Title: A NIGHT IN YELLOW BIRD BAR
FIVE
Tonight was the night, and the Yellow Bird bar was the place. Joey had never felt more determined about anything in her entire life. She would not fail her friend in her time of need.
Joey had met Caitlin when they were both awkward teens just starting out in high school. They quickly forged a friendship closer than sisters. They navigated homework, bullies and bitches together. Adolescence and the growth into adulthood was shared: secret crushes, first kisses and the unshackling of virginity. Though they inevitably drifted apart, as all friendships must do when colleges and jobs and lovers demand attention, the two girls still celebrated and commiserated together. There were no secrets between them, from hidden desires and embarrassing accidents to the occasional terrible, drunken lay.
Unfortunately, in recent months, this wonderful friendship had disintegrated. Caits had found a new friend who swept aside all others. Her name was Amy. Caits had been immediately captivated by her. With her swagger and flawless confidence, Caitlin seemed drawn like a moth to a flame to her. Joey had taken an immediate dislike to the woman, of course. Her manners were so calculating, her superiority so carefully cultivated. Jo especially hated her looks; her expensive hairstyle and clothes, and especially the voracious red lipstick she was never seen without. It was a dark red—the colour of slit arteries.
Two became three, and then two again, with Joey finding herself the odd girl out. Caitlin now walked in distant lands. Her eyes would become dreamy when she talked of her evenings and nights spent in the company of Amy, even if the details were always fuzzy. They ate a delicious meal. They visited an exclusive club. Jo survived on tiny morsels: a pair of shiny boots she saw and coveted until Amy treated her to them. The sparkling lights of a secret underground club. The light from the rising sun one morning after an all night party—but she was never given never the whole story. Jo was only allowed small glimpses from the other side of the window. Her presence no longer seemed necessary or even desired by her best friend. No boyfriend of Caits had ever occupied her attention so completely. Jo couldn’t stop feeling furious, upset, and more than anything, jealous.
More than that though, the drastic changes she saw in Caits worried her more and more. Caitlin began to wear flimsy dresses of satin and lace. She would appear as an escapee of a burning building in only her nightie … in the middle of screwing someone senseless. Her hair was always unkempt and her cheeks flustered, caught between some rapture interrupted. Next came the … fetish-store club-wear, as Joey described it: skin-tight, wet-look leggings, constricting corsets, or tight latex vests that left nothing to the imagination. Worst of all was the expensively hand-made leather choker she kept strapped around her throat. It was about two inches thick and shamelessly featured a large silver ring. She never took it off. What had transformed her innocent friend, to make her transform into such a happy exhibitionist? Amy’s influence was the only explanation.
Then one day Caitlin announced she was ending the lease on her apartment. She was going to move in with Amy. In her one-bedroom flat.
Were they lovers now? Joey asked herself, incredulous. If Caitlin had ever felt an attraction to another woman, she had never expressed it to her closest confidant. When Joey brought the subject up, she always demurred, saying only that her relationship with Amy was a lot more complicated than that. Any more information she refused to divulge, as though she was tongue-tied. But she couldn’t hide the friction burns that sometimes appeared on her elbows and knees, or the way she gingerly sat down as though bee-stung on her buttocks.
This wasn’t the Caits she had known for so long. It was all too sudden, too bizarre. Joey had to try to get through to her somehow. She really had to try. She didn’t like this spell this Amy had cast over her best friend. It had to be some kind of coercion. She couldn’t believe Caitlin was truly happy with all this, without even telling her. Cait’s contented demurring and airy laughter would not discourage Jo any longer. She intended to confront her tonight, in the Yellow Bird bar. On a week-night she knew their favourite bar would be quiet enough for a sensible, logical intervention. This infatuation had to cease before it ruined her forever.
Joey arrived a half hour early. The bar was deserted. The barman seemed inebriated, staring vacantly at the rows of vodka and whiskey bottles. Even the lights had given up for the night. In the deep, dark recesses of the private booths, she found Caitlin waiting for her. With dismay, Jo saw she was not alone. Another promise broken.
Amy was with her, but they weren’t sitting as two people normally should, facing the other over their table; they sat side by side, seemingly inseparable. Amy was nearest to the door, while Caitlin was positioned in the tight space between Amy and the wall. As Joey approached their booth, she thought they were almost cuddling. Caitlin started at the sight of her friend, and hurriedly fiddled with the lacy straps on her black dress. What had Joey interrupted? She had been knocked off balance before she even sat down.
“Joey! How lovely to see you!” Amy said breezily. “Take a seat. I’ve gone ahead and ordered us all cocktails. Hope that’s okay. It’s called a Bubbly Blue Lagoon. Isn’t that silly? They really are delicious though. It’s got blueberries in it!”
Joey looked at the blue concoction in the shapely glass. There were already several drained glasses and scattered napkins littering the table. She glared at Amy, burning with impotent rage. Caitlin sat still, innocent and blank.
“I want to talk to Caitlin.” Joey said.
“She’s right here beside me. Talk away, I don’t mind.” Amy spoke gently, like she was coaxing a kitten towards a saucer of milk.
“I meant alone!”
“Oh now, don’t be rude, Jo. Let’s the three of us enjoy each other for a spell. I promise I’ll let you talk to her later on.”
“What’s wrong with you? Caits is my best friend. And since she met you, she’s not been herself!”
“In what way has she not been herself, my dear?”
“Look at yourself, Caitlin! The way you’re dressing. The way you’re acting, for God’s sake! Please look at me!”
“Have you considered that the way she dresses and acts now is her true self? Maybe all I’ve done is allowed her to really express herself for the first time. And Joey, you’ll really have to address her by her name if you want her to pay attention to you.”
“I am using her name!”
“That’s her old name. She let me give her a new one.”
Joey was stunned into silence at that.
“Would you like to know her new name? Go ahead dear, you can tell Joey.”
“My name is honeypot.” Caitlin said dreamily. “I taste just like honey on Mistresses tongue, and my honey is always sticky and sweet just for her.”
Mistress? Mistress! Joey’s mind reeled. What had this witch done to her friend? She wanted to grab her and shake her and squeeze all this insanity right out. But she out of reach, a million miles away, and Amy had trapped the poor girl inside the booth with her.
Joey could tell from her subtle movement that Amy had moved her arm beneath the table. Caitlin had shifted on her buttocks just ever so slightly, spreading her legs to welcome her Mistresses fingers. She couldn’t disguise her delight at being rewarded this gratuitously.
A long moment passed between Mistress and slave, lost in their singularly private moment. A door closed and locked. Joey was shocked by what she was being forced to watch. Amy kept her eyes focussed on her, smiling with hidden knowledge. Just as Joey worked up the courage to protest, Amy pulled her hand up. Without ever averting her gaze, she held her fingers for Caitlin. She leaned forward and sucked the wet digits into her mouth. She obediently suckled as Amy addressed Joey again.
“You see, Joey. Our lovely friend here has simply discovered just how much she loves to be hypnotised. It’s made her truly know herself. And I’ve been the lucky woman to help her.”
Joey wanted to storm out. But the disgust in her belly forced her to sit still. Her legs refused to budge. She insisted to herself it was the anger that made her stay, not the tickle of arousal she had felt at the display she had witnessed. Caitlin’s unfettered pleasure and meek obeisance. It was all so disgusting and wrong and she would never get excited by it in the slightest.
Wiping the saliva and honeypot’s remaining juices from her fingers with a napkin, Amy sighed. She lay a carton of cigarettes and a vintage, immaculate Ronson Cadet lighter on the table. This could be my chance, Jo thought. When Amy goes outside to smoke and I’m left alone with Caits, I can finally drill some sense into her.
Amy tapped a cigarette loose nonchalantly. She tapped it on the table and placed it between her bloodstained lips. Se flicked her lighter. A flame burst forth and then was extinguished. An inhale and a slow exhale. A stream of milky white smoke spread around the booth. She didn’t seem to care that smoking was obviously prohibited inside the bar.
Joey looked around, appalled. Yes, the bar was empty tonight, but the barman seemed oblivious. Had he simply not noticed, or had Amy told him not to notice? That thought terrified her. How could Caits be so willing to be dominated like this? Had she so little self control left? Amy read her mind.
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ve already orgasmed out all of honeypot’s reluctance. It flooded out of you freely, didn’t it, honey? Gushing down your thighs every time I let you cum?”
“Yes, Mistress Amy.”
Joey’s hackles raised again.
“Your friend still seems to have some concerns about you. Tell her how you really, honestly feel. It’s okay.”
“I appreciate you concern, Jo. I really do. I love you for it. But I’ve never been happier in my whole life.”
“I want her to tell me without you forcing her.” Joey demanded.
“I’m not forcing her do anything!” Amy feigned dismay and shock at the suggestion. “But I understand, my dear. In a moment Caitlin will take herself downstairs to the toilets, and you can join her whenever you like and force yourself on her as much as you want.”
Dropping the cigarette onto the floor and rubbing it out, Amy leaned over and whispered something into Caitlin’s ear, so quietly that Joey couldn’t make it out. Caitlin’s eyelids fluttered and closed. She pressed her hands flat onto the table in front of her. Her head fell down towards her chest. She seemed to have suddenly fallen asleep. Yet a dreamy, contented smile spread across her lips. Her cheeks blushed pink as though she was enjoying a sensual massage. Joey flushed too, involuntarily.
“Wouldn’t you like to feel the way my honeypot feels right now?” Amy asked.
“No!”
“I’ve even convinced her to believe that the most erogenous part of her body isn’t her clitoris, or even her nipples. She can orgasm now by simply stroking her left earlobe. Of course, she can’t do it herself. Only I can. And you, if you want. Do you want to try it?”
“N-no … I wouldn’t!”
“Are you sure? That trickle between your legs is quite insistent, isn’t it?” How had she known? Was it so obvious on her face?
“It’s okay if you don’t, Jo. If you want that pressure to keep building and building until you just can’t stand it, that’s okay. You don’t have to give in to your true feelings if you don’t want to, no matter how good it would feel. My honeypot gave in, and look how happy she is. But I’ll understand if you really don’t want to join her.”
“I couldn’t make you do anything you didn’t want to. I wouldn’t do anything at all. honeypot would just love to help you, though. You don’t have to go to the toilets and pull off your sopping panties. But if you did, honeypot will be ready and waiting for you. honeypot my love, go to the toilets now and wait, just like I told you to.” Amy stood up to allow her to move freely.
Still completely entranced, Caitlin swayed to her feet, and slowly left the booth. She drifted off into the darkening recesses of the bar.
Joey began to follow, but Amy stopped her. She didn’t threaten, or even stretch out her arm. She simply grew taller in Jo’s eyes. With a subtle wave of her hand, her opponent was cowed. Joey fell back into her place. When it came, Amy’s voice betrayed no irritation. In fact, she radiated warmth.
“You haven’t even touched your cocktail, my dear. Relax yourself and have a sip. I know you’ll love it. honeypot isn’t going anywhere. She’ll be ready and waiting for you.” Amy smiled at her.
Joey was sipping before she could stop herself. She tasted salt then sweetness and the burning of liquor in her throat. In a moment she would stand up and rescue her friend. Just one more moment, she promised herself. She wouldn’t give this hypnotic temptress more than a moment. Joey would not fail.