MISTRESS OF BONDAGE PART I Sue placed her coffee cup back on her saucer with a sharp crack and rubbed her eyes vigorously. Reading for a long period of time always made her eyes hurt and the miniscule print of the Sunday Times was even worse. She flicked a lock of auburn hair away from her face and picked the paper up off the table to make sure her exhausted eyes had not deceived her. Then she lounged back in the sofa and reread the advertisement for the third time. "Five thousand pounds." She whispered hesitantly as though the figures would disappear from the page should she speak too loudly. "Five thousand pounds for less than three months work." Sue would have discarded the whole thing as rubbish had it not been offered by a very prestigious London firm, well known for integrity and professionalism. She made two large rings on the paper with a red felt pen and rose from the couch. The sun hit her from the left as she opened the french doors and walked out onto the balcony of her London flat. Her lovely face broke into a smile and she threw her arms back to go into a firm stretch that might shake the cobwebs loose. "You'll have the coppers on your tail if you keep that up, luv," Harry chirped from the street down below. He was getting into his car but had paused to admire the view. "Honestly!" Sue said, smiling down at her handsome neighbor. "You British guys get more thrills from a girl in a nightgown and a pair of panties than one in a bikini." She was really fond of her neighbor. She moved over to the railing and rested her elbows on it. "On you way to work?" "Yeah, if I still have a job. They probably gave it to someone else at 8:01 this morning. How's the Duchess?" "Still asleep." Sue replied. "How late did you keep her out last night?" "Miss Hart, such a question a lady does not ask and a gentleman does not answer." Sue cocked her eyebrow at him. "Two o'clock," Harry said and they both laughed heartily. "Well, there'll be none of that when we go to work." Harry's face brightened even more than usual at the news that Terry and Sue had found summer employment. The girls had arrived in the U.K. last fall to spend a year studying at one of the more fashionable girl's schools and he had grown very close to them. Near the close of the last semester, financial disaster has struck when they wrecked a lease car and had not taken out the proper insurance. "That's just marvelous, Sue but why would they pay five thousand quid for tour guides at an old castle?" Harry asked when she had explained the advertisement. "Well, there must certainly be more to it than that, but Terry and I certainly fit the requirements." Sue continued. "They're looking for young, attractive, intelligent girls with athletic abilities and adventuresome spirits." Harry grinned and winked at her. "So'm I luv, except they needn't be all that intelligent," he quipped. "I really need to push off, Sue. Good luck on those jobs. Tell the Duchess I asked about her." Sue went back into the living room, grabbed the paper and bounced in to Terry's bedroom. Terry's generous mane of blonde hair sprouted elegantly from the inert lump under the covers. Once she had opened the drapes, Sue sat on the bed and nudged her friend on the shoulder. "Wake up, Terry," she said, "we have an answer to our problems." Within a few seconds, Terry had turned over, sat up with a chirpy "good morning" to her friend, and was peering intently at the Sunday Times advertisement. "Boy, Sue," she said, glancing up merrily at her friend, "when you wish for something, you do it right!" Sue laughed and watched as Terry continued reading. The lovely blonde was one of those rare girls who could roll out of bed and onto the cover of a high fashion magazine with nothing more than a toss of her hair. Terry soon came to the same question that Harry asked earlier. It just seemed like too much money for too little work. She was not really concerned, just inquisitive. She knew that Sue probably had things pretty well figured out. "The way the ad reads, they put on more of a show than a tour. I don't know exactly what they want, but I'm sure we can handle it." Sue was always so confident. "But why are you so sure we'll get the jobs, Sue," asked Terry. "Surely they'll get hundreds of applications." "Read the qualifications, Duchess. They're talking about us." Sue's eyes narrowed and lost some of their earlier glint. "Besides, we just have to get the jobs." Terry reached out to touch her shoulder. "Sue, we've been best friends since we were fourteen. You've pulled my buns out of the fire a hundred times and Daddy knows it. He'll pay for the damn car." "Terry, he's already paid for the most exciting year of my life and all I had to do was to keep a lid on you while we were over here." Sue was almost in tears. "Now just look how I repay him." "Come on, Sue," Terry replied, "your friendship is the best thing that ever happened to me. You don't owe me or my father anything. Besides, it wasn't your fault the road was so slippery. Now would you hug me before I start crying too!" They embraced each other tenderly and then Terry picked up the paper again. They both agreed that the job sounded exciting and that they would make application for it right away. Sue extracted the photo album from the nightstand and thumbed through it as she moved toward the door. "What are you looking for?" Terry asked as she threw off her covers. "That picture your brother took of us that summer when we taught gymnastics at camp. They want girls who are athletic and attractive and you have to admit that those leotards didn't hide much. We never looked better. That's the picture I want to send to those people." Terry watched her friend's buttocks shift erotically under her panties as she walked absently through the door. "I swear, Sue, the next time I hug you I'm going to give you a long, juicy kiss right on that beautiful mouth of yours." She sighed and then rose to begin her day. ************************************************************************* "Mr. Carney?" Lady Miranda Thorne's voice hung in the telephone so softly as to be nearly inaudible, but Lawrence Carney had become accustom ed to it. He had never seen her in the last six years that he and his firm had handled her business affairs, but her thin, wispy voice over the telephone had been worth thousands. For that reason, he was always glad to hear from her even if she was a trifle unnerving. "So nice to hear from you again, Lady Miranda, what can I do for you?" Her reply caused him to snatch his glasses from his face and throw them on the desk. "But you can't have made your decision so soon, Lady Miranda. That first batch I sent you had but nine applications. I posted dozens more only an hour ago. They should reach you the day after tomorrow." He was dumbfounded. "Notwithstanding your herculean efforts, Mr. Carney, I'm irrevocably conviced that Miss McArdle and Miss Hart will be perfect for my situation. Please issue suitable instructions and have them here by three o'clock this afternoon." Lady Miranda had a habit of expecting the impossible. "This afternoon?" Carney almost shouted into the phone. "But, they'll have to release their flat, or sublet it or something, and then there's..." "I know what you can do, Mr. Carney," she replied, "three o'clock please."