The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Olivia’s House

Chapter 26 — A Day of Plans, and Dodging Bullets

“Don’t you two…” Hannelore’s voice trailed off. I’d bounded downstairs with my usual joy, and met my little sister in the lounge while she and Dad were staying for the weekend. I’d said that it was Alex’s turn to fix breakfast for everyone today, and asked if she was down yet. My sister was clearly shocked, and she’d been pretty freaked out already by finding out I was bisexual that it took me a second to realise just what had got to her this time. I shared a suite with Alex; it had originally been two bedrooms but my family now knew that we shared one room and used the other as a lounge/office space.

Alex is my girlfriend. So how could I not know if she’s come downstairs yet? I tried to think of a way to explain to my sister that we both sleep with other people if we feel like it, and we’re happy with that. Of course, there was no such option. There was no way Dad wouldn’t decide I’d gone crazy and try to drag me out of the life that suited me so well. I was trying to think what I could say when Alex appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Hey Livvy!” she called, seemingly oblivious of my plight, “You must have come down while I was in the shower. Sorry for being up late, my hair was a mess. Hope you’re not too upset at the late fry-up.”

I nodded, smiling, and muttered some kind of half-joking complaint. I knew she hadn’t been in the shower when I got up, but she was actually thoughtful enough to come up with a story that allowed my pretense of a ‘normal’ relationship. That’s why I loved Alex and Jim, more than anything else. They would always think about the things I just took for granted, and they’d always do the right thing to make sure everyone was happy. Hannelore wasn’t satisfied, though, I could tell from the suspicious stare. There was nothing she could say, though, without calling my girlfriend a liar right in front of me. Given her previous failure at hiding her disapproval that would get her in an awful lot of trouble from Dad, so she held her tongue for now. I knew I’d have to go out of my way to stop her seeing anything that could arouse suspicion until tomorrow, though.

Alex’s breakfast was as great as usual. As soon as the grill was on, everyone else started to appear. There’s something about the smell of bacon cooking that seems to permeate the house. Britney and Kiva appeared only a few minutes later, Britney explaining that Marten was still asleep because he’d had both a tough day at work and a long evening of planning for a wedding in the next year. Jules came down shortly after, claiming a plate of lorne sausages and fried eggs with only the tiniest garnish of bacon.

“Where’s Jim got to?” Dad speculated, fork halfway to his mouth, “This seems like the kind of meal he’d kill for.”

“He’s probably overslept,” Alex answered without thinking, “He was up pretty much all night.” Dad didn’t respond at all. Hannelore’s brow furrowed, wondering if she could somehow have spotted something that the omniscient parent missed, but still there was nothing there worthy of actually commenting on.

“He said last night, he had a load of work to do,” Alex added. I knew Hannelore was worried, but I had no idea what she was suspecting now. She couldn’t possibly have been suspecting that either of us were involved with Jim, but… any time we said something that didn’t quite add up, I could just see her building an elaborate conspiracy theory. The moment she’d found out about me and Alex, any trust she’d had for my girlfriend seemed to have vanished, so maybe it was all too easy for her to suspect Alex of whatever could possibly be wrong.

That was an issue for another time, though. I knew there was nothing I could say right now that would assuage Hannelore’s fears. Alex made a wonderful fried breakfast, that eventually everyone in the house showed up for. With the difficulty we’d had getting Marten and Britney to show up for any group events since they announced their engagement, their appearance here was quite a novelty and a testimony to Alex’s cooking skills. I felt genuinely blessed to be able to call her my girlfriend, and that thought dispelled any lingering doubts I might have had about coming out to the world. I’d known for a year or more that I belong to her, that I’d do whatever she demanded, but it was a novelty to be able to think of her as mine. Declaring our relationship to the world made that jump possible, and there was nothing that could have pleased me more.

After breakfast, I went back to pick out a costume for the party tonight. Once, as I wandered out onto the balcony in the ballroom, Dad asked what I was up to. That was the moment my heart was in my mouth; would he disapprove of me being at a drunken teenager’s party? I realise that most students are 18 or 19 years old, and that I still was myself, but most of their antics still seemed childish to my eyes. Going to a friend’s 18th birthday was strange enough, without my dad worrying about what I might get up to.

“It’s my friend’s birthday, I feel like I should dress up, but…” he looked concerned, and I couldn’t help myself. “You said we should just act like you weren’t here, so I thought you wouldn’t mind.”

He hesitated. I knew it was unfair to turn it round on him like that, but then I was feeling pretty bad already about having to deceive my family earlier. I was really surprised, though, that he turned around so easily.

“Oh, right. Do you need a ride?” He didn’t seem to be worried, which was the last thing I expected.

“You… you aren’t worried what I’ll get up to at a wild, drunken student party?” I was so surprised that I ended up playing the devil’s advocate, arguing against my own plans before I even thought about it.

“No,” and I saw a smile, realised that there was concern there, on a level I couldn’t even comprehend, but that he was trying to show that he respected my lifestyle just as hard as I needed to show him that I was being responsible. “I know from Jim that you didn’t try to sneak any guys in for your own birthday, so I know I can trust you at someone else’s do, and you’ve got a girlfriend now. You had the courage to actually say that in front of your father, and to me that says that you guys are serious enough that you wouldn’t consider messing around. You’re an adult now, whether you realise it or not. I know that when you’ve got a good thing going, you’re not going to do anything stupid just because you’re drunk, and nobody is going to dare to hurt you when you’ve got so many influential friends here. I mean…” he hesitated, and right then I was probably as close as I’d ever come to wanting to tell the truth. I might have said something, if he’d not continued a second later: “I still worry about you because I’m your father. It’s what we do. But I know now that you’ve carved out your own place in the world, and there’s nothing I need to worry about.”

When he said it like that, I don’t think there was anything I could have done except just nod and be grateful.

* * *

We didn’t need a ride, in the end. There was a bit of panic when I realised I didn’t actually know where Mark lived, and a bigger panic when Alex saw my simple outfit and felt the need to throw together something from the odds and ends in her wardrobes to make sure I was properly dressed for a party. But Alex was more organised than me, and had already got a good idea what time we’d need to be setting off in order to get to the place on time.

“Need a chaperone?” Dad joked, “I could tag along and make sure this party doesn’t get out of hand. I could be the new Jim.”

“They can look after themselves,” Jules saved us from any further dad jokes (which somehow manage to derive humour from the fact that they’re not funny—do everyone’s parents do that?), “Besides, Doctor Jim’s been saying he wants to catch up with you, you’ve hardly spoken in the last month or so, he says, and I also get the impression you’re the person I need to ask for advice on getting him a bottle for Christmas.”

I could tell my family would be in good hands. Hannelore and Jules seemed to have a similar taste in video games, as unlikely as it sounded, so I had no doubt we’d find them both on the sofa when we got back. My sister looked a little nervous as we went to leave, though. She’d been on edge all weekend, and I wished there was something I could say to reassure her that I was still the same person I’d always been.

“Your friend Jules…” she found just a moment to whisper while my dad was giving Alex the obligatory lecture about looking after me. “Is she… like…”

“Gay?” I raised an eyebrow, “That’s not such an easy question. I thought Jules was a guy with a feminine voice when we first met, I still don’t know for sure, or what they’re into, but…” I hesitated, not sure if this was going where I’d intended it. But then I realised what I was trying to say, and grabbed what was probably the heart of this complex issue: “But I think that whatever Jules likes, it’s not my business. If they liked me, if they wanted me, then they’d let me know somehow. And unless someone is actually into me, then I don’t care, I don’t even need to know what their sexuality is. I mean, I’ve seen you getting nervous round Alex ever since we came out, and I’m not going to hold that against you because it’s probably a normal response. But if you’re going to avoid lesbians in case they’re checking you out, are you going to be scared of straight guys for the same reason? Yeah, it’s weird when you first think about it, I went through that phase longer ago than I care to remember. But Alex isn’t going to be thinking about you as a sex object, because she wouldn’t even think something that would hurt me. I think the whole world would be an easier place to live if we could ditch all these labels and just ask someone ‘do you fancy me?’ without trying to narrow it down by gender first. Sorry…” I realised I’d got carried away there, and just started rambling. But she smiled, and I knew that somewhere in that mess of words, I’d maybe found the right one.

“Thanks,” Hannelore smiled, “I can’t promise I’ll get used to all this straight away, but… well, it makes sense when you say it like that. I mean, if it’s a guy who doesn’t fancy me, then I’m okay to just be friends, so it should be the same for girls. I’ll get used to it in time, it’s just such a shock and… well, I guess seeing you talk like that, you’re so excited, almost passionate. I care about you Livvy, you know I do, and it’s great to know you’re doing what works for you.”

I know my lifestyle isn’t normal, and I knew there’d be people who’d disapprove of every part of it. Hannelore wasn’t happy with it, I could tell that much, but she could see through to my point of view: that making everybody happy was the most important measure of success, and ‘normal’ was horribly overrated. If she still felt uncomfortable, the logical part of her mind could see there was no reason behind it, so I could only hope that any discomfort would evaporate once she spent some more time with me and Alex—and Jules too, I guess—and got used to us still being the kind of people she could get on with.