The Tied Man

‘Oh!’ That did the trick.  Serena’s eyes opened wide in shock and delight.  ‘Oh my God Roycie, you mean…’  She looked to Blaine for confirmation, and our hostess gave a gracious smile.

‘Royce thought you both might like him to play with for a while.  By your response, I’d say he made a good choice?’

‘We have all night,’ Royce revelled in the moment.  ‘I even packed our, ehm, special bag.’

It was detail like that that made me glad I had a habit of industrial proportions.  I made myself turn to Selena with the most welcoming expression I could find.  ‘So, there you have it.  Anything you want: the only real limit’s your imagination.’

I imagined that last statement on the brochure, or perhaps a staff t-shirt.  Then I imagined it tattooed across my arse and I had to gulp down Selena’s full glass of Dom Perignon to stop the laughter that threatened to explode from me.

I could feel Lilith staring, but right now she was the last person on the planet I wanted to see. 

Lilith

Selena picked up the glass that Finn had just emptied and ran a finger around its rim before lifting it to her tongue, as though she could pick up his taste from whatever trace he had left behind.  ‘Well, this certainly beats the perfume and flowers I got last year.’

Royce chortled with unbounded delight.  Her hand came back down to rest on top of Finn’s, and this time it blatantly remained there.   From time to time, Finn would run his thumb across her fingers in pre-programmed, robotic flirtation.

From there on, the evening became a competitive bacchanal between Royce and Selena, who was desperate to make up for the precious time she had already lost through pretending to be halfway respectable.  Royce’s anecdotes about ancient tortures and botched executions were matched or bettered by Selena’s own contributions about the men she had screwed in a succession of sado-masochistic clichés before she had finally found her Roycie.  Any pretence at sophistication was destroyed by flagrant, cheap lust, fuelled by more drugs than I had ever seen taken in one session.

With coffee, more coke was passed around the table, and the happy couple both took a Viagra with their fourth brandy.  Words became slurred and some tales remained half-finished while others were repeated three or four times, and when Selena began to describe – yet again –  how Royce had told her all about the Roman Emperors who used to use wild animals to fuck prisoners to death for entertainment, I knew I had to get out of the room for some untainted air before I vomited over the tablecloth.

*****

I stood at the open front door and slowly inhaled to the count of ten.  The humid, pollen-thick air did little to ease the restriction, but at least I could actually still breathe.  The only fight I could win tonight.

I heard the dining room door open behind me, and hoped it wasn’t Royce about to offer his ‘assistance’ once again.  The scratch of a lighter told me it was Finn.

‘Hope you enjoy the rest of your evening, Ms Bresson,’ he called out.  ‘M’afraid I’ve got to make my excuses an’ all that – boss’s orders.’

I filled my lungs one last time, then turned to face him.  ‘Finn, wait…’

He leaned against the wall and glowered at me.  ‘What?  Better not take too long – got to get ready for a busy night at the office, if y’know what I mean.’

The catch in his speech should have told me.  He was already more loaded than I had ever seen him.  Foolishly, I still moved to his side.

‘Shit, Finn!  How much have you taken?’

‘Dunno. Half a dozen of the usual?’ he lied. ‘Couple more, mebbe.  None of your fuckin’ business, I know that.  Enough to get through screwin’ that bitch and keep smiling.  Enough to sit there and watch you verbally fuck the pair of them.’

I let that one go.  ‘Be careful, please, Finn.’  I touched him on the arm, aiming for neutral ground but for Finn, doped and edgy, it was too much.

‘Get off me.  What are you?  My fucking counsellor?  My pimp?  Piss off, Lili.  Back to your party for a nightcap and a good laugh about the rough trade that’s about to get shafted.’

‘It’s not like that.  You know it’s not.  There’s something about them – a cruelty -’

‘Will you shut up, you stupid cow?  D’you think I’m looking forward to this, huh?  Look, they’ve paid a couple of extra grand just to eat with Lilith bloody Bresson the upmarket cock-tease and right now you’re depriving them of their added extra.’