CHAPTER 1
Kitty views her naked body in the full-length mirror. She's trying to decide on what to wear for her 30th birthday party on Saturday - always best to plan ahead with these things, she thinks. Her instinct says safety first as usual. Jeans, sparkly top and safe shoes, perhaps? A knee-length skirt, sparkly top and safe shoes? Or maybe a knee-length dress and safe shoes? She sighs to herself and wonders what would happen if she got a little bit naughty for a change? You know, make a bold statement. "Thirty but not dead yet!" She remembers the party she went to last summer and how she felt so out of place among all those girls in their sexy short skirts, their low-cut sun dresses, all of them bare legged and sporting the most amazing array of semi pornographic shoes. The party eventually descended into an orgy and, despite feeling a guilty wet thrill, an aching curiosity, she gave into her moral side and left in disgust. Those girls had no shame or self-respect, she thought on her way home in the taxi cab, trying hard to put out of her mind the sight of her friend Gloria being fucked by three men on the pool table. And her, a married woman! Yet on the next day at work, it was Gloria who held the high ground, teasing Kitty about being so stuffy and moralistic.
A text message alert startles out her out of her daydream and, speak of the devil, it's from Gloria, offering to go shopping with her for an outfit. Kitty calls her and arranges to meet but before ringing off, she takes a deep breath and asks:
"Gloria, can I come to your club with you, after my party on Saturday?"
Her friend hesitates.
"Babe, I'm sorry, but you know I can't bring watchers. It's just the rules."
Kitty lingers for a few seconds and has it on the tip of her tongue to tell Gloria to forget she ever asked. But she pushes harder.
"But what if want to take part?"
A few more awkward seconds tick by before Gloria responds.
"Look, tell you what, we'll talk about it when we meet. See you at eleven!"
*********************
Gloria usually likes to shop first for a while and then have a coffee break to discuss progress, look over various bargains, and plot the next offensive on unsuspecting stores. This morning, though, is a bit different so she suggests coffee first and sits Kitty down at a table on the terrace. It's time to put her straight about the club. She lights up a cigarette, disregarding the no smoking signs all around, and takes a deep drag on it.
"Listen babe, it's not for me to tell you what to do, but I would strongly advise you to think again."
Kitty is exasperated by her friend's negativity.
"But I'm serious! Really!"
"Maybe you are but let's be honest here, you've no experience of the sex party culture, and you know how you reacted at that party, last summer!"
Kitty blushes and looks down at her feet, remembering to book a pedicure. Urgently!
"Kitty?"
"Yes, I hear you."
"Yeah, well multiply by ten sweetie and you've got the club."
"But I'm tired of playing safe all the time. I want to take some risks, experience something exciting for a change."
Gloria peers at Kitty over the rim of her shades, like a teacher with a child who's never going to be good at art. She takes another puff from her cigarette and exhales out the corner of her mouth.
"Take up rock climbing! Learn to fly!"
"Oh Gloria! Don't make fun of me!"
"Well I'm sorry but you're not ready to just walk into a club like that and go with it, you know?"
"What am I supposed to do then?"
Gloria shakes some chocolate powder on the creamy surface of her latte and takes a sip, leaving her with a comical, creamy moustache. Kitty smiles and hands her a paper napkin.
"You need to ease yourself into the culture babe," says Gloria, wiping her sensuous mouth.
"And how?"
"Well if you're really serious, me and Terry will help you."
Kitty was not expecting this. Terry is Gloria's husband.
"Really?"
Gloria tosses the cigarette to the ground, stamps it out with her heel, and finishes her latte with one tip of the cup.
"Yes, really. I'll pick you out a hot outfit now and you can come round tonight."
This is all very sudden. Kitty doesn't know what to say but the very idea gives her a little buzz of excitement and makes her squirm in the chair. She's always had a secret thing for Terry.
**********************
Gloria and Terry spend some time that evening explaining to Kitty the whole sex party culture and how it works in the context of their club. She sits in the armchair and listens to them carefully, trying to take it all in but, looking across at the couple on the sofa, just feels so strange. It's like one of those tacky, late night TV programmes. "And tonight on Terry and Gloria's World of Sex - Kitty goes wild!" She suppresses a giggle, knowing that her friends are being so kind and don't really have to help her out with this at all.
For her part, Gloria doubts that her friend fully understands what's involved. There is a big difference between theory and practice and Kitty is, after all, one of the most moralistic, principled women she knows. She doesn't want to see her compromise her values on a mere whim borne out of insecurities about her age or her sex life. She knows that's what's at the bottom of all this.
"Kitty, everybody who goes to club knows they can have sex with anyone, regardless of looks or personality, and sometimes even in groups of three or four. Of course, you can say no if someone's being an ass, but if you refuse too many times for no good reason, or you're too inhibited, you will be seen as a watcher and asked to leave eventually."
