"Janine! Gloria here. You'll never guess where I am."

"Who?"

"Me!! Glo.!! Guess where I am?"

"Where?"

"I'm sitting in my car out in front of TATTOO YOU...you know that place over in the Hudson district?"

"The HUDSON district? That slum?"

"Yeah! And guess what I'm gonna get?"

"What?"

"I'm gonna get pierced." She squealed into her cell phone.

"Why?"

"Because I want to. Because it's what my Master told me to do."

"You're WHAT?"

"My Master!! OH. I can't stand it. I've just got so much to tell. Okay..."

"Wait a minute, Glo, let me get a cigarette."

"Okay, I'll get one too."

Gloria rummaged in her purse with her free hand, pinched a cigarette between her lips and quickly lit it. Then, she made a "Whew" sound, blowing smoke out of her mouth with a grunt.

"Okay Janine. Now. Are you still there?"

"Yeah."

"Anyway, see, one night I felt kind of restless, well, horny maybe, you know..."

"Hmm hmm..."

"And I found this website. I don't know how I ended up there, but it has all these people advertising to either find a master or a slave. I was reading all these profiles and then I decided..."

"You mean this is the dating service you were talking about?"

"Nooo, NO. Forget that stuff. Just a bunch of old farts my age looking for their other half, or a nurse, maybe. That stuff's a bunch of crap. I want some EXCITEMENT when I go hunting, you know?"

"Wait a minute. Wait. Are you talking about those whips and chains kind of places?"

"Nooo, NO! Not really. It's more sophisticated than that. More erotic. It's....fantasy...it's, well, when you were a kid, did you ever have daydreams about some handsome pirate or foreigner capturing you and carrying you off and making you into his love slave?"

"Uh, no."

"Well anyway, I put in an ad saying that I wanted to be owned. You know, just to see what would pop up. It turned me on. I wanted someone to try to win me over. I wanted some attention. And guess what?"

"You're scaring me, Glo."

"This charming little Italian guy, just a child, really, in his twenties, sweet-talked me into letting him be my Master. Isn't that hot?"

She giggled, and then she gave a few more tap-taps to her cigarette, holding it out the car window.

"I said I thought he might be too young for me, I mean, good Lord, I have a son his age, but no, he convinced me that he is only interested in my submissive soul. That's the name of the website, SUBMISSIVE SOUL. Ooh. I get wet just talking about it. I can't stand it. Guess how much weight I've lost?"

"How much?"

"Five pounds already. Can you BELIEVE it? And you know why? I'm too EXCITED to eat. It's like a drug. Every time I want to pig out I just think about Giovanni, that's his name, Giovanni, isn't that sexy? And besides, now that he is my Master, I need to answer to him about how much weight I've lost. I think he really CARES. He says he owns my body and that I must submit to his demands to lose weight, and send him pictures of myself in e-mail to prove that I am obeying him. EEEIIIOUUW, I can't STAND it. I can't stand it!!" Her breath came out in frenzied gasps.

"It was so darling the way he spent days talking me into submitting to him. I really felt just like a princess being wooed. He made me feel like I am really beautiful, and now that I am in his possession, he will mold me into the beautiful woman that he knows I can be....are you still there?"

"Yeah. So when do you meet him?"

"MEET him? I don't know. Probably never. Who cares? Oh, I dream about it, I get all turned on thinking about waiting for him at the airport in Rome, having him come pick me up, and here I am in a foreign country completely dependent on him, and completely in his control..."

"I think you need to find a boyfriend."

"YUCK. I don't want some dork hanging around telling me what to do."

"And yet you want to be this guy's slave."

"Well SURE. He's across the ocean, you know? I'm safe. I'm in charge. Anyway. Guess what I'm gonna have pierced."

"Please don't tell me."

"YESSS. I'm almost sixty and I can do anything I want! When I asked them on the phone about what kind I should get, they said I should go for sensation! Can you believe that? Like it's okay to enjoy a solid steel round ball rubbing against your 'you know what' all day. And it is. Think about when I sit, and when I walk. Ooh, I can't stand it. And guess what else. He told me to get a little metal thing-a-jigger that dangles from it, and have his name engraved on it. I got that part done already. I ordered it from the mall. STERLING SILVER, a medallion, and it's ready, and I'm gonna go there right after I'm done here. And then guess what else?"

"What"?

"He wants me to take a picture of it, ooh, he says I have to shave first," she squirmed, "And then he says I have to send it to him in an e-mail. Can you imagine that? My snatch zipping across the Atlantic ocean. And guess what else? Janine?"

"Yeah..."

"He says I have to ask his permission before I can play with myself. He says he owns my body so he owns my pleasure too, and he is in charge of it. Oh. I'm starting to quiver."

"How's he gonna know what you do with yourself?"

"That's not the point. It's the ASKING him that turns me on. What I do with myself after that is my own business."

"So you don't really take this whole thing too seriously."

"Hell, no. I just take it for what I want it to be. And guess what?"

"Yeah?"

"He showed me a website where I can buy a collar, they are around 100.00, but they are beautiful, solid, stainless steel, and they open and close with an allen wrench."

"Wait a minute. He owns you and YOU have to buy the collar?"

"Well, I didn't say the arrangement was perfect. But it's already ordered. I can hardly wait to feel that cold, solid steel around my neck, ooh, that inescapable collar, the symbol of my complete, helpless and total surrender."

"What are you going to tell people when they ask what it is?"

"I'll just say it's a necklace. That's the fun of it all. See, here I am, a slave to this exquisite Italian Master, and I am functioning in society like a normal person. Do you see how exciting this all is? I can't STAND it."

"Well what if he is really obsessed? And what if he shows up on your doorstep some time?"

"Honey, that little hunk can show up on my doorstep ANY time. I'll have him for lunch!! Ha ha ha!" she doubled over and shook her head. "He's so sweet, Janine, really," she choked, he's a computer nerd. A deviant horny computer nerd named Giovanni. He's delicious. He's so sincere. But then he's got this naughty little twist to him. Guess what he said last time he wrote?"

"What"

"He said," she panted, " 'A slap on your bottom, Germaine, for disobeying me.' Germaine. That's my user name. I like being his Germaine. Giovanni and Germaine....beautiful, yes?"

"Hmmm, well, it's probably time for your appointment now, Gloria."

"I know. I'm shivering. I'm gonna have to stop in a restroom for a minute before I spread my delicate body out on that table to be marked, permanently ....."

"Delicate body? ..."

"Okay, so I'm fat. But when I see myself as Germaine, the love slave, I feel thin. I feel cherished and cared about and vulnerable and like a prized possession. Do you see? It's a body-mind thing. It's a rush. I love myself as Germaine.He loves me as Germaine. So that's who I will become. Just wait 'till I tell you how it went today. Wait 'till I tell you what he says when he gets the picture. Aren't you just a little bit turned on?"

"Well...."

"Yess yess! Here I go for my self sacrifice. Ooh.. Later." She twittered again, stuffed the phone back into her purse, slammed the car door and glided up to the cluttered, gaudy glass windows of TATTOO YOU.


***

Gloria felt cozy inside of herself the next morning, sitting in church. She breathed in draughts of tender, placid peace and expanded back outward with bliss. She loved the feeling of sitting on top of her little steel ball. She felt smug. No one in the whole congregation even suspected her wayward secret. It heightened her glow.

Words took on new meanings. Words like "worship" and "submit to the Master" made her quake. They made her feel warm and dreamy. "Mold me and make me, after thy will..." yes, she would. She would do that. Here she had been completely out of control, voracious, wanton, and now Giovanni had saved her and reeled her into his possession, and would protect her from her vices, and she would emerge a lovely creature. Adored. All His. Forever.

She thought about the picture she had finally decided to send him last night in an e-mail. It had taken hours to produce one that was just right. She had propped her digital camera on the bathroom counter, adjusted different lighting effects, and draped a silken blouse over the lumps of stomach fat, so that only her sacred Treasure, with it's silvery adornment peeked out, in radiant innocence. She loved to think about what he thought when he saw it. Did he get stirred to passion? Did he want to protect and cherish and take delight in owning her? She felt herself throbbing.

It had taken all her self discipline to not check the computer this morning. She knew something juicy was waiting for her in there, something from her beloved Owner, but it would be better to remain aloof, let the cake bake all the way, let the frenzy of anticipation build, and then, after she had been a good girl at church, she would be allowed to approach her Master's Voice and would ready herself for His next command. She smiled. She sighed. She felt like she was floating on a tranquilizer, and the best part was that it never needed to go away. All she had to do was just connect with her beloved Giovanni every day for the rest of her life, and she would be elevated to a level of rapture.

When she got home, she made herself take a long walk and then drink peppermint tea. It was what her Master would want. Then, she calmly sat at the computer, her heart thumping, and she logged onto SUBMISSIVE SOUL. Any minute now and she would see a red message light and it would be like his morning kiss.

There was a message. It was HIM. Her stomach dipped.

"Germaine," it began, "I see the pic, thank you very much. I have been arranging with new slave. She is my age and very beautiful and she will come to live with me. I tell her about you. She will like to meet you in chat sometime.
Be good, Germaine. And be obedient.
Kisses, Giovanni."
Gloria stopped breathing. Her head buzzed. Red hot flames were shooting up her gut.

"Oh, yeah?" she half groaned, half whimpered. "Oh yeah? Well guess what? Oh that does it. I am so DEGRADED. That does it. Okay for you...." she panted. "I'm gonna find a new Master."

Hysterically, she punched up the search key. MALE DOMINANT.....Okay. Plenty of fish in the sea. Plenty more EXPERIENCED Masters, more mature, more clever, she was just playing with a baby, that's all. She would find the One who knew how to appreciate her like she deserved to be. She read the first one.

"I am looking for someone to serve me. I will control every aspect of your life."

Too threatening.

"I am looking for a sub to train to be my slut."

Too sleazy.

"I am sadistic, nurturing and caring."

Too contradictory

"You know who your are. Serve Me and I will care for you. Come to Me."

Too arrogant.

"I look for one who will grow and flourish under My direction."

Too pompous.

"Open: 24/7 slavery position."

Too official.

"I am looking for someone who has an insatiable desire for eroticism"

She sighed. "No, no," she thought. "Nothing. No one stirs me up like Giovanni. They are all imposters. Only Giovanni holds the key to my soul."

She grabbed her purse and stomped out of the apartment.

"Okay for you," she muttered, out of breath, while she stalked off to the nearest Dairy Queen. "Okay for you. If you don't care about me any more than that, then I don't have to obey you any more. She felt the metal object between her legs, nudging her with every frantic step. And who cares about you, anyway? I just got this piercing for ME. For MY pleasure. I'm just using you, you fool, for MY fantasies. You can't hurt me. You don't even have anything to do with my life. I'll show you."

"A large pineapple sundae, please, with lots of whipped cream, make that extra large, and two double cheese burgers and large fries, please," she rattled to the counter person when she entered the restaurant. She paid, and then she heaved herself down upon the soft, large seat of a booth and eagerly awaited her session of pleasure.

***

She came home feeling stuffed and disgusting. She was no longer Germaine, the sweet captive, but she was just fat old Glo. Fat old Glo, pushing sixty, no control over her habits, forgotten in an apartment, unloved, with a pierced tush. She felt like she needed to be rescued. She groveled up to her computer and logged on to SUBMISSIVE SOUL. It was okay for a slave to beg, wasn't it? Surely he would enjoy having her beg for his forgiveness. He might even love her for it.

"Dear Giovanni," she wrote. I am in need of Your discipline. I have gone astray. I just over-ate like a pig, and now I need to be taken back into Your protective custody. Also, I had sex with myself yesterday without asking You first. Please, please don't throw me out for being a bad slave. Also, I was disloyal to You and went looking for another Owner. I will be extra good. Please keep me, and I will make it up to You for disappointing You, and I will remain ever devoted to You, Master."

She thought of one more thing.

"Please let me live through You and my sister slave. I will surrender to whatever role You place me into. If I am to be excluded from Your daily lives, please at least describe what they are like, so that I may dream."

She sat back, and pushed SEND.

***

The following evening, it was finally time to sit before her computer again. She had floated through the day, dazed with the words which she had sent to Giovanni the night before. She read them over and over in her mind, submerging her understanding into the psyche of her Master, perceiving each syllable as she hoped he would. He would adore her for her humility.

The red light blinked. Her eyes widened.

"Germaine,
My idea for to live with my slave is that she work, of course, to keep a slave in the house make her crazy. She will have hobby, too. She will have chores she must do each day, things I do not like to do myself, such as cooking and cleaning and laundry. When she is done, she have free time, she may be permitted to spend it with me or her hobby.."
Kisses, Giovanni"

Gloria sat upright.

Cooking?

Cleaning?

Laundry?

She felt a rush of anger, and then a suffusion of joy. She kept her mouth frozen with a look of stunned wonder. She wanted to say 'Wow'. She wanted a cigarrette. She felt a flood of relief, when she stuck it in her mouth and lit it, knowing that no one could tell her that she had to put it back out.

She walked out to her deck so that she could smoke in the open night air. It was dark and cold, and she shivered, triumphantly blowing out smoke and feeling smug.

"Is that any way to treat a love slave? She is your cherished possession, not your maid. How DARE you? Oh, that poor girl." Waves of pity seeped out from under her outrage.

She laughed. She took another long, greedy puff of her cigarette. She felt deliriously buoyant and liberated.

Dropping her cigarette into the receptacle by the door, she went back inside to her desk and studied the picture she had of Giovanni. Yes, he was cute, he was...well..vulnerable? She felt a loving urge to protect him from all the hurts in the world. Passion for him fizzled out of her like a spent balloon. A new libidinous energy had taken its place.

"I'm FREE!" She chortled. "I'm FREE!!!"

She giggled, and then she punched in a number on her cell phone.

"Janine?" she sang. "What's up?"

"Glo?"

"Yeah. Wanna go out to dinner and a show?"

"Uh, sure, why not? How's that Italian hunk of yours?"

"Okay."

Well how did the piercing go? Was he excited to see the picture of your crotch that you sent him?"

"Yeah, I guess. I'm kinda chillin' on him now, though."

"Well that was fast. Why?"

"Oh, I think he takes it too seriously. I'm just playing, after all. I don't want to hurt his feelings."

"Oh, well, that's decent of you. So what movie do you want to see?"

"Janine, do you think I have to feel helpless in order to be turned on?"

"How should I know?"

"I don't know. Hey. I have an idea. Why don't you come over and check out profiles with me on SUBMISSIVE SOUL?"

"Why? Are you on the prowl again?"

"No, not for the same thing. See, they have all these really cute guys who are looking for a Mistress. Really sweet guys who want to come live with you and do your housework...Hey I know! Let's you and me get a house together, and we can each get ourselves a male slave, and we can have this nice little family. C'mon, please? It would be so fun if we could just get together and pick out some of these DARLING..."

"Gloria, let's just go to a movie."

"Yeah, okay."

"I'm getting my coat right now. I'm starved. The Chinese restaurant?"

"Yeah."

Gloria plunked her phone back inside her purse. She glanced at Giovanni's picture one more time, and then she headed for the front door. She supposed she would get around to removing the medallion with his name on it. The little steel ball could stay. She inhaled a happy gulp of air, deciding it was a good thing that she had not asked for a tattoo.

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