Chapter 7: Panic and Confusion

The room simmered. You'd need an elephant's skin not to feel the tension. The group Angique loved to call the Vanilla Clan huddled together in their corner, whispering and occasionally laughing out loud. Entering she saw the peroxide vane of Aura, the businesslike coiffures of Gina and BB, the abounding red curls of the leggy girl. She didn't see Lee or the petite Arab girl. A bit separate from the group was Sarah Lust, seated like a queen with a small coterie of very young girls.

Of course they had seen her enter. The wave of excitement was not unlike a wind moving through a cornfield. She chuckled and walked to her favorite spot under the balcony. Just to yank their chains, she had opened her gauze blouse and allowed her left nipple to peek out. Her corset-waisted black pencil skirt ran from right under her tits down to her calves, forcing her to walk with small steps in her laced up boots. As she passed the clan she smiled and greeted them.

Sipping her tea she knew they were up to something. Aura seemed the center of the group today, whispering like crazy, her face flushed with excitement. Then Aura rose, in her hand a small box with a pink bow that she balanced on the tips of her fingers. She walked over to Angique like a well-trained waitress. Her smile was so sweet it might make candy floss taste bitter in comparison.

"Hi Angique," she said, flashing her teeth and averting her eyes in mock shyness.

"Hello," Angique answered. "Aura, isn't it? How are you today, honey?" She put down her teacup to give the girl her attention. Aura looked back to her friends and they all giggled. Then the blonde addressed Angique again.

"We," she said, stifling a giggle, "all the girls from the Salon, have collected money to buy you a present." She presented the mint green box with the pink bow on top.

"In this box is something we all know you need very much," she went on, placing the box on the table and rushing off as if it might contain explosives.

Angique smiled, fingering the pretty bow. Then she looked up to where Aura had rejoined her giggling companions. She knew she had to distrust their friendliness. My God, she thought, did they ever leave high school? It must be a prank.

Smiling wide she opened the knot of the bow and started to unfold the mint green paper. Inside the box lay a length of elastic band. Looking up from the puzzling item she was met by an explosion of wild laughter, guffaws and whoops. She held up the limp thing, raising her eyebrows. Aura waved her arms to get some silence. Then she said, her words disrupted by giggles:

"That is for you, Angique. You can sew it into your tops so they won't slip all the time, forcing us to see your dangling tit." A new explosion of laughter followed her words and the girls high-fived with glee.

Angique just sat, swaying the elastic on a finger. Then she smiled and held up her hand. It took a while for the raucous to die down. As she spoke, her voice was low and warm with sympathy.

"Thank you so much, girls, I'm touched. I must say you took me by surprise. I always thought there was, let's call it a certain friction between you, girls, and me. But now I understand how you genuinely care for me. How you even went the extra mile to keep me from slipping on this narrow road of decency; the road you have decided we should all walk upon. Thank you again, sweet sisters." She once more increased the wattage of her smile and said: "I'll wear it with pride."

With that she picked up the magazine she had brought, and started reading, ignoring the girls whose giggles got an edge of confusion now. They knew the woman must be pissed off. She must be, how could she not? Then Aura laughed loudly, covering disappointment. She rose again, her voice flirting with hysteria when she cried out:

"Now take your damn piece of elastic, you whore and get out of here! Don't you get it? We don't want to see you anymore. Not your slutty outfits; not your damn nipples or your naked whore slaves!"

A sudden hush descended on the group. The rawness of Aura's emotions must have surprised them. It was supposed to be a joke, no — an innocent prank? But looking at Aura, seeing her crimson face, her thin-lipped mouth and the fists on her hips, they knew that to someone it was more, much more. And instinctively they turned away from the seething blonde.

Angique never reacted, being totally absorbed by the magazine she read.

"Hey you!" Aura went on, her voice almost choking. "I was talking to you!" Slowly Angique lowered the magazine. When her eyes at last found Aura's, she chuckled.

"My God, Aura, honey," she said. "You are all red in the face. I don't think it's healthy, getting all wound-up like this. Maybe you should not drink so much, darling. Shall I ask Gary to watch your habit for a while?"

Aura almost made it to the table. Her clawing fingers were stretched out to the sitting woman. Amongst the roars she produced were distinct wishes to "kill the whore". But two of her friends reached her in time. They checked her and carried her wrestling body back to the save bosom of their friendship, from where she sent bolts of venom to the goal of her hatred.

Angique gathered her purse and magazine. Then she rose from the table, wished the girls a lovely afternoon and left. She put a generous amount of sway in her step and when she reached the exit, she dropped a piece of elastic band in the pink bin.

Once in a while the Club's Salon was cleared to create a dance floor at its center. An all female band would be invited and girls from everywhere came over to dance and gossip and — maybe even more important — show off their latest outfits and their newest conquests. They would also drink a lot and wander off in couples or threesomes to the rooms upstairs, but hey, what was new with that?

This night was the first one since the Clan came over from Bianca's. They had heard about the function and were excited to attend. Angique never much liked going to events like this, but this time she decided to attend and make it a memorable happening for all concerned.

Tonight the room had been turned into an even sweeter bon-bon box than it usually was. The lights were turned low and a true forest of candles had sprung up everywhere. It spread a warm and glowing light, guaranteed to make every girl look her very best — sweet creamy skin, sparkling eyes, and lustrous hair. And of course there were all the mirrors a girl might need to be reminded of her perfection.

Elegant glasses of champagne and kir royal made a visitor feel welcome. Lovely girls in pink French maid's dresses served drinks and snacks. There was music, first soft and atmospheric, later on either passionately up beat or romantically slow.

The Clan had outdone itself. Most of them were in sleek evening dresses that showed nice cleavages and plunging backs. Aura had most daringly squeezed her impressive front into a lace bustier. Her striking hair was done up, leaving her neck free. A choker of blue silk served as a symbol of her devotion to Lee, who was dressed in her usual black. It was a slinky suit, this time with a vest cut into a V so deep that the insides of her modest breasts were visible. She wore a hat of course and Spanish boots with tall Flamenco heels.

Gina' s choice was a classic black gown with a generously scooped neck to show her tanned cleavage. The lights sparkled off a single string of pearls — no doubt genuine. BB once more cloned her unashamedly, short of the pearls, while Tyana had decided to make the best of her desert tan and wrap herself in the purest white. Cassy, who called herself Brit Princess, wore a colorful ensemble, clearly inspired by the tight suits of Vivian Westwood. It looked lovely on her.

Angique only arrived after the six-women band had ended its first series of up beat and slow numbers, leaving the dance floor strewn with tightly hugging couples.

She hadn't come alone. Two sets of leather bridles sprouted from her left hand to end at bits that were squeezed between the teeth of two very tall girls. Their bodies were clad in leather harnesses, forming a mace of tight straps tying up their naked bodies, but leaving their tits free. Steel D-rings dangled from pierced nipples, connected by a silver chain.

Their arms and legs were bound in solid leather, ending in hoof-shaped extremities. The ones on their feet seemed to have stilt-like extensions that made their long legs even longer. They wore black latex headsets and blinkers, hiding most of their faces. On top were huge feather plumes. High arching tails of horsehair sprouted from their butt cracks. The irons under their hooves clattered on the floor as they pranced.

Guiding them from behind, Angique appeared in a blood red corset. It supported her breasts, but left her nipples exposed. Her arms were wrapped in black latex gloves; latex tights disappeared in red thigh high platform boots. Her head was completely covered by a black leather mask. It had openings for eyes and mouth and a hole on top to allow a ponytail to rise up and flare out.

The sudden silence was only disrupted by the clattering of horseshoes. An occasional "tssk-tssk" and "go girls!" from Angique guided her ponies. The long whip in her free hand swished and made the air crack. The sound seemed to break the spell. Gina walked up to block the cavalcade's progress. Several of the Clan had her back.

"What do you think you are doing?" she asked, folding her arms in front of her chest.

Angique elaborately pacified her ponies when they mockingly pranced around the woman, towering over her on their stilts, whinnying through their masks.

"I heard there was a party," Angique said. "I thought you might like me to spice up the entertainment." Gina's face was a wall of stone.

"You know what we think of this," she said, waving her hand in the general direction of the pony girls.

"Do I?" asked Angique.

"Yes, you do. You abuse women, humiliate them and make them do things that degrade them — and you do that in public, right in our faces. We can't allow this in a female Club where we uphold the principles of feminine honor and equality. Please leave and take your silly bimbo's with you."