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Full Figured Chic Ch. 01

By: BarbraNovac



Prologue

The chains sat heavy on his wrists, cutting deeply into the fragile flesh. His muscles ached. The effort over the first four weeks of trying to escape weighed heavily, exhausting him. Or was it the air? This place -- this unnatural place filled with the most vile that life had spewed out of its belly could have that sort of effect on the bones. It could rob a man of all he was, all he stood for, all that was easy, natural and good about him.

Now he waited, defeated. The voice taunting him every three hours would be back soon, and here on the thirty-fifth day, he had no more expectations. The first week was filled with questions, attempts at bargaining. The second- nothing but insults; by the third he knew the game involved his mental anguish and though he cried for help at certain points, the inevitability of no answers seeped its way in. At week five, he knew by experience the voice would arrive soon, but he also knew none of his suffering would be relieved. Hunger took its toll. He'd started to become aware of the fact that he was to die in this place, not knowing how he got there, or why he was there.

"Alexander. Can you hear me Alexander?"

The man remained mute. Answering the voice had produced no result to this point. He lay unspeaking now, accepting his fate.

"Alexander. Can you hear me Alexander?"

Then he lay alone in the darkness again. 

A worm crawled on his foot; a fat evil looking grub. It was the most persistent of animals or the floor swarmed with them. He'd kept them at bay, raking a space around himself every few hours, brushing them off his skin. Now, in the darkness of this fifth week, he wondered at their victory. When he died here, they'd burrow into his flesh, make honeycomb of his bones and consume his organs. Their patience and persistence would win and they'd eventually get to feed on his rotting carcass. He'd become sure of this now.

"Alexander. Can you hear me Alexander?"

Had it been three hours? The space of time between the voices taunts appeared shorter this time. Or was did delirium own him now?

"Answer me Alexander. Are you so weak that five weeks in hell is the end of you?"

"Do what you want with me. I know you will anyway. Just do it soon, I beg you."

"Do you know why you are here Alexander?"

The man whimpered in a voice filled with resignation and defeat. "No, Lord, I do not." "I am a Daemon, here to take your life. And it will be slow and painful and the worms will eat your flesh."

It didn't matter now. Starving and exhausted, he already knew this. He had nothing to say in return. Even the reason no longer mattered. "You stole from me Alexander. You stole Aoide from me. You took her and she was given to me by the gods."

In his state the man could barely concentrate on the words, but they ignited a flicker of hope. If he could raise himself on to an arm, if he could listen hard to what the daemon had to say.

"I know... this woman... She did... not tell me..."

His voice trailed off, his language slurred with the fat swollen nature of his tongue. The rotten water he'd been putting on it had almost run out, despite his attempts to save it. 

"How it warms my heart to see you so close to death Alexander. We'd wanted to punish you for your womanising for so long; you who had been given a beautiful wife, and three strong children. The gods wouldn't let us have you though. You were to simply be punished by losing your family when we arranged for them to find out about your deceitful ways. 

"But then you stole Aoide and she was saved to be mine. You took her that night, in the barn behind the house where you'd taken your fill of wine and women already. You saw her there, and you seduced her, taking her to the barn and pouring yourself into her, though so many women loved you. She'll have a child from you Alexander. And that child will be cursed."

"Take her. Have her. I don't want..."

"You only want your life now that it is threatened. But restraint should have come to you earlier. Because you did not think twice about stealing her from me, I don't have to think twice about taking your life in this manner."

"My life... please... don't take my life."

"Your life is gone. And I, who have no reason to return to the earth for my blessing any more, will be sure to curse every one of your offspring through Aoide. Your diseased semen destroyed everything and the gods granted me revenge. It's all the sweetness I have left." The man slumped back to the worm covered earth. "That's right, accept your fate Alexander knowing I have cursed your seed. Die knowing if you are a worm in life, you will be fed to them in death."

The man lay alone in the darkness again.

Chapter One

"The sooner we get you a man, the better."

Sasha looked with horror at her friend, and then around the now silent cafe. 

"Keep your voice down." It may have been a whisper but Penny would have no problem noting the command. "I don't want every hot blooded creepy horn bag floating this way in the next ten seconds."

"What if they weren't creepy?" Penny had her mischievous smile on, which told Sasha her mood would outweigh her tact. "Maybe a few cute guys becoming available are just what the doctor ordered this afternoon?"

"Yeah. I could take one back and settle him in under the desk at work."

Penny eyes lit up in a way that told Sasha she'd given her friend and idea rather than a deterrent. She stepped in quickly with her next line she got anymore ideas.

"Are we still on for tonight?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't we be?"

"Just trying to distract you lovey. I'm desperate to change the subject."

"We have to get you a man regardless of the subject matter." This time the statement came out in a hushed tone, while Penny looked from side to side as if a more mystical approach to the topic could make him appear.

"I do actually have a man, and I am bringing him tonight, so it would be nice if you could get your head around that fact, and stop trying to set me up with strangers."

Penny focussed on her friend with the sympathetic eyes Sasha knew meant this lecture would be worse than the embarrassing announcement.

"That's not a man. That's a stop gap till a man comes along and you know it."

"Hey, we can't all find 'Gilbert's' in our lives."

Penny smiled back at her with the same sadness rounding out now and spreading into the rest of her face. Sasha made a mental note to give up that one glass of wine at lunch.

"I know. I have the perfect man. And I wish I could share him with you, but I'm so god damned jealous, I'd have to kill you right after."

"No need for jealousy. Gilbert can't see anyone else. He doesn't know I exist outside of the fact that I'm your best friend. You have no need for any kind of jealousy."

Penny had the relationship everyone wanted. Gilbert worshiped her. Kissed the ground she walked on. And had been doing it now for six years, so they were well out of the 'early stages' that gave you hope it would evaporate like everyone else's romance eventually. Add to that his good looks, his charm and his trust account, and you had the perfect partner. Penny loved him easily as much has he loved her. Theirs was the great love affair, and if Sasha didn't adore them both so much, she would be insanely jealous.

Penny floated off for the briefest of moments, so Sasha had a chance to finish her Swedish meatballs with lingon berries. Today's exotic restaurant was 'Gutfud' - the European specialty store. A little weekly ritual the long time girlfriends shared, to discover a new restaurant each month. Today they munched on European fare while, listening to the soundtrack to the Cabaret movie. Sasha had forgotten how much she loved it.

Struck out of her reverie, Penny looked over at Sasha. 

"He's not a real boyfriend. I'm not giving up on this one."

Sasha looked up in a sign of frustration. "I know, I know. He's a 'do for the moment' kind of guy. I'm not going to turn him into a keeper." "Let's hope not."

"Would you prefer I saw no one? Just hung around with you too as a third wheel?"

"To this guy? Yes I would."

Sasha hated this conversation. She looked around the restaurant hoping to distract her friend. "This place is nice. We should come back here."

"If you got rid of Darren the cute ones could get a little closer to you."

Frustrated, Sasha realised she wasn't going to get out of this one so easily. She may have to try being serious with her friend. "Penny, just because you have found the sweetest guy in the whole world doesn't mean that it's easy for everyone to find the person of their dreams. Besides, the guy I want wouldn't be quite so nice to me all the time, if you know what I mean?"

Getting Penny back on to sex was a better idea than having this conversation seriously. 

"You just don't know how beautiful you really are."

"No -- you don't know how lucky you are."

The two women smiled warmly at each other and finished up the remainder of their meals. Sasha decided to attempt change the subject again and relieve the tension.

"So, you were serious about coming here again then?"

"Yeah; this meal was good."

"I liked it too. And what is the big surprise you have for me this afternoon?"

Penny downed the last gulp of meatball, excitedly and looked at Sasha with sparking eyes. 

"Tarot reading! For each of us. We haven't been for years."

"What? That crap? I thought you'd given up on that rubbish. Rather, I hoped you'd given up on that rubbish."

"Oh stop being so cool. This is great fun and you know it. You don't have to get upset..." 

Penny cocked an eyebrow at her. "After all, it's not real you know."

Sasha gave her a vanquished half smile and acquiesced. "Fine, fine. I'll indulge you this once. Where are we off too?"

"Madame Soltar. Two blocks down. She's new. Just moved into the area apparently."

The two women stood on the opposite side of the street to the rickety little shop that seemed to be clinging to the buildings on either side for support, lest it be swallowed up by an unforgiving city. A low thatched roof made a contrast to the cool steel and stone structures around it, as it bent low over the warm wooden stoop. Somehow, in the middle of the city, vines crept up the outside of the small two storey construction, as if they'd sprung up magically out of the pavement in front of the house, altogether giving the structure the impression it'd been swept up from Tudor England and transported strangely in to the heart of the metropolis.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Sasha had never seen a more obvious cliché.

"Oh, it's for show! She probably draws the customers in as much through the outside as she does through the 'call' of her work. C'mon! Let's go."

Penny dived with skill into the traffic weaving and manoeuvring her way like a born and raised in the city pro. Sasha stayed close on her heels. If the outside of the shop seemed a cliché, it was nothing compared to the inside. Sasha had trouble adjusting her eyes to the light at first, which was almost nonexistent except for shafts of dust ridden beams, highlighting precariously piled stacks of books, empty goldfish bowls and small vials filled with florescent liquids in many colours. As Sasha's eyes adjusted, the first thing she was aware of was the dust.

"Man, I thought you said this place was new - Looks like it's never been cleaned."

"She's just moved in. Maybe she hasn't had time to clean it all yet."

"I'm not surprised. It'd take one hundred years for this place to be sorted." 

"Shhh... be polite. She may not see us if you are rude."

"There is no one in here -- she's out the back." Sasha slid a long finger through thick dust settled all over a tall pile of books. "And the dust is not the only thing that's laid on a little thick here."

Sasha turned away when Penny shrugged looking disappointed in her. She didn't want to hurt her friend; she just thought this was a lot of rot. However, she didn't think it would hurt anyone, and contrary to most sceptics, she didn't think these people were out to rip off the dull of mind and the unsuspecting. If you wanted to get rich as a con artist there were easier and far more lucrative ways. One thing was for sure, these folk believed their own story.

She worked her way around the strange little store continuing to admonish herself for being so hard on her friend. Soon, however, she stopped thinking about Penny as the variety of bits and bobs in front of her drew her attention. Every wall held, floor to ceiling, a rose wood bookcase. Sometimes the shelves were filled with books and other times they held more of the small florescent vials she's spotted when she first walked in. Large glass jars contained strange fleshy items congealing in pale green liquid, sealed tight. They gave one the impression the seal was to keep the thing in rather than protect it from air and the elements. 

"Hey Sasha -- get a load of this."

Sasha whirled around face to face with a wizened hand that looked very much as though it were human. Penny held it at arm's length and at face height so that the yellowed fingernail of the knarled middle finger almost poked Sasha's eyes out. Sasha jumped, landing with heart pounding out through the flesh on her breast.

"Are you crazy? You nearly scared me half to death."

"How creepy is this place?" Penny said placing the weird hand carefully on a small table on the centre of the room. She took her place next to Sasha as co conspirator rather than trying to scare her into having a good time. The two women leaned into the bookcase where Sasha stood; together reading the spines of the large leather bound tomes embossed with gold lettering. Sasha started to read the titles out aloud. "Salem's Martyrs. Practical spells for everyday living. The housewives guide to cursing your neighbours. Wiccan rites of passage. The Cauldrons calendar. I don't think we're in Kansas anymore Toto." She said turning her head toward Penny directly to her right.

"This must be the witch section. There is this whole section over there where I found the volumes about ancient Greece and then Rome."

Sasha moved a little more to her left. "Yup, that'd be right. And here's ancient Egypt. Wow. This place is good. If I didn't know better, I would swear these books were authentic."

Before Penny had a chance to take a look, they heard the small bell above the door signal the arrival of someone else in the shop.

Full Figured Chic Ch. 02



An undersized round man with a crown of hair around his head walked in, immediately bumping into the table and spilling the withered hand, despite the almost half inch thickness of his glasses.

"Oh god -- sorry." He stammered into the musty air of the shop. The two women turned when the door opened, and he hadn't looked in their direction at all. Sasha wondered who he apologised to.

At that moment, a thick purple curtain, heavy with gold beads and sequins, parted and a woman Sasha assumed to be Madam Soltar appeared from behind it. Although heavy set she moved with delicacy and grace and Sasha thought immediately that there was some sort of undistinguished beauty about the woman. Penny pulled at Sasha's t shirt encouraging her to move further into the centre of the room. 

But the small round man beat them to it, running to the counter, to talk with her immediately.

"Madam Soltar, I am sorry that I am late. I got caught at work by that boss I can't stand, you know the one, and I hate to keep you waiting, but I had to do what he says. Maybe we can curse him or something because..." he held the bottom of his tweed jacket, feverishly stroking and pulling at the seam between the end and the first button.

"Hush. It is a problem because I have other clients."

Madam Soltar swept her hand with the grace of a ballet dancer across the large area in front of her bosom till her hand pointed in the direction of Sasha and Penny.

"These were before you."

Even though it was dark, Sasha looked into the eyes of Madam Soltar and she swore there was a flash of puzzled recognition in them.

Penny moved in front of Sasha. "No no, we're in no hurry. I mean, how long will you be? We can look around your fascinating shop for thirty minutes if you want to help this man. We are here on a fun errand." 

Sasha sighed deeply behind Penny to indicate her irritation but it had no impact. Penny didn't even turn around.

"Your friend is troubled. She doesn't want to be here." Madam Soltar seemed to be trying to look around Penny at Sasha. However, Sasha thought she'd been the cause of enough anxiety for Penny, and besides the shop was fascinating. Another thirty minutes could easily be eaten up in here.

"No no, I'm ok. You guys do what you need to do and we can push our appointment back for a while."

The little man, still working the hem of his coat, twisted his wiry mouth into a strange line that Sasha supposed was a smile, and exhaled loudly.

"Then... I mean then... Madam... its settled. I can still take thirty minutes?"

"Same price because you were late."

He'd looked back toward Madam Soltar, but Sasha could hear the relief in his voice. "Yes Madam. Thank you madam."

Looking again toward Penny, Madam Soltar said in her thick unidentifiable accent, "You both get hour for thirty minutes cost. Because you kind to this little man." From behind Sasha saw Penny nod.

The little man twisted his way around the counter, mumbling his thanks to Penny and to Madam Soltar in turn till he disappeared through the curtain with Madam Soltar behind him.

Penny whirled around. "Thank you so much. It gives us a great chance to explore this shop! I want to take a look at some of these books." 

Immediately she grabbed for "The housewives guide to cursing her neighbours".

Warmed by her friend's happiness, Sasha turned her back on the books ready to explore other sections of the shop.

With the adjustment of her eyes to the darkness, Sasha could see her way around. Small alcoves lay unevenly against the farther wall, each one sitting against the other creating a wall of fascinating little dens. Flimsy chiffon curtains separated off each section, surrounded by unlit wires of fairy lights. As if on cue, someone hit the lights and the room was suddenly lit with the smaller strings of lights and tables lamps dotted about the room. 

"Aha! Now I can read!" said Penny emerging from one of the further corners of the room having just turned on the lights. She made her way to a large table near the door with a pile of books stacked high up on it; found an empty chair and sat, instantly pouring over instructional text on how to inflict the most damage on her neighbours.

Sasha walked toward one of the alcoves and pulled the delicate curtain to the side. Little shelves held candles of every different size and shape, small books describing candle magic and petite candle stands. She replaced the curtain and moved to the next nook.

Parting the curtain here, revealed tarot cards and oracle cards in every imaginable size shape and incarnation. Again the shelves held books about how to read tarot, how to train yourself as a reader for others and how to use the tarot for your own therapy. 

Another typical little magic shop after all -- nothing special on this side -- all the same old stuff.

Then, something caught her eye at the next small booth.

With a less transparent curtain, Sasha couldn't quite see through it properly, but she was sure she'd seen a vibrator. Moving quickly to her right, she parted the curtain at the point she'd seen through, to reveal seven strong shelves filled with sex aids.

The Vibrator that caught Sasha's eye stood proud and thick in deep purple with a heavy suction cap on the bottom. Sasha imagined it being used in almost any position with that sort of suction; it could cling to a wall, the floor or any hard surface so a woman could balance herself over it driving it in hard as her own heat level dictates. Wide eyed Sasha took in the rest of the shelves. Lubes, condoms, vibrators, dildoes of every shape, taste, colour and size filled the overstuffed shelves.

However, something was different about this stock. Not like the usual supplies in sex shops, this stock wasn't covered in half naked women designed to titillate men, it was covered in images of men in various states of arousal from fully clothed in a dinner suit all the way through to ejaculating over a camera lens as the photo was taken. 

Sasha eyed the goods, letting the curtain slip closed behind her. She ran her hands over the shelves, fist picking up this and then picking up that, looking with longing at the pictures of naked men that filled the small area. She found it hard to get passed the suction cap vibe however. That was a product she needed to buy.

"Woah... what have you found here?"

Penny stood behind her with the curtain open again.

"Check this out! I'm definitely getting this one!" Sasha clutched the large purple vibe as if it threatened to take off and leave her alone forever.

Penny stepped into the small alcove with her friend and began exploring all the delicious toys on the shelves. 

"How would Gilbert feel about you mucking about in front of pictures like this and wanting one of these to take home?"

"He'd love it. He gets off big time when I come on my vibe. Man look at this."

Penny turned to her friend holding a thick black dildo, wide and long, that would have no trouble massaging every spot on the anatomy.

"Woah. Could you REALLY take that one home? And he wouldn't even be threatened?"

"Maybe not that one." Said Penny carefully placing it back on the shelf as if it were a great and profound treasure. "But I am so getting one of these. And how sexy are they? I've never seen any of these brands. It all looks as though they are specifically designed for women -- or something."

"Not for women -- by women. I bet these have all been made by women. Or something like that. Wow! Look at that."

Sasha stooped to the lower shelf and retrieved a long thick candle in the shape of a penis. The taper for the candle, however hung out of the base, implying the candle would be lodged within the woman when it was lit. Sasha's eyes lit up.

"Man, you're crazy- that just looks scary to me."

Sasha held the item lovingly. "Each to their own honey." She said as she ran her fingers lightly down the long hard length of the wax cock.

"Are you going to get it?"

"Oh yeah!" the two women grinned at each other. Penny held the curtain open as Sasha stepped out first. 

"What a place. This is the best. I love it here. I am getting the book on hurting my neighbours and this vibe. And we haven't even had our readings yet."

Sasha smiled. "I must say, I'm very happy to be here now. Although those pics were a bit of a tease. Do we have much time left? I'd like to take a look at some of those books on ancient Greece."

"Penny glanced at her watch. "We've got another ten minutes." Then she got a mischievous look in her eye. "Hey, what do you reckon they're doing behind that curtain?"

Till she'd seen the shelves of dildoes it hadn't occurred to Sasha that anything untoward may be going on at the back of the shop between the little man and Madam Soltar. But he did call her Madam, and he was terribly nervous that he'd upset her. Could this little shop have more sex than magic in it?

"I'm looking behind that curtain." Sasha said suddenly driven to a strange kind of courage.

"I'm looking too! Don't leave me out of this!"

The two schemers smiled at each other, and walked softly behind the counter. They each moved to different sides of the curtained doorway, ready to sprint back to the other part of the shop if needed. Slowly, they each pulled the curtain to the side.

Sasha peered in from her angle, to a fairly ordinary open room at the back of a shop. However, what was not ordinary was the image of Madam Soltar standing with one leg balanced up on a chair, her voluminous skirts and petticoats lifted high above her suspender belt, her head thrown back so that she looked toward the roof. Between her legs, the little piggy man kneeled, still fully clothed as he was when he walked in, lapping and sucking at her sex.

Sasha's breath caught in her throat. She closed the curtain and looked around it to the face of her friend, who started back at her with the biggest smile Sasha had ever seen on Penny's face. For another quick look, Sasha pulled the curtain aside again, and looked back to see Madam Soltar still looking toward the roof, but she had now moved her hand around little piggy's head, although she didn't seem to make a sound. As his back was to the door, Sasha couldn't see the expression on the face of the little man, nor get a good look at his tongue performing its delicious ministrations. 

The site, despite the strangeness of the situation, had Sasha's pussy ache. Juice had already started to pool when she looked at the vibes, but to see this strange couple performing such a wanton sex act in the most inappropriate way was exhilarating. She closed the curtain for good, to see that Penny had already returned to the other side of the counter.

Tiptoeing very lightly, she made her way back next to Penny.

"What the fuck?" whispered Penny. "Is that ok? I mean are they allowed to do that while we are just here in the next room?"

"Why wouldn't they be?"

"Do you think it's a brothel? Should we report it?"

"God no! I want to come back here to buy product. This is just a really cool place. Don't think about it. People should be allowed to have sex. They're both consenting adults." 

"The whole thing just seems very strange to me. It's just that..."

Her sentence was cut short by the appearance of Madam Soltar and the little man. Without a word, the little man ran past the two women and directly out of the shop, with nothing but the tinkle of the bell above the door and the women's vivid memories to indicate that he was ever there.

"Now. You both. You find things to buy heh?"

"Um yes." Penny Looked nervously toward the door, and back at Madam Soltar as she made her way toward the counter. Sasha moved over with her for moral support, so that she didn't have to feel alone as she stood before the strange large woman. She stood a little behind Penny, clutching her own product, looking hard at a table load of books to avoid making eye contact with the woman she'd seen engaged in sex only moments before.

Penny handed over her products. Madam Soltar rang them up on the register. "You pay for reading at end. In case you don't like -- yes?"

"Um, ok," said Penny nervously. Out of the corner of her eye, Sasha noticed the woman trying to look at her again. Sliding back further behind her friend, Sasha started to feel a little uncomfortable.

"Ninety- eight dollars" announced Madam Soltar to Penny.

Penny rummaged through her purse to find the money. She lifted it out and handed it to Madam Soltar, who immediately clutched at her wrist, grabbing her hard.

"Hey!" Penny cried out. Sasha felt ready to jump to her friend's rescue, when the larger woman, turned Penny's hand, and taking the money out of it, moved to smooth and flatten Penny's palm with her own hand. With the money sitting on the bench, she examined Penny's hand. 

Madam Soltar looked hard for a few moments, as Penny, still shocked, turned her head toward Sasha. Sasha shrugged, but moved in a little closer so that Penny felt safer. Soon Madam Soltar lifted her face to look into Penny's eyes. 

"Little one. It will be hard. But don't worry. Everything will be okay. We talk in your session and I will tell you how to make your body strong again."

Penny pulled her arm away from Madam Soltar. She stood a little further back from the counter, and turned to Sasha with her what the hell? expression on her face. Madam Soltar offered her change; however Penny was hesitant in putting her hand out there again, so the money was placed carefully on the counter where Penny retrieved it, snatching her hand away as if she feared it could get bitten off.

Sasha moved into place next, her head filled with strategies about leaving the money on the counter, for the woman to pick up so as to avoid physical contact. She placed her items down and the money next to them. Madam Soltar busied herself with ringing up Sasha's items, and then picked up the money.

As soon as she touched Sasha' money she drew her hand back as if she were in pain, and cried out. Looking up at Sasha, she said:

"What do you want with me? Why are you here?" Sasha wasn't sure how to answer, and was starting to think the woman was mad. She moved the money toward her, and lifted her own parcels up and placed them in her bag.

But Madam Soltar looked up with horror in her eyes, before Sasha could back away from the counter. 

"What do you want with me? I know who you are! Get out of here. No reading for you -- either of you! Get out of my shop and never come back!"

The last of the sentence was shrieked with such a piercing squeal that Sasha turned on her heels and almost ran out of the shop, Penny close behind her. They slammed the door and darted out till they were a good block further up the road. Sasha paused panting, clutching her bag to her chest. Penny bent forward, hands on her knees trying to catch her breath. 

"Man! What a fruitcake." Penny said between breaths.

"Oh yeah!" Sasha replied.



Full Figured Chic Ch. 03



Gregor Sabatini sat at his desk putting the final touches on a cashmere shawl he's been working on all week. The intricate lace edging set off the sheer thin weave of the cashmere, making this design, in Gregor's opinion, one of his best so far. He paused to stop and look. 

"Greg. Get in here."

The phone intercom buzzed at him, breaking him out of the reverie that captured him so deliciously. 

Jay. 

And by the sound of the tone, he was upset. 

Gregor reached for the intercom.

"No problems Jay. On my way."

Greg lifted the design and placed it in a small set of draws that sat to the right of his desk. He sat it lovingly on a pile of others; careful to ensure none of the papers could be damaged as he closed the draw. Taking his keys from his desk he locked the cabinet and all the designs in it, and placed the keys back in his pocket. He grabbed an empty design notebook, a dark felt pen, and left his office, locking the door behind him.

Letting his private secretary know that he was in Jay's office and not to be disturbed, he wandered down the modern marble tiled hall, past reception and the large silver plated lettering that said "Jay Miles" to the furthest end of the corridor. Models bustled past him out of one door and into another, followed by assistants with clipboards and long steel racks of clothes that seemed determined to bang into the walls. Greg stood to the side to let them all pass and continued his way down to Jay's office.

Without knocking, he walked in. Jay stood behind his desk, on the phone, and nodded briefly when his design partner of ten years walked in through the door.

"Fine, I'll see you in fifteen minutes. And I expect the investigation to start right away." 

He hung up with more force than necessary.

Gregor sighed. Jay's temper reverberated throughout the entire fashion industry, but it was nothing compared to his paranoia. Intense security surrounded everyone who worked for him. Gregor never completely had the full story, but it had a lot to do with Jay's mother and some weird streak of bad luck Jay believed ran through his family. Already Greg could tell this would be another security issue.

"Lock the door behind you. I don't want anyone coming in while we're having this conversation."

Greg stood up and locked the door. 

"Friend, is this really necessary? No one will come in but our secretaries, or those working on the shoot today." 

A cloud darkened Jay's eyes and Greg could tell he was really upset this time. Usually Greg's calming influence made a difference to Jay, but it looked as though he'd need to humoured this time.

"None of that talk Greg. This isn't paranoia. Take a look."

Jay dropped a heavy pile of photographs at the front of his desk, forcing Greg to walk closer to examine them. Jay slumped into his chair and hid his head in his hands, his fingers running nervously through his dark shock of unruly hair.

He's really upset this time, Greg thought.

Sitting at the desk, still trying to exert some sort of calm on his friend Greg picked up the photographs. Instantly his brown knotted. These pictures didn't make sense. Greg flicked through more of them, speed taking him over along with a panic in the base of his belly as the pictures revealed their thousand words.

"But I don't understand. These are the full figured chic line. We haven't even finished this line yet. How could these designs have been made up, and who could have done this? This isn't even our studio. I can't tell where it is."

"It's Sutomi Lim's studio."

Greg looked up at Jay, shock reaching deep inside him now. 

"What? Sutomi Lim? How did he get hold of our designs? Jesus Jay, tell me I am not seeing our only genuine competitor with our coup line that was going to change the face of fashion forever. Tell me this isn't what I'm looking at."

Jay was right. If this was what Greg thought it was, this was the biggest crises of their career. 

"It's what you think it is."

Jay still held his head in his hands. Greg sat back in shock, staring again at the pictures. Now he took the time to go through them slowly, examining each one.

"But look here, he's chosen the wrong colour for the Marla top, and in this one it looks like the wool he chose can't support the design. God, not only has he made up our line, but he's screwed it up. He hasn't even mocked up the designs properly."

"That's because he will have stolen our designs but not our notes. Somehow he's gotten into the safe here and taken the entire Full Figured Chic line."

"Jesus Jay. He's well into it." Greg still ran through the pictures. "He's way ahead. My god, he's going to bring it out a season ahead of us."

"That's what I think too. Not only will he produce the same work, but he's going to bring it out ahead of us, and we'll lose the opportunity to reshape the fashion industry as you and I had intended it."

Actually, it had been Jay's idea as usual, but Greg had bowed to his genius, done everything he said, and refined and beautified the line. They were partners in the design -- at least Jay gave Greg that status -- but the ideas at inception were always Jay's.

"He's going to take credit for this; the biggest revolution in the entire fashion industry, and he's going to take credit for it."

Greg kept looking through the pictures and Jay stood and moved to the back of his office. Both stood silent till Greg broke it again with a question.

"What are we going to do?"

"Well that's the million dollar question isn't it?"

Suddenly something occurred to Greg. "How did you get these pictures in the first place?"

"I send private detectives out to all our competitors. I always know every line they will produce weeks and months ahead of the launch."

Greg looked down at the pictures again sharply so that his friend couldn't see the blush in his cheek. That was entirely unethical. He didn't approve of it, and obviously Jay guessed that and hadn't told him about it in the past. But it wasn't today's problem. He said the same thing again; softer, with more resignation in it.

"What are we going to do?"

Jay turned away from the wall, and back to look at his friend. Greg kept his head down to keep his emotions in check. He could tell Jay had a plan. He wouldn't have called him in without first working out what he was going to do, and Gregor had a feeling he wasn't going to like the plan one bit.

"I've called another private detective in. I want Sutomi Lim watched twenty-four hours a day. I don't want him to be able to take a shower without my guys checking it all out. Every time he scratches his ass, it will be in my report. We have the advantage that he doesn't have the notes. That brings me to part two of my plan."

"I don't know how I feel about the private investigator part..."

"That's why you'll have nothing to do with it. It's not your problem. You have a much bigger worry in this huge mess."

Greg looked up, more sure of himself now. He could tell this idea would be bad and that somehow he would be intimately involved in it. This would be a huge ask, he could feel it in his bones. 

"I want to bring the Full Figured Chic line out before him."

Greg started at him for a minute as the words sunk in and he understood the full weight of them. Sutomi Lim was already scheduled for an earlier show in the season after the current one. They'd never get that changed. And what would it matter. At the best they'd be sharing the limelight over the full figured chic line. Greg's stomach knotted as he realised what his friend was saying.

"Please tell me you're not saying that you want the Full Figured Chic line out for this coming fall season?"

"That's what I am saying."

Greg sat back in his chair, his worry turned to incredulity. 

"No way. That's six weeks time. You and I got the October 2001 line done in three months and that was record time, nothing had ever been created that fast before. We'd never get the makers in ; we'd have no samples. There's no way. It can't be done."

"I want the place in full lock down. We'll work around the clock from the studio here. I want to sack all the models and the current makers anyway, so we'll get fresh blood in. And they'll work from here. We'll be a little community devoted to bringing in this line. We have six weeks. I can work out a flow chart and ..."

"Our problem isn't a flow chart Jay. This can't be done. No one's creativity works under pressure you know that. Otherwise we'd have brought out four lines a year instead of two. We won't be able to produce our best work. And I'd rather give Sutomi the line than produce inferior work. The Full Figured Chic line is a tough sell. We'll have to make it our very best work in order to get the very concept over the line."

Jay sat at his desk looking at Greg with a smile on his face. Greg could tell Jay thought this was a done deal. Furious, Greg tried a different tack.

"You can't do this to me. I have a life. What about John. I won't get to see him; I won't get to see my family. The pressure will be immense; we'll fight the whole time. And where will you get makers? And where will we get inspiration? We haven't even tried these deigns on a model." 

The panic in Greg's voice was edging against hysteria. As he presented Jay with all of the problems he could see Jay getting more and more relaxed. He'd made the decision without him and it looked like Greg could come along for the ride or not. And Jay must know that Greg wouldn't want to miss this moment in history for anything in the world. 

"All those things can be answered Greg and you know it. John can come and visit, provided he allows himself to be scrutinised by my detective." At Greg's protest Jay lifted up his hand. "I know he's your lover mate, but absolutely no one gets through at the moment without my complete investigation. As for the makers, I have a team ready."

"How could you possibly have makers ready? Everyone in this industry fights over the best makers in the city. How could you possibly know where to get some that are up to the standard?"

"I've had this little group up my sleeve for years. They're out in the suburbs, so no one else found them; A small team of women from China. I channelled funds their way for years preparing for a moment like this, and they're already there and waiting to come in and work like troupers."

Distracted for a moment, Greg asked the question that was begging to be asked.

"You've been preparing for this for years? What are you talking about?"

"I knew someone would try to destroy my career at some point. So I have been preparing for that eventuality."

"Right. The curse." Greg couldn't help rolling his eyes.

Jay stood at the opposite point across the desk from Greg. He leaned forward and braced his hands against the table, so that his deadly serious face moved closer to Greg's to intensify the concentration he wanted to display.

"I know you think I am a paranoid fool, but if you had my family history you'd have more respect. You don't understand Greg. This could drive me mad. If I lost this -- this pinnacle of my career -- to my enemy, it would drive me insane."

You're already there, Greg thought. But decided he'd better get Jay back on track.

"Okay smarty, what about our inspiration. How are we going to work on keeping that at its peak?"

"We need a model. A muse."

"Well, yeah. But there are no full figured models. And we can't create one out of thin air. Have you planned for this?" Greg couldn't help the snide tone his questions took. He felt under massive pressure here.

"I have some ideas. There are a few places I want to try. I will see if I can find us the perfect woman to represent the full figured chic line."

"This this is a done deal."

"You know it is friend."

A knock at the door interrupted them. Greg stood.

"Well, I haven't agreed yet. I want to talk it over with John and see how he feels about it. Then I have to take a walk and have a think for myself. I know you think I'm on board already, but I do have some systems of my own that I want to work out. And by the way I don't want anything to do with the private Detective."

"That'll be him now. You'd better go do the things you need to do."

"Okay. What are you going to do after you talk to him?"

"See my mother."

Greg nodded a few times, his eyes glazed and fixed on the wall behind Jay to avoid the eye contact that would have given his true feelings away.

That he was thrilled and excited to take up the challenge.



Full Figured Chic Ch. 04



"I'll have the roast with the mashed potatoes, salad and a side of fries. " Sasha gave her order to the waitress as she folded up her menu and passed it back.

Darren looked at her sideways with a glance that seemed like judgment and Sasha pretended she didn't see. She focussed instead on Penny and Gilbert sitting snuggled in the booth opposite the two of them.

"Okay, so guys do we ever have a story to tell you both!"

Gilbert smiled. "Yeah, Penny said you had a shocker when you went out this afternoon, but she wouldn't tell me more. What's the story?"

Between the two of them, Sasha a Penny told the story of their trip to the tarot reader earlier that day. The men listened glued to the fascinating details -- especially the part about the sex toys and the sex performance.

"Do you think it's a brothel?" asked Gilbert.

"We weren't sure." Sasha started with her theories she'd developed through the afternoon. "Money definitely changed hands, and all we could guess was that he'd paid for the service. But it only seems to be her there. And I know this is going to sound totally stupid, but it didn't seem brothelish."

"Oh and you have lots of experience in what a brothel is I suppose?" Darren asked. The question landed somewhere between accusation of Sasha's prudery and disgust that they were even talking about it.

Penny gave him a sideways glance and said "I agree with Sasha. I think you had to be there. It was a very odd situation. She didn't seem at all concerned to conduct this behaviour with only a curtain blocking us and the action."

"How much of it did you see?" Gilbert's eyes sparkled as they fixed on his wife.

"Ha ha, pretty much everything." Penny lowered her voice and they all hunched in over the table to ensure they caught every word. "Her pussy was hidden by his head, but she had one of her tits out."

They all pulled back, excited by the naughtiness of the conversation.

"Those people should be locked up." Said Darren with disgust.

"Why do you say that?" asked Penny.

"Clearly she's mad, plus she's taking money from poor unsuspecting ignoramuses, for readings that would have to be fake, who go there filled with hope for something, to fulfil their sad pathetic lives. Mostly its women. They're the ones least able to cope with reality."

Penny's face reddened. "I beg your pardon, but I'm the person who wanted to go there, and I am neither unsuspecting nor unfulfilled, nor out of touch with reality. To me there is no difference in going there for a bit of fun or going to watch a football match for a bit of fun. Why can't I have and pay for my pleasure?"

It was Darren's turn to go red in the face. He tried to make up for his gaff. "So sorry," he said with a condescendingly sweet tone. "I didn't mean you of course. I mean other kinds of women that go to these things. It's a sorry state, don't you think?"

"Well, one thing's for sure" said Sasha trying to relive the tension, "I won't be going back. I'm banned."

They all laughed around the table. 

"Penny came back with a mighty fine purchase. It'd be a shame if she could never go back there." Gilbert said with a smile and a squeeze around Penny's round frame. "I'm getting her a little outfit to go with it, and as far as I'm concerned that's when the games begin."

Penny blushed and giggled flirtatiously into her husbands' chest, and looked back at Sasha and Darren. Sasha envied their connection, but not so that it outweighed her happiness for her two friends. It was wonderful to see them like this, playing with each other, enjoying each other. However, Darren turned his head, and seemed to be a little revolted by the display. 

"Excuse me, I'm going to the toilet." He said with an inflection that implied he didn't really need to go.

"Sure" Sasha said with a smile. She watched him stand, and admired his nice toned ass. As she saw him head toward the bathroom, she noticed him send his gaze toward a blonde sitting in the opposite corner, who returned it with a meaningful stare. They held each other's eyes for split second, but Sasha read it as if it were a one thousand word novel.

"Jesus! He's flirting with the chick in the corner." She said aloud.

"What?"said Penny and Gilbert together. Gilbert, who sat at the edge of the booth looked around and spotted the blonde in the far corner. She'd noticed them all looking at her now, and had the grace to look away, embarrassed.

"Yuck. Scrawny little thing. Looks like she needs a good feed." Gilbert turned back into the booth. "Gosh Sasha, what the hell are you doing with this creep?"

"I know, I know. He's my stop gap."

"Stop gap to what?" Penny was on her favourite topic. "We had this conversation earlier. Why are you with a creep like that? He's using you to get up the ladder at work."

"Well, I'm using him to get a bit later on." Sasha knew they were right, but it had been nice to have a very attractive man on her arm, even if she knew he wasn't really there for her. "I don't know, it's nice to be out with you guys and my own person too. I'm always the third wheel."

"Honey we love having you with us." Gilbert sympathised. "And you're never a third wheel; though I can understand you may feel like that no matter how much we tell you it's not like that. But don't waste yourself on a creep like this. He's so far beneath you."

At this point Darren returned to the dinner table.

"Did I miss anything exiting while I was gone?" the tone implied Darren didn't think anything exciting was going to happen all night. Sasha caught his face turn toward the blonde in the back corner again, but this time, Sasha noted, she didn't return his gaze.

Sasha leaned toward Darren's ear. "She's not interested. I'd give up on that one if I were you."

Darren blushed and looked directly at Penny then Gilbert. "Wow! What are you talking about Sasha? Geez, you're the jealous type huh?"

At that point their meals arrived.

"Let's eat!" Gilbert said smiling warmly at Sasha.

The rest of the meal was fairly uneventful if you don't count the three glances down the waitress's shirt and the four trips to the toilet Darren had to make. Penny wanted to know what he was doing in there, and Gilbert sadly suggested texting some other poor unsuspecting female. Sasha shrugged her shoulders, and promised them she'd do her best to get laid, so that at least the night wasn't a total waste. 

On one of the many opportunities they had at the table alone, her friends tried desperately to talk her out of going home with him, but Sasha had made up her mind. The trip to the shop that afternoon may have been intellectually suspect, but it had definitely left an impression on her pussy, and Sasha wanted to get a little action in before this silly man found out she wasn't going to suggest him for a promotion.

Later that evening, Sasha and Darren saw Penny and Gilbert off at their car and started to walk toward Sasha's apartment. Now that they were alone, and out of the public eye, Darren was all charm. Sasha knew what he was after, and with a little wine having gone to her head, and her pussy still aching, she had the briefest idea that she may reward him with a little promotion if he worked hard enough in bed that night. She thought of the candle she'd left in the draw bedside her bed, and wondered if this childish man might be there very one to play that game with her.

Her apartment was another four blocks. They walked hand in hand laughing and flirting into the night. Sasha made a joke about one of the CEO's and Darren laughed and easy natural laugh. "You know, you're funny. I didn't know that about you, but you're really funny."

Sasha smiled. "And you're sweet. I wouldn't have suspected it the way you carried on in the restaurant."

"Geez, yeah, I'm sorry about that. I was really uncomfortable, for..." he paused and looked over Sasha's frame. "I don't know. I was shy I guess and that brings out my worst side."

The night was looking up. 

He may even be worth keeping yet, Sasha thought. As she thrilled to his warm smile, a wicked thought rushed through her mind.

"You know, I was pretty turned on by seeing what I saw in the shop today."

Darren looked at her with a little more hesitation, but a spark in his eye told Sasha to go on.

"And just near here, is a strip club that I've always wanted to go to." She paused hoping to read his response. Again, she saw the spark in his eye, but this time, it extended to look like genuine excitement. "And, well I was thinking... seeing as we're a block away -- do you want to take a look at a show?"

Darren looked like he could barely contain his enthusiasm. "Now? You want to go to a strip show now?"

"Well, yeah. What do you think? Too wild? We've been on a couple of dates. Maybe it's time to take our relationship up a notch?"

Again, Sasha noticed him run his eye over her ample frame and she had the very bad feeling, for just a moment, that he may be weighing something up that she wouldn't want to know about. Then the smile he gave her was soft and warm, and she felt safe again. 

"Let's go!" he said enthusiastically.

Taking Darren's hand, Sasha diverted him one extra block to the south. Within half a block the area became seedier, with a few prostitutes walking the streets, and more liquor stores being the first signs. Then they came across a couple of sex shops.

"You want to go in one?" Darren said nervously. He looked down the stairs of the store directly to their left, and to Sasha he didn't seem to want to go down there at all.

"Nope. After what I saw today, those shops can't possibly compete. They're all sleaze when the tools I witnessed today would be more... er... function oriented."

The both laughed and the tension eased again. As they walked Darren reached out for Sasha's hand a small streak of warmth flooded through her. Again she had the vague feeling this may actually have some promise. They strolled hand in hand as the environment looked more and more like sex to entice. Soon they happened upon a place with spruikers out the front, who immediately called to Sasha to bring her boyfriend in for some fun.

Sasha paused in the street, her pulse rising slightly.

"What do you think?" she said to Darren. "Does this look like the place? Could we have some great fun here?"

Darren looked in a strange way at the man at the door, and Sasha had a feeling of unease in her belly again. Then he turned to Sasha and said "Why not!"

Ignoring his look, Sasha walked in and paid for two tickets to the show. Walking down a dark stair case, she held Darren's hand as she descended into a warm steamy room. 

Small tables and chair littered the place that was attended by about four patrons. These were all older men, sitting alone at disparate tables. It was a sad scene, but Sasha tried not to let it hurt her mood. She was here for some fun, and wanted a good time. A little titillation, get her guy in the mood, and then they can make their way back to her place. She turned to look at Darren. He was glancing around the room, with a look that made her think he felt a little sorry for the crowd as well, till his eyes met hers and he smiled a cheeky grin. Sasha found a small table toward the front. It faced an undersized stage, with a make shift curtain across it. Darren leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"Now don't you go telling everyone at work you brought me here. I think this little place does nothing for the reputation."

They both laughed. "Oh no... I'm telling everyone you brought me here on a date and that it was all your idea." 

They laughed again. Sasha felt relieved that the tension eased and the banter flowed smooth between them.

"Can you imagine their faces? We really can't tell anyone we were here." The serious edge to his request gave Sasha a feeling of relief.

"It's totally cool Hun. This is a night for you and I, I'm not interested in spreading the word at work. And besides, I'm not one who kisses and tells."

Darren leaned in and planted a kiss on Sasha's lips. She jumped, not expecting the pleasure. He pulled back, and said "You're really very beautiful you know."

She smiled back. He locked eyes with her for a few seconds longer, but the music started and his gaze was directed toward the stage.

A small man in a tux who reminded Sasha of the Emcee from Cabaret came on to the stage and welcomed everyone in the audience to the third show of the evening. Darren lifted his arm and rested it around Sasha as the man asked them to put their hands together for "Gemma".

A rakish woman came out on to the stage wearing a small white skirt with fringes and a tight white vest top. She carried to silver cap guns that she fired into the air as she screamed out "Howdee Pardners" and tiled her hat back.

"Oh god!" Sasha whispered to Darren. "How original."

Soon, however the guns were discarded and she began to gyrate around a pole in the middle of the stage. Using remarkable strength she lifted herself up and climbed the pole to half way, stretching herself like a flag, and rotating so that the audience could see the thong dividing her flesh beneath the cowgirl skirt. Sasha's breath quickened, as the flashes grew stronger.

Standing with her back to the audience, the cowgirl spread her legs and with a cheeky grin over her shoulder bent at the waist to revel the white thong that barely covered any of her sexy pussy. Sasha felt Darren's hand slide over the curve of her ample bosom, as the cowgirl fumbled with the buttons on her top, stood, turned and revealed her huge hard round fake breasts.

"Fuck yeah." Said Darren as his hand worked back and forth across Sasha's breast.

Oh man, I'm going to get laid tonight! Thought Sasha as her nipples lengthened in response to the erotic display and Darren's wandering hand. Lord knows how long it had been -- Sasha joked that she couldn't count that high! She leant into his hand to be sure to encourage him. 

Turning her head, she made herself available for Darren to plant another kiss, but his eyes were focused on the cowgirl.

"You like?" whispered Sasha trying to get his attention.

Darren turned to her his eyes shining. He grabbed her right hand and slid it over the steel hard erection in his pants. "What do you think?" he smiled. He turned back to watch before Sasha had a chance to kiss him.

The cowgirl started to gyrate, spinning herself around slowly, showing off every inch of her body. Darren was mesmerised, following her every move concentrating hard. Sasha settled in to watch the show. It was only natural that he might be distractedly what was going on in front of him. Sasha would have him all to herself when they left for her place.

The cowgirl stopped her spin, stared at Darren directly and removed her little skirt so that she was only in her boots, cowboy hat and white thong. She smiled at him, and did her little turn again. This time, with her back to him and to Sasha, she bent again, and peeled her thong away from her ass, letting it unwrap slowly down her pussy, then whipped it down her legs where she tore it off her body.

Sasha thought she'd never been wetter. The display was so erotic. The woman stood upright again, and winked directly at Sasha over her shoulder, her long blonde hair falling down her back. Moving to the pole she did some more dancing, before she fell to the floor rolling about and moving her hips in such a way that made it look as though she wanted to fucked more than anything in the world. She crawled her way toward Sasha and Darren, flirting with each of them, till she reached the edge of the stage directly in front of her table. 

"Grab my dick babe." Darren whispered keeping his eyes on the show. 

Suggestively, Sasha moved her hand over the bulge in his jeans, and squeezed semi hard on his penis. She ran her hands heavy over his bulge, then up and down the inside of his jean clad legs. 

"Oh yeah, keep playing with it" he encouraged her, as the woman writhed about on the stage.

Finally, the cowgirl sat back on her ass, and tilted herself back. She lengthened her legs, and spread them wide, directly in front of Sasha and Darren. She ran one hand down her legs, and spread her labia, so that the two of them could get a great look deep into her pussy. Sasha's own pussy was throbbing and the juice leaving out down into her panties. Thoughts of Darren's hard dick in her hands and what she would do with it when she got home ricocheted around her mind, as she watched the woman in front of her. It even occurred to her at one point that she wouldn't mind sharing a woman with a man she really liked. 

God, I'm as straight as they come, but I'd like to get my face between those delicious legs. She thought at the height of her arousal.

The woman inserted her middle finger into her sex, and pulled it out glistening with her own juice. She plunged it directly back in again, and said to Sasha, "I do private shows, and I'll do a lot more in private."

With that, Darren came hard in his jeans. 



Full Figured Chic Ch. 05



Jay stood in the hallway, wondering again, why he was here. All those years he'd thought she was insane, or at least a little mad, and now he felt in danger of believing her. 

He wasn't even sure what he needed to say to her. He visited her regularly; each week, but they'd kept those visits fairly simple. She always wanted to know how he was. But she wasn't interested in how the business was doing, if he had a girlfriend or if he'd gotten a parking ticket that week. It was always about his health and if anything unusually bad had happened to him; an out of the ordinary kind of badness; something unexpected and wild, so that it was almost impossible to imagine how it could have happened.

And until now, nothing like that had happened to Jay, and over time, he'd just assumed there was something wrong with his mother.

"Good afternoon Mr Miles. I'm sorry to keep you waiting. We've had a long queue here today as you can see. I'm not sure what it is. Full moon perhaps?" The young nurse gave Jay a playful look and he scowled back at her. No time for that sort of carry on.

She looked chastened and turned to address her clipboard. "Um, you can see your mother right away. She's been very well behaved lately, we've had no incidents."

Jay followed her through the pristine white corridors of the nursing home to her room. The nurse knocked at the door. 

"Mrs Myles? Your son is here to visit you. Mrs Myles?"

The door opened and Jay stood face to face with his mother. 

"Hello son. Here to tell me I need to be in an institution again?"

An awkward pause involved nothing but the three people looking at each other.

"Well, I'll leave you too to have a nice visit shall I?" said the nurse clearly anxious to get away.

"Come in son. This is an unusual visit. It's not Sunday."

She had her back to him so he couldn't' see her face. She was shrewd though, with her mind sharp as a tack sometimes and other times, a million miles away. Although now Jay was wondering if she really did have those turns after all. Maybe they were just moments when she took herself out of the real world.

"Take a seat."

Jay sat awkwardly, perched on an overstuffed green velvet vanity chair. It was the chair she always made him sit in and he suspected it was to keep him feeling awkward. His mother liked to play games like that. Nothing amused her more than people off balance.

Jay crossed his legs and shifted his weight to get a grip on the chair the earth beneath it.

"Yes, it isn't my usual day. But I wanted to visit you mother."

He could feel her steel blue eyes on him. He looked around the room at the trinkets and pictures he'd grown up with as a child. He'd inherited her eyes, along with her way of staring deeply into people to unsettle them.

"It's started hasn't it?"

Jay started to wonder why he'd come. Sutomi Lim stealing all his designs didn't seem half as threatening as sitting in this small monument to a lifelong past and facing his mother.

"What do you mean?"

"That's why your here- Because it's started. The curse has begun to take its toll on you and now -- finally, you are ready for the information. I can see the impact of it on you already."

He glanced up at her and there was a strange look in her eyes. It was a look of wonderment, as if she couldn't believe what she was beheld. Almost like a cross between validation and the look of a warrior preparing for battle.

"Yes. I think it has started. I mean I don't know for sure, but something very strange has happened that is destined to ruin me forever, and I can feel myself becoming mentally unhinged because of it."

"I can see it in you, you know. You have the same look your father had and your big brother when it started to happen to them."

Jay stood up so he didn't have to battle the lounge as well as himself.

"Mother, I'm still unsure. I am very sceptical about this. I find it very hard to believe that my family is cursed."

"Even though your brother and your father died such horrible deaths?"

"Yes. I know the temptation of wanting to believe that Dad and John's deaths were inevitable and sent through time, but I can't get my mind around it. I think it's something that we do to help deal with the double tragedy."

"You mean something I do, because you apparently don't believe."

"Well, yes then, something you do. You lost a husband and a son, and I can understand you wanting to clutch at explanations that include us being cursed. It makes a kind of sense of two inexplicable tragedies."

"You'll have to do a lot better than that if you're going to fight it."

Jay swung around and faced her piercing blue eyes. They looked so intelligent, so lucid. It was hard to imagine that she had moments of such madness. But he was excited. She'd just said there was a way to beat this.

"You mean there is a way to beat it?"

The old woman smiled at him. "I thought you didn't believe in it?"

Jay turned away from her again and walked over to the window. "Something very strange happened to me Mother and I will need your help. Even if it isn't some ancient curse that's been passed down through my genes, I do feel as though trying to save this problem could be the end of me. I struggle to keep it together as it is. This may tip me over the edge."

"Come and sit boy, sit on my bed if you don't like the green chair."

Jay turned, like all children comforted by the warmth of his mother's voice, and sat on the bed. 

"I'll make you a cup of tea and I will tell you what I know of the story. It isn't much of course, but I do know that two men have survived it in history. Only two, but it does give us some hope."

The old woman stood and began to fuss in her small kitchenette with making a cup of tea. As she boiled water and added fresh leaves to the pot she chatted with Jay.

"You've heard all of this before of course. Do you remember any of it?"

"No. I didn't listen to you. I thought... well... I thought there was something wrong with you mother. That the deaths of Dad and John had sent you a bit -- batty."

"I know, I know. When John died as a small boy, I was horrified." She paused and turned to face her son. "Do you know that his torso was cut in to? His entire body was sliced in half on that football field. A freak accident, the wind blew the goal posts down, but they severed your brother. The doctor said he'd never seen anything like it."

Jay looked at the floor between his feet wishing they didn't have to do all of this just to get to the story that he needed to hear. But somehow, he felt she'd need it.

"I couldn't' believe that it happened. I refused to believe that my son could have been taken in such a way. A child can hold that thing up, and yet it somehow had the strength to cut my boy in two. So I went to a psychic. I wanted to find out why this had happened to my son. Well, I got more than I'd bargained for there."

The shrill squeal of the kettle alerted her to turn and add water to the prepared pot. Placing the tea pot on a tray that had two cups and saucers and some biscuits, she walked over toward Jay. 

"Get that for me would you dear?" she indicated a small trestle table with her foot. Jay pulled it into place and his mother placed the tray on the top.

"What did the psychic tell you Mother."

Jay had to wait as she sat into her comfortable chair, and poured them both teas made the old fashioned way. Jay felt sure she was milking the suspense, but he sat patiently letting her have her moment after all these years. 

"As soon as I walked in, she came out from behind the counter and said "I will see you right away. I know why you are here." She took me into a back room and said "This is about your son isn't it? The one who has died?" and I told her it was. She said that she was not supposed to help me, but she would anyway. She was told in a dream it would be very bad if she helped me. I begged her to tell me all that she knew and she said 'because of your other son, I will tell you what you need to know."

"And she began to unfold the story that I have told you many times about the daemon who wanted Aoide but your ancestor stole her away from him. The daemon had been promised life again because of his excellent behaviour despite many obstacles with the woman of his choice. He had chosen Aoide, but your ancestor took her."

Jay picked up a small honeyed biscuit. "Took her where?"

"Took her Jay. You know. Had sex with her. Do I still have to tell you that information as well?"

Jay nearly choked on his biscuit. "No mother, it's really okay. I think I can cope with the information that has gotten me thus far. But I am beginning to see why the daemon was so upset."

"Yes yes... apparently he had your ancestor killed but as he was dying the daemon told him that the children of Aoide will all be cursed, and they will all die ugly untimely deaths."

"And you think John, dad and potentially me are all part of this curse." Jay had heard this one many times, and it came back to him as he heard her telling the story again.

"Your father didn't believe me either, but the reader had told me he wouldn't and that he would be taken by a huge black car one day. I became paranoid. We weren't allowed to buy any black cars and I cried out in terror if we saw any on the road. Eventually your father, god bless him, just gave up driving to make me happy."

"Till he was killed that day by the trains large black catering car, as it fell over on top of him."

"That's right. With not a wind to push it, or knarled track to trip it. For no reason at all, it just fell on him."

"I don't suppose this woman told you how I was supposed to die?"

"Yes. Madness. You will throw yourself off a tall building."

"Suicide? It'll never happen Mother."

Jay's mother lifted her cup to her mouth and drank. As she put the cup back into its saucer, she looked up at her son. Jay met her gaze, but as always he was unable to hold it.

"The first thing you said to me today is that something terrible has happened to you and you feel as though you're becoming unhinged."

Jay put his cup down and lay back on his mother's bed. He didn't want to talk for a minute, but to let what she said make its way into him. She was right. He did feel unhinged. He'd known there was a disturbing feeling connected to rage at the back of his skull, lurking, always threatening him to come to the surface. 

"I think this conversation is the thing that will drive me mad." He finally said.

"Mmmm... yes. Is it the thing itself or the idea of the thing? That is your dilemma. People could easily say the idea drove you to madness."

"Perhaps that is how it is Mother. Maybe if I never think about this, I would be alright."

"Really? Then what brought you here today?"

Jay sat upright. "Good lord, your right. Something very strange has happened to me, and that is why I wanted to come to see you."

"What happened?"

"My arch rival has stolen my groundbreaking designs. These are designs that will revolutionise the fashion industry Mother." 

Jay swung his legs off the bed to the floor, thrilled to be able to tell her about his work. 

"I am perfectly situated in history for these designs to come to the fore. I am the vehicle -- I am about to change everything for women -- and now my arch rival... he's stolen them. He took my ideas and he's made mock ups and it looks like he will bring the line out before me."

"But doesn't stealing go on in your industry all the time?"

"Yes, but not like this. This work was all done on paper, no computers, because I recognised the seriousness of the lines. It was kept locked up and only my assistant and I had the key. Gregor is completely trustworthy. There is no way on earth that this work could have been stolen. No one would even know to steal this work. "

"Are you sure it wasn't Greg?"

"Completely; as sure as I am that it wasn't me."

"Then you're right. It's started. Its task is to drive you to madness. My guess is he will continue to receive your designs."

Jay leapt to his feet. "Come with me Mother. I want to take you to the studio. I want you to see where I work and I want you to help me get rid of this creature that is making a misery of my life. I need you, and I need you to work with me at full strength."

Jay's mother clasped her hands in front of her chest. "I'd love to son. I'm so thrilled you want me there!"

Jay moved to the cupboard and pulled out his mother's large suitcase and travel bag. 

"By the way," he said. "What happened to the psychic that helped you?"

"Oh, she was killed in a road accident the next day." 



Full Figured Chic Ch. 06



Within the hour, Jay had his mother out of the home with a packed bag. Not till he drove his car out of the driveway of the home, did he think where he was going to take her. She's never thought to ask him either.

"I'll take you to the workshop first Mother. Let's see if anything looks strange to you." It seemed like a good idea, and Jay would be able to ask Gregor what he was going to do with her.

"Wow, I haven't seen it for years -- and you're all famous now. This will be fun."

"I invited you many times." Jay stated defensively.

"Yes yes, but I didn't want to come while we weren't talking properly. It's much more interesting now that we're friends."

Irritated, Jay decided to give up on that one. Something about his mother sent that strange spiky feeling in the back of head off. 

If the curse doesn't drive me mad, she will. Soon they pulled into Jay's private parking space at the rear of the building. Jay had a feeling he was about to cross a line at work, but he didn't care. He wanted his mother by his side at the moment. He wasn't sure how he felt about everything that she'd told him, but one thing was for sure; true or not, he wanted whatever she could tell him to help get this Sutomi Lim monkey off his back.

As soon as he walked through the door with his mother on his arm, the shocked face of the receptionist told Jay this would be harder than he thought.

"Janet, this is my mother. She'll be working here for a while." 

Janet's wide eyes scaled the full four foot eleven frame of Jay's mother, in her old smock and house coat.

"What are you staring at?" yelled Jay's Mother.

"Nothing. Ma'am. I am sorry. Yes sir, Mr. Myles. Does she need an office set up for her?"

Jay's mother turned and looked up at him. "That's a fine idea."

"No way. You're not going to need an office with the work you'll be doing. Hanging out in mine will be enough.

With that, Jay shuffled her toward his office, turning just in time to see Janet racing off in the direction of Gregor's office.

Inside his office, Jay found a seat for his mother, and helped make her feel comfortable. "So here's the plan Mother. I want to work on the designs for the next six weeks and I will need you here with me. You will have to tell me how those two men beat the curse and help me prepare whatever I have to in order to make it happen for me."

"People will think you're mad you know. Did you see the way that receptionist looked at me? You're going to look like a crazy."

"I know that, and I don't care. Tell me how they beat the curse."

"Well, it's sort of simple and sort of complicated at the same time..."

At this point in her story she was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Jay, it's me." Greg's muffled voice came in through the door.

"Come in." Jay called.

Greg came into the room staring right away at Jay's mother. Jay decided he'd best perform introductions immediately.

"Greg, my Mother. When we are in the lock down, I want her here with us and I don't want any arguments. If you find she interferes with your creative process, we will work on that later, but this is what I need right now."

Greg stood for a moment, surveying the situation. Jay felt a twinge of nervousness at Greg's look. It was a look he'd rarely seen, but it seemed to imply a lack of confidence. When he spoke it was in an overly calm voice.

"That's fine Jay. Can we talk outside?"

"Anything you have to say to my son you can say here in front of me." Pronounced Jay's mother.

Greg smiled a stunned, sweet smile at her. "Jay, what the hell is going on here?"

"I know it seems strange, but my mother is going to help me beat the curse and I need her here for that."

"Ahhh, yes, the curse." Greg moved his hands behind his back and moved his gaze back and forth between Jay and his mother.

"I know you don't believe me, so you can stop faking that you do. I don't care however. I know that in the past when I mentioned it to you," here Jay shot a sideways glance at his mother, "I had spoken of it in a way that implied I didn't believe in it...."

"Um...load of rubbish that you're crazy mother made up years ago', were your exact words. Forgive me Mrs Myles. No offence meant."

Jay's mother looked at Jay, a dark thunder cloud of a frown forming across her brow. "None taken when it wasn't you who insulted me."

"Yes, well all that has changed now. I want mother here in the lock down. Have you been thinking about what I said earlier?"

Greg moved his hands to his side and Jay noticed they were shaking.

"Yes I've been thinking about it. The whole project is hard enough, and now you want your mother to live here with us? With the maker, and some model, who doesn't exist, that we may or may not find?"

"You're upset?"

"Damn right I'm upset." Greg paused for a moment and took a deep breath. Both Jay and his mother watched him, realising more was to come. "Jay, we need to think of another alternative. I can't live here for six weeks, design the Full Figured Chic line and share the space with your mother -- whose sanity is suspect. We have to think of another plan."

Jay listened and watched his friend with patience. This was the first of the obstacles he had to overcome. There would be so many, but he knew he could do it.

"There is no other plan. I know you don't understand, but this is terribly important to me. You may say this is a case of life and death for me. I have to follow through with this, and I am sorry, but my mother has to be a part of the team."

"I told you I still haven't made up my mind."

A knot formed in Jay's stomach. Was Greg actually going to threaten Jay with his own departure? Sure not. This was their line. The line they'd created in partnership. 

"I have to take a walk Jay. This all feels... well..." Greg looked at Jay's mother and then back at Jay. "It seems a little crazy."

"Told you he'd say that." Jay's mother folded her arms across her chest and looked at Greg as if she'd won a victory.

Jay watched Greg has his eyes lingered on his mother for a moment, then turned back toward Jay.

"I need to take that walk. I'll be back in a few hours."

And with that he left the room. 

"He'll be back. Don't be too worried about that one." 

But Jay wasn't so sure. He felt nervous. He didn't know what he would do without Gregor, but he couldn't have anyone or anything stand in his way. This had to be done and it had to be done the way he wanted it done. This curse had to be defeated, and if it meant risking his friendship with Greg, then that is what it meant.

Staring at the closed door, he said to his mother "How to we beat the curse mother?"

His mother stood and walked over so that she was standing in front of Jay. She lifted her arms and held his hands. 

"We have to find a woman."

Sasha strolled into work at eight-thirty as usual wondering how it would be with Darren. After he'd come in his pants and the stripper made it very clear that sort of behaviour was for losers, Darren virtually fled Sasha's side, leaving her downing her drink and struggling to get up from her chair. By the time she got to the stop of the stairs of the club, Darren couldn't be found. 

Sasha wasn't sure how to take the experience. That Darren would be embarrassed was natural. He'd put a huge stain at crotch level on his jeans, and both the women had known what happened, as he thrust uncontrollably into Sasha's hand, lifting himself off the chair he sat on. Willing to make nothing of it, Sasha pretended not to notice but when the cowgirl made it obvious she thought it was the sign of inexperience, Darren ran for the hills.

Although angry at being abandoned in such a place in such a way, Sasha felt prepared to see the experience from his side, and to acknowledge that the entire evening lay in the surreal. As soon as she got home, after taking ten frightening minutes to find a taxi, she tried to call Darren.

There was no answer on his mobile.

Again, Sasha showed patience. I'd be embarrassed too, she thought.

However, she'd tried to phone three times on the Sunday and again, had not answer and no return calls. 

And so with this going on, Sasha arrived at work, wondering exactly which way her day was going to go.

It didn't take too long for her to find out. "Morning Sasha!" said Bob, a colleague who was part of another team. "Anytime you want to take me on a date, I'll go baby. I'd love to hit a strip club with you!" with that he fell into hysterical laughter and high fived another male colleague standing near him that Sasha barely knew.

Sasha turned red immediately. "I'm sorry? I don't know what you're talking about." The two men didn't stop to engage in chit chat. Continuing their laughter as if Sasha wasn't staring at them open mouthed, they walked on their way.

Sasha paused, took a deep breath, and moved toward her section of the floor.

As soon as she walked in, she could tell something terrible had happened. Three of the women she usually had lunch with, averted their eyes as if that would prevent Sasha from finding out they knew something embarrassing about her. 

A group of men, all subordinates, started a round of clapping as she made her way deeper into the room, cheering, with the occasional "take it off baby" coming from a faceless voice in the small crowd.

Sasha fled to her office, with the cheers and laughter behind her. She slammed the door, only to find someone had pinned a large centrefold of a nude female to the back of her office door. He told them. He'd told them all.

She reached up and grabbed the centrefold, and pulled it down in one rip, to reveal the faces of those already at work laughing at her through the glass door.

Shaking with rage, Sasha moved toward her desk, and tossed her briefcase on it. She screwed up the piece of paper and hurled it in the bin. She sat at her desk. Shuffling through her briefcase as fast as she could, she tried to find her papers for today and concentrate on the days' agenda. Letting this one go may be beyond her saintliness, however, she didn't want to act with rage. Somehow she had to find a way to get through the next few moments of humiliation as she worked out what do to about it all.

Soon enough the clock hit nine, and everyone moved to their desks. Sasha had a moment of peace when she could call her secretary, Judy into her office.

As soon as Judy entered the room, Sasha started. "What the fuck? What the hell is going on?" Judy's face reddened. "I'm not sure. I don't know why they are..."

"Cut the crap Jude. Obviously they all know that I went to the strip club with Darren. I want you to tell me the full story without sugar coating it, so that I know exactly where I stand and what to do about it."

Judy took a deep breath. "That Darren asshole told everyone you made him go to a strip club on Saturday night. He told everyone you thought it would get you laid, but that it would take more than that to get him to fuck you."

Sasha turned red as a beet. Judy continued. 

"I told them all there is no way it's true, but this prick was insistent. He reckons that is what happened."

"Well, it is what happened, except the reason we didn't' have sex was because he came in his pants and he was so humiliated he ran out early without even speaking to me."

A huge smile spread across Judy's face. "Jesus, boss! Can I tell them all that?"

"No. I'm one of the superiors here. I can't engage with this at all. It's beneath me."

Judy had a pained look on her face. Sasha could tell she wanted to say something else.

"What is it Judy?"

"Boss, you and I are ok, but... um... you know you're not that well liked here. You are tough -- I know you need to be, it's how we get stuff done -- but you're not that well liked and... well... I think this may take a while to die down."

"Really Judy, it's okay. I think I can handle it. Now let's get to today's agenda."

However, it was morning tea time, when Sasha, still working hard on her latest brief, looked up to see through the glass of her office wall, Darren walking in with Katy, the head of human resources on his arm. They were laughing and glancing in her direction. Darren immediately crossed the room to the group of men Sasha had trouble with earlier, and within ten seconds a roar of laughter went up as nervous looks were shot toward Sasha like arrows.

That did it.

Sasha immediately buzzed Martin, her superior. "Hi Sasha. What's up?"

"Can I speak with you immediately?"

"Sure. Come on in."

Sasha placed the receiver down and then realised she would have to cross the room to make her way to Martin's office. Darren stood in her way, with the woman from human resources. The group still laughed, though the sound had died down more now.

My appearing will only aggravate them. But I have to speak to Martin while that little prick is here.

Taking a deep breath, Sasha stood and opened the door to her office. Without a pause she marched up the hall, brushing hard past Darren who wouldn't get out of her way.

As she made her way into her boss office, she heard the laughter start up again as she closed the door.

"What's going on out there?" Martin asked.

"I just ran a gauntlet of humiliation. And I need to talk to you about it." And with that, Sasha relayed the entire sorry story to her boss. Martin went quite white with rage. "He'll be disciplined immediately. I'll get HR onto this. We'll find some kind of punishment to suit this. It is intolerable of course Sasha, but I hope you are satisfied with that. I don't want to dismiss someone over one error of judgement and the man is clearly humiliated."

"I don't want him fired, but I do want to know how you expect I am to show my face in this office. It will take days, maybe even weeks for me to live this down and even longer for them to respect me again. Oh and by the way. I think he's ahead of you. He seems to be dating Katy now."

"Jesus. It was you on the weekend? How did he get hold of Katy so fast?"

With lighting precision Sasha realised they must have been seeing each other before. That explains all the texts in the bathroom, she thought to herself. "I don't know, but I am guessing she's been told another story. She's out there right now joining in the jokes about me."

"Then I'll have to discipline both of them, but..." Martin trailed off.

"What Martin?"

"I will have to get his side of the story. If Katy is okay with this, there may be more to it." Sasha started to shake with rage. "There is nothing more to this story. He's being a bastard."

"Watch your language." Martin reminded her. Then his face softened. "Look, how about I have a talk to the two of them while they're here, and you go for a walk. Cool off. Actually, better than that, take the rest of the day off. I'll give you a call later and tell you how this meeting went and what needs to happen next."

Breathing heavily, all Sasha wanted to do was walk out there and clobber Darren over the head, but she could hear the sense in what Martin was saying. Plus it might help calm things down a bit if she's not here to add fuel to the flame.

"Thanks. Martin. I'll do that. Be sure to call me later, okay?"

"No problem" Martin said as she stood to walk out of the room. As she turned and pulled the handle of the door, she could hear him saying into the telephone, "Judy, get Darren and Katy in here right now."

Sasha made her way directly to the temporary safety of her own office and collected up her things. As fast as she could, she made her way past the stares and giggles, til she was in the elevator, safely making her way downstairs. 



Full Figured Chic Ch. 07



Knee deep in her second cocktail before noon, Sasha rang Penny.

"You've got to meet me for lunch."

"Sure. Where are you?"

"Macy's bar."

"Um, okay; sounds heavy. I'll be right there."

Ten minutes later, Penny stared at Sasha in shock.

"I can't believe he told the entire office."

"Well, I think he only told key people. But they were the right ones to have it spread all over the office. Perhaps even the building."

"My god. So humiliating."

"The worst of it is, he's cleverly involved HR so now there are two sides to the story. My god, I wouldn't' even have mentioned this to anyone. Now it's possible there is two sides?"

"That can't possibly happen. What can he do?"

"I'm the same level as his boss. Could he claim some sort of sexual harassment thing against me?"

There was silence between the two women and shock settled in.

"Surely not?" Penny said finally. "What would he have to gain?"

"Recovery from humiliation."

"I guess. You have no way of telling people about him coming early now. He's prevented you from being able to retaliate in kind."

"Not that I was going to!"

"Of course." Penny replied quickly.

Sasha looked deep into her second Mai tai. "I think I'm going to have an ocean of these."

"I'm ordering one right now," Said Penny as she raised her hand.

Silently, the two women watched the bar tender making the cocktail.

As soon as Penny received hers, she took a long sip. "Wow that's good!" she breathed after.

"You know, I don't want to go back there. I mean, I have so much leave up my sleeve. Do you think it would be the coward's way out to just get out of there for a month? Maybe I could go away? I hear the Bahamas is nice this time of year."

"Or Alaska."

"Or the Antarctic."

Both women laughed. Penny started the talk back up again.

"Actually, I think some time off is a great idea. Seriously; Just bin work for a while. This is too much and you need to get out from under the way this asshole treated you. Why don't you consider a month – for real? You must have so much leave available. You never ever take holidays."

Sasha thought of the long leave sheet she had at work and the mail she'd received from payroll requesting she take some leave just four days earlier.

"It's a great idea." She said. "And I'm definitely not being a coward, right?" 

"Oh honey, definitely not! My god, you can't walk back in that office for a few days at least, and they stupid little immature minds need something else to focus on."

"I'll have to wait for Martin's call. I can't really do anything till I get that."

"Yeah, talk to him, and then tell him you won't be coming back for a while. This is perfect. And I am really going to need food."

Penny tried to distract her while they searched the menu. Both chose a creamy pasta dish and were complimented but the waiter on the excellent choice of meal. 

"Wow, he's cute!" said Penny as he walked away, raising her eyebrows at Sasha.

"Hey don't look at me like that." Sasha warned. "I'm sworn off – at least for a few weeks."

Penny tried to distract Sasha over lunch, but as the alcohol settled in, she became less and less available for polite conversation. After an hour and thirty minutes, Penny announced she'd have to go.

"Honey, as charming as you are drunk off your nose, I have to get back to work and I am already going to struggle having had one cocktail at lunch. Do you think it's time for you to go too?"

"No. I'm going to stay till that cute waiter takes me home."

Penny sighed a sigh that Sasha could recognise even through her drunken haze. 

"Honey, I am going to take you out to that park over there and I am going to sit you on a bench and then fetch you a coffee."

Sasha watched her friend pay for the meal and made a mental note that she'd had a couple of cocktails and she owed her friend big time for the cheque. She tried to rummage through her purse for some coins or something, but Penny refused and said they would take care of it later. 

Sasha found the room span as she stood, and it was only then she realised how much she'd actually had to drink. Penny eyed her suspiciously. 

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Sure sure. I need that park bench you mentioned. I'll go sit with the other out of work slobs."

"You're not out of work, you're just on holiday." Penny mumbled as she ushered her friend out the door of the bar. Crossing the street carefully with the lights, Sasha staggered, hanging on to Penny's arm to the small park bench and collapsed onto it, the warm seat making her feel instantly drowsy.

"I'm popping across that road over there to get you a coffee. Don't go anywhere. I am watching you anyway." Said Penny.

The hot sun felt good, and Sasha started to feel a little more herself. She'd be fine if she could just sit here for a while. Perhaps she could wait for Martin's call here.

Penny returned soon with a Grande espresso that made Sasha think she was never going to sleep again. 

"I've just called work. I'm sitting here with you till you can finish this coffee. I don't want to leave you here alone like this."

"No no, I'm fine." Insisted Sasha. "Don't let me ruin your day as well. You have to go back to work."

Penny glanced at her watch nervously. "Are you sure? Because I am sort of really late now."

"Hey, I'm only drunk, and not really that drunk. This barrel of coffee you bought me will get me level headed enough to get to the train and then I will be able to get home and have some more when I know I am completely safe." 

Sasha smiled sweetly hoping to give the impression of someone in control. She did feel better and she wanted her friend to get back to work.

"Well, okay. But I am going to call you a few times this afternoon and I want you to answer your phone okay? Have it with you. If you need me at all, I am just a couple of blocks away."

Penny stood to go, eyeing her friend doubtfully. Sasha gave her another dazzling smile, and saw Penny's eyes soften. 

"Okay, you do look better. I'll call though. So you be ready to keep in touch."

And with a kiss on the cheek she vanished into the dwindling lunch time crowd.

Feeling suddenly very alone, Sasha sat back on the bench, and sipped at the hot coffee. Her head was still dizzy, but the warm sun and coffee were doing their trick and she knew she was in good enough shape to get home. Soon her phone rang, and she grabbed at it, thinking it might be Penny. But a fast glance at the screen told her it was Martin ringing.

"Hi Sasha, its Martin here."

"Hi Martin." Sasha tried to sound as normal as possible. It wouldn't help her reputation with Martin if she were drunk in three hours as well as sexually harassing the male staff.

"Look Sasha, it's all fine on this end. I have spoken to Darren and he caved immediately. He made no case against you and he'd told Katy a completely different story, as we'd suspected. He's been put on notice. He is back on probation for three months and he is getting counselling provided by the firm. You're fine, except that it may be a little embarrassing here for a while for you."

"Martin that's great news!" Sasha couldn't contain her enthusiasm. "Actually I was thinking I might take a month's leave starting today. I have plenty on my time sheet and it seems like the perfect time to ... er... well... not be at the office."

"Hey that's a fantastic idea. We're between projects, and this little problem will be yesterday's news by the time you get back. I will have to reprimand the guys who hassled you today, but all of that will be well over after your leave. "

Sasha made some more arrangements with Martin over the phone and then hung up satisfied that all went well. She immediately called Penny to give her the good news.

That business out of the way, Sasha was left to enjoy the buzz of her cocktail and the horror that four weeks with no work brings to a work-a-holic.

What am I going to do?

Sasha looked around the park. All around her people looked happy. Melancholy started to sink in and to Sasha they were happy because they were not her and didn't have her life.

What is wrong with me? Everyone in the world wants to have a holiday. Why not me?

But deep down she knew why the prospect of a holiday terrified her. At home, the emptiness yawned, beckoning and threatening to engulf her such that she may never get out of it alive. Four weeks away from work didn't provide much in the way of man finding. 

Not that finding a man was the be all and end all of her world. Sasha felt proud of her emotional independence. However, a man by her side, to hold her through the bad times and celebrate with her through the good times, was something Sasha wished she could accomplish. And nowhere was that man more absent than in her beautiful little apartment at night. 

She missed him when she came home at the end of the day, feet aching, and muscles tight with the day's stresses and works problems spinning around her head. To sit over a glass of wine and share about her day, listen to the dramas in his world, give each other some rubs into the shoulder blades then get into a nice dinner together, was the sort of simple pleasure Sasha missed. 

Not the passion of intense connection so much as the routine and daily nurturing of love.

Now, sitting in the nice warm park, the cocktails wearing off already, she thought of the apartment and being there all day as well as all night alone was stifling to say the least. Maybe I should take a holiday. She wondered idly looking around the park.

Soon her thoughts travelled back to Darren and she felt an anger rise in her again. Yes he had to face a reprimand, but his behaviour had been worse than inappropriate. She'd been made fun of at work; a place where she had a reputation for being tough and a stickler for the rules. 

Darren's revenge may have been petty but it hit the mark and showed great ingenuity. 

Maybe I'll suggest him for a promotion after all. We can use his talents for good rather than evil.

Through the small jokes she told herself, the situation hung heavily on Sasha. Her meagre attempt to connect with a man had placed her in a situation where she's allowed herself to be exposed, and her brain couldn't help coming up with revenge fantasies; Idle daydreams to get back at everyone in the office who looked at her with mockery or sympathy in their eyes. She couldn't waste this time off. Somehow she'd have to come up with something that gave her back her dignity and could even regain her some prestige in the eyes of her co workers.

She finished off her large coffee, and stood to toss it into a nearby bin. The park had thinned out a little more now and the late lunchers made their way back to work and left the leafy retreat for mothers, studiers and the riff raff with no other place to go. She wandered back to her bench to find the man who shared it with her, staring openly at her.

Ignoring it, and assuming he'd taken a glance the wrong way, Sasha took her place again at her end of the bench, and casually wondered if she should consider buying a book at the local bookshop and having a couple more hours in the park. She could pick up a wonderful piece of chick lit and have an easy afternoon immersed in the world of another woman's fun, problems and escapades. At least it would put an end to the chat in her head circling like a shark trying to drag her down. 

However the man's continual, open unapologetic stare pierced her thoughts. Confused, Sasha self-consciously ran a hand softly over her mouth to ensure no coffee foam, or smudged lipstick added further to her humiliating day.

Satisfied her fly wasn't down, nor her breast hanging out, she turned to him in an effort to indicate she was aware of his stares. 

He was a handsome man, but one of those you knew instantly was gay. Clipped immaculate hair and a close sculptured beard told Sasha this was a man who cared more about his appearance than anything else. His clothes were designer. Sasha didn't know the couture world well enough to know which name he wore, but she recognised the excellent cut and elegant design of label clothing immediately. From the beige and pinot coloured stripe of his tie to the sandy coloured chinos he wore, the man screamed style. His cool light blue eyes never left Sasha for a minute as he travelled over her frame, from the hair on her head to the painted red toenails sticking out the top of her sandal.

"Geez buddy. Get yourself a life. I don't know what your problem is but didn't your mother teach you it is rude to stare." Sasha had endured enough humiliation for one day.

As if he hadn't heard her, the man kept looking her up and down, with a spark of something she couldn't quite make out in his eye. In fact, If Sasha didn't know better, she'd swear he was excited. She looked around the park to see if he looked elsewhere or if his gaze was genuinely directed at her. No one else seemed to notice him and she couldn't see anything else that would grab his attention. Turning back, she found that he's used the moment she looked away to edge closer to her on the bench they shared. Sasha leaned over so that he couldn't avoid her and waved into his face.

"Excuse me. I do see you there. Are you staring at me? Because if you're not buddy, your sure are looking like you are."

This time the man straighten up and focused on Sasha as if she were a person and not a new puppy he seemed to think would be perfect for his kids. He stood up and moved in front of Sasha and held his hand out. 

"Good afternoon. My name is Gregor Sabatini."

Sasha smiled at the formality, considering he'd just been staring her out of the park. But she held out her hand just the same and shook his.

"Sasha Smith. And Can I say Mr. you have a bit of a strange style there. You may want to re think staring chicks down on park benches. It doesn't do much for your technique if you know what I mean."

Gregor sat beside her, closer this time. Despite Sasha's jokes and his formal introduction he still stared at Sasha. Looking down at her thighs, he suddenly said.

"Are you planning on losing any weight?"

Anger plunged its way into Sasha's belly. So this was it. He was a creep who liked to pick on full figured women and give them lip. And she thought, for just a second there, this was going to be a flattering moment.

"Mr, if you think you can just give me some lecture..."

"Because if you are you should get rid of that notion immediately; you're the perfect size – I've rarely seen a woman with a better body – and there is a huge future available if you are willing to stay the size you are."

Although having been cut off, it was Sasha who sat with the dumbfounded look on her face. This was a conversation she didn't expect. Self protection still reared it's not so ugly head. 

It was hard to believe after all that this guy actually meant what he was saying despite the earnest look on his face. But nobody, outside of Penny and Gilbert had ever told her she had a good body. The best she'd hoped for was that it would be tolerated. Sasha still found it hard to believe this man meant what he was saying. He had to be pulling her leg in some way. Stunned, she remained silent as Greg continued.

"I mean really Ms Smith, you are incredibly beautiful. Do you mind?"

He held her hand very gently, in that cool limp way gay men can sometimes, and softly encouraged her to her feet. She stood, looking at him in amazement. Sasha couldn't believe it but he really seemed genuine. She wondered if there was something wrong with him; if perhaps he were a little touched in the head.

As she stood, he held her hand and encouraged her to do a small turn. "Perfect, perfect" he kept muttering under his breath as he watched and encouraged her to turn in front of him. 

"Um mister," Sasha finally found her voice. "I think you may be having a lend of me or something. I don't believe you, and I am scared now that this is a weird joke. I'd really like to be left alone."

Greg sat on the bench again, and said "No. Not anymore Ms Smith. You'll never be left alone again." He took out a pen and a business card and was busy scrawling on the card.

Sasha sat on the bench next to him. If it wasn't for the earnest look in his eye and perfection with which he was dressed, she would have run a mile fifteen minutes ago.

Soon he handed Sasha a business card. "I told you my name is Gregor Sabatini." I work for Jay Miles. Here is my business card." He handed Sasha his card, then continued. 

"Ms Smith, I'd really like you to come to that address for a meeting tomorrow at nine am. I hope and expect that you will be able to get out of work, if you have a job, because this is terribly important. I need you there to meet Jay and to talk with both of us about the possibility of you doing some modelling for us."

Sasha looked up startled immediately.

"Modelling? Me. Are you sure Mr .." she glanced back at the card again "... Sabatini. I still think this is some kind of joke."

Gregor stood and put his pen back in his immaculate pocket. 

"I assure you Ms Smith, this is no joke, and please believe me when I say to you that you will be desperately needed and most appreciated when Jay meets you. You have a chance to be a part of something very exciting in the history of fashion, and to work with some of the greatest minds in the industry today."

Sasha stared at the card, and then up at Gregor, and then back at the card again.

"I don't understand" She said looking at the card. It seemed so genuine.

"Ms Smith. Can't you see? You've just been discovered." 



Full Figured Chic Ch. 08



Jay sat nervously in the minimalist decor of the waiting room of A. M. Puzzo, Feng Shui consultant to the stars. 

At least she'll be discreet. I'll die a thousand deaths if anyone knows I've been here.

A small fountain made its hollow thudump tipping sound in the corner as the small pipe of bamboo filled with water and tipped it out bumping against another hollow stump. The noise, occurring like clockwork every thirty seconds, soothed Jay and he realised it must be part of keeping waiting customers happy.

Well, it worked.

At least to a degree. 

His chair was comfortable, and there were several magazines on the table in front of him. He picked up Paris Vogue, and looked again at the pages he'd already scoured earlier that month. Despite the comfort of the room, Jay wrestled within himself with exactly why he was there. His mother sat inside with the woman, designing a better way for the apartment and the work area to be arranged in order to get rid of daemons. 

The thudump of the hollow bamboo sounded again. Soon the door opened and Ms Puzzo appeared. 

"Jay, would you come in here for a moment?"

Without answering, Jay sauntered into the office. Actually, it looked more like a Japanese roof garden than an office. Jay had the strange feeling of being manipulated by every piece of furniture, every picture hanging on the wall, every jade plant and every mirror.

That's the problem with Feng Shui, he thought. You don't know what tricks are being used to get you.

Jay took a seat that was perfectly perpendicular to the one that his mother sat in. He pulled it a little askew as he sat down – just for good measure.

Jay saw both women look down at the chair. "See. I told you." Said Jay's mother throwing her hands up in the air. "It's hopeless."

But A. M. Puzzo seemed unfazed.

"Jay, why did you ask your mother to leave her home and come and help you?"

Jay stopped to think for a moment. He looked over at his mother, and she looked back with a kind of pleading in her eyes. Jay melted. He didn't want to hurt her. And he did want her around at the moment. He wasn't sure how he felt about the curse, but he was pretty clear how he felt about Feng Shui. But his mother wanted it, and one thing he couldn't deny, was she did know a hell of a lot more about the curse and how to deal with it than he did. He though he'd be honest with Mrs. what's-her-name because he loved his mother.

"I want her with me. I am facing a huge trial in my life and I want my mother by my side."

"And that's it? You don't think she might be able to help you in some way?"

Jay sighed to indicate his frustration. He could feel the tap taping at the base of his skull that was fast becoming familiar. He'd almost never had it in the old days, but now that things were getting so tense, it plagued him regularly. 

"I did go to her because she understands the curse better than anyone and I wanted her by my side."

Jay looked at his mother and she had large tears welling up in her eyes. He smiled a warm smile.

"That's good Jay." Said Ms Puzzo. "Because my bill for services plus a large box of product that your mother is taking with her has come to $1500.00 and for some reason she thinks you will be angry about this."

Jay stormed toward the car, the tap tap in the base of his skull getting louder as he crushed his way through the car park.

"Jay wait for me. You are walking too fast."

Reaching the car, he put his key in the lock, making it ready for his mother and stomped his way to the other side of the vehicle. He looked up. She made her way across the lost with the large box of goodies that the woman had unloaded on to her at Jay's expense. It was unmanageable but Jay left her to struggle with it.

She arrived at the car huffing and puffing.

"I see petulance isn't something you grow out of. That was cruel to leave me struggling with that box."

"Mother it was cruel to make me pay for it all." Jay really started to let loose. "I can't believe I am in this situation. I can't believe this is all happening to me." 

Tap tap tap at the base of his skull. "I wanted your help but now it feels like we just live in witchy land and all of this is stupid."

His mother looked at him over the top of the car with what Jay could have sworn was compassion- the least thing he expected. 

"Look son, I know this is all very strange, but we are trying to outwit a daemon here. It's hard and the methodology is unconventional. What did you think I was going to suggest when we took this on? Going to the police?"

Jay got into the car and slammed the door and waited for her to get in. It was bad enough being ripped off by his mother but to be outwitted by her was maddening.

She got into the car, the enormous box sitting on her lap and reached over to close the door. She sat quietly, and Jay turned the motor and reversed out of the car parking space.

"I don't know what I expected Mother, but I do know that I didn't expect it to cost me $1500.00."

"Oh do stop. You can afford it, and this is the most important moment of your life. If we get this wrong, or try to 'save money' you won't live. The reality here is that I am getting the best advice, the best product and the best spells to be sure to save you from this problem."

Jay kept driving in stony silence.

"You know, she does predictions as well, and We BOHT knew you would act like this. I'm not quite sure why Jay. You came to get me, you needed me, and we both know that. Why are you resisting what you need now? Why are you acting like this?" Jay couldn't answer that question. It did want his mother by his side that was true; but there was still some kind of strong resistance inside of him pushing her away. Rejecting everything she tried to do for him.

"Oh! It's the curse!" she said just as he had the same idea.

"Mother, I don't know. Let's just get home and get on with it."

"NO! I am right for sure. This is the madness taking you over Jay. The daemon is making you this way because he doesn't want you to use me and my talents." 

"I thought we were going to trick him. How come suddenly he knows so much." Jay was irritated now and the tap tap was getting louder again.

"No No.. She said all this to me when I was in there. I don't know why I didn't see it so clearly myself. You will be saved by a woman, she said. And you have to allow yourself to be vulnerable; to a woman. You have to let me in Jay, I am the answer to everything."

Irritated beyond measure, Jay sat still listening to her. A small piece of him whispered in the back of his mind that she had a point. He had started to resent her more and more as soon as she arrived. 

"You still haven't answered my question. Why is he so aware if we are going to fool him?"

"Don't know the answer to that one just yet my love, but I will work it out. It's fine Jay. Now that I understand why you are so upset, I can deal with it much more easily."

Jay felt the exasperation swelling up inside of him. There was truth in everything she said though, and the feeling the words produced in him sat like a balm against the tapping that endlessly made its monotonous presence felt.

The words soothed him to a degree, but the rationality of the situation fought against him. He wanted to kick against her, to fight and tell her that nothing she said made any kind of logical sense and that he wanted her to grow up and be sensible. 

At the same time the wise words and her otherworldliness calmed him and spoke to a deep swelling loneliness in him that he wished she could heal. 

How was he going to live like this for six weeks and how was he going to be able to create under these circumstances? He hoped Greg found him a muse, because he would need something incredible, a miracle to save him from what was welling inside.

Finally they arrived home, and Jay parked the car in his dedicated spot. This time he helped his mother with the box, and led her upstairs to the penthouse suite of his enormous apartment complex.

As soon as they walked in, they both got to work. Jay went to pack bags ready for the time in lockdown at the office. The apartment in the loft of the office was big enough to house him, his mother, the makers and the model he hoped Gregor found. Greg would have to sleep in a makeshift area and he was the only one who would be allowed to leave occasionally for food and to check messages and other things. 

He packed three overnight bags and his large overseas travel case with all his files, music, books, collected articles and smaller laptops that he felt he needed. Everything that inspired him, filled him and led him to his creative space went into the bags. In the end only two of the smaller overnight bags were left for clothes and toiletries, but Jay didn't care. What was important was his being inspired enough to complete the line while he was in lockdown.

When he'd finally packed all his bags, he walked out to the lounge area to find his mother had three different kinds of sage smudges burning in three separate bowls, two different kinds of incense sticks and a giant pentagram painted on to his thick plush cream carpet with charcoal. Jay sat on the edge of his deep cream leather sofa and said nothing, but he was sure the psychic scream from his heart could be heard all over the country.

As his mother started to chant, Jay walked out of the room, boiling over with rage. He moved directly to his bedroom and shut the door. You can do this Jay. Just remember she's your mother and she thinks she's helping. Give her a break.

Determined to connect with what this was all really about, Jay went to his cupboard and pulled out an old photo album. He walked through the pages, reminding himself of who she used to be and why he loved her so much.

Picture after picture of his brother and his father graced the pages. Jay rarely looked at these images anymore; the tragedy would drag him into too deep a slump. But he needed them now. 

He needed to connect with his mother and remember who she was and why she was here.

Though he hadn't looked at the pictures for so many years, he soon came across the one that he wanted to see. It was of his mother at the sewing machine, and large frilly ball gown moving through it. The lace was so delicate, and his mother looked so focussed. As an excellent maker, she was called up on to mock up designs for the major houses in emergencies, but she'd always retained her independence, refusing to tie herself to any of them permanently. Jay was always fascinated with her work watching her for hours, examining the design and marvelling at her ability to transform the image on the paper top the gown before her. 

It captured Jay's imagination as a small boy, and he'd never lost the passion for it.

The page opposite held another favourite picture; His mother, full of the loveliness of youth, dancing with his father. They looked with great love into each other's eyes. Jay pitied the young couple so much. Tragedy would soon befall them and would never cease to do so. Tears welled in Jay's eyes, and he brushed them angrily away. 

He looked at some pictures of him and his brother playing in the yard, and then knew he was safe to put the album away. His mother was all he had left, and he loved her. He couldn't let anything happen to him or her madness would be complete. He'd have to stay alive, even if it were only for her. She was right, it was that determination that would save him, and that only came by letting her in close. 

He was resisting her. He fought wanting to be close to her and he realised this was the form his battle would take initially. He slipped out the three photos that had caught his imagination, and placed them in the bag with the rest of this stuff. This would be desperately needed also for the weeks in lockdown. He needed to be able to remind himself why he loved his mother so very much.

Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself to entering his lounge room again. He assumed he'd seen the worst in the ruining of his carpet, but that could be replaced. It was nothing compared to the power of his mother, nor the power of the two of them connected.

He walked back into he room just as he heard his mother saying a chant over a large white candle. "Protect us with your might oh goddess gracious day and night. So mote it be. So mote it be. So mote it be."

"Hi Mum."

She sat in the middle of the pentagram the largest white candle Jay had ever seen lit in front of her; dripping wax into the already ruined carpet, Jay noticed. 

"Can I join you?"

His mother's eyes lit up. "Of course. It will work much better if you're in here."

Jay stepped into the pentagram, realising there was room for the two of them anyway. 

She must have hoped, or rather wished that Id join at some point. He sat in front of her cross legged. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed his furniture piled up on top of each other at the other side of the room. 

Jay took a deep breath. None of it matters as much as mother, he said to himself.

"Okay, so you will have to say it with me now. We are going to bring protection into this house, and then I will do all of this again when we reach the workshop. Do you feel better inside the pentagram?"

Actually Jay did feel better. "I think I do mother. I feel less confused."

"Perfect! Then it is working against our enemies. "

For the next twenty minutes Jay held his old mothers hand as he chanted the chant over and over again. It was a long time since Jay had felt so safe and so content. He was sure his mother loved every moment of it. 

Soon, the chanting stopped.

"Is it over Mother?"

"Well, this part is. You can get out now."

Jay stood, his joints aching stiffly from being crouched for so long. 

"Mother, we'll have to make sure you have enough clothes and things for the lock days. I am serious. Greg will be the only one allowed in or out, so I want you to be a part of that rule as well."

His mother turned to him, a worried look on her face. "How long will we be there?"

"It will be the full five and a half weeks mother. I need to put everything into making this line happen for the fall show." Jay suddenly got an idea. "Hey mother, maybe you can try your hand at sewing again? Do you think you could assist the makers of my line?"

Looking the entire world like she was mad, his mother moved toward him and clutched at the sleeve of his shirt. "We have to find a woman." She said.

"Now don't start on that with me." Jay would get really irritated if she went down this path. "I'll find someone when I am good and ready, and it won't be while I am designing this line. I can promise you that."

"No no, you don't understand." She pulled fretfully at his shirt, making him twitch inside with frustration. "We need to find a woman that we can use to replace Aoide."

"It doesn't seem terribly fair Mother to get some poor girl wrapped up in this."

Jay's mother looked at him with a fierce determination. She stopped pulling at his shirt like a miserable small old woman, and stood her full length. Although not tall she had a commanding presence and Jay felt again, trapped between his love for her and a deep feeling that he shouldn't be encouraging his behaviour of hers.

"I have lost a child and a husband to this. Don't ask me to feel any compassion for anyone outside of my own family." Jay saw what he believed to be a genuine madness in his mothers eyes. "You will help me do this Jay. I will not lose another child."

Jay sighed. It was unlikely that he would find a woman anyway. He could just go along with her and as she started to want a woman around he could distract her some other way then. For the moment, he would agree to anything she said. "Of course Mother. It's ok. I am happy to find a woman with you." Something then occurred to Jay. "What do we do with her when we find her?"

Her eyes sparkled with a wicked kind of cheek. "You sleep with her of course."

"What?"

"You have to sleep with her. She will become your lover. You have to do this Jay; there is no other way of convincing the daemon that she is actually your lover than if she is actually your lover."

I am thirty-eight years old and I still can't stand up to my mother.

"I don't want to sleep with someone I don't ... well.. You know... really want to sleep with mother."

She turned away from him, and started to clean up the smudge sticks, putting them out by brushing them against the bowls they sat in. The strangeness of the moment had lifted in her and she just busied herself with getting on packing. "Don't be silly. You're a man. If the girl is sexy enough, you will just do what you have to do." She stood holding a smouldering bunch of dried sage in her hand. "You'd probably do it anyway."

Tap tap tap started again at the base of Jay's skull. He started to think he'd never get through all of this without killing her. 

"Pack your bags; we have to get to the office." Was all he said. 

That nightmare will have to keep till later, he thought.

Arriving at the office, Jay helped his mother carry her things into the lower warehouse, and instructed her how to get up the stairs and to the bedrooms. 

"How will I find my way without you?" She asked him.

Jay thought if he didn't get a minute away from her, he would go mad, and not from any curse. "Mother just up the stairs and to the left,. The first bedroom is yours, the second is mine. The other will be used for something else. Please just go up there and get yourself settled."

She turned away, putting on her sad little woman look, and started to bustle her way up the stairs. Out of the corner of his eye, Jay saw Greg approaching. 

"Rough day?" he asked watching Jay's mother enthusiastically struggle with a very small bag. Jay turned to his friend. "You have no idea. She's going to be really tough over the next few weeks, but I need her here. Please don't ask why, just understand that I do."

Greg gave a small huff of disapproval, and then smiled. "I have some good news."

"Tell me! I need all the good news I can take." "I found us a model. No – not just a model. A muse."

Relief flooded through Jay, causing the irritation at the back of his head to disappear. 

"Oh thank god. Where did you find her?"

"Park bench."

"You've discovered her?"

"Yeah. She's perfect. Older, but just what we planned. She's the perfect shape. You'll die when you see her."

"When's she coming in.?"

"Tomorrow. I made an appointment."

"Is she bringing her stuff?"

Greg looked at Jay disapprovingly. "Hell no. I didn't want to terrify her. Meeting you will be frightening enough, and she has no training remember. I will use that to get her stay here – leave it to me. But I need to play it carefully."

Greg paused and looked up at Jay's mother who had lit a smudge stick and was waving smoke around from the studio balcony before he continued.

"She's a normal person Jay. So we have to be really careful with her. I don't want her getting scared off. With this woman in front of me, I can build this line next to you. I don't think I could do it without her."

Jay wondered for a moment how his mother must look to the outside eye. He watched her spread the fumes around, leaning over the balcony. The scent of burning sage filled his nostrils and he could hear Greg muffle a cough. Now there would be a woman to add to the strange little mix of people living in this house. Jay turned to Greg. "You won't have to do create without her. I will keep my mother at bay. You don't have to worry about that."

He could hear Greg disagreeing as he picked up some bags and walked up the stairs to join his mother. Smiling at her, he moved into the corridor and into the first bedroom so that he could put her bags there. He lifted his face when he realised she'd come in.




Full Figured Chic Ch. 08



"Here are the rest of your things." He looked at her with warmth and compassion. "How do you feel here? Do you think you will be comfortable?"

She had an impish look on her face. "I know you think I didn't hear you, but I did. There is a woman coming isn't there? She's coming tomorrow morning. And Greg thinks she's beautiful." She smiled a broad smile. "Oh honey, she will be the one. She will be perfect for us to use to get rid of the curse."

Still sitting outside of himself and staring in, Jay could hear himself say certain words to her that he intended for her comfort. "Yes mother of course. She will be the one. And we will do whatever we have to do to beat the curse."

Jay heard a shuffle in the hall and turned to see Greg standing there holding more bags. Jay, compelled to look into his face, saw the anger there at his words to his mother. But he couldn't take the time to comfort Greg at the moment. He'd have to deal with that later. For the moment, his mother needed to be pacified so that he could finally settle down and do some creative work on the line.

"Mother why don't you get settled in here. We will have a big day tomorrow, because I want to get right to work, and you will have to do the same." Jay noticed his mothers sharp eyes dart between himself and Greg. 

"Okay darling. I will freshen up and we can have some dinner together."

Jay left her standing in the room and walked out past Greg into the hall. He shut the door on his mother and made his way into the next room. Greg stayed fast on his heels.

"Jay! I heard what you said to her. Don't mess with this woman. I don't want you to do anything with her to make your mother happy for any other reason. She's perfect, do you hear me, perfect, and I can't stand the thought that you might use her for some dumb hocus pocus that your mother conjures up and put her in any kind of danger. Or worse, driver her away from us and away from the studio."

Jay plonked his bags beside the large double bed and looked around the room. The apartment that circled the top of the warehouse was here when Jay bought the building to use as his studio. The three bedrooms ran along one wall and the other had the kitchen and a lounge area in it. The two showers and toilets made up the shorter side. Greg would sleep either in the room next to Jay's or he would move into the bedroom that sat near his office. He'd have to create room for the makers down stairs. They would only be here in the final weeks anyway, so their presence wasn't so necessary. For a short while Jay could avoid the tricky question of where the four of them were going to sleep while he worked on the designs.

He kept this unit maintained because of his ridiculous hours, but he'd also had it cleaned and made up by a team just that morning. It looked good. Jay still felt separate and detached from everything, but he could feel the design table calling him and he wanted to get to his office. The lure of his work could be the only stabilising influence at the moment. "Jay! Are you listening to me?"

He turned to Greg. "Of course I am. It'll be ok. There is nothing going to happen to that girl. And don't forget, I haven't agreed to have her yet. I may decide that she's about as inspiring to me as daytime TV."

"I'll take that chance" said Greg as he walked out the door.

How did I get myself into this mess? 

Jay shook his head. If he was going to get on with designing this line he'd have to wake up and let all the thoughts of his mother and anything else out of his head. Grabbing his bags, he slung each of them loosely into a corner of the room and snatched some sweats – perfect comfort clothes. Immersing himself in his work for the rest of the day will serve the double purpose of preparing him for meeting this woman in the morning and get his mother and her antics out of his mind.

He stepped out of his room and into the bathroom at the end of the hall. Thank god the apartment was reasonably well kept up. He stripped off fast, letting the cool shower wash away the days misery from his skin as if it didn't go any deeper than that. No matter what his mother said or thought about things, he would have to get a grip. Focus was required now, and focus was what he would need.

Like a talisman of doom, Sutomi Lim's pictures came up in his mind. He felt like he could kill him for stealing his precious designs. They were like children to him. But it gave him the necessary strength to wake up out of the mental funk that had him dazed for the past 12 hours. The line was coming out. And it was coming out before that bastard could steal what his whole life was building up toward.

Tap tap tap...Jay felt the irritating clamour at the base of his skull.

It was back; an ever-present reminder that as long as he placed himself under any kind of stress he would be facing madness and what he believed was his own potential demise.

Oh well, so be it. If he had to stand on the brink of madness and fight a supernatural force far greater than himself to do it, then that is what he would do. This was his beautiful creation and he wanted his name in it.

If only he didn't feel so alone.

Loneliness was part of a life Jay had long ago accepted. The death of people that he loved, the intellectual demise of his mother, and the isolation of being at the top of your field all worked together to keep Jay separate from other people.

He stepped out of the shower and dressed into his comfortable clothes. It didn't ease the tap tap in his brain, but it did help him feel ready to get to work. He glanced at his watch and saw that he had some solid hours before he would have to sleep. 

This is fine. I'll get myself down there and get into my work and I will forget about everything other than getting that line out and beating Lim at his own game.

He emerged from the bathroom, and tossed his clothes on his bed. Feeling fitter than he had all day, he walked out of the apartments and moved to the balcony. Looking down into the large open studio area, Jay saw that his Mother had painted an enormous pentagram on the whole studio floor. He stood for a few minutes looking down in horror. Then he noticed Greg standing beside him.

"Welcome to hell" Greg said, slapping him on the back.



Full Figured Chic Ch. 09



Sasha stared at her computer not believing what she saw.

"Gregor Sabatini, long time partner to Jay Miles at Jay Miles design launches exciting new 2005 collection." She read out loud.

That little headline was just one of them. There were hundreds of different articles, forum threads and material with picture to verify the man who sat next to Sasha in the park today and told her he needed her to be a model.

Sasha looked at the collection under the headline. She pressed the play icon to watch the show. Thinner than thin women walked up and down the long slippery-looking piece of plastic laminate, staring into Sasha with arrogant eyes, never missing a beat, their every turn a masterpiece. It was almost as if they could see her through the camera lens; As if somehow they knew what was on her mind. 

"You'll never be able to do this." They told her. "You're too fat. Look at us. Look at the years of work that have gone into a body like this, skin like this, hair like this. Do you really think anyone seriously thinks you can achieve like us?"

Sasha agreed with them. It felt too incredible; too incredible to be true.

She had the right guy though. Images of Gregor flashed up, time and time again confirming what she'd been told. She glanced down at the business card in her hand for the hundredth time. "Nine -- thirty sharp." It read. "Meeting with Jay Miles regarding modelling."

Pictures of Greg and the world he inhabited burst up over and over again, taunting her with the offer he made and tantalising her with a world she'd thought was never available to her. 

Greg with his boyfriend John Rankin the brilliant architect at the coolest parties and openings. Pictures of Greg with other famous designers; at his desk working; showing interviewees around his stylish apartment; holidaying in Pairs; judging at young designers of the year awards all competed for space on Sasha's screen , compelling her to get deeper into world drawing her in. One of the biggest names in fashion, Gregor had understated his position when he told her he worked for Jay Miles.

She's seen pictures of Jay before of course, but she'd never stopped to look properly. Being plus sized, the world of fashion remained firmly out of bounds. She'd bought the occasional Vogue to read in the bath, making herself rash and bold promises about never eating again and working out nonstop till every ounce of fat had left her body, as she painted her toenails red. Plus she was a news addict so fashion week always made the headlines, but other than that, this world had been a place she knew she wasn't invited and as such, had no desire to go.

Would all that change now that the invitation had been extended? Sasha knew she was pretty, she'd always known that, but none of it mattered because she was a full figured woman. Full figured women simply aren't beautiful, that was how conventional thinking travelled. Or at least if the opinion wasn't spoken out loud regularly, it sure was reinforced everywhere Sasha looked. 

She talked it over with Penny many times, as Gilbert shook his head in wonder. He'd always liked Penny to have a round shape. He loved that it made her breasts larger and her flesh softer. Now, Jay Miles apparently wants a full figured model as well.

Don't lose any weight He told me. As if I could drop thirty pounds overnight. I've tried that one plenty of times before. 

She'd been asked to an appointment at Jay Miles international couture house, and to bring all her weight with her. 

Jay Miles.

Jay Miles.

There was another issue all together. 

Jay Miles.

Looking at the pictures of him on the internet, Sasha found to her horror that Jay Miles was as incredibly attractive as she'd always read. His heated presence electrified the screen so much that Sasha wondered how her cords stayed planted in their sockets. Now that the moment had arrived to study him, she found that she couldn't take her eyes off him.

My god, he really does it for me.

His dark hair sitting in a designer mess and falling into his steadfast deep ocean blue eyes, suited him even in his early forties, although it was a young man's do. His tanned skin hid nothing of his bulging physique suggestively taunting her through tight t shirts and designer jeans. Many were the photos taken of him with playboy bunnies crowded around, or starlets kissing his cheek looking breathtaking in one of his consummate designs. He attended the best parties, consulted to royalty and owned a yacht. He'd even been snapped taking drugs at a party with Kate Moss.

Yet still, with all the 'bad boy' commentary, his startling eyes held a depth of aptitude and vitality so that Sasha felt compelled to see past the naughtiness to the raw male smouldering beneath every facade.

The man was perfect.

A little bit of bad boy combined with savvy business man. 

This won't do. Don't go getting caught up with the new boss who is as unobtainable as a live turkey on thanksgiving. If you play your cards right, there may be some sort of interesting work to do here and have a nice holiday.

However, as determined as she was not to get too caught up, stories of the man and his escapades abounded, making him seem too delicious for words. His dimpled smile had a hint of the unfettered boy in it, and in the earlier shots he spread that smile around.

Something in his eyes when he smiled made Sasha think of what sort of panties she'd be best to wear tomorrow. She found herself wandering through photo after photo of him, pausing only every now and then to caress her breasts absentmindedly as she looked at the strength of his hands.

The flush of the warm evening crept up on her, making her wonder if she couldn't take a little break and relive some of the tension building up inside. Jay had such a raw sexual power about him, he looked so intelligent and evocative through all the photos she looked at, that an intense heat started to well inside her, making her feel as though an inner wave were going to crash.

That was, until the photos started to tell a different story.

It seemed that Jay was all those things until tragedy caught up with him. Sasha devoured articles, finally coming across one that detailed the end of his bad boy days a few years back.

His mother went mad. 

"Having lost his brother as a boy and then his father at a very young age, tragedy had always seemed to make Jay Miles do more and be more. Starting out almost at the top as apprentice to Galliano, Jay moved on to his own studio very young and way ahead of the pack. In the last ten years, only the young Japanese designer, Sutomi Lim has come close to being the maverick industry legend that Jay seemed to hold in his grasp so easily.

But even fame, money and success it seems can't stave off some troubles. In October two thousand and seven, Jay's mother was declared mentally unfit to care for herself and Jay had to have her institutionalised. Driven mad by the deaths of her husband and eldest son, Mrs Miles was found using household items to try to create spells to conjure both of them up from the dead. She'd cut into her own flesh with a large knife, to use the blood there in her spell. 

Heartbroken, those close to him say, Jay had her situated in a safe place against her will, where he visits her every Sunday. This brought a sudden end to his bad boy ways, and a new more conservative Jay emerged. 

Not on the runway though. As Jay's behaviour turned to modesty, the more wild and cutting edge his designs revealed themselves to be. Now the highlight of every show is the Jay Miles designs and even Sutomi Lim hasn't been his equal for the last three years at any of the shows. It can only make us wonder and wait with baited breath, what he will be able to produce at this year's fall show."

He's going full figured.

For Sasha everything started to fall into place. It would be a revolution to the entire fashion industry if Jay were to pull off a line for full figured women. It was the last great frontier for fashion, the last place that anyone dares to go. No one, ever, had taken this on. They didn't want to make clothes for the average woman, let alone the fuller figured woman.

Realisation seeped into Sasha as she came to terms with the little she could piece together about Jay from the internet, married with the little she knew through her meeting with Greg. Not a bad boy anymore. Reformed and caring for his sick invalid mother.

Sasha went back through some of the pictures looking with different eyes now. She still saw all the roguish charm in that dimpled smile, but underneath she felt she could sense a deeper pain in him now. Sadness that all the playing in the world couldn't quite bury properly. Like all bad boys the macho front hid a darker truth that he felt he could mask with his attempts at a wild life.

And yet, through all of this inner turmoil, Jay Miles was able to come up year after year with the winning designs and the perfect styles. He led the fashion industry, didn't stay behind it. With all of the churning that must have gone on in his soul at the death of his father and his brother, he managed to achieve at the highest level.

Here was a man of remarkable acumen foresighted and able to see the power of the full figured women both commercially and artistically. A kind of savant -- a business mind smart enough to see where a need lies, where the industry is desperate for reform, recognition and the spark of creative life devoted to it.

My god. Jay Miles is a genius.

And he wanted her. He wanted Sasha to model this groundbreaking line for him. 

At least, he may want me. All of that, she supposed, depended on how well Gregor was able to sell her to him. 

And how well I can pull of the model thing. Idly wandering still through the annals of Jay Miles, Sasha switched her attention to the myriads of women he'd dated. 

I wonder what his type is. She strolled through, refusing to recognise where her musings were taking her.

Jay dated models of course in the early part of his career. It took a couple of years of that to work them out of his system, and then he moved on to actresses. That pool being exhausted, he quickly moved on to more interesting women. Some artists, a couple of writers and even a few journalists graced the bed of Jay Miles and he had a reputation for being a ladies' man. At least, initially women sought him.

As Sasha looked more openly at articles about his private life, she saw more and more how many women he'd left emotionally shattered. Women slammed him in articles, shamed him in biographies, and in the case of one starlet, cried about him in a television interview. He'd been sued by three women in civil cases, one of which he lost having to pay damages for Five thousand dollars worth of heirloom china he'd smashed of hers in an argument.

Sasha read through the seemingly endless list of emotionally shattered women one after the other, soon realising that Jay stayed with very few of them for very long. Sometimes the women fled jay but mostly they'd been inappropriately or unceremoniously dumped by him and left, wounded, humiliated and bereft.

That was, of course, until his mother became institutionalised. As far as she could tell on the internet there hadn't been a woman in Jay's life since then.

Definitely some mummy issues going on there! It was enough to have Sasha resolve to leave well enough alone. She wasn't about to play games with a man who had that much emotional baggage no matter how gorgeous he was or how much he inflamed her body.

And besides, she reminded herself, you have an appointment, not a proposal of marriage.

Having firmly decided that she knew how to stay safe from any allure Jay Miles may exhibit, she turned her attention to some vague tips on modelling she found in the internet, as well as a few articles about where the industry was headed. By eight thirty at night, she decided she'd learnt as much as was ever likely to be learnt in such a short period of time.

Given she was expected to act like a model tomorrow, one thing she knew for sure was that she'd have to get some sleep. With the events of the day whirring around in her head, she already knew this would be more of a challenge than the early night alone. She knew exactly what would be required to get her in the mood for bed.

Besides all those pictures of Jay Miles had warmed her up; just because a boy is bad and out of reach, doesn't mean he can't ... inspire the senses. Sasha smiled an inward smile and changed the nature of her search engine. Alone in her sanctuary of an apartment, with no witnesses, no one to tell her she was inappropriate, bad or otherwise just plain perverse. Playing around on the internet was her kind of fun and fun she liked to keep to herself.

It had been a strange day. She'd been exposed and ridiculed for her sexuality, but at the same time, it hadn't affected her naughty nature. Hopping up from the computer she made her own little arrangements for her fun. A glass of chilled white wine from the fridge, and her favourite toy from the small chest of draws beside her bed, made up for anything that may have been missing. 

With her giant purple vibe the man conspicuous by his absence didn't matter at all. Sitting back in her deep leather chair, allowing herself to feel more comfortable, she flicked around some of the sexier shots of jay miles, permitting herself to get caught up in the moment, and letting her happy little hormones go wild.

After all, as of tomorrow she'd have to behave herself all over again -- if things went well. Now was the time to enjoy herself and relax. Sasha sunk into her enjoyment of the pictures of Jay, surrounded by blonde bimbos, looking every bit the cad, Sitting on his boat, tanned, dark and devilishly handsome. Sipping on her wine, Sasha took a little time to imagine herself sitting on that boat next to him, flirting, teasing, playing all those little cute games you only really get to play in the very early days of becoming lovers. 

In her mind she watched Jay smile at her, his dimples working seductively in his cheeks, and his eyes glowed with lust. Closing her eyes, Sasha lay back in her chair and imagined herself on the boat, the warm sun backing her soft skin to a rosy tan, a soft ocean breeze playing with her hair and letting a light coolness travel over her body. 

The other women from the original picture faded away, so that Jay and Sasha could be alone in the seductive sun together. Jay's smile disappeared as he let his eyes travel over her round curvaceous body, the hunger evident from the intensity of his gaze. Responding to his stare, Sasha felt a warm wetness spreading between her legs, as a familiar tingle worked its way over her skin, preparing her body for close physical contact.

"I want you Sasha." She could imagine him saying it just like that, simply as if it were understood between them without any needs for words.

"I know." She would say, as she lay back in the sun, and spread her legs seductively before him.

With a groan, he would slide over toward her, so that they lay on the same large blanket on the deck of the boat now. In reality, Sasha preferred no people to be around, but she thrilled inside when it occurred to her that in this fantasy the crew might be high on deck, steering the boat through the calm waters, their own erections throbbing through through front of their uniforms, as they looked down on the action below.

Leaning over her, Jay smiled his wicked smile, the hunger in his eyes making him appear almost non human. Sasha looked back into them, partly afraid of the need she saw there and partly allowing the ferocity of it to lurch into her, pulling down her own defences. As if reading her mind he said: "Are you afraid of me?"

She smiled back and whispered 'no'.

Taking that as an invitation, he leaned into her kissing her full lips softly first, nibbling around the edges of her mouth, then harder pressing with the weight of his body behind the kiss. Sasha lifted her left hand and ran it gently over the curve of his large round hard muscle at his shoulder. She could almost feel for real the warm tanned flesh flinch with desire at the lightness of her touch.

Opening her eyes, Sasha realised she'd slouched herself back in her chair now, and spread her legs lewdly wide, and was stroking the wanton wet flesh between them. Leaning forward, she took the vibrator from the desk, and turned it on. The soft whirr alone had her sex respond. Nestling back into the chair she continued with her fantasy.

As soon as Sasha closed her eyes she was back on the blanket, her one piece swimming costume the only thin protection she had against the delicious strength of Jay leaning further over her, so that soon he would be on top of her completely. Running one finger from the top of her face to the small nub of her chin, he leaned down to kiss and nibble again at her lips. Lifting his head back from her, he cradled her cheek in his right hand then sent it gently southward, his touch feather light, as he stroked the side of her face again, then moved down the curve of her neck till his hand moved to her collar bone and further down to find the top of her swimsuit. Conveniently, a large zipper held the suit in place. Jay held the clasp at the top and looked back into Sasha's eyes, thoroughly loving the delicious moment of anticipation.

"I don't like your suit." He said with mock seriousness in his seductive eyes.

"Really? Silly me, and I wore it just for you."

As the hunger moved back into his eyes again, he said "It has to go." 

Then, with one movement, he slid the clasp of the zipper southward, tugging on it purposefully so that Sasha felt every pull of the teeth as they parted revealing her willing eager body to his ravenous lustful eyes. As her suit fell away, peeling back from her large breasts that bounced out finally free, he feasted his eyes, and she relished in the feeling of laying back in the sun with this man staring in the open air at her now almost naked body.

"You are so beautiful." He whispered. "But your beauty is not what I need right now."

In one fast move he was on his feet in front of her, tugging at his own swimming trunks. He bent to get them down and off his legs, and then stood, bronzed muscled and erect, arrogantly flaunting his body, clearly in the hope of exciting Sasha beyond her own capacities for enjoyment. Sasha ran her eyes over his body, the pumped chest, the taut skin, the delicious curve of his legs leading like a thick rope to the hard buns of his ass that Sasha could just see the start of from facing him. But nothing about his body compared with the intense excitement Sasha felt when she saw the hard shaft standing to attention between his legs.

And it was pointed right in her direction.

"Spread your legs" he said hoarsely.

Reaching down to pull the zip further around, the swimming costume Sasha almost wore fell neatly to either side of her body, sitting in two separate halves, no longer any kind of obstacle to either of them getting what they wanted.

She spread her legs so that the silken hair on her mound parted allowing her lips to spread showing the slick pink inner folds of her pussy. Sasha arched her back to complete the picture intending to inflame the already intense heat emanating from Jay.

With a low growl at the back of his throat, Jay sunk to his knees, falling directly between her legs. He placed his hands carefully on her inner thighs and he pressed each aside so that the little pink chink opened itself up even more. Sasha could feel the sunbaked air on the pulsing flesh there, exacerbating he ache that throbbed around her small tight opening.

Leaning down, Jay planted a kiss on her lower belly. He moved his mouth up to her navel and swirled a gentle kiss there, teasing her, lapping at her as if her belly button was a small perfect mouth. Sasha lurched again, arching her back toward him, encouraging him to take his delicious ministrations further south.




Full Figured Chic Ch. 09



He obliged, licking her in small circles all the way, but lurched hard to the left at the last moment, letting his tongue find the fleshy crevice between her thigh and her torso. He ran his tongue up and down the cleft, allowing small droplets of saliva to drip off his lips so that Sasha could feel them running down her leg to pool under her body.

"Oh god, lick me. Lick me please." She said, almost aloud to the empty room as she indulged in her fantasy, and played lightly on her pussy with the buzz of her vibe.

"Is this what you want?" he asked, moving his tongue up again to the small delicate space where the fissure of her skin began leading down into her most sensitive and sexual place. 

"Of god yes." She cried out, the anticipation almost becoming too much for her.

With that he moved his tongue tantalisingly down, till he swept it at the last moment to the right, running it hard again up and down through the fold of flesh between her leg and her pussy.

Sasha was on fire now. As she imagined this intense teasing and held the buzz of the vibe softly against her clit, the ache inside her almost overwhelmed her completely, She felt faint, and she knew soon she would have to cum and make the experience complete. 

Floating back onto the boat again, with Jay lapping at her between her legs, she dipped easily into the fantasy as if she'd never left. 

"Tell me what you want" said Jay pausing from his tongue running up and down the side of her leg.

"I want you to put your tongue between my legs." "I don't know what that means." He replied. "You will have to be more specific."

The sensation drove her wild. The feeling of his tongue moving up and down almost sent her over the edge of its own accord.

"I want you to put your tongue ... on... my..."

"Yes." He encouraged.

"On my clit. Oh god, I want you to suck my clit and tongue deep into my pussy."

A low growl emanated from Jay's throat as he lifted his head. "Your wish is my command." He whispered hoarsely. 

Moving his head so that it was positioned directly over her hot flesh, she heard him inhale her scent deeply a couple of times, before she felt his tongue slide its way over the outer lips of her hot wanton sex. Oh god, this was what she was waiting for. Using his tongue, he separated the folds, running it softly over the puffy outer lips again, then dipping into the crevice at the very top of her sex, pulling his tongue through so that it delicately slid over her clit, past her urethra, swirling around the outside of her vagina, till it stroked its way back up the same path. 

Finally he settled on her now outstanding nub. He swirled his tongue around and around it, till Sasha thought she would go quite wild with the pleasure. 

Pulling her own legs apart as far as they would go, she ached to have him inside her, that enormous penis stretching her, servicing her till she could come and come on it. No doubt sensing that she was close, Jay gently sucked so that most sensitive part of her body was drawn into a heavenly vacuum, as he brought t one finger down to massage the entrance of her now dripping sheath.

Immediately his finger rubbed the ache in her flesh Sasha came Exploding all over his face as he sucked and sucked on her clit, still remaining in place for a minute despite the force of her shakes and her thrusting. He rode every wave with her, keeping her there for as long as he could, as she moved through every stage of her orgasmic pleasure.

Unwilling to let the fantasy go, Sasha stayed in her chair, holding on for dear life to the vibrant image in her head. As if held by a force stronger than herself, and despite her first orgasm, she remained glued to the chair, willing her dream to continue.

Back on the boat, she allowed the tingling sensation between her legs to continue despite the intense feeling in her clitoris. It buzzed with such abandon that Sasha felt as though she couldn't come again, the intensity bordered on pain.

In her mind, Jay looked up over her panting chest with a smile born of passionate hunger. The fire in his eyes started Sasha off again, and she felt her nether regions clench in response. This wasn't over till she had that magical shaft deep inside her body where it belonged.

Jay rose up and over her till he let himself down on her left side. Pushing her gently he rolled her to her side, and slid himself comfortably behind her. Despite the fact that it was her fantasy, Sasha felt intensity, a connection that seemed to go beyond the mere act of fantasy. Something in her responded to the images her mind conjured up so much that she felt almost as if it were more than real, beyond all the possibilities made available by reality. 

Jay curled an arm around her, pressing his erection into the crevice between her round butt cheeks and Sasha melted into the feel of him, the imagined scent of his masculinity and the protective way he pressed her too him.

This moved her beyond fantasy, this had a deeper sense of reality in it than any real moment she'd experienced.

She felt his hands trace the curve of her body from behind, till he found the hollow between her legs. Nudging and lifting together, he encouraged her to lift her leg and rest it over his body behind her, thus making her sex open again the warm sun and the call of his sexuality. Slipping in closer behind her, he gently teased her clit again, at the same time moving himself into place. Taking his hand from her body, he moved it to his own so that he could manoeuvre his divine staff to the hungry lips of her opening. 

Moving his hand back to her most sensitive part, he softly massaged her as he slid his bulging hot cock into her. Sasha gasped as the warm flesh entered her filling her right through to her soul, and then hissed as the strumming on her clit increased. The two sensations tougher worked a magic on her and she could feel herself wanting to come again.

Soon Jay moved his hand from her clitoris and ran it smooth over and then under her leg and lifted it toward him. He then thrust gently and carefully into her, so that he was deeper than Sasha had ever experienced in lovemaking before.

Holding her open lewdly so that she was as exposed as she could be, he used his hips to thrust into her, sending her into a deep spin of emotion and sexual pleasure the likes of which she'd never imagined her mind could conjure up.

This was seemed so real. Sasha was there, in the moment. She felt transported. Jay's hard dick moving in and out of her drove her to a place where she felt more uninhibited than she had ever known, and she pressed back into his upthrust, forcing him deeper and deeper into her body. 

She heard him groan as her body closed around his hardness and he began to pant with his unsatisfied desire. Deeper and deeper he drove as his strokes became faster. A kind of beast welled up in Sasha, some kind of feeling she'd never known before. She tossed her head back so that it curled into his shoulder as he responded by turning slightly and kissing her cheek. 

"That's it." He encouraged. "Come on me. Do it again. Let all your guard down and let me into your most secret place."

The words drove Sasha insane with lust so that she felt entirely consumed by the passion in her body. She'd never known anything like this before, not in pleasuring herself, not in the pleasure she'd taken with others. This was the most intense moment she'd ever known. 

With her eyes closed she let her second orgasm build up, waiting for it to crash. Jay pounded into her now, an uncontrolled frenzy of lust and seduction using is shaft to excite her deep within. 

At the height of her ecstasy, just as she was about to come, Sasha could feel the distinct sensation of a tongue lapping at her clit. She knew it wasn't Jay; he still held her leg and hammered into her body from behind. 

But she'd lost control of her fantasy now. This was not her idea any longer, and something else had moved in to join them. Something-no someone, was lapping at her clit, sucking from it and swirling a hot tongue over her sex as jay filled her to perfection.

Without thinking, Sasha came hard on Jay's body, just as she felt him exploding into her. The tongue on her worked with gentle suction making her inner walls clench and grip iron like on Jay's shaft. Sasha herd herself cry out with the power of it, as she opened her eyes to look down at who had their lips on her body.

What she saw horrified her. 

Looking down, with Jay's body still working back and forth in her own, she saw the knarled and wizened face of what can only be described as a daemon with it long snake like tongue working and lapping at her body. The dark red face was forced into what looked like a permanent grimace and was turned dramatically into a mask by black swirls overemphasising features and strange markings on the face.

Sasha cried out, but Jay held her tight, so that the face could continue. It didn't look up at her but its long red tongue darted out of the hard immovable face, so that it drank and sucked on her licking up all her juices.

In horror, Sasha came again, with a violent jolt, so powerful that it woke her out of her sexual reverie, forcing her to open her eyes to find herself sitting safely in her office, her legs splayed out, and the large purple vibe embedded firmly deep within her.

Her eyes wide, Sasha looked around her, not being completely sure of where she was for just a minute. Her pulse began to slow, and she looked down to see a small puddle of juice forming at the base of the vibe that sat just out of her body. Gently, she pulled it out, so that she felt strangely empty. A rush of fluid followed the vibe making an even bigger mess on the chair.

Sasha sat for a moment dazed and confused. Her eyes darted from side to side, and she self consciously made sure no one was looking, despite being alone in the room. Something very strange had just occurred and she wasn't quite sure she'd done it alone.

She looked down at the large purple vibe in her hand, buzzing slower now as the batteries began to lose life. 

Um, I think I'll pop this one away for a while. She decided.



Full Figured Chic Ch. 10



As if Sasha's masturbatory pleasures hadn't been strange enough, she found herself dreaming of Jay Miles and the weird creepy face all night. 

All sorts of different scenarios; Sasha trying to find Jay in an abandoned carnival and finding that horrible face everywhere she looked; Jay on the beach calling out for her, but as much as she reached forward she couldn't quite reach him, till their fingertips touched and the strange face appeared in the way; Jay working on his designs and asking Sasha to try something on and when she went to the change room, the horrible face stared back at her from the mirror. 

The dreams went on and on, and had a vivid realism that would have made Freud write an entire book had he been given access to them. 

Sasha couldn't make them out at all, and actually entertained the idea that there might be something wrong with her. How could she think up such strange images? There'd been nothing to lead her to that on the internet except that Jay's mother dabbled in witchcraft.

That must be it. My mind turned that little detail into an all-nighter with the hottest guy in the world and the guy hottest from the depths of hell.

She tried to shrug it off as just one of those strange things, but as she busied herself with getting ready for her meeting, Sasha found she recalled all the images repeatedly. This wasn't such a bad thing except that every picture of Jay in her mind's eye had her wanting to run for her vibrator again. 

Despite all her lucid explanations and subsequent reprimands, Sasha couldn't stop thinking about this amazing man in sexual ways. Nor was it 'only' sexual. She'd never fantasized about anyone with such intensity before. Not even Dillon from 90210. 

Nobody had reached her like this, and it scared her. Not so much because she feared making a fool of herself today - although that was not something she wanted to happen - but more because she wanted to feel this way about a man she could actually have. Someone she could share a life with.

Relationships like this did exist. Penny and Gilbert had one. They melted when they looked at each other, and had been that way from day one. Sasha loved her friends so much, but it was hard not to want that, and then be envious every time it was flaunted in front of her. While it was exciting to have this level of attraction for someone it was disconcerting to have it for a man she may get to work with but who was entirely unobtainable.

Nevertheless, reflection was a luxury she couldn't afford this morning. She had to get ready for the interview and already the fact that she knew nothing about this made itself painfully clear. Just as she decided she'd rather not go than wear anything her wardrobe, her cell rang. 

It was Penny.

"Thank god you rang! What am I going to wear to this thing?"

The two women had laughed excitedly and giggled yesterday over the day's events and Penny congratulated her friend over and over. As far as she was concerned it was only a matter of time before Sasha was recognised as international model material, and she confirmed this with Gilbert's heartily agreeing in the background.

"I knew you were this beautiful. I have always said you should be a model."

"Yeah, well before now they didn't just want beautiful, they wanted scarecrow as well. It seems someone is smart enough to work out that larger women buy clothes too."

Now the day after the fun chat, Sasha was stuck not knowing what to do with the fist step.

"You have to wear the green velvet."

"What? That's suggestive!"

"It's not, it's just sexy. It's really low at the front but it drapes over you in a heavenly way. It holds onto your good curves and hides your bad ones."

"I'd feel conspicuous. It's more of a party frock."

"You're supposed to feel conspicuous. You're a model. Just wear it and trust me!"

With a small word of congratulations, Penny was gone and Sasha was left alone with her suggestion and only an hour before she had to be there.

It was going to be the green dress.

Sasha placed it over her head, and pulled the stretched velvet tight over her voluptuous curves. It did suit her very well, she knew that, but she always felt as though she'd stepped out of period England and the Saxon days when she wore it. As if she was Maid Marian or something. But she had no time to change and no idea about what she should be wearing anyway. This dress did make her cascading auburn curls stand out and her huge green eyes look greener than ever.

It will have to do. At least you look good, if inappropriate and trapped in the wrong time zone. Picking up her handbag, and taking a deep breath, she walked out the door.

Sasha stood in front of the Jay Miles studio for a full ten minutes trying to take a breath deep enough to give her confidence to walk in. Fear gripped her from the pit of her stomach all the way to the tip so her hair and for the first time in her life she didn't know what to do about it. Not only was she supposed to act like a model, whatever that meant, but Jay miles was in there and entering this building would confirm in the pit of her belly where she held out that the wildest fantasy could come true, that she can't have him. He'd be there; Beautiful, sexy, intelligent and completely unavailable. 

Sasha wasn't sure if any of this could be faced so easily. There was a better chance of the sidewalk opening up and taking her whole than there was of Jay mils helping her fulfil any of the fantasies she'd dreamed up, and frankly, she was starting to hope it would open up and swallow her whole. That seemed, in light of events over the last twenty-four hours, like the sanest possibility.

But it wasn't available to her. She'd just have to go in and get this day underway. 

Just as she was to climb the stairs, the door opened and Gregor Sabatini walked out. "Sasha. Over here! Have you been standing out here for about ten minutes? I thought I saw you a while ago out of the window."

Sasha blushed, and imagined the red in her cheeks would look florescent against the deep bottle green of her dress. 

"Um yes. Sorry. I have been standing out here." Greg moved down the front steps and held out his hand. Sasha took it and it felt warm and hearty against her clammy hands giving her a feeling of groundedness. He leaned in before he let go of her hand and whispered.

"Are you nervous?"

Sasha smiled, a little relief passing through her. "Gosh yes. I'm so sorry, but yesterday was very surreal for me, and this morning it seemed very hard to believe. Then standing out the front of your building here, well, it became impossible to believe and I thought I must have made most of it up."

But if Greg heard her he didn't look as though he had. He stared at her, his eyes darting all over her face, up to the crown of her head and down over her curvaceous figure.

"My god, you're more beautiful than I remember. Jesus, Jay's going to love you so much."

He turned away holding her hand still and guiding her up the steps toward the front door. Sasha was grateful he'd looked away so there was no chance he'd see her physical response to the mention of Jay's name. 

Her heart was already beating at an abnormally high rate, so he wouldn't have noticed the pulse rate rise either. Sasha fought within herself for some control so that she could handle the interview without falling in a blithering mess at his feet. 

They raced up the stairs together, Sasha still holding Greg's hand, and feeling as though she were going to be taken care of by someone who may be able to prevent her from making a complete fool of herself. At the top of the stairs, Greg turned to her before he opened the door. Startled, Sasha moved to her back foot, to create a little breathing space between them. "Sasha, I'm very keen for you to become our new model. I'm not sure how much you know about Jay, but there has been a little trouble in his past." "If you mean about his family tragedy, I know about his brother and his father. Oh, and I have read about his mother."

Greg relaxed visibly at this. "Then you know she's a little... mad?"

"That's what I read – yes."

"Well, you ought to know that Jay has her here at the moment, and she has... well taken over the place in some ways. I am preparing you for it, because I want you to trust me when I tell you that I will shield you from whatever I can. I am right here and not going anywhere. Jay is unpredictable around his mother, and she is ... well... the article you read had it right. I don't want you to be discouraged."

Sasha smiled. She liked him so much, and she believed him when he said he would care for her. It worried her a little though. "I won't be in any danger will I?"

He looked slightly shocked by the suggestion. "Oh good Lord no. She's very strange, and you'll see exactly what I mean in a minute, but she won't hurt a fly."

Sasha though about the article she'd read. She'll hurt herself though. She shivered, and then turned a bright expectant face toward Gregor.

"Believe it or not, a background in accounting provides me with a great deal of experience in madness."

Greg laughed. "Actually, I do believe that! That's good. You'll need it. I really don't want you t o be turned off."

He turned toward the door again, still holding her hand. Without looking back at her, he said "Alice, it's time to step through the looking glass."

With that he opened the door.

Sasha walked through behind him, and she noticed Greg let her hand go as soon as they walked through the door together. It gave her some discomfort. She didn't realise how wonderful it was to cling to him, to feel as though she had a friend there, to feel safe. But Greg had let her go as he brought her inside and Sasha took it as a gentle sign that he had to stand on her own two feet here. This was probably going to be very hard work, and they needed her to be strong.

The first thing Sasha noticed about the room was the minimalist design. The doors opened to an enormous bottom floor with stairs on the right leading to a series of apartments, or offices around the walls of the building. The lower area seemed to be almost empty except for a small receptionists desk and ornate art work to the right.

However, the splendour and excitement of being in a large internationally famous fashion house was soon worn off when Sasha at first noticed the smell. She could swear someone was smoking pot. With the next intake of breath the smell was more like burning leaves. Looking around, she noticed a small tray by the door on the ground and on the tray was a small pile of what could only be sage bundles, all smouldering and producing the strongest smoke.

Surprised, Sasha looked up to see that there were four other of these dotted around the room. Sasha pulled out a handkerchief and held it to her nose. The overpowering scent was going to bring tears to her eyes and ruin any chance she had of looking great for this meeting. "What's the ...." she started pointing with the other hand at the burning bundles, but Greg cut her off.

"Shhhh... Jay's mother." He mouthed and indicated behind him with his right hand. It was then Sasha noticed an older woman who was very short, quite a lot shorter than Sasha but thin as a rake emerged from a little dark corner underneath the staircase. Her eyes were round and she looked at Sasha with a kind of wonder in them. 

Wow – she's so gone.

"Ms Miles, allow me to introduce you to Sasha." Greg started. However he was cut off as she moved closer to Sasha mumbling.

"Oh my, oh my, oh my... aren't you pretty?" she said over and over again.

Sasha put out her hand, offering a professional handshake with the tiny woman.

She took her hand, and gave it one hearty shake. But then she held it, running her wizened hand over the top of the skin of Sasha's hand.

"Oh wow, but you're perfect. You're just perfect."

Greg intervened and broke her grip. It wasn't hard, the woman held Sasha with a feather touch, but something about the experience chilled Sasha none the less. Unfortunately Jay's mother didn't seem mad, she seemed perfectly lucid and that made her behaviours all the more strange. "That's enough now. Not too much touching." He laughed nervously. "You don't want to scare her off now, do you?"

The woman pinned Sasha down with a striking stare. Sasha couldn't look away from her intense blue eyes, that definitely didn't even have a hint of madness in them. Her eyes looked excited as if something wonderful had just been revealed to her, and then flooded with warmth.

"YOU must meet my son. He's perfect for you. You are so beautiful and he needs a woman."

"Yes thank you Mrs. Miles, I think that's enough now." Greg physically turned her away, and she shuffled off in the direction again of the small shadowy corner under the staircase. As she walked she turned her head repeatedly to look at Sasha all the time giving her the same piercing stare that went to the core of her being.

Disconcerted, Sasha finally looked away, and at Greg. He laughed. 

"Typical mother huh? Tries to fix her son up with the first pretty girl she sees."

Sasha smiled at Greg, and glanced back at Jay's mother, who could barely be seen in the shadows. Sasha could see her hands, however, and she rubbed them together as if she were a mad professor about to bring some kind of monster to life. 

With the sage still burning her eyes, Sasha coughed a few times, as the smoke filled her lungs. She coughed, and moved farther to her left. Partly it was to get out of the smoke, but also, she felt compelled to move a little further away from Jay's mother. She was one creepy woman and worst of all; she didn't seem even the slightest bit mad.

But her behaviours definitely were.

As Sasha moved out of the smoke, her eyes turned to the expanse of the large room before her. For the first time she noticed a huge pentagram painted in black ion the floor of the studio. Sasha did start to panic a little now. This old lady was freaking her out.

Just in time, Greg stepped in.

"Remember she's harmless. But come on now, and let's get you into the board room. That's where we'll be meeting with Jay." With a firm hand at her lower back he ushered Sasha toward the stairs. She felt nervous about walking above where the old woman stood, watching her from the dark shadows, but Greg's hand was firm and that gave her the confidence she needed.

As she climbed the stairs, she glanced back down at the giant pentagram on the floor, noting with an accountants habit its perfect proportions and mathematical accuracy. Sasha shiverd again. The experience was surreal.

At the top another receptionist's desk stood guard, this time in a more elaborately decorated hall. Again the hall was done in a minimalist decor and white walls on white furniture gave the impression of cleanliness along with a Zen like impression of order. In large silver letters, Jay's name was spelled out over the wall behind reception. Like the desk downstairs this reception area was unmanned. At the back of the reception area a long corridor looked inviting – wanting to be explored. Greg ushered her toward it then led her to the right. 

Only two doors stood along this side of the corridor. It was the other direction that led to many more doors and to what Sasha guessed must be some sort of apartment as she'd seen it from downstairs.

Greg opened the door to a white room with a large long table running down the middle. It was made in a white washed blonde wood Sasha didn't recognise. Large heavily padded white leather high backed chairs stood in place all around the table. Although the furniture was white, this was a formal meeting room, designed to impose strength and resolve.

Greg pulled out the seat closes to the door. "Hop in here, and make yourself comfortable. I'll just get Jay."

He disappeared, closing the door behind him. Sasha sat back, feeling less nervous. Somehow, Jay was less daunting with a mother like that greeting her at the door. The smudge sticks and the pentagram were a sign of things not being in perfect order and to Sasha the white minimalist meant Jay like to be in control. The fact that he couldn't control his mother made him less arresting. In a way, it humanised him, just as it had when she read about it. 

Turning to her right, she noticed up on the wall at the head of the room was a large picture of Jay. 

Sasha's heart almost stopped. There he was, beautiful, magnificent, his eyes twinkling, his clothing impeccable. Desire coursed through Sasha and she immediately felt the response between her legs. He wasn't as tanned in the picture as she'd seen from the internet but he had the same glow about him. 

Sasha heard a hand on the door and jumped. She straightened herself in her chair and tried not to think about the ache between her legs. Turning, she saw Gregor standing at the door. 

However, some sort of kerfuffle was going on outside. Sasha could hear Jay's mother. She was asking Greg who Sasha was, so he moved out of the room again for a moment, only half closing the door. He told her that Sasha was the new model and that this was a business meeting, and that she needed to leave. Jay's mother kept saying "She's perfect, she's perfect" over and over again. 

Soon Greg opened the door and walked in, and right behind him, as casual as you like, strolled in Jay. 

He had his back toward Sasha initially, telling his mother in a voice as soft and smooth as velvet that she needed to be quiet and that he was having a meeting in there. Sasha heard his mother say "Take a look at her – she's perfect." Before Jay closed the door.

Talk about an interfering mother! Sasha thought reminding herself to call her mother when she got home and tell her she loved her.

Jay turned from the door, and immediately his eyes locked in with Sasha's. Sasha was sure she noticed him flinch, as he stopped moving and stared openly at her. Right away Sasha's heart started to race. Here he was, in the flesh, standing before her, more beautiful than any of the photographs, and with ten times the raw animal sex appeal than his pictures.

She hadn't thought of that. But of course, he would present much more appeal in person. She hadn't expected that he would appear so magnetic, so alive in front of her. 

He had his mother's eyes. He stared at her with the same lucid stare. Sasha couldn't look away. The intensity of his eyes held her, and she felt abandoned to the way that the gaze invaded her. He didn't just look at her, he looked into her. They stared for what seemed like an eternity, but must have only been a few seconds.

"Jay, this is Sasha Smith. Sasha, Jay Miles." The voice billowing out of Greg broke the magic of the eye contact, and Sasha looked away. She was grateful. Greg had told her he would look after her and so far he'd done that more than he realised. She blushed deeply crimson as she turned to look at Greg, then back at Jay. Jay stepped forward with a hand extended. 

"I am very pleased to meet you Sasha."

Jay clicked into business mode as he always did when his emotions got the better of him. He could hear his mother outside chanting 'she's perfect she's perfect' so loudly that he was sure Sasha must hear her. 

This meeting was already way out of control. When he first saw this woman he felt as though lightening hit him. Yes she was beautiful, but something else captured him. The self confidence in her green eyes, the way she looked at him as if she were modestly trying to hide something but also as if she wanted to take whatever moved her. There was ferocity inside of her that Jay saw and sensed immediately. 

He'd always been attracted to strong women. Creative women mostly, as they tended to be the most powerful, but any woman who looked at him with confidence in herself excited him enormously. But he'd never seen the look that this woman had in her eye, and he'd never been so immediately moved by one person and the way they glanced at him in his life. 




Full Figured Chic Ch. 10



Greg prepared him that his mother had already gotten in the way that evening, so he needed to stay as professional as possible, but one thing he knew for sure, this woman would be staying here. With her around the full figured chic line would be forged from magic. He'd be more creative than he'd ever been in his life, more inspired and more alive.

His mother was right. She was perfect.

He shook her marble white hand trying to remain focussed on the meeting. She was here to apply for work. But he'd have to make sure she felt comfortable. He wanted her here for the full five weeks and she'd have to agree happily to that. It wouldn't be easy to talk her into it.

Greg sat to her left, but Jay thought it best to sit opposite. He needed something between them so that he could think. He walked past her looking down as he did to the curve of her buttock in the chair. Full and round, the kind of body a man could make love to all night. He noticed her bent slightly forward so that her back arched slightly emphasising the curve out to her butt, and giving him a fine view at the high curve of her full breast. He jerked his head forward and walked on, moving –past Greg and around the table to the other side where he chose a seat and sat opposite. 

Damn she was beautiful. And he'd caught a scent of her as he walked past. She smelled like apples, not like that stupid packaged scent women always wore that inflamed his nostrils. She was delicate, seductive and subtle. Sitting opposite her, he could smell her scent again occasionally. He knew he had to say something soon, or he'd be drawn into staring at her again, and that would ruin everything.

"Thanks for coming here today Sasha. I hope you don't mind if I call you Sasha?"

"Not at all." 

Her voice was light but deep. With the seductive strength again, that core he could read in a woman, coming out strongly from her. This was a proud strong woman, but with so much beauty and understated smouldering sensuality about her that Jay really felt he may disappear into her. 

From somewhere deep inside he realised he had to have a conversation with her.

"Gregor tells me that he has given you some information regarding why we have asked you to meeting with us today. We are in a very delicate situation here Sasha and we need to keep everything under wraps. I may appear paranoid to you, but above everything else deep secrecy is most important to me. Before we go on, I need your word that you won't repeat any of what we tell you here today, regardless of whether you accept the position or not."

Sasha couldn't read him. She felt very faint and was sure she would miss most of what he said. Never in her life had one person had such an effect on her. His eyes were mesmerizing, his face boyish and cheeky with a hint of sensuality that was stronger than anything she'd seen in the pictures. In short he was extremely attractive. But somehow that word didn't do the situation any justice. If it weren't for the face that his voice soothed her like hot chocolate, she may have missed everything he said. She felt her pulse quickening every time he looked at her, or turned in her direction. He sat directly opposite and it was very unnerving for Sasha. 

"We would like you to come here and model for us. We are creating a line in a very short period of time. It's my understanding that you know nothing about this industry. Is that correct?"

"Yes. I'm afraid it is. I am sorry about that."

"Well I'm not sorry at all. I wanted an outsider. I need you to learn fast, however, about modelling. It won't be as bad as you think. We are designing a brand new line, and the modelling style will be new with it. So you won't have to learn too many old techniques. But I will have some coaches coming in to see you. Be very clear that they know nothing about our intentions, nor why you are here. I have told them it's for an acting project you are a part of."

Sasha gulped and tried to listen to what he was saying. She remembered Gregor taking his hand from her back and decided she must ask some questions. She felt it very important to establish herself this first meeting, or she could be swept away forever by this job – and this man.

"Will you be telling me today what the project is?"

"Only part of it. I believe Greg has told you we are designing a line for the full figured woman." Jay paused and flashed a smile more dazzling than the sun. "You're going to be the first full figured model ever. How do you feel about that? You will be more famous than Cindy Crawford and Elle McPherson combined."

Sasha let the words sink in. "How long will you need me to visit each day?"

"There will be no visits. You will move in here for five weeks. You will have to take time off your work and stay here with myself and Gregor."

At that moment there was the sound of fists beating on the door. Smooth as silk, Jay continued, "And my mother of course."

Sasha turned to look at the door that was shaking under the beating it was getting from the other side.

"Um, about that."

Greg jumped in. "You are safe Sasha. She's not going to hurt you."

"I do believe you, but it's a bit like looking at a Doberman that is snarling at you and everyone keeps telling you how friendly the puppy is. I hope you don't mind me saying, Mr Miles, but your mother seems like she might be better in a home."

Jay looked a lot like her certainly did mind her saying it. 

"You have no idea what is going on here, and yet you want to judge my decisions and the decisions of those around you? You will have to take instruction better than that over the next five weeks."

Sasha started. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes. This was not what she expected at all, and his anger hurt her deeply. Deeper than she would have through necessary and deeper than she would have thought appropriate.

True to his word, Greg jumped to her defence.

"Jay, your mother is a little tough at first reception. And Sasha, don't worry about her." At this point the pounding on the door stopped. "She really won't hurt you. As you've already seen she thinks you're perfect."

Sasha smiled at the joke, staving off the tears. She saw Greg looking meaningfully at Jay, who sighed heavily and then turned back to her.

"I apologise Ms Smith. I am very tired already and I don't usually have the best temper. I do warn you, however, that I will need you to do things at time that may seem strange but I need you to agree to do them. It won't be anything that puts your character or your physical person at risk. But when you act as a muse, there are some strange things required."

"Like standing for a couple of hours straight or walking a line back and forth for a few hours." 

Cut in Greg quickly. He was doing a very good job at helping Sasha out. Despite his overwhelming attractiveness Jay's gruffness had caught her off guard, and she'd put a shield up in self defence. 

"We will need you to start right away," Continued Jay. "And we will want you to stay here. Pack a bag and come back in the morning. 

The show is five weeks away and we are in desperate need of your services. It will be a strange ride for five weeks, but you will be doing something that I guarantee will change the world."

"Why do all of this in five weeks? Why all the rush?"

Jay's eyes flooded with so much pain that Sasha forgot the gruff nature of his previous replies. Even though she'd already seen pictures of this boyish side of him, nothing prepared her for the vulnerability he displayed at crucial moments. She wanted to take this man who had this wounded little boy inside and hold him and tell him she understood and that everything will be alright.

"My designs are being stolen by my arch rival Sutomi Lim and I don't know how he's obtaining them. He's already getting ready for the show after next. If we don't make this deadline, my designs will be lost, and someone else will take the credit, and worse than that, they will do such a bad job that the fashion industry may not feel the importance of the innovation. I promise you, my very sanity hinges on the success of this project."

Sasha looked at him, her eyes wide like saucers, feeling sad and lost and admiring for him all at the same time. 

"Then let's beat the bastard." She said with a smile.



Full Figured Chic Ch. 11



Sasha woke in her bed for the last time in five weeks, and stretched lazily on her back. She took a deep breath and let her arms collapse above her head, as she thought through the day and the wonderful prospects ahead of her.

Work hadn't been hard. She called Martin and extended the break to five and a half weeks. Not only was it enough time for her office cronies to tire of the story about her, but Sasha had a little plan to actually invite one or two of them if this project worked out. 

She'd done other necessary things. Rung her mother, told her she was going on vacation for five weeks and that she'd send emails but will be hard to catch. Checked out her financials and paid up bills. 

At the end of the day she settled in with a nice Thai green curry and watched 'The devil wears Prada' confirming to herself over and over again that the day of the skinny model was out, and the time for real women to front up had arrived.

Her mood turned good, almost to the point of cocky; she felt sure she'd noticed Jay stare at her. He'd looked at her full fleshy bosom a few times and she could feel the heat of his gaze on her as he walked behind her when he'd entered the room as he arrived. Although modest to the core, Sasha was a realistic sensible woman and she knew when the electricity moved both ways. And this heat almost melted the board table between them.

Even Jay's gruffness had lost its impact.

It took everything inside her to show restraint in that meeting. Yes, it was important, but really more to him than to her. Sasha had no illusions about becoming a model. Even if this gig worked out, she could see it was an experience not a permanent life change. She had a career, and it was one she'd worked very hard for thank-you-very-much. 

No, this was Jay's serious affair. Now that she had the job and she knew she was what they were looking for, she could afford a little fun. And Jay looked like a big ball of fun. As she lay in the warm bed, the fine cotton brushing against her balmy skin, her phone rang. Lazily she stretched for her cell and saw that it was Penny.

"Yo!" she answered.

"Wow. You sound relaxed. Not nervous about your first day?"

Sasha slid her naked body up so that she sat against the pillows behind her head. "Not at all. It's amazing really. I'm not quite sure where this confidence has come from, but would it sound too crazy if I told you I thought it was Jay himself?"

"You mean he's not just hot, he's empowering too?"

Sasha laughed. "Yeah. Something like that. I don't know. Could my self esteem be so shallow that as soon as a man calls me beautiful I believe him and decide I can take on the world?"

"Well, it's hardly just a man. He is the LAST word in beauty on the planet. And as far as all this ainxt goes, I'd just sit back and enjoy this ride. Have a great time, and definitely don't stress about not being stressed."

Sasha laughed again.

"So... What's he like? Did you tell him you'd been having the weirdest dreams about him every since you masturbated in front of pictures of him?"

"Ummm... no, you know that never came up."

"Is he as hot in real life as he is in the pictures?"

"Hotter."

Penny squealed so loud that Sasha heard the ringing in her ear for a full five minutes. 

"Oh Sasha, I have SUCH a good feeling about this one. As far as I'm concerned he's JUST good enough for you. He needs to give up all that ladies man crap though. I'm coming over to kick his sorry ass if he treats you bad."

"Hey, I have good feelings too, but I promise you, they're fleeting! Get anything serious out of your mind. He sized me up yesterday and I sized him up, and I'm happy for anything to happen in thus five week lock down, but honey, this is NOT a man to get serious about."

"But Sasha, maybe..."

"No! No maybe's about it. C'mon Penny, you can't put ideas like that in my head. I am so attracted to this guy it's healthy for me to remember it's not permanent."

There was a pause. Sasha could feel Penny changing tactic.

"What makes you so sure he's interested in you at all?"

"Well, I'm not, but he was checking me out. Look this is a really big deal for him, and I doubt that he'll have time to play around with his model. If he does want to do that, his model is available. If he doesn't, she's appropriately distant and full of longing."

"From what you were telling me last night, the vibe is he could be really keen and..."

"Penny!" Sasha yelled into the phone.

"Sorry, It's just that I won't get to talk to you for ages, and I wanted to sort of get in on the goss."

"Ha ha ha... you mean invent the goss."

Both women laughed.

"You will be able to get in touch with me if you need me. It's only for five weeks, but any emergency... anything at all... call my cell and Greg will get hold of me."

"I won't need to call. You have the best time imaginable."

Sasha laughed. "Sure will hun." And she hung up.

She leapt out of bed, realising she'd sat for too long. She'd promised Greg she'd be there at seven and it was now six-fifteen. She wanted to shower and eat just a little before she left. Excitedly checking her bags for the fiftieth time, she raced for the shower.

It only took fifteen minutes to be ready. Greg told her she'd be made 'swimsuit ready' as soon as she got there, but as a first timer, Sasha was nervous. A couple of these terms were available on the net, but with the world of modelling about to open itself up to her the first realisation was how little she actually knew. Being shower clean worked for her confidence.

Grabbing her bag, she headed for the door, ready to change her life -- just for five weeks.

Nerves finally hit as Sasha stood at the front steps of the Jay Miles studio. Not wanting to be caught standing out the front again like last time, she forced herself to walk up the stairs and press the buzzer at the intercom. 

Sasha?" the voice on the other end was Greg's.

"Yeah. Hi Greg. I'm here. Bright and early."

"Great! I love a professional. I'll be right down."

It was a short thirty seconds before the door opened and Sasha found herself staring at Greg, who looked a little more dishevelled than the day before. He must have noticed her looking him at up down.

"Sorry I'm such a mess. I've put in an all nighter with Jay. We're both pretty tired, but there will be plenty more of these. While you're getting ready, we'll both be taking a short sleep."

"Don't worry about it. I didn't mean to make you self conscious."

Greg grinned a warm smile in reply and welcomed her through the door. 

"I'll take you directly upstairs. You can unpack and settle in for thirty minutes then I will come back and get you. I have to bring you down here for your spa work. There'll be a lot to do over the next five weeks, and not just learning. You will have to get your hair and nails and skin worked on. There are high standards in modelling and we want you looking your absolute best.

Sasha nodded as she walked behind him. Despite his lack of sleep his step was brisk and she felt a little pressed to keep up with him. He led her up the stairs but walked directly past the same entrance they'd walked through yesterday. Instead he led her along the thin veranda style walkway toward the back of the giant room.

As she walked behind him, Sasha peeped through the windows on her right hoping for a glimpse of Jay. She spotted him out of the corner of her eye as they passed his office so she turned and smiled, giving him a wave as she did. However, he didn't respond at all, instead staring her down keeping his watchful eye on her, his sullen expression not changing a bit. It didn't feel as though he was flirting with her this time, but she did feel the same intensity that always hit her when she looked at him. 

The direct current sparked back and forth giving her the feeling that something strong passed between them. For Sasha, its charge ended up between her legs and she glanced away puzzled and shy, hoping the effect he had on her wasn't as obvious to him as it was to her.

She turned her head away just in time to see Jay's mother dart into a corridor and out of their way. Greg shuffled back to be in line with her. "You'll have to excuse Jay's mother. I know you met her, but for some absurd reason she's incredibly excited to meet you. I'm sure it won't turn into anything. But I thought I should warn you anyway."

"She met me the other day."

Greg shrugged his shoulders, holding his hands up in an expression of disbelief. "I think she wants to bond or something. She's so excited about you."

Just as Sasha was about to reply, Jay's mother hopped out of another doorway and stood directly in front of them. She held out her hand toward Sasha forcing Sasha to pout her own hand forward. 

"Hello Sasha, I'm Jay's mother." Her smile sent warmth through Sasha that contradicted a certain sort of chill she had from the whole experience. She moved her hand forward and clasped the older woman's It felt strangely cool and damp as if she were nervous and excited at the same time. Sasha tried to warm to her despite a sting in her belly that usually acted as a warning. 

"Hi. I am happy to meet you. We'd sort of met when I was here yesterday, but I didn't know I would be your roommate for a few weeks yesterday."

The older woman pulled her hand away as soon as the words were out of Sasha's mouth, but Sasha was getting used to the strange behaviour. At this point Greg stepped in. 

"I'm just taking Sasha to her room. Why don't you go and rest for awhile? We'll all have dinner together later and you can eat with us."

Greg spoke to her slowly, almost as if she were unstable. It didn't seem necessary as the woman had a spark in her eye that showed she knew what was going on. And they were now focussed back on Greg, without the warmth she'd shown Sasha earlier. Without a word she floated back into the dark corner, but if looks could kill Greg wouldn't be making it through the day.

"Sorry about that. I did warn you that she may be a little difficult. There's so little I can do. Jay wants her here and he because of that he's in. But it does make it difficult on the likes of you and I."

Sasha smiled. "I'm sure we'll be fine. Frankly, I think I'm ok, I think it may be you who is in for the difficulties with her."

Greg smiled back but let the subject drop.

"Okay, here we are." Sasha walked into a large room ahead of him. A double bed sat to her right with a large bed head set into the wall with a Japanese mural painted on it. The cupboard sat against the wall that held the door, and fine bamboo sat like mats over the floor. The entire room was done in light olive tones with the blonde bamboo colouring through the furnishings and the floor. It was a beautiful room, restful and calm. The perfect place to have a sleep.

"Thank god Jay keeps these rooms clean and decorated." Greg said moving past her and looking around the room as if he set it all up himself. 

Sasha looked around in amazement. "This is beautiful. I'll sleep like a baby in this room. In fact it's wanting me to climb into bed right now."

Greg laughed. "Actually, that's not far from the truth. It's been feng Shui designed to create deep restful sleep. It's no accident that you want to sleep while you're in here and a very good sign."

Greg smiled proudly as if he'd created the mood himself. "Well I'm going to leave you to it. I have a lot to do downstairs. I'll be expecting you in about thirty minutes down stairs where we can go over your contract and then get you to the spa for the first of your treatments. Just wear a robe. They won't want you in more than that at the salon, and you aren't leaving the building, so it's fine. You'll find one in the closet."

With that last remark he'd gone and Sasha was alone with the beautiful room. 

A small door in the wall opposite the foot of the bed led into a bathroom that was cosy and find for one person. A toilet, a washbasin and a bath with a shower in it, plus lots of fat fluffy white towels to offset the dark olive mood that had been painted into this room as well. Sasha noticed endless arrays of bath oils, soaps, powders and other pampering paraphernalia all over the room. Missing were shampoos, conditioners and skin lotions. Already she knew they would be supplied in the spa during her salon visits, and she supposed they wouldn't let her mess with her hair and her own products.

Getting down to business, she unpacked her bag and placed the few garments she brought into the closet by the door. She'd showered before she left, so she didn't feel inclined to make that happen here, but she knew that there would be another shower in the spa for sure. 

Soon she stood in the centre of her tidy room, bags packed away, clothes packed away, the bathroom filled with her familiar belongings, in her soft deep towelling white bath robe. Sasha took a deep breath of sandalwood from the oil burner in the corner, and turned and walked out the door.

Padding her way quickly, she got herself back downstairs fast, not wanting to miss her first deadline. Greg waited patiently by reception, looking as thought he'd had a shower himself. "Hey there! Right on time." He shouted up to her as she walked quickly down the stairs.

"I didn't want to be late to the very first appointment." She smiled. She walked over to where he stood by a pile of papers balanced on the absent secretaries desk. 

"Ok, here is all your paperwork." Greg got directly to the business at hand. "You have your standard non-union waiver, because I am assuming you aren't in a union, but we are a union workplace, so we need the waiver signed; A model release and contract with sagscale inserted and other conditions. I am assuming you don't have an agent?" Sasha shook her head trying not to look bamboozled by all the terminology.

"I thought as much, and I think it is a good idea that you get one. Here is a list of four that I can recommend. They're all very good and we like working with any of them. I think you should look over this list, work out who you like, and I will send them your contract, and you can communicate by email. Because we want you exclusively, it will cost us more, but it does mean they don't need to see you nor have copies of your dimensions. We can conduct the entire transaction on line and preserve the secret of why you are modelling for us. 

"I have a copy of each of their booklets here, take your time, but I do want to choose one in four days time, so make sure you choose by then so that I can send out the contracts."

Sasha looked at the booklets that were the size of small thin telephone books. She wasn't sure how an agency could have that much information to put in their booklets, but she knew that the next few nights would be devoted to finding out.

"I also have booking conditions here for you. 

This will outline what you are actually looking for in an agent and how to choose a good one. I recommend you read this first, then work through the information that I gave you on the others.

Here is a shoot date, which means by this time -- when we are ready to use you for photographs; we want you in the best possible condition -- without losing any weight. That is an essential stipulation. You are the perfect weight and you mustn't lose any. We have plenty of nourishing meals here that will care for your health but won't allow you to drop pounds, so that we get to keep you at this perfect size."

Sasha looked at him, almost as if she were a deer caught in the headlights.

"Is it too much to digest?" he asked staring into her eyes, his eyes moving from one of her to the other as if one may hold more of the secret over the other.

"Not at all. I ... well... I'm just not used to it all. And I guess I've never been told I am the perfect size before. It sounds strange."

"Well get over it, because this train moves fast and we have no time for people getting all caught up in themselves."

The reprimand caught Sasha by surprise. "Gee, sorry Greg. I'm here 100%. I didn't meant to look distracted for a minute there."

He stopped looking over the papers, and turned toward her with a smile on his face. "Sorry Sasha. There will be a lot of tense moments. We're under tremendous pressure here. Although, I must say, you've had the best affect on Jay. I've never seen him so inspired."

At this point Greg looked down at his watch. "Jeez! I am supposed to be up there. Ok Sasha, come with me. I'll get you into the spa. The spa is actually a public one, although you have a private section out the back. You won't be seeing anyone except the women who will be looking after you. They will do the work that they do on our models without asking any questions."

Sasha smiled enthusiastically. The prospect of spending all this time in a beautiful spa didn't bother her at all.

"Ok. Come with me. "

She followed him through a small door at the back of the secretary's area, directly into a glamorous private entry area of a fancy spa. Sasha hadn't noticed it from the street. 

As soon as they entered, a good-looking woman approached, wearing a small lab coat over a beautiful pink shift Sasha could see the bottom of past the coat. Her hair was Coiffed in a very traditional sixties bundle and her eye makeup was done to match the style. She looked like a vogue fashion model from the sixties.

"Bonjour Gregory. So good to see you darling."

She kissed the air either side of Greg's face, as he stuck out his chin and bobbed side to side, pretending to be ready to kiss. 

"Bonjour Celine. Meet Sasha. Have her swimsuit ready, if you will."

Celine looked at Sasha with overwhelming warmth in her eyes. If there was anything she didn't approve of in Sasha, she certainly didn't show it.

"Darling! We will make you a princess. You have come to the best place of all. Everything magic 'appens here." She flaunted in her thick French accent.

Greg smiled, turned to Sasha and said "You're in good hands. I'm off!" then he turned to Celine and said "Remember, she's not to lose any weight." And then he was gone.

Celine looked at Sasha. "I can see why he doesn't want you to lose weight darling. You are very beautiful." Sasha smiled. "but sweet 'art, you 'ave not been taking care of ze hair or ze skin, or ze nails, so it is in these places we have to make a miracle no?"

She grabbed Sasha by the hand and dragged her toward a small back room. 

Inside the door, was a large scented bath surrounded by candles and flowers. "First you need to soak darling. You lay in the bath. 'ere are magazines, because this will take a while. I want you in the water for almost an hour, so you read. And you must look at these. We will be working on making you look like these women, so part of the therapy is this reading."

And with that, Sasha was left alone in the beautiful bath room. 

Self-consciously she took a brief look around the pretty room. It was one of the most beautiful environments she'd ever seen. In soft pinks and limes, small stones littered the room heavily scented again with sandalwood. This was definitely a lifestyle she could get used too. Glancing around as if to check no one could be watching she let her robe fall to the floor and stepped into the deep velvety bath. The water was slightly warmer than was entirely comfortable and it took a few seconds for her skin to adjust to the temperature. Soon she felt more at home and stepped her second foot in, allowing herself to sink sensuously into the warm water.

The magazines were the same modelling type she was becoming used to. All the women were slim. However, this time Sasha paid more attention to their nails, their skin and the quality of their hair. She looked for differences, similarities, checking what is in fashion and what direction Jay might want to take with her.




Full Figured Chic Ch. 11



Far earlier than she could have guessed, Celine was back. She walked into the room while Sasha was half way through an article in French Vogue on Bastille Day. 

"Up up.. no more time. Enough in the bath. You will be like wrinkled prune enough now, and we can work with skin!"

She stood at the edge of the bath, expectantly with a towel. Sasha wasn't sure what was expected, but soon Celine made a 'Ahem' noise at the back of her throat to indicate she was waiting. Sasha stood, in her naked glory, and Celine made no apology of looking over her naked body. At one point she asked Sasha to turn so that she could see the back. Confused she did as she was told, but it was an odd feeling having this beautiful woman cast her eyes so meaningfully all over her most intimate parts.

"You are very beautiful." Celine said with a sigh. "Your body is soft and womanly, like Goddess. You look like female, not the little boy."

Sasha turned back to look at her. She had a smile on her face. A look of some sort of wistful longing that Sasha couldn't quite place. It was odd. Still, Celine was a professional, and she continued with her job.

"Come come, first we will work your pedicure and manicure while skin is soft. Quickly now, running out of time."

Sasha grabbed the towel offered and rubbed the warm scented water off her as fast as she could. Celine held the robe in her hand and helped Sasha into it. The woman was so nice, warm and friendly and Sasha could sense herself relaxing in her company. Sensuality snuggled around like a cat purring warm and fuzzy against their legs, moving between them. 

Sasha walked through the opened door encouraged heavily from behind to veer to her right. She turned to find almost immediately another small door way. She opened it herself this time, walking directly into a larger room with a long extremely comfortable looking therapeutic chair in front of her. At the foot of the chair sat a woman who seemed to be naked except for a small white coat that just covered her, still leaving no doubt that she wore nothing underneath. Her blonde hair sat piled up in a sexy coiffe at the top and her voluptuous bosom sat perky out of the top of the coat. 

At the other end of the chair, her twin, except with a brunette coiffe stood patiently waiting, while another brunette stood to the side of the chair. Sasha thought for the briefest moment she was on the set of a pornographic film, it was such a strange sight.

The women smiled at each other when they saw her expression, as if they were in on some joke that Sasha herself couldn't understand.

Celine moved into view and offered an explanation. "Darling, sensuality is an important part of your relaxation therapy. We want you to feel safe here no? Women can do that better than men, this is about your beauty after all. But we can help you relax much better if you feel sexually free, and nowhere does woman feel more sexually comfortable than in the company of beautiful woman who she knows are not going to seduce her. Enjoy the pleasures as if you were a man and have a very good time."

The look on Sasha's face must have told Celine she wasn't at all convinced by this strange turn of events, so she continued.

"Women should look after women darling. Why give all our talents to the men? You won't turn these women into objects, they can look after you, pleasure you, and you can keep your sense of self worth. This is not lesbianism. This is using our imposed sexuality to our own advantage."

Sasha looked at the three women smiling seductively at her. Celine went on.

"And while you feel relaxed, comfortable and sexually alive, they will give you a pedicure, manicure and facial."

She couldn't deny it, she responded to the images in front of her. However, an inner resistance still kept her from sitting comfortably. It all seemed so strange. Celine gave her a little push from behind, and she made her way to the chair, settling into it, and sliding back as she let her feet sit comfortably at the footrest.

As soon as she sat back, the three women got to work. "Close your eyes darling." She could hear Celine say. "It's easier to get used to that way."

Sasha closed her eyes as she felt a towel being placed on her hair, tying back her long damp auburn locks. The chair was slowly lowered so that she lay almost straight back, just enough of a curve in it to keep herself comfortable. 

The women got to work directly, as professionals. With her eyes closed, Sasha felt her feet dipping into a rather hot foot bath that she could smell was laced with peppermint. A foot massage started up, the firm fingers working deep into the aching muscles of Sasha's feet.

Almost at the same time, her left hand dipped into a similar bath that smelt strongly of spearmint. A hand massage began, deep in the churning water, and she started to feel very relaxed and calm, almost sleepy.

As if on cue the woman working on her face, leaned forward her breasts bouncing into the top of Sasha's head. "Just relax." She said in an accent as strong as Celine's. "You may fall asleep. There is much tension inside you to be destroyed. Please let yourself fall asleep if you need."

Sasha lay back, and started to let herself relax. She allowed the muscles in her neck to relax, and the muscles in her belly as the massage delved deeper into her feet and her hand. Letting her legs rest and then flop to each side, she lay still as a hot towel was gently placed over her face. 



Full Figured Chic Ch. 12



Sasha didn't even know some of the aches deep in the muscular crevices of her feet existed, till the skilled hands reached through to sooth them.

As the fingers moved through and explored different parts of each tired foot, different parts of her body responded and relaxed. She realised the woman must be practising a form of reflexology, using the feet to relax the entire body. Pressure just below each big toe released tension immediately in her neck. The magic she wielded in the middle of her foot corresponded to a slight tension in the lower back.

Soon, her entire body experienced a sense of intense relaxation. She found she nestled back into the deep chair beneath her comfortably. The woman giving her a facial chose this moment to reach forward and loosen Sasha's robe and the soft cotton gently falling to the sides felt sensual and comforting. 

The chair moved a little, giving Sasha the impression behind closed lazy eyes that she was floating on clouds. She noticed her back straightening out as if she lay on a bed, her robe falling now more and more to the sides of her body. The warm air in the room nestled in around her, working with the massage to help her feel safe, cocooned and relaxed.

Soon, the woman working on her feet ran her hands, in a sensual massage, further up her legs to her calves, rubbing and releasing each tensed spot, calming any tightness, relaxing every part of her body that was touched. With her eyes closed, Sasha thoughts wandered to Jay; Jay with his broad muscled chest and his flat stomach. 

She imagined leaving the salon, looking beautiful and Jay reaching out for her. Taking her into his arms and kissing her gently. 

The hands massaging her legs moved higher, past her knees and worked their way over her quads and around to her inner thigh. She could feel hands working up her arm as well and hands working over the flesh of her throat to her upper chest. It was heavenly, and she continued to focus on releasing tension and images of Jay in her mind.

She let out a small sigh, letting herself sink even further into the cloud like chair beneath her. The hands on her legs now worked their way gently onto her inner thighs, both sets of fingers playing magically with the muscles under her skin. The hands working in such a sensual way over the soft intimate part of her body led her thoughts again to Jay. Now she saw him in the room she occupied upstairs. She imagined him walking toward her fresh from the shower, a white towel around his waist, a look of determined lust in his eyes. Just as he reached for her Sasha felt the finger tips brush very gently against the soft curly hair that lay nestled against her sex. 

Too relaxed to jump, she let the fingers move more and more sensuously around the outer parts of her sex. They massaged into the crevices between her leg and her torso, again finding small muscles that ached when touched, but melted when rubbed in the right way. Imaging in Jay before her, Sasha dropped her legs further to the side, allowing the woman complete access to her most private and sensitive area.

Soon, she noticed the hands working up her arm had reached her shoulder and the woman rubbed hard into the muscles that sat directly on top of her shoulders. The woman behind her rubbed her neck and Sasha sighed out again as she felt the fingers below now stroking her sex unashamedly, lightly playing over her hair covered mound and the tops of her legs.

Sasha felt Jay's hands upon her sex pressing his fingers between her legs, begging her to open them further. Sasha did as she was told and spread her legs wider than she had them before. She moaned when at the same time she imagined kissing Jay, as a warm damp finger massaged gently over her clit and she felt a soft mouth clamp gently over her left breast. 

The sensuality was indescribable. Without looking at and seeing the women working on her, Sasha focussed instead in on Jay. She imagined herself lying down on the bed in her room, Jay prying her legs further apart. She imagined him running his fingers over her damp mound just as she could feel the real fingers running over her now. 

The woman standing behind her moved and next thing Sasha felt was a mouth on her right breast. The two mouths worked her nipples with great skill, tweaking the hard flesh and swirling their tongues around the large outer part of her breasts. With her eyes still closed, Sasha imagined Jay sucking on her breasts and working her over the way she felt these women doing.

Although relaxed, Sasha felt a lustful passion rising up from deep within her. She dared not open her eyes, instead allowing the sensations she felt to transport her, imaging it was Jay's mouth she magically felt in two different places. The ache between her legs, however, started to drive her to distraction. The light feather-like touch on her clit and her puffy outer lips had her sex flowing with a slippery wetness that almost called out for Jay of its own accord.

Oh god how she ached for him. How she wanted him, and desired him. They'd barely met and yet there was something that bound them together. She didn't feel the need to wonder if he felt it too, she knew he did. A question inside her was answered by Jay and she trusted all her feelings about him. In her mind's eye he leaned into her and sucked on her sex, devouring her, consuming her, penetrating her with his tongue.

Sasha lurched forward with the images in her mind and the feeling between her legs. She arched her back allowing her orgasm to pound through her, wave after wave of ecstasy rolling through her as if she were tossed through a luscious tornado, spinning her out of control. And yet she felt perfectly safe.

Soon she lay flat, spent, her body in an intense state of relaxation. A warm creeper wormed its way through her still body, winding itself around her spine and spreading its tendrils out to her ribs. Its talons stretched into her soothing her tense muscles and lulling her stressed joints into stillness.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. The three women each sat in their places. One at her fingertips, one working on her toenails and the other gently easing her open pores to relinquish any debris nestled into her skin. If it weren't for the slippery wetness beginning to seep its way out of her, Sasha wouldn't have believed what had just occurred at happened at all.

"Relax" said the woman above her. "You are sufficiently satiated for the time being. Please rest while we complete our work. Our job is to release the tension from within as much as it is to beautify the outside."

Too well rested to argue and too relaxed to complain, Sasha lay back and closed her eyes and let them finish the work they were doing. After what seemed like a long relaxing time, Sasha was done. 

"I can't' believe I come here to do that every day." She exclaimed to Celine. 

The beautiful French woman laughed. "Well, Madame, eet won't be like that every day you are h'ere, but when we notice 'igh skin tension, we will work on you to help you relax. You saw today, that can take many different forms -- Yes?" Sasha smiled, and exited, prepared for the business part of her day.

As soon as she walked out into the cool air of the large office, she bumped directly into the path of Jay's mother. Instantly Sasha pulled the tie on her robe tighter self consciously. The entire episode in the spa had thrown her anyway, but the last thing she wanted was to bump into the mother of the man who'd inspired those strange fantasies and happenings.

The older woman stared at her, her eyes flashing with the force that gave her the look of terrifying lucidity. Social decorum had Sasha try to step casually to the side as if to imply they'd accidently met. However, when Jay's mother moved to block her path again, she knew this was a confrontation.

"Sorry Mrs Miles. I seem to be in your way." "No no, dear, it is I who am in your way. I wanted to ask you, do you like my son?"

Confronted, Sasha just stared at her. Her mind told her immediately that anything she said would be repeated to Jay, and in fact could be some sort of test. 

"Ummm, I'm not sure that is something that I should be answering to you. I feel embarrassed by that question and confronted."

If she couldn't avoid it physically, Sasha would make sure she could avoid it in their conversation.

The old woman peered at her, the power of her gaze deepening even further if that were possible. She seemed to be thinking something over, as if there were plans that needed to be made and Sasha's answer made a large difference to them.

"I think you should sleep with him and find out for sure."

A flush swept over Sasha. Now she felt she had a right to stand up for herself. No matter how strange a work place this may be, this sort of situation was uncalled for, and how she felt about Jay had nothing to do with his mother. 

Her weirdness irritated and shocked her, but till now it had been fairly harmless. Sasha searched the large open room behind Mrs Miles, but Greg was nowhere to be seen. She couldn't be rescued that way. She'd have to be rude to this old lady and get herself out of this situation as fast as she could.

"I don't think that is any of your business, Mrs Miles. I know you are Jay's mother, but you can talk intimately with him, not me." At that moment, something grasped Sasha's attention. A strange mass protruded out of Mrs Miles clenched fist. It looked like dark web at first, but when Sasha concentrated, she noticed hair. Dark auburn hair. Sasha started.

"Is that hair you have in your hand?" Before the old woman could protest, Sasha grabbed her hand and turned it to reveal she did indeed have a fist full of hair. And it was Sasha's.

She stared at the woman's old hand as it opened to reveal a matted mess of dark auburn tangled strands and what looked like the toenail clippings Sasha had left in her bathroom bin earlier that morning, complete with remnants of the old red polish the women had removed. 

"What is this? Is this my hair Mrs Miles? And my nail clippings?" Sasha instantly panicked. "Does Jay know that you have these? What have you been doing in my room?"

Sasha pushed past her and raced upstairs, without thinking that she was to see Greg as soon as she was out of the salon. Running directly to her room, she rummaged through her own bags and her other personals desperately trying to remember how she'd left things and to check if anything had been moved. In her bathroom she noticed that her bin had been tipped on its side, and her hairbrush lay on the floor. She had been in there to collect, of all things, her hair and nails. But it seemed to Sasha that she hadn't collected anything else.

Filled with rage at her personals being gone through in such a manner, she ran to the door, wrenching it open to see Jay's mother standing in the hall a little way back. This time her eyes were filled with fear; wide, reminding Sasha of a small naughty puppy who knew they did the wrong thing.

"I'm so sorry Sasha. I'm sorry. Please don't tell Jay or Gregor. They don't need to know, I only wanted your hair and your nails for a good luck charm I am making for you. I didn't mean for you to get scared."

Sasha stopped only long enough to hear her say these worlds. She pulled the door to her room tightly closed, and ran toward Jay's office. With Mrs Miles on her heels begging her to stop, she ran to Jay's office and without knocking burst through the door, closing it firmly behind her, on the face of his mother who remained behind in the hall.

Jay sat at a large work desk that sloped down towards him, piles of papers and designs all around the floor, with different materials draped all over it. He jumped when he heard the door open. He looked tired and a little dishevelled, but hard at work and happy. He radiated a thrilled peacefulness, like the energy of a spring day. His dark hair sat in a gently curled mess around his face, and he had a shadow of dark beard across the lower part of his features. He turned to look up at the door when Sasha burst in, and although in a state of concern over the behaviours of his mother, Sasha couldn't help but notice how his entire face lit up when she walked through the door. 

"Sasha!" He cried. The site of him had her stop. She hadn't seen him since yesterday, and then he'd been in business mode. But now he looked creatively alive, his eyes filled with an excited almost childlike spark.

Sasha paused at the door, suddenly aware of the rise in her heart beat. It ought to be illegal to look as good as he did in that moment. No one should be allowed to walk the streets looking like that; It simply wasn't fair to the female population. However her pause was soon interrupted when she looked around at the walls of Jay's office.

She'd only met Jay twenty-four hours ago, but she now saw what an impression she made on him. 

Jay didn't just have drawings strewn all over his desk and the floor. She looked around the room for a second when she could drag her eyes away from Jay's beautiful face and what she found stunned her. Sketches of gowns and materials and other objects lined the walls around his work space, but every picture included a picture of her. Anywhere she looked, an image of herself, in various gowns, or other types of clothes smiled out radiantly from the papers. 

She saw herself in dresses formal and casual, draped with delicate lace or drowning in beautiful oceans of velvet. Sketches of herself smiling radiantly next to photographs of giant lilies and orchids graced the walls, gathered together in such a way as to make her look as though she were one of the flowers. An enormous bunch of the biggest fattest September lilies Sasha had ever seen sat in a vase to the right of him and to the left were strands of Singapore orchids. 

She looked around to notice that the room was filled with flowers. Large blooming flowers, with broad petals and vibrant colours, Long stems reached out as if crawling toward a brighter day. Each stem, although broad and large, still held the delicacy of a flower, the individual beauty and the passion of its kind. She suddenly realised these flowers were the inspiration behind his designs. He had the images of her and the real life flowers to inspire his creations.

She's never been so attracted to anyone in her life before. Sasha suppressed an overwhelming desire to reach out and kiss him, dive to the floor and make love to him here, amongst the exquisiteness and the scent of the delicate beauty and wildness he used to feed his creative side. She found herself looking at him in wonder, as her entire body responded to the magnitude of what she was seeing.

"What are you doing in here?"

He stared at her with an almost blank look now, as if he couldn't quite believe she were real and was in this room with him. For a moment, she couldn't believe it herself. She looked around the room at all the pictures in confusion, trying to remember what she was there for. She didn't have long to think. Jay's surprise quickly faded and he questioned her again about what she was doing in the room. She studied his face as she noticed him glancing around the room as if he were seeing it through her eyes for the first time. He turned back to her and all the warmth had gone from his eyes. A slight flush rose up through his perfect skin, and he suddenly looked very uncomfortable.

"You can't just barge in here. This is my private work space."

"Your mother is driving me mad. I... I... I came in here because I found out that she has been going through my things in my room."

She couldn't remember why this was so upsetting; Seeing Jay at first in this shrine that seemed almost devoted to her, and then with this new anger in his face that was directed at her, was confusing and made it hard to focus.

"I don't want you running in here, especially over domestic irritations like you not getting on with my mother."

Suddenly Sasha was back in full force. This wasn't a domestic irritation, and she didn't care how many pictures of her stared down from the wall, his mother was a loony that needed to be dealt with.

"Excuse me, this isn't a petty irritation and quite frankly, no one else in here seems to know how to handle your mother. I found her collecting my hair and my nail clippings. She's been in my room behind my back. She haunts the corridors where I walk and she keeps telling me I am perfect -- but for what I have no idea. Also..." here Sasha cut herself off. She wanted Jay to know that his mother had been asking strange questions about their potential future, "She seems to think something needs to go on between you and I and she's been giving me the most intimate details of what she can see for the two of us."

All of that came out in a rush for Sasha and left her panting slightly. She knew she blushed. His dressing down surprised her and made her defensive. Jay didn't look as though he's suddenly moved to her side however. The flush in his cheeks remained strong and he nervously looked around the room again, almost as if he were remembering where they stood.

"Get out." He said menacingly.

"I want something done about your mother." "And I don't want you in here to see me or the room like this. I told you to get out. We will deal with the domestic difficulties later."

Tears stung Sasha's eyes and she engaged every ounce of her willpower to hold them back. She didn't want him to see her crying and she certainly didn't want to humiliate herself further. Flushing all over, she noticed she stood in her robe and that her naked body trembled underneath. His cruelty hit hard at her and clashed emotionally with the images she could see in the room. As an act of self preservation, she turned and ran, flinging the door open and forgetting to close it behind her. _________________________________________________

Jay stared after her, his heart pounding in his chest. He hadn't wanted her to see the room like this, to see what she meant to him already. He slumped in a chair, still hearing the noise of Sasha running to her room crying in the background. He also heard the noise of someone shuffling into the room. Looking up, Jay saw his mother.

"Leave her alone mother. It isn't working the way you have planned. You're just upsetting her. She'll end up running away, and I need her mother, I need her."

He looked at her with helplessness in his heart. He was starting to think she may be going mad himself. She looked down at him, resolve in her eyes. 

"She's perfect Jay. All you have to do is sleep with her. If you sleep with her he will accept her as the replacement, and you and any children you may have will live."

Jay looked down at his trembling hands, then around at the images of Sasha on the wall. "I don't want her to go Mother. I don't want to trade my life for hers." He said it absently as he looked around. He couldn't believe the affect just one visit to the salon had on her. She was radiant, like any of the flowers in the room he'd picked to emulate her.

She'd been so beautiful, and he wanted to kiss her so much, but how can he tell her she'd reached this far into him in such a short period of time- And in only two meetings. It didn't make sense and he was going to look like a fool. He needed more time, and then he could get to know her and eventually tell her how he felt. But her seeing his walls -- this was not the way he wanted her to see his how intense his feelings are.

And so he'd been mean. He took all his humiliation and embarrassment and channelled into cruelty, using her distress to get her out of the room. It was more of a reflex action than anything else. 

But it hurt. It hurt him to hurt her this way. He felt like a fool.

"You have to accept that she will be the one. There is no time to choose another, and she's perfect. Anyone would fall in love with her -- she is so beautiful. And we have to eliminate the curse before it destroys you."




Full Figured Chic Ch. 12



He looked up at his mother. Her eyes were filled with warmth and love. He felt again, as he always did that she loved him so much and that she had lost none of her strength, dignity and lucidity. 

"Mother I'm developing real feelings for her. If I trade her for my sanity, I am worried that the deprivation will drive me mad."

"I have the clippings and her hair... I am almost ready to cast the spell that will call him to us. Once you sleep with her..."

"Don't you see that if I sleep with her I won't want to get rid of her? Can't her hear me when I tell you that no woman has ever had this effect on me before? I am afraid that if I lose her, I will go mad and that if I keep her close to me I will go mad." 

He mother flew to his side and knelt down. She looked up into his eyes in earnest. "Darling, it's the madness talking now. You've only known her for twenty-four hours. She is beautiful, yes, but you've not spoken more than one hundred words to her. How can you have these kinds of feelings? It's not rational, so you understand when I tell you that?"

Jay stared at his mother. What she said made sense, and he could see where she was coming from. Of course his feelings were ridiculous. No one falls for someone this fast. There was no other explanation than his own impending madness to explain how he could feel this strongly this fast for a complete stranger.

Yet, the designs; She was affecting him deep within. He looked away from his mother and around the room again. This was easily and by far the greatest work he'd ever produced. And he had to admit that was Sasha. She had this affect on him.

"The work mother, she pulls the very best work out of me. It's almost as if she WERE my muse.

She is causing something wonderful in me to grow wet wings, spread them and take off. I want to have her here for the remainder of the collection. I can't let anything jeopardize that."

Jay saw the relief flood through his mother's eyes. She seemed to be comforted by what he was saying, as if he'd come to his senses again. He looked at her with love. Really, they only had each other. Greg was on his side, but everyone else was a stranger, despite that fact that he was surrounded by people all the time. He still felt isolated and alone. His mother was all he had. She was his flesh and blood and she'd suffered so much. All she wanted was the best for him.

"I understand sweetheart, but you have to have see that there is no one else we can get to do this, and someone needs to do it. Please promise me that you won't throw the idea out entirely. That you will hold on to it and keep it there as a possibility." 

Jay smiled at her, loving the way she looked so calm when they spoke like this. It occurred to him for a brief moment that they were really just mad together, the two of them, as crazy as each other. But he knew that wasn't' the case. As bizarre as their story was, he knew neither of them were crazy. 

Yet.

"I promise mother. Now you have to go and leave me alone here. Somehow I will have to get Greg to fix this problem. And do me a favour -- stay away from Sasha. I need her later tonight and I don't need to have you freaking her out and making her cry."

She smiled. "Not today anyway. I will leave her alone." and stood and left the room, gently closing the door behind her. 

Jay sat still for a few moments, thinking about the look in Sasha's eye when she had stood up to him. He didn't know why he felt this way about her. Greg knew when he saw her that she would affect both of them and be the perfect muse for their work, but even Greg couldn't have known she would make this big a difference.

The truth was- Sasha drove Jay to the ideas. She made the ideas come forth. That was where his attraction to her lay. He wanted those ideas to pour out of him always, and for some reason Sasha touched a place deep inside of him that he'd never been near before. He's never felt like this before, even with women he'd been in love with, even with women who'd inspired some of his greatest collections. It made no sense, and it could not be explained but that was always the case with the muse. They descended and played havoc with the soul. That was all there was to it.

He had no way of telling his mother that. No one could really understand how this drive ran except for himself. But he knew it wasn't madness and he knew somehow he would have to find a way to release himself from this curse and keep Sasha in his life. 

But that was tomorrow's problem. 

Jay jumped up and ran to his desk, images of elegantly clothed plus sized women floating in and out of his mind. Desperate to confine as many of them as he could he sat at his desk urgently pushing the pen around, letting the fever take him over again.



Full Figured Chic Ch. 13



Jay worked at his desk with a fury possessing him that he'd never before known. The designs poured out of him, spreading themselves on the page before him like little miracles. With barely a second to breathe before the next one appeared, he had few chances to look at the work as he progressed at a manic pace, but occasionally he did, stunning himself with the power of the work. 

The tap tap tap at the base of his skull, magnifying frustrations and heralding the impending doom of his own forthcoming madness, was nowhere to be seen. The work, or Sasha or both had eliminated them.

But he'd never felt such a surge of power in his life. It permeated his body, as if the muse or the god of creation was working through him, using him as a tool to cause a major transformation in the world. His muscles worked with his body, not in a rigid tense level of excitement but in a fluid way, melding in with his skeleton and his very soul to magically work and give life to the spirit of the work. 

He'd never felt such a surge of creative power in his life. As thoughts of Sasha, standing up to him, demanding he address the issue of his mother poured through him, he would throb and harden, swelling in a sexual heat as if his body were reaching out of hers and wanting to claim it, even as he sat and worked.

He thought he heard the door behind him open at one point, but it gently closed again, leaving him amidst the fervour of this passion that gripped and sucked at him. Passion for Sasha mixed with the creative gush made him focus with intensity not caring nor knowing who else shared the world with him at that very moment.

Except of course, for Sasha.

He was intensely aware of her. He could feel her. His cells cried out for her as he worked, not with a longing as such but more with a demand for their joining, and insistence that they meld finally, refusing to resist the power of their bodies united in their desire to become one. He thought of her body, her backside, and those beautiful mounds he'd caught a glimpse of on that first day when he looked down her cleavage. At these moments his hardness would lurch and surge forward taking over his mind, insisting that he find her, kiss her, lick her, enter her consume her and make them one. The strength of need was more than lust. Jay couldn't be sure, but it even felt like it ran deeper than the creativity.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening again.

"Jay, the cloth your ordered arrived this afternoon, and I brought you food. You really should eat."

He turned around and it was Greg. He had the chefs prepared food on a tray. "We've all eaten," he said with a slight apology in his voice, "we didn't want to disturb you. But you've been at it nonstop now for hours, and I really think I need to encourage you to eat."

He set the tray down on Jay's desk, and Jay stood and walked over to it. It looked delicious. Suddenly he realised he was very hungry. Sitting down, he began to eat with a relish.

"Oh my god!" 

Jay looked up to see Greg staring at the designs. 

"Jay, this is your best work ever. My god, this is so beautiful." 

He ran to Jay's work desk, and began to leaf through the discarded designs toppling off the desk on to the floor. 

"My god Jay... oh my god... this work..."

Jay glanced up to see his friend going through all the sketches, first examining one and then the other, leafing through them. Jay recognised the look on Greg's face. He knew he had his friend on side with this line.

"I want to get her in here tonight to try some material over her. I think we need to look at it on the skin."

"Sure. Do you know its ten thirty? I mean she's still awake, but it's really late, and you didn't sleep last night."

"I don't care about sleep."

"Well that is really mucho, but it isn't going to help us if you virtually collapse after a few days. You need some rest. Promise you'll head off by at least midnight and then you can start again at five if you want. But you'll have had some rest."

"Sure mother. I promise."

Greg shuffled and looked at his feet.

"Um, speaking of mothers. What the fuck happened between you and Sasha this afternoon? She told me she'd made a complaint because your mother is doing her hocus pocus on her all the time, and you yelled at her?"

Jay flushed and turned quickly to his food, hoping Greg didn't notice. "Look, I don't know. 

I feel really bad. I know I shouldn't have spoken to her like that But I flipped out because she caught me off guard. I didn't want her to see the room like this."

Greg looked around the walls at all the appealing pictures of Sasha. Jay caught him throw a sideways glance his way, but if he thought anything of it all, he didn't say anything. "Jay, we have to do something about your mother."

"My mother isn't going anywhere."

"I know, I know. But Sasha is right. She's obsessed with her. And collecting nail clippings and hair is just plain weird. Is there some way you can tell her to back off? Can she leave Sasha alone?"

"She's worried about me."

"Fuck Jay, we're all worried about you, but we're not trying to move in on someone else. I don't know your mother's plans for Sasha are, but I am telling you, she's acting weird around her, and Sasha is getting paranoid. It'll be bad for her lessons, bad for her preparation and bad for us."

Jay ate his food trying not to look nonplussed about the whole thing. He didn't want to cause a fight with Greg, and besides, in his heart he knew Greg was right. This was a big problem. His mother was difficult, and he'd already tried to get through to her. Greg didn't know what she had planned, but if he did -- he'd probably try to cancel the entire operation. Or insist his mother be committed. 

Jay needed Greg, and he had a very complicated feeling deep in his belly, that he needed Sasha too. 

"Ok." He relented. "I'll talk to mother and get her to ease up."

The tension in the room eased immediately. Jay looked up at Greg. "Can we get Sasha now? I want to see her in this cloth that arrived today."

"Sure. I'll go organise both. You eat!"

Sasha didn't know what to think of the way Jay had spoken to her. The only thing she knew for sure was that it didn't diminish any of her feelings for him. If anything, the conflict had intensified them. 

It seemed so strange. She had no fear standing up to him, but that was her way. There were very few people who could really intimidate her. But the banter that went on between them had a spirit to it that calmed her once she's left and come to her room. It was as though no matter how ugly or difficult it got between them, she knew they could work through it together, understand each other's position and help each other out.

And he'd clearly been embarrassed. It took her about two hours after the fact to work that one out. It hit her like an apple falling from a tree. She suddenly thought about how it must look from his perspective to have her barge into his room and see that it was now converted into a virtual shrine to her. Sure he had to design and get the designs out of him somehow, but surely he didn't need all those sketches of her face, her smile and her hands. He must have felt vulnerable and exposed. 

She wanted to take him in her arms and tell him not to worry, that she understood now, and that she was only sorry it took her a while to work it out.

She'd spent the afternoon in her room, flicking through he TV channels, waiting to be called upon. Greg warned her there would be times like this. She would go to her windows that looked over the entire floor below and look across toward Jay's room seeing the light on as the night approached, knowing that behind those drawn blinds he worked away, dedicated to making her beautiful and having the world see her as he saw her.

Sasha's only concern was that she could really fall for him. A man like this was so dangerous, because there was simply no replacement should it not work out.

She remembered walking home from babysitting and singing a song to herself, and thinking how in love she was. Back in those days, if she couldn't have Harrison Ford or Tom Cruise she was happy to settle for the weedy pimply guy up the road. Things were different now, and here she was face to face with the possibility of being with a guy that was every bit as hot a catch as any of her old teenage star struck crushes. There would be no replacement for this guy. If she allowed herself to attach to this fantasy guy, she'll fall terribly hard when the time came for him to let her loose- When his little fantasy fun time was over.

And it was still too hard to believe that this could ever be more than that. No matter how obsessed he may be with her at the moment, she was a muse, and she had no doubt he'd fallen like this for other muses, despite the strength and intensity of their connection. It was simply too much to imagine this would work out for any time of long term thing.

And besides, did she really want to be in any way connected with that mother for a long period of time?

Focusing on that woman helped her all afternoon temper her passion for Jay. She didn't know what the old woman was up to but she knew it was something.

Sasha glanced at her watch and wondered if she needed to watch another program. It was only nine thirty, and she knew that she had to remain ready in case she was called in. But it was now late, and she also knew she was obliged to get a good amount of sleep so that she could look beautiful in the morning.

She held the TV guide, but found the times and the shows swimming in front of her. What a strange day it had been. Lazily she thought back to the relaxing massage and pampering she'd received that morning, and she found herself wondering if it were going to be like that every time she went there for her facials and manicures. Each morning? Mmmm... the thought didn't bother her nearly as much now that she'd been thinking about Jay all afternoon.

But soon her intercom buzzed and she heard Greg's voice asking her to come right away and meet them in Jay's office. 

Donning the white robe again, she checked herself in the mirror to be sure her hair was still done well, checked her light make up and then padded off in large slip on slippers to Jay's office.

Standing outside the door, she paused. This was going to be a little awkward, but she'd manage it. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the room.

Jay and Greg were slumped over Jay's work desk, harsh table lamps shinning over them making them look a little like two creatures of the night, with extra pale skin, casting strong shadows on to the walls. They were mumbling between them, and Sasha caught only every third word as she entered the room. She closed the door softly behind her, not wanting to disturb genius at work. But Greg lifted his head at the sound, and smiled at her, holding up his left hand to signal for her to stay where she stood for a moment.

This gave Sasha an opportunity to glance around the room. 

Most of the sketches of her were gone now, nothing left in their wake, not even marks on the walls to show where she'd hung. He still had some pictures of her but they were more like model images -- all about the gown -- not so obviously about her. For a moment knots tightened in her stomach as she felt maybe she'd read him wrong, but she soon spotted them all, piled behind his desk on the floor, carefully arranged and in a safe place. 

He's embarrassed, she thought.

Slinking into the back corner of the room and pressing up against the wall she had enough time to notice all the materials laying about. Yards of it, on great rolls stood around and about the room. Even in her inexperience Sasha could see the cloth was magnificent. She had no idea where anyone would source that kind of object, but she fell in love with it instantly, as she knew any self respecting girl would. Velvets and silks she recognised, but other material, fine but standing hard and stiff, threaded with exotic looking lace she felt she'd never seen before. Soon Greg lifted his head. 

"Okay Sasha, I want to see you come out wrapped in this." He walked toward her with a large piece of velvet in his hands. It was the deepest royal blue, almost hinting at a dark mauve colour. Sasha drew her breath at the beauty of the colour, and the thick richness of the velvet. Reaching out her hand she held it, feeling her fingers sinking into it.

"I want you to wrap it around you as if it were a towel, but lift the last piece over your shoulder as if you were wearing a sari. Do you know what I am asking you to do?"

"Yeah. No problem." Sasha glanced around the room. "Where do I... uh... oh..."

"You can change behind the screen over here." Greg cut her off anticipating her next words. She glanced over and saw a large screen in the Japanese style with a small tree motif on it. She's thought it was a large picture it was so beautiful. Not folded, it stood straight so it was hard to know how it stayed where it was. It floated in the middle of the room. As she drew nearer, she saw that it was attached to the ground by thin poles, invisible when we took your first hurried glance.

She padded behind the screen glancing briefly in Jay's direction. His face was bent over his work and he scribbled furiously.

As she changed Sasha could hear the men more clearly from this section of the room. Greg moved back to Jay's side, towering over him examining the work.

"Amazing. That's it! That's what we've been trying for in the last hour. My god... you're amazing. How did you just get it now?"

"I don't know... all those hours I guess." Jay mumbled. Sasha slumped off her robe, placing it on a chair behind her, but she thought she detected a self conscious tone in his voice. 

Grabbing for the velvet, she fumbled with working out how to get it around her body in a way that meant it wouldn't be flipping off half way through their work.

"Maybe the muse finally descended." Greg said absently. Jay said nothing in response, but she could hear his pencil scribbling furiously. She fantasised it was her that had made the big difference, but of course she couldn't know that for sure and she distrusted an ego that was willing to go too far down hat path. "My god... brilliant. Let's get Sasha out here. Sasha!" Greg raised his voice oblivious to the fact that she could hear him all along.

This'll have to do she thought as she stepped out in front of both of them.

"Oh my god!" Greg exclaimed as she walked into the open view. "Sasha, you look amazing. More beautiful than I could have imagined." He walked forward stopping in front of her and leaning back as if he were short sighted and needed more distance he'd allowed to see properly. Sasha stood very still, to scared to look over at Jay.

Greg pulled at some material shed had trouble arranging as she dressed, and fanned out the material over her shoulder. Sasha felt grateful for his fussing. It created an enormous barrier between Jay and her, which she felt sure she'd cross if Greg stood out of the way. Jay's magnetism had such a profound effect on her. 

"Plump up your bust honey."

"What?"

Greg made a mock pretence of holding his own breasts and lifting them to plump us as if they were feather down pillows that had tossed all the feathers into one overstuffed corner.

"Um, okay." She didn't want to argue and she trusted both of them. She placed her hands under her breasts and held them high as if she wore a bra under them. Greg looked critically at them as she held them artificially high.

"What do you think?" he stepped aside so that Jay could get a look at her. Sasha felt self conscious as she stood, holding her breasts, nothing but a piece of material around her, waiting for Jay to cast his judgement about how she looked.

Yet, she could tell by Jay's stare, the way he sunk himself directly into her, the way so many emotions seemed to float through his eyes as she looked straight back at him, the way the faint smile played at his corner of his mouth and the way she noticed his breathing seemed to get a little faster.

Jay didn't say anything. He just stared. Greg continued.

"I think she may need a bra. But I like her without as well. With larger women the breasts can be so much bigger, but I don't want to try to make them look like perky 18 year old girly breasts. These are sexy adult female breasts, and I am thinking braless may be the way to go. Let them go now Sasha."

She moved her hands away from her own breasts, flushing a deep red from the detail of the conversation, as they sunk heavily into place. It turned her on, but she couldn't tell if that was the way Jay looked at her or if it was the conversation.

Jay stood up and walked toward her. His head moving up and down in time with his creative mind designing the look he wanted to construct. Standing only an arm length away from Sasha, he lifted his hands and pinched hard on her nipples. 

Sasha jumped being caught completely by surprise. His hands felt so good, and the pinch was firm, not flinching from making her squirm. She looked up into his eyes, and saw he looked directly back into hers again, making a small river flood between her thighs again, and waking her up to the terrible practical realization she had no panties on. Jay turned and walked back to where Greg stood. He looked at Sasha along with Greg critically admiring his handiwork. Her nipples stood out like long small hard sticks. Sasha could feel the ache in them that connected deeply with the ache between her legs. 

He touched me, oh god he touched me.

"Now that's perfect. That's what we're after. 

Her breasts sit low, like a woman's should, but now she looks like sex. She's so desirable, as if she's made for lust, life and knowledge. Perfect Jay. That's exactly what it needed." Jay said nothing again, but kept staring at Sasha. She didn't know if Greg noticed or not what went on between them. He seemed desperate to make conversation, so perhaps he did sense the heat in the room. 

"That velvet looks incredible on you Sasha. You're so very beautiful. Jay we'll user that on the Cassie dress and the Robbie dress?"

"Not the Robbie," Jay didn't take his eyes of Sasha. They floated up and down her body, sending a heat through her making her want to fall down on the floor legs splayed and rip the protective material off her. "I want to see her in the organza for that. But the Cassie definitely. And even the Jonny pant. I think it might work there too."

Greg looked more doubtful here. "Really? On a stovepipe with a full figured woman? We need something more supportive."

"Support will be in the lining my friend. The elegance of the fuller figure will have a chance to be seen to its full glory."

He slapped Greg on the back, then turned and walked back toward his large desk. He threw one last glance toward Sasha then sat back at his desk.

"Oh no you don't!" Greg walked toward him, both of them now acting as if she wasn't in the room. "This was a night for rest. No more work tonight."

Jay looked over at Sasha. "Greg the ideas are coming in waves. I've gotta work."

"Not tonight you don't. You're two weeks ahead of schedule with the perfection you've been producing. I've never seen anything like it Jay, but you'll have to take some rest or you won't be physically able to do the ideas justice."

Jay seemed to be thinking this over. He sat at the desk, his forehead in his hands, hesitating before picking up the pencil again.

"Maybe you're right. Can I have ten minutes with Sasha here then I promise I'll get to bed?" Greg looked over at Sasha, then back toward Jay. "Promise its ten?"

"Yes mother."

"I'm not staying man, I gotta sleep. And Rob's calling soon. I want to be there for his call."

"Go away love bird."

"Do you need me?"




Full Figured Chic Ch. 13



"Does it matter?" Jay responded with a smile in his tone.

"No. I'm going get that call, and I'll be in bed when I do it."

They both laughed. "Get lost dude. I don't want you here anymore anyway." Then in response to Greg's reaction he added, "And I'm going to bed in ten minutes myself. Sasha too."

Sasha's heart raced as Jay mentioned her in bed.

"Fine fine, but you'd better. And if she has circles under her eyes in the morning, I'm gonna kill you!"

He slapped his old friend playfully on the back and turning toward Sasha, gave her a wave that meant he was aware she was still in the room. "Goodnight hon. You get sleep you hear me? No staying up till four am because this bastard wants more sketches."

"I'll be in bed soon Greg." Sasha promised, but all she could think about was ten minutes alone with Jay.

The door closed behind Greg and Sasha was alone n the room with Jay.

For what Sasha thought was a couple of hours but could only possibly have been a few minutes, she stood watching Jay as he worked. She couldn't tell what he wanted her to do, so she thought she'd just sit tight till he included her in whatever place he was in.

Jay sat scribbling in his notebook. He didn't even glance toward Sasha. He just worked. She watched him, the pencil moving as if it willed his body to life behind it, a fever of creativity with ideas and life seeming to pour through him. His black hair shook over his brow as he stared intently into the paper before him. The other hand steadied him, his fingers spread wide, braced tensely against the tabletop, his elbow sticking straight up. It was almost as if the fever pouring through him was more than he could comfortably bear and his whole body anxiously trying to manage the strength of it. She hadn't moved since Greg left and it started to feel uncomfortable for Sasha. But she didn't want to say anything. Did he need her here? She glanced to her left, wondering which of the luxurious piles of material on the floor Jay would have her try.

"Are you bored?" Jay asked as he kept working, not looking up at her, not pausing from his task. "No. I just wondered what you needed from me. I am simply standing here."

"Maybe that's what I need."

God, he can be dramatic, she thought to herself, wondering what to do while she stood there inspiring him.

"I hated the way you spoke to me earlier." He said suddenly.

Caught off guard, ire rose in Sasha immediately. She thought of his mother, who Greg had spoken to when he found out about the afternoon, but who still persisted in glancing out of her doorway every now and then to follow Sasha to the kitchen or watch her as she busied herself out of her room. She still didn't think they way that he'd dismissed her was okay when only he could tame her and tell her to leave Sasha alone.

"I think my outburst was reasonable. If you could pull your head out of your own obsessions for five minutes to think about your mother, you would see that she is unwell. And she is behaving very strangely toward me." Courage made her say one last thing. "And I am surprised that you are bringing that up now. Don't you have work to do and isn't this the perfect time to do it?"

Suddenly Jay stopped. He turned in his seat to look at her. "This might be a little project to you, but it means everything to me, and all we are and all we have in our lives is our projects. THIS is what defines me. THIS is how I know who I am."

Sasha wanted to be offended at his abruptness, but the velvet in his voice appeased her. Instead the worry ran through her mind that every time they get a chance to really communicate they turn to harsh words. 

Disappointment welled up in her, taking her over again. Like the last time he's spoken harshly to him, she worried that she had the overwhelming impulse to cry. He wasn't done with her yet, however, and she'd be damned if this stupidity that went on between them interfered wither chance -- her only every chance -- to be a model.

Confused and worried that she'd soon make a total fool of herself, She blurted out "What about love for those around you. Can that help define you as well?

As she spoke the words, her voice cracked indicating she was extremely upset and she realised she'd exposed herself with both the words and the manner in which they were delivered. She looked at the pile of material to her left, not willing to turn and show him her face no matter how foolish it all must look to someone as worldly and sophisticated as Jay.

"Did I upset you?" His voice seemed laced with concern, as if he felt physical pain from her own.

A silent tear finally spilled down her cheek after her eye brimmed over. "I'm sorry. I'm so emotional. I don't know what to make of it. It has been a difficult day."

"Have I made it hard for you?"

Sasha sighed, still not willing to look at him, but now resigning herself to the several dips falling from her eyes. She lifted her tear stained face to him and said "Yes. You have made it hard for me."

Instantly Jay leapt from his seat and moved as fast as she could have through possible without him sprinting in an inelegant way to her. He wrapped his arms about her, and Held her tight to his chest. 

The close physical contact, especially when she least expected it was the last straw for Sasha. Full gentle tears flowed freely down her face as she felt the powerful enormity of him wrapping his protective arms about her.

"If there were a way to make sure you would never cry again, I would find it." He said in the softest voice.

There was so much earnestness in his voice that Sasha turned her tear stained face to him. "Honestly, it's nice o f you to take an interest, but why do you care if I get upset or not, as long as I am here to inspire you, or whatever it is that goes on between us." She was almost crushed in the warmest possible way against his chest, conscious of his breath on the top of her head, relishing the smell of his masculine cologne mixed with the muskiness of his natural body. He'd let her go in a minute and Sasha was sure it would trigger more tears; the closeness meant way too much to her already.

"What do you think happens between us?" he asked looked hard at her. His haunting eyes flew from each of hers to the other, as if whatever she said next held the utmost importance.

Confused still, Sasha looked back at him, again wondering when he was going to let her go. His warmth and his tenderness while the bewilderment overtook her contrasted against his anger and embarrassment when she confronted him. His actions didn't seem consistent and now that she had the reality of nestling in her arms, all she could think of was her fear and the probability of him letting her go. It felt so good to be in his arms, and to feel his gentle strength around her. Better even than all Sasha's imaginings.

Still looking at him she replied, "I'm not sure. There is definitely some kind of chemistry or energy. I feel it when I am around you -- perhaps its why I act with a certain volatility - and it seems to stimulate you creatively. Other than that I am not sure what it is or what it means."

Pulling one arm from around her body, he moved his hand in front of her face, and let his thumb rub gently over the tear stained tracks on her skin.

"I've never seen anything as beautiful as you Sasha. I've never EVER felt this kind of creative surge. The truth is I've thought of nothing but you since I first saw you. You've already changed my life enormously and I've known you for two days."

He paused, running his thumb back and forth across her cheek, and resting his hand against her jaw line as he did it. He continued. "I'm worried about something. I am worried about my mother, but I have other problems- Other secrets that could make life very difficult for you if I got too close to you. I can't say too much about that, but it makes me volatile around you as well. But when you're actually in the room with me, I think those problems may not stay in the way. I fear that they will move aside and that I will take you in my arms as I have right now and try, with all of my might, to never let you go."

Sasha, still held in his embrace, stared up at him, indulging in the feel of his arms about her and his warmth being sent her way. Without another word, he leaned down into her and planted a deep kiss on her lips.



Full Figured Chic Ch. 14



As he kissed her, Jay lifted Sasha off the ground. It was incredible to feel those hard muscles around her ample body and then to lift her as though it were nothing. Because she was full figured, Sasha had never been lifted by a man, but Jay had such a determination in his kisses and urgency to his grasp, that it seemed easy for him. She felt so female, so elfin. 

Twirling her in the air, he turned her around and planted her on his office desk, sending his desk telephone falling to the floor with a crash. The noise didn't stop Jay though. He kissed her with a growing fever that Sasha could only try to match.

As he kissed her he ran his hands over her back. 

Sasha lifted her legs and leaned back a little into the desk, so that she could raise them high enough to wrap around his waist. He kissed her with so much intensity now it felt like his tongue ravished her mouth. She raised her hands and ran them over his shoulders and down his arms feeling every smooth curvaceous bulge of his muscle. Oh lordy, he was divine.

With a moan he nibbled more firmly on her lips. He moved away from her lips and leaned in closer to nibble on her neck and then move over to nuzzle into her ear. Softly he whispered, "Oh Sasha. We shouldn't be doing this."

Distracted still by the muscle under her fingertips, as she felt them working on her underneath his perfect skin, Sasha found she'd barely heard what he said, till suddenly he pulled away. Breathless she looked up at him, a little dazed, her legs still wrapped around his lower half, keeping them bonded.

"We can't do this Sasha. I have a problem... something in my family... I can't get you involved. I'm not sure what it is really, but I can't have you in danger by being a part of it."

"What are you talking about?" Flushed, she looked up at him, confused again, but now more desperate to have his mouth back and on her again and allowing her to roam his body, taking hours, days, and years if he would let her. She looked him over after she'd asked her question and her mouth salivated at the thought of sinking her teeth into his beautiful chest.

But he was simply looking at her, as she fell back. The material had fallen off her shoulder and come loose from the wrapping around her. 

Still dressed, but barely, she must have looked like such a wanton woman. That is how she felt anyway. His gaze over her body, the lust in her eyes told her that her summation had been correct.

"I can't help it Sasha. Forgive me if I am putting you in any danger, but I have never felt a surge move through me like this before, and I want you. I want you more than I have ever wanted anything. I need to have you."

With those words he allowed himself to move toward her again, his groin moving closer at the same time, so that he were even closer to her physically than he had been before. 

He went back immediately to kissing her neck and nibbling at her ears, and her whole body melted at the touch of his lips on her skin. This was what she'd wanted, what she'd hoped for. She wanted to hold him, caress him, feel him inside of her, and give him a safe place to be. A warm nurturing place that freed him from whatever it was that tortured him so.

Jay shook inside from the force of his want.

He'd never experienced such deep attraction for another woman and no other woman had ever inspired him the way Sasha had. In just a few short hours she'd gone from not existing in his life to overwhelming it with her creative presence to dominating it with her womanhood. 

There was even a small piece of him that wondered if she could be his salvation. The woman he'd looked for. The one that could share his life, share the pent up pain of losing his father, his brother, in fact his long family history to the curse, and the ultimate pain of having to watch his mother suffer day after day as she wrestled with her mind, fighting the curse that had its own way with her. 

But he fought that longing. The curse wasn't going, no matter what magic his mother tried to conjure up, and he wouldn't subject Sasha to the kind of pain his mother lived through. 

It would simply be too much for him to bear to know that she could end up that way. And he sensed that if she could ever, in his wildest dreams actually love him, then she'd be doomed to live the life his mother lived. If he ever gave her a child, she'd have to live with the misery of believing -- knowing -- that one day it would die.

He burned for her, but he dared not take her. Not now. Not when he wrestled the madness descending upon him. The tap tap in his mind was only satiated by the heated presence of Sasha, or when he worked on the images of her. At no other time did it leave him, and he knew by now that its torment would be the end of him.

He was going mad, and it wasn't fair to drag this beautiful woman -- this dream come true -- into the mix to make trouble for the two of them instead of just him on his own. No, he had to leave her alone. Somehow find the willpower from somewhere.

Still, his body ignored him. Acting on its own volition, it moved toward her still, his erection powerfully strong, throbbing to the point of hurting him, to get to her, to get into her. The drive was primal, born of a deeper, baser desire. His mind ached for her but withdrew for her safety. His body didn't live by such rules.

Before he could stop himself, he pulled back softly from her kisses and started to travel lower. As he brushed past her magnificent breasts he pinched each nipple again, making them stand longer and stronger under the material than they were already. She moaned and threw her head back.

The sensuous velvet could contain her no more in her magnificent state of lust driven desire. It slithered over her body, making its way to the floor as if to entice him further, as if the velvet were driven by the same objective that drove his body.

The material dropped to the floor and Jay drew his breath in sharply. She was more beautiful than he could have imagined. Her translucent skin covered her whole body; there wasn't a mark on her, except for a small dark beauty mark on her right thigh. He bent immediately and kissed it, grateful for the one delicate flaw that told him she was a human being, not a marble statue.

Desire now drove him back to her breasts and he clamped his mouth on to one nipple nipping it and teasing at it with his mouth. She sighed deeply again, and made little murmurs that were incoherent to him, with all the blood rushing its way through his mind. Moving swiftly to the other great orb, she sucked hard on that nipple, relishing the way it responded to him, swelling and extending so far into her mouth that it almost felt s though it filled him. 

He ran his hands up to her shoulders as he sucked on her breasts, and down her curvaceous body, till he was over her stomach. 

With no rational thought to his actions at all, with no more will nor capacity to stop the flood of emotional strength pouring through him, Jay sank to his knees in front of her.

Sasha Look up when he'd moved away from her breasts, to catch him looking at her body. She'd always fought a twinge of self consciousness when the few other men there had been had looked at her body. She sensed it was a moment when she 'got over it' and they 'got over it' and then they could both move on.

But this was different. Jay looked at her with wonder, lust and the raw power of man who is about to have what he wants from a woman that he desires. His eyes roamed her body hungrily, making Sasha feel more comfortable with her naked body than she had ever felt before.

She was overwhelmed with the pleasure of feeling completely at ease. So much so that her own driving lust was free to take over, and she felt more wanton and seductive than she'd ever known could be possible for her. As he watched her, embolden by his searching eyes, she parted her legs. Slowly, she showed him her absolute permission and her sweeping overwhelming desire.

Jay let a growling sound roll at the back of his throat and he ran his hands over her breasts, down her belly and to the rounded satin of her inner thighs. "You are easily the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." He said almost absently as he smoothed his hands over her porcelain skin.

Sasha couldn't believe this was possible, since she knew he'd slept with the world's most beautiful women, but also she knew something powerful ran between them, and that for him, at this moment, those words were true. But he was definitely the best looking man she'd ever seen. No argument.

And now here he was, on his knees before her, her legs splayed out seductively perched on the edge of his work desk. She ached between her legs for him, so much that it consumed her fiery body. She knew where he was headed and although looking up at him and searching his eyes connected them deeply, her body was aching for satisfaction now, and it wanted to be fulfilled. To invite him further, she opened her legs a little more.

Jay looked into her, with wonder and profound joy. He'd never known a connection like this, never felt the surge of power she gave him when she invited him into her with her parted legs. She made him feel all man, as if he and only he could conquer her.

He moved in close, the smell of her desire bringing him to the brink of his own ecstasy. His own sex throbbed against his jeans, aching for release, but jay wanted her first. He wanted her first experience of them together to be filled with her pleasure.  

He'd be able to take pleasure from her body, there was no doubt. Here he wanted to be sure she could have her fulfilment.

Soon his mouth was on her, he was kissing her sex as if it were a mouth, nibbling, lashing with his tongue, sliding his lips up and down the puffy outer lips of her sacred place. 

At that moment, all he could think of was Sasha and having her. Holding her forever, letting every guard down to her, letting her into ever dark shadowy secret corner of his sad tormented soul. He drank deep into the sweet wetness of her body that he craved like a man needing his fix.

Sasha moaned at the feel of his tongue deep inside her. She was on fire and the swirling sweet slickness of his expert caresses reached her as nothing had ever done before. Burying her hands in his hair, she lifted her hips to him. He was wild in the way that he drank her, and so ferocious that she shook to the trembling force of his oral lovemaking.

His kisses were relentless and drove her to fever pitch so that when she came, it tore through her making her scream and writhe with the most blissful orgasm that she'd ever experienced.

And yet he didn't pull away. Still he tasted her, sucking and licking on her, his tongue stroking her, lapping at the sweet juices deep with her, until she was lost to the throes of a second orgasm even more delicious than the first. Her head spun from it and she felt the tingling in every last nerve ending as if they smouldered with their own embers.

Jay pulled away from her now and stood before her, tearing at her clothes. He ripped off his shirt with such intensity she heard buttons fly and land somewhere in the room, and suddenly his beautiful chest was free, his muscles revealed to her hungry eyes. He reefed at his jeans, tearing them off his body masterfully, his underwear with it, so that he stood before her, naked, hungry and easily the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen.

"Lay down." He commanded her in such a way that she wouldn't have felt it possible to resist him even if she didn't want to. But oh, nothing would please her more than to lay back for this beautiful man and feel the power of that body pulsing into her.

She lay onto the desk, as Jay climbed up, crawling over her like a hot panting predator. His eyes had none of their soulful searching now, only the crazy driven lust and desire of a man completely at home and safe to reveal all of him with the woman he trusts.

"Look at me Sasha." His speech came through ragged pants. "I want to see into your eyes as I take you."

Sasha looked up at him, and allowed her legs to part further, spreading wide so that his body could move over hers easily. She stared into his eyes, falling into the deep teal pools that threatened to engulf her forever, so deep and intense was the expanse she found there.

He leaned down and kissed her, none of the fever gone, but a gentle passion mixed in with it now. Then lifting his head back up again, he stared into her eyes, as he ran his hand down her body to reach for his throbbing aching member. 

She felt him grasp it, and move it toward her cleft. Stroking the head of it up and down her body a few times, he sunk into her.

Slowly, inch by long throbbing inch he made his way into her, filling her completely, stretching her inner walls so that they clung to the softness of his skin. She moaned at the sensation of his power, at the hot intensity in his eyes.

"Wrap your legs around me Sasha. I want your body to work with mine to hold us as close as you can."

Sasha swallowed and spread her legs wider wrapping them around his back, the act sending him deeper into her nook, his body searching for the hidden depths of her own. This was the most erotic moment she'd ever known, the connection and concentration moving her to a closer connection with him. She could feel him. He brought her alive with the invitation his body extended to hers.

They moaned at the same time.

Sasha looked at the pleasure on his face as he bucked his hips against her own.

"Oh Jay." She moaned. "This is the greatest moment of my life."

"I am with you Sasha. This is my moment to. I am as close to any human being as I have ever been." Joy exploded inside of her as she realised what had passed between them. Jay had let her in. He let her into the deepest part of himself just as she had let him into the deepest part of her.

He rocked back and forth with more intensity now, leaning in to kiss her. His strokes moved even quicker sending sparks of bliss through her body. She could feel the pressure build up in both of them again, the surge of volcanic need bringing a new fever pitch to his stroke.

Suddenly they came together in a ferocious moment of awe-inspiring pleasure. Jay threw his head back and howled as Sasha clung to him and cried out through their mutual trembling.

She held him close as he collapsed on top of her. He lay like that for a few moments as she cradled him with the warmth and softness of her body. She closed her eyes, almost allowing the sweetness of sleep to take her over.

"We'd better not be found in this position in the morning." 

Sasha opened her eyes to see jay still on top of her smiling down, the fire dimmed and a cheeky grin in its place. 

"How about you make your way back to my room, and I will follow in a few minutes. I think everyone is in bed, but I don't really want to have to explain any of this to my mother or Greg before the morning."

Sasha smiled sweetly. "Okay. I only have to grab my robe."

"I want to hold you in my arms all night Sasha. I want to sleep like this and in several other positions that I am having trouble getting out of my head so I can focus right now." He grinned a cheeky grin. "Is that okay with you too?"

"Yes Jay." Was all she could manage to say through the pleasure of the moment.

Sasha barely had time to get herself into Jay's bed, before she heard him opening the door to his room, hastily removing his clothes and getting himself into bed beside her. She rolled over to greet him, only to move directly into his waiting arms where more kisses were to be found. 

"We really need to sleep." She admonished gently, her body on fire calling out for him. "Can you really sleep without doing it just one more time?"

"I'm worried about what Greg said, about not being sufficiently prepared for tomorrow. And you must need some sleep."

He laughed. "But this is my show. And besides..." he pushed her on to her back with some force, and climbed his way on top of her again, his erection pressing in so hard against her hip she thought it might give her a bruise, "I want more of you and you're going to have a terrible amount of trouble holding me back."

"Oh really! You don't think I could stop you?" He leaned in to kiss her, grinding his hips against her again, pushing down fiercely. "I only know I never want you to try."

Sasha spread her legs again to accommodate his marvellous manhood and kissed him back with the fever and ferocity that consumed them both. 

In the morning, Sasha woke to an empty room. Turning to her side, she saw a note on Jay's side of the bed. It read: "Best night of my life. I am working. See you later. J. X"

Sasha held it to her breast and grinned the biggest smile she'd ever been capable of into the warm air of Jay's room. Nothing could have prepared her for that moment, and for how well suited they were.

Glancing at the clock, she realized she'd over slept and that she only had ten minutes to be down at the salon. Leaping up she dived into Jay's small shower.

As she walked out of the shower, wearing only a towel wrapped around her body and one in her hear, she spotted Jay's mother standing across the room near the open door. She smiled, and rubbed her hands together. If Sasha didn't know better, she'd say Jay's mother was exultant.

"What are you doing in here? Get out now!" Sasha yelled at her.

"Yes yes, just going now. You like my son and that is good. It's all going very well, exactly according to plan."

The words sent a chill down Sasha's spine. "According to plan?"

"It's our plan. You have to sleep with him. It's perfect, you're perfect, and it's our plan."

"What plan?"

"Oh don't worry, don't worry... everything is alright." 

And with that she ran from the room.

Before going to the salon, Sasha went to Greg's office. She let him in on the details of her strange conversation with Jay's mother. 

"I think she's just really happy for her son to be hooked up with someone. She's very motherly, you know, protective and she wants to know that he is with someone."

"You've got to be kidding me. I don't buy that for a second Greg. The woman has got some bad ass witch thingy going and I am the little science experiment for it."

"She's crazy Sasha." He looked down at his hands and back up at her. Sasha noticed he worked his hands nervously. "And Jay needs her. I wish I could get rid of her for you, and I really don't want anything to scare you off, but Jay needs her."

"She could scare me off."

Greg looked visibly shaken and he reached out and took her hand. He walked her to couch in his office and sat her down, taking a seat next to her.

"Sasha, Jay has never ever been this productive in his life. And this is not a life short of productive moments if you know what I mean by that. I've never seen anything like the quality he is producing at the moment. Somehow, that is because of you, and his mother. The two women in his life are affecting him deeply and I am very scared that if anything goes wrong between them it could affect him some other way."

Sasha thought for a moment. "Like losing the muse?"

"Yes. Like that. You inspire him in a way no woman has ever inspired him, and I will do anything, short of making things difficult for Jay's work, to make you feel comfortable here. But his mother -- don't ask me why -- but she is an intricate part of this as well. For some reason he needs her here with him and by his side."

"I think she's genuinely mad Greg."

"Yeah, I agree. She wasn't this bad when she first arrived, but this witch talk is just endless and she seems to be getting worse as the days go by."

He paused for a moment.

"You do know about Jay's brother and his father don't you?"

"Yes. I read all about that. It's a wonder Jay has been able to stay sane."




Full Figured Chic Ch. 14



"Yeah well, I'm not sure that he's sane." Then when he saw the look in her eye, he quickly added, "That was a poor joke. Excuse me, I'm tired. But it may help you understand why his mother may be a little ... odd."

"She's a nut job Greg. She's fixated on me and I'm not sure what all of it is about."

Greg took a deep sigh. 

"She thinks, and understandably so, that the family is cursed. Look, it IS the weirdest coincidence. For as long back as they can trace, the men die horrible deaths, and fairly young. You can understand her thinking the family is cursed. Well, she is on some sort of mission to release Jay from the curse and she thinks you may be able to help. But only if you fall in love with Jay."

Sasha thought hard for a moment. 

"Do you know much about this?"

"Nope. Like you, I think she's a bit batty, but I have sympathy because of the enormous tragedy she's had to face. That is about the end of it as far as I can tell."

Sasha softened a little. It was starting to make sense. She may even be scared Jay will have a male child and that the child will get hurt. She started to feel more compassion for the lady.

"I guess I can endure the popping up in front of me stuff if I know that she's actually harmless. I mean I wouldn't want something terrible to happen, or for her to actually truly to hurt me."

"I don't know much about any of this Sasha, but I m pretty sure if Jay thought she was genuinely harmful he wouldn't have her here."

A strange shiver went up Sasha's spine at that moment, and she wondered if there might be some place she could look up some information on curses and what they are all about. Her intuition told her there was more to this, but one thing she was sure of, Greg was telling her all he knew about it.

"Well, if it will help Jay, and because of her past, I won't make a fuss again unless it gets really intolerable. But I'd like her out of my room. Popping up in my room when I am straight out of the shower is a bit much."

"Um, from what I understand it was Jay's room." 

Greg said with a slight smile on his face, looking sideways at her.

Sasha flushed all over. 

"Okay -- yeah. You caught me out. This was actually about Jay's mother though and my point still stands."

Greg withdrew immediately, possibly sensing that it was none of his business and that she didn't feel ready to talk. 

"Okay, point well taken. I'll see what I can do on my end. Maybe keep your door locked during the say? It may help... avoid an unpleasant situation."

Sasha smiled. 

That morning in the salon was exactly like the last one, but this time Sasha found herself to be already very relaxed. The sultry women teased her in the gentlest way again, but this time with her closed eyes firmly planted on Jay, it was hard for their ministrations to make the same impact. They simply didn't have the ability to tease her with the perfection Jay was able to administer. Talented and experienced they may be, there was nothing to compare with an incredibly hot man between your legs.

Still, the pampering was wonderful and again she had a manicure, pedicure and facial, with the woman taking some time to clean out her pores and work on her face a lot more. With this treatment going on for the next five weeks, Sasha knew she'd not be able to leave no matter how strange Jay's mother might become.

But the old woman's words still haunted her; The implication that she and Jay had planned the seduction, as if it were all to formula. It tied in with her own constant pushing to have them get together, but it didn't seem consistent with the way she'd connected with Jay. 

No amount of manipulation could have her inspire Jay the way she did and what went on between the two of them was not a thing that could be planned or set in place in any way. She was sure it had taken Jay by as much surprise as it had her.

And what of his strange words? That there was a world he didn't want to introduce her to for fear of her getting hurt. Were he and his mother talking about the same thing?

A piece of Sasha didn't want to know, but the cool feeling down her spine that arrived when she talked with Greg appeared each time she thought of Jay's mother now. Something strange was going on and she knew that somehow it involved her.

She understood Greg's desire to support his friend by trying to get her to accept what was going on, but she felt fairly sure Greg wasn't in on it all. No flash of recognition crossed his face when they talked, and she surmised that he was as much in the dark as she was. Neither of them had been briefed on whatever it was that Jay and his mother were cooking up between them. One thing she knew for sure, though, was it involved her in some way, and that Jay seemed conflicted about it. Another thing she knew for sure was that there was something not quite right about it all. 



Full Figured Chic Ch. 15



For the next three days, Sasha sat in her room without any word from Jay.

She'd not been summonsed once.

She left her room to eat, but when she got down to the kitchen to find her special meal waiting for her, Greg and Jay's were already missing.

Each day she went to the salon, and each day was the same. She'd wait in her room, television, books and movies at her disposal, and she'd wait and wait for the call from Jay.

At night it was the same. She'd crawl into her bed, thinking he may phone her or pop into her room, or call her into his. Nothing came. He didn't ring and he didn't' turn up. 

It was as though he only wanted her for the creativity, in that moment, and now he was done with it.

At one point, Sasha approached Greg who she saw in a corridor. She'd asked him if Jay wanted to see her, that she'd been waiting for a long time. Greg replied that it was her job to wait.

"But... um... I have other reasons for wanting to see him."

"Such as?"

"Well, we slept together a few nights ago, and I feel a little strange that I haven't seen him since."

"Sasha, Jay is on fire. He's working harder and more efficiently than I have ever seen him work. 

Whatever it is that you want from him will have to wait till you are both out of this artificial environment. But for the record I am glad you told me that you slept together. It makes it better for the creative atmosphere if I know all of his moves."

His moves? What was she a chess piece? Talking to Greg hadn't helped anything at all.

Truth was, she as losing faith in the magic of their night together. His instant disappearance had rocked her a little and she couldn't be sure anymore of the intensity that she felt between them. She had good old fashioned girly insecurities and she hated them.

But they wouldn't go away.

Perhaps he used her in every way to inspire his work. 

The hours dragged on as she sat in her room. 

She'd get up occasionally and walk to the window that looked out over the inner warehouse, staring down toward Jay's office. Occasionally she'd see a shadow pass across the drawn blind, but she was sure that would be Greg. Jay wouldn't get up from his desk. He'd work there as hard as anyone could, making the world a better place, changing the lives of millions of women around the world. Making the world just that little bit smarter with his skill.

Then she'd shake herself awake and reprimand herself for staring lustfully out into the abyss of the warehouse.

If Jay didn't need her, then she didn't need him. Period.

Then she'd turn on the television and try to immerse herself into a program. Or she'd pick up one of the many books on her bookshelf and read. She tried to avoid all the romance novels - and there were plenty – because it reminded her too much of Jay. She stuck to detective novels and murder mysteries to keep her entertained. 

The mornings were easier because they were filled. As strange as these visits were, Sasha could see they were really working. After a week, her skin was the clearest and most beautiful it had ever been. Her hair lay in thick lustrous waves down her back and her hands and feet looked as though they'd neve been used.

The small thrills they gave her were also doing their job, and she looked well rested and relaxed. 

But it was after lunch that she felt the loneliest. Greg visited her each day, but she soon knew to dread Greg's visit because it usually meant there wouldn't be a reason to visit with Jay.

After a few days of the isolation, she'd even started to hope she'd run into Jay's mother – just for something to do and some sign of connection with him. 

Finally, after days of waiting, that night she was called into Jay's office.

Pulling her robe tight around her, she checked herself in the mirror and knew without conceit, she had never looked more beautiful.

She skipped down to Jay's office, thrilled to be of use to them again, and thrilled for the chance to see Jay.

When she walked into the office she stopped in her tracks, stunned by what she saw.

Fabric, mannequins and enormous flowers filled the room. There was barely room to stand amongst all the magical dresses, blouses, shawls, jackets and woollens she could see. Tall paper flowers, as tall as Sasha herself, beamed at her from all over the room, obviously used as the basis for a lot of the designs. Jackets sat next to them with large free standing collars (name) and hard pressed linen cuffs. The yellows, varied whites and greens of the lilies were used in the range.

In another section of the room red, orange and yellow tulips in the same paper design stood tall, surrounded by bustiers in the same colours, silks, satins and rich heavy chiffon. Heavy skirts, tighter skirts and shorter skirts to match the bustiers and to sit alone caught her eye. 

What struck Sasha instantly was none of the clothes were about covering up a full figured woman. They were all about glorifying her, celebrating her and most of all, making her an object of erotic beauty.

Sasha was stunned. She understood in a heartbeat why she hadn't seen Jay for almost five days.

Not only was he incredibly hard at work, but she'd been here all the time. She could see herself in these designs, her body, and the rich fullness of her figure. She saw, for the first time, what it was that he saw when he looked at her.

And she blushed.

"Sasha!" Jay jumped to his feet and ran to her.

Engulfing her in a huge hug, he planted a long full seductive kiss n her lips, with no self consciousness or awkwardness about him. She kissed him back, relishing the joy of feeling his body close to hers again.

"Hi Sasha." Greg smiled a little flushed as he awkwardly glanced away again quickly. "What do you think? I know the room looks like a bomb hit it, but can you see where we are coming from here? Do you get the idea?"

"It's the flowers. You're turning the full figured woman into those beautiful flowers."

"Exactly!" Greg exclaimed triumphantly. "Perfect."

Jay turned back to face her and planted a light kiss on her lips. "It's you too you know. I've never been so inspired. This collection will be more and then everything that I expect it to be."

Then like a school boy he turned away and started to leaf through the pages on his workbench, chatting and talking all the time about how much work had been done and what an incredible inspiration she was.

"I've never seen him like this." Greg smiled to her moving a little closer. "He's on fire."

"I want to see you in this first!" Jay held a beautiful yellow bustier that had obviously been mocked up by the maker. It didn't have its lining and the finishing along the bottom hadn't been done, but the basic gist of it was there.

Laughing, Sasha ran behind the small screen to try on the beautiful; top. Greg slung a very light yellow chiffon skirt over the top of the screen, so that Sasha had something to try on the bottom. Dragging her long auburn hair toward the front, she moved out from behind the screen.

Both of the men gaped.

"My god." Greg whispered under this breath. Jay looked at her with a critical eye, back at work immediately. He grabbed a notebook and started to scrawl.

"Oh my god, you look amazing!" Greg blurted out.

That's one of the most beautiful outfits I have ever seen. Oh Sasha, you're incredible."

"You look amazing alright." Jay said absently. 

He was hard at work making adjustments to the design. Greg grabbed the notes off him as he flung them on the floor, desperately trying to manage them into some sort of vague folder or notebook. 

The rest of the night was a flurry of different outfits, and colours. A large mirror was brought in for Sasha to dress herself at her best before she could present to the two men. She'd rarely worked harder in her life, jumping from one outfit to another, moving in and out of the small change room. She concentrated hard, making sure she'd placed everything on her body correctly, ensuring her hair and makeup weren't disturbed, standing in appropriate ways to maximise the impact of the clothes. 

Greg viewed her with dispassion, but she caught Jay looking at her hungrily every now and then and it made her shake to her core. He worked hard taking notes, his long masculine fingers working erratically with the pen and notepaper.

Most of the time he concentrated on the task, and she was sure nothing could penetrate that focus, but then he'd catch her looking at him and his eyes would flash a slight sign of sexual recognition and she knew they were together. 

Just watching him was exciting enough. He moved easily in his jeans, his height a perfect proportion to his muscular body, giving her the feeling that he was both creator and protector all in one. His jeans cupped his ass so well, that she salivated looking at it, and even had to force herself to look away at one point it became so distracting. He wore a dark blue t shirt and his dark curls sat in around his neck, slightly dampened by the work and his perspiration. 

By this time he had quite a thick two day growth over his chin. The hairs on this part of his body were as black as the hairs on the rest of his body that had left its memory imprint on Sasha's mind. His blue eyes shone with the energy of the work pulsing through him. Even though he probably hadn't showered for a couple of days, and he'd been in his clothes for a few days, he'd never looked better. The Muse was upon him and she called forth a wild presence that throbbed through every move he made. Sasha felt she'd never been more turned on by the man.

Jay worked harder than he'd ever worked in his life. The line was the proudest moment of his career for him, and he knew it was everything he'd dreamed it would be.

And he owed it all to her. 

She'd come into his life and made him everything that he was. She drove him. She called the muse down from the heavens or where ever the muses sat, and made her pour everything she had out on him. 

Sasha was on his mind constantly. He'd never been this affected by a woman before. She healed him to his very depths. Working or making love to her was the only times the ever-present tap tap tap at the base of his skull left him alone. Sasha was his inspiration and his balm. She both soothed him and drove him into a creative frenzy. He'd never been so attracted to anyone in his life.

He had no time to question his thoughts or motivations. He worked so hard, she drove the motor of his genius so thoroughly that he just worked. The only thing he thought about that wasn't work was making love to Sasha. 

If he stopped for the briefest moment, to eat or to shower, his mind would flood with unhealthy questions. Was she part of the curse? Was this some kind of blissful madness? Was she being given to him so that being turned away at this last moment from his raison d'être the very thing that will drive him to the brink?

He knew that this creative project was so dear to him, so important, so world changing, that if anything happened to it, it would mean the end of him. He'd never survive any kind of sabotage to the line.

But when he worked, when he saw Sasha in his designs and watched her the inspiration poured through him to such a degree that nothing could get in the way. It was inconceivable that the line wouldn't get out there and she wouldn't be by his side making it come alive for the world.

He watched her now, getting changed, emerging with her delicacy and grace in the clothes he'd designed just for her. Her grace and the way she held herself, so natural – he was sure she had no knowledge that she was such a gifted model – her startling beauty, her spark were enhanced through the way he'd designed the clothes. He saw her, as he was sure no one else had ever seen her, and he knew he could reveal that beauty and that elegance to the world. 

And then there was the other drive she inspired in him.

He watched her as she bent to pick something up from the floor. Wow, that woman had a bottom on her. Full and curvaceous, all he wanted to do was walk up behind her and insert himself into the wrath protection of her body. Feel her inner strength close around him, stroking and kneading his most sensitive manhood, giving him the strength and passion to face another day.

The bustiers he'd designed drove her breasts high giving her a tall commanding presence. Even in the soft pastel colours. The combination of that sort of raw female power and the soft feminine colours made his manhood throb and reach out for her. Secretly, he rubbed the aching bulge in his jeans, wishing he could have his way with her right there on the floor of his office.

But Greg was there.

And there was work to do.

Joyous, wonderful, creative work. He and Sasha and Greg alone were changing the world. And after Sasha it would never be the same again.

Finally after working at a frenzied pace for hours, Greg announced he was going to bed. It was four in the morning and he suggested all three of them sleep without their alarms on. He'd told Jay he'd need sleep and to take care of himself, and he didn't want to see huge bags under Sasha's eyes either. 

The smiling couple made their promises to him. And Greg left shaking his head and grinning from ear to ear.

As soon as Greg was out of the room, Jay rushed to Sasha and swept her up in his arms. She wore a beautiful satin slip that he'd designed for her as part of the lingerie she had to wear with the gowns and he couldn't resist the way it shimmered on her body. Underneath it, a fine gauze in a light cream colour sat to give her skin a certain texture underneath the clothes. 

Jay salivated when he looked at her. He wanted that lush fertile creative body near him. He wanted to feel her softness, the enveloping curves and the firm roundness of her bottom. He held her running his hands over her body, feeling her everywhere, trying to take every piece of her into him at once.

Sasha remained in a dream like state. Working for Jay for so many hours had affected her like foreplay. She wanted more and more of him as the night wore on and she watched him in his creative fervour, working hard to make his vision a reality. Her sex throbbed and ached as she worked and tried to stay focussed on the task at hand. 

Now finally, she was in his arms, feeling his fevered hands roaming her flesh, making her ache for want and desire. He kissed her hard now, his tongue in her mouth, teasing and playing with her own. As he kissed her his hands travelled the full length of her, caressing her breasts one moment then moving down to her soft full belly, caressing the roundness he found there, then around to her plump ass, where his hands moved with more passion and he gripped her flash hard, as if he wanted to hold on to great pieces of her. 

He ran his other hand down to her backside so that he could grip each side of her and puller toward him with more force than she'd felt before. The pressure of his hands caught her by surprise and she moaned into his mouth. She felt him response immediately.

"Oh god Sasha. Oh yes." He murmured into her mouth as he drew the centre of her body toward his loins.

She wanted him so much she wasn't sure if she could make it to the bedroom. They'd have to do it here on the desk again. As if reading her mind, he said

"I don't want to take you here again. Let's go to my room quickly and make love up there." She didn't say anything, but grabbed her robe and slung it over the shift and gauze she already wore and raced through the door he held open for her.

Walking into his room, again as he held the door open, she moved directly to the window, allowing her robe to fall as she walked. She heard the door close behind her, but she moved to the window and looked out over the expanse of the factory floor below. Soon she felt Jay wordlessly slip up behind her. His presence alone could have told her he was there, but she felt his hands slide around her body and immediately reach for her large breasts. He gently cupped the front of each one. Sasha felt her body respond to his touch immediately, her large full nipples hardening and extending out from her body into his palms. He moaned into her hair, nuzzling her, his breath sweet and fresh on her neck, as he gently fondled and pulled on the large erect nipples.

If Jay used his fever before, he slowed it right down now to take his time. He seemed to be savouring her, touching her from behind as if he were exploring her for the first time. His hands remained with her breasts for a while before he moved them down to the round full firmness of her belly, where he cupped and caressed the fullness he found there. His hands travelled light, sending shivers down her spine and creating a river between her legs.

Soon, he pressed himself harder into her back, and she could feel the full hardness of his erection pressing into the cleft of her behind. As if the moment took him by surprise, he paused, his hands cupping the base of her belly, to plant light kisses all over the back of her neck and her ears. She felt the tip of his tongue extend to the back of her ears and the lightest butterfly touch of his tongue flickered its way up and down her ear. As he kissed he rubbed his erection into the cleft of her behind, pulling her harder to him by holding her curvaceous body from the front.

Sasha melted into him. Just the feeling of his nuzzling at her ears and her neck, the response of his body to hers and his hands around her was sending her into an erotic frenzy. The tight core of her sex throbbed and ached with a delicious feeling that she needed to be filled and rubbed there. 

As if he sensed her need, Jay moved his hands further down her body, till they found their home at the v junction which was her most fundamental core. Her body tingled and twitched as his hands slid very slowly, with a soft determined movement to her most secret place. Without parting her, his fingers applied their feather touch to her silken curls, stroking the hair, and her outer lips at the same time.

Sasha spread her legs wide, shifting her weight between her legs, to invite him into the aching hot slithery wetness her body had prepared for his.

Oh how she wanted him.

"Sasha?" he whispered as his finger s followed her invitation and moved to her cleft.

"Mmmm... yes?" she replied.

"I want to make love to you. Will you come to my bed?"

"Oh Jay, yes."

"I like it when you say my name. Will you say it again?" he asked as his fingers separated her folds and stroked gently around the opening to her body.

"Oh yes Jay, I will come to your bed."

"What do you want me to do to you there?"

"I want you to make love to me Jay. I want you to enter me and release inside of me."

With a groan that was more animal than man Jay pulled his fingers away and spun her around to face him. He grabbed her face with both his hands and Sasha could smell the musky wet scent of her arousal all over his hands. He leaned in and kissed her with the passion and fever he'd used in his office earlier. They kissed together, their tongues enmeshed, before ay pulled away and holding her hand, led her to his bed.

They made love several times before both of them felt they could take a break from each other's bodies long enough to get some sleep. Jay fell asleep immediately but Sasha, having had decent night's sleep for the last few days; lay in the bed languishing in the pleasure of being near Jay. He'd been the most attentive lover shed ever had, making her orgasm in the deepest way over and over again. Her body ached from the pleasure shed been extracting from it. A river of wetness seeped out of her, making her feel fertile, sexual, beautiful and alive.

Next to her Jay breathed heavily, the sleep of one who had not slept for many nights. He'd released into her twice, crying out her name both times, as if he wanted the gods to hear his ecstasy. Sasha had almost cried at the beauty of it, as their very souls enmeshed and joined them together, making them one.




Full Figured Chic Ch. 15



Now, in the dark, with Jay's heavy breathing next to her, his arm over her body cupping one breast, she gathered her thoughts. She fought the urge to create dreams of happily ever after for the two of them. Jay was in the midst of a difficult project, and his feelings would be inflated and dramatised to match the intensity of the situation they both found themselves in.

She had to remember it was her job to inspire him, not weight him down with ideas of forever and the two of them and one should between two.

They were so close, she feared he could feel them in her and she would kill the muse if she burdened him with these kinds' ideas. Questions – even silent ones – about their future were not what was necessary now.

Sasha worked through this, planning her sweet support the next day, working through her actions to be sure he wouldn't feel burdened to spend time with her or look after her. She wanted to do everything she could to support him, and part of that would be making sure he was free, and felt no obligation to watch out for her feelings. A twisted knot formed inside of her, but she fought it down, deep into her own emotional recesses, to be sure it wouldn't affect her conscious mind and impinge on Jay's day.

"Sasha?"

Sasha turned her head toward Jay. "Yes darling, I'm here."

"Sasha?"

Sasha rolled to her side, pulling his arm further over her body. She stoked his face as he lay facing her, softly so he could feel her beside him.

"Sasha?" he said a third time. And she realised, looking at his face, that he was asleep. Jay was talking in his sleep.

"I'm here my sweetheart." she said softly, wanting to appease him, bring him to a gentle realization that didn't wake him up. 

"He can't take us. Not now. We have it now. He can't take it away."

"No darling, no one will take it away." if he was dreaming like this in a semi peaceful state, she wondered how fevered his bad dreams must be. She hoped he could hear her, and hear her soothing voice, so that perhaps she could spare him the violent nature of this dream.

He didn't say another word, but Sasha was troubled by the nature of what he had to say. He seemed to know her and at the same time he was taking about things she didn't understand and couldn't really understand. Because her name was involved it felt natural that she should know what he meant.

Sasha finally fell asleep, her mind exhaustedly working on all the strange unsolved problems.

Sasha sat upright. The room had the half light of an early morning dusk bleeding through the windows that looked out on to the larger part of the warehouse. It was eerily quiet, early in the day, but something had woken her. Her heart pounded.

"God, NO!"

It was jay's voice. Instinctively she turned to his side of the bed they shared to see that he had gone. His voice seemed to come from his office. To Sasha, the cry seemed laced with horror. She strained in the bed to listen for more, and soon picked up muffled sounds coming from the office, but no more loud cries. Instinctively, Sasha leapt out of bed. She grabbed her robe and ran for Jay's office. 

Without knocking, she burst in through the open door. Sasha gasped.

The entire room had been ransacked. 

Materials were shredded, as though they'd been cut with knives, papers were torn and scattered everywhere. At first observation, the room looked like a garbage dump, piles of strewn torn papers all over the place, pictures tattered and half ripped off walls and shards of material draped over broken mannequins. 

But the most frightening thing was Jay.

Sitting at his work desk, Jay was rigid. He gripped the front edge of it so tightly that she thought he could have broken a piece of it off in his hands. He stared down at it, his jaw line set, a vein in his temple throbbing. He looked as though he were hanging on to something for dear life, as if devils in the room closed in on him, sucking the life force out of him. 

As she watched she could see him pushing it away. He gripped the table, clinging to what almost looked like his sanity.

Sasha ran to him. She put her hand on him to try to comfort him, to give him a measure of security and safety. She wanted to hold him tight and ward of whatever evils were trying to climb into his mind as she watched. 

But it was as though he couldn't feel her. The rigidity in his muscles wouldn't relax and she couldn't reach into him where he was.

Sasha let him go and ran to the door and called out for Greg. She screamed his name several times and then ran back to Jay. He still gripped the table, in the same manner he had when she first entered the room. 

Confusion filled Sasha's mind. She didn't know what to do and she wasn't sure what to draw on to help him in this most terrible moment. She leaned down and tried to speak into his ear, close, like a whisper, to seduce him with everything inside of her away from where he was trapped. 

"Jay. It's ok. I'm here. Come out and talk to me." 

There was no response as fear started to rise up in Sasha. Where was Greg? She could have killed him. 

"Talk to me Jay. Please talk to me."

But still he sat rigid, holding on to the desk as if everything inside of him were willing him to remain a part of the world.

Sasha ran to the door again, and called out Greg's name.

"Greg. Please. It's an emergency." She turned to look at Jay. As she did, she spotted the telephone on Jay's desk. She could Ring Greg, if he couldn't hear her.

Running to the telephone, she pressed every button, not knowing which Greg's room was. She could hear her voice in the open warehouse outside, calling through the loud speakers.

"Greg. Come to Jay's office. It's an emergency." Everyone in the building would have heard her now, but that only meant Jay's mother as well. Sasha didn't care at this point if she was in the room. 

As she hung up, she spotted a small warm blanket slumped over the couch in the far corner. She raced for it, bringing it over to Jay to warm him and try anything she could to bring him back to the real world.

Suddenly Greg appeared in the doorway, having gotten dressed in a flash. "Oh my god! What is this? What has happened?"

Relief flooded through Sasha as she saw him standing at the door. "I think we need a doctor. Jay hasn't moved since I came into the room. And I don't know what's happened here!" She swept one hand to indicate the state of the room; the other held him tight, the blanket around him. Still Jay hadn't moved.

Greg ran for the phone and dialled a number right away, barking directions to the warehouse into it. He slammed the phone down fast.

"I called an ambulance. They're on their way." He ran to where she stood behind Jay. Sasha stepped back to let him get to his friend. Greg Pulled Jay back, prying his fingers off the desk; Jay stared directly in front of him as if he were in a coma with his eyes open. Sasha cried out, and buried her face in her hands.

"He's in shock. He obviously came in here and found the room like this." Greg was obviously thinking on his feet. "The ambulance will be here soon."

"Oh my god... What has happened?" 

Sasha spun around to see Jay's mother running through the door toward Jay. Sasha grabbed her just before she got to him.

"Mrs Miles, we've called an ambulance. Don't touch Jay. We're not sure what has happened to him, but we think he may be in shock. Please try very hard to remain calm."

But the old woman couldn't. She lapsed into hysterics immediately screaming out that this is the family curse and that Jay had been attacked from beyond the grave.

"Get her out of here." Greg spat angrily at Sasha.

At that moment they heard pounding on the door below.

"Come with me, Mrs Miles. We are going to let the ambulance officers in, and Jay is going to be ok. But you have to stay calm. You help no one if you get this upset."

Jay's mother didn't want to be headed out of the room, but Sasha held her firmly by the hand and virtually dragged her. She kept turning and looking at Jay. Sasha fought the urge to do the same herself. 

As soon as they were out of the room, Sasha shut the door, and let go of her hand. She ran downstairs and let the ambulance officers into the room. As soon as they entered, Jay's mother shouted out "He's up here" and the two men followed her lead.

Running behind them, Sasha caught of glimpse of Greg performing CPR as the two professionals ran in through the door. They closed the door behind them. Sasha found Mrs Miles and the two of them sat on a pair of pristine white chairs staring into the corridor, waiting for some kind of word that Jay was going to be alright.

Somewhere in the distance, Sasha could hear a cell phone. She barely registered the noise, as she'd left her cell with Greg. Suddenly, Greg appeared at the door, his face white. He stared at Sasha.

"How is Jay?" Sasha asked just before Mrs Miles asked how her son was.

"Jay's in sock. But they're treating him. They think he will be okay when they get him to a hospital. But Sasha, my phone just rang. I have to tell you something."

"What?" Sasha asked relieved that Jay was going to be alright.

"Penny's mother has been trying to call you. Penny and her boyfriend were in a dreadful accident yesterday, and both are in hospital now. Penny sustained terrible serious, but her boyfriend is fighting for his life."

Sasha turned immediately and ran. 



Full Figured Chic Ch. 16



Sasha sat in the dark of the room alone. Penny's family had gone out to get food, leaving her alone with her friend. Apparently Penny had been asking for her all night and Sasha was filled with a useless guilt and distress that she hadn't been there as soon as something happened to her friend.

Apparently everyone had tried to call. But no one could get through. Not on her cell, not on Greg's. Greg only just turned it on before Jay went into shock, and hadn't checked the many messages yet, as he'd been tending Jay.

But Sasha could think of none of that now. Penny lay asleep; dangerously close, still, to losing her right hand. Sasha wanted to be right by her side when she opened her eyes.

Soon Penny's mother came back into the room. "They've all decided to eat down there to give us a chance to talk and to keep the room quiet."

"Oh. That is nice." Sasha said absently. "Can you tell me anything about the accident?"

"Penny's father was called to the scene. The driver of the other vehicle was over the alcohol limit. He died in the crash. He hit them head on."

"Can I see Gilbert?"

"Yes. His parents are with him; at least they are in the room outside. No one is allowed into the room with him."

"I'll go now, and I will be fast so that I can come back and tell Penny that I saw him."

Sasha stood outside the room where Gilbert lay, covered in tubes and wires, monitors regularly watching his progress. His parents, his brother and his sister sat outside staring in through the glass, trying to make sense of a tragedy such as this.

Sasha had never met them before. She said her hellos. She hadn't seen any of them since the wedding of course. No one said how horrible it was to re meet under these circumstances, but Sasha assumed it was on everyone's mind just as it was on hers.

She asked the family what they knew and they simply stated the next twenty-four hours were crucial. Gilbert was fighting for his life as he lay motionless in the hospital bed.

Gilbert's mother said they had asked that Penny not be notified, because it will make her sicker. Sasha asked if the doctor had said that and Gilbert's parents said they weren't sure, but it would bring a terrible lot of anxiety to an already very sick woman. 

On her way out, Sasha verified this with the nurse, wondering how she was going to give any of this information to Penny. She had no idea how much her friend was allowed to know, but she wanted to be sure that if she was allowed that she knew about the state her husband was in. She knew for sure that if the situation were reversed, she would want as much detail from her best friend as she could get.

Sasha rushed back to Penny's side only to find she hadn't woken up yet. As she approached the bed, she fought back tears watching her friend stretched out in the darkened room, her hand and lower arm bandaged and in a splint. Penny's mother turned when she saw her walk in, and smiled.

"She hasn't woken at all. I'm glad you're back here. She will want you and she's likely to disturb soon. She's due for her next lot of pain killers."

Sasha took her place next to Penny's mother, determined to find out all she needed to know before Penny woke. "Does she know about Gilbert? His family seem to think she doesn't."

Penny's mother looked slightly shocked for a moment, then said "Of course she does. She asked about him first, as soon as she could and we told her. I would never keep something like that from my daughter unless it was desperately important."

Relief flooded through Sasha. "Thank god. I was almost thinking I would have to let her know if no one had told her."

"As soon as we let her know she started to ask after you. I'm not sure what she wants, but it does seem to be something important."

Their whispered conversation was interrupted by Penny stirring. Both of the women turned immediately to see her moving her head from side to side, faint moans starting to come from her mouth. Her mother ran to her side.

"Mum. Are you there?" She called out in a weak voice.

"I'm here sweetheart. How are you feeling?"

"It's hurting again."

Sasha thought her heart would break. Penny's mother reached up and rung the bell for the nurse. Then she gently stroked her daughters perspiring forehead. 

"Everything will be alright darling, you'll see. I'm right here, and we have the best people looking after you."

"How is Gilbert?"

Penny's mother looked up at Sasha with a worried expression and then back at her daughter. "He's the same darling."

"Is Sasha here?"

Sasha moved forward and took Penny's good hand in her own. "I'm here honey. Sorry it took me a while, but I am with you now."

Penny opened her eyes. Both had dark bruises around them and were bloodshot. Sasha started, and turned toward Penny's mother. "She hit her face n the dash." She whispered to Sasha by way of explanation.

"Sasha?"

"Yes Penny. I'm here. I'm right by your side. You're going to be alright you know. The doctors are very confident."

"I'm worried about Gilbert."

"Ssshhhh now. Gilbert is in good hands. You must slow your recovery down and worry too much about him. That won't help anything. Get yourself well, that is the best thing you can do for Gilbert and for yourself."

Penny rolled her head to look at her mother.

"Mom, where is the nurse?"

"I'll run and get her honey."

As soon as she was out of the room, Penny turned to Sasha.

"I wanted to get you alone for a minute. You have to do something for me."

Sasha leaned in close so Penny didn't have to strain too much to talk. "Of course. Anything you need. What can I do?"

"I need you to go back to that tarot reader. The one we saw over a week ago that freaked out at you."

Sasha froze. She wasn't sure she liked where this was headed.

"Why. What do you want from her?"

"Do you remember what she said to me when she looked at my hand Sasha?"

Sasha scoured her mind. It drew a complete blank. "No. I only remember her telling me to get out." 

"She said "Little one. It will be hard. But you will be ok. You come and see me and I will tell you how to make your body strong again."

Realisation flooded in on Sasha. "She did say that. I remember now."

"I want you to see her for me Sasha. I want you to ask her if Gilbert will be ok."

"Penny, I will do anything for you of course, and I will go and do this. But honey, I do think the woman was a crack pot. I don't think she will be able to help in any way."

Penny turned her head away, and in a few seconds Sasha saw she cried.

"Oh please stop crying. Please don't do that. It must hurt you even to cry."

"I don't want to live without Gilbert."

An icy hand clenched a fist around Sasha's heart. "What do you mean Penny? You get better and then Gilbert will get better." 

"If I get better and then he doesn't I will have to live without him, and I will never find another man who will love me the way Gilbert does. I wouldn't want to. He and I are one Sasha. I can't live without him."

She turned her tear stained face back toward her. The sight broke Sasha's heart.

"I don't like this talk Penny. You can't think straight right now. You have to realise that there are many things to live for and..."

"I thought you of all people would understand. You always said to me I don't know how lucky I am. Well I do, and I always have. That sort of luck doesn't come around more than once in a lifetime, and I won't live out my life remembering what we used to have every single day without him by my side."

Sasha started down at her friend, looking hard at her and thinking that she would do anything for her, and now was the time to prove that. "Please Sasha. Please go for me?" Penny asked one more time.

Sasha heard the door open and the nurse and Penny's mother came into the room, moving fast toward the bed. Just before they arrived, Sasha leaned down and whispered 

"I'll do it. Of course I will do it. I will go now and I will be back soon."

And without saying anything to Penny's mother or the nurse, she left the room.

Sasha couldn't imagine what she was doing as she drove her car through the traffic to get to the small shop the women had gone to less than two weeks before but which now seemed like a thousand life times ago. Mercifully the traffic was thin, and Sasha was able to make it there fast.

She glanced at her watch. It was four fifteen in the afternoon. The shop should still be open. Sasha could make her way in there and ask the woman to see her. Hopefully she will have forgotten her from before and not retain her memory till Sasha was well out of the building. Suddenly Sasha's cell rang. Without hesitation, she pulled over by the side of the road and answered it without looking.

"Sasha Smith."

"Sasha, where the hell are you?"

It was Greg. Sasha's stomach lurched.

"Greg. My god. I should have called you. I've been at the hospital."

"With your cell off. I have been trying to call you for hours. Jay is ok, but we need you back here. Pronto."

"No can do Greg. I have to be here for Penny."

"You've signed a contract."

"She's in the hospital Greg. You know that." 

Sasha suddenly stopped for a moment. "How is Jay?"

"Physically he's ok. He was out of the hospital within a couple of hours. He's pretty fucked up thought Sasha. I think he really needs you."

"What happened in the office? Do you have any idea who did that?"

"We still don't. There's no sign of a break in. Jay's mother's hysterical. She keeps screaming that it's some daemon she's been trying to keep at bay, but he got through her defences. We got her something at the hospital and she's asleep in bed right now. I've been cleaning up the office alone. Jay is in his bedroom."

"I just need to help Penny then I will be over there. Maybe I can make it later tonight. I just can't go at the moment. She really needs me."

"It seems everyone needs you Sasha. I don't know what's going on. First Jay's office gets trashed and then your friend is sick. It's hard not to think there is someone somewhere who does not want this life to see the light of day."

"The office and my friends are unrelated Greg."

"I'm not so sure. It's such a strong coincidence." He laughed nervously into the phone. "See what I'm turning into. Even I am starting to see ghosts in the machine." He paused, then spoke with a desperate plea in his voice. "Sasha please come back soon. Jay won't work while you're not here. I've been able to salvage a lot of his notes, but he won't go back in the office. He's trying to work in his room and it isn't working."

"I'll get back there as soon as I can Greg. Can I talk to him?"

"Yeah. That's a great idea. Just a minute."

Sasha could hear Greg scrambling quickly across the corridor. Soon he was banning on the door the Jay's room. Sasha could hear him yell that she was on the phone for him through the door.

Come on Jay, talk to me.

"Please take the call Jay. She said she will be here as soon as she could."

Sasha heard nothing but muffles for a minute, and she realised Greg had his hand over the receiver. Soon the line cleared.

"Sasha?"

"Jay. Oh Jay honey, I was so scared."

"I'm better now Sasha, but that little vandal effort has put me back by a week. I was ahead of schedule, but I'm not anymore. I have no idea who or what is trying to stop me, but destroying my office will only set me back a few hours. Taking you out of the building will simply destroy me."

Despite the overwhelming and desperate misery of the day, a small thrill went through her at this confession.

"Oh Jay. I wish I was there. Did you hear about my friend Penny?"

"Yes. I'm so sorry. I think it's related to the office here."

"Oh Jay, don't you start, please. I couldn't stand even the idea that somehow I have brought this on my friends."

"No ,... you mustn't think that,.... that is not what I meant..."

"I know. But don't say that to me right now. I have to do something for Penny and then I will see her again. I will hopefully be back in the warehouse later tonight."

She paused, one more thing to say to him before she hung up.

"Jay?"

"Yes Sasha."

"I am so sorry I couldn't come with you to the hospital. I would never abandon you that way unless I knew you were in good hands and if something else happened that was terribly serious."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone.

"Sasha, all my strength and all my power comes from you, but I would never expect you to choose me over Penny in the current circumstances. Come back to me as soon as you can, but not before your dear friend has stopped needing you."

She smiled into the phone.

"You understand?" She asked.

"Of course I do. Just hearing your voice has calmed me and will help me get back to work. If you can't be here in about two hours I'll call again. But only so I can hear your voice and get some more inspiration. Will you do that for me?"

"Of course Jay."

"You are my muse Sasha. I will see you later."

He hung up.

Sasha looked at the time. That conversation took her now to after five, and she worried that the store may be closed. Revving up her engine, she pulled directly into the traffic.

Now that it was after five, the traffic was heavier. Heavy traffic had her show even more delay. It frustrated her. She thought of penny laying in the dark, waiting for her, and later on than that, Jay in his bedroom needing her.

As she sat in the seemingly endless queue of cars, her mind wandered to the damage done to Jay's office. Someone wanted Jay to fail, and they were going to great lengths to see that it happened. Initially she looked at the obvious three. Herself, Greg and Jay's mother -- the only ones in the warehouse with the designs. Then of course there was the possibility that Jay had done it himself. Except that Sasha had slept next to him all night.

Someone broke in and sabotaged Jay. Someone or something. Her mind passed over the possibility that Jay's mother was right and a supernatural force came in and caused the damage.

Sasha dismissed that idea as too farfetched to be of any value.

Soon she rounded the corner into the street where she knew the shop was located. The small ramshackle hut was in the same place as before, crammed between two larger buildings as though it had been dropped by the gods, plonked into place by a large unseen hand.

After parking the car, Sasha jumped out and ran for the front door. The closed sign was in place and the door wouldn't budge when she leaned against it.

Damn!

She wasn't going to leave Penny without her answer, however, so Sasha turned and looked around her, to see if there was some other way she could climb into the building to talk to this strange woman.

Sasha moved off the main porch of the shop and walked around to the back. A think rickety little path led down one side of the house to the rear. Sasha crept down it, tiptoeing with the feeling she was trespassing. The huge cement wall of the multistorey skyscraper next door towered over her, bolting upright from the left of the path as if a seismic shift had thrust it into place and nothing would ever move it from its position. It made the shack look even more strange, vulnerable and suspect.

Around the back, the doors were all closed tight and nothing seemed to be open. For the first time it occurred to Sasha that perhaps the woman was out and she wouldn't even be able to fulfil on Penny's wish.

But then she saw a window open around the farther side, and she heard a muffled voice coming from that direction.

Thank god. Help will come for you yet Penny. However, when she was able to see in through the window, the words Sasha was ready to utter were caught in her throat.

Through the window, Sasha saw the same room she looked at from behind the curtain the first day she'd been there. Now she looked in from the right of that curtain. The woman was there, just as she had been that day two weeks ago when the two of them spied on her from the shop.

And just like the last time, she was entertaining.

She lay on the couch in her small lounge area, and this time she was completely naked. Her large breasts flopped to either side of her body seductively, like the breasts of an African fertility goddess. She lay on her back, half off the edge of the couch, with one leg splayed over the back of the couch and the other stabilising her by bracing herself against the floor. This left her sex completely open; So much so that if she faced the window, Sasha would be able to see directly into it.

A man kneeled in front of her staring into the folds of her body that she'd laid out completely exposed to him. He stroked his enormous dick, hard, pulling on the head of it, and then let his fist drive up and down the long shaft. He leaned forward and rubbed the tips of the fingers of his free hand into her dampness, and then rubbed it into the head of his dick. Sasha made sure she was hidden behind a small potted plant that sat in the window sill as she watched, careful not to miss a thing. She couldn't wait to get back and tell Penny this story.

As the man stroked his cock, another man came into view, to Sasha's amazement, with his own erection hard as iron and ready to go. He approached her from the other end of the couch, and leaning forward and squatting at the same time in what looked to be a very complicated motion, he pressed the head of his dick into the woman's mouth.

She opened up gladly, taking all of him in. As he slid himself comfortably into her, the other man slid his long thick shaft into her nether mouth, both of them filling her with strokes at the same time, with the same pace.

Despite the serious nature of her visit and desperate desire to get back to Penny, Sasha could feel a wetness growing between her legs. Except that she had no interest in either man, she felt slightly jealous of the pleasure the woman must have felt as the two men worked on her slowly, sensuously and systematically.

Soon, they both withdrew, and she climbed on to her knees on the couch. As soon as she stabilised herself, the men moved back into position slowly pumping their exciting body parts into her again.

The air was thick with panting and moaning. The men started to build on their thrusts.

"Babe, we've been coming here for years. We're old men now, but you're still as young as they get. How do you do it? How do you stay this good looking and fresh?"

The woman took her mouth off the man who was feeding her from the front.

"Herbs and a good diet." She replied before she slid her lips down the fleshy pole in front of her.

The man behind slapped her ass hard, and said "herbs my ass. There is something witchy about you my love, and your longevity is only a small part of it. But you keep letting me ride your ass, so I am not going to complain."

The other man laughed along with him as the two men increased their ministrations.

Soon they both pulled out again. This time the man with the larger pole lay down on the couch, and the woman climbed on top of him. She sat down gently on his dick, allowing every inch to work its way into her tight sheath, causing both of them to cry out in ecstasy.

As soon as he was in her all the way, she leaned forward and started to pound herself onto him.

From where she stood, Sasha could see the wet slickness on his fleshy rod as it pulled out of her and she rode it back to where it belonged.

Soon the other man, moved in behind her. 

Suddenly she sat still, the man under her holding her still, while his dick sat embedded deep within her. She lay still, impaled on the large flesh beneath her, while the other man seemed to be working her from behind. 

Before long, Sasha realised what he was going to do. He'd worked her well at the back, and soon he stroked his own shaft a few times, then pressed the tip of it against her other hole at the back.




Full Figured Chic Ch. 16



"Oh god yes" she cried out as he slid, slowly and purposefully, into her, allowing the entirety of his own shaft to press into her to the root.

"Yeah" said the man at the bottom who must have been able to feel the other penis through the walls of her sex.

The man above her threw his head back and hissed as he began to pump into her ass. She thrust back, working both of the shafts into her body deeper and deeper. She grunted and groaned as she pressed back, luring them both into her body that seemed to be made to suck on male flesh with every single hole available.

"Ahhhhh...." she cried out as she obviously came. The man under her shouted out "Oh yeah, cum for me honey" as he keep pumping in and out of her, holding her tight, not letting her slip off the two love shafts embedded deep within her.

Soon the man inside her round behind let out a grunt that led to a large moan, and he came into her body. As that happened the other man grunted like a wild animal and thrust hard into her, making her buck and lurch against the two of them. She cried out over and over. Sasha thought maybe she'd never seen a woman enjoy her sex as much as this one seemed to.

Satiated, both the men slipped out of her, and each of the three of them slumped against the couch, the second man sitting back on his own, and the woman draped over the top of the man who had been inside her only moments before.

"Mmm.. You men need tea yes?" she said mysteriously.

"I want whatever you take to keep young." The man under her said. She tossed a playful punch he pretended to dodge, and then she stood and went to the counter to make them a pot of tea.

"Seriously Soltar. How is it that you still look thirty and we know that we are all well into our fifties? We both look our age, but you don't at all. How do you do it? I want your secret."

"You have to be bad in this life and in the next." She smiled with a mystery in her voice.

"Ahh.... you and your elusive answers. You wouldn't even marry me when I asked."

"Marriage is a trap for a flightless bird. This bird has wings, darling, wings!"

"Yeah yeah yeah, but my love could have kept you free, I'm sure of it. I swear to god I've never met a woman who loved to fuck as much as you. Don't you agree Harry?"

The other man was dozing on the couch. "What? Oh yeah, she loves it alright. I always come so hard when I am playing these little games. It makes me want to sleep."

Sasha realised she'd been there for a quite a while now and she was going to have to work out a game plan for getting in there and getting the information for Penny without being told to just get lost. Especially seeing as Madame Soltar wasn't exactly that friendly toward her the last time their paths crossed.

She wondered how the mad thing would take to her this time, and how she could approach the situation to help her get the information she needed for Penny.

The sleepier of the two men settled back into the couch, not at all self conscious that he was naked as the other man who had stood to dress himself. He stretched out his feet to rest them on the coffee table, only to unbalance it a little and send a neat little stack of books flying to the ground. 

Madame Soltar jumped visibly where she stood making tea across the other side of the room. She turned on her heel viscously, her large pendulous breasts swaying.

"What was that?"

"Sorry Madam, I'm sorry. It was just me." Said the sleepy man who was busying himself trying to get the books back on to the table. The first man, his trousers now on, ran to her side.

"Boy you sure are jumpy today honey. Calm down. He just spilled the books. They're okay."

But it wasn't enough for her. She moved over to the table to inspect what may have gone on there, and checked on the books.

"Something is not right here." She said as she grabbed for a robe. "He comes back for me." She clasped the robe around her tight, and started to look nervously around the room.

"Sweetheart, there's nothing here. Nothing but us, and we're not going to hurt you. He he he, although you're right, I might come back for you from time to time.... ha ha ha ha"

But none of this appeased Madame Soltar. 

At that moment, something ran hard up Sasha's back and leapt into the open window. Sasha felt the heavy weight on her clothes, heard something rip and saw a flash of black as Madam Soltar's cat flew through the window, knocking down the potted plant Sasha hid behind as it sped through the open window.

Madame Soltar screamed out "Who's there?"

Sasha dropped to the ground, her heart racing, hoping she hadn't been seen.



Full Figured Chic Ch. 17



Sasha held her breath, waiting for what happened next. She heard someone come to the window above her and soon heard the man's voice above her.

"It's nothing honey. Just your damn cat climbing in. What's going on?"

Sasha didn't dare look up and through the window again. Madam Soltar was on some sort of roll now. She'd be looking out the window, or at least glancing toward it, waiting for whatever it was that she was afraid of. Sasha felt sure she'd be spotted if she was seen.

She could hear the two men talking with the woman inside, trying to calm her down. But she now bordered on hysteria. She was crazy with her fears. Sasha could hear her opening draws and rummaging through things as the men asked her what she was doing and told her to calm down. In a few moments however, Madam Soltar screamed at them both to get out. When they tried to reason with her, she got even crazier telling them that she needed to be alone.

Sasha heard them protesting as they completed dressing and then were ushered unceremoniously out the back door. Sasha had time enough just to sneak behind a bush before they were out in the yard, and working their way up the side of the house that she had walked down just a few minutes before. 

Madame Soltar became quite frantic as soon as they'd left. She came to the window above Sasha and pulled it down closed, and then moved about the room closing all the windows and locking doors. Sasha could still hear her through the glass, her muffled voice busying herself with opening draws and setting things up. 

Now that the woman was alone, Sasha contemplated moving to the front of the house and knocking on the door, as if she'd just arrived. It might be the best way to distract her from whatever she was doing.

Sasha moved around to the back of the house and knocked on the door hard. 

"Who is there?" the woman's voice sounded terrified. 

"Madame Soltar, I am sorry to bother you at home, but I need to see you. It's an emergency." In a blinding flash the door was flung open. 

Sasha started at what she saw.

The room behind Madam Soltar was a mess. In the short period of time since Sasha had looked through the window, she'd almost turned the place upside down. Bundles of something small and dried sat in clumps around the floor behind the woman, in a small semi circle, almost as if they were creating a protective barrier against what might come in the door. One was already lit and the pungent smell hit Sasha full in the face. She recognised the smell. It was the same smell she'd experienced the first day she'd walked into Jay's warehouse. It was the smell of burning sage.

But nothing prepared her for Madam Soltar herself.

She still wore her robe, but it fell apart so that her naked body lay partially revealed. I her hand she held a pentagram, and a large lit black candle that had words inscribed in a scrawl that Sasha didn't recognise. 

She stared at Sasha, her eyes widening in horror. "YOU!" she cried out.

"I'm sorry to ... er... interrupt, Madam Soltar, and I know you didn't want me back here for some reason, but I assure you I wouldn't bother you unless it was very important."

"Get off my property. I don't want you here. I told you that."

"Please, Madam Soltar, you saw in my friends hand that she would become sick. Well she has now, and I need you to tell me about her and her husband."

Madame Soltar hissed and pushed the pentagram toward Sasha. Her eyes flashed with menace and fear combined giving her an appearance of one almost damned.

"I told you to never come back. And I won't help any friend of yours."

"I don't know what I have done. I am sure you have me mixed up with someone else. I haven't ever done you any harm, and I don't see that I ever could."

"When the time comes, you tell him I don't want what he has to offer."

"What time? Who? Is this about my friend?"

"You tell him." She shook the pentagram toward Sasha so hard she thought she was going to hit her with it.

"I'm not scared of that thing, Madam Soltar because I am just a flesh and blood woman, not some kind of ghost or something. You can't frighten me with that."

Horror crept into her eyes. But she continued to hold the pentagram out straight from her body as if aiming it at Sasha could still work.

"Get off my land. And this time NEVER come back." She screeched and slammed the door in Sasha's face.

The woman was madder than madness itself. Sasha went around to the open window, to see if she could think of a way to get the woman to talk to her. However, as soon as she got to the window, she saw Madam Soltar had the sage burning thickly around the door and was drawing a pentagram on her floor.

Man, I should get her and Jay's mother together -- they'll get on like a house on fire!

But she realised it was hopeless. The woman had lost it and she wasn't going to be able to help Sasha. She'd have to think of something else.

Sitting in the darkened room, next to Penny, Sasha waited for her friend to wake up. She sat with Penny's parents. In the last few hours there had been no improvement in either Penny's condition or in Gilbert's. 

On the way back to her friend, Sash had faced her own darkness. The words her friend had uttered to her before she left weighed heavily on her. She'd not been able to deliver -- madam Soltar was not the woman penny believed her to be.

And yet so much depended on her counsel.

Penny stirred, inn her bed, the pain in her hand starting to wake her. Tears welled in Sasha's eyes as she looked at her friend. 

"Sasha?" Penny called out before she opened her eyes.

"I'm here darling. You relax. I'm right here."

"Sasha -- did you see her? Did you do as I asked?" Penny's parents looked at Sasha with some surprise in their eyes. She would have much preferred to have this conversation without them looking t her but it couldn't be helped. She didn't feel it was right to ask them to leave, and she had to talk to Penny now.

"I did. I went to see her."

"And what did she say Sasha? What did she tell me to do?"

"She told me that you need to rest to be well, and that Gilbert will be fine."

Sasha stared out the window in the hospital eatery, munching on a day old ham sandwich. Penny had her latest round of pain killers and was resting. Weighed enormously by the burden of her lie, Sasha took some time away from her friend's bedside to eat for the first time today and to try to get her thoughts together.

Jay needed her too. Her cell had two missed called from Greg wanting to know where she was, because Jay was almost comatose. Sasha had to get back to him.

After she'd lied to her friend, she needed to abandon her now.

Sasha questioned all her judgements in this matter. She hated Madam Soltar for being mad, for ever seeing anything in Penn's palm and for making so much terribly serious trouble. But t the end of the day, the lie was hers and hers alone. Madam Soltar could only be blamed for being mad. Nothing else.

She took note bite of her food wondering what she was going to do. At that moment, Penny's mother came into the room.

"Sasha?"

"Hi there. How is Penny?"

"She's the best they've seen her so far. She's got a flush in her cheeks and she is sleeping deeper. The nurse is very pleased.

Relief poured through Sasha. "Oh thank god. It's so good t get some good news."

"Sasha, what were you talking about in there? Why did you tell her that Gilbert would be fine? We'd all been trying to avoid talking to her about him, in case it affected her health."

Sasha turned back to the window, her heart aching. "I think it will affect her health. Definitely. I told her what I told her because I was in a position to make a difference and I did."

"I'm worried what you told her will prove to be a lie."

"It was a lie; I said it to help Penny get better."

There was a pause and Sasha didn't' move. She focussed on a cat lazily soaking up the sun outside the window on the sill, and for a brief moment she ridiculously envied the cat, wanting just a few minutes to escape from the enormous burden of her responsibilities.

"Thank you Sasha. I wish I had your courage."

Sasha whirled around in her chair to face her injured friends Mother. "Really? Do you mean that?"

"Yes. Penny is already better. She's in no frame of mind to deal with the enormity of Gilbert's struggle for life. She'll be able to later. It will be tragedy enough if we lose Gilbert, but to lose Penny when we don't have to would be too much."

"What if Gilbert..... you know.... takes a turn for the worse? That will set her back worse now because of my lie."

"Either that or she will be stronger and more able to handle it. Gilbert is very vey sick Sasha. It doesn't look good for him at all. We need Penny to be strong to be able to support him as well, if this goes on for a long time."

Sasha brightened. She hadn't thought of that. Of course, Gilbert needed Penny. He needed her alive. 

"You're right of course. Penny needs to support him as well. I hadn't thought of that."

"Sasha, you've been here all day. I think you should go back to your job. I know you have a special project on at the moment. Stay in touch with me. I will ring you through tomorrow, but go to your work. If you are needed I will call you."

She smiled warmly. "After all, I actually feel that I owe you a little. You've given me back my daughter."

Sasha stood up and hugged her. "There is another person that needs me too, I would like to go and see him. But you must promise to call me. No matter what I will come back in 2 days to see Penny, but I will come back sooner if she takes a turn for the worse."

"I promise I will keep you informed. She's asleep now, very deeply asleep. It looks like she might last the entire night. Why don't you go now?"

Sasha smiled, collected her bag and headed out of the hospital. 



Full Figured Chic Ch. 18



Jay stared out over the open warehouse, defeated. Since he'd found his work destroyed nothing had gone right. Sasha was gone and he couldn't make sense of anything.

The tap tap tap at the base of his skull had moved into one low buzzing hum now, and he felt the room spinning so fast it was all he could do to not fall down. Standing seemed impossible. Gripping the arm rests of his chair was all he knew how to do.

He couldn't find the answered to his problems. He'd called the detective, but they had been following Lim and knew nothing. No one could get in and out. Unless...

They were not of this world.

After all this time, Jay knew how it was going to happen. Eventually, he wouldn't be able to control the spinning and he would fall. He'd fall out of a window, on to a road, off a building. But he knew, at some point he was going to fall. He took all his courage and rolled it up into a ball that he used to hold down one purples and one purples only; to grip tight to something that wasn't going to move and make sure he didn't let it go.

He ached for Sasha. He ached for the only stability he had known in the last few weeks and the only contentment he'd ever known. He asked Greg where she was but he never seemed to answer, or if he did, Jay forgot it so quickly that he needed to ask again. 

He hadn't lifted a pencil or scrawled a note since he found the room destroyed. Everything was still inside him, he was sure, but he couldn't reach it anymore. Sasha was the key to that greatness, and her invisibility ricocheted through him around and around adding to his vertigo. She was his stillness, the core he could connect to while he had none of his own, and without her, he simply couldn't do what he had to do.

He didn't care about the designs. They'd long flown off; all that mattered now was survival. He had to get through the day. He recognised Greg when he heard his voice, but the blurred mass in front of him that spoke bore no resemblance to his lifelong friend. 

At time Greg sounded frantic, almost desperate. Somewhere deep inside of Jay he could remember why Greg would feel like that but it was so far away and meant so little now that Jay couldn't think about it. His friend distress was his friends. Jay just had to find a way to survive. All Jay knew he could do was wait for Sasha. She was the only one who could help him, the only one who could stop the earth spinning and remind him why he was there.

***** As soon as Sasha entered the room, she called out to Jay. Immediately Greg and Jay's mother came running from the shadows. 

"Sasha! Thank god your here. I need to see if you can get through to Jay. You're my last hope. If you can't reach him, I'm calling an ambulance and taking him to a hospital."

"Is he working?" Sasha started to head for her room immediately, she noticed Greg glance down to see she brought her overnight bag back with her. He hadn't hidden the relief in his eyes. "No Sasha and I've all but given up hope that he will. The best we can ask for is that you may be able to bring him back from the brink of wherever he is, but I think the full figured chic line died when the room was vandalised."

"Do you have any idea yet who could have done it?"

"None. I've called the police and there is no sign of a break-in, but there are... well... there are distinguishing marks that tell us it wasn't... well... it wasn't any of us here."

"It wasn't human is what he is trying to say to you Sasha. It was a monster. I creature has done this to Jay; A Daemon."

Sasha stared at her and wondered how she could carry on like this when her son needed her so. 

Still, she ignored it and looked back at Greg who just stared at her with a blank look on his face.

"I'll go and see him immediately. Can you leave us alone?"

"Yes of course." Greg said, as he turned and pulled Jay's mother away despite her protests. Sasha crept into Jay's room. The lights were off. She could see his shadow in the light cast from outside the room, sitting in a chair by the window holding on to the arm rests of his chair.

"Jay. Jay, it's me, Sasha. I'm here. I've come back to you darling."

Jay looked up immediately and turned his head without letting his grip on the chair loose.

"Sasha? You're here? Oh my god, finally you're here."

"I'm so sorry darling, I had to go and see my friend. She is very sick Jay."

"Yes. Everyone without you gets sick Sasha."

She smiled. "That's very sweet, but it's not quite true. I want to talk about you though. Greg says the full figured chic line is finished."

"I was ruined last night Sasha. I'm simply doing my best to hold on now."

Tears welled up in Sasha's eyes.

"Oh my god, really? You have abandoned it all? Oh I'm so sorry that I had to go. I'm so sorry that I had to leave you here all alone to face this darkness."

She ran to him in the chair and fell at his feet. Reaching up she kissed his hand that gripped, knuckles showing, to the chair. She kissed him again and then kissed the other hand, a fever taking her over; so much that she showered his tense hands with kisses, all over.

She tried to pry one of his hands away from the grip on the chair, but he wouldn't let go. She kissed him up and down his arms, and then up again till she arrived at his lips, and took him full into her mouth. She kissed him hard willing him to take from her, to find whatever he needed to keep going and take the nurturing he needed. Soon Sasha could feel Jay's body start to relax. He started to kiss her back. She kissed him deeply again.

"Come back to me ... come out of where you are and come and find me. It's ok, I'm here and I will try to not leave you again."

Jay responded to her words. She wrapped her arms around him as he sat rigid in the chair, so that she could feel the tension leaving his body.

"Sasha, its working. Just having you here. I can feel again already, and soon I will be able to see again."

Sasha was shocked at the severity of his symptoms, but she tried to hide it. Allowing him to feel, being there with him as he emerged from whatever dark dark hole he waited in was all she wanted at this stage. Just to be there with him and hold him, help him back into the world from the womb of hell he'd been lost too.

Then, Miraculously, Jay lifted a hand and wrapped his arm around her. 

"Oh Jay... yes. Hold me, hold me please!" she cried out.

Soon his other hand came off the chair and he wrapped it around her so tight Sasha thought he'd break her in too.

"I love you Sasha. I love you more than anything in the world." Jay whispered as he sank his face into her auburn hair and ran his hands all over her body.

Sasha's heart soared. She didn't know or understand what went on between them, but the depth of it amazed her and she had no fear about being a part of it. Healthy or well, Jay was her man that was all there was to it. The truth was she knew it before she'd actually met him. She knew it the night she saw him on the internet. 

When she'd read about his antics, and his affairs. The place deep inside her where things should never be questioned knew that she was his right from the first moment she'd seen a picture of him. 

Their souls knew each other.

As this realisation dawned on her, and they kissed she felt Jay's strength returning to his body.

"I want to make love to you Sasha."

"Oh darling, are you well enough. I am here, I won't go anywhere, but are you sure it s a good idea. I am worried for your health."

"I can't bear to be away from you any longer. You have to let me hold you naked and enter you; I need to be as close to you as I can be."

Sasha didn't want to argue the point, as she felt the same need inside of her. She'd been holding it back for fear it was inappropriate to want her lover in this way when he was suffering as much as Jay was at the moment, but he didn't need to oppress the point to have to turn to him and accept everything he told her.

She stood up off his lap, and took his hand.

"Can you stand now? Do you have the strength?"

"Yes. I don't feel the world spinning anymore. The tapping is strong in my brain still, but I am sure it will subside as all the other painful things have done now that you are here."

Holding her hand, he stood up and she felt his weakness now that the desire to hold anything back had ebbed. If she didn't need him so much, if she didn't feel so much pain inside him that she wanted to heal with her touch, she probably would have put all thoughts of her own pleasure out of her mind and insisted they leave it for now.

But he wanted her. Even as she helped him across the room she could feel the need for her inside of him connecting, reaching out for her. An instinct told her better than he could with words what he needed now was her naked body beside him so that he could claim her as his own.

As they approached the bed, he almost fell onto it. Sasha stood next to him hastily removing all her clothes as he watched the fear in his eyes dissolving to wonder and then to a small spark that sent a thrill through her. She could see evidence of her Jay coming back, the powerful man, the man who wanted her every minute that he could get her. The man who had said he loved her.

Almost immediately he pulled at his own clothes and even before her he lay naked on the bed.

Sasha drew her breath in sharply. His body was perfectly toned, although it had lost a little of its dark tan from being inside for the last couple of weeks. Still, his broad shoulders, his wavy abs and his warm thick thighs had lost none of their strength despite his not being at the gym for over a week. 

Sasha took her time removing the rest of her clothes so that she could savour the beauty of him naked. Her eyes wandered over his body, hovering at the shaft rising up from between his legs, that almost looked as though it were made of iron. 

"Oh my god" she said looking at him.

"Come and sit on top of me Sasha."

Now naked, Sasha walked to the edge of the bed, and then crawled her way up toward him. Spreading her legs around his own, she kept creeping up his body till she could nestle her wetness into his lap. A deep growl emanated from Jay as he pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around her behind so that she leaned forward, her breasts falling into his face.

Immediately he nuzzled into her, tugging and sucking on each nipple in its turn. 

While he drove her to frenzy, Sasha lifted herself on her knees, holding on to his hard manhood. She positioned him and then sat down gently, allowing the shaft to enter her, inch by inch till he was all the way into her. 

Jay hadn't stopped nestling and sucking into her breasts as she rose up over him and held him into her. Although Sasha worried for his mental health, the feeling of his mouth on her sensitive nipples and his tongue swirling around the nub encouraged the ache she felt between her legs. 

The feel of his hot hard shaft rubbing against the ache inside her encouraged her open her legs further, allowing the lust to pour though her body waking up the energy in every single cell. 

She rode him hard, encouraging the hot shaft to fill her even deeper as he moved his face away and cupped her breasts in his questing hands.

Sasha Moved her hands over the top of his and arched her back, moving up and down on him slowly so as to feel every inch as it rubbed and pulsed inside her. Soon he started to thrust back, his hands on her breasts, as his strength returned.

Soon, he placed his harms at her waist and lifted her off his sex, encouraging her to lay down next to him. Rolling over, he moved toward her again, reaching down to kiss her.

Sasha couldn't believe the raw power and energy in his kiss. With all the suddenness of an earth quake tremendous power rushed back into Jay, hitting both of them with a jolt. He moved on top of her immediately, inserting himself into her slowly, staring her in the eyes. Sasha gulped and smiled a timid smile, half afraid, half excited beyond anything she'd ever known.

"Are you alright Sasha? I can feel my strength returning, but I don't want to hurt you." 

As he spoke his hard flesh moved in and out of her, sending hills down her spine. She stretched her legs wide, moving them around him, clamping her ankles around his back, pulling his body closer to her.

"The only thing that could hurt me is if you stopped what you are doing." She said as she clamped around him tighter. Jay hissed and pressed his hands in underneath her, pulling her body up toward him as he pushed harder into her.

Sasha felt the entirety of the two of them together as Jay moved more and more into himself. She could feel him bonding with her. 

Feel the intensity of the two of them together, as he rode her, the fever and passion driving him to a deeper and deeper connection with her.

Soon she exploded around him, feeling her muscles tighten and flex all over his hot shaft. 

At the same moment, he groaned, and she felt him twitch and release into her body. She tightens her legs around him as he finished spending. He lifted his face from her shoulder, and kissed her softly and sweetly on her lips. 

"You've brought me back for the abyss."

"I'm so sorry I left you. I am sorry that so much is going wrong."

But Jay had a spark in his eye. "But do you see Sasha? It is alright now. I can get to work again."

He leapt on the bed and moved to where he'd dumped his clothes in his vehemence to get them off his body. He was dressed as fast as he was undressed earlier. Climbing on to the bed again, to give her a fast kiss, he raced out of the room.

Sasha sat back in the bed, her mind spinning. This was all too strange. It was the oldest coincidence that Penny and Gilbert were hurt while she was working with jay, and that they needed her still and needed in her in away that took her from Jay.

And as for Jay, something very odd was going on there. It was so late at night and he'd rushed off for another fevered night of work. Sasha wondered if he'd even notice now if she left the building to check on Penny. It may be the answer to her problem. 

Sasha lay in Jay's bed for a while, wondering what could; be going on with Jay. His behaviour was definitely very strange. As sleep started to take over an exhausted Sasha she made a mental note that in the morning, she would be checking with Jay's mother to find out what she knew and what could be done about Jay's condition.



Full Figured Chic Ch. 19



As soon as Sasha sensed light coming into the room, she sat upright in bed. As she expected, the space next to her hadn't been touched since she fell asleep. He would be down in the studio working on the designs now that he felt alive again, and the rest of the factory will be operating under business as usual.

But Sasha needed answers from many sources today. And she was determined to get them.

Leaping up fast, she showered and found something to wear. She wasn't going to the spa today. Today was the day for answers. And her first stop would be Greg.

In the kitchen as she gathered up the breakfast designated for her, Greg was in there getting his own meal.

"Sasha! I knew you must be back but the way Jay is working. I know this is hard to believe, but he is even more motivated than before."

"Greg, you're going to have to sit with me for a while. I need to ask you some questions."

Greg looked immediately suspicious, as if he sensed this was going to be tough.

"What do you want to know? I do have to get back to Jay."

Sasha walked over to the table in the kitchenette. "Not right now. You have to come and sit with me."

Greg moved toward the table, casting a nervous glance toward the door. "Ok, for a little while. I do need to get back to Jay."

Sasha started eating her cereal. "What did you do about Jay's room? I saw it Greg. Everything in there was trashed."

"Jay went immediately into shock. We had to get him to hospital for a couple of hours. They re hydrated him, and checked him over, but after a few hours the only sign he exhibited of not being 100% was that he was very withdrawn. The hospital staff said this was normal. While we were in the hospital, my partner, John came in with a friend and cleaned up Jay's studio, to get it back in working order and so that Jay wouldn't see it in that state again. 

But, by the time I got Jay back here, he was starting to do that thing where he held on to everything. It was the best I could manage with John to get him upstairs in and into his bedroom, where he waited for you."

"Who would do this Gregg? Who would try to hurt Jay like that?"

"I have no answers for you. Jay has a private detective who is trying to find out what is going on, but the police came while Jay was in the hospital and there is no sign here of a forced entry and nothing to indicate that anyone without the proper keys got into the building."

Sasha looked closely at him. He's eyes had become shifty, as if there was something he wasn't telling her.

"But... you have a theory..." she encouraged.

"I don't. But that room Sasha. That room was torn apart by an animal, not a person. There as no intellect behind what the ... thing... destroyed ... it didn't have a plan, and we were able to salvage most of Jays plans and stick them together again. Whoever did this to Jay didn't think about what they were doing, they just inflicted damage."

"Without getting it into the building at all..."

"Yes. Without breaking in."

"That means it must have been one of the people who are already in here."

Greg looked up at Sasha suddenly. "What are you saying?"

"Jays' mother; Think about it Greg. She is off her nut anyway, and she wants Jay to think that there is something supernatural is after him. Even out of her consciousness she could have done this."

It couldn't have been her, or you, or even me for that matter."

"Why do you say that?"

"None of us have the strength to do what that creature did. It tore large plastic mannequins apart. Plus... it left large ... marks on the walls that none of us could have done."

"What kind of marks?"

"Deep scratches. Even if any of us had knives or some sort of weapon that could do the style of damage that was done, none of us would have the strength to do it the way it was done."

Sasha swallowed. She didn't want to ask the next question but she knew she would have to in order to get to the bottom of this.

"Not even a mad person... possibly Jay himself?"

Greg looked up at Sasha with some sympathy in his eyes. "I love Jay too, and even I had thought of that. I asked the police. No human could have the strength to do what was done in Jay's office."

"Then we're really left with Jay's mothers suggestions about ghosts and goblins."

"It had crossed my mind. To be honest, with you back and Jay just working again, I had sort of put it at the back of my mind. The police said if they didn't know better they would say a large dog did it."

"What I'm scared of is that it will come back again."

"I know. Jay's down there working now, and I can't promise it won't happen again. I spent in there last night, with John, in order to protect the place. Nothing happened. I was thinking we will do that every night if we have to."

"It's a good idea. At least if anything comes in you'll know exactly what it is."

"And I can't bear for him to have another setback. Now that you're here." he seemed to think for a moment then he added, "Sasha, I'm so sorry. How is your friend? I've been so caught up here that I haven't even asked you about your serious situation."

"It is serious Greg. And I will want to pop out to see her from time to time. I'm sorry to break the rules, but I simply won't go a day without visiting her."

"No, no ,... of course it's ok. I will send Johns friend with you if that is ok. Sort of like a minder. He can make sure you're safe, and if anything else happens, we can eliminate you as a suspect if you have a witness to your behaviours all the time."

"That's fine by me. I'm happy with that. Actually, I'm going to call the hospital now."

Greg stood to go.

"I'm really glad to have you here. Jay needs you so much." And he took his tray and left the room.

Sasha pulled her mobile phone out of her pocket and immediately dialled Penny's mother. 

"Sasha?"

"Yes, it's me. How is she?"

"Much better today. She slept the entire night without waking up. She needed painkillers again this morning, but they are very excited about her dramatic recovery. Thank you again for what you did Sasha. Thank you so much."

"How is Gilbert?"

There was a slight pause. Sasha could hear a door close and she realised Penny's mother must have moved herself to another room.

"No change Sasha. He isn't any better, but thank god, he isn't any worse either."

"Jesus. I'm so sorry."

"So am I honey. Will you come to visit today?"

"Yes. I will be in there about lunch time."

"Ok. We'll see you then.' And she hung up, no doubt very keen to get back to see her daughter.

Sasha hung the phone up, and sat staring into the remnants of her breakfast tray. The food was good, but she had little stomach for it. Greg's words moved around and around in her head. No human could have the strength to do what was done in Jay's office.

"Are you ready to talk to me now?"

Sasha jumped a mile as she looked up to see Jay's mother sitting opposite her at the table.

"My god. You scared me."

"Well, I move very quietly at the moment. Like everyone else here I'm afraid, but unlike everyone else here, I know the thing that stalks us will be able to see us and hear us while we are here."

Sasha looked into the deep lucid eyes of the woman staring right back at her. The has an older woman's face, deeply lined, almost like a cheeky little monkey face, if it hadn't been so heavily doused in such a serious veneer. 

Suddenly Sasha was engulfed by a tremendous need to reach out to her. This woman loved Jay as well, it was the thing they had in common. Like her, she wanted to best for Jay and that included seeing the full figured chic line come to fruition. She even wanted to see Jay and herself together. Sasha looked at her with new warmth.

"I don't know your name." She smiled.

"You never needed it before." She said as she arched her brow.

"Well, I was afraid of you before."

"And now?"

Sasha took a deep sigh. "Now I have a feeling we are going to have to join forces. Something is getting at Jay, and it isn't you and it isn't me. We may have a better chance at beating it if I stop treating you like my mortal enemy."

Jay's mother started. She seemed to see deep into Sasha, but at the same time she seemed to be hesitant, as if Sasha surprise her constantly.

"I understand. We do both want the best for Jay."

"Yes. So tell me your name, and I'll start calling you that."

"Estella."

Sasha stuck out her hand and Jay's mother took it and shook it, all the while looking at Sasha slightly from the corner of her eye.

"Nice to meet you properly Estella. I'm Sasha as you know. Now that the formal part of our introduction is over, I'm hoping we can start fresh and maybe get to the bottom of this current crisis."

Estella looked at her, with a steady gaze that floated between surprised and fascinated.

"Do you have a theory about what attacked jay's room the other night?"

"I know what attacked Jay's room."

Sasha fought back irritation. She may have something valuable to add. "What was it?"

"A daemon. Do you know anything about Daemons Ms Smith?"

Sasha ignored her turning to formal communication again. "No Estella, I don't know anything about demons, but I have a feeling you are going to fill me in on all I need to know."

"They are supernatural beings that have a dark soul. They can have powers and sometimes they do not have powers"

Sasha fought back a rising frustration. "And you think it was a demon that came into Jay's room and did what it did?"

"There's no question about it."

Sasha looked down into her tray again. She didn't know where to start with this woman.

"I'm guessing it was one with powers."

"Yes. That's correct."

Sasha thought she'd try a new approach with Jay's mother.

"Estella, you seem like a very intelligent woman. Why do you believe in this stuff?"

Estella looked at her intently. Sasha could feel her stare sink deep into her belly, as if it were a thing that could travel through her face and into her soul. It was most unnerving: the same talent Jay possessed, but affected her in a very different way.

"Sasha, when you have seen what I have seen and suffered what I have suffered, you understand that we won't always know everything about the world. You understand that you can still be taught things, even things that at first seemed farfetched. I have had every indicator that a creature not of the world as we know it is making trouble for Jay, just short of talking with the creature myself. I refuse to remain blind when my own watchfulness could be the only possibility that my son has."

"I find it very hard to believe without some kind of evidence."

"If you do nothing you will have al the evidence you need. Jay will go mad and will eventually kill himself."

"And if I do something?"

Estella's eyes lit up. "I really believe there is something that you can do. I think you can make the biggest difference to Jay's life."

"You mean the two of us together?"

"More you, I'm afraid. I think you personally can make a very big difference."

A chill went up Sasha's spine. She had a feeling this wasn't going to be good news."

"That doesn't sound like good news to me."

"I will tell you the story from the start."

For the next hour Sasha sat fascinated as Estella told her about the Daemon and Aoide. 

"Many many years ago a daemon cursed to an immortal life, saw with horror the ugliness in the human heart. 

The daemon, weary from travelling the earth and looking at the miserable life of humans, found a special girl child, half daemon, half human that he wanted to help him redeem his faith in human beings. 

He fancied he could take the girl child and make her beautiful and special and prove to him and to others that some goodness in the human race can be preserved, that it is there to be preserved it eh first place.

The daemon turned himself into a child to play with her when they were young. He taught her tricks and clever ways to make herself so beautiful no mortal could stop staring at her if he saw her. 

He taught her how to be good and kind to all humans, and she became his great hope that the human race could be saved to be wiser, and more respectful of other kind of creatures, beautiful and caring. 

Over the years, Aoide fell in love with the demon, as he masked himself. he always behaved, always treated her with love and respect, as her taught her the ways of humans and encouraged her to rise above their foibles. 

He imagined that being half demon, she may be able to bring some supernatural strength to the human heart and raise it above the condition he so despised.

Aoide grew to be a beautiful woman. But there was darkness inside of her still. The Daemon believed if he worked with her will, he could help her fight off any dark feelings that would come between her and a pure life.

Eventually the gods took pity on him and set him a task that he could perform to win the right to be human and claim Aoide. But the task was very difficult. He had to infiltrate a daemon lair and give secret information about evil daemons to the gods. 

For three years, the daemon did as they asked, supplying them with information as a traitor while he watched Aoide grow and become a beautiful women, filled with all the goodness and love from the bright human heart and filled with all the power and determined will of the bright daemon heat. 

The gods moved in on the daemon lair and destroyed all of them except for this daemon. The gods were happy with him, and promised him that he could have one wish granted. He asked that he become half human and couple with Aoide and live a long normal human life. The gods granted him this wish, and the daemons couldn't be happier."

"This is a wonderful story Estella, but I am hoping it's going somewhere." Sasha looked at her watch. "I actually have a lot to do today."

"Yes yes... of course you do. Everything is more important than how Jay can be saved."

Sasha growled low at the sarcasm but smiled sweetly and encouraging her to continue on her way with the story that, although charming, really felt as though it were going nowhere fast.

"He could never tell Aoide this news. She didn't know that he was a daemon. He intended to simply become a human and meet her and then ask for her hand. The daemon knew they would marry and then live a normal kind of life together.

As soon as the gods granted him his wish he raced to find her. In just a few days they would make him human and he could bond with her. 

Tonight he wanted to see her simply to have some time together, to connect and bask in the glow of the knowledge that soon they could build a life.

But he couldn't find her. He searched all over the small town where she lived. Finally, he heard laughing coming to the barn at the back of a hotel.

There, in the barn was his beloved Aoide. She laid on her back, naked, her legs spread wide, and a human lay between her legs. She rolled out in ecstasy as he pounded into her in the hay, writhing, squealing, and clinging erotically to the pleasure of having him inside of her.

The Demon stared in horror at her glee. He knew the man. He was a married man, he had children. He didn't know if Aoide knew any of this, but what he did know was that she had been corrupted in his eyes. She was no longer the woman he felt he had created her to be."

"Just because she slept with someone else? She wasn't promised to the daemon was she?"

"No. And I believe she didn't know the other man was married. But to the daemon, she was wearing out -- like soap. But unlike soap, she was no longer clean."

In a rage, the demon went to the gods. They had been planning trouble for the man who'd slept with Aoide but they decided it would be more interesting to hand him to the demon. The Daemon took the man and held him in a worm ridden pit, and starved him to death. The last thing he said to the man was that he would curse his offspring."

"Ahhh, and now it all becomes clear."

Estella nodded her head. "Yes my dear. Jay is of the distant offspring of that man and Aoide. On his father's side of course."

"I would think this story would prevent all from having children."

"Yes, but I found it out from a tarot reader, and to my knowledge, no one has worked the story out through all the generations. Or if they have, it didn't stop them having children."

Sasha thought hard for a minute. There was a lot to digest. "And you are saying that Jay is cursed as a distant ancestor?"

"Yes."

"And he will die? Do we know how?"

Estella gulped and looked down a strong flush in her cheek. She looked to Sasha as though she were trying very hard not to cry.

"Yes. He will be driven to madness and then he will throw himself off a building."

Sasha's blood froze. This part of the story she could actually see coming true. "How do you know this?" 

"The reader told me."

"And Jay locked you up for madness." 

Relief flooded into the woman's eyes. "Yes. You can understand my pain? I want to protect my son, but everyone thinks I am mad, and yet, I know that it is he that will eventually turn mad. Except..."

"Except for what?"

"Usually the curse happens when he has had a child. His brother was taken with no child, so the curse won't continue if Jay doesn't have one."

Instinctively Sasha felt for her belly. She shook her head and decided to try to change the subject.

"What became of Aoide?"

"She was left almost mad herself. The daemon left her life almost immediately and she went crazed looking for him. She was abandoned to the world. But the sex she'd had woke in her a driving lust that not only made her want sex anywhere she could get it, but drive her to the demon, thinking that her childhood friend was all that could satisfy her lust urge. But the daemon doesn't want her. She's impure to him. 

And according to the story I've heard, she now doesn't want him either, because she wants to be free in her life -- free to have the kind of lust filled sex she wants."

Sasha shook her head. "Those these two.... people have been walking around for eternity not meeting up, and in fact avoiding each other when really they want each other desperately?"

"Yes. Except technically they're not people."

"Has no one thought to bring them together?"

"I don't know. But I've never seen either of them. I don't know how you would achieve that."

Suddenly Sasha looked at the woman, seeing her in a new light.

"Then what plan did you have to help Jay and free him from the curse?"

Estella blushed immediately and Sasha felt a corresponding nervous feeling in her belly. She knew she was about to hear something she didn't want to know.

"I told Jay we needed to find a woman to replace Aoide. To seduce the daemon so that he could be at piece again."

Sasha fought down a troubled irritation that formed inside her again.

"And of course, I was that woman. That was why you were so happy to see me when I first arrived and why you were so keen to have Jay and I get together."

"Yes." She looked down at her hands.

Sasha fought the desire to get hysterical, but she had to ask one question that was terribly important to her. "How did Jay feel about all of this?"

"He was very uncooperative. I had trouble getting him in on the whole plan right from the start."

It all started to make sense to Sasha; including the pentagrams and the fact that everyone thought she was mad. She started to sympathise with Jay. She wasn't sure if the woman was mad, or just had a weird religion.

"Well, frankly Estella, it's a pretty stupid plan. It's a huge risk that the daemon will fall for another woman when he's had all of eternity to do it."

She sighed. "It's true. Also, the daemon seems to know about you, so there is no point anymore. He's trying to keep you from Jay to prevent jay's work."




Full Figured Chic Ch. 19



A cold feeling wrapped itself around Sasha's heart. "What do you mean he's trying to keep me from Jay?"

"Don't you see? It's too much of a coincidence. The daemon will have caused the accident of your friends in order to get you out of here so that Jay is left vulnerable."

Sasha felt sick. Just the suggestion that she, in some remote way, may be accountable for her friend's illness struck her to her core. She didn't necessarily believe Jay's mother, but she couldn't help seeing how co incidental it all was.

At that moment Sasha had a choice. She could go into denial as a way of self defence, or she could believe Estella and try to stop anything further from happening to her friends. It was one thing to see the old woman trying to make sense of Jay's dilemma, but it was another all together for people outside of her sphere of influence experiencing an attack. She looked up into the incredibly intelligent eyes of the woman in front of her.

"I don't believe you, but to try to take some measure of control of this situation and to try to help those I love, I will act on your story."

The older woman smiled her face lighting up like a thousand Christmas lights at once.

"However, I am very angry at you for trying to use me as a sacrifice, and I am also angry at you for not talking to me properly sooner. You've been skulking around, sneaking in the shadows, and you could have come to me earlier."

Estella cocked an eyebrow and stared Sasha down. "Do you really think so do you? After years and years of not being believed, and people thinking you are mad, you develop a keen survival technique that helps you take whatever little power you have left and maximise it.

I'm sure you can think of a hundred ways I could have done things better, and I'm sure in some instances you would be right, but I have done the best with what I have, and I make no apologies for my attempts to save my son."

Sasha felt the shivers. The woman gave her the creeps. But she was stuck with her, with or without this daemon problem, this was Jay's mother. Perfect, how's this for mother troubles she thought with a grim smile.

"Alright Mrs Miles, I'm sorry. I don't want to make any trouble between us now. So no judgement."

The older woman looked at her with suspicion in her eyes. At that moment, Sasha's cell rang.

"Hello?"

"Sasha it's me! Penny's mother."

Sasha stood and moved away from the table, feeling the hard stares of Estella in her back. "Is everything ok?"

"Yes. I wanted to tell that Gilbert has come out of his coma. He's been downgraded to serious, he's no longer critical. He's making an amazing recover."

Relief flooded through Sasha and tears welled in her eyes. She didn't realise how much all of this sat like a heavy cloud over her. "My god. That is the best thing you could have told me. How is Penny?" 

"Awake and asking for you. Do you think you can come?"

"Yes! Of course. I'll be right there."

She hung up the phone and turned to Jay's mother. "Well, I guess in this instance, you were wrong. My fri3nds are both getting better very fast."

A look of shock started to spread over Estella's face. Sasha couldn't understand why such good news brought a look like that. 

"It's good news! I'm going to see them now, but I will only be an hour. Then I will be able to come back here and stay with Jay."

Estela jumped out of her chair and ran to Sasha, grabbing for her arm. "You can't leave now."

Sasha looked at the woman's face and then back at her arm. "Why ever not? It won' be for long. I'll be an hour and a half at the most."

"Jay needs you."

"I won't be long, but my friends need me to. And According to you, I am to blame for their condition, so I need to go and check on them."

She shook Estella off and walked toward Jay's office. Knocking on the door, she heard the pleasant "come in" of Greg's voice.

As soon as she walked through the door, she saw Jay hard at work bent over his desk. Greg stood by the door. Jay didn't even raise his head as she walked in.

"Sasha, what is it? You know better than to disturb us."

"I just wanted you to know that my friend is getting better, but asking for me. I want to go and see her at the hospital. It's only for an hour and half. Do you think its ok? Will he miss me?"

Greg smiled. "Thanks to you, he won't even realise you're gone. But don't be any longer than that please. He does get unsettled if you are gone for long periods of time. I don't want any of us to have to go through a relapse."

Sasha smiled and glanced over at Jay. He looked so handsome with his hair hanging over his face, his beautiful hands working the pencil over the page in a flurry. Sasha thoughts she'd better get going, as her body started to respond.

"Okay. It won't be long and I'll be back." She smiled at Greg and closed the door.

Racing up to her room, she grabbed her bag and made a bee line for the front door.

Soon Sasha was beside Penny, holding her hand and looking into her smiling eyes. 

"Oh, it's so good to be back in one piece." She smiled up at Sasha.

"You're not quite there yet honey. You relax and stay here and do as they tell you before you go thinking you are all a ok, right?"

"yes, yes, but I can't tell you how good it is to feel myself again. At least to a degree."

Suddenly tewars welled up ion Ssasha's eyes.

"Oh penny. We were so worried. You gav us such a scare for the twenty four hours or so that we watched over you."

Penny glanced at her parents who were talking over by the wondow. Then she turned back to sasha. "It was you. When you told me that Gilbert was going to live, after you'd seen the woman, I knew that everything was alright and that I had to get better as fast as I could for him. I was much happier to live, Sasha when I knew I had him by my side."

Sasha looked at her friend, not saying anything.

"And now he's out of his coma and he's getting better. I tell you Sasha that woman might have been a nut job, but she knew her stuff alright."

"You're well and he's getting better and at the end of the day, that is all that mattered." 

Sasha thought she would keep the truth till they were at dinner together some time. While either of them could still get sick, she didn't want to be making them any more vulnerable.

"Yeah. In fact6, as soon as I am well, I'm going to go and see her and ask what the hell that creature was that came at us out of nowhere. 

Imagine that, driving along a city street, and suddenly a large wolf, or man, or some sort of thing jumps in front of the car. No wonder Gilbert swerved so hard. It must have been an attempt to miss it as well as get off the road."

Sasha's stomach turned. "I thought it was a drunk driver?"

"That's what the police are saying because another car is damaged apparently and the man in that car was heavily intoxicated. But there is no doubt about it Sasha; we saw some large creature jump out in front f us before we saw that other car. I'm sure he must have seen it too. We could ask him."

"He died Penny. That man didn't live through the accident."

"Oh." Penny looked down suddenly. "How horrible for his family."

"Are you sure you saw something?" Sasha asked wanting to change the subject but also wanting to get more detail.

"AS sure as eggs. When I was asleep I saw it over and over in my recovery dreams. In my dreams it kept telling me that Gilbert would die and that I couldn't save him. All I could think of was that woman that we saw, and that somehow getting to her would help. But it was a terrible series of dreams that I had. "

"Do you think those hallucinations have made you think you saw the creature when you didn't?"

"No. I know what I saw. Gilbert and I both saw it. It's a strange thing to say, but I didn't think we would have hit that other car, if it wasn't for the creature. I think gilberts swerving and the man's swerving had us run into each other. Both cars must have been trying to miss the animal."

Suddenly Sasha felt an overwhelming desire to get back to Jay.

"Honey, I have to get back to Jay. He's a little... sick at the moment as well. I am very glad that you feel better and I am glad that your parents are here. Is it ok if I come back tomorrow?"

"Definitely! I'm fine and I just know Gilbert will be as well. You go and look after that cute man. You'll have to fill me in on all that gossip later." Her eyes sparkled and it warmed Sasha to see it.

"I will. There is a lot to tell. But that is for a coffee when you are feeling better. I'm going to go now."

She leaned in and gave her friend a kiss, and cast a fast glance over to Penny's mother. "See you tomorrow." She waved, and raced out the door.

Sasha quickly popped down to check on Gilbert and she found that he was asleep, but well out of his coma. His recovery was dramatic, and fast, so he was the talk of the ward down there.

Sasha paid her respects to his family, and then made her way back to Jay.

When she walked into the studio, it appeared that everything was calm. There seemed to be no problems. Sasha didn't see anyone, but she caught faint movement coming from jay's office. 

Making her way there immediately, she knocked on the door, to tell Greg that she was back.

He slid his head around the door, keeping it closed around him, as much as he could.

"Hi. Just wanted you to know I am back."

Greg smiled. "And faster than you thought. 

That's great." He spoke in a whisper. He went to close the door, but Sasha stopped him. 

"Greg, is everything alright?"

"Yes yes. Jay hasn't stopped working since you left."

Sasha smiled, relief flooding through her. "Thank god. Ok, I've missed today's' appointment, but I will be in my room."

Looking for forward to an uneventful afternoon, Sasha made her way up to her room. She collapsed on her bed. She couldn't remember the last time she'd lain in it, and was relieved to find it was just the way she'd left it. Cleaners came through once a week, but no one had been in here for a quit a few days. 

Sasha collapsed on the bed, flinging her arms out above her. She suddenly felt very tired. The thought of an afternoon to sit and think in the quiet of her room appealed to her. So much had happened, so many strange events, she relished the opportunity to sit and contemplate it all.

However, she hadn't even gotten up from the bed before she heard a large heavy knock at the giant front doors of the warehouse. Ignoring it, she lay there thinking that someone else could jump up and see who it was.

But she heard it again, and then a large booming voice called for Jay.

Instantly filled with fear, Sasha leapt up from where she lay and ran to her balcony that looked directly down at the front door.

She turned to her left to see Greg and Jay had run out to their small balconies and to her right Jay's mother stood at hers. All their eyes were fixed on the large double doors as they saw one of them open up. The sunlight temporarily hid from view the four figures that walked through the door. But as soon as the door closed, Sasha could see the four of them clearly.

One was a man. A smallish man who looked Japanese. But the other three men with him all looked like huge warriors, complete with armour, swords and shields. They looked as though they'd been forged from the fires of hell themselves. 

Jay's mother immediately collapsed to her knees on the balcony next to Sasha. She began to whimper and shake in her spot. Sasha couldn't reach her, but whispered to her that it was alright. She was right here next to her.

"Jay Miles. I've come for you Jay Miles." Called out the smallest of the men who clearly led the other three giants.

"Sutomi Lim!" Said Jay.



Full Figured Chic Ch. 20



"Come down here Jay. It's time to meet with you. I want to speak."

Out of the corner of her eye, Sasha saw Jay disappear into his office and then suddenly he and Greg were running down the stairs to meet the four men. Sasha turned and ran out of her room and made her way down the corridor as well. Something very strange was at work here and she wanted to be right next  to jay as they worked it all out together.

"Jay Miles!" She heard Sutomi call out in a booming voice. The voice sent pin pricks rippling up and down Sasha's spine. There was something familiar and yet coldly deceiving about that voice. It seemed way too large for the small thin man who owned its power and yet it came from him shooting out as if it were a thin svelte arrow.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she could see Jay and Greg just a metre in front of her facing Sutomi who had the three enormous men behind him. This close they looked even more menacing than they had from above. They wore dark chain mail armour, out of which hard metal spikes jutted menacingly as if they just waited to be given the opportunity to pierce the skin. These men were ready for a war. They looked as though they could take on an army all alone.

Sasha looked around Jay to get a clearer shot of the three of them to see that each carried a large ancient looking sword and a thick metal heavy chain with a round ball at the end of it. Sasha's belly knotted. She knew serious trouble when she saw it. 

Suddenly something brushed against her back and she jumped, clamping her own hand to her mouth so as not to draw attention to herself at the back of the pack. Turning she saw that it was just Estella who had obviously woken herself enough to follow the rest of them downstairs.

"I'm here" said Jay in a voice that would have sounded terrifying if Sasha wasn't staring at three walking lumps of coal from the core of the earth. "What do you want with me?"

Sutomi Lim hissed as Jay stood defiantly before him. The noise came out of him in white smoke as if he were a terrifying steam engine. Sutomi Lim made for a frightening creature, but it was the transformers behind him that struck terror into Sasha. Just as she thought she'd almost faint from the fear of what could possibly be happening here, she felt a small cold hand snake into her own. She gripped it tight recognising Estella's attempt to claim her and stay a little safer.

"It's time Jay Miles. I am here to steal your designs. I know you are trying to beat me to the next show, so I am here to take your work and to claim it as my own."

"You must be joking!" Jay moved forward, a thick corded vein in his neck throbbing. His skin was red, and he looked like he was going to explode. "You can't take the designs. They're not finished, and you don't have the talent to complete the job."

Sasha watched Sutomi as he walked forward, and stood face to face with Jay. He then moved slowly to Jay's left, circling him, as if he were looking at him for the first time; as if her were a shark warming his prey for the attack. 

Jay Miles, you think you are safe? You are not safe. You can't do anything in this silly little warehouse to keep me at bay." 

By this time he had circled enough to be face to face with Jay again. "And besides," he said, "I don't actually care if your line fails or not. I want you to suffer, not to change the world."

Sasha noticed Jay's hand starting to shake. She knew she had to get near him, to give him some of her strength or this confrontation really would drive him mad. She stepped forward and immediately the guards lifted their swords and took a step forward toward her. Sasha paused, knowing the warning they were metering out to her. She took a breath and moved fast to be beside Jay, slipping her hand into his.

The guards moved forward, but Sutomi Lim held his and up in a Hitler style salute, and they stopped in their tracks. Jay turned to Sasha and started at her almost as if he didn't know who she was and Sasha thought her stomach would burst for the ache in it for him. But she felt his hands tighten around hers and she realised he did draw strength from her.

"There's nothing you can do to hurt me Sutomi." Jay uttered through clenched teeth. "Even if I lose the line, I still have my life, and that is more important to me." At that moment he squeezed Sasha's hand again, and she held back, steadfastly watching what Lim might do next.

Sutomi Lim moved back a little, watching Sasha.

"You are cursed Jay." he spat. "It was decided a long time ago. All the men before you in your line are cursed, and all the men after you are cursed. It is what it is, and I can't change it."

"Who are you? Why are you doing this to me?" Jay cried out.

"I'm the ghost from many Christmases past Jay Miles, here to see that you and your children will suffer for the sins of your fathers."

"He has no children! You have to let him live longer, he has no children."

Sasha turned to see Estella move forward taking her place on the other side of Jay. Suddenly it all started to fall into place for Sasha. This was the story that Estella had told her. Sutomi Lim was the deamon, and these guards were from the gates of hell themselves. She turned back and saw immediately that Sutomi was staring at her smiling.

"Ahhh... you have figured it out at last. How slow and stupid you are. But now you know. And Jay's mother isn't alone anymore."

"Answer me" Estella stepped forward with a small pentagram on a short stand, and she pointed it at Sutomi Lim, as if it would burn or hurt him in some way. While it didn't look as though it were going to make any real difference, it did cause Lim to take a step back. He moved a little closer to his own guards, while keeping his eye on Estella.

"Keep that thing away from me old woman. It won't hurt me enough to protect you; it will just irritate me all the more. I will answer your questions. He does have a child. The woman is pregnant."

Sasha stared at Lim, trying to comprehend what he was talking about. She saw movement out of her peripheral vision and turned slightly to see Estella and Jay staring at her. She suddenly felt guilty as if somehow this was all her fault.

"She'll bare a male child, and I will be back to torture him as soon as he provides me with an heir to replace him." Sutomi Lim moved closer to Jay, glancing more than once at Estella's pentagram. "And I will torture your child Jay. Every son of Alexander will suffer for my rage at the insult inflicted on me."

Suddenly, Jay fell to the floor. Estella cried out "No" and collapsed over her son, as Greg moved forward.

"I've called the police you stupid asshole. You can confess your insane ratings to them, while they lock you in jail for sabotage and the attacks you're perpetrating on Jay. Get away from him, and get away from us."

To Sasha's surprise, Lim backed off. "The police won't be able to do anything, you fool. Nothing will postpone this. Don't you see it has been moving through the ages? You'll never put an end to it, just as I will never cease in my suffering for Aoide."

Suddenly a light turned on over Sasha's head. Ideas and realisations flooded through her as Lim continued.

"I have taken so much pleasure in torturing you Jay, because you had too much. Your life was so perfect; you defied my attempts to drive you mad. So I had to intervene. Now that I am, I am so happy it is going this way. I prefer to see you suffer through human eyes and watch this. You will suffer more today before I take your life, but I will be back. I will be back in twelve hours to see you throw yourself off the top of this building, a fall you won't survive.

There is no way you can defeat me, I can control your mind as easily as I can swat a fly away from my face. 

So think today Jay. Think about your unborn male child. The boy your female carries and think of what I will do to that child later in life. Mediate on that as you prepare yourself for death."

Suddenly sirens filled the room, as the police Greg had called gathered out the front of the building. Instantly the three evil looking guards disappeared in a puff of dark grey smoke. Sasha watched in wonder as Lim sprinted forward and ran up the stairs to the top balconies. 

The police burst through the front doors, and instantly called out to Lim to stop. He smiled and waved, and dashed into the offices upstairs. A police officer bent to check on Jay as the other two ran upstairs after Lim.

Sasha bent to look at Jay also. "Please stand back. I may need to call an ambulance" the officer demanded as Estella, Greg and Sasha all crowded around jay, desperate to see that he was okay.

The police officer checked him over, and listened for his breathing. Jay started to respond to a wave of the officer's hand in front of his face. His shaking had subsided almost as soon as Lim had moved away. Soon his breathing returned to normal, and thee officer moved him over on to his back.

"He's had a shock. It might be best to get him to a hospital, just to be sure, but I think he's okay." he paused and looked around at all of us. "No one leave the room. We're going to need statements from all of you, and we need to know what is going on here."

Soon the two officers came out from the offices upstairs. "He's gone. The devil knows how. He must have jumped from a window, but I can't see how that is even possible. It's almost like he vanished."

The police officers came down stairs and immediately took over the situation. They examined jay and talked to the other officer, immediately calling an ambulance for him. 

Sasha's mind was a blur. She looked at Jay and her hand instinctively went to her belly. Could she really be pregnant with his child? She looked up and saw Estella staring at her, a mix of fear and sympathy on her face. She would no doubt believe that Sasha was pregnant. She could see that this nightmare wasn't over for her nor was it over for Sasha.

Greg emerged with a blanket and pillow for Jay.

He lay quiet, but was starting to show signs of response. The police turned to everyone in the room, "we're going to take statements. We want to know exactly what happened here today. Mr Sabatini, we'll start with you, as you called the police. You all may need to come to the station, but we'll see how we go."

Sasha moved to Jay's side and the officers let her though. She sat next to him, and held his hand. He turned to look at her.

"I'm so sorry I got you into this mess."

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else Jay. I love you. I want to be with you."

"I've cursed our child."

Sasha looked carefully at Jay, her mind racing. "We don't know what he said was true Jay. It was a very tall story. We can't trust him."

Jay smiled a faded half smile at her but his eyes were warm and filled with longing. "You saw it, just like I did. You know, just like I know. He's coming to get me Sasha, and nothing is going to stop it. Wish and hope won't help me now; I need these last few moments of acceptance to just be with you."

Anger rose up in Sasha. "No Jay we need to fight this."

"I've been fighting it all my life. Through my poor mother, through my own denial, and finally through insisting this line come out early. I can't fight it anymore Sasha. Not in the face of such overwhelming evidence. It's time for me, and I need to accept it."

Sasha looked at him. The ideas and thoughts that were roaming around in her mind screamed out different plans and strategies. She knew she had to help Jay, but she really needed his support.

"I think there is more to this story. I think I can make a difference. Maybe I can get your mother to help?"

"I don't want you using Mothers schemes to help. She had worse plans for you than I had condemned you to." A flood of warmth rushed through him. "You're pregnant Sasha. You're going to have our baby."

Sasha couldn't think about something like that right now. Sutomi Lim couldn't possibly know about that. It had only been a matter of days that she had been sleeping with Jay; to be pregnant was certainly not part of the equation.

Not that it was physically impossible, just highly unlikely.

"Honey. I need to go and do something, and I need to know that you are going to be okay for a couple of hours without me."

Jay looked at her with some concern in his eyes. "Sasha, we have to accept what is happening to me and enjoy our last moments together." He smiled. "I've been looking for you all my life, I don't want to spend any of my last few precious hours without you."

"I know honey. I feel the same way. But I have something in my mind, and it will destroy me if I don't at least try it. There is something that I think I can do to make a difference here. I want to do it. I won't be away from you for long. Get Greg to have you checked out by a doctor. I will be back soon."

She stood and walked over to Greg. The police had finished questioning him and they were now working with Estella. Sasha moved closer to him. "Can you make sure jay is ok?"

"Yeah sure. Where are you going?"

"I have an idea. I think that I can make a difference here. I think there is more to this story than meets the eye."

"That's for sure. Phew, I don't know what to make of all of this."

"Jay thinks he's going to die by throwing himself off the top of a building tonight."

"Well he'll have to take me with him. I'll lay on his body till sunrise if that is what it is going to take."

Sasha smiled. "Excellent. What would I do without you?"

"I feel exactly the same way. So I will take Jay to the hospital and get him checked over. But it will only take a little while. Now that Lim has gone, he looks like he's feeling a lot better. How long do you think you are going to need?"

"Not long. But I need to give my statement. I'll do that next and then I will go and I will possibly be back before you."

Sasha turned and smiled at Jay, then walked over to the officers who were now waiting for her.

She sat where the others had sat before her and gave her version of events. Of course all their stories corroborated, although Estella had used language about daemons rather than calling Sutomi Lim by his actual name. It didn't take long and she was free to leave.

She gave Jay a kiss and promised him shed only be a couple of hours and left. 

She knew exactly where she was going and she knew exactly what she needed to do.

It only took twenty minutes and she was standing in front of the small house that was madam Soltar tarot and palm reading shop. This time she had no problem with going in through the front door. Sasha was on a mission and this woman was about to help her. 

The shop was open at this time of the day. As soon as she walked in she saw the place was empty. Madam Soltar must be out the back. The bell over the door had given away that she was in the room, so she assumed Madam Soltar would be out very soon.

Sasha marched around the back of the counter, unafraid and on a mission. She didn't have much time and she needed this woman's help.

As soon as she walked in, she saw the older woman by her kitchen stove. She was brewing something that smelt awful over the stove, making Sasha feel sick to her stomach.

The beaded curtain made a heavy chain rattled sound as Sasha stormed through it. It didn't matter. She had no desire to hide her presence this time.

The woman turned around, and saw Sasha. Her face went white immediately.

"You! I told you never to come back here, and now you do it for the third time. You get out of my house."

"You know why I am here."

Madam Soltar's eyes widened. "No. I do not. Only that you have bad energy. Get out of my house. NOW!"

Sasha moved closer to her. She screamed and held up a small pentagram that she had around her neck on a thin chain.

"That won't work on me. I'm not a daemon. You'll have to do a lot better than that to get rid of me. I'm just a simple human woman."

"I want you out of my house. Why don't you leave?"

"Because you and I have unfinished business."

"We don't. We don't. I am nothing to you. Nothing. I told you I can't help your friend."

"You know I am not here about my friend. I am here about the thing you are trying to keep at bay. I am here because of all this pentagram nonsense. I am here to take you back to where you belong."

The woman looked at her, terror in her eyes. 

Like a frightened animal she glanced quickly from side to side at each window at the back of her house. Like a cat, she sprang toward the window Sasha had looked through the last time she was here.

But Sasha was ready for her. She was fast also, and she sprang after her, intercepting her before she reached the window, and grabbing her by her shoulders. Thankfully Sasha was taller and bigger than Madam Soltar, and she knew she could hold her down.

"I swear to god, I will put you on the ground, you stupid woman. You are coming with me now. An innocent person is going to die because of you, and I am going to see that it doesn't happen."

Madam Soltar tried to struggle free of Sasha s hands. No. You get away. I told you, you tell him no!"

Sasha held her tight, so that the woman couldn't get away. "I am not going to tell him that, and you are coming with me .... Aoide."



It was almost exactly four hours later that Sasha walked back into the warehouse with Aoide struggling and pulling at her from behind. It had been an enormous battle to get her into the car. 

Once there, Aoide had tried to escape several times. She was, thankfully, useless, and uncoordinated, so that Sasha could hold her in place virtually with one hand held against her as she drove, but she had to pull over and tend to the woman, as she wrestled and tried to get herself free. It was a nightmare, and Sasha received several scratches and kicks.

But Aoide knew not to open the door and jump out, or kick the glass in. Sasha supposes there was a piece of her that knew this was her fate and that it had to happen at some time. 

When she walked into the room, it was almost as she had left it. Jay sat in a chair, and Greg sat near him. Greg worked on a large sketch pad, but jay stared in front of him with a blank stare on his face. But it brightened when he saw Sasha. Immediately his eyes fell on the woman next to her. Sasha still held her hands behind her back, but her hair was now wild and her dress torn in one place. Both the women looked bedraggled and worse for wear after their escapade. 

Estella appeared, holding a pentagram, from behind the dark stair case hidey hole she used the first day Sasha had arrived. Greg started at the site of the two women, his mouth open. The three of them just looked at Aoide, not saying anything.

Sasha stepped forward. "I'm back. And I've brought the answer to the problem with me." The three said nothing. They just looked at Sasha. Aoide jumped on this opportunity.

"Help me, please. I am an innocent fortune teller. My name is Madam Soltar. This woman came to me for a reading many weeks ago and now she has gone crazy, telling me I have to rescue someone. Can you all talk some sense into her?"

Greg stood up immediately. "Sasha. Are you alright? There seems to be some mistake here...." 

Sasha cut him off. "There's no mistake Gregor. This is Aoide."

Estella let out a gasp, and ran forward from the shadows. She looked intently at the woman as Sasha held her wrists behind her back still.

Jay stood up slowly. "Sasha, I'm not sure what you think you are doing, but this woman can't be a woman born over two thousand years ago. I think you might be suffering under the stress of this situation."

"Yes, I agree Sasha." Greg chimed in. "I think it has gotten to you. You need to let this poor lady go."

Sasha's eyes settled on Estella for the briefest moment, and she knew suddenly how the poor woman felt, with no one believing her, and her going to so many different kinds of efforts to make things better for her family. Estella was not looking at her; however, her eyes were fixed firmly on Aoide.




Full Figured Chic Ch. 20



She moved forward, staring the woman up and down. "It is you. Sasha is right. You are here. You will fix this problem."

Jay moved forward. "Mother, please, don't encourage her."

Estella shook him off. Aoide was calm, thinking there was a chance the men in the room would save her. But Estella moved forward again, so that she was very close to Aoide's face. She looked hard at her, but spoke to Sasha.

"Are you sure it's her."

"Yes. When is Sutomi Lim due?"

"He'll be here any second, in think. The men are going to call the police if he turns up."

Greg moved into their conversation. "He won't be able to get in through the doors. The police are on alert waiting for him. They went to his office today and he wasn't there, and he wasn't in his home either. We're just waiting now, to see that this all gets sorted out."

"He won't get stopped by the police. He will get in anyway."

"If he does we will call the police in." 

Continued Greg. "The most important thing is that he won't be able to get to Jay."

"When he arrives, we need to show him Aoide."

"Sasha... I..." 

"No. I won't have it. You will just have to keep her here till he gets here. I am not going to compromise on this. I know what I am doing."

Jay started to speak up. "Sasha, I know you are trying to help..." 

Estella cut him off. "It is her. Remember I told you, they have travelled through time together? Always apart? Sasha knows that this is the woman. She is the one he has been searching for. By some miracle, Sasha has found her."

"We can't hold her here against her will." Jay said talking from Sasha to his mother and then back to Sasha again."

"Trust her Jay. This is going to work. We will deal with other problems later."

Suddenly, the same large voice they'd heard earlier in the day boomed out from the top of the stair case. "What problem will you deal with later? Surely not me? I am here Jay Miles. I am here to claim you at last."

It was Sutomi Lim. 



Full Figured Chic Ch. 21



Jay whirled around, as Greg moved toward the phone. As soon as Greg picked up the receiver, one of the guards from hell appeared out of nowhere and smashed it back on the cradle. Greg moved away, edging back toward the others.

Sutomi stood at the top of the staircase. He smiled down at all of them, and started to walk towards the first step, then proceeded to make his way down the stairs.

"What seems to be the problem here? Are you not ready yet Jay? Still clinging to some hope that all of this isn't going to happen?"

Jay stood watching him as he walked down the stairs. As if he'd been convinced by his mother's words, he moved slowly to the side and said "Only that we have found something here. Something that we think may belong to you."

And he moved to the side to reveal the woman that Sasha held right.

Sutomi Lim looked up, and immediately his face fell into a shock that seemed to rock him to his core. The entire colour drained from his face and he stopped dead in his tracks. He half collapsed to the rail of the steps, and moved both hands to reinforce his grip there. 

"Aoide?" was all he could say.

Aoide pulled herself free from Sasha, who couldn't quite believe that she had been right after all. She wasn't worried now about letting her captive go. She'd been seen and that was all that Sasha thought would be required for Sutomi Lim to have what he wanted. 

"Aoide. Is that really you?"

"Aye, it's me" She said with a heavy level of disgust in her voice. She rubbed her wrist and looked at Sasha as she rolled her shoulders back and stretched a little. "As you see, I am here before you."

Sutomi Lim didn't move. He kept staring at Aoide. 

Sasha stared up at him. The one guard by the phone had now been joined by the other two and their eyes were on Sutomi Lim as well. Everyone watched, as if the entire world depended on what happened next.

Soon, he partially recovered and remembered himself. He stood and walked down the stairs the rest of the way, not saying a word. Sasha watched him, fascinated. Suddenly she felt a touch at her elbow, and Jay was gently encouraging her to stand closer to him. She moved, and he'd pulled her further toward the stairs. Suddenly, Sutomi Lim turned on his hells.

"You four get over near the stairs there. I don't want any of you leaving or thinking that this is over for you."

Jay pulled Sasha toward him, and moved nearer to the edge of the staircase. The three guards moved to position nearby making it clear they had a job to do again and were doing it. 

Sutomi Lim moved toward Aoide. He stood only about two meters away. From where she stood, Sasha could only see the back of him, but she could see Aoide's face.

"Where have you been? How did you survive?" he said, wonder in his voice now.

"I am half daemon. I didn't die, like you killed my children. Instead I was cursed to live as all daemons live. I stayed physically close to my offspring, but I have had to watch them all die through the ages because of you and your curse."

Lim looked down as if he were wondering who had tied his shoelaces that morning. With his head still bowed, he said, "But I have had to spend an eternity without you, and you have been here 

with me all along?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you show yourself?"

"You were killing my children. You would kill me eventually, if you knew that I lived. Just I expect you will now."

Lim looked up at her. "Yes it's true. My anger against you runs very deep. You gave yourself so happily to another man. We were young lovers."

Aoide had a defiant look on her face. "We were never lovers. You never touched me. I tried to kiss you, I tried to reach for you, but you always turned me away. You didn't want Me., We were both daemon, and you didn't want me. I thought, where will he find another daemon woman? But I decided that you must be searching for her, so I would have to make myself take my own course."

"I wanted to make myself human for you."

"When did I tell you I wanted a human?" 

"But you are human. You are half human."

"That doesn't mean I can live a human life."

Sutomi looked down again. Toward his feet he said "Have the gods deceived me?"

Suddenly Aoide laughed. It was a screeching, piercing laugh that hurt the ear drums. 

"The gods? The gods! You fool! You deceived yourself."

Sutomi turned so that his face was revealed. He was definitely in some sort of shock. He moved toward the chair that jay had been sitting in earlier. It was a collapse, all the strength out of him. He looked to Sasha like a man who had the weight of a thousand planets on him. He took a deep breath, and then without looking up at Aoide, he said,

"Why didn't you speak to me, and tell me all this. I would never have killed you."

"Yes you would have. You could kill all my children. You could kill me."

Aoide placed her hands on her hips. She looked defiant, and in control. She dealt Sutomi the final blow to his realisation. "And besides. I liked it when I had sex. I didn't want to stop and I didn't want to have just one man."

"You would do that rather than save your children?"

Aoide screamed out loud in the same terrifying voice, "I thought you would kill me you fool. I hoped you would never come from me and that I would be able to watch my children's children from a distance till they left. It was the only pleasure I ever had."

Not the only pleasure, Sasha thought with disgust.

A pause controlled the room. Sasha held her breath and imagined everyone else did the same. Sutomi sat in his chair, staring at Aoide as she looked back at him doing the same. Sasha could feel the tension between them, and almost imagined she could feel some sexual energy. 

Suddenly, Sutomi Lim leaps out of the chair and ran toward Aoide. As he did so, she opened her arms and welcomed him. The pair started to kiss, fevered, passionately, Lim holding her face in his hands, Aoide with her arms clasped around his neck. If it weren't for the fact that both of them disgusted Sasha so much. The scene would be endearing.

However, soon the kissing had been going on long enough. Sasha wanted resolution on the issue at hand, and clearly Jay did as well. He stood forward, not enough so as to wake the guards, but enough to be able to show that he had something to say.

"Ah, hem." He forced a false cough to get their attention. 

They didn't move. Kissing as if they'd been separated for years, which they had, they ignored Jay and just kept up.

"Sutomi Lim. You have a problem. You now have to deal with me." Jay called out.

"You have no justification for your anger now." Sasha turned to see Estella standing next to Jay. She looked strong, and almost as thought ten years had been taken from her appearance. 

This would be the biggest validation the woman was ever going to receive and she was enjoying every moment of it. "The gods will not look favourably upon you exacting out revenge with Aoide in your arms."

This had Sutomi Lim cease his kissing. Without taking his arm off Aoide, he turned to look at the small party gathered under the stairs.

"It's true" he said. The guards turned their heads suddenly toward Lim. "This has no justification now. I have Aoide back again, and I am no longer allowed to curse Alexander and his offspring."

He leaned toward Aoide and kissed her again. She kissed him back, and snuggled into his chest.

"You are free from the curse Jay. I no longer wish to see your death. And your woman is yours also, and you can enjoy your child together."

Then, with a sudden wave of his hand, he and the guards, and Aoide all disappeared.

Sasha stood still, not being exactly sure of what to do next.

Jay turned around, and ran to her; kissing her almost with the same passion Lim and Aoide had kissed with. He held her caressing her, clutching her, reaching of her. Sasha kissed him back, feeling the full weight of relief flowing through both of them. Jay was going to be alright, he want' going to die, and they had a chance at a real life together.

After a moment of clinging to each other, accepting that they had more time, and they had a future, Sasha turned away from jay to look at the others. Greg stared at the two of them. He looked lost, as though he didn't know what to do with this information or what it could all possibly mean. 

Her eyes wandered to Estella. The older woman had fallen into the chair and sat forward with her head in her hands. She shook and at first Sasha thought something was wrong with her. She soon realised, however, that she was crying. Pouring all the years of grief and desperation into the tears that flowed through her hands. 

Sasha let go of Jay and indicated toward his mother. He pulled away and ran to her.

"Mother. Mother, I'm here. Touch me. I'm here and I will never doubt you or not trust you again. You saved me mother. Your belief and faith saved me, and I will always be grateful."

Estella looked up at her son, tears staining the face that had already been marked by the years – years of sadness, desperation, loneliness and grief. Jay held her hand and lifted her out of the chair to stand before him. In a hug that held and protected her against a world that hated her for so long, he wrapped his protective muscled arms around her and let her sob and sob into his chest. 

With tears in her eyes, Sasha moved toward Greg. 

"What is there to say?" She looked at him, deep warmth in her eyes. Greg kept his gaze levelled at Jay and his mother, but spoke to Sasha in a hushed voice, so as not to disturb their moment. 

"I will never understand what I have seen here today, Sasha, but I know what in am seeing now. I've never been so touched by two people in my life."

He paused and turned to Sasha. "And thank you. I don't know how you did it, but I think this means Jay is back from whatever strange place he was in."

Sasha smiled at him, and felt the warmth flowing between them. This was a moment to bask in relief and to feel the free flow of the joy of being human.

After a few moments with his mother, Jay turned to room to speak with the other two people who had stood by him through the strangeness of this ordeal.

"Friends! We have a line to complete!"

*****

Sasha teetered nervously on her high heels. She stared at the woman in front of her, who was applying the fifth layer of lipstick to her deep ruby coloured lips. 

Everything that had happened between her and Jay in their dealing with Sutomi Lim and the subsequent whirlwind weeks of getting the line complete were nothing compared wit this moment. 

Right now, she'd rather face those daemon guards again, than go out on that runway for the first time as she was preparing to do. She felt a warm hand slither into her own and she turned to see Penny; only a faint bruising on her face reminded her of the ordeal of a few weeks back. Her friend looked well and happy, and at this moment, filled with excited sympathy.

"Oh you look nervous, don't worry. All your training will kick in the second you are out there."

"Man, Pen, I am so scared. I mean like really really scared."

"Oh come on Sasha. This doesn't sound like the woman who single headedly reconciled a daemon with his long lost daemon lover, and saved her fiancé from suicide."

The makeup artists paused and glanced at Penny, then back at Sasha. She kept up with the lipstick application.

"I kid you not Pen, I'd take any of that over this, any day."

"Sasha." the makeup artist jumped in. "I've done this for twenty years, and I have never seen a model more beautiful than the way you l0ok right now, nor have I ever seen a world more ready for this idea. You are about to make history. Can I respectfully suggest you think of something a little bigger than yourself in this moment?"

Sasha gulped. She glanced toward Penny, her mouth curled into a smooth 'O' shape so that it would be worked on better.

Penny was laughing. "Yeah. Get over yourself for god's sake."

The makeup artist pulled back. "Perfect. You know you have to be extra careful with your changes don't you? You've got a dark colour on. It won't stay this good, and I can only do touch ups – no time for full recovery if you smudge this."

"I'm ok with the changes." Sasha replied. "I've been practising them every day for a fortnight."

Satisfied, the woman walked away. Sasha turned to her friend.

"Well, I have ten minutes before in go out there and change the world."

"You look fantastic. You'/re glowing you know."

"As long as I'm not showing. And thank god there's no morning sickness." 

"At least not yet," Penny reminded her. "It's early days you know."

"The doctor told me it looks like I may be clear. And seeing as he's saying what I want to hear, I'm going to take his word for it."

Penny laughed softly, and then stood back, looking at Sasha. She looked wistful as if she were contemplating something.

"You know, I haven't thanked you properly for what you did for me in that hospital. I know everything worked out ok, and Gilbert is making a full recovery, but you took the risk that he may not. You were brave enough to tell me what in needed to hear – not what you felt comfortable in telling me."

Sasha looked down, smoothing out her dress. "It wasn't easy Pen. I tried not to do that."

"I didn't know the deceit in that woman Sasha. You gave me what I ached for; what that woman could never give me. You feed me when I was hungry Sasha, and I will never forget it. I took that strength and I gave it to Gilbert and now we are both well again."

Sasha looked up into her friend's eyes – great oceans of love and warmth. "With eyes like that you make me feel like I can take on the world."

Penny smiled, adding to the emotion she poured out on her friend. "You are about to go out there and take on the world. 

You will be brilliant. And, my dearest of all friends, in will be by your side to feed you in the same way you fed me. Trust yourself, trust our friendship and trust Jay. Take what's being offered you."

Sasha smiled, opening her mouth to say something back to the warm words, but instead paused as "Sasha smith into position" filled the gap between the two women. Penny gasped, leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the cheek. Smiled, then turned and walked away, as Sasha made her way to the position ready for the Jay miles models to walk the catwalk. 

Behind her, in a group, stood four other full figured women, each wearing Jay's incredible designs. Each looked like the flower she represented, and each stood elegant and dramatically styled in jays clothes. Suddenly jay himself appeared.

"Model four needs a hair check," he shouted as he moved into their eye line, his bus9nes gaze moving rapidly over all five models. He moved directly to Sasha.

"You're about to change my life – again." he whispered.

The model behind Sasha giggled then looked away with a flush in her cheek. Jay glanced at her then looked back at Sasha. "You look incredible" he smiled. 

Sasha wore a very pale lime satin frock twisted gently around her voluptuous figure. The plunge of the neckline, combined with the corset bodice lifted her ample bosom and almost poured it out of the top of the gown. 

The large collar stood stiff in petal shapes behind her, as her impeccable coiffe sat in deep auburn curls close to her head. She looked like a lily – the style Jay wanted for her. She was no virginal bide, she was the mature sophisticated woman, dramatic, proud, fertile- goddess. 

A real woman, the perfect musky female partner for her man. Jay's line encouraged the strength in woman, the power, avoiding the waif like insecurity of women who look like little boys. 

"Gone are the days of weak women Sasha. You are power – harnessed power – but power none the less. You are beautiful, feminine and wild. A lioness, not a kitten." Jay had said to her in the final rehearsals long after the drama of Sutomi Lim had passed them both by.

Now she stood before him, and he checked the line of her gown, the hem and the seams. She saw the mist in his eyes, as he moved on to check the next model, running are more professional, less affected eye over her. 

They'd called the four extra full figured women in two weeks before the show. They used real models, but they only had catalogue experience, no runway, and Sasha found herself helping to coach the experts in a field she'd taken to most surprisingly. 

In those last few weeks, so much had happened. They had successfully kept the press away from discovering the line, but with the disappearance of Sutomi Lim, and the shock revelation of his attempts at sabotage, the buzz around this line had gotten out of control without anyone knowing what secrets this line contained. 

The papers talked of rumours of a lockdown situation and Jay working around the clock to bring a line to complete before the next show. The press hadn't been able to get through the security Jay employed. Never before in fashion had so much security been used for one complex. 

It was like a maximum security prison.

The big surprise was Sutomi Lim disappearing from the face of the earth. Press had traced some movements to his packing up his life a few weeks before fashion week, but he'd left his entire empire in the hands of no one. His staff came to work Monday morning to find they had no job, and no line left b y Sutomi to complete to b e prepared. 

Jay had publicly announced that ye would take up every employee left by Sutomi Lim, as he believed he would need all the extra workers once he revealed a dramatic secret at his showing at fashion week. He'd paid big bucks to get the opening show, an opening he promised would change the face of fashion. The press could hardly wait. Sasha was about to take the first step on the runway to change the world right now.

Sasha herself had poured more work into the final weeks of the line than she'd ever given any other project. She got plenty of sleep to preserve her look, but achieved ten times the output of anyone in the studio in the hours she was awake. She learnt seven years of modelling in four weeks, and trained as though she were with a martial arts sensei. 

She knew she was ready. She'd called work and asked Martin to invite her co workers to the show. She'd arranged seats for them all and she knew they all sat out there, not knowing what part she played in all of this, but that she was going to be doing something. 

She'd received word that Darren was there and that he'd already done everything he could to keep the gossip alive on the dramas that went on between them. 

She was due back at work Monday morning, and although Sasha knew she was never going back to that job again, she wanted martin, and her colleagues to see her here, so that they would fully understand why they would never be seeing her in that office again. Her life had changed so much in a few short weeks that nothing they could say would ever bring her back to who she used to be.

Jay came back to her as they heard the announcement that the Jay miles collection was coming out in 2 minutes time. The audience was seated, and the lights and music in place. He leaned in and kissed her lightly on her lips so as not to spoil her lipstick. 

"It's is our line my love. This is our life. Now go out there and change the world."

Sasha walked past him, her shoulders back, her head held high and her entire self ready for what she was about to do.

She stood at the curtains. She could see the first row of people and she pulled back gently so not a moment was revealed a head of time. She hears the voice over say;

"Ladies and gentlemen. Mr Jay Miles."

That was Sasha's que. With her head held high, she walked out to the deep burnt orange curtain that said Jay miles in the large sliver letters. 

She turned and stood still, hand on hip, and stared defiantly into the audience. In her peripheral vision she saw Jay watching her from the side still, like a statue. 




Full Figured Chic Ch. 21



Her heart pounded as she waited for the long 30 second impasse they'd orchestrated to give the audience a chance to see exactly what the surprise was all about.

That thirty seconds you could have heard a pin drop. No 0ne and nothing moved as the audience was stunned like rabbits in the headlights. Ten seconds dragged into fifteen and Sasha felt the buzz take over all of her. She couldn't see faces, so bright were the lights on her, but she could feel the audience as shed been trained and she knew they were stunned.

Fifteen dragged into twenty and Sasha started to think about the walk to the end of the runway and the turn at the end. She only had another few seconds and then she'd have to get the show underway.

Then, at the twenty five second mark Sasha heard it. I lone clap, from somewhere near the front where the press and the magazines sat. The lone clap was followed almost on top by another and then another. 

By the time she'd been standing there for thirty seconds the entire audience was on its feet cheering and whistling. As per instruction, Sasha stood for another thirty seconds, as the audience went wild, seeing the full figured woman, glamorised, beautified, worshiped as she should be.

focussed only on what she had to do, Sasha waited for her extra thirty seconds then walked to the end of the catwalk, turning an effortlessly elegant turn, and strode her way back to the end. The next model stood ready, and Sasha traded places with her, sprinting for her change area as soon as she'd made it off the catwalk.

After the show, Jay stood in an ocean of press, talking with Vogue, Marie Clair and harpers, making interview times and working out when he was going t schedule all the samples shows. 

Sasha had been the object of almost as much pres herself, but now, a few hours after the enormously successful show, she stood to the side with her friend penny. They laughed and gossiped as they watched Jay dealing with the press in his inimitable style. 

Sasha felt an arm at her elbow and she turned to see Martin.

"I've been waiting for hours. All the others have gone home, but I wanted to say to you now, I am not expecting you on Monday."

Sasha SMILED, "would you be horribly offended if I told you definitely not?"

He grinned. "No way! You've given us all hope. I'm thinking I might get discovered as a formula one racing driver if I break the speed limit on the way home."

Mock shock flew into Sasha's eyes. "That's not how it happens! You have to sit in a park bench and drink coffee."

Martin smiled "I have a feeling it takes more than that pretty lady. But I wanted to tell you in was so proud of you tonight, and I wanted to give you just a tinsy bit of gossip. Darren was loudly making fun of you leading up to the show, but he was made gob smacked when you came out looking so amazing. By the end of the show he was telling everyone you used to date and that he was going to call you again. I wanted to warn you to expect the call."

Sasha laughed "It no problem, I know exactly what to say to him when he calls."

"Some people just don't get it Sasha, and they never will. But for the rest of us, I want you to know in am so terribly happy for you."

Sasha leaned up and gave him a fast peck on the cheek. She noticed Jays eyes dart away from the pretty lady interviewing him to her direction, so she pulled away from martin fast. "I'll send you my formal resignation."

"I hope you don't misunderstand when in say I will be thrilled to receive it."

He waved to Penny and then turned on his way.

"Well honey, it looks like Jay will be a while, and I want to greet to Gilbert. I'm so glad of you Sasha. I'm so glad this became as successful as we knew it would." she leaned up and kissed her friend on the cheek. 

"I'll be here for while. I'm going t wait for jay. "Penny looked over at him. Some of the crowd were staring to thin out. "What are you doing now?"

"We'll go to the after party. The models and Greg and the rest of the crew are there already. I actually want to go home, but in think well party for a little while."

With a wave and a promise of a call tomorrow her friend left.

Jay made a bee line for Sasha as soon as Penny had gone. "How are you feeling pretty lady?"

The press weren't far behind. Sasha could see they'd want a piece of both of them for a while yet.

"I'm so happy Jay, and maybe just a little tired."

Jay placed a protective hand on her lower belly. "I want to take you home. I just organised a morning press conference. We're not going to the after party."

"But Jay, you can't miss your own party."

Jay looked at her, the flood of emotion and obvious joy running through him to her. "My love, I want to be with you. You and that little life growing inside you are my world now. I'm inviting Greg over to our house, plus john for private drinks and we have a massive press conference scheduled in the morning. Will you come to both with me?"

Sasha grinned. "Of course darling."

"This is the start for us Sasha. It all gets better and better from now on."

And Sasha exhaled all the tension flooding out of her for the first time in as long as she could remember.



The end.