1.
After a half-an-hour drive the taxi seemed to have reached its final destination. It stopped at a gate and the driver exchanged a few words over the intercom. The gate slid open and the car drove the final hundred meters to the building, which was either a small hotel or a very large home.
John was completely lost. They'd started the evening in central London and he didn't think they'd passed the M25 circular, but they'd gradually moved from city, to suburbia and now the area was distinctly rural and in the pitch darkness he could make out a small wood at the bottom of the hill and, further away, the lights of a motorway. He hadn't spent much time in the capital and the best he could say was that he was pretty sure they were somewhere north of the Thames. He'd tried checking his phone, but it was dead. The last time he'd charged it he'd been in Tokyo.
His sister, Karen, had fallen asleep on his arm. He'd dozed fitfully himself -- the booze and the jet-lag meant he should be out cold, but he was too stressed. The last few hours had been a nightmare. Firstly, he'd been invited to a strip-club with his boss and his boss' boss who were taking part in corporate hospitality with several high-profile clients only to discover his sister worked there. Then his attempt to secretly talk to her had been interpreted as signs that he liked her and he had been 'treated' to a lap-dance with her. They'd finally left the club and all he knew now was they were on the way to somewhere else and that Karen had been hired to provide him with sexual services. He'd barely begun to accept that his sister was a stripper. The idea that she was also a call-girl was too much. How had she talked him into any of this?
He shook her gently. "Hggh, John? Wha..." she said groggily.
For a moment, John was worried that as she woke she'd give the whole game away. "Give her a second," he said. "We'll catch up with you."
The other four occupants of the car got out. Roberts, his line manager, graciously holding the door open for his girl of the evening, Amelia and she alighted gracefully. Nakamura, their visiting guest from Japan, had rather more problems, having been black-out drunk through most of the evening and Davina had to help him out of the car and support him as they went into the building.
He waited till his sister was more fully awake and everyone else had gone inside then they got out. The driver flicked an informal salute and drove off. Having alone time with Karen had been difficult this evening, so he made the most of it.
"Listen, we're in trouble. What are we going to do?"
"What do you mean?" she said, stifling a yawn.
"I mean we're expected to go in there and have sex. Together!"
"Oh that!" she said. "Don't sweat it."
"You mean you have a plan," said John daring for a moment to feel somewhat relieved. If nothing else, his sister definitely was the most cunning member of the family.
"Yeah, sure. We go in there and have sex. I mean it's only going to be an issue if anyone finds out and I don't see that happening. We're far more likely to be discovered if you're all nervous and trying to avoid sleeping the stunningly beautiful girl you've been gifted."
John looked at her in amazement. He had seen Karen fairly regularly over the years since she'd moved to London to become an actress, but it occurred to him that their meetings had that usually been in the company of his parents and therefore he'd been witnessing the 'good girl' version of his sister. She'd always had a hidden wicked side, but he hadn't realized how much she must have been nurturing it over the past few years. "You really don't have a problem with this, do you?"
"Not really. It's almost funny. Just when you think you're out, I get to pull you back in again. But if you want to be prudish about it there is an alternative. You won't like it."
"What?" said John desperately.
"Tell Roberts that you're gay. You didn't want to say anything in the club, so you were playing along, but now things are ramping up, you're starting to feel uncomfortable and wanted to come clean."
John had only had one proper boss since graduating, but even so, he couldn't Roberts was his favourite. The guy could be an asshole especially when he was drunk. He'd never heard him say anything actually homophobic in a work environment, but he was the kind of guy who got uncomfortable talking about the company's Pride Month events. Having been gracious enough to invite his underling to this debauched event, there was a definite possibility that a coming out could permanently damage his promotion chances.
"I could just say I'm in a long term relationship and feeling bad about cheating?" he said.
"Right, and you have pictures of this girl, have you? You're going to invite her to the company Christmas dinner?"
"I imagine we might break-up sometime quite soon afterwards."
"Just remember, I've already been paid to fuck someone tonight. If not you, then who? Roberts seems nice enough."
"No he doesn't."
"Hell, it could become a regular thing. I could go for a sugar daddy. I could even whisper a word in his ear on your behalf, help you up the corporate ladder. No? Or maybe I'll just try to maximize my profits for tonight and let your Japanese clients run a train through me tonight."
"I know when you're trying to wind me up. Stop fucking with me." His sister had always been crude. He'd always been able to laugh it off as a joke before. Now he wasn't so sure.
"You start fucking with me first, honey. Relax, let's just take the evening as it comes. I'm not saying we will, just that if we end up having to, it's no big deal."
Just then, they were interrupted as the second of the taxis containing their group pulled up. John went over and opened the door for them. Peterson and Tanaka, the two CEOs got out first and then were followed by their translator, Watanabe, and the three girls they'd brought with them: Monique, Trisha and Nikita.
"Shall we?" Peterson said once everyone was out and they headed up the gravel drive and into the building.
It turned out to be a hotel after all. They were met at the door by a woman who had all the professional bearing of a receptionist, but only half of the clothes - her breasts swinging full and free as she guided them over to the desk.
"Have you been before?" she asked and the group indicated by osmosis that they hadn't.
"Here are your towels and dressing gowns. You don't have to be nude, but outside clothes are frowned upon. You can get changed in the swimming pool changing rooms. Feel free to use the pool, but we ask you refrain from any funny business in it for hygiene reasons. You can sit and chat either here or on the veranda, but you'll find most of the action around the gym and function hall. There are other facilities, so to speak, but I'll leave them as a surprises for when you go exploring. If you want a private room, the etiquette is that the first floor rooms are doors open and if you do want privacy, you can get a key card for one of the second floor rooms from me here. Oh, and one final thing. No phones or cameras are allowed anywhere during the event. If you need to make a call, you can come into the back office. I'd like to collect any electronic devices now."
The group handed over their phones. As John gave his up, he asked, "Sorry, any chance you could you charge this for me." The receptionist checked the socket and nodded. One she'd bagged and tagged all the phones, she reached beneath the counter and produced out two trays with arm bands.
"Now, let me explain the band system. Blue means you are interested in men. Pink means women. If you are bisexuals take one of each. Worn on the right hand means you are open to invitations to play and worn on the left hand means you are exclusive to one partner. We do ask that you respect the band choices of the other guests and remind you that even if someone is wearing a band of the appropriate colour on their right arm, no still means no."
Tanaka chose a pink-arm band for his right arm, but put a blue-one on his date's left-arm. John was a little surprised. The CEO was by all accounts an exhibitionist, but it also seemed like he'd taken a shine to Nikita, the sexy Russian girl, and wasn't willing to share.
