Chapter 25. Costume Party.
I put the party out of my mind until Friday. I did some more practice that morning, but after lunch I concentrated on finding something to wear. I had noticed that, since my apprenticeship had begun, I had lost interest in dresses completely. In any case, I didn’t necessarily want to be identified with Bella’s office friends, so I got out my new leather pants, my leather jacket, (both bought with my earnings at Dani’s), and a plain white man’s shirt. I was going to feel comfortable, I decided – probably the opposite to how Sarah would be feeling – but I would enjoy the contrast of styles. I retrieved my favourite ankle-boots from the back of the wardrobe, and selected a handbag – not that I would have bothered with one, had I not had a couple of little extra accessories for Sarah. By three-thirty I was ready. My cab arrived just after, and I got to the house just on four. I hadn’t been to a party for months, and as I knocked at the door I felt the slightest flutter of butterflies in my tummy!
The door was opened by a woman in her mid-twenties with a wavy, layered hairstyle with highlights. Sort of what I’d expected. I smiled. “Hi. I’m Jacey.” I was looking at her face, but taking in the over-the-top party gear and high-heeled red sandals too.
“Hi, Jacey! Come in darlin’. You’re Bella’s friend, right?”
“Well, yes, but we’ve only known each other a few days. And we’ve never met. We know each other through Sarah.”
She showed me down a wallpapered corridor hung with indescribable pictures.
“Ooh, yes. I can’t wait to see Sarah. They should be here any minute. I hear she’s…..like Bella’s maid or somethink.”
“I believe so, yes.”
Suddenly she stopped dead.
“Oh, my god. Sorry. I’ve just realised. Are you…?”
“Sarah’s my client, yes.”
She stared at me with unashamed amazement.
“You’re very young, dear…”
I don’t think she meant to patronise me, but I was stung into replying,
“Well, maybe younger than you…I’m sorry, I don’t know your name…but I’m good at my job.”
“I’m sorry, dear,” she replied, a little flustered, “I didn’t mean it like that. I just didn’t expect… Well, anyway, I’m Kitty. It’s my turn to throw the party this time. We all take it in turns, see? Keeps life interestin'.”
She showed me into the lounge. There were two other women there, both from a similar mould. They both looked me up and down unsmilingly. It wasn’t exactly welcoming. Kitty introduced me.
“Girls, this is Jacey. Jacey, this is Sam and Tracey.” They both nodded, forced smiles, and went back to chatting to each other.
“She’s… a dominatrix…” added Kitty, in a stage whisper, as if I couldn’t hear.
That made them sit up and take notice.
“What?” said Tracey. “You ain’t!”
“You’re joking, Kit,” said Sam, incredulous.
“Well I’m not going to demonstrate on you, girls,” I said sarcastically, “so you can relax.”
That seemed to take the wind out of their sails, because for a moment neither of them was able to speak, which, if I judged them correctly, was not normally one of their failings.
“You look like you’re still at school, dear,” remarked Tracey, derisively.
“I am. What do you do?”
“I’m an office manager,” she smirked.
“How exciting.”
This pleasant conversation was fortunately interrupted by the arrival of Bella and Jane. I recognised Bella from our video call, though she was shorter than I had imagined. She had Sarah on a leash – literally – a pink leather leash, attached to a pink leather collar. I wasn’t sure how I felt about her yet. She had a glint in her eye which could have been mischief, or pure evil. At least she was smiling. Anyway, she was a definite improvement on the others. I gave Sarah a hug, and Bella a peck on the cheek.
“Girls,” she said, looking around, “I’ve brought your maid for the evening. Meet Sarah!”
Sarah, dressed for the moment at least in unostentatious jeans and T-shirt, glanced quickly at the so-called “girls”, then lowered those big doe-eyes and looked at the floor.
“How sweet!” sneered Sam, maliciously. “I hope she has her little maid’s uniform with her.”
“It’s on its way, isn’t it, Miss Jacinth?”
“I hope so.”
“Maybe this is it,” said Kitty, in response to another knock.
A minute later, in walked a tall black woman with a mop of frizzy hair and a huge smile on her face. She came straight over to me and hugged me.
“Jacey! Debbie’s told me all about you. So lovely to meet you! And this must be Sarah. Don’t worry, I’ve got all your stuff here.”
She indicated a large suitcase she was pulling behind her.
“It’s not that much, but I didn’t want to spoil it by packing it in tight.”
“Jayne, this is Tracey and Sam”, began Kitty, “they’re…”
Jayne cut her off.
“Hi, you two. Excuse us, won’t you? I need to get started on Sarah. Kitty, Bella said you have a bedroom I can use.”
“Oh, er, yes, let me show you the way..”
“Sarah? Jacey? Coming.?”
Bella looked as though she was about to follow, leading Sarah, but Jayne was having none of that. She blocked Bella’s way and held out her hand for the leash.
“We’ll surprise you, Bella,” she remarked, dismissing her with a look. Bella handed over the leash, with a sour face, and we followed Kitty to a room just off the corridor, with a double bed and a relentlessly pink colour scheme.
“Thanks, Kitty,” smiled Jayne, shutting the door in her face. She looked around, and made a face. “Ugh. I used to like pink. Now I’m not so sure. How could you ever get to sleep in here? Look,” she added, opening a side door, “even the bathroom’s bloody pink!”
A smile even fleeted across Sarah’s rather worried face. I took her hand.
“Don’t fret, Sarah. We’ll make sure you don’t come to any harm. Who knows, you might even enjoy yourself a little bit. I doubt if they’ll hand out anything as extreme as you get at Dani’s.”
“Thanks, miss. Yes, I suppose that’s true.”
“So how is it at Bella’s?”
“It’s OK, miss. She’s not the most insightful type of person, but on the other hand she’s slowly finding out how to tease me the most. She's had the odd friend or two around for coffee or drinks, which I must admit I found exciting. I like the feeling of being stared at and mocked by strangers. They’re not necessarily nice people – they can be quite cruel in fact - but in any case I get very hot and frustrated. She makes the best of my wardrobe, though it isn’t very extensive. She’s promised to buy me a maid’s costume next week.”
“Well, she won’t need to now. You can take this one with you. It’s a little gift from me.”
“Really, miss? Oh, thank you so much! Is it pretty?”
“Jayne? Is it?”
Jayne smiled a big smile. “See what you think, Sarah.” She lifted the case onto the bed, and opened it up. She lifted out Sarah’s pink and scarlet dress, the skirt springing back into shape as she did so. Sarah gasped with delight.
“It’s beautiful! Do you think it’ll fit me?”
“It should. I altered it to your measurements.”
Sarah ran her hand over the crisp, shimmering satin.
“I love it. I love the colours. So original.”
“I’m pleased,” said Jayne. “But we’ve got a lot to do first. The dress will come last. First, I need to do your hair, your make-up, and your nails.”
“Ooh,” gurgled Sarah, happily, “this is so exciting. It feels like it’s my birthday.”
“Well, Sarah,” I said, you will be the centre of attention. So you can pretend it is.”
Jayne got to work. She took Sarah into the bathroom and washed her hair, applying lighteners and tints, and then used curlers sparingly to add a few ringlets. This was actually the longest part of the operation; it must have taken a good hour until Jayne was satisfied. We heard one more guest arrive, but the party wasn’t scheduled to begin until six thirty, so there was plenty of time. Next she turned to Sarah’s nails. It was an education to watch her. She glued on false nails, already pink, then, with practised skill, hand-painted a little red bird design on each one. Sarah seemed to be enjoying herself.
“This is amazing, Jayne. I wish I had you to dress me every day. I’ve never been much good at this sort of stuff myself.”
“Well, darling, you can learn all this for yourself, you know, if you want to. Tell you what, when I next have a free day, come along to the clinic and we’ll go through everything. I’ll teach you all the secrets.”
“Would you? That would be amazing!”
“No problem. Now, what’s the time? Quarter to six. OK, makeup next, and then we can dress you.”
She applied foundation, a hint of pink blusher, mascara, some subtle pink eyeshadow, and very bright pink lip gloss. She replaced Sarah’s little gold earrings with neon pink plastic peardrops.
At last it was time for the dress. I could see Sarah was itching to get into it. She stripped off, and Jayne gave her the pink spandex panties to put on. She had also brought a lightweight pink bra with a little padding. Sarah had quite small breasts, and Jayne said it would improve her shape in the dress. So finally, the dress itself. It fitted perfectly – of course. Jayne zipped her up and turned her to the mirror.
“Oh, it’s beautiful!” she squealed.
“You are beautiful,” I corrected her.
She did look quite something. Even without the stockings and boots she was going to turn heads all right. The padded bra did its job, giving her prominent, rather pointy, breasts, just enough to fill the satin bodice nicely. That, together with the scarlet ruff – a satin band with frills either side – and the matching sash and apron, did just what was intended: to spice the innocent pink with sex. There was no compromise, no white anywhere. Even the lace trimmings on the little puff sleeves were red. The crisp little skirt, supported on a layer of tulle, bounced slightly as she paraded up and down the bedroom, occasionally allowing a little flash of panties.
“What do you think?”
“I think you’d better be careful in there,” I laughed.
Jayne kept Sarah standing while she helped her on with her stockings. They came up just to the hem of the skirt.
“They’re good hold-ups,” she said. “These ones don’t slip down, They’ve got special grippy material on the inside.”
“Now,” she went on, “I don’t know if you’re going to be able to cope with these…”
She produced the ballet boots from a box.
“What do you think?”
Sarah’s mouth fell open. She was speechless.
“You’d need to have good balance. But I thought, with the rest of the outfit…”
“Are you joking? Of course I’m going wear them. They’re…f***ing amazing.”
She took one from Jayne, stroking the glossy pink vinyl. Then she looked at the other one.
“Oh. This little chain…it’s missing from the other one.”
“It’s not decorative, Sarah,” I chipped in. “It’s there to slow you down….in case you feel like running away.”
“Oh. Oh, I see.” Her face flushed up. “And this little clip thing…?”
“That will keep you in one place, if necessary.”
“Oh. I won’t run away. I promise.”
“So let’s try them, shall we?” said Jayne, kneeling down in front of her. Sarah slipped her feet in, and Jayne secured the three silver buckles on each boot. I stood behind her and put my arms around her as support, or she would have had to balance on one leg. Jayne stood up. Sarah was suddenly taller.
“How do they feel?”
“Amazingly, they’re really comfy.”
“Try walking.”
She clip-clopped up and down without the slightest difficulty.
“I used to wear very high heels when I was a teenager,” she said, “and I used to dance in them. Nothing quite like this, of course, but I’m used to it. I love them!”
Jayne and I looked at each other.
“I think you can mark that down as a success, Jayne,” I said.
She smiled. “I’ll just pin on her little maid’s headpiece…there! And there’s one more thing. I think your mistress has plans to tie your hands.”
“She does?” said Sarah, startled.
“Yes. Which wouldn’t allow you to fulfil your maidly duties of serving the guests. So I’ve brought you this.”
From the bottom of the case she brought out a little oblong pink plastic tray with one concave side, with a pink leather belt attached.
“Let’s try it on.”
Jayne buckled the belt on, so the tray fitted neatly onto Sarah’s waist. It had a raised edge, and the two leading corners were pierced. Jayne tied the end of a red ribbon to one side, threw it over Sarah’s neck, and attached the other size so the tray was level.
“There. Now you can serve drinks hands-free!”
“Yes Sarah,” I added, “and I’ve brought some nice silky red ribbon to tie your hands. What’s the time? Twenty past six? It’s almost time for you to make your appearance. Here, turn around and I’ll do it now.”
Obediently she turned her back to me. I tied a short length of ribbon around each wrist, not too tight, but knotted so they wouldn’t come off. Then I linked them together with another piece, allowing a few inches of leeway between her wrists, and tied it in a bow.
“I think you’re all ready, Sarah.”
At that moment there was a soft knock at the door.
“It’s Kitty. Everyone’s here, if you’re ready.”
“Just coming,” I replied. “Ready, Sarah?”
“Yes, miss, I suppose so,” she replied, breathlessly. “Just a little nervous, that’s all.”
“You’ll be fine.” I knelt down and connected the curb chain on her boots, at full length. “Let’s go, then.”
I opened the door and ushered her out. At the end of the corridor we could hear a hubbub of voices and laughing. Sarah trotted towards it, her tall heels clicking on the floorboards. Jayne winked at me and gave my hand a squeeze.
“She’s on!”