Day 141 Wednesday
Denise had worked through the night on the manual. Using a checklist that she had generated to make sure that she didn't miss a single detail, she went over the manual with a fine toothed comb. She checked each entry in the index, she read each page for spelling and grammatical errors, and she made sure that each figure was correct and captioned. Satisfied that it was finally complete, she made a backup of the manual and sent a copy to Dale and Karen.
Once Dale was satisfied with the manual, he would tell Karen to send it off to the publisher. Until then, she would just wait until she heard from him that he was satisfied with it. She sat back in her chair and stared at the video playing on the wall. In her half conscious state, she couldn't have told anyone what was going on in the video. The images just burned their way into her brain bypassing the filters that she had erected.
Claire entered the office and looked over at Denise. The young woman looked like she was in pretty sad shape. Her clothes were wrinkled, her stare was vacant, and she was slumped in her seat as if sitting up was just too much effort. Denise's eyes closed and her head sagged forward.
Letting the young woman sleep, Claire went over to her desk and read over the manual. Despite the fact that she was sure that it was okay, she followed the corporate policy of giving it a final review before releasing it for publication. One of the things that she hated as a technologist was getting a manual with an errata sheet filled with corrections. She always lost the sheet and then would find that she was burned by an error in the manual later.
The manual was one of the best that she'd ever read. The entire manual was structured according to the kinds of things that users needed. One glance at the table of contents and the user would be able to turn to the right page to get their questions answered. Shaking her head, she said, "This is a work of art. I almost feel guilty for giving her such a hard time."
Taping on the keyboard, she sent an email to Dale telling him to make the call to Karen. She added that she was very impressed with Denise's work. It was not the first email that Dale received voicing that compliment. He had sent out the last draft to the engineers to check for technical accuracy and they had all praised the quality of the manual.
The manual was for a software system that was being delivered to a large company. They had included a clause in the contract that he would have to pay for any delays in its delivery. The foul up with the user manual had threatened to cost him a fortune. The fact of the matter was that he'd have been willing to accept even a bad user manual than lose the money. He was overjoyed that he didn't have to go that route. He picked up the phone and made the call to Karen.
When Claire received the reply from Dale, she went over to Denise and woke her. She said, "You can go home. Dale talked to Karen."
"I need to go to the office," Denise said wiping the sleep from her eyes.
"I'd head home if I were you. You're exhausted," Claire said gently.
Denise shook her head and said, "I'll head by the office and make sure there aren't any problems. You never know when a printer will have a problem with a manuscript."
"It has been nice working with you," Claire said.
Glancing over at the video playing on the wall, Denise said, "Same here. If the engineers that got sent over knew as much about the product as you do, my job would be a thousand times easier."
"This was my baby. I had to know everything about it," Claire said with a smile. She had a feeling that a number of companies would want tailored versions of this program for their use. It was a major leap forward in business software.
"I guess I can understand that," Denise said rising from her chair. She looked down at her clothes and said, "I guess they'll understand if I don't change clothes."
"Take a shower before you leave," Claire said gesturing to the private bathroom.
"That's a good idea," Denise said.
It was early in the afternoon by the time Denise walked into her office. She had already learned that the user manual had been sent to the printer that morning. Her part was delivered and her job was done. To say that she was exhausted would be an understatement. She hadn't taken an hour off once over the past three weeks. It had been physically and mentally grueling. Even worse, she felt emotionally raw after all of the talk about sex. She was looking forward to sitting in her cubicle and staring at the monitor without the moans and groans of sex in the background.
Karen stuck her head out of her office on hearing someone greet her. Seeing that Denise had arrived, she stepped out of her office and went over to Denise. Smiling, she said, "I just finished reading the manual. It looks great. Mr. Speers was very impressed with your work."
"Okay," Denise said trying to work up as much positive energy as she could and failing miserably.
"You look exhausted," Karen said taking stock of the disheveled appearance of her employee.
"I am," Denise said.
Considering that Mr. Speers had sent over a significant bonus for having finished the manual on time, Karen said, "Why don't you take the rest of the week off?"
Although two days of comp time did not begin to cover the three weekends that Denise had worked, she was too tired to point it out. Nodding her head, she said, "Okay. I'll see you Monday."
"Good job," Karen said.
"Thanks," Denise said. She was tired enough that further pleasantries would have been wasted. She turned and left the office heading towards home and her bed in the basement.
Upon arriving at home, she looked around the house. She wanted to head straight to bed and catch up on her sleep, but there was this restless edginess inside that let her know that getting in bed now would be a waste of time. She wandered around the house trying to make sense of what she was feeling. She didn't have a name for that feeling and it confused her.
When she passed by the whirlpool she said, "I bet that will help me relax."
Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she was out of her clothes and in the whirlpool. She adjusted the setting for the strongest action and leaned back. Although she wanted to deny that it was accidental, she found that spot where one of the water jets was aimed in just the right place.
The orgasm hit her like a runaway freight train. If anyone had been in the house they would have heard the scream that came from her mouth. Three weeks of frustration had been released in five seconds. A second orgasm hit her before she had even recovered from the first one. This was even stronger now that her defenses were down.
She slipped off the seat and her head went under the water. Thrashing around, she managed to get her head above the surface without swallowing any of the water. Taking deep breaths, she turned so that the jet had no chance of hitting her. Recovering a bit, she said, "Jesus. What in the hell was that?"
A shiver of fear shot through her and she asked, "Is that what all of this is about?"
Her legs didn't want to cooperate, but she managed to climb out of the whirlpool. Sitting on the edge of the platform that surrounded the whirlpool, she reached over to the nearby shelf and grabbed a towel. She was still breathing hard and her body was flushed. Staggered, she said, "I'm doomed."
It was a long trip to the basement. She kept feeling like her legs were going to give out on her any second. She descended the stairs holding onto the rail for support wondering if that was a normal reaction to an orgasm. She'd never felt anything so strongly in her entire life. Having experienced it once, she knew that she'd want to experience it again. The idea sent a shiver down her spine.
She collapsed on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately. She hadn't even taken the time to cover herself with a sheet. Her sleep was filled with erotic dreams. Scenes from the videos that had played non-stop in Claire's office came and went in flashes. Memories of Susan and Dale having sex in front of her rose from her subconscious along with images of Claire and Bambi. Lustful desires that had long been buried woke.
Denise woke to a dark basement lit by a small nightlight halfway across the room. It was just bright enough to make her way to the light switch. Driven by her bladder, she rose from bed and made her way to the bathroom. Flipping the switch turned on the light. The sudden brightness of the room nearly blinded her. She sat on the porcelain throne. As her bladder emptied her thoughts returned to the episode in the whirlpool.
Now that her desires had been unleashed, her body was more than willing to tell her what she wanted. Surprising her, the one thing her body wanted more than anything else was food. She realized that she had not eaten since breakfast. Based on the darkness of the basement, she guessed that it was night. A glance at the clock revealed that it was just a few minutes before ten.
She made her way upstairs in search of something to eat. She entered the living room to find Dale and Candy watching an erotic movie on the large screen television. He was wearing a robe that was open in the front. Candy, consistent with the rules of the house, was naked. Her hand was in Dale's crotch, but his cock wasn't reacting to the occasional strokes that she was giving it.
Hearing Denise enter the living room, Dale looked over at her and asked, "Are you feeling better?"
"Yes, I am, but I'm hungry enough to eat a horse," Denise said. She didn't notice at the time that there were no concerns about how many calories she would be consuming.
"Let me fix you something to eat," Candy said.
"Thanks," Denise said appreciating the offer. She took a seat on one of the living room chairs and looked over at the television. A blond starlet was giving head to an oversized cock. She wondered if most guys were hung like that. It seemed to her that all of the men in those movies had foot long cocks.
Dale said, "You're really good at your job. I was really worried that we'd be late with our release, but you caught us up to the schedule."
"It was a lot of work," Denise said.
Nodding his head, Dale knew about working hard. When he had started the software company he had spent months living in small office working non-stop on the program that launched his company. The only times he had left the office was to shower at the YMCA, to eat at a nearby diner, and to take care of a single program participant. The program had been a success, but selling it had required months of traveling from business to business installing it and providing support for it. He had done all of that alone and it had meant long workdays with little sleep. He said, "You impressed Claire and that is not easy to do."
"She's a smart woman," Denise said. She didn't mention that she was pathologically driven by sex.
Dale said, "She's the smartest of us."
"Oh," Denise said.
Candy returned with a plate of finger foods for Denise to eat. It wasn't much; just a few fresh vegetables, cubes of cheese, and some folded lunchmeats. She handed the plate and a napkin to her. With a friendly smile, she said, "This is little something to take the edge off your hunger while I cook some real food for you."
"You're cooking?" Denise asked.
"There's a nice chicken breast that I saved for you in the refrigerator. I found an old recipe and I think you'll like it," Candy said. She looked down at Dale's crotch and saw that his cock was still resting from their last workout. Smiling, she said, "It'll be ready in thirty minutes."
"Thanks, but you don't have to go to all that trouble," Denise said.
"It is no trouble. I like cooking," Candy said.
Denise watched Candy walking away. The little worm of lust caused her to check out Candy's body. Claire's words about everyone liking Candy returned to her unbidden. She shook her head trying to get those thoughts out of mind; she wasn't into women. Her eyes settled on Dale's cock. She said, "All of the men in those movies have huge cocks."
Surprised at the topic of conversation, Dale said, "All of the women have huge breasts. They are hired because they all represent extremes. Real people are much more moderately equipped."
"Oh," Denise said taking a bite out of a tomato wedge. The juices ran down her chin and she wiped it with the napkin.
"You aren't becoming a size queen, are you?" Dale asked.
Her first reaction was that his comment was a veiled insult about her weight. It took her a second to realize what he meant and she answered, "No. I was just curious."
"Curiosity got the cat laid," Dale said with a smile.
The edginess that she had felt upon returning home threatened to return. Denise changed the topic, "I have the rest of the week off."
"Good. I suggested that to Karen after you delivered the manual this morning," Dale said.
"Thanks. I guess I was a little more tired than I thought," Denise said.
"Susan is visiting tomorrow. You might want to go with her and check out her new apartment," Dale said.
"That would be nice," Denise said. The busy three weeks had driven the fact that Susan had moved away from her mind.
"I thought that you might want to rest for the next few days. We'll return to your exercise program this weekend with half your normal workout and let you build back up to where you were. There's no sense killing yourself," Dale said.
"I hadn't even thought about it," Denise said. She had her picture taken every night, but hadn't been working out. She popped a cube of cheese in her mouth. There was a touch of Jalapeno pepper in the cheese and the sudden spiciness of it surprised her.
"Well, I've been worried about you. Long hours like that aren't healthy," Dale said.
It was at that moment that it dawned on Denise that Dale had been taking care of her in little ways over the past three weeks. Someone had been making her bed every day and washing her clothes each week. She remembered that breakfast had appeared on the table like magic every morning. She realized that she didn't know if it was Dale or Candy who had been doing those little things. She said, "Thanks for taking care of me."
"Don't worry about it," Dale said.
Denise looked down at her plate and realized that it was empty. She barely recalled eating anything off of it. She said, "I must have been hungrier than I thought."
"It's normal," Dale said. She had lost too much weight over the past three weeks and he was working to fatten her up a little. It wasn't healthy to lose weight too quickly. Her skin tone looked horrible. He'd have to get the cream out and start treating her to nightly massages with it again. It dawned on him that it wouldn't be that good of an idea for him to do it. He'd be tempted to violate his agreement. He decided that Candy would have to do that until the deal was over.
Denise didn't want to think about food at the moment. She turned and watched the video for a minute. The blond actress was now getting fucked by the actor in the missionary position. The false moans of excitement had no effect on Denise. Listening to Susan, Claire, Joye, Bambi, and Candy shouting their pleasure had drilled into her brain what women really sounded like when they were coming.
She closed her eyes and her head dropped as she started to fall asleep. For a few seconds, she experienced a short erotic dream and then she snapped awake. Dale said, "You're still tired."
"Yes," Denise said.
"We'll take your picture after dinner and then you can head back to bed," Dale said.
"Sounds good," Denise said.
Dale sighed and said, "The weather is getting cooler. We won't be able to use the pool much longer. You might want to spend the next few days enjoying it while you can."
"Summer is almost over," Denise said wondering how the season had passed so quickly when it seemed like every day had dragged past.
"It is September already," Dale said.
"You're right," Denise said realizing that she had lost all track of time over the past three weeks.
"Summer is my favorite time of year. I can golf, swim, and enjoy the yard. Fall has nice colors, but the weather has too much variability to be able to make plans. Winter is long and cold. I don't handle cold too well. Spring is better, but there is just too much rain," Dale said.
"I like winter. I like waking up in bed feeling nice and toasty knowing that the room is cold. That few minutes in the morning is my favorite time of day," Denise said.
"Really?"
Denise nodded her head and said, "The only bad part is knowing that I have to get out of bed. On weekends I used to lay there for an hour before climbing out of bed."
"Sounds comfy," Dale said. He'd make sure that she got the occasional late morning in bed when the weather turned colder. Of course, it wouldn't mean much since he kept the house warm since women weren't allowed clothes in the house.
"Yes," Denise said. She looked down at the plate wishing that there had been a few more items on it.
Candy came out and said, "It'll be ready in five minutes. If you want to wash up before dinner, I suggest that you go now."
"Okay," Denise said rising from her chair. She walked away without thinking about the fact that she was walking around naked. Maybe it was the fact that she was still tired, but more likely it was that she had become used to that kind of behavior. Regardless of the reason, her nudity didn't seem to bother her anymore.
She entered the dining room and looked at the meal spread out for her. There was a nice piece of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans on the plate. A hard roll was on a little plate next to the large plate. There was a bottle of wine and a filled glass of wine there too. Looking over at Candy, she asked, "How did you manage this in half an hour?"
"The breading for the chicken was already prepared and it was nothing to get the chicken ready for cooking. Unfortunately, the potatoes are instant. Sorry about that," Candy said with an apologetic expression on her face. Normally she wouldn't be caught dead serving someone instant mashed potatoes.
"Don't apologize. It looks wonderful," Denise said.
Smiling brightly, Candy said, "Enjoy your meal."
"I will," Denise said taking her seat. She took a bite of the chicken and moaned in pleasure. This had to be the best fried chicken she had ever eaten. She looked over to thank Candy, but the woman was nowhere to be seen. The sudden sound of humming from under the table announced the woman's location. Denise looked over at Dale and saw that he was sitting back with his eyes closed and a smile on his face.
Shaking her head, Denise returned to the business of filling her stomach. She could almost believe the comment about Dale and Claire being descendants of Satyrs and Wood Nymphs. Unaware of what she was doing, she rubbed her thighs together while eating. Candy finished Dale before Denise finished her meal.
Candy appeared from under the table with a grin. She had seen Denise's reaction to the situation from under the table. She asked, "How's the meal?"
"Great," Denise answered.
Candy reached over and refilled the glass of wine. Smiling, she said, "Drink up. It will help you sleep tonight."
"I doubt I need much help in that department," Denise said while reaching out for her wine glass.
"I've got a slice of apple pie for desert. It won't be warm, but I think you'll like it," Candy said.
"You really enjoy cooking, don't you?" Denise said.
Nodding her head, Candy said, "I guess I'm a Hedonist. I really enjoy the pleasures of life. I just love food, sex, wine, and dancing."
"Oh," Denise said. She had heard the term before, but didn't think she had ever met anyone who saw themselves in that manner. She said, "I don't think I've ever met a Hedonist before. Is that some kind of religion?"
Candy laughed and said, "It used to be philosophy for living life if I remember correctly."
"Oh," Denise said.
Candy took a seat at the table across from Denise. Dale and Claire had told her a lot about the overweight woman. Although she had encountered a lot of women like Denise, she was still confused by them. She didn't understand why anyone would suppress the ability to appreciate pleasure when she so willing gave herself over to it. She couldn't understand how any woman could let her world shrink to a self involved place of despair and self-hate.
Denise finished her wine and gave a satisfied sigh. She said, "That was a wonderful meal."
Dale asked, "Are you ready to have your picture taken?"
"Yes," Denise answered. She rose from the table a little unsteady on her feet. Puzzled, she glanced over at the bottle of wine and realized that it was almost empty. She didn't remember refilling her glass and then realized that Candy had been topping off the glass throughout the meal. She commented, "Oh, I'm a little tipsy."
"That's all right," Candy said moving around the table to help her walk.
"Thanks," Denise said.
"My pleasure," Candy said.
Dale led the way down to the basement. It took Denise a few seconds to get posed. She jumped when the flash went off as her picture was taken. Candy helped her over to the bed.
Dale moved over to the bed holding a jar of cream. He said, "This is some skin cream. Would you mind giving her a full body massage with it, Candy?"
"With pleasure," Candy said.
"Oh," Denise said looking over at the jar of cream.
Candy took the jar of cream from Dale and watched as he left the basement. She turned to Denise and said, "Roll over on your stomach and I'll start massaging your back."
"Okay."
With long sure strokes, Candy applied the cream to Denise's back. She then moved into a very professional massage. Her fingers sought out each tight muscle and coaxed it to relax. Denise moaned in pleasure as the woman worked on her body. The back massage ended with feather light strokes that ran the full length of her body. Candy said, "Turn over."
Denise rolled over and Candy looked down at the results of her efforts so far. Denise's nipples were hard and tight. There were juices seeping from her pussy. Candy smiled and started rubbing the cream across the other woman's breasts. Whenever she brushed the nipples, Denise's hips rose just the slightest bit. She massaged the neck, shoulders, and arms with practiced effect.
As she worked, Candy said, "I was so lucky to find Claire. I was working as a massage therapist in an upscale spa and she was one of my customers. I was making lousy money, but I loved the work. Occasionally, I'd get a customer that really enjoyed the whole massage experience and wanted more. None of them were more into it than Claire.
"When she made the offer for me to live in her apartment, I jumped at it. She promised me as much sex as I could stand. I thought that she underestimated how just much I enjoyed sex, but I was wrong. She knew and knew that she needed more than what I could give her. I would have been jealous of Joye and Bambi, but I've come to appreciate them.
"I never thought I would be so happy being a kept woman, particularly when I'm being kept by a woman. The fact is that I'm happier now than I've ever been. Claire seems to know just what makes me tick and she gives it to me.
"She's a scientist, you know. I think scientists are really special."
Denise mumbled acknowledgement that she heard, but her attention was on the magic fingers moving across her body. Candy said, "I hope that you come to appreciate all of this one day. I find it sad that you've cut yourself off from so much pleasure. I really can't imagine living like you. It must be a very dreary life that you lead."
Candy stopped talking. She ran her fingers over the woman's body with soft strokes intended to wake up nerves that had been lulled to sleep. She smiled in satisfaction at the reaction of the body beneath her fingers. She lived to give and receive pleasure.
Denise stiffened when the feather light strokes settled on her pussy. Rather than argue, she just went with the flow discovering that the stream of sensations led to a very gentle orgasm. Rather than waking her, it drove her to sleep.
Rising from the bed, Candy looked down at the sleeping woman. She smiled and said, "Claire would be upset if she was to learn of this, but it will be our little secret. She wants you nice and horny by the time your agreement with Dale comes to an end."
Denise didn't hear or answer. She was already off in a dream world filled with erotic images. She slept through most of the night waking around three in the morning. The dream she had been having was of Susan above her with Dale's cock plunging in and out of the pussy that was inches from her eyes. Shocking herself, she realized that her hand was between her legs. The sheets were soaked beneath her. Dismayed, she asked, "What is happening to me?"