Sheila’s Christmas Wish

She walked slowly down the darkened corridor, taking great care not to make any noise if at all possible, hoping against hope that the men on the upper floor would not realise she was there. The door to the cellar had opened without alerting them, but if she was going to be successful it was vital she was not discovered.

She could see in the dim light the wooden door at the far end of the corridor, and something told her what she was looking for would be behind it. As she got closer, she saw the two bolts holding the door closed, and smiled as she reached up, slowly, slowly pulling back the bolts and then opening the door.

Elaine was there, lying on the bed with her eyes closed, the wide strip of brown sticking plaster covering her lips as she breathed in and out through her nose. Her friend was still wearing the same outfit she had last been seen in – a grey tie neck silk blouse with long sleeves, a grey sleeveless wool cardigan, trousers, and knee length grey fashion wellingtons. The ropes were tightly tied, holding her arms to her sides as they framed her breasts, her legs and ankles together, her wrists behind her back, her ankles tied to her wrists.

As she walked forward, she looked down and stroked her hand across Elaine’s cheek. As the bound and gagged girl opened her eyes, she looked up and said “sheellee?”

Nodding, she reached into her pocket and took out a pocket knife – at which moment, an alarm bell started ringing loudly, making her look round as she whispered “no…”

“No…”

Sheila slowly opened her eyes and looked up at the blue painted ceiling of her room. “Oh no,” she said quietly to herself as she reached down and felt between her legs, “it was a dream again wasn’t it?”

Sighing,” she pulled back the blankets and sat on the edge of the bed, slamming her hand down on her alarm clock and then turning on her transistor radio. She was expecting to hear Dave Lee Travis in a jovial voice – instead, she heard him say “This is Radio 1, it’s Seven o’clock – and we go to the newsroom for a news flash.”

As she sat and listened to the news that John Lennon had been shot and killed, she felt a sadness, and then stood up, putting on her dressing gown and taking the radio with her as Starting Over was played. Her flat was cold, but as she put on the two bar electric fire the growing red glow seemed to make her fell a little better.

“Why on earth do I keep having those dreams,” she said to herself as she looked in the bathroom mirror, and then started to run the water. The twenty year old had known Elaine through their secondary school days, and even worked in the same office as typists. They had been close friends throughout that time, but over the last few weeks Sheila had been having these dreams – dreams in which either she had been taken hostage, and Elaine had come to her rescue, or it was the other way round.

At first they had been just that – dreams, but more recently they had been getting stronger, and she had woken up with the signs that something else had happened with her while she had been dreaming. They had become rather more adult in nature, more sensual – and she wasn’t upset about that. She just did not understand why this was happening.

“Right – pull yourself together girl,” she said as she shook her head, “time to get to work.” Taking off her dressing gown, she started to wash herself, thinking all the time of what she was going to wear today.

And what Elaine would think of it…

As she walked into the offices of Smith and Pearson, Sheila unfastened the belt on her long grey coat and hung it on the coat stand. She had chosen to put on a taupe ribbed wool sweater over a purple long sleeved blouse, the collar over the top of the jumper, a long purple wool skirt that went down over her knees, and long straight tan leather boots with a small cork heel. Looking round, she saw Elaine at the desk next to hers, and walked over.

“Hey,” she said as she sat down, “how are you this morning?”

“Not great,” Elaine said as she looked over, “did you hear the news this morning?”

“I did – feels like part of my childhood just died,” Sheila said as she looked at her friend. While her dark brown hair was cut and waved into a short style, Elaine’s hair fell more freely over the shoulders of her light purple blouse and darker V-necked vest pullover. She was also wearing a longer skirt, in her case in a purple tartan, and slightly baggy camel coloured leather boots.

“Yeah, me too,” Elaine said as she took a lace edged handkerchief from her handbag and wiped her eyes. “Where is everyone today anyway?”

“Not quite sure,” Sheila said as she sat down, “I was delayed – looking in the window displays.”

“That I can understand,” Elaine said with a smile. “Got your Christmas wish list together yet?”

Sheila looked over at Elaine, thinking “you on the bed, smiling and waiting for me to join you,” but saying “I don’t know – I guess I’m going to be buying my own presents this year.”

“Oh yeah,” Elaine said, “I’m sorry, I should have realised…”

“It’s all right – I’ve had six months to get over their passing,” Sheila said as she uncovered her typewriter. “What about you?”

“Mum and Dad have gone off today on a winter cruise – I have my place to myself for the whole holiday,” Elaine said as she fed the sheet of paper into her machine. “Well, I guess we had better…”

“What the hell – I thought we had all of you!”

Both Elaine and Sheila looked up at the sound of the male voice – and then stared at the man standing there. He was wearing a blue boiler suit with a black jumper underneath, black leather gloves and heavy workman boots – but the real eye catcher in his attire was the black balaclava over his head, allowing only his thin mouth and eyes to be seen – and the sawn-off shotgun in his hands.

“What the hell…”

“Shut the hell up both of you,” he said as he came in, and closed the office door behind himself, “you two must have been late in.”

“What’s going on,” Sheila said as she tried not to panic.

“A robbery is what’s going on – we’ve got the rest of your colleagues locked in the cellar, so we can’t take you there. We’ll just have to make sure you two ladies can’t raise the alarm in here.” Looking round the room, he said “what’s behind that door over there?”

“Supplies,” Sheila said quietly as she saw Elaine start to shake, “look, lock us in there, we’ll stay quiet…”

“Not a chance – I need to make sure you both stay there and cannot call for help,” he said as Elaine started to cry, “and you can start by shutting up.”

“She’s scared – we both are,” Sheila said as she stood up, “but I promise we’ll keep quiet. What do you want us to do?”

“Were you two ever Girl Guides?”

I was,” Sheila said, “why?”

“Good – then you know about knots,” he said as he took a length of cord from his pocket and threw it at Sheila, “tie your friend’s wrists together behind her back.”

“Tie her…” Sheila looked at Elaine, who was now starting to shake, before she said “honestly, just lock us in…” As she spoke, he raised the shotgun and pointed it at her, before she said “all right, all right, just stay calm. Elaine, stand up and put your hands behind your back – I’ll try not to hurt you.”

Her friend nodded as she stood up, brushing her skirt down before putting her hands together behind her back. Doubling the cord over, Sheila wrapped it around Elaine’s wrists, keeping it over the cuffs of her blouse as she pulled them together, passing the cord round several times before she tucked them under, separated the ends and passed them between her wrists to cinch the binding.

“I see you got your rope work badge,” the masked man sneered as Sheila tied the ends off, and then held Elaine as she whispered “are you all right?” Her friend nodded as the masked man walked to the far side of the room, and cut the long cord that was used to close the blinds with a pair of scissors.

“Take this,” he said as he walked back over and handed Sheila the cord, “tie her arms to her sides, and make sure she cannot move them.”

“Do I have to?” Sheila saw him nod and pick up the gun again, so she started to wrap the cord around Elaine’s body and arms, forcing them into her sides as she pulled tight, taking the bands above and below her chest. As she tied the cords off, the masked man walked forward, a strange smile on his face.

Sheila was beginning to feel strange as well, as she walked round and looked at Elaine. “I’m sorry I had to do this,” she said as she looked at her friend.

“It’s all right, you didn’t have a choice,” Elaine said, Sheila nodding and saying “thank you” before she put her arms round Elaine and hugged her. As she let her friend go, Elaine smiled and said “thanks” as Sheila’s hands were taken behind her back, and she felt the cords pulling them together as the masked intruder got to work.

He then cut another of the blind cords away, before using it to bind Sheila’s arms to her sides. She felt her jumper stretching over her chest as he did this, and then saw a strange look in Elaine’s eyes as she watched.

“You all right?”

“I’m… I’m not sure,” Elaine said as she watched the masked man pull the cord tighter around Sheila’s body, and then tie it off behind her. “Right – into the cupboard, both of you,” he said as he picked up the gun, and waved them over to the store room.

“What do you think he’s going to do next,” Elaine whispered as they walked along, twisting her body in a way that made Sheila feel even stranger.

“I guess we’re going to have out ankles tied as well,” she eventually said, “and after that…”

The masked man opened the door, looked inside and said “right – sit down in front of that cabinet.” The two women looked at the intruder, before they turned in front of the steel grey doors and slowly sat on the floor, taking care to make sure their skirts covered their legs.

The man then put the shotgun down where they could both see it, before kneeling in front of them and drawing more lengths of cord from his pockets. Looking at Elaine, he smiled as he put her ankles together, and then proceeded to use a doubled over length of cord to secure her ankles in the same way as her wrists, taking the cord around several times and then passing the ends between her legs to make the binding tighter.

Tying the ends off behind her legs, he then took another length and wrapped it around her skirt and legs above her knees, gathering the material as he bound her legs tightly together. As he did this, Sheila heard the rubbing of her booted legs, and felt a slight shiver inside.

“Are you all right, Sheila,” Elaine said as the man moved over, and started to bind her ankles tightly together as well.

“Yeah,” she eventually said, “how are you feeling?”

“Honestly?” As Sheila nodded, Elaine bit her lower lip and whispered “I’m not quite sure how to describe it, except as… A bit excited and scared at the same time?”

“You as well? Do you have that funny…?”

Sheila then grunted as her own skirt was gathered around her legs, while they were secured together above her knees, both woman looking at the masked intruder as he reached into another pocket. She could see Elaine’s eyes open wide as he took out a wide roll of brown fabric sticking plaster, and then the smile on his face as he tore a long strip off, and said to Elaine “open your mouth”

As Sheila watched, he pushed her folded handkerchief into Elaine’s mouth, and then pressed the brown material over her closed lips, the fabric forming to the contours of her mouth and face as he pressed it firmly into place. Elaine looked over and nodded as he folded a second handkerchief, and looked into Sheila’s eyes.

She nodded and opened her mouth, tasting the faint lingering soap as the material pressed her mouth down. The man then tore a second strip off the roll of sticking plaster, and pressed it firmly onto her own face. She could feel it tugging on her skin as he smoothed it on, but she also knew it was going to be next to impossible to say anything with that fabric covering her lips, never mind the cloth in her own mouth.

“Have fun,” he said as he closed and locked the store room door, the two women listening as the footsteps moved off and then looking at each other.

“Whtrwgnndd?” Elaine said as she wriggled round, her leather boots squeaking. Sheila joined in, but soon discovered the binding was just too tight. The two women looked at each other, Sheila seeing the shape of Elaine’s lips under the fabric as she said “whtssgnnhppnn?”

“Ednttknn,” Sheila said as Elaine giggled, and then realised her own lips were probably moving as well. Instead, she leaned her head against her friend’s to try and comfort her. As she did so, she rubbed it slightly, and then heard Elaine say “snnsss.”

“Whsnnss?” Sheila turned to look at her friend, before Elaine returned the favour, rubbing her cheek on Sheila’s shoulder and then doing something totally unexpected – pressing her gagged lips on Sheila’s cheek.

“Whtthhfr?” she said as she blushed.

“Frbbbnefrnd – ndbcssewntt,” Elaine mumbled as she looked at Sheila. “Ddulktt?”

Sheila nodded as she blushed even more, and then leaned over, pressing her own gagged mouth on Elaine’s cheek and then looking at her.

She could see Elaine blush as well, and then the two of them pressed their gagged lips together, kissing each other gently as they closed their eyes. This lasted for a few minutes, before Sheila looked at Elaine and said “russhhrbths?” As Elaine nodded, she rested her head on Elaine’s shoulder and pressed her plaster covered lips on her friend’s neck.

“Hmmsnsss,” Elaine said as she twisted round, and then looked at Sheila before she returned the favour, and then rubbed her head gently on her chest. “Hmmmm,” Sheila groaned, “duikknnwhthfllsslk?”

“Shmmm,” Elaine said as she raised her head, closing her own eyes and moaning gently as Sheila rubbed her head on her own chest. She felt a warmth as she did this – and looking at Sheila, she knew her friend felt the same way.

“Hmmswhtrwgnndd?” she then said.

“Whhsshldwdnnffnsptwet,” Sheila said quietly, “ndnjjjeshfr?”

“IN HERE!”

Sheila opened her eyes as she saw the policeman standing in the door to the store room. Nudging Elaine, the two women looked up as he knelt in front of them and peeled the sticking plaster away from their lips.

“Did one of the bank robbers find you,” he said quietly.

“Yes,” Sheila whispered, “we were late into work, and… Where are our colleagues?”

“They’re safe – we’ll get you untied and then to hospital for a check-up, but we will need to take statements from both of you.”

“Of course,” Elaine said, “I’m just glad you found us.” Both women waited as the rope were removed from their legs and they were helped to stand up, before the rest of the bindings were removed.

“Listen,” Elaine said as they sat in the ambulance, “about what happened…”

“I know,” Sheila said, “and if it was the fear talking, I understand.”

“It wasn’t.” Elaine looked at Sheila and said “look, I want to make a suggestion. Shoot me down if it’s not what you want…”

Sheila opened her eyes and looked up at the pale blue ceiling, smiling as she pulled the blankets back and slipped her feet into a pair of slippers. Standing up, she put on her dressing gown and then headed down into the front room.

“Merry Christmas,” Elaine said as she came in, smiling as she stood up and they embraced. “Thanks for agreeing to come and spend the holidays with me.”

“Who else would I want to spend them with,” Sheila said with a smile. “So what’s the plan?”

“I thought orange juice, salmon, scrambled eggs and croissants for breakfast, then coffee, and a walk – after we’ve wrapped our presents to each other.”

“Don’t you mean unwrapped our presents?”

“No,” Elaine said as she slipped off her dressing gown, revealing her white silk gown as she held up some green nylon rope and sticking plaster, “you need to wrap up my present to you and keep it quiet while you cook breakfast.”

“And later,” Sheila said as they kissed, “you need to wrap up my present to you…”

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