More Friends

Although this is intended to be a standalone story, all but one of the characters in this story are from my Friends series. Two other stories, The Aureur and A New Life, also use a few of these characters. Marty appears in Blunt Force Drama. For people who have read the others, this story starts shortly after the end of the series and several months before either The Aureur or Blunt Force Drama. Temporally, this would be placed early in A New Life.

This story is my first foray into BDSM. I tried to do research as best I could, but I'm not a dominatrix and I have never visited one. I'm interested in hearing what I got right or wrong from those of you with more real life experience.

I hope you enjoy the story.

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The woman finishes fastening her high heeled boots, which come half way up her calves. Their black leather matches her catsuit and their color matches the velvet gloves that cover her hands and much of her forearms. Her long and slender body is topped off by short, raven black hair.

A knock comes at the door. "Who is it?"

"It is Evan. May I please come in, Mistress Natasha?" The masculine voice coming through the door sounds meek.

The woman stands, her body strong and stern. "You may enter as long as you remain properly respectful."

Evan walks in, head bowed, never looking straight at the woman.

"You are not dressed properly Evan. We have discussed this before."

"I'm sorry, Mistress."

He takes off his expensive looking suit and drapes it over the chair she had left for him. He strips down to almost nothing. He was wearing neither briefs nor boxers, but a jock strap that covers only his privates. That stays on.

"Have you been a well behaved boy since your last visit? Did you follow all my rules?"

"No, Mistress. I am weak. In the seventeen days since I last saw you, I have touched myself five times."

"What were you doing when you touched yourself? You know what you have to tell me."

"Each time, I was in a hotel. The first time I had looked across at the next hotel. A couple had pulled the thin curtain across. But they had left their light on and I watched them make love."

"Did you have their permission to watch them?"

"No, Mistress."

"Do you think they wanted you to watch them?"

"No, Mistress."

"So what do you have to say about that?"

"I am a bad boy, Mistress. A pervert and a peeping tom. I deserve to be punished."

"You are too eager for that punishment, I think. I will make you wait. How about the second time you touched yourself."

"A woman in another building had her lights on and her curtains wide open as she took off her clothes. She then put one hand on her window and touched herself with the other."

"Did she climax?"

"Yes, Mistress. It looked like a very powerful one."

"Did you wait for her?"

Yes, Mistress. I came just as she did."

"You were at least thinking about her wellbeing and she seemed to want to be watched. That one will only merit half punishment. What about your third time?"

"I was riding up an elevator and the two women in the elevator started kissing and fondling each other."

"Did you touch yourself in the elevator?"

"No, Mistress. They got off on my floor. I let them go ahead of me so I could see what room they were in. Their room was next to mine."

"Did you listen to them?"

"Yes, but there's more. This hotel has small balconies for the guest rooms. I went out on my balcony. They'd opened the door to their balcony, I guess to let in the fresh sea air. Their drapes were open and the flimsy curtain would blow in the breeze. I stood on my balcony and could see some of what they were doing and could hear them very plainly."

"Did you touch yourself on your balcony?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"That was very risky of you. Did anyone see you? Could they see you?"

"I don't think anyone saw me. You're right, Mistress. It was very risky."

"That risk will require a special punishment. I think I should start on your punishment now and then you can confess your other two failures to me. Assume your punishment position."

Evan kneels in front of the chair where his clothes carefully hang over the back. His arms lie on the seat of the chair, his hands holding on to the back. His butt projects out towards Natasha.

She grabs a paddle as she steps behind him. "Your first penalty will be ten swats with the paddle, five on each side."

"Thank you, Mistress."

Evan winces on each loud smack on a cheek, but stoically counts to ten. Each buttock is bright red by the time the swats have ended.

"Your second punishment will be a spanking, three hard ones on each side."

"Thank you, Mistress."

These six seem to hurt more than the original set did, but it's difficult to tell whether that's because his rump's already tender or because she snaps her hand on him at just the right moment to maximize the sting. He still counts the six dutifully.

"Your third punishment will be with the cane. Eight strokes. Each will leave a welt that you'll be able to feel for at least a week. That's to remind you not to do anything so risky."

"Thank you, Mistress."

Evan struggles much more to calmly count out this octet. And each stroke leaves a thin red line that stretches across both sides of his posterior. His erection is obvious at the end.

"You'll sit on the chair now and show me what your thoughts have done to you. You'll feel the reminder of your previous behavior whenever you sit, especially on a hard chair like this. You will explain to me the other two times you felt the need to violate the rules by touching yourself."

"Yes, Mistress."

"By the way, make sure I look at those welts before you leave to make sure they're not going to cause any long term problems."

"Thank you, Mistress."

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I check my e-mail one more time. Audrey had promised me an agenda, but I'm about to get on the plane for the interview. I would really like this to work. Trying to do my own consulting gig seemed like a great idea -- I sure was not going to go further working for the city anymore -- but doing it all myself sucks. I think I'm as good as anyone out there getting an IT infrastructure humming. And safe. But I hate doing the rest of the crap I'm doing now. And I have no interest in trying to manage a bunch of people doing that for me.

Getting this job should fix everything. It doesn't get any better than Martin and Company. They're the gold standard for municipal consulting.

Finally, something.

NatalieSorry for my tardiness. This had to be rearranged three times since 8AM. But I think this one is good to go. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow morning.Audrey O'Rourke

I laugh. Yeah, I understand, life as usual.

I click on the attachment.

Itinerary for Natalie Pushka4:27PM arrive Logan flight 3289driver will transport to hotel6:15PM Michelle Porzak (sr analyst PR) will meet at hotel for dinner at restaurant (Rick's) with SO Lizzie and Lisa Williams (sr analyst neighborhood revitalization) and husband AlanMichelle will bring back to hotel after dinner8:30AM Breakfast at hotel with Audrey (sr analyst Acctng), then drive to office together9:30AM Meet with Reginald "Marty" Martin (founder, president)11:00AM Meet with Javi Guttierez (sr analyst citizen engagement)Noon Lunch with Audrey and Marty1:30PM Tour of facility with Marty, meeting support team3:00PM Meeting with four sr analysts4:30PM Ride to airport by Audrey6:52PM Depart Logan flight 2711

Well, they know how to pack a day very full. And I get to meet the old geezer himself. I wonder if he still has any marbles left.

Audrey has told me they're about to transition generations, with all four senior analysts about to be made partners the first of the year. I get the sense Audrey's going to be running the show.

I liked Audrey a lot when we'd met earlier, but Jesus she's young. At 36, I think of myself as still being a young hotshot, but she must be almost a decade younger than I am. I got the impression all the others are about her age.

I'll admit she has a presence about her. I wish I had her self possession when I was that age. Hell, I wish I could have it in a professional setting now. And fuck, she was gorgeous. I would love to get her in bed. But she's probably another top.

Scanning the list of people again, I notice Lizzie. Okay, Michelle's a lesbian, cool. They aren't too uptight about that sort of thing. That's a relief. I don't think I'll be mentioning Natasha anyway. Hey, I know a lesbian who goes by Lizzie. And she lives in this area. That would be too weird if this was her. Talk about another top. Don't even worry about it, Natalie. Almost certainly not.

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At 6:12, I come down to the lobby, waiting for someone named Michelle. I sit there watching any women who walk in. At 6:14, a young woman walks in, looks around and gets out her phone. A moment later, my phone buzzes.This is Michelle Porzak, I am in the lobby.

I reply,Sitting to your left right now

She looks over and I wave and smile. She's seriously young. Is she really about to be a senior partner? I would have guessed she was still in college. But she is cute. Tall, about my height with even less curves than me. I wouldn't mind finding out what she's like in bed. Jesus, Natalie, stop evaluating my potential business partners for sexual suitability. I need to be able to work with them, for Christ's sake. And Michelle already has a significant other. I'm about to meet her.

She walks over to me, offering a handshake as she says, "I assume you're Natalie?"

"And you must be Michelle. PR right?"

"I mostly help in crises. You know floods, fires, mass shootings. Most of these city managers have no idea how to deal with the national media. Without some help, they either piss them off or get bullied into submission. Neither way ends very well for them. So I never know whether it's going to be a dull week or an intense one. Some days, I think Lisa has it too easy. Revitalization plans are slow deals and she generally knows exactly what she'll be working on months in advance."

"I guess I have some of both worlds. Infrastructure upgrades have been my bread and butter and they have to be planned out way in advance, but sudden crises, like a ransomware attack, are always looming on the horizon."

She starts walking back out of the hotel and I follow beside her, as she says, "Let's head over to dinner. I suspect Alan and Lisa will beat us there and Lizzie will be a few minutes behind us."

Once we're in her car, I ask, "I'm sorry if this is rude, but how are you already being made a partner? You look like you were in college last year."

Michelle laughs. "I was shocked it was happening at first. I have actually been out of college for four and a half years, so not quite as quickly as you're thinking. Lisa's the youngest of us, I think she just turned twenty five in September. But she's so amazing, it's easy to understand."

She laughs again. "Between her and Alan, it's so easy to generate publicity for her. She leaves me no challenge. Javi's the only one who was hard at all, but I'm pretty sure I have the Spanish language article about him coming out this winter."

"Do you generate publicity about yourselves regularly?"

"We wanted to justify the generational transition, since we were really skipping a generation. To maintain Martin and Company's rep, we needed to get out in front of it. We thought, or mostly I thought I guess, that it would be easier to sell if we all seemed exceptional. And the rest of the crew really is. It has been shockingly easy to generate press about all of us. Marty and Audrey even managed to get some about me. But none of us are as easy as Lisa. She and Alan are going to be the cover story on Boston Magazine next month."

"How did I get brought in on this?"

"You, or your role to be more honest, was one of three things the four of us initially pushed for as soon as we found out the plan of making us all partners. We decided a plan for the PR for the transition, we wanted to add an IT oriented partner, and we wanted to start having annual user conferences. Our first one will be in May on Cape Cod."

"Audrey mentioned that one. Whose idea was it to add the IT analyst?"

"To be honest, I have no idea. We're pretty collaborative and we don't really worry too much about whose idea is what. I worried about the details of the publicity of the transition because that's my specialty. Most things we're all just thinking about as a group. We have a long working lunch most Fridays with all four of us. Marty joins us sometimes, but usually it's just us. In just a few months, we have become a really tight group. In work and out. We socialize quite a bit. In many ways. Lisa and Audrey are more than just best friends. And Lisa was my entire support when I came out of the closet this summer. I could not have done that without her."

"So I take it you and Lizzie have not been together all that long?"

"Just a few months. We play basketball together on a co-ed adult league team."

"Lizzie's a basketball player?" I'm dreading hearing the answer to this one.

"Yeah, She's really good. Power forward. She made it to the sweet sixteen her senior year."

That's almost certainly the Lizzie I know. This could be a bit awkward. At least I met her before they were a couple. I stay quiet for a few minutes.

Finally, Michelle says, "We're just about here. Don't be intimidated by Alan and Lisa. Lizzie had a lot of issues with them at first, but she adores them now. They really are both super nice people. And the Maitre'D is kind of a fan boy, so they have their own little shrine next to the table. I'm sure the cover of Boston Magazine will be up there next month."

What the hell's she talking about? She just told me Lisa's a fucking 25 year old. How intimidating can she be?

We walk into the restaurant and the Maitre'D comes over to us and says "Alan and Lisa are already at their table. Is your friend not coming tonight?"

"Lizzie will be here any minute, Mike. Thank you."

"I'm disappointed Audrey's not with you tonight. I just got her picture up this morning."

I have never been to a fancy restaurant where the Maitre'D knows my party like this. And what picture is he talking about. This is weird.

I see the table he's leading us to. I recognize the man sitting there. That's Alan fucking Williams. He's been on like every goddamned TV in every airport I have been in for like three weeks now. I listen to his weekly piece on NPR. That's Lisa's Alan? Holy shit.

There are five framed pictures on the wall behind our table. I guess it IS their table. Four are magazine covers.WiredandInchave a picture of Alan on the cover.Fortunehas a picture of Alan and Tim Cook. There's a photo of Alan with Stephen Colbert. I missed him being on that. The last picture surprises me more. It's the cover fromBilliardsmagazine. I recognize Audrey standing with a shorter Latina woman. The headline reads

Women on topNew England's new royalty

That must be the picture the Maitre'D said just went up. I didn't know Audrey even played, let alone was making a name for herself with it.

Michelle introduces me to Alan and Lisa. As I shake Alan's hand, I say, "I recognize you. I have to say I didn't expect to be having dinner with you."

My stress level is through the roof. Alan Williams is currently the darling of the tech world, Apple's new vice president of AI products. And if that's the Lizzie I know, she's every bit my match in knowledge of IT practices. I'm suddenly worried that this dinner has been a setup. I was expecting a simple social meeting. This feels anything but.

Just as I sitting down, the Maitre'D brings Lizzie to the table. Of course it's my Lizzie. I think of myself as tall; Lizzie towers over me by something like five inches. She's not curvy in a classic feminine way, but she's seriously built. She obviously has kept up at the gym.

Michelle and Lizzie give each other a quick kiss and then Michelle turns to introduce us, "Lizzie this is -"

"Hi, Lizzie."

Lizzie's laughing. "How are you doing, Nat?"

Michelle says, "You two know each other?"

Lizzie says, "You could say that."

I look at Lizzie and say, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

We walk towards the Ladies room together.

I say, "I won't say anything more about our past if you don't want me to. I don't want to create a problem with you and Michelle."

Lizzie laughs. "Don't worry about that. I think I better say something when we get back. The way this is starting out, you should fit right in with the partners."

That was an interesting comment. I decide not to pursue it now. But I need to ask her my real question. "Am I being set up at this dinner? That's god damned Alan Williams out there. Were you two supposed to cut me to shreds tonight or something?"

"I was supposed to get a feel of whether you actually know what you're talking about or not. The four of them are a little intimidated hiring a partner in for a role they know absolutely nothing about. I assume Alan's also supposed to vet you for knowing what you're talking about. But don't be intimidated by him. Alan and Lisa are maybe the two nicest people I have ever known. I was a serious bitch to them when we first met and they let it roll off them and by morning we were good friends. I never would guess that I'd be close friends with a billionaire, but here we are."

I shaking my head in disbelief. This was not on my bingo card for tonight.

"And don't worry," Lizzie adds, "I won't mention Natasha to anyone."

We head back to the table. As we're taking our seats again, Lizzie says, "Michelle, before you ask, yes we knew each other that way. We met at the Pussy's Whiskers a year and a half ago, long before I met you. And yes we ended up in her hotel room. We did not turn out to be particularly compatible there."

Lizzie looks at me and we both laugh.

Lizzie looks at Michelle again and says, "I know you get jealous, but Nat is not someone you need to worry about. We were compatible enough other ways, that we stayed friends and we text each other sporadically. Last time she was in the area, we had drinks. Was that March?"

"Late February."

"And if the four partners want to know my technical opinion, she knows her shit. She's good. Very good. Probably better than I am. And Michelle, you know I don't say that easily."

Michelle's shaking her head. "No, she doesn't. Mostly she complains that everyone else she works with is a moron."

Alan says, "Well, now that that's over with, let's all figure out what we want for dinner and get our order's in. Then we can get to know each other."

The rest of the dinner is actually a very pleasant conversation. At one point, Alan and I, with some interjections from Lizzie, have a slightly argumentative discussion over the role of AI, but I think all three of us mostly agree.

++++++

Back at the hotel, I'm feeling the effect of the wine with dinner. Alan and Lisa are nice, but they sure put away the wine. I think Lizzie and Michelle limited themselves to a single glass apiece. They both needed to drive, but I got the sense there was more of a story about them drinking with Alan and Lisa. Lizzie did mention that they were good friends by morning that first meeting, which I guess means they spent the night. Interesting.

I check Natasha's messages. Two more requests for sessions, one a regular and one a newb. Not interested in a newb right now. That involves a whole lot of questionnaires that he would have to fill out and I would have to read. What does he want and what are his limits. That sort of thing. Then I'd need to do an interview with him out of character to determine if we're compatible and what services line up well with him. No patience for that right now.