Chapter 3
By the time that Cindy finished her first fifteen minute set in the go-go cage behind the bar, she knew that she was really working for her money. At first she had felt shy and shamed at the whistles and cheers which greeted her appearance under the bright spotlights, wearing only tiny spangled panties to cover her lush figure. Calls of "Look at them titties. Swing 'em right at me, girlie. Wiggle that cute round ass, baby. Flip them panties right in my eye, girlie," had nearly made her run back to the crude dressing-room in embarrassed confusion. But she soon realized that she was safe from any actual contact with those coarse men, protected by her cage and by the whole staff of the 'Skyway.' She could just try to ignore the rude comments that under normal circumstances would be insults, but here were meant to be compliments.
Then she was kicking and. twisting with the powerful demanding rhythm of the music. She found she could lose herself in the thrilling pumping motion, and the leering cheering audience almost disappeared from her awareness. She was young and healthy and in fairly good physical condition, but by the end of fifteen minutes of continuous violent exertion she was nearly exhausted. Her whole body was glistening with sweat and she felt almost hypnotized by the steady rhythm beating into her muscles and brain, stamping out everything but the moment.
At last the orchestra stopped and Cindy stepped gasping from the cage and disappeared backstage. She had been hot from her exertions, but now she felt chilled as the perspiration began to evaporate from her moist glowing exposed skin. In the communal dressing room used by all the dancers Cindy found herself huddled shivering on a chair until another girl tossed her a terrycloth robe.
"Here, kid. Put this around you or you'll catch a cold. Cooling off too fast after a wild workout can get you all stiff and sore in the muscles, too," said the other girl sympathetically.
"Thanks. I really need a robe, I guess," replied Cindy smiling with shy friendliness. "I didn't know I'd get so heated up. This is my first night here."
"I know. It won't be so tough after a few nights. You get used to all the exercise," said the girl. "By the way, my name is Gerrie. I've been here for almost six months. Ever since they started this topless idea. It hasn't much future, working here, but the pay is good. And Sam knows not to let any of the customers try to get fresh with me. They can look all they want. It's what they pay for, isn't it? But they'd better not try to handle the merchandise, if they want to stay healthy."
"You mean Sam and the waiters and bouncers would help us if some man tried to do anything to us?" asked Cindy hopefully. Then she added, "My name is Cindy, and it's nice to have a friend here. I've been sort of scared, ever since I agreed to dance topless. It doesn't seem right, somehow, letting all those men see me like this."
"You sure have the most of the best for them to ogle and drool at," said Gerrie admiringly. "And the crew here will protect you from any guy who tries to get rough. But you'll find that you get a kick out of having so many men wanting you, and you don't have to give them a damned thing. Not to any man."
Cindy though this over and then said quietly, "I used to like to let my husband have it. But he's not around now, so I'm doing this to make money."
"Just like a man," said Gerrie tartly. "Walk out on a sweet beautiful girl like you. And not even send her any money. Men are real bastards, aren't they?"
"Tom's wonderful," said Cindy quickly. "He loves me and I love him. It's just that right now I have to earn the money for both of us, because...."
"Who cares about why he left you?" demanded Gerrie bitterly. "What it always comes down to is that the man uses a girl till he gets bored, and then he runs out on her leaving her without a dime. That's why I really enjoy teasing and tempting and frustrating all those guys who watch us and want us. If one of them offered me a hundred dollars a minute, I'd tell him to go to hell."
After this outburst Gerrie seemed to calm down a little, and then she said, "Well, it's almost time for me to go shake my tits and tail at the male bastards out there. Take it easy and relax for a while, Cindy. You have lots more sets to do tonight. I'm glad to have talked to you like this. I hope we'll be friends."
Cindy hoped so too, as she gave herself a quick sponge-bath before getting ready for her next appearance in the go-go cage. This time she found herself less aware of the ogling leering men, but she was more conscious of being physically tired from the unaccustomed exercise. She was nearing total exhaustion by the time her second set was finished and she practically staggered back to the dressing room, interested only in lying down to recover.
Gerrie came over and covered Cindy with the robe again, murmuring sympathy for her weariness. Then with expert tenderness Gerrie began massaging Cindy's neck and shoulders and back, getting the stiffened and tired muscles to relax and get most benefit from the rest period.
"You poor kid. Try to take it easy when you're up there working. You'll get used to it, but we don't want you passing out or fainting while you're on stage. I'll help you all I can, Cindy, in every way." Gerrie's voice was so soft and sympathetic that Cindy felt like crying. Gerrie was the first person who had been kind and helpful since that awful day, weeks before, when the police had come and dragged Tom away like a terrible criminal. Under the deftly massaging hands, Cindy felt herself begin to relax and calm down after the frightening strain of her violent dancing and public carnal exposrure.
She must have dozed off momentarily, for Cindy was next aware of Gerrie saying, "You stay right here and rest a while longer, dear. I'll take over your next set on the stage; I'm used to it so it won't be such a strain for me. You just try to sleep for another half hour or so, so you can go on for the set after this when it's your turn."
Cindy started to protest but the other girl stopped her by saying, "It's all right, Cindy dear. I can do it easily. And some other time you can do me a favor. Just rest now. I'll be back in a little while to be with you and help take care of you, so sleep now, dear."
As Cindy drifted back into refreshing sleep she felt safe and content for the first time in ages. The care and help from this new friend meant so much. In a way it was almost like having Tom back, to take care of her and love her and cuddle her when she felt low and sad. Soon Gerrie's hands were again caressing and massaging her neck and shoulders, loosening up the muscles that had spasmed from physical and emotional strain. Now Gerrie's hands were working gently down her whole back and even working on the smooth plump mounds of her buttocks.
"Start pulling yourself together, Cindy," came Gerries sympathetic voice. "In a few minutes it will be time for you to go on for your last set in the cage. Do you think you can make it?"
"Oh, yes. Sure I can. I have to, to keep this job," said Cindy, slowly sitting up. She still felt tired in every muscle of her lovely young body, but she felt much better than she had a while ago before her long rest. It was so wonderful to have Gerrie for a friend, at a time like this when she needed friendly help so much.
Somehow Cindy got through her last stint of dancing nearly naked before the cheering appreciative audience of leering men. She was dead tired but she forced her body to keep kicking and twisting and pumping to the driving beat of the orchestra. She knew she was putting on a satisfactory performance, because the men kept whistling and making lewd remarks about her body and what they wanted to do with it. She kept a mechanicial smile on her face and could feel her bare breasts jouncing and bobbing as tautly as ever in time to the music, while her pelvis thrust and heaved suggestively to the primitive beat.
At last her duties for the evening were over and she was back exhausted in the dressing room. Sam, the manager came in without knocking to tell her that she had done well for the first time, and that many of the customers thought she was terrific and wanted her to come out and visit with them to have a drink. Before Cindy could tell him that she was much too tired to socialize with anyone tonight, Gerrie came to her defense.
"Can't you leave her alone tonight, Sam?" said Gerrie angrily. "The poor kid's really beat. Wait till she gets used to the workout before you try peddling her to your rich friends. Now get out of her before I get mad."
To Cindy's surprise, the manager smiled placatingly and beat a hasty retreat from the dressing room. Gerrie seemed to have an unexpected influence on the man who was meant to be in charge of the whole nightclub. But at least she, Cindy, was safe for tonight from the greedy eyes and groping hands of the aroused men outside.
"How are you getting home?" asked Gerrie tenderly. "And where do you live?"
"They told me there's a bus goes by from the airport in a little while. That will take me to within a few blocks of my apartment in town."
"Anyone there to meet you?"
"No. I told you my husband isn't home now," replied Cindy, hoping that the reason for Tom's absence would not be brought up; she was just too tired to go into all the necessary explanations now.
"You're too exhausted to tackle that tonight," decided Gerrie firmly. "Waiting on a lonely road for a bus with all the creeps from here trying to pick you up, walking along city streets alone at this hour, and spending the night alone after what you've been through.
That's too much. I have my car here, so you come home with me for tonight. Then you won't be alone and no travelling problems. Don't argue with me about it, Cindy dear. It's all decided. Don't even bother to take off your cute little costume panties. Just put your skirt and sweater on over them, and your shoes, and we're off. In fifteen minutes you'll be in a warm relaxing bath, and in half an hour you'll be tucked in and asleep in my big bed."
It worked out just that way, because Cindy was too tired to offer even token resistance to her new friend's helpful hospitality. Gerrie helped her undress, including the removal of the tight elastic spangled panties which were her only working costume. In the bathtub, Gerrie's tender loving hands washed and massaged her weary body with deft relaxing caresses, Cindy's eyes closed and she gave in to sleep the moment her head touched the pillow in her friend's big bed. Tomorrow would be another day, but Cindy had had all she could cope with today.
When she became half aware that it was morning, Cindy knew it must be Sunday, from the way she felt. Her whole naked body felt deliciously tired, but so relaxed and safe that she didn't want to wake up the rest of the way. She could feel the warmth of Tom next to her, and in a few minutes she'd roll over and begin making love to him. She wouldn't even have to open her eyes or wake up to do it, and she knew that Tom would enjoy their long slow Sundy love-making as much as she always did. Just thinking about what they would be doing made Cindy's whole deliciously content female body begin to warm and swell in anticipation.
When she became intensely conscious of her breasts swelling and her vulva moistening, Cindy rolled over and reached out for Tom's big male form. Instinctively her hand groped for his wonderful penis, because she so loved to be holding it and feel it when it swelled and hardened in preparation for their love. Then suddely Cindy sat upright in bed, her eyes and mouth wide open in fright.
Her blindly groping fingers had not found Tom's beloved male organ, but a lightly furred female pussy. And as she cuddle up to the figure beside her, Cindy's mouth had come in intimate contact with a very obviously feminine nipple and full round breast. Her first alarmed glance around showed that she was not in her own bedroom, and suddenly she knew that Tom was in jail on hit-run charges of which he was innocent. Her second frightened glance showed that the other body in the big bed was by no means Tom, in fact it wasn't even a man. It was a girl with an obviously feminine form in every way that Cindy could see quickly.
The other girl slowly opened her eyes and smiled up at the startled Cindy, saying, "No wonder you look surprised, Cindy dear. You were so exhausted last night that I'm not surprised you don't remember coming here with me."
"I guess I don't, really" admitted Cindy, her thoughts whirling wildly as she tried to review the night before. Slowly she recalled getting the terrible job at the Skyway nightclub. Then her dancing with bare breasts before all those leering men at the bar. Her exhaustion almost to the point of collapse from the villent exercise. And dimly she remembered this other girl as the one who had been so helpful and sympathetic when everything had seemed to awful and hopeless. What was her name?
"I'm Gerrie, and I dance at the Skyway too," said the smiling friendly girl lying so calmly on the bed. "You were in no shape to cope with anything more last night, so I brought you home and put you to bed. You're safe here; and I won't let any of those horrible men get at you."
The girl seemed so friendly and calm that Cindy began to relax a little after her confused fright. "Thank you for helping me. I'm afraid I sort of ran out of gas at the end last night. And just as I was waking up this morning, I thought you were my husband in bed with me."
"Good. Maybe that made you feel a little better too. Everyone needs to be loved. So if your husband has left you, you must be feeling very lonely and sad. It's really terrible not to be loved. The closeness and warmth and loving intimate togetherness make even a tough life worth living, don't they."
"Yes, you're right. I miss him so, I don't know what I'm going to do," Said Cindy, tearing forming in her eyes as she thought about the future. "I miss him so very much, especially at times like this."
"I know what you mean, Cindy. It means so much to a girl to have someone close who loves and understands you. Someone you can trust, someone who can caress you and make you feel safe. You need someone like your husband to hold you close and cuddle you and make your body feel beautiful and wanted," Gerrie told her tenderly. "Now you just lie down again here for a few minutes and let me hold you like you were my little baby. It will calm your nerves and make you feel much better. Then we can get up and eat and make our plans for the day. All right, dear?"
Cindy let herself relax into the first real tranquility she had known in the weeks since Tom had left. Gerrie's arms came around her protectively, soothing and comforting her with loving warmth. Then Gerrie's fingers began slowly and affectionately to play over Cindy's smooth flesh, the way one pats and pets and fondles an upset child. Cindy hardly noticed it when her friend began cupping and gently squeezing one of her big round breasts. It wasn't what Cindy wanted or was expecting, but it felt so good that she couldn't bring herself to protest.
As if reading her partner's thoughts, Gerrie murmured softly, "I'll bet your husband liked to do this. And I'll bet you liked him doing it, too. It makes any woman feel good to know her real femininity is loved and appreciated. Doesn't it feel good and help you relax, to have me play with your nice big titties like this? Doesn't it, Cindy?"
"Yes, I guess it does," she admitted sleepily. "I used to love having Tom do it, and play with my nipples till they got all big and hard. Yes, just like that, the way you're doing it. But he was my husband, so it was all right for him to do it."
"I'm not your husband, of course, dear, but I want to make you happy when you're feeling low and depressed like you have been. What else did he do that felt nice for you, Cindy?"
"He used his hands to play with me, my tummy and my seat, and my thighs," replied Cindy with sleepy honesty as she enjoyed this tender affection. "But he loved me, and I loved him, and he was my husband, and he was a man, so that makes it different. Maybe we shouldn't...."
"Stop worrying, Cindy dear. I told you I just want to take care of you and make you feel good after the terrible strain you've been under. And I'll bet his hands weren't as gentle and loving as mine when I do this ... and this. Men always are demanding and want something. They want to put their big thing into you. But I just want to love and caress you like this. Very slowly and gently on your smooth soft skin. That's right, dear; spread your legs a little so my fingers can give you the tender soft thrills that you need now. I just want to do things for you, not TO you, like a crude rough man would."
Somehow Cindy found herself being turned over so she faced her companion, and now Gerrie's lips and tongue were expertly stimulating her nipples, sending hot thrills of love coursing through Cindy's whole body. She knew that if she were fully awake and aware of what was happening, it would be wrong. But this sensually beautiful interlude was so dream-like and unreal that she could allow herself to enjoy it. She didn't want to wake up and lose the lovely warm excitement that was enveloping her.
Now she could feel Gerrie's hand stroking oh-so-gently between the smooth tapering columns of her thighs. Gerrie was in no hurry, the way Tom sometimes had been, and Cindy was wholly ready and eagerly waiting by the time that those sensitive loving fingers were tenderly brushing the outer surfaces of Cindy's pussy. To silently indicate her acceptance, Cindy began a slow rhythmic heaving of her pelvis against the gently probing fingers. Already her whole vulva was swollen hot and moist in expectation, and Cindy was smiling dreamily to herself at the prospect of lying passive while being so adroitly excited toward ecstasy.
She wouldn't have to do anything at all. Just He there and let those lovely things happen to her. Gerrie had been right about that; nothing would be done TO her, just these beautiful sensations being provided FOR her while she lay there, half asleep, and savored her pleasure.
With a wonderful slowness and inevitability Cindy felt her whole body coming gloriously alive as if each nerve and cell was being individually thrilled with a pervasive gentle excitement. There was no hurry, and the longer these sensations lasted, the more intense they became. The beauty might continue to build up for a second or an hour or a week, but the ultimate culminations would be the most glorious that any human had ever experienced.
Genie's embraces and caresses seemed to clothe her whole sensitized form in exquisite sensations that completely blocked out the anguish of reality which had engulfed her for so long.
Finally the hurricane of her emotional upheaval broke over Cindy in thundering waves of ecstasy. Idly her mind registered through the haze of passion that this experience was as wonderfully intense and beautiful as anything she had experienced with Tom, but was somehwat different in quality, being more totally rewarding in the emotional sense, but less wild and uninhibited in the strictly physical sense. Gentle, wide, and deep, rather than wildly pagan in its abandonded violence.
It was much later, as the two girls calmed down and lay resting side by side on the big bed, that Cindy began to feel embarrassment and shame for what she had permitted to happen between them. To enjoy carnal passions with her husband was right and beautiful, but to indulge in any kind of overtly sexual activity with another girl was both shameful and sinful. Her utter loneliness and terror at the wrongful loss of Tom might explain her giving in to Gerrie's lesbian love-making, but nothing could really excuse it, Cindy knew.