The management at Le Palais de la Serpentine knew how to satisfy their wealthy clientele. Their entertainment staff was not, as widely believed, culled from the ranks of 'professionals.' Indeed, the guests Le Palais attracted had no interest whatsoever in the feined passions of the mundane hacks of the coitus trade.
Rather, the hotel employed skilled and resourceful recruiters to acquire naive young women, often tourists themselves, who had no prior experience in this line of work, and no comprehension of what they were getting themselves into. Girls who were not only young, healthy, and beautiful, but whose circumstances made it unlikely that they would quickly be missed and searched for.
Such a young woman was the bellhop who assisted Mrs. Paul and Mrs. Divergent with their luggage.
Her comprehension diminished by a regimen of covert but powerful mind-control, the young redhead was blithly unaware of the attention her uniform attracted, exposing as it did the full length of her beautiful legs, and an appreciable portion of her buttocks.
And as this lovely bellhop stood wobbling on her high heels in the new guests' bedroom, she was equally unaware of the 'decoration' which adorned the bedpost.
'What is your name, child?' asked Mrs. Divergent of the bellhop.
'Bernadette,' said the young woman, smiling shyly.
'How lovely,' complimented Mrs. Divergent, reaching out to brush a stray golden strand from the bellhop's forehead. 'I hope we have need for your services again soon, my pet.'
'That would please me, madam,' said Bernadette.
'You may go now. But haven't you forgotten something?'
'Oh!' said the bellhop. She quickly reached into the pocket of her jacket and produced a silver coin. 'Thank you so much!' she said, handing it to Mrs. Divergent. She curtsied and left.
Mrs. Divergent deposited the 'tip' in her purse, an amused smile on her lips. This establishment really thought of everything!
Turning to Mrs. Paul, she said, 'There's still a few hours before shop closing time! I think I'll hit a few boutiques! How about you?'
'I'm feeling lazy after all that time in the plane,' said Mrs. Paul. She had sunk down into a lushly-cushioned chaise longue, and was idly gazing at the 'decoration.'
'Well, somebody has to get us unpacked...' shrugged Mrs. Divergent as she turned towards the door.
Mrs. Paul looked at her. 'Slave-driver!'
An athletic, attractive woman, Mrs. Paul was wearing a pair of extremely short denim cutoffs that showed off her pretty legs. She sat cross-legged, her raised foot wagging rhythmically in the air. She faced the bedpost 'decoration', and wore the fixed and patient stare of a cat surveiling a mousehole.
The 'decoration' was cunningly arranged, with magenta ribbons serving both as restraints and color-accent. The main theme was voluptuous nudity, but the piece had a diabolical subtext-- only a single naked foot provided support on tiptoe, and an elegant silken rope was tied in a noose around subject's neck. A white rubber ballgag completed the composition, insuring hours of peaceful enjoyment.
For minutes, the only sound was Mrs. Paul's even respiration, and tiny, pathetic sighs eminating from the 'decoration.'
But then the telephone rang.
'Sarah, dear,' said Mrs. Divergent. 'I'm calling from the lobby. Could you phone back to our house-sitter-- what's her name, Joan?-- and give her our number. Just in case she has to reach us.'
'Will do,' said Mrs. Paul, and hung up. She leaned back in her chair and returned her stare to the 'decoration.' 'When I'm good and ready!' she thought.
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'Penny should be supervised and helped during her bubble baths.'
So stated rule 31 of the guide provided by Penny's guardians.
For Joan, this advisory was completely incomprehensible. If Penny was capable of cooking a gourmet meal as she demonstrated last night, why should she need help performing the simple act of bathing?
For any ordinary adult woman, having another woman 'supervise' her bathing would be an outrageous invasion of privacy. But Penny merely smiled as Joan helped the beautiful nude beauty lower herself into the bath.
Having been given license to do so, Joan took over much of the scrubbing of the young woman, even though Penny was obviously capable of managing alone. Joan found herself especially concerned about the cleanliness of Penny's stomach and chest, which she vigorously swabbed for several minutes as Penny became more and more confused, her breathing heavy, her head swaying back and forth.
'What an incredible three months this promises to be!' thought Joan afterward as she rubbed Penny down with a long, thick towel.
Joan wished to take Penny grocery shopping. Having learned the night before that Penny was a remarkable cook, Joan concluded that this talent would extend as well to the stocking of the refrigerator.
But in this endeavor, Joan found, among the rules provided to her, one that was particularly problematic, number 17-- 'Penny must be collared and leashed at all times when out in public.'
Penny, of course, was a human being-- indeed, she was a fully-grown adult woman, astonishingly beautiful in appearance, childlike and inarticulate in mind. To escort such a woman about on a leash would attract unwanted attention and inquiries.
As an experiment, Joan collared Penny and attached her to a leash for a walk around the yard. She quickly discovered another complication-- Penny adapted to the leash by crawling on her hands and knees!
Joan tried to discourage this, but only inspired much wimpering and consternation from the timid girl, who would only stand when hoisted up forcefully by the leash.
Joan could only conclude that it was part of Penny's training. Unfathomable training, since the behavior made Penny quite unsuitable for a public appearance (however charming in private.)
It was only when their course passed over a paved sidewalk that Joan discovered the secret. Coming up to the concrete, Penny got to her feet to pass over it.
Joan redirected Penny to walk along the sidewalk, and found that the young woman stayed on her feet as long as she was over pavement.
At 11 AM, Joan outfitted Penny in a sleeveless green dress -- the most modest outfit in Penny's limited wardrobe. Unfortunately, it had a plunging 'V' neckline, which not only showed off Penny's attractive breasts, but would do nothing to conceal the collar and leash.
Joan found, however, that by tying a scarf around Penny's neck, she was able to hide the collar and make the leash less conspicuous. She had another idea for how to handle things once they reached the market.
As they embarked on their journey in a Mercedes provided by Penny's guardians, Joan steered the car for a few blocks before realizing that she didn't know this neighborhood very well.
Turning to Penny, she said, 'Do you know where we can shop for groceries, pumpkin?'
Penny looked at her, not comprehending.
'Where do we go to get food?' Joan pantomined rubbing her tummy while repeating the word 'food.'
Penny suddenly understood. She pointed to the left and smiled. 'Eagle!' she said.
Joan took the turn and proceeded. After only a few blocks, Penny said 'Eagle' again and happily pointed down a street to the right.
Joan took the turn, and in a few minutes was pulling into a Giant Eagle, as Penny blissfully breathed the word 'Eagle.'
Taking Penny from the car, Joan found a nearby shopping cart. She tied Penny's leash to the push handle, and then propped her own purse up in the basket to cover the knot. By this means, Penny was controlled by the leash, but was not conspicuous-- she looked like any other shopper (except more beautiful).
It being a weekday morning, the supermarket wasn't crowded. Joan avoided other customers as she and Penny negotiated the produce section, she pulling the cart, and Penny pushing it along.
Joan read Penny's expression to determine what items interested her. As they passed the celery stocks, she prompted, 'Penny?' The beautiful girl timidly pointed at the celery. 'Go ahead and take it, dear,' Joan replied.
Joan was touched by the light that came into Penny's eyes as she reached out and took a package of celery stalks. She held them it in both hands, and looked it over front and back, greatly cherishing it.
'It seems the poor child hasn't had much opportunity to acquire things on her own,' thought Joan.
As they continued shopping, Penny picked up so many things that Joan was fearful she would buy the whole store. But she was being selective, her knowledge of food coming into play as she shook honeydew melons or smelled cantalope to test for ripeness. As Joan had hoped, Penny was choosing only the best to put in their cart.
Joan couldn't avoid other customers as they ventured past the produce section into the aisles of canned goods. She and her beautiful companion had no choice but to squeeze past people coming the other way, and be subject to their scrutiny. Penny's leash would surely be noticed.
But Joan discovered that people were actually averting their eyes. It was because Penny was such an attractive girl-- people, both men and women, were embarassed to be caught staring.
By the time Joan and Penny had finished shopping, the cart was brimming with groceries enough to feed an army. 'That ought to do for a week,' said Joan, amused to be indulging Penny this way. The pretty thing looked so happy!
As she was unloading at the checkout counter, Joan spotted something behind her that made her stop and stare--
Two women were shopping; one an older, sophisticated woman, the other a pretty young woman who sullenly maintained her station at the handle of the shopping cart.
It was too far away to tell for sure, but Joan could swear that there was a leash running between the young woman's throat and the cart's push handle.