With Friends Like These

What is it about my choice of men? Is it something about me, the way I dress, the way I act? I mean, I’m not like Katy, who wears skirts so short they could pass for belts instead, or Denise who thinks that hot pants over tight leggings is a good idea - and with her thighs as well!

Yes, I like to wear boots - this pair in particular is one of my favourites, with the cuffs turned down to give it that special look, and yes I like to wear tight tops, but I don’t flaunt it - I think I make it look good.

And its Valentine’s Day for goodness sake, so red was the obvious colour for my outfit. A little cleavage, but now too much - a leather skirt of just the right length - and a fitted jacket to match the boots. I looked stylish, not slutty.

So how the hell did I end up here, tied to the bed with my hands above me and my legs tied tightly down - and what is he doing with my favourite silk scarf?

Hang on - maybe I need to backtrack to earlier today, see if that helps me to understand what is going on here. It started just like any other day, walking into the kitchen to find Katy and Denise sitting at the table, making their usual attempt to eat and drink coffee before we headed off to the office.

We’ve lived together since our Uni days - we were on the same course, and ended up working for the same accountancy firm afterwards, so sharing a house made so much sense. Katy had her head in her hands, and it was obvious she was experiencing the after effects of her night out with her boyfriend as her fingers pushed down on her short red hair.

“Drink,” Denise said as she slid a mug of coffee over to her, “and don’t worry - it’s only your first fight with this one.”

Despite the way she can dress at times, Denise is the sensible one out of the three of us - even if she wears her black hair in two pigtails. Anyway - that’s not helping me sort out why I’m watching this guy as he rolls that red scarf into a band and tying a knot in the middle of it...

So we had breakfast, so we went to work, and so we got through the day - the thing keeping us going was that each of us had a date for Valentine’s night. Katy had her paramour Dave, Denise had been asked out by one of the lads in the audit office, and me - I had a blind date set up by Dave waiting for me.

Now, I have not had a lot of luck with men lately - either they turn out to be complete dorks or else they’re just - well, boring. So it was with some far and trepidation that we got ready for our nights out when we returned to the house later.

I put on the outfit I’ve got on now - a tight white top with the knee length red leather skirt, the slit up the side meaning I could walk a little more freely, matching knee length leather boots and the fitted jacket. It looked good, it looked sexy - but compared to the other two, it was like a nun’s habit.

Katy was wearing what was essentially two silver bands around her body - one over her chest, the other covering her waist and more intimate parts, as well as a pair of grey over the knee suede boots. She picked up her bag, smiled and said “Have fun,” as she ran out of the door.

Fun - yeah right.

Denise was not long after her - and she looked little better. I would not say she was fat, but her thighs are big and muscle bound - and in the black leggings she had on, with the gold pattern on the outside, they looked wrong to me.

Mind you, so did the blue satin hot pants she was wearing over them, and the matching bomber jacket she had on over her black off the shoulder top. Anyway, she pulled on a pair of strappy sandals, and ran off to meet her boyfriend.

They were the first back as well - I know, because we walked in on them - but that came later. I was last out, locking the door behind me as I made my way to the pub to meet the guy.

And when I saw him, I thought I might actually be on to a winner here. He was six foot one, with close cropped brown hair, and well built - and the smile as he saw me coming and said “Hi - you must be Babs,” made me feel all warm and tingly inside.

His name was Bob, and we got on like the proverbial house on fire - we talked about music, films, all sorts of things, and it was as if he knew exactly what I liked and what I wanted to do. Uncanny, right? Anyway, he told me that Dave had shared a lot of what Katy had told him - including the fast I like to wear boots instead of shoes.

Well, as I say, I do - it keeps my legs warm for one thing, and when he said I looked fantastic in my outfit I had to smile. So when he swept me off to this lovely little Italian restaurant, I was beginning to think that this was not quite as bad as I had figured it would be.

I don’t think I had a more pleasant first date than what we did earlier this evening - which is what makes what he’s doing, as he sits beside me on the bed and kisses me before pushing the knot of silk into my mouth and tying the ends around my head even stranger. Honestly this was not what I had in mind when he walked me back to my door.

It was about ten thirty by the time we stopped outside my door, and I thanked Bob for the date. Now normally at this point I would have said good night, but it was Valentine’s night, it was a cold night, there was romance in the air - so I asked him if he’d like to come in for a nightcap.

Big mistake - but hey, I wasn’t to know was I? Anyway, he nodded and said he'd love to, and I opened the door with my key - which was when I knew something was wrong.

I knew because the first thing I saw was Dave standing there, holding Katy in his arms. “Oh hi Babs, Bob,” he said as we came in, “Katy and I are just playing a little game of kidnap.”

Katy looked me, her eyes wide open and shaking her head. She wasn’t able to say much - a band of silver tape was wrapped around her head and over her mouth, and from what I could see there was something in her mouth under the tape.

Not the first time Katy had done this - I’ve caught her a couple of times in her room with her legs tied with belts from her dressing gown, and a scarf in her mouth. Dave had his arm wrapped tightly round her, and was smiling, so I assumed she had persuaded him to take part in some sort of game.

“We’ll leave you two lovebirds alone,” Dave said as he turned himself and Katy round and walked her up the stairs, leaving me to look at Bob and say “sorry - housemates.”

“It’s all right,” Bob said with a smile, “I know Dave and his quirks. So, that nightcap?”

I smiled and walked with him to the kitchen, finding a bottle of wine in the fridge and pouring two glasses. “So how come you know Dave anyway,” I said as I handed him the drink.

“Oh we go way back - we’ve worked together on other jobs,” he said with a smile. “I find him to be very helpful.”

“I’m sure Katy does as well,” I said as I took a sip, and then looked at him. He looked at me, and we started to get closer to each other, almost kissing when I heard Denise say “Oops - we’re interrupting?”

I turned and looked at her, standing there with the lad from the audit office, and said “Yeah you are interrupting - what about it.”

“That’s all right,” Bob said as he straightened up and smiled, “I think it makes things a little easier.”

“Makes what easier?”

“Making sure all three of you are kept secure,” he said, and to my surprise he reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a gun. “Now, nobody do anything stupid - why don’t we all go into the front room?”

“Bob, what are you doing,” I said as I looked at him, but the look on his face had changed completely. “My apologies, Babs,” he said a she looked at me, “You’re a beautiful and wonderful girl, but we’re just using you to get access to your office.”

“We?”

“Dave and me - now move,” he said as he stood up. We all walked into the room, Denise whimpering as the lad looked at Bob in anger, and then noticing the bag with coils of rope sticking out of it on the floor.

“Why don’t you two lovebirds kneel on the floor and hug each other,” Bob said as he looked at the other two. “I’m going to make you sordid little daydream come true, Ken.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing,” Ken shouted, but Bob waved the gun, and next thing he and Denise are hugging each other on their knees. “As for you, Babs,” he said as he looked at me, “Sit down on the chair, put your hands on your head and don’t move a muscle, not even to speak.”

I had to sit down and watch, mute, as he used all the rope to tie Denise and Ken together - first their hands behind each other’s backs, then their ankles - but that was just the start. He then wrapped more and rope around their upper bodies, pulling them so close together they could have easily kissed if they had not been so scared.

He then pulled more rope around their legs above their knees, and their thighs, leaving them looking at each other n a mixture of fear and worry about what was going to happen next. So of course, before they could say anything Bob had popped a small rubber ball into their mouths, and covered them with strips of what looked like a very sticky white tape - I could see the outline of Denise’s lips and the edge of the ball under it.

“Now you lovebirds behave,” Bob said with a smile, “while I take Babs here up to her room and make sure she’s secure as well.” He took my arm and marched me out of the room, up the stairs, into the room and - well, here we are.

“Fnksfrnthng?” I said it with sarcasm, and I meant it as I tried to move my legs, the rope rubbing against the boots and making a squeaking noise.

“Thank you,” Bob said, and then he kissed me on my forehead before making sure all the ropes were still holding me tightly to the bed. I could have saved him the bother and told him, but - well, silk knot in my mouth?

As he did this, Dave came in and said “I’ve got the keys - let’s go.”

“Have fun,” Bob said as he waved, then followed his friend out, leaving me screaming in muffled frustration as I heard the front door close.

No matter how hard I struggled, the ropes held fast - even though I could hear the moaning and screams from downstairs. The real question in my mind was - where was Katy?

I got the answer to that question an hour later a is heard the thump of stiletto heels on wood, and Katy bounced in, encircled from head to ankle in band after band of silver tape that made her look like a pink and grey sausage. She hopped over to me with eyes that said “I’m sorry,” as well as “How the hell did this happen to us?”

I had no idea - all I knew was we had to wait until someone else got to the office in the morning, saw the place had been robbed - and then tracked us down.

Next time, I’m going to wear a long sleeved Edwardian dress on a date - maybe then I’ll get lucky.

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