Charlotte felt like shite warmed up. The ferry crossing from Larne to Stranraer had been a lot rougher than last time and while she hadn’t been seasick, there had been a stench of vomit throughout the ship by the time it finally docked. She’d then spent the past eight hours crammed into an uncomfortable seat as the bus trundled its way down the length of England. She unpeeled herself from the seat, stretched and hoped her back would have unseized by the time she hobbled down the steps.
Once she’d picked up her overnight bag and portfolio from the cavernous boot at the back of the coach, she glanced around, searching for Fiona.
She’d felt apprehensive about meeting Fiona and crashing on her sofa but Emma had persuaded her not to get the bus straight home again and had even contacted Fiona for her. According to Emma, Fiona was delighted she was coming.
Charlotte wasn’t so sure. In between orgasms, Charlotte had finally got the story from Chloe of what had happened between Fiona and Chloe in Belfast. It turned out, as Charlotte had suspected, that Fiona and Chloe had gone out together. They’d been flatmates until one drunken night when Chloe had ended up in Fiona's bed instead of her own.
According to Chloe, it had been great to start with but then, Fiona wanted more. She thought a normal relationship was boring. First, it was S&M, then it was taking photographs, then it was threesomes. Fiona always needed to go to extremes. Chloe said she’d had enough when one Sunday night, she came home from her weekend bar job to find the house full of naked boys and girls. Fiona was being fucked by some random guy from behind while she ate out a blonde girl draped across Chloe’s bed. Fiona didn’t even seem to notice as Chloe threw a few things into a bag and left. She’d spent the night on a friend’s sofa before going back the next day when everyone was out and removed all her stuff.
Fiona had freaked out, accusing Chloe of stifling her individuality and trying to control her whilst simultaneously begging her to move back in again. When Chloe refused and then when Fiona saw Chloe kissing another girl, Fiona went mental. She’d pulled the girl’s hair in an attempt to get her off Chloe, screaming that Chloe was hers and no one else could have her. Eventually, the bouncers had thrown Fiona out but both the girl and Chloe were shaken.
Fiona was advised to take some time out by the university and ended up deferring the rest of the year and moving home again. When she did come back the next year, Chloe said that Fiona made a point of avoiding her if at all possible.
“Charlotte!”
Charlotte turned and saw Fiona running down the bus station corridor. She was wearing an orange bobble hat, denim jacket and pink dress and Charlotte hardly recognised her.
“Look at you, all set for the interview? Have you got time for a coffee first? How was the trip over?”
Charlotte could barely keep up with the barrage of questions from Fiona as they walked across the street and headed for the art college.
“What’s with the outfit?” Charlotte asked once they were seated with a coffee and cherry scone.
Fiona blushed.
“Miss Paula told me to wear it.”
Charlotte nodded as if to say “I understand.”
“Does she often choose your outfit?”
“Oh yes. Virtually every day. She even chooses my underwear. Sometimes she makes me go without knickers but not today.”
Charlotte stared open-mouthed.
“She chooses what you wear? Isn’t that a bit… controlling?”
Fiona shook her head vigorously.
“Oh no, it’s a sign of how much she loves me. She wants me to look perfect for her.”
“Is that why you’ve changed from goth girl to... Um…?”
Charlotte raised her hands in exasperation as she tried to think of the right word to describe Fiona’s new outfit. Fiona scowled.
“And what’s with the hat?”
Charlotte reached over and pulled the orange bobble hat from her head. She gasped as she saw the bald head.
“What the actual fuck? You’re a skinhead?”
“Miss Paula did it. I was bold and disrespected her and needed to be punished.”
Charlotte could see tears glisten in the corners of Fiona’s eyes before they were quickly wiped away. Charlotte reached her hand across and gripped Fiona’s fingers.
“Fiona, that woman is a psycho.”
“She is not. She’s MY Mistress and I’ll do anything for her.”
Fiona stood up, knocking the chair over in the process.
“She said you’d be like this. She said you’d try to undermine our relationship. You’re just like Chloe.”
Charlotte saw red.
“Don’t be such a stupid bitch, Fiona. Chloe told me what happened. She loved you but she couldn’t cope with what you became.”
Fiona’s eyes blazed.
“How dare you think you know what went on between me and Chloe.”
“Chloe told me all about it. You need to leave Paula. She’s bad for you.”
“You… and… Chloe? You’ve spoken to Chloe?”
“Not just speaking,” Charlotte retorted.
Fiona’s face fell.
“Have you been fucking Chloe?”
Charlotte bit her lip, cursing inwardly as she saw realisation dawn on Fiona’s face.
“Just fuck off, Charlotte. Miss Paula was right. You’re just like all the others. I can’t believe you and her. How could you? You are such a fucking bitch. I hope they don’t let you in. l I don’t want you anywhere near me and Miss Paula.”
Charlotte picked up her portfolio case.
“Fine,” she snarled. “I’ll go.”
Half an hour later, Charlotte finally felt herself calming down. Her portfolio had already been taken away to be viewed in private and she was just waiting to be called for the interview. As she sat there, she hoped there would be a space on the evening bus back to Belfast. Staying at Fiona’s was obviously no longer an option. The memory of skinhead Fiona in a pink dress made Charlotte smile now that she’d got over the shock. What was Emma going to say? Charlotte was just imagining the reaction when she heard her name being called.
The interview went so much better than the one in Belfast. The tutors seemed impressed by her drawings and her passion for the subject shone through. At the end, they told her the official letters would be sent out in a week or so but they looked forward to seeing her in September.
She lugged the portfolio case down the road towards the bus station. The dilemma of where she wanted to go was uppermost in her mind. She’d always wanted to go to London and now, just as it seemed she’d got it, she thought maybe she wanted Belfast after all.
The bus headed north up the M6. Charlotte gazed out the window as the exit signs started to list towns she knew from her old life. At Junction 21, she saw the signs for Warrington and Liverpool and thought how things would have been so different if she was still heading home to Bootle.
When the bus from the ferry terminal pulled into Belfast bus station, Charlotte weighed up her options. Her parents weren’t expecting her back until tomorrow. Maybe she could just call down to Chloe's and see if she wanted to spend the day together. But then the fear gripped her. What if she called round and there was another girl in Chloe’d bed? It wasn’t like they were going out together. She could hardly expect Chloe to wait around while she made up her mind.
Charlotte stood rooted to the spot. She wanted to see Chloe, to hold her, to tell her about Fiona but she didn’t want to appear too needy or desperate. Fiona had called her needy. She had been Fiona’s needy little fucktoy. She didn’t want to appear needy to anyone anymore. Charlotte decided she was too tired to make any decisions. Two nights in a row attempting to sleep on a coach traversing the English countryside, not to mention the interview and the fight with Fiona had drained her. She got onto the bus for Strabane and promptly fell asleep.
Fiona was there wearing her pink dress and the orange bobble hat. She was holding the hem of her skirt and lifting it up, flashing her shaved pussy as she rocked from side to side.
“Miss Paula told me not to wear any knickers today. Are you wearing knickers Charlotte?”
“I… um..” Charlotte looked down. She was naked. She looked up again, blushing. Miss Paula stood behind Fiona and pulled off the hat. She ran the red taloned nails on the ends of her stumpy fingers over the short stubbly hairs on Fiona’s head.
“Can you imagine what a suedehead feels like when it’s rubbing against your pussy, Charlotte?”
Charlotte swallowed.
“Fiona’s such a good little bitch, and you will be too. I can tell. Needy little whores are always so eager to please. And we all know just what a needy little whore you are. Though fucking Fiona’s ex was a low blow, even for you.”
“Don’t listen to her, Charlotte.”
Charlotte turned to see Chloe coming towards her holding a fluffy white dressing gown.
“Awww, goody-two-shoes Chloe coming to preserve your modesty. As if we didn’t already see you coming so hard you passed out.”
Fiona’s dress fell to the floor and Charlotte watched, mouth agape as Paula’s fingers gripped the chain connecting the two nipple clamps and tugged hard. Fiona shut her eyes and whimpered as her nipples were stretched, her breasts becoming conical as Paula pulled harder on the chain.
“She loves it, loves the pain. You do too, don’t you Charlotte? You need it. Chloe is never going to be enough for you.”
“Don’t listen to her. She won’t make you happy.”
“Neither will you,” Paula spat back.
“Miss," Fiona cried. “Miss!”
“Miss, excuse me, Miss. Wake up.”
Charlotte sat up, confused and gave a yelp of surprise as she stared down the barrel of a machine gun. A soldier was leaning over her, asking to see some identification. Groggily, she looked around. The bus was stopped at a checkpoint and soldiers were moving down the bus, checking the passengers. She reached into her bag and pulled out her passport. When the soldier saw the British passport cover, he just nodded, said “Thank you” and moved on to the next passenger.
Charlotte leant back, her head rested against the back of the seat. Her dream had excited her. Watching Fiona squirm as the nipple clamps bit and dug into her flesh had turned Charlotte on. Chloe didn’t seem to be into that whole side of things. When Charlotte had bit Chloe’s nipples a little too enthusiastically the other night, Chloe had stopped her and told her to be more gentle. Chloe was like the polar opposite of Fiona. She loved things to be gentle, sensual, loving, caressing and consensual whereas Fiona was into taking, making Charlotte beg, getting off on her neediness and willingness to submit to anything. Charlotte knew she was somewhere in the middle, but where, she wasn’t too sure.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the bus arriving in Strabane. Charlotte thought she might as well call round to the music shop and see Emma who was covering Charlotte’s shift. She couldn’t wait to see Emma’s reaction when she told her about Fiona’s new look.
Charlotte paused with her hand on the music shop door. Through the glass, she saw Emma wrapping her arms around Dave’s neck and pulling him in for a kiss. She froze. Her brain was finding it hard to process what her eyes were seeing. Her best friend kissing a man twice her age.
She pushed on the door and as the bell jingled, Emma and Dave sprang apart. Dave turned to see Charlotte and blushed.
“Err… Hi Charlotte. I thought you were still in London?”
“No, change of plan,” she sighed. She glanced at Emma. “Fiona was being an arse so I came home early. Did I miss anything exciting?”
“Not really. Dave was playing at the Alleyman’s last night. You missed a good night.”
Charlotte nodded while Dave blushed even redder.
“Right, well, I’m gonna go. Can I leave you to lock up, Emma?”
Charlotte grinned. Dave looked like he couldn’t get out fast enough. As soon as the door closed behind him, Charlotte turned on Emma.
“Ok, spill the beans. Just what have you been up to?”
Emma blushed and told Charlotte how she’d been chatting with Dave at the bar, how she’d watched their set and then hung around afterwards. Neither Deirdre nor Jenny had been out either so she’d hung around like a groupie and then he’d asked her if she fancied going back to his for another drink. She shrugged.
“And well, one thing led to another.” She saw Charlotte raise her eyebrow and quickly added “We didn’t sleep together, we only kissed.”
“Ok, ok.” Charlotte held up her hands. “I believe you, even if thousands wouldn’t.”
She laughed and headed for the door, ignoring Emma’s protestations.
“I’m going home to change. See you in the bar later?”
“Naturally.”
Charlotte lay soaking in the bath, thinking about the future. In a few more weeks, they’d do their A levels and then it’d be off to university or art college. Home for Christmas maybe but new friends would take over. Charlotte had never been very good at holding onto friends. She barely thought of Katie back in Liverpool anymore.
She slid down into the bath, letting the water rise over her face. She always imagined she was like Ophelia as she lay in the water, her hair fanning out around her. As usual, when she was in the bath, her fingers strayed between her legs. She tried to clear her mind and just focus on her finger slowly circling around her clit. She got the pad of her fingertip to circle as close as possible without touching. She liked to sometimes see how long she could tease herself before the urge to rub consumed her. She remembered how Fiona would tease and edge her like this. How she’d beg and plead for Fiona to fuck her, to make her cum. She ran the length of the finger over her clit and pushed it inside her pussy up to the first knuckle. She clenched her muscles, clamping down, squeezing her finger with her walls. When she relaxed, she released her finger and dragged it back up over her clit.
Again and again, she repeated the same move, letting it build before easing off every time she felt it get too close. Then she saw the foot massager lying on the side of the bath. It was a rod with five wooden balls skewered on it. You were supposed to stand on it and roll it back and forth along the sole of your foot but Charlotte suddenly had a different idea.
It was a bit thicker than a cock but she could just get her finger and thumb around it. She placed it at the entrance to her pussy and slowly pushed in while bracing her feet against the bottom of the bath and lifting her hips up.
“Fuckkkk,” she groaned as she felt the hard wooden sphere open her. Her walls were being stretched. This was actually quite a bit thicker than any cock she’d had or the strapon Paula had taken her with. When the first ball was inside her, she paused. The foot massager stuck out of her like an obscene ribbed dildo.
Taking a deep breath she pushed it in further, the balls stretching then relaxing her walls as they rippled through her. With four balls inside and using the fifth as a handle, she slowly moved the massager in and out. The tip was deep inside her and brushed her cervix when she wobbled the massager to and fro. She started to pump in and out faster. Her breathing was ragged. The water was splashing over the sides as she started to fuck herself with the foot massager dildo.
It built and built. The water splashed on the floor as she rocked back and forth. She was on the edge, waiting, knowing it was going to break at any moment. Then her mum knocked on the door to ask if she was all right.
She lost her concentration, her foot slipped and she crashed down into the bath. The noise of water splashing everywhere as she fell into the water caused her mother to hammer on the door, worried she was drowning.
Charlotte called out that she was ok then slowly lay back in the bath again. Gripping the end of the massager, she eased it out. The moment was gone so she got out and dried herself off. Maybe, she mused, she just needed to get a guy to give her a good no-strings-attached fuck. Guys were so predictable compared to girls.
So with her shortest mini skirt on and her hair standing up like a bird’s nest, she slung on her leather jacket and headed to the pub. Studying could wait. After all, it was Saturday night.
