Chapter 2: Dame Fortune Smiles Down

Chapter 2: Dame Fortune Smiles Down

Mayleen was quite stiff and sore when the lid of the trunk was lifted. The time given on the piece of paper had been 140, two hours and twenty minutes. That was not a record with them. Aika had once spent three hours in there. But it was enough to elevate Mayleen to a high state of frustration. As soon as the ropes were off, she was helped to bed by Aika. Then, gently and with real love, Aika caressed her sore body and kissed her and held her tight. As soon as the returning circulation pins-and-needles feeling left Mayleen’s hands, the two of them were engaging in the ancient arts of Isle of Lesbos.

In a way, the ordeal had its desired effect. The discomfort had flushed away the worries of the day and replaced them with a euphoric state of sexual excitement and, oddly enough, satisfaction. Not of the sexual kind, she was very frustrated long before her time was up. It was more of an emotional satisfaction.

Both of these unusual young women had a strong need for regular doses of intense helplessness. It satisfied an inner, psychological need. They had talked about their needs but never really came to an understanding of how they came about. There were incidents during their childhood that might have strongly influenced their personalities. But they did not dwell upon why they were the way they were, they simply accepted it and were content to do all they could to fulfill the need.

For the better part of a year, since they met and accidently found they were both attracted to the same kinky games, as well as each other, they had been living together and quite happily engaging in activities that most would consider perverted. But they did not think of their urges as perverted, just different. If neither of them suffered any real harm by their rope games, then what was wrong? They got a lot out of the rope play, and were probably more sexually satisfied than most “normal” people.

The next morning, as they were preparing to go to their jobs, Aika asked that she be allowed a turn in the trunk that evening. “I keep worrying about the layoffs,” she told Mayleen. “Time spent in the trunk always helps me.”

Mayleen promised that she would help Aika and the two of them kissed before setting off for their daily grind.

The day was typical of that sprawling city on the California coast. Being late summer, the weather was hot and humid as moisture-laden air was channeled up from Mexico to the south. Some fluffy high clouds dotted the sky but promised no rain. The air above the city was turning into a brownish haze of hydrocarbons and other chemicals not friendly to the human lungs. Traffic was heavy, as usual, and Mayleen was ten minutes late getting to work, earning her a nasty stare from her boss.

Aika made it to work on time but encountered depressing talk on the rumor mill of more employees being laid off.

On the way in, the radio in their cars told of strife in the Middle East, economic woes at home, and a new battle between a more than slightly eccentric President and Congress.

Just a typical day.

But what neither of the girls knew was than fate was about to step in and change their lives forever.

The working of fate was, as it often is, subtle. Nothing more than a small piece of paper being dragged along the ground by a fickle breeze. Mayleen, on her lunch break, was walking along, her mind filled with worries about a new project her boss had given her and which she was uncertain how to do. Half a block from the fast food restaurant that was her destination, she noticed a piece of paper fluttering in a patch of weeds. She recognized it as a lottery ticket by the color. Curious about it, she picked it up and looked at it. The date printed on it was several weeks prior, and she simply assumed that someone had tossed it away after finding that it was not a winner. Only her inner compulsion for neatness made her shove it into her purse with the intent of disposing of it in the next available trash can. Her little bit to help keep the city clean.

As she sat at an outdoor table with the a hamburger and fries before her, mentally complaining about the paper thin slice of what was supposed to be meat but was tasteless, and the overly salted French fries, she remembered the ticket she had picked up. She pulled it out of her purse and was about to toss it into a conveniently nearby trash can when a strange impulse overcame her. Normally not one to enter any lottery drawing, or to gamble at all, she wondered if the ticket might just be a winner. No anxious to get back to her desk, she decided to check it out. Pulling out her cell phone, she brought up the browser. A minute later she was connected to the state lottery website. A bit of searching brought up the prior winning numbers. Going down the list, she found the ticket’s date listed.

For a long time she sat there, frozen in position and totally unable to think rationally. Repeatedly she compared the numbers on the ticket with those on the cell phone screen, but every time she did, they still matched perfectly. All six numbers were the same. The special one, called the “power” number matched.

With shaking fingers she scrolled the page over to see how much that drawing was worth. The number shocked her to the core. It was impossible to imagine that many millions of dollars.

Still she sat there, her burger and fries getting cold, as she tried to come to grips with this incredible turn of events. There has to be a mistake, her mind kept telling her. It couldn’t be true! No way.

She checked the number again. And again.

Then she carefully placed the ticket in her wallet and rose from the table. Fighting the urge to run, she walked back to her workplace. But she did not go into the building. Instead she went to the parking lot and got into her car. When she felt calm enough, she drove to the lottery office listed on the ticket. After waiting in line, she finally got up to the window and showed the ticket there to a bored looking clerk. The woman suddenly smiled and announced that it was, indeed, correct on all numbers, and, furthermore, was the only ticket possessing them.

Mayleen, in a state of shock, was escorted into a private room where she had to fill out numerous tax forms and other paperwork. She posed for some publicity photos with an oversized check and some officials she really didn’t notice. She was told that money would be electronically deposited into her checking account that afternoon. The total amount was a little less than half the announced winnings but that was mainly because the government took a huge chunk out to pay taxes. Still, the amount left over was impossible to believe.

As the reality slowly sank in, Mayleen began making plans.