Chapter 11

“So how did you go at the brothel? I see you’re not wearing your favourite dress!”

That was how Sophie greeted her when they arrived for dinner with Ross and Amelia the next evening. The family were all in the kitchen helping get ready, and Ross and Amelia and family hadn’t yet turned up.

Larissa laughed, and said, “I think I’ve worn it enough times now, and I’m going to keep it for special occasions,” she said, grinning at Julian. She’d changed into the dress – and nothing else, of course – at the end of church.

Steph laughed at her. “You mean, whenever you want to get laid?”

Larissa shrugged. “I can get laid anytime. I just have to show Julian some ... ankle! well, I just have to be there, and it sort of just happens. Anyway, we had a lovely lunch with James’ parents. She loved the dress, by the way.” More laughter. “Said it was good to see me wearing good old fashioned stuff. With a wink, too, so she knew the game. I like your parents, James. Shame about my grandparents.” They, along with her mum’s siblings, had disowned her mum and her family years ago. But ... did that still have to be the way? Could she even get in contact with them, given she’d fallen out with the rest of her family? Something to think about. If they were still alive.

“Anyway, we didn’t go to the brothel.” She waited until Sophie was about to say something and then said, “I got a message from April at the end of church – too many of her friends wanted in, and the brothel doesn’t have that much space, and then her friend that has her own spa said we could it there, so we went there instead.”

“I thought her name was Angel?”

“Oh – that’s her working name. She chose to use that on Friday night. But her real name is April. So we went to her friends place, and there was twelve of them of them all up. Good for Julian, a bunch of beautiful young woman in sexy clothes going to watch him perform!”

“Actually,” he said, “not so much. I was a bit worried actually. These are experts, and we’re just amateurs. But then I looked at them, and I was a bit sad. Most of them were girls trying too hard, too much make up. A couple of them, I’m surprised they don’t lose their balance, their chests are so big.” He paused. “No, not really, I mean, enhanced, but not that much. A few of them were very good looking though. And there was one guy. He was a working guy too.”

Larissa smiled at Julian. “He’s the most likely to do what I did! Anyway, as you noted, I turned up in the dress, specially for them. I could see a few of April’s friends looking at me, what’s this? I sure looked out of place amongst them,” she said with a grin. “And Julian still in his church gear. April was super amused. Anyway, they were already there having a party, and when we turned up, she announced that that the party entertainment had turned up. We were kind of like a stripper’s stripper. Which was why the dress! So once we’d been introduced to them all, she invited us to go ahead. So we undressed, and...”

“Hang on!” Julian said, “Don’t skip over that bit!” Larissa just grinned at Julian, so he continued. “Well, Larissa said, ‘we might as well get into it, I hope you enjoy, because we will’, and they’re all watching my babe because she’s undoing all those buttons and telling them about her core strength, and April says they watched her on Youtube before we turned up, so she said they could ask her about that afterwards, and then, when the buttons were finally undone, she just let the dress fall off her, and then she was naked. Ah, they loved that!”

When they’d all stopped laughing, Larissa said, “They didn’t half mind looking at Julian either, specially the guy. April said, ‘if we’d known, we’d have come and kidnapped you before this!’ So we agreed I’d run the first pass, and Julian would organise the second. So I decided I wanted to warm Julian up a little, so I did this thing we’ve been practicing where I jump up on Julian and flip over at the same time, and he holds me up, my pussy in his face, and I blow him while he’s holding me up. Man they loved that, all cheering. So I did that for a little while, and then Julian flipped me over, and I nailed the landing, but only cause he was holding me right. So he’s nice and hard, and I got up on the table, and April held my legs, and I blew him like that.”

“My awesome babe is getting good at this now, and she couldn’t see what was going on, of course. But their faces, stunned. And she’s alternating between licking me, and getting me down her throat, and it felt really very good. Then she moves her hands off her chest, and grabs hold of me – she hasn’t done that before, because it moves more weight out onto her core, and tickled me, and just as I was about to come, she pulled back. I’m like, she must be feeling good, and then she goes again, and it was real quick and I’m about to come again and she started to pull back and I’m like ‘what?’ and then she didn’t and man, playing with my head ... I just about collapsed.”

Larissa looked at them all with a big grin. “Yeah, a good one for my man. But I did push a little hard there, and I was feeling it. Anyway, I got down, and stood up, and we kissed, and they’re all clapping and so on. That felt pretty good! So then I said, I need a few minutes to recover, and we got to talking about our exercise routines with them, and comparing notes. Some of them are serious gym rats. And then one of them wanted to know, it is always me? What about Julian? So we didn’t say anything, I laid down the floor, and he jumped down over me, and I reached down and lined him up, and then he did the missionary style thing, one handed push up, using his other hand to hold my face and kiss me. Totally doing it for me, I love it when he does that!”

“It’s pretty hard work, but I’ll do anything that makes my babe happy. And she was really feeling it too, even though I wasn’t really in her properly – I’d just come really hard, so I wasn’t hard – but she was still really getting off.”

“Well, they’re all looking at us, mouths open. That’s what was doing it for me! So I said, let’s up the game, and so Julian put his other hand down and we stopped screwing and I hung off his shoulders and kissed him while he did half push-ups.” She saw the question on Sophie’s face. “Well, he can’t go down far because I’m under him, but he goes down till I’m on the floor. Such awesome strength! So he did that for twelve reps, and then we stopped. Their minds were blown.”

“So then one of them said, can we be their personal trainers. Maybe, babe, if you ever lose your job, you can be a personal trainer for sex workers?” Larissa laughed. “So then I said, well, we better do this, and I picked a few of them to help us. So, me sitting on the ground, two of them behind me to hold Larissa’s legs for balance, and April and a friend in front of me to catch Larissa. I told them what they had to do, and they’re all looking at us like, ‘are you crazy?’ Well, yes, that’s my babe! Then I told her to get in position, and away we went.”

“Well, he did, but first of all we said, this requires pretty good timing, he’s got to know my response patterns pretty well for both sex and exercise, and we’ve only done it once, and it was mind-blowing for me, but it could very easily go wrong, so we’d see what happens. So I got into position, and laid right back, and Julian started eating me out. I was going to look at my audience, I thought that would help, but the experience is way too overwhelming for that, to have any external stimuli. Even April’s face, right in mine, and her friend ... I couldn’t look at anything. And Julian had me going quickly, but he wasn’t going to let me come till I was really hurting ... and then I really was, and I’m like, hurry up! But I really wanted to come and I really wanted to show those girls how long I can do this, and ... I kind of lost my mind.”

“Well, that’s the point, right, but I got a bit weirded out and decided to finish her off, and unlike last time when she collapsed right on the line, this time, she only collapsed once her orgasm took over.”

“It was good. Great – one of the best. But it wasn’t like last time ... missing something, I don’t know. Didn’t come close to knocking me out. And I didn’t have that total body transformation thing I did last time. Perhaps that’s something that could only happen once, the surprise on top of everything else. But I’m not complaining – any come is a good one, and this was a very good one. So, good enough, and I was lying on the ground smiling, and April and Bridget helped me up, and I sat in Julian’s lap, and we got another round of applause. Which was really nice. Sweetie, you did great, and whatever happened, it wasn’t you.”

Julian kissed her. “Honestly, I’m just glad that you came. I was really nervous about it showing off that way, it seems pretty likely to go wrong to me, though at least you’re not going to get badly hurt or anything.”

“Well, I could tear a muscle, I suppose. Anyway, I said that I felt really good but not trashed like last time, and I didn’t need the spa, and could they all sit on the floor around us, and we had a lovely chat about Lacey’s rescue, and Julian said how I do corporate speaking, and that meant I could work us around to talking about rape and sexual abuse.”

“Oh? I wondered how you would do your work on those girls,” James said.

“Yes, well, I wasn’t going there without saying something to them. And I asked April about it beforehand. All of them like sex, obviously. Well, duh, I do too, as much as anyone else. Well, Chelsea does, more than me. And maybe Maria. And my other mum. Well, and then there’s my sisters.” They all laughed at this. “But sex workers do have a high past history of rape and sexual abuse, though April says she doesn’t. And they’re making so much money that they’re not going to stop being sex workers. The cars outside her house: Beemers, Mercs, Teslas ... those girls doing OK. And the guy best of all, supposedly. A few of them were Asian, but apparently with the covid border closures, the Asians that were here, lots of them have gone home, and even the ones that were coerced, getting them on Jobkeeper allowance let the cops roll up the really abusive situations, the transported sex workers who wouldn’t surface before. They said they wouldn’t automatically call it sex slavery – they said that was too simple a way to understand difficult circumstances, and economic hardship, because they were friends with lots of them, though they talked about some really bad stuff they’d seen, so it happens. Anyway, quite a few of the foreign workers have gone home to family, and they’re not being replaced because of border closures, so prices have gone up and how much they’re working has too. And they all had to figure out how to work the web during lockdown, and that’s let them cut out the middle guy, doing freelance escorting and so forth. So they have money. This year.”

“So Julian and I talked about it, what was I going to say to them? Well, some of them have alcohol and drug problems, the ones that don’t work out of April’s brothel, and they were some there today, or they know lots of other sex workers who do. And then they meet lots of damaged people as customers. So what to say? I was going to tell them about how screwed up the rich people are, but then I realise: April’s rate is three thousand a night? These girls and guy know intimately how fucked up the rich people are. So I said how I talk about my rape, and told them about that, and then I talked about my mum, and how her life played out, and they really didn’t like the place she ended up in, broken off from her family and still pulling tricks as a sub when her children are grown up and hanging on and hoping. Cause I only told them parts. And then I said, it’s got to be about respect, and making life a better place, and I know people don’t respect you, they just use you, but is that all you are? Machines that use people back? Or do you make a difference in other people’s lives? And that seemed to be hitting the mark – Julian?”

“Yeah. I mean, I don’t know this group well but sure, people don’t respect them. And they told us some of the stuff they get. Not as bad as it used to be but still ... and they said how the Asian workers, people started refusing to go with them because of covid. I mean, people can’t think ... but I suppose this is guys using prostitutes, so they’re not ... oh well, it’s an ethical thing I guess, but maybe they’re more stupid than others? Anyway, just watching those girls listening, I thought they were listening and understanding. Well, and the guy.”

“Right. I did too,” said Larissa. “So I asked them if they’d consider carrying cards for counselling services, and giving customers they know have problems from their past or their family the cards and encouraging them to seek help. And they said they would, which was nice cause I just happened to grab a stack from HQ yesterday afternoon.” She grinned. “Anyway, then we got onto the Youtube project. Layna has lots of fans – a few of them too! You guys, really scoring now. Steph, you have fans too!”

Julian grinned. And Steph. “Well, it’s nice. So then I’m like ‘spread the word with your johns,’ and they said that they’d do that too. But they said they wanted to see more of me on the videos.”

“They’d already seen lots of you!” said Asha. “Can’t show more on Youtube!”

Julian laughed. “Should I show my bum, should I?” Yeah, both Steph and Asha cheered for that. “Well, maybe. Steph, talk to Chez. Anyway, then we just hung around and talked with them. They were nice, at least to us. One of them wanted to know how much? So that’s funny, they wanted to pay to have sex with us, not the other way around, but April read that girl the riot act - they had promised her not to proposition us irrespective of money. I liked the guy – he was telling me that the market is all for super fit lean guys right now, and he’s trying to choose – professional triathlete, or sex worker? Well, sex worker, at least until international competitions restart, and then he’ll think about it again. But there’s also a market for martial artists, and he reckoned I’d know at least one other through Taekwondo, though of course, I didn’t ask him who.”

“Anyway, then Larissa said it was time to leave, and so we got around to getting dressed and came here. Anyway, when are Amelia and Ross getting here?”

“Oh,” Sophie said, “should be any minute. We’re all ready, anyway. Are you ready, Larissa?”

“Well, kinda. I’m not really sure how it’s going to go. At this point, I’m just making Ross and Amelia feel good about themselves, and understanding the commitment they need to make to each other, and giving the family some context. And let’s have fun!”

A few minutes later, Ross and Amelia and family did arrive. Ross and Amelia gave them all hugs and kisses, and then introduced his mum and dad, and his sister Grace – looked like an older sister? Or a twin? Larissa was sure she’d seen his sister somewhere before, and she knew straight away that his sister knew something about her ... something bad. Still, she was perfectly polite when Larissa said hello. But her family had seen too, and both Steph and Sophie casually hugged her tight as they were talking and showing his family around the house. Lovely, and she gave them appreciative smiles. She was fine with whatever it was but it was great to know that her family would always have her back.

Dinner was pretty much ready, so they all sat down and started talking, getting to know each other. But Grace was quiet and uncomfortable, and they could see that was a surprise to at least her mother, so Sophie didn’t let it go long before saying, “Grace, I could see that you’ve run into Larissa before somewhere. Want to talk about it?”

Grace was uncertain, Larissa could see. So she said, “I’m sure I’ve seen you somewhere before, and don’t worry if you think the story doesn’t reflect well on me, I have no secrets in my life.”

Grace frowned. “Well, it doesn’t, and I don’t like to create trouble. I had no idea that Amelia’s friend ‘Larissa’ was you.” She was quite surprised when there was a lot of laughter around the table.

“Oh Grace,” Sophie said, “sorry, you’ll have to forgive us; that’s not the usual reaction to Larissa. Amelia, Ross, you haven’t told them then?”

Ross shrugged. “I was going to but didn’t get around to it.”

“That’s fine,” Larissa said, “it doesn’t matter – not important. It’s just that my face and name and other bits of me are pretty well known, and mostly people know who I am. But whatever it was, it won’t create trouble for me here, and since you’re thinking about it, please tell your family, else it will just be a problem somehow. And in this family ... we’re all open with each other.”

“Well,” Grace said, “it’s just that I go to the same uni as you, and we’ve passed sometimes in the crowds, or you’ve been in the queue at the café, and then I saw you one other time.” Larissa looked at her, waiting. “I was at a night club – my first time at one, I think. And you got thrown out of the club.”

Oh! That had only happened once. “Ahh. Not a great moment. But also not my worst either, sadly.” She turned to the family. “I told you guys about this – during my slide downwards after the big lockdown ended. I was pretty drunk, and I tried to do a guy on the dance floor, and the bouncer threw me out, basically naked.” She turned back to Grace. “I’m sorry you had to see that, and I’m sorry my life was in such a mess that I did that for people to see. I’ve come a long way since that night, though I got worse than you saw before that.”

Grace was certainly surprised by that response. “You told them about that?”

“Sure. There was worse, too, from before I met Julian and my family. I told Julian everything, he knows me, good and bad, and loves me for who I am, and we work to make each other better every day. And I think I mentioned it to them all. Sophie and Steph at least. And they all know my life was a shocking mess in the past. So, say, Jaiden, did you know that?”

“No, but it’s totally what I would have expected knowing who you are, if you’d been drinking. And we know you did back then.” He shrugged. “We couldn’t love you more, but after hearing that, we’re damn well going to try.” He blew her a kiss, and Asha did too.

Larissa was caught by surprise by the strength of that response. “Thanks,” was all she could say.

Then Amelia said, “Larissa, you didn’t tell me that particular bit either, but I totally agree with Jaiden, very predictable. And totally love you more. You’re an inspiration. Thanks.”

She could see the surprise on Ross’s family’s faces. Sophie said, “Larissa’s story is pretty sad in places – rape, abusive family, alcohol abuse, and then a prolonged drunken rampage after the big lockdown, and Grace, you saw her in the middle of that. She’s open about that, she’s even talked to our church about it – she was heading for death one way or another, and then an angel stepped into her life, and got her to stop drinking, and build good friendships, and showed her what a proper loving relationship was, and then helped her build one with Julian, and since then they’ve both worked unbelievably hard at making themselves better, and we’ve come to know her completely and we all love her deeply.”

Larissa smiled. “I think God for Sal every day of my life. And I love my family. And Julian, with everything I have.” She smiled at them all.

“Wow,” Grace said, “that’s totally not the kind of response I expected. It’s really nice to see your family love you. But what was it that we were supposed to know?”

“Well, before that,” Steph said, “inquiring minds want to know. Larissa, if you got thrown out the club naked, what happened then?”

Larissa frowned. “I’m ... not sure. I remember being angry and humiliated, and looking at the vomit on the pavement I’d just had my face rubbed in, and a bunch of people looking at my naked ass. And I think I thought, ‘I need a drink.’ And then it’s a blank. But I woke up at home in bed naked, and alone. Somebody got me home, and I was a bit cleaned up, so I assumed it was a guy and he did me. Which I thought was nice, because at least I was home. I’m sorry, I know you were looking for a more fun response than that, but it really was a bad time for me.” She looked up and everyone was shocked, except Julian who was hugging her. She took a deep breath.

Steph had tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry sister, I shouldn’t have asked. Really, that was terribly bad of me. You know I love you deeply.”

Larissa sighed. “It’s OK. You guys haven’t been there, don’t have a feel for just how bad it can be. Other people can deal with drinking, but I can’t. For me, it’s straight over the precipice.” She looked at Ross’s family. “Sorry about that. But at least the only I way I can go is up in terms of your impression of me after that. I speak to all sorts of bigwigs, and in schools, and even church, and the single biggest message I have is don’t drink. And I do not drink. Ever. Because I remember what it was like.”

Grace was looking awful now, so Larissa said, “Grace, don’t feel bad. Sure, talking about this hasn’t made me feel great, but would make me feel awful is you sitting here thinking about that, and not telling us about it. I’m glad we talked about it, and now I know how hard I have to work to redeem your opinion of me, and I’ll do just that. So don’t be upset, Amelia’s told me great things about you. I hope she told you bad things about Steph though.” She grinned at Steph, who grinned back at her: good, back on even keel.

Ross smiled at her. “You’re such an interesting person, you know. Amelia told me some of this. And then there’s the other, which is so amazing. So let’s talk about that, and see if my family’s estimation of you goes up.” Larissa smiled at him in thanks.

“Yes, just what is it that they’re referring to? And what’s this about speaking to bigwigs?” Ross’s dad asked.

“Well,” Xander said, “do you remember a few months ago, there was something on TV and going around social media about a vet rescue woman who went into a flooded stream to rescue some dogs and actually rescued a young girl?”

“Sure, that was amazing,” Ross’s mum said, “We were stunned when we saw it. She was incredible.”

“That was Larissa!” Xander said. “And we’re super proud of her. I’ve heard all sorts of awful things being said about Larissa, some true, some lies, but the woman I know, one of my best friends, I respect her deeply and she’s utterly amazing.”

Larissa gave him a lovely smile. “Yes, that was me,” she said to their stunned faces. “And it’s totally changed my life. Before that, I was just trying to build a quiet life, loving Julian and fitting into my family, and Julian and I have been working as hard as we can to live to our principles. Since then, my life has been kind of crazy, and I even do corporate events talking about it. Do you want to watch the raw video? Steph always offers people to do that.” Yes, they very much did. “OK, well, we can do that after dinner, but only on condition that we don’t talk about me anymore. There’s eight other amazing people around the table that I love deeply, and we haven’t talked about any of them. And then there’s you four, of which I only know Ross. Ross, are you and Grace twins?”

“Everyone asks that, but no, we’re not. She’s twelve months older than me.” Larissa looked in surprise at his mother. That was very close!

Sophie said, “You didn’t muck around!”

Ross’s mum sighed. “Well, it was an accident, and for a while it was a bit much. But now I’m really glad I had them so close together.”

They talked about that for a while, and then that Steph was open to getting pregnant, which would give her a fourteen to fifteen month gap, if it happened. Then they talked about Rachel, and then their jobs, and how Sophie had just lost hers, and Julian’s Youtube channel, and gradually that brought them around to Ross and Grace’s relationship – not that great, but getting rapidly better now, thanks to Amelia. Which was thanks to Larissa, Amelia said.

At that point Larissa stood up and started gathering up the dishes, but she was caught by surprise because every one of her family stood up and hugged her tightly, one at a time. Very moving, really, and a clear demonstration of how they felt. She had tears in her eyes after that. And she knew what to do. She went around to Grace, and pulled her up and held her hands. “Really, I’m glad you brought it up, and you did so as diplomatically as you could. It was us that dived down the rabbit hole. I really don’t want you to feel bad. And as you see, my family totally have my back, which keeps me whole.”

Grace smiled. “I’ve had some time to think and I’m not feeling bad about it. I love how passionately your family supported you. I’m really looking forward to watching this. I heard about it uni, I cannot believe I didn’t figure out it was you they were talking about.”

Larissa hugged her and said, “Hey, why should I be important? So don’t worry about it at all, and enjoy watching me in my underwear.” Well, that had her laughing, at least, and she hugged Larissa back.

Ross’s parents ... still not really fans, she could see. But she watched Sophie and James grab them both and leave the dishes to her. They’d do what they could, she knew. But everyone, including Ross and Grace, pitched in to tidy the kitchen up, so it didn’t take long.

Out in the lounge, there was nowhere for her to sit, so she sat on Julian’s lap, and ran the presentation on the big screen off her phone. Julian hugged her tight, and she walked through her presentation, talking about the video, and stopping in the standard places. Once she got to the end, they asked her the typical questions. And then Grace asked her an interesting one: “You know, I saw you at uni one day, and all these other students were mobbing you, like you were a rock star. Or a stripper. Was that a problem for you?”

“Well! Funny you should ask, because it actually was, and it started the ball rolling on the events that ended up with you here tonight. And I kind of knew that I had to tell you this, so...”

“Hang on, Larissa!” James said, “Before you tell us about that cascade of events, please show us your poster you and Julian have on your bedroom wall.” Well, OK, she could do that. She flipped forwards a couple of slides, and showed them their principles poster, and let them read it. While they were, she said, “Because of my past, I’m totally committed to these, every day, and I’m incredibly lucky that the love of my love is just as committed to them.” She turned and kissed him.

What followed was a surprise to Larissa. James and Sophie talked to Ross’s parents about all the things she’d done that they knew that showed how committed to her principles she was, and how she’d even talked about all her painful history to the church, and how tricky that was. Steph and Xander and Jaiden and Asha chipped in as well. Honestly, it was hard to listen to, but Julian did what he’d often promised to do. He held her hands behind her back and held his finger to her lips. He’d stick his finger right in if she said anything, she knew. She put her head against his neck and let her tears flow. If Julian said she had to listen, then she had to. Ross was paying particular attention to what Julian was doing, she noticed. At least they didn’t talk about her getting tied up – they were leaving that for her. Finally, James said to Julian, “Well, have you got anything to add?”

He pursed his lips. “I live with Larissa every day, and every day she lives those principles as hard as she can and she loves me as passionately as she can imagine how to, without any reservations. It’s a real challenge for me to try and be worthy of that for my babe, who’s so incredible. But she’s deeply uncomfortable with all this. She’d rather go and live her principles than hear all this talk. I’ve made her listen quietly, but can we stop?” Larissa smiled gratefully at him. He knew her so well. And she could see that they agreed that they were done now.

She sighed and said, “Now that we’re done with that, and Julian’s letting me talk again, I’m going to tell you a story, and then, we need to stop talking about me. At least the story will become Amelia’s story, and Ross’s story.”

“So my story starts with those people at uni mobbing me, and it was just mad; I got asked to sign all sorts of stuff, even at the servo. And all these people offering me anything if I’ll sleep with them, or they can do a threesome with us, or whatever. Just crazy. And then the girls in my course pandered to my ego and wanted to go drinking with me, and I did.” She told them about what happened, and Julian coming to find her. “That was terrible. You saw my principles – I failed on them, and I cut Julian out. That night in bed I gave myself to Julian as completely as I could figure out how to, and I knew we were OK but when I woke early in the morning, I knew I had unfinished business in my heart, and I couldn’t sleep again without dealing with it; you heard before what I have to be afraid of, and I will never go back to that, but that’s a statement with a price, and I needed to pay the price. But we had a busy day. So when we got here that night, I stripped and gave Julian our discipline collar, and turned myself over to him, and asked him to pull me back from the precipice.” She could see their astonishment. “Julian, tell them what you did with me.”