In Their Own Words – Togetherness

Tonight on In Their Own Words, we celebrate St Valentine’s day with some tales of events which led to some – unusual outcomes. For our first story, two women who discovered a mutual liking when one called to deliver some misdirected mail…

I’d never really talked to or met Gerri in the two weeks since she had moved in – I tended to keep myself to myself, if the truth be told, but when a couple of what were obviously letters from the bank ended up in my place by accident, I figured the only way to make sure she got them was to deliver them in person.

I was still in my work clothes – a white elbow length sleeved white top made of wool, a knee length green skirt with a zip at the side from waist to hem, and black knee length leather boots. I have dark hair that is beginning to grey slightly, but as I walked across the corridor, my door keys in my hand, how I looked wasn’t exactly the first thing that was on my mind.

Knocking on the door, I waited for a moment, and then Gerri opened the door. She had short chestnut brown hair, and was wearing a top with long white sleeves and a little bow at the neck. Over that was a black silk waistcoat come corset, then a short black skirt in the same colour, stockings and black leather ankle boots.

She seemed to have something on her mind however, when she asked who I was and what I wanted. I told her I lived across the hallway, and that I had some of her mail. She looked at it, thanked me and then took it from me, but I got the feeling she wanted me to go.

She then stopped, looked at me, and asked if I wanted to come in for a few minutes. Well, I accepted and came in – and then saw the man who had been standing behind the door, grinning as he closed it and pointed a very real gun at me.

Turned out she had returned a few minutes earlier to find him in her flat, and she had been forced to hand over her valuables. I could see the mess as we were marched into the front room, and then he did something I was not expecting.

He took out of a canvas bag a plastic zip tie, and handed it to Gerri, instructing her to use it to secure my wrists together behind my back! She looked at him, then at me, and said sorry as she guided my wrists behind my back and secured them together. She had a very soft touch…

Unlike the plastic strip, which dug into my bare wrists as they were forced together. The armed men then ordered me to kneel down, and lie on my stomach, before Gerri was given a second strip, and she had to use it to force my ankles together. She then lay on her stomach next to me, the two of us looking at each other as the man then secured her wrists and ankles with two more ties.

He then rolled us over, and before we could say anything he was tearing strips from a roll of duct tape and slapping them over our mouths, keeping us quiet before he grabbed his bag and ran out. We turned and looked at each other, as I tried to get the strip round my wrists loose – but it was no good, they were too tightly secured.

I stopped, panting through my nose and looking at Gerri, the sweat stains on her blouse growing larger – and then she did something very strange. She looked at me, and said “urcuttuknw. Whtsurnmm.”

“Mllee.”

“Hllommlee,” she said as she wriggled closer, and to my surprise placed her taped lips on mine. To my even greater surprise, I closed my eyes and pressed my lips on hers, as we shared a tender moment.

That seemed to last a glorious eternity before I looked at her, and said “sss… fnsssemtnguhr.”

She smiled – the tape crinkled – and shook her head before she said “wnnddssrs. Cmwfmmtkshn…” I watched as she rolled over and sat up, and then began to scoot herself across the floor, as I struggled to follow her.

Eventually, I made my way into the kitchen to see she had managed to get hold of a knife somehow, and was using it behind her back. As I came in, she managed to free her hands, and rubbed her wrists before she cut through the tie around her ankles, and then stood up.

“Give me a minute,” she said after she had removed the tape from her mouth, and then she stood up, getting a pair of scissors and cutting me free, before she peeled the tape away from my mouth.

“Hi – I’m Gerri,” she said with a smile.

“Molly – are you all right?”

She nodded as she brushed my hair from my face, and said “so – I need to call the police, and tidy up. Want to give me a hand and then we can talk?”

I nodded as we stood up, and kissed each other…

For our second tale, we go back to the Eighties, and how a secretary managed to get promotion in the face of adversity…

At the time, I worked as the secretary to Glenda, the head of HR for the company. We were a small manufacturing company, and still paid most of our workers in cash at the end of the week, despite the fact it was 1985. The money would be delivered each Friday at one, and it was my job to make sure the envelopes were sorted and ready to hand out.

On this particular day, it was cold, and I was wearing a long sleeved coat dress with a winged collar, cream at the base with brown stripes, that came down to my knees. I also had a light creams silk scarf tied as a cravat round my neck, and a pair of cream leather kneed length boots.

As for Glenda, she also had on a dress – hers was taupe, with a white collar and cuffs on the sleeves, as well as tight burgundy leather boots. Anyway, I was in her office, taking a letter when the telephone rang.

“The wages are here,” she said as she put the phone down, “and they need someone to come down and collect the envelopes. Can you do that for me?”

“Of course,” I said as I left the room, putting my pad down at my desk and then walking to the reception desk. The courier was waiting there, as I signed for the cash bag and then walked back to the office.

That was the way things tended to get done at the time – before I was married, I worked in a supermarket in my home town, and once a week one of us had to accompany the manager as he took the cash bags to the post office to cash up!

We were in the building, however, so it should have been more secure. Tell that to the two men in overalls who were in the office with Glenda when I walked in. she was sitting on the floor, her arms behind her back, and I could see the twine they had used to bind her ankles together.

“Took your time,” one of them said as Glenda looked at me, and I could see the fear and panic in her eyes. “Money – now!”

“All right, all right, take the bag,” I said as I handed it over, memorising as much as I could of both of them, “I’m not going to give you any trouble.”

“What are you doing,” Glenda called out, “those are the wages!”

“And they can be replaced – if they hurt us, that’s a different matter,” I said quietly as the man took the bag, and the second one walked behind me, yanking my arms behind my back as I felt the rough twine he used to tie my wrists together. It hurt – and he wasn’t gentle – but I wasn’t going to let him see how scared I was.

He then pushed me over towards Glenda, and ordered me to sit down. As I did so, I saw Glenda was starting to panic, and her breath was coming in short gasps. “Are you,” I said quietly, and as she looked at me, the panic was clear in her eyes as she nodded.

I felt the man using more of the twine to bind my ankles together, as I said “my friend here is asthmatic – she needs her inhaler.”

The other man looked at Glenda as she nodded, and said “ha… Ha… Handbag…” He looked in and took out a brown inhaler, shaking it and putting it to her mouth as he pressed down on the top. Glenda breathed deeply in, and then said “thank you” as he stood up. “We need to keep you quiet,” he said as he looked round, and took our woollen scarves from the coat rack. “This means you’ll be able to breath – the sticking plaster would be a problem.”

“thank you,” she whispered before the white scarf was pulled between her lips and tied at the back of her head, and I tasted the brown wool of my own scarf. We then watched as they stuffed the wages bag into a carrier bag, and walked out of the room.

As we sat there, I felt for Glenda’s fingers and gripped them, looking at her as she nodded. We were there for an hour before we were discovered, and the police took our statements. A week later, Glenda offered me a promotion to assistant head of HR…

Often, people who are brought together in these circumstances have the chance to deal with old hurts and situations, and to clear the air – albeit in silence…

My step-sister and I had, shall we say, not got along very well. Ever since my father had married her mother, following the deaths of their partners, it had been tense. It should to have been – we are of the same faith, and both seek to serve Allah in our lives – but it was. In the end, it took a masked man to bring us together.

We were at home on this particular afternoon, me sitting at the kitchen table as I completed my essay for my course, my sister in the front room. We were both suitably and humbly dressed – a light brown hijab was worn by both of us, and I was wearing a white Fair Isle sweater and blue jeans, the cuffs of the legs turned up and covering my short black leather ankle boots.

As for my sister, she had on a black blouse over a roll neck sweater, leggings and knee length black leather boots. She was quiet – which I liked – until the front doorbell rang.

“Can you get that please,” I called out – our parents were out, and I wanted to finish the paragraph I was typing. She called something out, and as the ringing continued I heard her walking towards the front door.

The next thing I heard was her calling out “SISTER!” in an agitated voice, and as I jumped up and ran into the hallway I say a man, a mask covering his head so that I could only see his eyes and mouth, as his gloved hand covered her mouth and he held a gun to her head. He asked if anyone else was in the house, and when I shook my head he ordered me to go into the front room, and close the curtains.

I did not want my sister or myself to come to any harm, so I did as he asked, watching as she was marched in with him. He then told us both to kneel in front of the couch she had been sitting on, and to put our hands behind our backs. According to him, he needed to “make sure we didn’t get in his way.”

As we did this, we looked at each other, wondering what he was going to do. That was answered when I watched him put her hands together behind her back, and then use some silver tape to secure her wrists together. It was a strange sound – the ripping and her breathing – especially as he then used the tape to secure her ankles together, and her legs around her thighs.

I remember thinking as I watched that the tape would damage her boots, and then just how stupid a thought that was – he was making sure we would not be able to move, and I suspected we would not be able to speak either in a short while. That was confirmed as he wound the tape tightly round her head, covering her mouth and silencing her – and I was glad we were both had covered heads, as I suspected that tape would be very difficult to get off our hair.

He tore the tape from the roll and smoothed it down, and then she turned her head and watched as I was secured and silenced in the same way. There was now no way we could really talk to each other – and that was made even more impossible by the fact he then made us sit back to back, and wrapped the silver tape round our upper bodies to hold us together.

When he had finished, we were sitting in front of the couch, both of us turning our heads and watching as he left the room. The way he had bound us, we could feel each other’s hand – so, as I heard my sister start to cry, I took hold of her fingers with mine and tried to tell her it would be all right.

Of course, I could only mumble, but she heard me, and she gave my hand a squeeze in response. Such a small, simple thing – and yet it meant so much to both of us, as we had to listen to the sound of him searching the rooms on the first floor.

He came down a short while later, with one of our handbags, and stuffed it into his rucksack before he left, leaving us alone, trying to talk to each other, and each wondering how we would get free.

We were fortunate, however – our father returned shortly after, saw and released us, and then called the police. And the first thing my sister did when we were both free and able to stand? She hugged me, and thanked me for keeping her calm…

Our first tale showed how, even in these circumstances, a relationship can be started. But it can also be strengthened, as the last tale showed – and this one also reveals…

We had been out for a Valentine’s meal, Anna and I. I was wearing her favourite outfit – my sheer red see-through blouse over a black bra, the short black pleated skirt, and red suede ankle boots with a platform soul and heel. Anna is older than me, and the senior partner in our relationship, so she was dressed in black – a short black sleeveless dress with a silver stripe at the front, and knee length black fabric boots, which also had a platform soul and heel.

We had already been out for a meal, and then went to a nightclub, but there was something about my partner that just seemed – off. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what it was, but she had something on her mind, and I was determined to find out what it was.

So when she said she was going to the restroom, and walked across the dancefloor, I followed her a moment later – just in time to see someone drag her out through a side door. I shouted and followed her – and that was when everything went black.

When I started to open my eyes, I had a thumping headache, and my mouth was as dry as a desert – and it felt as if I had swallowed some cotton wool. It took me a moment to focus, as I wondered why I was so stiff, and why I heard a moaning noise when I tried to move my arms – and then I saw her face in front of me, and the fear in her eyes – as well as the passion when I tried to move again. She had a black scarf tied between her lips, and I could see from the way her cheeks were puffed out it was keeping something in her mouth behind it. Which would explain the way my mouth was feeling as well, and why I could not speak…

We were lying on some sort of mattress, with our arms wrapped round each other – and as I looked over her shoulder, I saw the ropes that were holding us together, round our chests, waists, and legs. My wrists were crossed and tied together behind her back with rope – and I could see they were also attached to another rope, that seemed to go between her legs…

I then felt something rubbing between my own legs, and as I groaned out I moved my hands as well – which made her groan, and I realised not only were her wrists tied behind my back, but what they were attached to, and what mine were attached to…

I could also see her ankles, as securely tied as the rest of us, were pulled to the side and secured to whatever this mattress was lying on, and I suspected mine were the same. As it was, we were very closely bound, and our chests rubbed together – which, along with, shall we say, the additional stimulation meant I was feeling rather giddy.

She was looking at me, and then very slowly started to move her wrists up and down behind me. Well, you can imagine how that made me feel, so I returned the favour as we slowly started to arouse each other – a fact added to as we kissed, both on the lips and each other’s neck as best we could.

Eventually, however, the inevitable happened and I started to shake, my partner doing the same as we both called out in the most extreme pleasure. We looked at each other, before I reached up and started to try and ease the scarf out from between her lips.

It took time, but eventually I was able to ease to out, and I watched as she used her tongue to force out a – well, it was my panties! I knew what was in my mouth, as she said “I’m sorry – they kidnapped me, and then snatched you. I had to watch as they knocked you out, and then…”

I nodded as she said “I need to say something to you – and perhaps it’s best you cannot shout out yet.” Looking into my eyes, she smiled and then gently kissed my lips, before she said four very simple words.

“Will you marry me?”

I stared at her, and then slowly nodded – as we heard shouting, and then the door was thrown open.

“In here!”

We both turned and looked at the police officers, as she said “oh thank god,” and then looked at me with love filled eyes…

The happy couple were wed several weeks later. Of course, sometimes when this happens to people, it can be rather – less serious…

“Well, that’s another fine mess you’ve got me into, Estelle?”

“Oh I’m to blame am I Olivia,” I said as I looked at her. She nodded – and then we both burst out laughing as they but the electric toothbrushes to our feet…

Perhaps I should backtrack – Olivia and I are twin sisters, and live together in our house. On this particular evening, we had our nieces Angela and Abigail staying over – and as it was a girly night in, we were all dressed in nightwear. I was wearing a yellow onesie with black polka dots, while Olivia had on a pink one with the same pattern. As for the girls, they were wearing animal onesies – Angela a sheep one, and Abigail a cow one.

Anyway, girly night in – pizza, drinks and bad movies, and then we moved on to play Spin the Bottle, which might have been a mistake. When it pointed to Olivia, she said dare – and that was where we made our big mistake, when the girls said they could make us laugh, and we would not be able to stop them. She just looked at me and said “do we accept the dare?” – and yeah, I was the one who said yes.

How was I to know they would then tell us to lie on the floor, and used some lengths of cord to tie our wrists behind our back, and our ankles together? How was I to know they would then go to the bathroom, and return with their electric toothbrushes? And how the heck was I meant to know they would then turn them no and run them over the soles of our feet?

So yes, they did succeed in making us laugh and not been able to stop them…

Finally, a tale of a mother-daughter love, and how it meant they could be there for each other…

I walked down the street, listening to my music as we went along, and looking forward to spending some time with mum that afternoon. My grey nylon jacket was open, allowing the warm air to go over me, and covering the black blouse I was wearing. My old jeans were very comfortable, as were my white baseball boots.

Anyway – I smiled as I walked up to the front door of the house I grew up in, opened it, walked into the front room – and said “Oh shit…”

Mum was sitting on one of the chairs from the dining table, wearing a short sleeved white t-shirt, jeans and brown suede ankle boots – but her arms were round the chair back, and I could see that her ankles were tied to the legs of the chair with white rope. Bands of rope also held her legs to the chair legs, where they met the seat, and around her chest and waist as well as she looked at me.

“Hi,” she said with a sigh, “I’m really sorry love, but…”

“Who did this to you,” I said as I walked over, and looked at the knots. They were small, but tight and complex. Very complex…

“Oh – I see you have a visitor.”

I turned suddenly to see a young woman in the doorway, wearing a black leather jacket and leggings. “Who are you,” I said as I stood up, “and why have you done this to my mother?”

“To keep her out of the way while I robbed her,” she said as she took a flick knife out and opened it, looking at me as she said “and I guess I need to make sure you stay with her and don’t raise the alarm until I’m long gone. Take one of the chairs rom the table, and sit next to her, with your hands on your head.”

“Do as she says, dear,” Mum said, and I didn’t want her to be hurt, so I took a second chair and set it next to her, sitting with my hands on my head as she picked up the rest of a coil of rope, cut a long length off, and started to tie my chest and back to the chair.

“So what happens when you’ve finished,” I asked as she pulled me firmly into place, and secured me to the chair, before she cut some more lengths of rope off, and secured my legs and ankles to the front legs of the chair.

“I keep you both quiet,” was all she said as she took my arms down and around the chair back, and I felt the rope on my wrists as she tied them tightly together, then to the chair back. I tried to move them, but Mum said “don’t bother – you won’t be able to. It’s best just to let her do what she’s doing – things can always be replaced.”

“Quite right,” the girl said as she looked at both of us, and then left, returning with a roll of sticking plaster and a pair of my mother’s ankle socks. She balled them individually up, and then said “you both need to be quiet now – open wide.”

“You can’t be…”

“She is,” Mum said, and then she allowed the girl to push one of the socks into her mouth, and then to cover her lips with a long strip of the plaster. She then did the same to me, both of us looking at each other as she turned the television on.

“I’m sure someone will come soon,” she said as she left the house, and we had to watch as The Sound of Music started. I watched Julie Andrews as she ran up the hill, and…

“Thhllslrlffwfthsndfmssc.”

I looked at Mum, who winked at me as she started to sing along. Well, that made me laugh, and then I joined in, as we mumbled along to the songs. It was as the film ended that the police came in…

That’s all from In Their Own Words for this week – until next time…

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