China Maid Chapter 9

Delfina handed Alice a small spray bottle made of amber glass.
	"Start with this moisturizing spray," she explained, resting her feet on a small riser installed into the platform. Her soles were pink and they took up the majority of Alice's vision – she could see every wrinkle and friction point where the shoes rubbed up against her feet. Alice had carefully placed Delfina's socks to the side of her athletic shoes.
	Alice's heart raced as she sprayed several jets onto Delfina's soles. Ciara and Anna had taken the adjacent pedicure seats, with technicians removing their athletic shoes to begin their post-workout massage. Apparently, this was one of their rituals after they played tennis together, but Alice had never been invited to one of their games. Miss Paz was watching through narrowed eyes, which only added to Alice's anxiety.
	Time seemed to slow down as Alice put her mouth nearer to Delfina's feet. Ciara and Anna were both watching, and Alice couldn't believe what she was about to do. But the thought of refusing was worse than continuing, she was so afraid of Delfina's vengeance. So Alice leaned in and stretched her tongue out, touching the ball of Delfina's foot. Alice cringed. Shivers ran down her spine as she slowly ran her pretty tongue up the length of Delfina's bare foot. The worst part, aside from the fact that Delfina was filming this, was the girl's pompous smile.
	It made it seem like this was par for the course for Delfina, to have a girl run her tongue all over her feet.
	It was like she deserved such treatment from people she viewed as her inferiors.
	"Use the flat of your tongue, Alice. It tickles if you use the tip," Delfina said.
	Alice could have gagged – she would have to practically use the back of her tongue to accomodate that request. Inevitably, she would brush her lips against Delfina's feet, which made this one-sided act all the more intimate. More than anything else so far, this was the decisive moment that created a rift between Alice and her old friends. She was relegated to licking their feet while they casually carried on a conversation about the game, their weekend plans, and other such things. And for what reason was she doing this? Just so Delfina could have a power trip as her former equal licked every inch of her bare feet?
	Electricity ran through Alice's body as she realized just how much she was cementing her new position in her old social group. How could they possibly view her as an equal when she had publicly worshiped Delfina's feet, licking them clean after a long game of tennis? But even as she despised herself, some secret part of her enjoyed this absolute act of submission. At this point it felt like some shameful addiction, like she was hooked on performing outrageous acts in front of an audience of her old peers. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears – her revulsion was twisted around some irresistable lust that compelled her to continue.
	The only comfort was that something about the spray made this task more palateable.
	The stuff was flavorless, and thus Alice could taste the salty, sweet, and fleshy taste of Delfina's (thankfully clean) feet. But the spray had some kind of intoxicating effect on the blonde teenager: every time she swallowed it felt like some kind of wonderful throat medicine that eased her anxiety and brought her peace. With each little bit that went down her throat (combined, she realized, with Delfina's sweat) she focused more on the enjoyable aspects of this odious task.
	"Make sure to get your tongue between my toes," Delfina commented, sounding every bit like a princess ordering her slave to do something.
	Alice trembled at the thought, but immediately obeyed. There were little flecks of cotton between each of Delfina's toes, which she apparently wanted Alice to swallow.
	"Go more slowly!" Delfina complained, scowling at Alice when she tried to rush through the task at hand.
	Alice must have been quite a sight as she slowly pressed her tongue between each of Delfina's shapely toes, using it to pick up every bit of cotton between them. Of course, this took more than one attempt, so she had to thoroughly explore every bit of Delfina's feet with her tongue, relying on feel more than sight to her great dismay.
	When Alice had finished Delfina's second foot, the girl smirked as she inspected Alice's work. Delfina's feet were slick with Alice's saliva, and Alice stared at the ground, absolutely conquered by this brunette goddess. Or so she thought.
	"Would you like some more?" Delfina asked with mock sweetness. Alice nodded her head.
	"Well, maybe if you ask nicely," the girl wheedled, resting one finger against her cheek as she watched for Alice's response.
	Thoughts flitted through Alice's mind unbidden: was she really so desperate she would ask Delfina for more degradation just to get a bit of whatever was in that stupid bottle? Was she seriously going to ask to lick Delfina's feet again? In front of all her friends?? But then, the nature of her thoughts shifted. She had already licked Delfina's feet once, was it so bad to do it again? Delfina's feet were clean after all, if a little sweaty, and they certainly had an inoffensive taste.
	"Miss Delfina," Alice whispered, "could I please have more of that spray?"
	Delfina rolled her eyes dramatically.
	"Fine Alice. If you really like licking my feet so much, I guess I can allow you to continue," the girl joked, and Alice blushed tremendously.
	"Or wait, you can do something else for me," Delfina said, taking out the coveted glass bottle and leaning forward to spray herself with its contents.
	Delfina directed the first spray not at her foot, like Alice was expecting, but at her own ankle. Alice watched hypnotized as Delfina moved the spray higher up her leg towards her waist. The next spray went onto her toned calf, halfway to her knee. The next spray was to the back of her knee. And finally, Delfina sprayed her mid-thigh with two full spurts of the addictive stuff, with Alice watching ravenously. The girl deliberately sprayed most of it on the inside of her thigh, and Alice felt that vertigo again.
	"It's all or nothing, Alice," Delfina stated, capping the amber bottle and putting it into her purse.
	"And if you don't want it, that's fine – this stuff is really good to moisturize my legs."
	It didn't take much thought for Alice to reach her decision. In fact, if she had thought more about it maybe she would have declined the offer. But she was so swept up in the momentum of everything, and so thirsty for whatever was inside that bottle, that she again leaned forward and ran her tongue along Delfina's slender ankles.
	Her ankles weren't so bad – they were so near to her feet that it was pretty much the same as that, maybe a little better. But when Alice began licking Delfina's calves, feeling the firm muscles beneath her beautifully soft skin, it became significantly more intimate.
	"Turn your head so I can see your face better on camera, Alice," Delfina husked, betraying her own enjoyment at this treatment.
	Alice had to theatrically maneuver her head, stretching her tongue out even further to lick the wonderful liquid off of Delfina's calves. She felt like some kind of porn star, putting on an over-the-top performance for the benefit of a lusty audience. But with each swallow, she felt better about her decision to collect the rest of the spray. With great difficulty, she ignored the sarcastic comments that Ciara and Anna would make from time to time.
	To get the spray behind Delfina's knee from a good camera angle, Alice had to lift the girl's leg up. She positioned her face at a 45 degree angle, passionately licking up every droplet of the stuff from this private nook. She felt like a lover, or a subject worshipping her goddess.
	"Such a good stretch for my hamstrings," Delfina joked, and there were peals of laughter from her friends.
	When she had finished running her tongue on the soft skin behind Delfina's knee, the girl set her leg down again. The brunette had an expectant smile on her face, the liquid on her thigh reflecting light into an irridescent pattern. It whispered unnameable joys that Alice couldn't look away from.
	She hesitated, but it only took Delfina clearing her throat to make the pouting blonde girl begin again.
	With a sigh, Alice put her face nearly into Delfina's lap and began licking the inside of the girl's thigh. Her tanned skin emenated warmth, and contrasted sharply with Alice's own pale complexion. Alice felt every taut fiber of Delfina's sartorious muscle, and against her cheek she felt a telling moisture coming from the girl's panty area. Alice smelled sweat, but also something more primal and heady. She didn't care to think more deeply about what it was, but it reminded her  of the time Delfina was in bed with Jocelyn.
	Was she becoming habituated to her mistress's aroma so quickly?
	Alice was totally focused on gathering every last drop of moisture from Delfina's thighs, greedily swallowing everything that touched her eager tongue. She was shamelessly moving up towards Delfina's apex, fully aware that the girl sprayed the greatest amount of liquid at the point nearest to her pussy.
	Suddenly, she felt a hand on her head pushing her away.
	"That's enough. I think you should continue with my pedicure now," Delfina stated firmly.
	Alice set her jaw. There was still so much of that spray left! It rested safely in Delfina's lap, taunting Alice incessantly as it slowly absorbed into the girl's skin. But as soon as it was gone, Alice felt the full weight of what she had done.
	Her cheeks burned in humiliation – had she really just licked Delfina's legs like she was some hopeless, lovesick admirer? And with her friends watching?? She began mechanically removing Delfina's nail polish in the vain hope of distracting herself from what just happened. But she couldn't stop thinking about how obsequious, how abased she had just made herself look. And there was a video recording of the entire thing!
	Another thought: What sorts of friends were Ciara and Anna that they would let Delfina mistreat her in this way? In fact, Alice glanced over at the girls to see that they were receiving royal pedicures as well, happily chatting away as young women kissed every inch of the girls' feet. None of them had even bothered to shower after the tennis game, showing how lowly they valued their nail technicians' comfort. Never had the girls looked more posh than they did in their short A-line tennis dresses, bare feet propped up for less fortunate girls to worship for their amusement. 	Someone had even given them champagne! And soon Kim came by with a plate of green olives, expensive cheeses, and dried figs for the girls to enjoy. The luxury that these girls enjoyed only made Alice's own situation seem all the worse by comparison.
	Alice was devastated by Delfina's imaginative ways of humiliating her, and felt like the shame was contaminating her very essence. She was hotly aware of it – the way she was sinking to new depths in front of this rich girl. Alice didn't even object when Delfina asked her to pick out a color of polish for her toes, making Alice hold the bottle next to her feet for a little while before rejecting Alice's choice three different times. Each time, Delfina would stare her foot in Alice's hands as though she were carefully deliberating something, but would just come up with some creative insult before waving Alice away to pick out another color. At one point, Ciara laughed and Alice had to bite her lip to vent her outrage and shame.
	Alice quietly worked on Delfina's feet, hoping to do a good job to keep the irascible girl happy. The little triumph she had over 'outmaneuvering' Delfina was long gone – the girl had clearly bested her, and now Alice's only hope was to do a good job pampering Delfina's feet. A task that she would have found abhorrent even a month ago!
	For a while, Delfina chatted with Ciara and Anna, ignoring Alice completely. This was yet another jab at Alice – for her to be ignored as though she were any other technician as her former "friends" carried on their own conversation without her. She was identifying more and more with Farrah and the nail technicians than she did with Delfina and Ciara.
	This was a deliberate effect.
	"So, about your demerits," Delfina said as Alice began painting the girl's nails using the sky blue polish she had finally settled on.
	"I want to improve your mindulness," she continued. "I feel like a lot of the time, your head isn't in your work. It's like you think your mind is too valuable to be occupied with hand-washing my laundry or painting my nails."
	Alice huffed. She had never hand-washed Delfina's laundry, and she hated the implication that she should be mentally occupied with all the sycophantic errands that the brunette bitch shunted onto her.
	"So I got you some earbuds that play binaural beats at a constant flow. They help create a sense of focus and concentration. Also, they function as receivers, so if Jocelyn or I need you we can just talk to you directly."
	Delfina produced a pair of peach-colored objects that looked like earplugs, handing them to Alice for the girl to put into her ears.
	Alice had to compress the spongy material somewhat so they could fit into her ear canals, and they went a little deeper than she would have liked. Soon, they stretched out to be even larger than their original size, filling her entire ear canal and causing the ambient sounds of the salon to dampen considerably.
	Alice was briefly annoyed – did these stupid things function as ear plugs? But Delfina played with her own smartphone a little bit, and Alice's hearing returned. Then, Delfina rose her phone to her mouth and spoke into the mouthpiece.
	"I adjusted them so you can hear normally. Let me put on the binaural pattern."
	It was an unnerving feeling – it was like Delfina was speaking directly into Alice's consciousness, with the added sensation that the girl was whispering into her ear. Her head tingled involuntarily, a sensation that went all the way down to upper back between her scapulae.
	A nearly inaudible sound arose from the earbuds – something like rain falling onto a subterranean river in the far distance. She felt it more than she heard it – like it had been there the entire time and she was just now noticing it. On top of that noise was a pleasant melodic progression of chimes and bells.
	This demerit wasn't so bad, Alice thought, as she returned to applying nail polish to Delfina's toes.
	Delfina, unable to resist using a new toy, continued talking into her smartphone. Her voice transmitted into Alice's earbuds with perfect clarity –  the result was that Alice noticed subtle nuances about the way Delfina spoke that she hadn't realized before. Again she felt prickles arise on the back of her neck as Delfina spoke to her.
	"The next demerit," Delfina began, using a scolding tone, "is just a warning. When Farrah joined the Zuang family, she was a little too... willful. In order to correct her attitude, they used the method that's more common in China: corporal punishment."
	Thankfully Alice was dipping her brush into the nail polish bottle, or she certainly would have slipped up. Was Delfina seriously saying that the Zuangs would --
	"So the next time you mess up, instead of a demerit you might just face a physical punishment. I'd say to be careful going forward."
	Delfina had calculated this one to further push Alice into the realm of the servants. By accepting a spanking, it would create a sense of surrender within the girl, and childlike dependence. Who even got spanked anymore except for a misbehaving child? Delfina very much looked forward to the changes in attitude that the once-haughty Alice would face as her rear smarted from a vicious punishment. She would naturally have to thank Delfina afterwards, and maybe she would have Alice kiss her hand to help it get better?
	"And the last demerit," Delfina said in a brighter tone, "is that we want you to participate in the Heaven's Gate beta with us."
	"This one is really easy. All you have to do is meet with the doctor and do an introductory session. It's like a guided meditation, combined with an acupuncture session. She takes a reading on your reaction to certain images and phrases, and it really helps unlock the subconscious mind."
	Alice nodded, remembering how excited people were when they saw the Heaven's Gate package. Her own memory and decision-making skills were fine, but she looked forward to lying down on an acupuncture table.
	"Thank you, Miss Delfina," Alice said when her nemesis finished explaining her different punishments. Delfina didn't find any issue with Alice's work on her pedicure, although she did insist that Alice blow her nails to help them dry.
	"Alice, how have you done on tips so far?" Miss Paz said, walking up to them.
	"I've probably made about $20, Miss Paz."
	"Well as an intern," Miss Paz said in an authoritative tone, "you are not permitted to keep any tip money. It is the salon's property. Why don't you give it to Delfina?"
	Delfina was pleasantly surprised. She smiled, and held out her hand expectantly. 	Begrudgingly, Alice took all the tip money she had made so far and handed it over. Delfina casually tucked the small bills away into her $7,000 Chanelle purse, and Alice couldn't help but frown. She had planned on buying some poke with the cash, or at least use it to help pay for the cost of her ride over here. She felt like she was being bullied into handing over her lunch money, and the steady erosion of her self-esteem continued.
	Alice helped Delfina put on some pedicure sandals, and the girls all got their things to leave the salon. Only Delfina bothered to say goodbye to Alice, before inviting Ciara and Anna to get poke next door – her treat! Alice looked down at the dirty towels, soiled implements, and little flakes of exfoliated skin that remained after Delfina left. As the girls ate a delicious meal, she would have to clean the tools she used to pamper and beautify their feet.
	As soon as Alice had finished disinfecting the nail tools, Robin brought over a college-aged girl who wanted a Cleopatra pedicure. When Alice had taken off the girl's shoes for her, though, her new earbuds began broadcasting a conversation. She was hearing the conversation that Delfina, Ciara and Anna were having over their food!
	They gushed about how delicious the poke was, and talked about different clothing brands they liked and countries they liked or disliked visiting. As Alice exfoliated the college girl's feet, she heard Ciara talk about a particularly well-endowed guy she had fucked the other night. Then as Alice neatly trimmed the girl's cuticles, she listened to Anna reminisce about some shared adventure the three of them had together. Alice kept dreading the moment that the conversation would turn to her, but none of the girls mentioned her.
	Then the conversation faded out, and she was back listening to the falling water and chimes.
	Alice lost track of the number of clients she saw that day – always rich girls and women with too much time on their hands. Some were reserved, others were impossible to please, and several of them wore stockings that she had to peel off their legs. Even the other technicians were impressed with Alice's careful maneuvering of the womens' nylons (Farrah's method), and the clients all commented lovingly about her treatment, and her feather touch down their legs.
	On occasion, a woman would get Kim's attention and ask that the girl clean her shoes while she received her service. Kim would beam her brightest smile, and gingerly pick up the woman's shoes, taking them back room to clean them for a long while before returning them to the client.
	Later Alice would learn that when the technicians cleaned women's stillettoes, they did so using only their tongues. She would learn of more indignities the technicians faced, and worse ones, but for today she just wanted to complete her job in peace without angering any of these pretty plutocrats. It was certainly a novel experience, but it left her very exhausted by the end of the day.
	She got another rideshare to the Zuang household, where she was immediately expected to help Farrah serve dinner to Jocelyn and Miss Zuang. Alice's back pained her from the stooping posture she had to take on while she did each pedicure, and standing at attention as Jocelyn and Miss Zuang ate definitely didn't help the pain.
	Apparently, when Jocelyn and Miss Zuang sat for their nightly dinner, they expected their maids to take a certain way of standing. Farrah demonstrated it to Alice: each girl was to stand with her feet together, back straight, and with her hands held one atop the other, touching the front of her waist. Her palms were to remain facing upwards as though she were presenting an apple to someone. They were to carefully watch their mistresses eat each bite of food, to help anticipate their next need.
	The Zuangs didn't even need to speak to get their maids' help: when one woman drank from her water glass, Farrah or Alice would immediately walk to the table and pour some more in then return to her resting position at the side of the table.
	Alice's mouth watered as she watched the women eat their dinner. It consisted of wild rice, seared bluefin tuna, and a few savory vegetable dishes that all crowded the solid oak dinner table. And the smell was heavenly! Especially after being around the smell of nail polish remover, laquer, and disinfectant all day, the food stimulated Alice's appetite tremendously. She had drank her nutrition shake earlier in the evening, but the food still looked good right about now.
	Although the food was diverse, the portions were relatively small and the women consumed most of it through the course of the meal. Jocelyn and Miss Zuang carried a relaxed conversation the whole time, switching casually between English and Chinese. They ate in an unhurried way, finishing after more than an hour of mother-daughter talk.
	"You may have the leftovers," Miss Zuang told her maids as she got up to leave the table.
	Alice could have leapt for joy! There was still a fair bit of meat on the fish, and the edamame salad looked amazing. She and Farrah efficiently cleared the table, doing the dishes and gathering all the food onto a single plate that they took to their room. In her excitement to get some actual food, Alice could overlook the humiliating act of scraping all the womens' leftovers onto a single plate for her to eat from. There was very little food remaining on the serving dishes, so most of their meal came from Jocelyn and Miss Zuang's own plates.
	Thankfully, neither Jocelyn nor Miss Zuang had any further tasks for them that evening.
	Alice could tell that Miss Zuang was unhappy that one of her maids was absent all day – the woman seemed cold and distant. Farrah seemed a little more exhausted than usual. She even slouched a little as the girls watched their employers eat, but quickly corrected her mistake when Miss Zuang looked over reproachfully. There was a clearly implied warning, and Alice kept her own back straight in spite of her growing discomfort.
	Alice felt like she had arrived in paradise when she and Farrah got to their room and she could finally remove her punishing heels.
	She breathed a heavy sigh of relief as she flexed her nylon-covered feet, feeling the soft texture of the carpet through her warm stockings. Her poor constricted toes finally had a chance to stretch out, and looking down she could see the points where the shoes rubbed against her feet marked by areas of deep red friction. She leaned her head back, closed her eyes and smiled – this was practically the only break she had all day apart from lunch.
	Alice did some basic yoga stretches to ease the strained muscles in her back, which Farrah watched with amusement -- it was somewhat comical to see a girl dressed in a maid's outfit doing yoga.
	"So, how was Delfina's?" Farrah asked, eating a piece of the fish.
	Alice looked at the plate before answering and her smiled dimmed. It was less food than she had earlier thought – barely enough for one person's snack, much less a meal for two young women to share. She decided she had better eat now, feeling a brief pang of guilt that she wanted to eat more than Farrah did.
	As the girls sat down for their meager dinner, Alice gave a recap on her exhausting day at the salon. She couldn't bring herself to mention the addictive spray that she licked off of Delfina's legs and feet, but did point out the fact that Ciara and Anna were there.
	"I was pretty hurt," Alice confessed towards the end of her story.
	At this point, she was lying on the bed with her feet in Farrah's lap, getting a foot massage as she complained about her day. It was a much-needed treat – Farrah turned out to be a wonderful listener.
	"I mean, I don't think they said one word to me!" Alice whined, referring to Ciara and Anna's cold behavior.
	Farrah murmured some consoling words, and continued focusing her efforts on the blonde girl's feet.
	 She didn't point out that Alice had barely said a word to her on the few times they met, except for an occasional request. The girls all seemed to believe that Farrah was just there for their personal pleasure, and that she didn't have a reality of her own. Maybe Alice was just copying her friends' attitude when she was still 'one of them', but the effect was the same.
	Even so, Farrah felt genuine empathy for poor Alice. She realized how difficult it must be for the girl to be thrown out of her social circle, and then to be treated as a lowly maid by all her supposed friends. From Alice's description, Delfina was clearly fixated on humiliating her – she was far meaner to Alice than she was to anyone else. Farrah shuddered when she thought about how cold and calculating Delfina could be. It was a skill she had certainly picked up from her mother: how to bend people to her will.
	Or how to break them, when bending didn't suffice.
	And where were Alice's 'friends' to keep Delfina in check?! Farrah wasn't surprised that Jocelyn and Miss Zuang were uninterested in Delfina's behavior towards Alice – they were so far removed from the working class that it didn't occur to them that some requests were unreasonable. But Farrah had thought that Anna and Ciara would protect Alice, at least to some degree. Had Delfina conquered those girls in more subtle ways, until no one dared to comment on her cruel behavior? Or worse, were they getting swept up in it too?
	Farrah was afraid that Alice's mind would go to bad places if she dwelled on her situation, and an idea struck her to help the girl get over her bad day.
	"Alice, I will give you a pedicure," Farrah said, ignoring Alice's feeble protests that she didn't want to be a bother.
	Farrah returned with a warm moist towel, and all the implements she needed to give Alice a luxury pedicure. This time, it was Alice's turn to lean back and have a young girl tend to her feet.  She beamed with joy as Farrah expertly cut her nails, trimmed her cuticles, and gave Alice's soles some much-needed exfoliation. Alice's earbuds played soft music that would be appropriate at some cloistered Japanese spa and she relaxed deep into the mattress.
	"There is one advantage you have over all your friends," Farrah said as she filed Alice's nails to a uniform length.
	"What's that?" Alice asked. Her voice was heavy with sleep.
	"You have the most beautiful feet," Farrah said matter-of-factly.
	Alice's laughter filled the room – a sustained laugh that made her core shake. She never expected such an answer!
	"Thanks!" Alice said, completely disarmed.
	Through drooping eyes, Alice looked down at her own feet. Farrah was squinting in a cute way, concentrating on applying white polish to Alice's nails. She had never thought about her own feet as particularly good-looking, although they were a size 5 which she knew to be rare. She knew because she had such a hard time finding shoes in her size. But she was thrilled to hear that Farrah, who had seen all of her friends' feet up close so many times, thought Alice's were the most beautiful! It felt like an amazing, if odd, compliment. Wouldn't Delfina be jealous!
	Alice wished Farrah would go on about what made her feet so special – she felt starved for personal conversation after being ignored and bossed around all day. Alice tried to think how many text messages she used to send each day before she started working for the Zuangs. She thought about the small talk, the jokes, the gossiping she used to take for granted that was all replaced by a simple, 'yes, Miss Zuang,' and a curtsy now.
	Alice didn't consciously realize it, but her world was rapidly shrinking. It was becoming increasingly defined by sharp borders: things she was expected to do, ways she was expected to behave, and an ever-growing list of forbidden acts. Alice had thought that as she grew older she would get more agency, more control over her life. But within this work she found that she was just reacting to the capricious whims of other women as they exerted control over her. She had spent more time studying womens' feet than she had spent thinking of her own future plans. All of her considerable mental energy was directed towards being a better servant.
	But all these thoughts ran through her mind like water through a sieve, the way they do before dreaming sets on. The girls settled into another comfortable silence, with Farrah blowing on Alice's toes to help the polish dry. When it had finished drying, Farrah reached for a thin, long-bristled paint brush and dipped it in some black nail polish.
	With surgical precision, Farrah began drawing beautiful calligraphy on Alice's nails. She drew looping curves and tiny geometric shapes, along with lines done in impossibly minute detail. Sometimes it would look like a bird drinking water, or a fish swimming in a river. Alice was spellbound – Farrah had turned her nails into a canvas, and filled it with work that would rival any other artist's painting.
	Alice didn't ask what the calligraphy meant, and Farrah didn't offer an explanation. Farrah alone would know the significance of the work. As Alice ran about her day, Farrah's artwork would be hidden away on her toes. It was a signature as much as it was a labor of love that proved Alice too had someone who slaved away at her feet.
	"It's beautiful," Alice said, admiring the many complex images.
	Farrah smiled, and changed into her own nightwear. Alice did the same, eager to remove the tight garter belt / corset that she had worn all day. It was a weird sensation taking off the restrictive belt, though. Alice thought it would be a relief, which it was to some small degree. But for the most part, she felt exposed and vulnerable without something tight around her waist. Blaming that development on muscle memory, Alice slipped on her white garter belt, and rolled another pair of white stockings up her legs. The relief was immediate, and she wondered about reducing the garter belt to the next smaller size.
	"Are my seams straight?" Alice asked Farrah, turning her head over her shoulder to address her co-worker.
	Farrah nodded proudly.
	After the lights went out, Alice felt Farrah's weight shifting in the bed, and the girl crawled over to Alice's side. Alice felt her heart beat in her ears as the Middle Eastern girl pressed her entire body against Alice's, their nyloned legs rubbing together in a divine way.
	"Farrah, are you...?" Alice tried to ask.
	The only response she got was a soft hand touching the back of her head, pulling her in for a kiss. It had an electric effect on her body. Farrah's lips were so soft, and while they kissed she stroked Alice's hair in a way that sent shivers down her spine.
	Alice, for her part, didn't really know what to do. She had never even made out with a guy before, and Farrah was obviously experienced at this. Farrah had a methodical way of manipulating Alice's tongue with her own in a way that made it clear who the submissive partner was. The olive-skinned girl was in complete control of the encounter, with Alice doing her best to keep up learning on the job. Alice's head was swimming: was she a lesbian now? Was it smart to hook up with a co-worker? Was it obvious to Farrah that she was totally new to this?
	Farrah's confidence had the intended effect on Alice, though: soon she found it easier to lay back and follow Farrah's lead. Alice, not wanting to seem like a total prude, even found the courage to explore Farrah's body with her hands. Farrah's skin was supple, and there was the faint ripple of lean muscle beneath her otherwise soft anatomy.
	Farrah pulled away from the kiss, and Alice felt a sinking sensation. She didn't know whether to go in for another kiss or not – were they finished?
	But then she felt Farrah's left hand running down her chest, past her abs, and towards her waist. The girl moved at a painstakingly slow pace, and Alice felt the urge to take her hand and thrust it between her own legs. Now she realized how horny she was from working at the salon, being around all those beautiful women and practically worshiping Delfina with her tongue. Alice no longer cared about whether it was wrong or right, she was just desperate for release. Farrah's hand lingered on her garter belt, and Alice moaned in frustration. Then Farrah's hand finally reached Alice's sex.
	Farrah teased Alice's lips, and Alice had to bite her cheek to keep from moaning louder. She could feel Farrah's hot breath on her neck as the girl nibbled on Alice's pink collar. She kept that up for a little bit, teasing Alice until the girl was ready to beg for release. She was completely wet, and knew she was probably making a mess of their mattress. The scent of her sex filled the room.
	When Farrah ran one soft finger over Alice's excited clit, Alice gasped in pleasure. Farrah worked it softly, with no more pressure than Alice would use if she were wiping her eye, but the effect was undeniable. Back and forth, Farrah rocked Alice steadily towards the first orgasm that the blonde girl ever had with another person.
	A strange thing kept happening, though: each time Alice would reach down for Farrah's sex, the girl would gently stop Alice's hands and place them somewhere else. Another strange, almost imperceptible thing: although Farrah was clearly enjoying herself, her body would occasionally seize up a little as though she were stifling a hiccup. Each time, Farrah would give a small moan – it sounded frustrated or maybe even pained.
	Soon Alice was too distracted to think about that – she was totally focused on her own pleasure. Farrah seemed to like it when Alice played with her own nipples, encouraging her with gentle words to twist, pinch, and tease her excited buds. Somehow having Farrah order her to do something made it even hotter, and Alice was happy to oblige every request.
	Soon Alice was worried she would go crazy, or do something embarrassing as she felt her climax approaching.
	It began in her aching pussy, but Farrah's careful manipulations turned it into a stunning orgasm that rocked her entire body. The teenage girl, pushed past the brink, threw her shoulders back, curled her nyloned toes, and arched her back as she moaned out loud. Farrah quickened her pace, bringing Alice to heights of pleasure she didn't believe possible. Alice came so hard that it  hurt a little towards the end, an aching sensation that reverberated up and down her glistening body. Farrah instinctively knew when to stop, and left her hand resting on top of Alice's pussy.
	As Alice came down from her orgasm, Farrah brought her hand up to her mouth and licked Alice's secretions off of it.
	"Uh, thanks?" was all Alice could think of saying. She felt sweaty, spent, and utterly happy.
	"You do not think we are finished, do you?" Farrah asked, feigning surprise.
	Alice tried to get her second wind as Farrah eased herself down, getting in a comfortable position to lick Alice's pussy. Nylon rubbed against nylon as Farrah moved her legs over Alice's, then maneuvered Alice's so they were resting on top of her shoulders. Alice could feel the warmth of Farrah's breath against her pussy as the girl got ready to take care of her pink needs.
	It started with a kiss.
	It was a slow, deliberate kiss that made Alice shudder. Then Farrah did several more kisses, each with a gentle sucking sensation to prepare Alice for the coming delights. Eventually, Farrah ran the tip of her soft pink tongue up and down Alice's nether lips in no apparent hurry.
	This pattern continued, to Alice's extreme frustration. Although Farrah made Alice cum quickly the first time, the Middle Eastern girl seemed determined to draw out Alice's next orgasm. She would run her tongue across Alice's clit for only a brief moment, before giving more kisses and attention to Alice's lips. The result was that Alice only took mincing steps towards her orgasm – and the climb was maddeningly slow.
	At first, Alice would try to adjust herself to get more stimulation from Farrah's tongue and hurry her along. But each time Alice tried, the girl would pull back, causing Alice to drift away from her badly-needed orgasm.
	Despite all her desires to the contrary, Alice decided that the best option was to submit to Farrah's devious methods. In this way the pleasure became like a torture. Sometimes without even meaning to, Alice would jump excitedly as Farrah tongued her clit with more pressure than the girl was expecting. Then Alice would groan as Farrah would inevitably pull back, letting Alice stumble away from the orgasm. Alice would curse herself silently, aware that Farrah would only slowly make up for the lost time.
	It took all of Alice's focus to avoid making even the smallest movement. She learned that by focusing on her breathing and grasping the sheets in her hands, she could just barely stop herself from moving her pussy against Farrah's tongue. When she had learned this difficult lesson, and after several accidents, Farrah finally brought Alice to a stunning orgasm.
	Alice bucked her hips back and forth against Farrah's willing tongue – this time the girl seemed to encourage Alice to wring every last drop of pleasure from her loving care. All of the muscles in Alice's body tensed up-- from her abdominal muscles to her thighs, which were firmly clamped around Farrah's head. Even the way Alice rubbed her nyloned feet together seemed to heighten the experience, creating new neural pathways that would forever cause the girl to associate stockings with earth-shattering pleasure.
	Alice was aware that she was moaning, laughing, nearly yelling. Her ears were ringing and she could see little white dots floating in her vision. She didn't care. Without a doubt, Farrah's frustrating approach was worth it.
	It was an almost out-of-body experience, and when her orgasm finally subsided, Alice floated back down to earth and relaxed every muscle. She was smiling wider than she had ever smiled before. Sweat covered every inch of her body except for her pussy, which was covered in an entirely different substance that Farrah was now carefully lapping up.
	"Farrah!" Alice murmured, her voice full of adoration.
	"That was... unbelievable."
	Farah gave a knowing smile, and scooted back to the sleeping position the girls took the night before. Their legs were tangled together, a mess of soft nylon that Alice had a newfound appreciation for. Before she drifted off to sleep, Alice had a question for Farrah.
	"Don't you want me to do you?" she asked.
	"Another time," Farrah answered.
	Alice didn't see the concerned expression on Farrah's face. The girl's thick eyebrows were furrowed into a subtle show of distress, and her eyes were full of secrets.
	'Another time,' indeed – but when?
	It was only with the Zuang's permission that Farrah was allowed to have an orgasm. They fully encouraged Farrah to keep a voracious sexual appetite, saying that it would increase the amount of energy she would put towards her work. Miss Zuang said something about the sublimation of sexual desire, but Farrah knew it was a way to get her into a needy, submissive headspace. Her constant state of arousal and her desire for release undermined much of her former pride. It filled her with a desire to please in exchange for the mere hope of a badly-needed orgasm.
	Farrah thought back to the foot massages she would give Jocelyn in private – while she massaged one of Jocelyn's pampered feet, the girl would use her other to stimulate Farrah's clit. The Chinese girl's toes were quite skillful, and she was well aware of how to manipulate Farrah to maximum effect. But still, Jocelyn's intent was only ever to tease, partially because she enjoyed doing so and partially to make Farrah massage her feet more passionately.
	Sometimes the play even felt absentminded, like when Jocelyn would do it while texting someone on her phone. But Jocelyn was enormously skilled at keeping Farrah on edge, usually while making demands of the poor, frustrated girl.
	The Zuangs only allowed Farrah an orgasm under rare conditions, and they were very capricious in their decisions. They demanded much in return for letting Farrah cum, and Farrah had betrayed her own self-interest many times in exchange for a mindblowing climax. Sometimes it would happen with her blushing furiously as Miss Zuang used only her toes to push the girl over the edge. Throughout everything, the Zuangs reinforced the idea that happiness came with abject servitude.
	This was the reason that Lisebet had quit, and fled the country.
	As Alice drifted off to sleep, Farrah firmly held one of her stockinged feet as though that act would keep her from running away. They barely knew each other, sure, but Farrah would deeply miss Alice if she left. Beautiful, pure Alice – the girl who had no idea how wicked the world can be. How long would she remain so uncorrupted?
	Farrah's workload increased dramatically after Lisebet quit, but it was nothing compared to her feelings of solitude. Alice's presence gave her a co-worker, a friend, and now possibly even a lover. Who else was there for her? Only her mistresses, their friends, and an entire world that saw her as a pretty servant. Alice's arrival was a miracle to her.
	She had quickly developed feelings for Alice, stemming from the sympathy she felt when she saw how badly Delfina treated the naive girl. Alice was someone who appreciated Farrah's nurturing behavior without taking it for granted, and it gave Farrah strength to have her around. Now that she was sharing her suffering, it didn't seem as bad, and she was enormously thankful to have Alice here. She was convinced that she had a lot to offer Alice too; they could understand each other in a way no one else ever would. But it would only happen if Alice remained on working for the Zuangs.
	And here was Farrah's conflict: how could she think of Alice as a lover, or even a friend, while she was helping spring the trap that would keep Alice locked into a lifetime of servitude? 	Then there was the nagging idea that Alice could always leave.
	Though it was dark and she couldn't see them, Farrah was always aware of the photos of herself on the wall with her tribe. Next to that, the photo of the oasis city that they had passed by each year on their migratory path. It was the first place Farrah had seen a camera, and an automobile. That city had been bombed to rubble in a recent civil war, and then the ruins were occupied by a group that had always been hostile to Farrah's people. They had discovered this fact too late, after the sound of gunfire and the sight of sand flying high into the air.
	Alice had family to return to; Farrah's tribe was all dead. She was the last surviving member of the last tribe of desert nomads. As young Alice attended marches protesting climate change, climate change marched young Farrah's people towards extinction. It weighed heavily on her, but recently she was bothered more by her own loneliness.
	Sleep, that comforter of grieving souls, came for the Middle Eastern girl.
	She was strong in so many ways: strong in body, strong in spirit, but she was weak in that she needed a friend. She maintained her grip on Alice's beautiful foot.
	Farrah would do anything for Alice -- they could build a life together. Farrah yearned for the knowledge that Alice would stay with the Zuangs for years, many happy years. They could entwine their bodies, create their lover's languge, and at least be safe in the knowledge of each other's presence and support. The thought of Alice leaving filled Farrah with an existential dread – she was certain that they would both be happer if she stayed.
	And, in spite of her guilty conscience, she would make sure that Alice did exactly that.