Author's Note: This is the 9th story in the series "The Stories of Bound Friends." I will continue to post the series here but I will also be posting extras and updates the moment they are ready on my blog: http://jessbbaby.blogspot.com

"You know, this has actually been really nice," Andrea said as she slowly walked arm in arm along the waterfront with her date. She had been dreading it, a setup by a roommate, but it had actually not been a bad night. The food was good, the guy seemed nice, and now that it was just a few days shy of fall the oppressive summer muggy heat had finally been replaced by an altogether more pleasant temperature.

"Well I got one more surprise for you," He said as he led her off the trail and down to the water. The sun was still up but it was lowering, casting a golden color across the sky. "OK, now stay right there and close your eyes."

Andrea was a little hesitant, but the night had gone fine so far. She closed her eyes and felt him go in for a kiss. It was a little surprising but not unwelcome. As she began to kiss him back she felt him begin to passionately push her back, forcing her to slowly back up until she was resting her back against a tree. Then she felt something hard fold around one wrist and then the other. She opened her eyes in a panic as she felt she couldn't move her arms from her sides. He had sneaked her into cuffs with the chain running behind the tree. "No, no take these off!" Andrea said firmly as she pulled away from his lips.

"Aww, come on.. I saw that site, I know you're one of those NESIC Slaves, I know this is what you're into," he said as he began to press his hands against Andrea's ass.

"I said I don't want this, get me out!" She said in a louder tone while trying to shuffle away from his touch.

"It's ok, I like the freaky stuff too," he said as he continued to run his hand along her body unabated.

Andrea moved her hands further behind her so they could feel around the other hand's cuff. She found a safety release and pushed it, freeing her hands to shove him away. She undid the other cuff and threw the whole thing into the river. "Fuck you alright. You don't get to just assume shit like that!"

"But you were one of the NESIC Slaves, and in those videos.."

"Fuck those videos too. OK. This night is over, I don't want to hear from you ever again," Andrea fumed as she turned to walk away. When he followed behind she turned to slap him hard. "Get the fuck away from me freak."

"Yeah, well I'm not the freak here ok? You are. I was just trying to throw you a bone."

"Yeah well you can fucking keep that fucking bone," Andrea said so angrily she was shaking and at the verge of tears. Of course this is how the night would end. She changed her hair to a short pixie cut, dyed it black, changed the way she dressed but of course he still knew it was her. Of course he saw that fucking site. It was only the first few hundred results when you googled her name.

When Hannah posted that site and sent links to everyone she could find, the site went viral. It even became the topic news outlets talked about to fill time during the otherwise slow week. It gave them an excuse to show sexy b-roll and get up on their high horse about the degenerate "NESIC Slaves," as they became known. Almost immediately, people who already had a problem with "kids today" or the idea of a NESIC all banded together and had a rallying cry. "The NESIC Slaves" became a cautionary tale, a tale of innocent young teenagers who got turned into bondage-loving sex fiends the moment they got that little chip. It wasn't true at all, but it was far too compelling a narrative to let something like the facts get in the way. They became "public figures" and so no amount of lies could be considered slander any more. Their names were public and mentioned in some places, but at least with such an inflammatory group name few people could actually remember the individual name of who these NESIC Slaves actually were.

It took four days to track down the server Hannah had used to host it and convince the web hoster that even without the login and account information (which Hannah created and then destroyed record of) they did in fact have the authority to take it down. The problem was that by then the full site had been downloaded and rehosted in a half dozen other places insuring it would live on to anyone who cared to search for it.

Andrea dashed to the walkway under the canal to get the hell away from this guy before he got any more bright ideas. "Hey Megan, you free?" She said as she called her friend.

"I was just in the library, why how'd the date go?"

"I could really use a friend and a drink, that's how it went. I'm pretty much at your campus anyway, can I come by?"

"That bad huh?" Megan replied sympathetically. "Well I guess I can push the studying for another night. My roommate always has something to drink and she's said I'm free to it whenever. I think she just assumes I don't drink much."

"But you don't," Andrea teased

"...Just meet me by the front door." Megan said after a pause. She then hung up to go collect her things.

Andrea had arrived early and greeted Megan before they both walked up to Megan's second floor room. "So I don't think you've met my roommate yet have you?" Megan asked. Andrea just shook her head. Megan opened the door and walked in with Andrea in toe mostly on autopilot, not really looking up at what was happening.

"Close the door!" came a loud voice from beside the far bed. The two looked over and saw a small dark skinned woman wearing nothing but a large black strap-on. She was a shorter than Andrea by almost half a foot and quite a bit skinnier. She couldn't have been much more than a hundred pounds if that. She had long black hair in a French braid stretching down to the small of her back. Her breasts were very prominent for such a small frame. Her legs and ass were toned and flawless and she had a small tattoo of some foreign letter on her right ass cheak.

On the bed beside her was a very terrified looking pale woman with strawberry blond hair, much taller but if anything even more attractive. She was naked except for a silver cross necklace, leather cuffs binding her arms behind her and a large red ball gag. She started frantically screaming at the other woman but with the gag nothing she tried to say was intelligible.

"Is she.." Andrea began to ask as she pointed to the bound woman before being interrupted.

"She's fine, she's just a little shy sometimes, turn around."

Megan and Andrea both turned to face the cinderblock wall to give the two some privacy. "Andrea, I'd like you to meet my roommate, Zainab" Megan awkwardly said.

"Oh, so you are Megan's friend from back in her hometown? The one going to AU? Well good to meet you!" Zainab said as she walked in front of them to greet and hug Andrea, which she did despite the strap-on very clearly pressing into Andrea as they embraced. She turned the two around to see the woman now covered by a blanket. "Come, you look like you could use a drink," she said as she walked over to her mini-fridge and bent over giving them both a rather prominent view of her ass. She got out some ice, some water and a clear bottle of something not labeled in English. She poured out three glasses that began immediately to turn milky white. "Here, to finally meeting you and to you not being a boring library kid again on a Friday night," She said as she handed each of them a glass and began to drink.

It tasted sweet like liquorice but burnt going down. Andrea wasn't used to things much stronger than wine and couldn't help but cough a little. "There, there" Zainab said as she began slapping Andrea's back. "Someone doesn't drink much do they?"

Andrea caught her breath still bent over where she faced Zainab's uncovered breasts. She found herself staring without even realizing. "Oh you like?" Zainab said causing Andrea to quickly look away. "Oh come now, you've already seen them you might as well enjoy them if you want. Are you that much of a prude?"

She was interrupted by the renewed sounds of gagged pleading from under the covers. "Excuse me for a moment would you? I have someone to deal with who likes to think she actually is a prude when really she should know better by now," she said as she walked back and lifted the covers off the girls face and undid the ball gag.

"Don't Look!" the woman screeched as soon as she was able, causing Andrea and Megan to turn back to face the wall. Zainab and the girl talked quietly but frantically, Andrea and Megan could tell it was heated but couldn't hear any real words. Eventually they started having louder and louder exchanges until the bound woman could be clearly heard saying "no, they saw my face, I don't know who they are, get me out of here, I can't be here!" That seemed to be the end of the conversation as Zainab set about freeing her friend who quickly got dressed and darted out of the room.

"Sorry, I find her beautiful and so much fun but she works on the hill for a humorless, religious bore of a congressman and she can absolutely panic about anyone finding out what she is into. I try to tell her no one cares what interns do in their private life but she doesn't listen. I've never understood that kind of view myself. If you like something, do it! You're only hurting yourself and wasting what life is offering you if you don't," She said before she downed the rest of her drink. "And the worst thing? We hadn't even gotten to the good parts yet," she said as she reached one hand down and grabbed the strap-on to emphasize what she was talking about. "I do all this setup work and I got nowhere before you two walked in. I ask you how is that fair? But now if you're here for the night I suppose we're back to reading and computers for the night are we?"

Andrea stared at her glass and in one quick gulp finished the rest. "Forget that, I'm here to get drunk."

Andrea woke up with a splitting headache and uttered those words freshmen across the world can be heard uttering on any given Saturday morning. "I'm never drinking that much again." She opened her eyes, but that was a mistake since she couldn't make the ceiling stop spinning. The skull splitting whine of her phone forced her to give consciousness another go if for no other reason than to get the phone to shut up.

"He..llo?" Andrea said in a low voice.

"You OK? You never came home last night even though I heard the date bombed, did something bad happen?" Asked Andrea's far too cheery roommate in far too high pitched a voice.

"No.. fine ... friend place," she mumbled as she hung up the phone and let it drop to the floor.

"You don't sound very fine," Zainab said from across the room. "Good afternoon, since you already missed morning. Here, this will help with that hangover," she said as she threw a small bottle of Tylenol and a red colored drink in Andrea's general direction. The drink wasn't labeled in English but Andrea was very thirsty and sat up to try to drink it. It tasted vaguely like watermelon and the cold felt good going down the throat.

"No.. not so loud... dying.."

"You're not dying, you're just hungover. But I like you, you're fun. And so eye opening," Zainab said as she walked over still wrapped in a towel with a second towel wrapped around her hair and sat beside Andrea. "I've been living with this one over there for weeks now and that whole time I thought I had a boring little goody good for a roommate, but you two are a couple of undercover freaks!"

Andrea tried sitting up seeing if that helped, it didn't much. As she leaned against the wall she noticed it was her bare skin making contact with the wall. She looked down and saw she was in fact topless with her metal stud piercings plainly on display. "Oh god, what did we do last night?" She asked as she pulled the covers up to shield her breasts.

"Oh relax, I was the perfect lady. I even turned you down when you asked me to tie you to the bed for the night," Zainab said getting back up and walking over to her closet.

Andrea looked around, she wasn't in Megan's bed, and she could see what she thought was Megan buried under some covers in her bed across the small room. Andrea noticed vague marks on her wrists and more above her elbow. "I thought you said you didn't do anything," Andrea said as she began to put two and two together.

"Ok, you got me, not a perfect lady. But perfect ladies are so boring. Still, I didn't leave you tied up for the night like you wanted, you were too drunk to be asking for it," she said as she took off her towel and hung it over the closet door giving Andrea another clear view of her naked body. "And anyway I..." she said as she turned around and noticed Andrea staring. "Now is this drunk zoning out or is this a continuation of last night when you couldn't take your eyes off me?" She asked as she walked back over to sit down beside Andrea. She started leaning in closely, making Andrea unsure what was coming next. Her face was inches from Andrea's and her lips began to pout for a kiss. Zainab stopped short though, only using the prospect of a kiss as a distraction so her hands could grab the blanket and rip it away without a fight. It revealed that Andrea was not only topless but fully naked. "There, parity," she said playfully as she walked back over to the closet with blanket still in hand that she draped over the foot of her bed, leaving Andrea with nothing to cover herself.

"Where.. what.. happened to my clothes?" Andrea asked as she curled up to try to cover herself.

"Oh you threw those out the window last night, you said you'd rather be 'naked forever,'" Zainab said matter-of-factly as she slid into a wispy yellow frock top. She began to straighten it out when she turned to see Andrea's shocked face and cracked. "Sorry, no, they're just over there by Megan's bed. But your face... wow you just remember nothing huh?" She turned back laughing to herself as she continued to get dressed.

Andrea was still feeling a little too foggy to appreciate the humor at her expense. She slowly walked over to Megan's bed where her clothes were piled and sat down to stop the room from spinning as she began to slip her panties on.

"Uhhhh... why," came a groan from under the covers as Andrea sat down. Megan slowly turned her head to peak out from under the covers. "Oh god, what's wrong with me?" Megan asked as she felt she could barely move.

"Do you mean the hangover or the restraints?" Zainab asked walking over with another bottle of red juice and Tylenol.

"Restraints?" Megan asked as she tried moving her hands only to hear the jangle of chains.

"Oh don't play coy, you know a cuff when you see one. You were practically jumping when you saw them last night," Zainab said walking over to them. "You might have been a bit drunk by then but you seemed to me like you knew what you were asking for."

"And what was she asking for?" Andrea asked as she finally accomplished the difficult task of putting her t-shirt on, not backwards.

"Oh god I think I remember. I asked if I could wear these. Because.." Megan started saying before losing herself.

"'Cause you said it was the softest leather cuffs and collar you'd ever felt. I know, I agree, I absolutely love them too."

"Collar?" Megan asked as she tried sitting up only to feel a tug on her neck as she tried to straighten her arms.

"Here let me," Zainab said as she helped her roommate sit up, revealing she was also topless.

"And why am I topless? That's it, unlock me now I've had enough."

"You must have been more out of it than you looked, you're good at hiding being drunk, I'll have to remember that. I just assumed you were like this one here," she said as she pointed at Andrea who had finally conquered the left sock and nearly fell forward as she tried moving on to the other. "Sorry to tell you this but..." Zainab added as she opened a drawer in Megan's desk that was directly beside her bed.

"Well... shit," Megan said as she saw her roommate hold up a clear box with keys inside locked with a countdown timer then still read 14 hours.

"Yeah, you said you wanted to wear this for 24 hours and insisted I lock the keys away so you couldn't talk me out of it in the morning. You didn't need to be somewhere today did you?"

"I was going to video chat with Sophia, but she'd probably find this as hilarious as you do. Can't I just cut them?" Megan asked, even knowing what the answer would likely be.

"Yeah, that would be no. The chains aren't easy to cut and those cuffs are from when I lived in Italy. Every part of them is handmade in a shop that's been working with leather for centuries. I had to order them special since they don't usually do fetish things. Those are not getting cut unless you're planning to have some replacements made special and flown over from that hole in the wall leatherworking shop whose name I can't even remember but was down the block from the embassy in Rome," Zainab responded.

"You could have just said no," Megan replied, feeling a little bad for even asking.

"Now I am actually sorry I don't remember any of this," Andrea said, now fully dressed in last night's clothes.

"Well we can always have a repeat matinee runthrough," Zainab said as she poked Andrea suggestively in the gut with her elbow. The hits were meant in jest but they were not sitting well with some of the nausea she was battling and the message was accurately communicated on her face as she bent over. "Fine, another time then when you're not so out of commission."

"I brought food, who's up for some afternoon breakfast?" Andrea said as she walked in holding three bags.

"Thanks again, I can't exactly do much myself right now," Megan said as she sat forward with some difficulty. Her hands had only enough chain to sit at their lowest at the small of her back. Andrea set Megan's beagle on the paper bag and she began to attempt to simply nibble off of that.

"Oh stop your complaining, you were begging for this last night. Talking about how you used to love to get tied up, but that you hadn't in so long, about how much you loved giving up control so you didn't have to worry about responsibility and stuff. Phh, please. Last time I do any favors if you keep up like this," Zainab grumbled. "And if you love it so much by the way, why did you stop? You knew your stuff last night, it sounded like something you certainly had experience with."

"Well, those videos were good at splashing some cold water..." Andrea started before being shushed by Megan.

"What videos?" Zainab asked.

Andrea suddenly felt terrible, Megan had a roommate that didn't know about her summer at all and she might have just ruined it. "Oh, it was just one of those... things. A crazy ex got pissed we were leaving and posted some explicit videos online. And I mean really explicit stuff," Megan explained diplomatically withholding some of the key parts.

"Oh so like some homemade porn? You are a lot more interesting than I've given you credit for. But no I don't really watch porn. If I want to see sex I will simply find someone to have sex with, much better than watching someone I don't know have all the fun while I'm alone." Zainab said before biting into a muffin Andrea had brought. "Wait we? Who else was in these?" she asked after a sudden realization.

Andrea sheepishly raised her hand.

"Oh you utter slut!" Zainab said excitedly. "That would explain your matching pairs," she said, gesturing to her own nipples. "So then, where you two... together?"

"No we just had the same mistress," Andrea said continuing the half-truth Megan started.

"Mistress? Not master, interesting.." Zainab said stroking her chin theatrically.

"That isn't... I mean it is but it isn't like that," Andrea tried saying but failing to find any kind of point.

"Don't worry, I don't judge. So you like women, so what? So do I," Zainab said sitting down beside Andrea and putting her arm around her.

"No, I like guys, it's not like that," she said trying to shrug the arm off her.

"As do I. Beauty is beauty, if you can't appreciate it you are missing out."

"So I hate to interrupt," Megan said, actually intending to do exactly that as it was becoming clear Andrea was getting a little uncomfortable. "How'm I supposed to pee without one of you getting me out of these?" she asked rattling her chains.

"Simple," Zainab said, darting to grab some things from Megan's drawers. "We just put this on," she said as she started to slip a loose turtleneck over Megan. "Then we put your sleeves in the pockets of your pants and boom! From a distance you look almost normal."

Megan didn't like the solution, part of the collar still showed, but it was certainly better than nothing.

"I think that's my cue to leave," Andrea said. "I've got stuff to do today and I'd really love to get some clean clothes."

"Oh that is an excuse and you know it. Just borrow Megan's cloths I'm sure they fit you fine. You're practically the same body down to the intimate piercings. Come, join us as we navigate... the treacherous hallway!" Zainab said, as she helped Megan up and started pushing her towards the door.

Andrea darted ahead to see if anyone was coming, their room was about as far from the nearest bathroom as you can get, and had to pass the men's room to get to the women's. She suddenly felt herself getting into it as she silently gave the hand signal to follow. Megan walked slowly between them, looking around with wide eyes. Andrea looked around the corner and signaled like she was leading some kind of secret mission, which in a small way she realized she kind of was.

Just as they were almost there, the door to the men's room opened and a towel clad sophomore walked out with his shower basket in one hand. Zainab quickly wrapped her arms around Megan's neck from behind like she was giving some kind of awkward hug. "'Sup? she sarcastically added in her deepest voice as he walked by a little confused. After that they were able to make it to the woman's handicap stall where Zainab helped her roommate position herself.

"See, what did I say, piece of cake?" she said receiving some very skeptical looks from both of them. "What? And don't tell me you aren't staying!" she said as she pointed to Andrea

"Fine," Andrea eventually said.

"If you're so sure then prove it," Zainab continued to taunt.

"No! Megan, you remember more of last night, back me up here," Andrea said attempting to enlist her friend.

"Sorry, she's right, you were kind of leering at her," Megan said as she shrugged from still inside the confinement of her sweater.

"Well leering doesn't prove anything, I can stare at a bus crash that doesn't mean I like crashes," Andrea conceded, attempting to move the goalposts a little.

"Yes, it proves you find that crash interesting enough to look at. That's exactly what it means," Zainab said to Andrea's frustration. "Look, I'm not trying to change who you are, but I'm saying that in my experience drinking can't change you either. Who or what you like, it's still the same but being drunk is just good at making what you like harder to hide."

"Can we change the subject," Andrea said. She didn't have a logical response but she was becoming very defensive. She didn't want to hear any more.

"Uh, look if you're uncomfortable that's fine just don't try and sit there and tell me you aren't at least a little attracted to girls. Or is it just me you're attracted to?" She asked, somehow managing not to sound vain with a question that could have easily been seen that way.

"No not just you, I mean it's not anyone!"

"What about your Mistress? If I were to tie you up some more would you still not be attracted to me?" Zainab asked, not taking no for an answer.

"Lea? No, I.." Andrea started to say before Megan jumped in.

"Hey, why don't we just all move on here. It's already past 6, Who else wants some real food?" she asked.

"Only if it's a picnic," Zainab quipped.

Megan knew the spectacle would be enough to change the subject, she didn't want whatever it was that had haunted Andrea about Lea resurfacing and that was exactly where this was heading. Plus, she was more than a little curious what Zainab had in mind. She nodded her head and Zainab quickly started getting excited.

Megan went with Andrea to go to the trailhead to figure out a spot to sit while Zainab went to get the food. "You alright back there?" Megan asked once the two were alone.

Andrea smiled and nodded her head. "Thanks" she replied, though Megan wasn't sure if she was being thanked for asking or for the interruption. Either way she would take it.

Zainab returned with chicken tenders for Megan, which she would sometimes feed her and sometimes simply lay down on a paper napkin and force her to bend over and eat it that way. They had walked off the trail to an isolated patch of the woods and while it wasn't totally hidden it did give them plenty of privacy with which to tease over Megan's helplessness. She wasn't complaining, she almost seemed to be enjoying it. When Zainab asked her face went red as she denied it, the other two both suspected she was lying.

"OK but seriously, I'm off this time for real," Andrea said as the sun began to lower.

"Oh, you're not staying till your friend gets free? Besides she's going to be talking to that other friend of yours over webcam. What do you wanna bet she does when she notices the collar?" Zainab said, trying to get Andrea to stay.

"Sorry, I really do have stuff to do," Andrea said, only really half meaning it. "Well, it's been memorable," she said as she started walking in a different direction than those two. And it had been, perhaps the most memorable night she couldn't remember all that well.

"Oh, hey, you're home early," Lea said as her brother David barged in through the front door, causing her to quickly close a few of the tabs on her browser and pull the blanket up to cover her bra. She was extremely thankful she had the sound off.

"Yeah, clearly," he said looking away at the mess that had become such a common occurrence but only in the immediate vicinity of his couch. He turned his head away so that Lea could locate and put on a shirt before asking how her classes were going.

"Oh yeah fine I guess. Sorry about all this I was planning on cleaning before you got home," she said as she started to scoop up her glasses and dishes from breakfast and lunch.

Lea had moved in with her brother a few months prior, after the videos first were sent out and made the rounds. Links were sent to everyone they knew. Lea's parents were furious she lied about the job, they didn't say it but they certainly didn't seem to like that she seemed to be gay either. So rather than fight with them to stay she simply took her stuff and left. She didn't feel right in the cabin any more, and so she turned to her brother. He had always been someone she looked up to and could turn to. He was 9 years older, graduating from the local college around the time Lea started High School. He had been the first person Lea ever came out to, he was someone she knew she could lean on.

"I know you don't like to get out much, but it seems like you only leave the house for class and then you're right back there to the couch," he said as he sat down in the chair opposite where she lay. "I know it's comfortable, but you can't just live on my couch forever."

Lea hated when he got like this. Not because she thought he was out of place or overly demanding, but because he tended to be right. She hated it sometimes. She knew it was for her own good, he was right, he almost always was when it came to unsolicited advice, and that's exactly what made it annoying. "I'm gonna," she said in an imitation of a ten year old's huff.

"And any luck looking for apartments?" he asked, simply receiving a face of playful "oh just shut up" from Lea. "It's nearly October, do you need help looking?."

It only elicited another "I'm gonna do it I swear" from Lea. Truth is she hadn't done much to looking. She had some money left after buying the cabin, she owned shares in Synsermo because of the mobile app she created which had been going through the roof since the NESIC launched. So she could find a place without much financial problem, but the couch was just easier and living with her brother just felt safer and more comfortable than living on her own.

"So I would.. a.. wash your hands. I got leftover sandwiches from this office party thing," he said, subtly tipping his hand that he understood exactly what he walked in on. Lea's face turned very red, but she silently went off and did it without attempting to say he had the wrong idea.

"Look, you know I'm here for you whatever you need and everything right?" David said after they had both finished their early dinners. Lea nodded her head. "Well an.. um.. interesting thing happened at work today. So there was this party for this guy who's leaving. Well the office is all guys, and it's a real 'hurry up and wait' kind of schedule. So sometimes to kill the downtime between crises, we look up.. well.. what you were just looking up. So the guys start crowding around Turner's computer and I go join them. They were watching these two woman really going at it, one of them was suspended by some ropes while the other was just pounding away. Kinkier than I'm into but still I caught myself thinking, 'that's really hot,' getting really into it, really turned on."

Lea thought she saw where this was going and immediately starting to curl up from embarrassment.

"Well, after a good bit of that he hit a key to change the camera angle, and it was only from that angle that I could see the faces. One of them I thought I recognized as your friend Andrea and... and well I think you figured out where I'm going with this," he said before trailing off once Lea seemed to not be listening any more. She had curled up into a ball in her chair and seemed to be trying to will herself to turn invisible.

"When that site first got sent around, you called me before I opened it up. I didn't know any of the details besides what I got from the news, and even then I tried not to listen to those stories. You don't have to explain any of it to me. This doesn't change how much I care for you, but it does mean that right now, in the short term, I kind of need to not have you around. I've got a hotel I'll be staying at for the next couple of days, give you a chance to pack up. Monday's the first of the month so you could possibly move right in."

"No, David, please." Lea blubbered as she began to shake.

"I'm sorry. You know I'm normally always on your side, but I have to do this for me this time. Please, just try to be somewhere else by Tuesday." he said firmly but kindly. He went back to his room and emerged only moments later with a backpack full of clothes.

Lea had walked up to the front door, "Please, we can fix this," she said with pleading eyes.

"I'm sure we can, but for me that first step is I need to be away at least for a little while. I'm sorry," he said as he hugged her tightly before very awkwardly and quickly pulling away. He turned and walked out the door.

"But where am I supposed go," Lea said to the emptiness as she collapsed down into the couch and sulked.

Andrea didn't see Zainab again for weeks after that, but she was on her mind a lot. Though not just her, but her prodding. Her incessant prodding! And why did the prodding make her so uncomfortable? But she was determined to think about it this time and not ignore it like she had before. And the more she thought about it, the more she began to wonder if Zainab was right, that perhaps she did feel something for girls.

She would sit on the quad and people watch as she thought about it. She certainly found a lot of the more in shape men could give her the kind of warm feelings she had always felt them give. But as she put her guard down, as she really tried to picture it, she realized it wasn't the same feeling but something did stir when some of the more nubile coeds walked by. She had always assumed those feelings she got around really pretty women were somewhere around maybe jealousy or aspiration. She thought it was more about how she wanted to look that good, not that she wanted to see how good they look naked. Now, she wasn't as sure.

It wasn't quite the same as what she felt for Lea though for those couple weeks when they had the cabin to themselves. She searched her memories and while everything was getting questioned, she seemed sure it wasn't that kind of attraction. It was more just a deep friendship and trust, as far as she could work out.

She knew it might be awkward, but she also knew Lea might understand better than anyone what she was going through. Andrea called but it didn't go like she hoped. There were some problems with Lea's brother who she'd been staying with, she apparently had a very busy and hard week and she just really sounded like she needed to vent. But when Andrea tried changing back to the reason she called she kept tripping over her words. Lea sounded utterly distracted, things with her brother seemed to be taking their toll. And besides what was she supposed to say anyway? Whatever was going on with her, Andrea ended the call frustrated and no more certain of anything than she had been before.

With uncertainty pitted against anticipation battling it out in her stomach, she decided to just go right to the source and call Zainab. To Andrea's relief there was no incarnation of "told ya so," but the sound of genuine interest. Zainab agreed to meet for coffee, curious as to what exactly Andrea was expecting to have happen.

They got their drinks to go as Andrea began meandering aimlessly, both in conversation and along the brick sidewalks. Eventually Zainab got tired of her on-the-one-hands and as they turned another corner she decided to just jump right to the point, pushing Andrea up against the brick townhouse wall, getting up on her toes and kissing her deeply. Andrea was so taken aback she dropped her half-finished tea. Time stopped as she moved her arms around Zainab holding her close. When Zainab finally pulled away, Andrea was lost in thought as her mind rushed to catch up with the turbo boost her heart and her hormones just got.

"Does that answer your question?" Zainab asked as she took a sip and turned to walk back the way they came.

"Wait.. Wait a sec!" Andrea said as she quickly rushed to catch up. "Wow, so.."

"So now is about when I get to say I told you so, if I wanted to," Zainab replied sharply, having clearly been unphased in the slightest. "But I like to think I'm above saying that even though tell you I most certainly did."

"So.. should we talk about.."

"Talk about what? You were taking to long to get to the point so I got there for you. Didn't that answer the question you came here looking for?" Zainab said, cutting Andrea off mid-sentence.

"Well, yeah, I guess. But now what?" Andrea asked refusing to adopt the blasé attitude Zainab had.

"Now? Now you can do whatever the hell you want, just like before," Zainab said turning to Andrea as she waited at a street corner to cross.

"Like do you want to make some plans or something?" Andrea asked.

Zainab stopped in the middle of the one way cobblestone residential street. "Why Andrea, are you trying to ask me out?"

Andrea became a little red, "Yeah I think I am, I guess.."

"You guess? Well nice to see enthusiasm. But you are kind of cute when you're embarrassed like this," she said as she continued to stand in the middle of the road contemplating.

"Well could we talk over here?" Andrea said as she tried to walk to the other side but Zainab wouldn't move.

"So what, you thinking like a dinner at a nice restaurant, a place with candles, maybe see a movie, finish the day walking along the water hoping to sneak a kiss like we're living in some insufferable romantic comedy? I've never liked playing it so slow and safe," she continued to ponder despite a car now honking at her from the other side of the intersection

"No, it'll be whatever you're up for, just get out of the street," Andrea said as she tugged on Zainab's arm.

"Maybe... kiss my boot," She said as she looked at Andrea but wouldn't move.

"Fine, whatever you want can we just get going?" Andrea said as her face began to turn very red with embarrassment as the car continued to rightfully honk.

"No I mean right now," Zainab said with a look of devilish seriousness in her eyes.

"Here?" Andrea asked quietly in a bit of a panic.

"Yes, if you want to go out with me that is my condition."

Andrea looked around, the few pedestrians in eyesight were all staring at the crazy woman and her friend who stopped in the middle of the one lane road. The driver of the car being blocked was sticking his head out the window to try to figure out what the hell is going on and maybe yell until things start to make sense again. Andrea started to shake but she got down on her knees, bent down and quickly kissed Zainab's boot before bolting back up and taking her by the arm to run out of the street. Zainab mercifully followed this time. Once they were to the sidewalk they were still getting funny looks but the car had at least gone on its way and left them alone. Her heart was absolutely racing.

Zainab began to chuckle. "Oh you are so much fun when you're embarrassed! I was probably going to say yes regardless but oh this just made my day."

Andrea gave a polite nod to an old couple that needed to pass by on the narrow sidewalk, who had also just watched the whole thing unfold. She couldn't read their faces but she was sure she would be embarrassed by whatever it was they were thinking. "That wasn't that funny," she whispered.

"But it was a rush," was her reply. "Admit it."

Andrea couldn't deny that. She might not have seen the humor but that kind of public humiliation was absolutely a rush. She was right. Damn. "Fine, maybe a little."

"So Megan will be around for the Columbus.. weekend.. thing, whatever it is, how about your roommate?" Zainab asked as she continued strolling back to her campus. Andrea said hers was going back to Long Island for the weekend. "So your place then, Friday?" Andrea nodded but she was walking behind and Zainab didn't see. "I'm just assuming that's a yes?"

"Sure."

It wasn't glamorous, and it certainly wasn't big, but Lea was able to find a studio room in the short time that would let her move in that weekend. It didn't come furnished so now it was occupied only with a mattress, a single lamp, a router, and a few cardboard boxes she used to move which were now doubling as tables. It was objectively depressing, but Lea just couldn't feel motivated to do very much about it.

Late that first night in her new place she got a call from Andrea. It felt so good to hear her voice again, with them both in different cities they didn't talk all that often. She started to tell Andrea about her awful week, but it seemed Andrea wasn't paying very close attention. She continued none the less, it felt good to share this with someone.

"So I don't mean to totally cut you off," Andrea said as she cut Lea off totally. "And this might sound weird but I kind of could use your advice. How did you.. I mean.. I've been thinking about.. and not that I'm sure of anything.. but I think I do.. at least maybe.. but I don't want this to sound like.. well you know I don't care.."

"Hon, just get to it, what's the matter?" Lea said trying to get the series of half statements to actually make a point.

"I can't be sure.. but..Lea did you always like girls or did you kind of only realize it after thinking about it?" Andrea asked, finally getting to something dressed up to look close enough a point.

Lea had to think back, it was kind of a vague question and she was having trouble thinking about it. "I guess somewhere in between. I mean I never really liked boys when everyone else started to but I'm not sure I put that quite together right away, why?"

There was a long pause before Andrea spoke again. "I.. well I think.. I mean it's been suggested, and not that they're wrong that's the thing I think they might be right.. well and I don't know if there's anything for you to say.."

"OK. Calm down. Anything to say about what?"

"Girls." Andrea sheepishly replied.

"What about.." Lea started to slowly say before being cut off.

"I think I might like them. I don't really know if it's how you like them.. but I just.. how do you tell?"

Lea didn't know what to say. Not just because of the topic generally, though there's often not an easy answer to that. No, this was just someone she couldn't be very objective about. Andrea was once the most serious infatuation she had ever had. Her rejection led Lea to lock herself away, eventually leading to Hannah and everything that came out of that. And that was all when Lea knew rationally that Andrea considered herself straight, someone she couldn't actually be with, but she felt that sting of rejection anyway. How does anyone respond to someone with that kind of history objectively when they ask for advice about something that might suddenly make them a romantic possibility?

"I.. I don't know," Lea finally said, now taking her turn being at a loss for words. "I mean you either feel it or you don't I'm not sure I can really.." Lea started to say as she trailed off. When she picked up the phone this was the absolute last thing she thought might happen. "What brought.. I mean, why.. all of a sudden you call me up.."

"Are you alright?" Andrea asked after Lea trailed off into nothingness and stayed there for a while.

"No, sorry, it's just.. lot's going on all at once, like almost too much, you know?" Lea said now laying down on her bed and staring up at a stain in the ceiling.

"Yeah, sucks to hear about your brother, think things are going to be alright eventually?" Andrea asked, completely misunderstanding what Lea was referring to as being "too much."

"Oh.. yeah I don't know. I hope." Lea said before going silent again.

Andrea didn't stick around much longer, she said her goodbyes and Lea spent the rest of the night looking up at that stain that she eventually decided looks kind of like a dolphin. She didn't know what else to do.

Lea had difficulty recovering after that phone call. While Andrea clearly felt she could turn to Lea with her internal struggle, Lea realized slowly that she didn't quite have anyone to do the same. She didn't want to talk to Megan about it, she was too afraid she might let something slip to Andrea, purposefully or not. Sophia was rarely in contact, but Lea felt so guilty about what had happened to her that she didn't want to add to her burden in any way. She couldn't turn to her brother because of their recent problems. That Friday at the start of a three day weekend, she had scheduled to talk with Sophia, but Sophia never checked in. That's when Lea had the sudden and sad realization of how alone she was. She just didn't know what to do about it.

Andrea wasn't surprised she was nervous for her date that Friday, but she was surprised at how nervous she was. Her roommate had left before Andrea was done with her afternoon class. She then spent the rest of the time trying on just about every outfit she owned, finding fault with every one of them. She didn't know what they were doing, what she was dressing for or even fully sure if she wanted to dress to impress Zainab. Not to mention wondering if such a thing was even possible with Zainab. Though as she pondered, she felt those butterflies of nervousness most people get before going out with someone they've got a crush on. Well, at least that part of her seemed to not be up for much debate any more.

When she got the text that Zainab was downstairs, she nearly leapt out into the hallway still in her underwear from being caught mid-change. She decided to just keep it simple, can't go too wrong with jeans and a long green sweater with a front pocket. It might have been a little (ok a lot) long on her, but that was the point. She got it to be worn when she went to the gym to cover just past her ass, which yoga pants did nothing to hide and its big pocket in the front that could hold a water bottle easily. It might not have been elegant but she always liked its shade of green and it made her feel comfortable. She was nervous, so comfortable sounded good.

"So where are we headed?" Andrea asked as Zainab met her down in the lobby.

"Oh not so fast," Zainab said as she slung a small bag over her shoulder. "Let me see this room of yours first."

Andrea brought her up to the fifth floor and down the hall to her room. "Wow, somehow even smaller than our room. How is that even possible?" she said as she navigated to the back of the room which, from the piles of clothes, she assumed was Andrea's bed. "But at least you've got a good view, and your roommate's bed over there, I like the risers. Not sure I'd feel safe studying under a bed but when you got this little space I guess you gotta make it count."

"So are we going somewhere?" Andrea had to ask as Zainab continued to comment on the room.

"Eventually, but have you never heard of an appetizer?" she said as she pulled Andrea close by the back of her neck. "And besides, if you've only ever had beef, you should probably order a sample of shellfish before buying the whole meal," she said as she gently pushed Andrea down to her knees. She wore a light tan dress and with her free hand she began to hike her dress up, revealing her bare pussy.

Andrea couldn't believe the absolute bluntness, this isn't in a hundred guesses how she would have thought things would start off. But as she looked up she couldn't help but be taken in by her commanding presence. She felt pressure on the back of her neck and so she took the message and leaned forward touching her mouth to Zainab's dripping lips. Andrea reached her arms forward to grab hold of Zainab's ass. She began pulling herself forward on her own accord causing Zainab to let go and run her hands through her long hair. Zainab soon began to moan as she returned one hand to Andrea's head. She bit her lip as she could feel herself getting close. With the first loud grunt, Andrea felt Zainab shake with pleasure before stumbling back to lean against the absent roommate's raised bed.

"Ok, so you're certainly not put off by an order of clams now and again. But now it's my turn to have fun," Zainab said as she regained her composure.

"That wasn't fun for you?" Andrea asked, confused about what she meant by that.

"Take off those clothes. I can certainly see you tried enough on but I want you wearing something else first." Andrea anxiously complied, setting her jeans and sweater at the edge of her bed. Her hands shook as she reached behind her to undo her bra and she nearly tripped herself trying to recover her cool by taking her panties off in what in theory should have been a smooth sexy motion. It caused Zainab to hold in a giggle by putting her hand to her mouth.

Zainab opened up her bag and started bringing out dozens of wide leather belts. "This, is what I mean by having my fun," she said as she grabbed two long ones and walked over to Andrea. She silently began to build a chest harness, one belt above and below the breasts, followed by another series of belts to bind Andrea's arms in a box tie to the rest of the leather. "Besides," she finally said as she tucking away the last strap. "I think you find this fun too don't you?" she asked as she began to hug Andrea from behind, freely moving her hands about giving special attention to her breasts.

"Mmm hum," Andrea responded as she leaned into the touch. It was the first time (she remembered) being bound in a long time, and it had never been with such nice supple leather. Zainab's warm embrace was only amplifying the feelings. She gasped as she felt a finger reach down to graze her clit piercing and lingered around her pussy lips. She didn't need the confirmation but she could hear the sounds of wetness as the stray fingers continued to move about.

"Now Megan was telling me a little more about you, I hear you got one of those NESICs. I'm still on a waitlist so I don't know how you managed that. But however it was done, that means you have that chip connected up with your phone? May I?" Zainab said as she let go and walked over to Andrea's pants to retrieve her phone.

"Well what were you planning to do?" Andrea asked skeptically.

"What do you think? I want to see you scream with pleasure, I want to dominate your tight little ass for the night and I want to do it with your chip. Of course, if that's alright," she said as she unlocked Andrea's phone and opened up the program.

"Sure I guess," Andrea said trying to hide her nervous excitement and sound unperturbed. With that, her chip sprang back to life after nearly two months of disuse. Her mouth dropped out from below her as she started gasping for air in a suddenly more sensual room. It began to turn down after she heard Zainab mumble "maybe too high just yet," It was down to the more sustainable, but nevertheless frustrating middle where without major physical stimulation she would never unexpectedly cum, but she could also find it hard to keep her mind on anything that wasn't at least partly sexual. And as she stood there straining against wide belts and feeling the pleasurable sensations, Zainab had removed her dress under which she wore nothing at all. She went to her bag and had retrieved the same black strapon she wore when they met.

Grabbing Andrea by the straps at her back, Zainab led her onto her bed which was up against the far back of the room. She ever so slightly guided Andrea forward until no part of her leg dangled off the edge. She spread Andrea's legs and took up residence on her knees between them. With some positioning, Zainab thrust forward, pushing the dildo she wore deep into Andrea's wet pussy. Andrea moaned loudly as she started slowly bending forward with the force of the new thrusts and the direction of hands on her back. Without warning, Zainab reached forward and opened the curtains only inches away from Andrea's head.

"Are you crazy, what if someone sees us?" Andrea said as she suddenly tried to fight back but finding about as much success as if she hadn't tried at all.

"Relax, you are high up and facing gardens. If someone is fortuitous enough to notice then let them see! You will hardly be the first college girl to be naked by their dorm window."

Andrea looked down, she could see people but none of them were looking up. She could see the other side of the t shaped building had a few curtains open but couldn't see any watchers.

"Are you getting close? Warn me if you are," Zainab asked as she slightly slowed down her pace.

"Kind of, oh god I can't look, tell me if they're looking," She said as she turned her head to the side. Andrea started to breathe faster, without looking she was picturing people watching. She could see this guy walking up the hill, a really unpopular guy having a shitty week. Suddenly he looks a little higher and notices her, naked and getting plowed in plain view by another naked woman. He stops and starts to watch, which only makes other people look up to see what he's staring at. And like many things, she couldn't explain why, but she started to get turned on by the prospect. She was inching closer and decided to tell Zainab she was close.

That was when Zainab stopped. She shut the curtains, pulled out, turned off Andrea's NESIC and walked back to get a damp cleaning cloth from her bag to wipe down the dildo. "No, please, I was so close." Andrea couldn't help but plead as she turned around and flopped down on her bed.

Zainab, once again in her tan dress, walked over to Andrea and laid down beside her. "But remember, this was just supposed to be an appetizer. Did you like it? Did you like being dangled in front of the window like that?" Andrea, despite her rational mind, smiled and nodded her head. "Then let's get you standing up, we've got things to do."

Andrea stood up and waited, it was all she could do. She knew bindings enough to know she wasn't getting out of what she was in. Zainab had retrieved Andrea's green sweater and slipped it over her, adjusting it just right kept all the bindings hidden. It was much shorter than any skirt Andrea would normally wear, but it did reach to just about the lower part of her ass cheeks. Zainab slipped her into some canvas shoes, put the sleeves into the sweater's pockets and put on one final wide black belt at just above her hips, declaring "there, now it's a dress."

"You want me to go out wearing just this?" Andrea asked softly. She tried shifting her arms but found with the belt holding the sweater down she had even less room to move around than before.

"Oh, careful now, too much of your arms there and this hikes up just a bit," Zainab said as she pulled the sweater back down. "I told you I didn't do normal dates, this is more my idea of a first date. Really jumps right past all the bullshit and right to compatibility and trust. Do you trust me? Do you want to find that out now and not a few weeks from now?" she asked in a progressively softer and more nurturing tone. She looked up at Andrea and ran her hand through her short hair. She could see Andrea was shaking a little bit again. Andrea's eyes darted back and forth between the mirror, the door and Zainab only to repeat in no particular order. "Hey," Zainab said as she guided Andrea's face back to meet her own. "I'm not going to let you get hurt. It will be intense, but all good things are."

Zainab grabbed her purse, throwing Andrea's wallet, keys and phone in it, and walked to the door. "I'm going to open this door. If you want to continue this as a date, take a leap of trust and come with me. If you'd rather I just fuck you and have some fun here before I free you, then go back to the bed." She said, opening the door only once she was finished. "It's up to you."

Andrea looked back at the bed. That would be the safe option, much safer. Nine nights out of ten she'd have gone for the bed, but for whatever reason she was feeling tired of the safe choice. She hadn't been able to get this woman out of her head and the two choices before her was an empty bed or a doorway with her in it. She closed her eyes and swallowed a deep breath before slowly, very slowly walking forward.

Sophia looked at the clock on the wall and smiled. 4:02, her shift was finally over. It had only been a few hours but she didn't have any other responsibilities for the night and was looking forward to the first night completely off in a while.

"You off?" Chloe asked as she ducked back to grab another round of beers for her table.

"Yeah, here. Make sure Sarah gets her cut too," Sophia said as she handed over her tips from the shift.

"Not that I'm complaining, but one of these days I'd love to hear what possessed you to sign an employment contract where you can't keep the tips," Chloe said as she set the money in a jar deep in the back of one of the shelves. "I'm off by 8, I doubt I can try to convince you this time to come out with us right? I mean it's the start of a long weekend, why not just come out with us this once?"

"Yeah, doubt it," Sophia said as she started walking back to the break room to change. She didn't much like the attire, but she knew it could be a lot worse than some drunk tourists leering at her as she fetched them drinks. The outfit was meant to look Roman, that was the Baiae Resort's theme after all. It was a plain white dress that barely covered her ass and was from the waist up essentially just two small bars of fabric across her upper chest, barely covering her breasts. She was allowed to wear white panties but it wouldn't allow her to wear a bra. Though that was perhaps the point of the outfit, there was a reason this bar in the casino served almost only men and how they could get away with charging a little extra for beer and mediocre bar food.

In truth she would love to go out with Chloe, but she couldn't. She had been trapped in this casino now for most of the last two months, ever since she signed that infernal contract. She hadn't thought she had a choice, but she still signed the contract with Carl with a video witnesses and officially registering it with the ICB. There was no way to get out of it for either of them. Because when a contract is registered, either party violating it is a criminal act that carries heavy penalties. It's what keeps employers from changing the terms of employment part way through and it keeps employees from doing the same.

To ensure compliance, the International Contract Bureau has the authority to check in, usually in secret. They were not above planting bugs or tapping voice and video feeds, particularly with the larger contracts. Any violation of the terms of the contract and the perpetrator is assigned to a penal labor contract, designed to be disproportionately worse and longer than the contract being violated as punishment and as an incentive to follow the rules. That usually translated to two levels higher, violate a level 5 contract and you get put in a level 7 penal contract. The ICB administers any penal contracts they create and keeps whatever profit such a contract can bring in, so they are quite diligent about finding contract violators. That goes double for larger contracts as those can yield more extensive and therefore more lucrative penal contracts.

Sophia didn't what to know what it would be like to be under a disproportionately worse contract than what she was under. There were already so many restrictions already she honestly couldn't think of what more could be taken, though admittedly she hadn't tried hard because she didn't want to think about it. During the term of service she had restrictions on her movement, she couldn't have possessions of her own, she needed pre-clearance to communicate with anyone she was not with in person, she even embarrassingly needed to ask for permission to cum even when alone. That had been some embarrassing calls, so she didn't call unless she really felt she needed to. But as much as she might want to go out or keep her tips, she knew she did not have it anywhere close to as bad as her contract said it could be.

When Carl found out Sophia hadn't wanted to sign the contract, he gave her his word that he would be as lenient as the contract would allow, and he had been. The contract demanded she "serve the contract owner daily in whatever capacity they desired," and that work needed to be of "a domestic or sexual nature." With some legal work he was able to stretch that to mean she simply needed to be a part time waitress that had at least a small shift every day and a very sexualized outfit. The contract demanded she be in the "immediate vicinity or residence" of the contract owner, he was able to reclassify the whole casino as his residence since he owned it outright and slept there most nights. She had her own room, she had free time, and she had even been able to get a position to understudy one of the background dancers in one of the casino's shows.

After she had changed and was walking back to her room, she checked the phone she was given. It had a message that she was to go see Carl when she was done with her shift. She knew she couldn't complain even though it was annoying to give up her free Friday night when she had planned to check in with her friends. Andrea was apparently busy going out somewhere, she wouldn't say more, but Megan and Lea were free and she had gotten clearance for this particular night days ago.

For what it was worth, Carl had not demanded any sexual act from her yet. She would certainly be dressed sexually, if she was dressed at all, but he had never done more than stare, lay beside or on one occasion caress. He had another woman contracted to him, Elizabeth, and she always seemed to be more than enough when it came to heavy play or actual sex. Sophia was only infrequently called and found she would only be there when it was just the three of them in his suite. She had never been called over when there was anyone else besides Elizabeth, though she knew for a fact that he threw larger parties that Elizabeth would go to. He just seemed to leave her out when he had guests, something Sophia noticed and certainly appreciated because he did not have any obligation to do that.

Sophia entered the room beside his, as she had been taught to do. There she would always find instructions and an outfit. Today, Sophia saw an unusually ornate outfit. Black silk stockings, black and red matching panties, bra and garter belt set, 4 inch sandal heels and a long black evening dress that left stripes of her back and side exposed. There was even a diamond necklace meant to complete the look. It was certainly sensual, but it was unquestionably the least overtly sexual thing that had ever been waiting for her. It actually filled Sophia with confidence as she gave herself a twirl in the full length mirror. She touched up her makeup, put her hair in a bun, and entered Carl's suite where she was directed to sit at the dining table. She sat there and waited, but made every effort not to look at the clock, she found that only made waiting worse.

"Hi there, you look lovely," Carl said as he finally entered the room alone.

"So what's the occasion?" Sophia asked, which Carl seemed to ignore as he sat down and instead asked when Sophia had last ate. After Sophia replied, Carl went on a long rant about this business problem or that as he often liked to do. Sophia patiently listened, it seemed to be half the reason he ever called her over was to have someone to unload everything onto. He talked about his new complex down the road and its never ending this or thats as he tried to get it up and running. This continued until two small plates were brought out with appetizers which seemed to take his attention away. But it was a small portion and soon the two were in silence with only a glass of mineral water by her and a glass of scotch by him.

"You know why I'm not married?" He asked with an unusual amount of candor before finishing the rest of his drink. "I got my first casino up and running when I was 23. I paid my parents back for the money they lent me to start it in just 7 months. By the time I was 26 I was opening my second casino and I was already worth millions. I've been driven to a point some might rightfully call obsessive, which gave me a short temper and made me often neglectful of anything and anyone that wasn't my business. I've never been a very likeable guy. I wasn't then, I'm not now and I'm just too damn old now to do anything about changing that."

Sophia had never heard him like this. He sounded reflective, self-deprecating and even mournful. He poured himself a refill before finishing that glass too and continuing.

"Maybe not as much at first, but at 63 about the only people who seem to go after me seem to only really want in for the money. Took me four ex-wives to figure that out, but there it is." He paused long enough to refill his glass and take a small sip.

"Alright, that's not fair that first one. I think she genuinely loved me, just not as much after a years of late nights at the casino, long business trips and a kid I barely saw who ended up resenting me. With some good reason at least, I was never there for him then. I'm trying to make that up to him, I'm including him in the business and he ain't half bad at it. But way back when I treated him and his mother like crap, when I was there at all. That, and it ended for good when I got suckered away into an affair by eventual wife number two who, it turns out was just after my money." He paused for a moment to stare blankly ahead, deep in thought before continuing.

"But those kind of women, the ones who only see a bag of money, they aren't willing to put up with me or my antics very long after they put in enough time to get a something out of me. They always leave, and it always cost me a lot of money. So I figured a while ago that if women just want me for my money, why not just be upfront about it and pay them? Is that really so much worse than a divorce settlement?"

He paused for a moment looking at his glass, as if contemplating what was inside. "She's gone," he said before finally deciding to finish the glass.

Sophia finally understood. She thought it was strange for him to be in such a state especially without Elizabeth beside him, but it was clearly because Elizabeth wasn't beside him that he was in the state to begin with. "What happened?" She asked after giving enough time to make sure he wasn't about to start talking again.

"Term went up. She was on a 5 year contract. I'd been on the phone with her lawyer all day trying to offer an extension. I was willing to triple what I offered for the original contract, but she just wouldn't take it. Damn lawyer wouldn't even tell me why, leaving me to think all day about why she wouldn't take the deal. Sure she's got enough to be set for a decent life after those five years, but I mean I offered triple the payment for just another two years, that's seven times as much per year! But no. I even tried to convince her to come have this farewell dinner, but she wouldn't even do that. Only found out an hour ago she'd already hopped on plane this morning back to Florida, or wherever it is she's going to be living now."

Almost as if he knew a distraction would be nice, it was at that moment that the server brought out two plates with the main course of a rather large serving of a rack of lamb. Sophia could barely get more than halfway through but Carl seemed determined to not let it go uneaten. He started prodding around his plate, moving the bones from one side to the other as he continued to search for a distraction.

"So now? Well now I got to either go find someone new or go back on my word to you. I don't wanna do that, but it's not quite as easy as you might think to find someone I might be interested in willing to sign the kind of deal I'd want them to sign," he said as he slowly got up from the table and walked over to Sophia with an extended hand. "But enough about all that, how'd you like a night out of this place?"

The air was cool as Andrea walked down Nebraska Avenue. She stuck close to Zainab, who more often than not had an arm draped around her as they walked closely together. Andrea was beginning to calm down, a chill still ran up her spine when a gust of wind would remind her how precariously her modesty was covered. But Zainab seemed to be making sure nothing creeped too far up. Her diligence started to give Andrea peace of mind, enough to notice the trees changing color and that the weather was still quite nice.

"Um, Zainab, where are we going," Andrea asked as they began walking up Wisconsin. "We're not... are we?" she said as they were unquestionably heading in the general direction of the Metro elevator.

Zainab hugged her extra tight. "It'll be ok, I'll be here." she whispered into Andrea's ear in a reassuring tone.

Fear certainly returned to Andrea's forefront, but it was not as high as it was even in her room. She hadn't thought she would make it out of the dorm without something going terribly wrong or her collapsing out of sheer panic. But she had made it this far. She felt protected. She was shaking a bit but she didn't break stride as they headed for the elevator.

She didn't like taking the elevator. It was exceedingly long, very slow and not all that big. Just when it looked like they would at least have the elevator to themselves, out of nowhere a hand popped through the doors causing them to open again. In walked four large men, the shortest among them was still probably half a foot taller than Andrea and probably at least double Zainab's weight. Andrea cowered in the corner, she had no indication they wanted to do anything but get on a train, but the fact was they could do just about anything to her and she would be helpless to stop it.

Zainab saw the fear in Andrea's eyes. She stood beside Andrea and placed her hand around her waist. Andrea's mind was still going to horrible places as the elevator slowly descended. Zainab placed her other hand on Andrea's cheek and looked into her eyes to try to calm her. It wasn't enough, Andrea's mind wasn't being distracted. Zainab slid her hand on Andrea's check back, stood up on her toes and went in for a kiss. Andrea closed her eyes and she suddenly wasn't in the elevator, she was somewhere else, the two of them alone, safe, embraced. When Zainab pulled back Andrea opened her eyes and the elevator was just landing. The four guys had all at some point, without any subtlety or shame, turned to watch. When the doors opened one of them simply said "nice..." before walking out so that the two girls could leave as well.

In a true miracle, the train was arriving just as the two passed the gates, and they managed to get two seats at the very front of the frontmost car on a surprisingly empty train for a Friday afternoon. As the train screeched and clattered to life, Andrea lay her head on Zainab's shoulders and whispered "thank you." Zainab only responded by fixing her sweater again and continuing to let Andrea lean against her.

The train began to fill up, more getting on than off at every stop. By Dupont it had become standing room only which is when Andrea began to get self-conscious again. She sat up straight, made sure not to fidget in any way that might affect her sweater's tenuous coverage. She was sure everyone was watching her, but aside from one guy in passing everyone was either on their phone or looking straight ahead. Andrea focused so intently on who might be watching her she had lost track of what station they were approaching when Zainab said their stop was coming up. She continued to focus more on the passengers and not tripping so she continued to miss where they were. All the stations still looked alike to her anyway. Aside from one hand to the ass, which may actually have been an accident, Andrea managed to make it to the escalator without incident.

The escalator opened up into a massive stone building with a high curved ceiling. It was almost as busy as the metro itself, packed with people many of them carrying luggage. She looked up and saw signs for Amtrak, she was at Union Station. "Why did you bring me here? I had been willing to just go with it but we aren't about to get on a real train while I'm still tied up am I, that's my line in the sand."

"Oh, no, nothing like that. Come on, you've come a little far to start to not to trust me now," Zainab said as she started walking with her hand around Andrea's waist towards some shops. She walked into a lingerie shop, heading right to the counter, saying she had a pickup order. She handed over a card and came walking back to Andrea with a large pink bag around her arms. As they begin to walk some more Andrea felt her chip turn on but held her tongue. She didn't want any more attention drawn to it as she looked over and saw Zainab smiling with Andrea's phone in her hand. As they continued walking Zainab continued to turn it up until by the time they reached the archway to the main concourse it was all Andrea could do to not topple over as she leaned against one of pillars immediately beside the gateway.

Zainab leaned in close as Andrea's restrained hands were leaning against the stone. "See all these people?" Zainab said, allowing Andrea to get a look around. "It's a Friday of a long weekend. There are probably thousands of people just in eyesight." She dropped the pink shopping bag by their feet and held up Andrea's phone. Her thumb hovered right over the large button that would send out the signal to cum, something Andrea had no doubt she was worked up enough to achieve. "Come here," she said which was really a misnomer as it was Zainab that moved towards Andrea and not the other way around. Just before their lips made contact, she leaned in to one ear and began to whisper a countdown. "Five... Four... Three.." Before she could utter two. their lips were interlocked as Andrea braced herself for what she knew was coming.

When the orgasm hit , even though she knew it was coming, it caught Andrea seriously off guard. On instinct she tried yanking her hands away, but all that did was raise her hemline up to where she could feel the cold stone against her now unprotected ass. Zainab held her head firm with one hand, forcing her to stay locked in a kiss and not giving her the option to shout out like she desperately wanted to even if it would make everyone look at her. She almost felt like she was losing her footing but Zainab quickly pocketed the phone and used her other hand to help stabilize Andrea. A few people stopped to look, she was being a little louder and going for a little longer than a kiss normally took, but from what everyone could see there was nothing beyond some very serious kissing.

Once she felt Andrea was stable, she quickly reached back for the phone and turned everything off. Andrea gasped, quietly, for air. Her eyes were wide, scanning the massive hallway for any sign that they had been noticed, and it seemed like she got away with it. Even as Zainab was pulling away to go straighten the sweater, Andrea bent down and kissed the top of her head, it was the only gesture she had to show at the moment how incredible that had just been. "Let's go get you changed, I got a whole new outfit in here for you," Zainab said as she picked the pink bag back up and began walking with Andrea for the nearest ladies room.

When Andrea and Zainab ducked into a stall, Andrea realized that to get out of the leather, she would first need to lose the only article of clothing she had on. In the middle of a public bathroom. She began to tremble as she became completely undressed. She could hear a few more women coming in and talking just outside their stall. Zainab saw this and after putting the sweater in the bag went in close to hold Andrea. "Are you alright?" she whispered softly in Andrea's ear.

The embrace felt good, it felt reassuring. As if the women were only conjured up to frighten her, once Andrea began to calm down the chatting ladies dispersed. Things were quiet again. Zainab began to unfasten the belts, giving Andrea pins and needles in her right arm. Once they were safely folded away, Zainab began handing Andrea clothes to put on. It was much more decorative underwear than Andrea normally wore, a dark purple with a black lace trim. Thankfully she had more than just fancy underware, giving Andrea a burgundy long sleeve t shirt and a pair of white cotton shorts. Once Andrea was dressed, they checked to see if it was clear before both of them emerged from the same stall and casually strolled out.

Andrea put her arm around Zainab, noticing the wisdom of a sleeve long enough to cover her marks. "You had all this prepared?" Andrea asked.

"Well it was just 'add to cart, pickup in-store,' not exactly planning a parade," Zainab said, showing perhaps the first shreds of modesty and limit to her resolute confidence. "I had a feeling you'd come around."

"Yeah, I'm really glad now I didn't just choose fucking in bed over this," she said, lowering her voice to preserve some sense of privacy as they made their way out of the building through a sea of people.

"Ah, but the night is still young, we certainly still have time to do that as well," She said with a grin, sounding a little more like herself. "But first some food, I know a place just up the road."

Sophia couldn't help but grin. The air was nice, it was approaching cold with the wind but it wasn't quite there yet. Her second story room did have a balcony, but it faced an ally by the parking garage and had no cross breeze of any kind. Now she was out on the boardwalk on a busy Friday night not watching delivery trucks.

She couldn't help but notice stares as she walked arm in arm with Carl. She wasn't sure if it was her, her outfit, or their age difference but there were certainly more than a few looks. She just hoped they weren't because they recognized her from the internet videos. She had more than a few guests recognize her, but so far she had been lucky enough for none of them to be very loud about it. But she tried to push that from her mind. She was out, she was listening to the ocean surf, there was no need to bring herself down with useless speculation.

The two moved inside, ducking into a latin dance club where they danced for some time. Despite his age, Carl was surprisingly quick and nimble on his feet. Sophia almost felt at times she had to work hard to keep up as he spun her and led her around. When they left it had started to get cool which was refreshing after so long in the hot club. By the time they got back to his room, Sophia was feeling energetic and renewed like she hadn't felt in weeks.

He retired to the bedroom where he told Sophia to lose the dress, necklace and shoes while he quickly showered. He lay down and beckoned for Sophia to lay beside him. He simply lay there with his arm around her, lost deep in thought. His face looked troubled, much sadder than it had been before he showered.

"You miss her don't you?" Sophia asked as she turned over to face him. He didn't respond he simply held her tighter and gritted his teeth like someone trying to hold off the possibility of crying. "I'm sorry."

"No, this isn't you, you don't need to feel sorry," he said calmly in a tone that had been very unique to this particular night. "There's nothing more you can do."

"Well," Sophia started, against some of her better judgement, "that's not entirely true. There is some more I can do," she said as she rubbed her hand over his chest.

His dick began rather immediately responding before his voice could catch up. "Only if you want to," he said hesitantly.

Sophia still wasn't absolutely sure, but she nodded her head anyway. "Just for tonight, I want to do this for you."

He immediately grinned and flipped over on top of her. "So if you change your mind tonight, say or hum clementine. Otherwise you will be my slave tonight as if I never made you that promise. Do you understand?" Sophia nodded her head. "Go use the bathroom, clean up if you need, then get the stockade and bring it here," he said as he got up to search his drawers for what he wanted to use.

Sophia went to the bathroom, deciding she'd rather keep on what she was wearing, it felt decadent. She went to get the stockade that seemed to be one of his favorites to put Elizabeth in. It was metal with padded cuffs that held the occupant bent on their hands and knees in a doggie position. The cuffs click close and all open at once with a pinch of two pairs of metal knobs at opposite ends of the contraption. It meant that without a key, a slave could open all the restraints and bind themselves. But the two notches could only both be reached by the same person when they were fully outside the contraption and standing beside it.

Sophia pinched at the two edges, causing everything to spring open. There were padded cuffs at the ankles and just below the knees, one at the lower torso, one at the neck and two for each arm. Sophia stepped her feet into position, still wearing the lingerie, and locked them ever so slightly spread before locking her lower torso in as well. At the head there was the metal barred outline of a face. In order to fit your neck into place you must push your head inside the outline, locking your mouth open with a ring and keeping the head held upright. After the head and neck were secure, Sophia secured one arm at the wrist and just below the elbow before setting her other arm in place waiting for her master to finish the final two cuffs.

Carl walked into view carrying a half hood, it fit over the eyes but stopped at the base of the nose, held in place by clips on the metal head harness. She could look immediately down, but everything else was blinded to her. She felt the final two cuffs secured as she started to have doubts if this was a smart idea.

Sophia cried out as she felt a heavy paddle strike her ass. There was no warning, which was perhaps the worst part of it. She could slightly hear him mumbling something before she felt a flogger strike her ass. That hurt too but she did not cry out nearly as much as with the first hit.

She then felt a thin line of pure white pain erupt across her ass as a single tail whip was brought down on it. She cried out loudly before being hit again, presumably he had settled on his implement. She felt it hit her upper thigh, followed by another hit even lower down the leg. The hits continued down, causing panic to grow as they inched closer to the upturned soles of her feet. She still wore stockings but that provided no real protection. Just before the next hit would have been the souls, the whip returned to her ass. She had never been so glad that something had struck her ass. The whipping did not last much longer, but the thin whip had left marks all along Sophia's narrow ass and athletic legs.

Sophia felt Carl move her bra down, freeing her breasts but leaving the garment mostly in place. He then proceeded to attach clamps to both nipples. The piercings, which Sophia still had, left her nipples more sensitive to the clamps. But they had healed long enough that she at least didn't have to worry about any problems beyond the sensitivity. Sensitivity that made the weights that were attached to each clamp, which Sophia could now tell were clover style clamps, matter even more than they normally would. She had remembered seeing Elizabeth in this exact setup at least three different times, if she remembered those clamps had their weight on a chain so that every small movement would make them shake and sway for a while.

It also meant she remembered what would be coming next. He leaned in and whispered "you have permission to cum as much as you want." She felt a vibrator attach to the bar holding her torso hostage. It was slid up until it rested roughly at her clit. It turned on moments before she felt her panties pushed to one side and his hard cock shoved deep inside her. His pounding motion had the unexpected (to Sophia) result of constantly hitting her very sore ass with every stroke. The pain rolled together with the pleasure of the vibrator and the penetration, making the pain from her nipples start to be somewhat mistaken for pleasure as well. He started panting hard as he continued his vigorous pace through Sophia's first orgasm.

He pulled out shortly afterwards, Sophia couldn't tell in the heat of things if he had cum or not. She moaned and bucked as much as she could, pleading with him to return. She was now very worked up and didn't want it to stop. "You wear me out a lot more somehow. I think I'm gonna need a second before I finish," he said. Sophia couldn't hear anything else over the sound of the vibrator. She hoped he hadn't left entirely, but the vibrator was loud enough she could easily have missed the sound of a quiet door. The vibrator continued in his absence as she was propelled through her second, third and then fourth orgasm.

She was getting very sore. Time had little meaning bound and mostly blind, but she felt like it had been too long. Her nipples were in pain and she couldn't pull far enough away from the vibrator to totally get a break. She started pulling and jostling but knew the solid steel device wasn't doing anything useful. All she managed to do was get the weights attached to her nipples to swing. She started to really regret agreeing to this.

After a fifth and then sixth orgasm she finally felt she'd had enough. For all she knew Carl had just gone to sleep, but she still found that hard to imagine. He rarely looked more alive than when he had Elizabeth locked up as she now was. She had seen him sit up on the bed and just watch Elizabeth struggle for quite some time before returning. Perhaps he was simply doing the same now. But Sophia didn't care, she wanted out. She was meaning for this to be a kind gesture, but he was making it more painful than she had thought it would be. She wanted out now.

She started humming the melody of clementine, and began to panic when she reached the end without any sign of Carl honoring her safeword. Technically her contract didn't require the following of a safeword, but he had promised and it scared her that he wouldn't honor that.

She tried shaking again, knowing it was impossible to escape, but desperately doing so anyway. This time one of her nipple clamps fell off, sending a wave of pain out as the blood returned to the nipple after quite a long time clamped. Minutes later however, after the initial pain wore off, it felt much better than her still clamped nipple. She worked hard to shake the other off, it was not nearly as easy, and only sent another large burst of pain as the clamp came crashing to the floor. She was nearly out of breath from the effort required to shake the heavy metal frame.

She tried humming the tune one more time, hoping it would matter to him but knowing he didn't need to do anything if he didn't want to. When it too went ignored she dedicated as much of her mind as could to ignore the vibrator, distracted herself with thoughts of what she would love to do as revenge when she gets out of this.

Andrea was surprised, for most of the rest of the evening things went rather.. normal. She expected that at any moment Zainab would slip her some handcuffs or press a button to dissolve her clothes or something. Instead they ate, they talked, they laughed and got to enjoy the night like they were just anyone else out on the town. They both enjoyed themselves, reveling in each other's company.

"I thought you said you hated that kind of typical date stuff," Andrea couldn't help but blurt out as they sat on the slab bench waiting for the metro.

"You misunderstand. I only dislike doing exclusively the typical date stuff. It takes so long that way to find out if you have a connection with someone, and it's so mind killingly tedious," She replied. "You know, I agreed to this cause I thought you were kind of cute, you seemed like you at least could be some fun and that wide eyed pleading of yours hits me every time," She said causing Andrea to smile without even really thinking about why that might be. "But fun and relationships are two different things. If things suddenly turned awkward after the fun ended then I would know the occasional burst of fun play is all we're gonna share cause it's all we could handle. But that wasn't the case for me and I'm pretty sure that wasn't the case for you."

Andrea was quiet for a while after that. She needed to process it. Zainab was right, she did enjoy the whole evening, not just the beginning. She had been thinking for days leading up to tonight if she might be capable of having feelings for Zainab, or any woman for that matter. She came up with a tentative yes, but was still a new thought, and a big deal. The two boarded the next train in comfortable silence as Andrea took the time she needed to process.

"So I assume since you're continuing on past your stop that you're coming with me?" Andrea asked as they passed the transfer station to get to Georgetown.

"Oh could I? I mean since the date went so well wouldn't you please invite me up? Come on just for a drink?" Zainab began sarcastically replying.

"You laugh all you want but I still got to agree you know, you gave me back my stuff now that I got pockets again. What if I just said no?"

"Oh," Zainab confidently said as she placed her hand on Andrea's uncovered thigh. "I don't think you're going to say no. I think you're going to hand in hand walk me right into your room."

As the two of them hand in hand walked right into Andrea's room, Zainab was quick to drop her pink shopping bag and shut the door. Before it was even all the way shut she pinned Andrea up against the wall, holding both her hands above her head. "Now," Zainab whispered, "about that drink.."

Andrea fought to keep her composure. "I'm sorry, I don't have anything to drink" she responded quietly as her lips quivered.

"Oh? Then what exactly did you bring me up here for?" Zainab coyly replied. "What else is there up here that could satisfy me if you don't have anything to drink?" She asked before moving in for a short kiss. "Did you invite me up here for sinister reasons?"

"I don't know what you could possibly mean, maybe you should show me," Andrea replied, taking Zainab's coy tone and responding in kind. Zainab released Andrea's hands so that she could slide Andrea's shirt off. She grabbed hold of Andrea's hands again, bringing them together so that she could hold Andrea still with just one hand, freeing the other to begin to unbutton Andrea's shorts. "Why I don't know what you're planning, but I hope it isn't too deviant." Andrea was barely able to reply as her breath quickened.

"You talk too much," Zainab said as she had worked Andrea's short down to the ground. "Close your eyes, I have a surprise for you."

Andrea closed her eyes and opened her mouth in anticipation. She could hear Zainab retrieve something from her bag before returning. She could not feel her touch, but Andrea could feel the radiating warmth coming from someone standing intimately close to another person.

Andrea felt a small gel ball pushed past her open teeth. Zainab buckled a strap around her head, and followed by a second strap under the chin. She then felt what she assumed was a collar buckled around her neck. This was confirmed when Andrea felt a leather leash drop against her skin, clearly hanging from the new collar.

Andrea then felt her panties being removed, before being directed to step one foot at a time out of the panties and shorts that were laying on the ground. After the second foot was lifted and set down she felt something else sliding up her legs. When it reached her crotch, she could feel gel nubs spreading her pussy lips and resting against what was inside. "There, much better," Zainab said, causing Andrea to open her eyes and see Zainab smiling naked before her. She looked down further and saw the black leather leash being held and the strapon standing out proudly.

With leash in hand, Zainab silently led Andrea over to her bed. "Now the problem with this, is you have to work very hard to create enough friction to bring yourself to orgasm." she said as she flicked the strap-on. "But you have a little cheat that I don't," she continued as she held up Andrea's phone she had retrieved from her now discarded shorts. "I'm going to turn this up, and every time you make me cum, I'll make you cum is that understood?"

Andrea nodded her head as she watched Zainab turn over and present her ass high in the air. She still held Andrea's leash which she now began to tug on encouraging her to get into position. Once Andrea slid it into her, she grabbed ahold of Zainab's hips and began to thrust deeply. She could already hear Zainab moaning with pleasure, for which Andrea was rewarded as her chip began turning up.

Andrea had never used a strap-on before and found that every time she would try to go fast, she would slip out, causing her to have to position it back into place. The low friction strapon slid effortlessly in and out of Zainab's wet pussy. Her screams got louder and louder until she went quiet, losing her breath as she crashed over the edge, causing her to press Andrea's climax button and making them both to share in the moment.

When both had a few moments to recover, Zainab tugged back on Andrea's leash telling her to get back inside. Andrea sat back up and moved the dildo roughly into place before thrusting. This time however she had missed her mark, causing her instead to shove the dildo deep into Zainab's ass. The cry was of an entirely new variety. Andrea pulled out and tried to apologize as best as she could with her gag only to be told "No, that was good."

Andrea more carefully positioned herself this time, lining up with Zainab's ass and sliding the slick dildo in. She moved more slowly this time as Zainab shouted much louder. She bit into the blankets to stifle more screams. Andrea eventually began to pick up the pace, fucking her progressively faster and faster. After another loud scream came, Andrea felt herself come as well, but this time she collapsed forward onto Zainab with the strapon still inside her.

"That was.." Zainab started to say before pulling herself off and laying down. "I guess unexpected would be the right word. But you," she said looking at Andrea's gagged but panting face. "You looked like you had fun as well." Andrea nodded her head before also collapsing to the bed, laying on her back just beside Zainab who was on her stomach.

Once they both began to cool off, Zainab shifted over to lay atop Andreas chest. Andrea reached up to unfasten the gag and then draped her arms over Zainab's back. The two lay there silently embracing each other before Zainab finally got up to rinse things off. She simply threw her dress back on and headed out into the hallway.

Andrea looked at the clock and while it was only 11:47, she felt utterly exhausted. She turned herself over to lay her head on a pillow and sneak her way under covers. When Zainab returned she lost the dress, turned out the light and joined Andrea in bed. She pulled Andrea's arm over her to make her Andrea's little spoon. The two slowly drifted off to sleep in each others embrace.

Sophia's vibrator seemed to ever so slowly lose power before dying entirely. Apparently being battery powered has its advantages. It was clear Carl was done with her for the night and didn't feel like letting her out. She didn't know how but she managed to sleep because she was suddenly awoken by a knock on the door. She tried calling out but her mouth was incredibly dry and nothing intelligible was possible so long as the ring kept her mouth open. She heard more knocking before someone eventually came in.

"Sir, it's time to get up, you have a meeting," said the man who had come in, apparently ignoring the bound woman completely. "Oh, God, are you OK?" he finally asked as he got closer to Sophia. She tried responding only to be told rather loudly to shut up by the man Sophia started to recognize as Carl's assistant. He quickly ran out of the room doing nothing at all about her.

When the assistant returned some time later, Sophia could hear there were many other men with him. She saw the small patch of ground still visible light up with a camera flash, and then another. "So did you move anything?" asked one of the new gentlemen.

"No, I did not even want to move her, I touched his neck and then left," Carl's assistant said calmly.

"And who is she?" yet another man asked.

"Just this girl he has on a sexual contract. You can see by the hands she couldn't get in there herself so she had to have already been there," he said, causing Sophia to start to worry.

"Ok, well a few more pictures and I see no reason why you can't let her go, then I'll take her statement."

Sophia's hood was removed and she saw what she feared must be happening. The room had several police officers standing near the doorway talking. As the assistant opened the stockade Sophia staggered up with help and looked behind her to see a sheet covering what must have been Carl's body. She started to panic and grab hold of the assistant. She told her story to the police who simply advised her to stay in the suite while her contract gets sorted out. She put on a blanket to cover up the lingerie she had been wearing and watched as two men carried a full body bag out of the room.

"They said they'll have to test to be sure, but it was probably a heart attack very early this morning," the assistant said as he sat down beside her, handing her a glass of orange juice.

"What does this mean for me?" Sophia asked, concerned but not trying to sound self-centred.

"I hate to be cold, but you were under contract to him. Unless that contract had a clause terminating it at his death, the contract's ownership will be sorted out like any other asset or liability he owns. No offense," He said, looking blankly ahead. "I'm under contract too, so I'm in the same boat," he added sipping from his coffee cup.

"No, I think we're a little different" Sophia said bitterly as she quickly flashed him the lingerie she was wearing under the blanket. "Not quite the same boat."