at the floor in shame.

?Good, because I wouldn't enjoy executing the punishment I had in mind.?

They seemed that to be calmer but there was still hostile feelings in the air. It was obvious that things had not been resolved, just temporarily subdued. I really did not like how things had turned out. They were like two wolves trying to establish their rank in the pack. Hopefully things would be fine when their status had been established, but there were no guaranties. In fact there were no guaranties that they would ever settle things.

There were a quick solution to the problem, I could dictate their rank. Unfortunately that was not a good solution. They would abide by my ruling, but it was very likely that one of them would be unhappy with it. I loved them both too much for that. Paige was my best friend and Sandra was the woman I was rapidly falling in love with. No, the only way to solve this was to let them solve this without my interference. The only thing I could do was to try to **** them to resolve this quickly.

?Paige, go get two pair of handcuffs from the top drawer in the bedroom.?

?Yes, Master.?

Sandra looked questioningly at me, but I only smiled in response. Paige returned, kneeled in front of me and handed me the cuffs. She was obviously happy to be the one who fetched them and I could sense that Sandra was a bit jealous. They would have started fighting again it had not been for my threats. I could also sense that they were both a bit uneasy and a bit afraid. This was probably because neither of them had any idea of what I had in mind.

?It is bloody obvious that you two need to settle things between the two of you. Since I tired of your bickering, I will have no part in it. Put your hands in front of you.?

Sandra and Paige immediately complied and when they did I cuffed their hands together. Sandra's left hand with Paige's left. Sandra's right hand with Paige's right. Their arms now formed an X in front of them. They were both a bit puzzled by this, but neither said anything.

?You two will sort this out on your own. The two of you will remain cuffed like that until the two of you have. Now, if you'll excuse me I have some errands to run. I won't be home until lunch.?

I got up and started to walk towards the door. Looking in the hallway mirror I could see that they were both shocked by my action. They had probably thought that I would settle things between them by selecting one of them as a favourite. Realising that they had to do this on their own probably scared them. I think they suspected that I would punish them if they did not reach an agreement. They were probably right.

Before leaving the apartment I turned around. I could see that they were both trying to fight for control over their arms, but they would soon be **** to cooperate. Hopefully thus would make them settle things. But to really ensure cooperation this would perhaps not be enough. I needed something else and in that instance it just came to me.

?Oh, by the way. When I return I expect lunch to be ready. No takeout, I feel like a home-cooked meal today.?

The look on their faces were priceless when they realised that they probably had to cook while being cuffed together. I don't know if I managed to hide my grin but at least I left the apartment before it became painfully obvious.

The part of having errands to run was a complete lie and there are not many things to do 7AM on a Saturday. After walking around randomly for a while I decided to head to the library, which I knew opened early.

I had gone to the library primarily to read the morning papers, but when I saw a phonebook lying around I got an idea. Sandra had talked about her mother being a **** and that had peaked my interest. I used the phonebook to track down the number and address to Sandra's mother Claire. I had never met her, but it seemed that she lived in a villa in the richer part of town. That did surprise me since, Sandra had never told me but I always suspected she came from a wealthy family. I decided not to call Sandra's mother since I had enough on my mind, but I kept her number for future reference.

After that I spent a few hours reading newspapers from across the world and surfing the internet. When it was finally reaching lunchtime I headed home. On they way home I was nervous. What if they had come to hate each other? I really did want them to get along, they were both an important part of my life.

Shortly before twelve o' clock I reached my apartment. I stood outside the door and just listened. It seemed to be dead calm inside. At least they were not still fighting. Perhaps things had worked out? Suddenly a thought struck me. What if they had managed to knock each other out? A wave of anxiety rushed through my body. No, that was a preposterous idea. Being cuffed like that they would hardly be able to inflict any damage to the other one.

The feeling of anxiety still lingered though and I decided that it was better to find out how things had worked out than keep on guessing it. I opened the apartment door and walked in.

What did I see?