Mailgirls Down Under Pt. 12

*

Simon O'Donnell sat at the bar nursing a drink when Fanny Durack swanned into the restaurant, resplendent in an off the shoulder dress which emphasised her curves then flared from the waist to her ankles. Simon's eyes widened as she approached. "You're early," Fanny laughed, "sorry for being on time." She ignored the other eyes in the bar that were fixed on her.

Simon beamed at this good start. "Wow," he admired, "you can do it with or without clothes on."

"Do what?" Fanny asked with mock innocence. She flicked her long brown hair away from her face.

"Are you always the centre of attention?" Simon asked, impressed.

"Only when I want to be," was her equally playful response. Fanny looked at the glass he was holding. "What are you drinking?" she asked him. "I like my bourbon straight," he replied, showing that was still some remaining.

"I'm a red wine sort of girl," she suggested, so Simon tried to attract the bartender.

Their easy conversation continued when they were seated for dinner. They were quite candid. "It's a funny sort of first date," Simon admitted.

"Me with clothes on?" Fanny suggested.

"Yeah that," Simon agreed. "And I guess we won't want to talk about mailgirls. We do that enough at work." He smiled.

Fanny smiled back. "Too right."

"And it's your area of study so we won't talk about that either. So what else is there?"

Fanny grinned. "You and me. Everything else. Let's try, okay?"

Simon nodded. "Well, it's one way to know each other better, finding things we can talk about."

They laughed as they recited together "we've bared our bodies, now we bare our souls!" Anyone watching could tell that they both knew how they wanted the night to go.

*

To his surprise, Lindsay had given Mitch a project with substance. When he heard a gentle knock on his office door, he found that he had been concentrating on in for over an hour, an hour spent without wondering why he was bothering to come into the office or trying to work up a reason to leave his desk that did not involve coffee or food.

"Come in," he called when the door did not open. He realised that without Betty Cuthbert as some sort of guardian of his time, in his new role, people just tended to march in when they wanted to see him, so this was now unusual. The door opened slowly and with Mitch watching, Kimiko Date slunk into his office.

"You have a message for me to deliver," the mailgirl smiled wanly as she made her way up to Mitch's desk. He had not called for a mailgirl, obviously they both knew that. Kimiko looked pensive, and Mitch wondered if it was him.

"I suppose I do," Mitch played along, knowing that the mailgirls had hacked the app.

Kimiko sat down opposite Mitch and sighed. She slouched in her seat, leaning on an armrest, not at all provocative.

"What's up?" Mitch asked her with a degree of concern. He was not used to seeing her deflated.

Kimiko spent a moment, calming down and getting her thoughts together. "That woman," she huffed. "I need to get away from her at least for a short while."

Mitch reached over and briefly placed his hand gently on hers. "You can be here 'helping me' for as long as you need," he assured her.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

"What's getting to you?" Mitch asked. "Do you want to talk it out?" Kimiko nodded, so he probed further. "Is it the tying up from the roof?"

Kimiko looked Mitch in the eyes. "I can put up with that in isolation. But you must have noticed that she's trying to change the whole mailgirls thing here. And I am supposed to be her mouthpiece. And she also requires me to be with her outside the office. Every night. And now she's planning a performance."

Mitch looked aghast. "What, after hours?" Kimiko nodded solemnly. He tried to lighted her up. "Would I want to see it?" And realised that he had got that wrong.

Kimiko shook her head. "No, don't." She looked at Mitch earnestly.

"I won't then. But, if it's okay with you, I better call the expert." They both knew that he meant Jackson. "Is that okay?" Mitch made sure to confirm that with her. Again she nodded, so Mitch got onto his app and called Jackson up to join them.

Kimiko got up and flopped onto Mitch's sofa. When Jackson arrived they then put the issue to her.

"I've been thinking about it," Jackson announced. Kimiko sat, arms in her lap concentrating on Jackson who stood between her and Mitch who concentrated on her from behind his desk. "In my case, I am kind of in the friend zone with Lindsay dragging me out with her." She did not notice that both Kimiko and Mitch momentarily looked shocked. Jackson had been meeting after hours with Lindsay? She missed their surprise as she continued on. "But in your case, Kimiko, it is a bit different. Mrs Ogawa apparently does not understand any English..." Jackson let her doubt float in the ether for a moment but neither of the others seemed to try to grab at it. So she continued. "While Mrs Ogawa is in Melbourne, unless she finds some other Japanese speakers for after hours, she is kind of reliant on you to help her engage with the world. So I guess there is an option for overtime or some extra allowance to cover what you do for her outside the office."

Kimiko scratched her ear. "I'm not sure I want financial compensation for what's going on, if that's the answer."

"Perhaps think of it like this," Jackson suggested. "It's not about the money per se. But if Mrs Ogawa is aware that there is a material cost for her demands on you, she might think twice about taking over your life outside of work."

"Or she might just charge it to the mailgirls program and not care about the cost. Mr Harada does not seem to worry about how much he spends on mailgirls," Mitch wondered.

Jackson looked over to him. "Well, the alternative is to confront her directly about it. Which could cause a lot of issues. Loss of face, insubordination by underlings, that sort of thing. I'm suggesting this as a roundabout way that could avoid direct provocation, conflict."

Kimiko nodded. "Worth a try, I guess," she decided. "The worst thing that could happen is that I get paid more money than I already am."

It was Jackson's turn to look perplexed. "I know it's a turn of phrase. But from what I've seen, there appear to be a whole lot of worst things that could happen to you than getting paid for putting up with her."

Kimiko sighed. "She's not that bad," she emphasised. "And you know me." She tried to say it with spark, but she was clearly a bit flat.

Jackson stepped up to the other mailgirl and gently brushed her hair out of her eyes. "You know I'll do whatever I can for you," she told Kimiko.

Mitch coughed. "Same here, as much as I can," he assured her.

Kimiko relaxed a bit on the lounge, seemingly satisfied with that support. There was a silence for a moment which started to become awkward since none of them could think of anything to add. Mitch stared at the mailgirls, seated at his desk, Kimiko sat back drinking up the calm and Jackson stood awkwardly between them, poised but unsure what for.

Jackson made a decision. "Well, if you need me..." she concluded and headed for the door.

*

Cara walked into Emily's room and found her wearing clothes, sprawled on her back on the bed. So not in a mailgirl mood. "You rang?" she asked her twin.

Emily did not look over, just kept studying her ceiling. "I'm bored," she announced. "And why aren't we doing something about the mailgirls we uncovered?"

"Because we have to find the right time and reason," her sister reminded her. "We go there, track them down and say 'we know you're mailgirls' and then what? We have to pick our moment."

Emily sat up. "Yeah I know. And dad's not the boss, so we can't blackmail him into making me a mailgirl there." She smiled. Did she mean it?

Cara was unsure. She looked at her sister. "Would you have really done that?"

Emily smirked. "Like you said, we have to pick our moment." She flopped back down again. "I'm still bored."

Cara stood, her arms crossed. "You could do something about it yourself, you know."

Emily did not move. "I want you to do the work. And make it something new, something we haven't done before."

Cara started to search on her phone. "Why me?" she grumbled as she scrolled.

Emily turned her head to smile at her sister. "You're the dominant one, I'm the submissive. I thought we worked that out."

Cara grinned back. "Not the other night."

Emily looked back to the ceiling. "And I fucked that up," she responded firmly.

"Hmmm," Cara announced as she paused her scrolling to read the screen. Emily looked over at her, hopeful.

Cara looked equally inspired, showing Emily her phone. "Look what's on at Laneway. Shibari demonstration, apparently a genuine Japanese practitioner. Madam O from Tokyo. I've always wanted to do that to you. Properly."

Emily sat up eagerly. "Absolutely, let's go. Do you think there'll be any mailgirls there?"

Cara looked confused. "I don't immediately see the crossover. Maybe we can take mailgirls off the radar for one night."

"If you say so," Emily pouted as she stood up and stretched herself. "Well, what do you want me to wear?"

Cara smiled. "Some decent underwear in case I get the chance to tie you up." Emily chose a little black dress with sleeves, one that showed off her figure but did not reveal whether she was wearing any underwear. Cara quickly got ready in slimfit long pants and a light jacket. They could not have looked more different.

Backstage at Laneway, Kimiko confronted Mrs Ogawa. "I can't fucking believe that you have to do this in public. They don't pay you enough? Or is this all about ego?"

Mrs Ogawa smiled indulgently. "Is this about stage fright?" she asked Kimiko who had reluctantly dressed in a kimono that Mrs Ogawa had produced for her. "I want this to be consensual," Mrs Ogawa continued. For once she was the calm one, totally relaxed, and it was Kimiko who, agitated, was talking sharply to her. "Are you okay if I strip you completely nude. Or would you prefer to retain some of your modesty?"

Kimiko crossed her arms, trying to look assertive in all the unfamiliar material. "Modesty," she insisted.

Mrs Ogawa rebuked that. "You should have invited your friends. Or maybe your colleagues," she suggested.

Kimiko tried again to ameliorate. "That stays at work," she said weakly.

Mrs Ogawa walked up to the mailgirl and loosened her kimono and even massaged one of her breasts. "Well, we're about to find out how much of you stays at work. Or if this side of you is also the outside you."

Kimiko steeled herself not to flinch, not to show any response to Mrs Ogawa's insistent caresses and glared back at Mrs Ogawa who ignored her attempt at rebellion. "You should already know this. Shibari practised properly -- as I do it, obviously -- is about the disciple finding out truths about themselves, about their limits. And about their real desires," Mrs Ogawa explained dryly, twisting Kimiko's nipple before letting it go to carefully rearrange the outfit on the mailgirl.

Recomposed Kimiko sneered: "Oh, so you're doing this all for my benefit. I didn't realise. Thank you."

Mrs Ogawa gave her that dangerous smile in return, the one that implied it did not matter what Kimiko said or how she said it, Mrs Ogawa knew her real desires. "My pleasure," she so politely told the mailgirl, "you will appreciate it."

One of Laneway's staff stood at the door. "Five dollars," he told the twins, as he looked them up and down. "To keep the riff-raff out." He was either ogling them or checking they met some arbitrary dress standard. They both pulled the appropriate face at his boldness then paid up, went in and looked around to get the scene. Background jazz played over the sound system. A number of people stood against the sides of the bar, drinks already in their hands. Mirrors along the walls reflected the groups and the polished steel and wood of the bars and the décor, creating a sense of distortion. Typical for the crowd, they talked amongst themselves ignoring the situation near the back wall. Where a Japanese woman in a severe black outfit stood glaring at the crowd while a younger Japanese woman in a bright, floral patterned kimono attempted to focus on nothing in particular.

The twins of course took notice of that exotic pair more than the poseurs in the room, ordered their drinks and marched over to engage the two of them. "Are you here for the show or are you the show?" Cara asked them directly.

The older woman said nothing, held her stare, a hint of disdain for everyone in the room. The younger one spoke up, to the twins' surprise in a distinct Australian accent. "Yeah," she admitted, "we are the show." She looked over at her companion. "Madam O does not speak English." She spoke rapidly to Mrs Ogawa and then returned to the twins. "She's the Shibari master from Japan. I'm her locally hired translator." She again spoke to the other woman in Japanese. And again returned to the twins. "We should get this demonstration started," she told them. She then announced it to the rest of the room.

Mrs Ogawa nodded at Kimiko who made a show of shedding her kimono, certain that all eyes were on her. The twins found that they had the best view of the proceedings, literally standing right next to the performers. Kimiko now stood facing into the room, her breasts pointing forward, but her sheer skin-coloured pants gave her a little modesty. Mrs Ogawa produced a rope from her large handbag and proceeded to restrain Kimiko as she stood there, first of all tying her arms behind her back, then looping a collar of rope around her neck and securing the rope above and below Kimiko's breasts. They stood there for a moment. Then Mrs Ogawa then stood back and spoke to Kimiko.

"Madam O says that this is an easy one to start with, that anyone can do it." Mrs Ogawa spoke to her again. "And she said that it is a light restraint and does not cause the subject any discomfort," Kimiko added with a wry smile. She looked around the room. "Are there any volunteers for the next demonstration?" she asked. Cara nudged Emily unsubtly but Emily shook her head. "I want to see more first," she whispered back to her sister.

None of the other viewers seemed interested in volunteering. Kimiko shrugged as much as she could and informed Mrs Ogawa of the obvious. In response, Mrs Ogawa untied Kimiko, as they started a discussion which was clearly Mrs Ogawa insisting on something and Kimiko refusing. Finally, as the final loop fell away, Kimiko fell silent. Clearly Mrs Ogawa had won. Kimiko flexed and loosened her arms then held a defiant stare at the uninterested Mrs Ogawa for a moment. Then slowly Kimiko slid her pants down her legs and off. She was naked. And Mrs Ogawa was ready to continue.

She pushed Kimiko face down, mostly on her stomach then started, tying the rope first to the leg of a conveniently placed chair, then roped one of Kimiko's calves to the chair leg so that she was resting on one knee. The other knee Mrs Ogawa elevated, securing the mailgirl's leg behind her back so that she was spread, exposing her crotch totally to the onlookers. Almost unnecessarily, Mrs Ogawa again wound the rope around Kimiko's breasts and neck. Finally she ceremoniously handed the end of the rope to Cara who tugged it gently which exposed Kimiko further.

Emily applauded at what seemed to be the end of that demonstration. "That's more like it!" she exploded nudging Cara to try to get a reaction from her. Cara ignored her sister, acting like her responsibility with the rope to expose Kimiko to the room needed all her concentration. But she was mentally taking notes.

The rest of the onlookers either adopted looks of academic interest in the tableau or chose to ostentatiously look away after a moment of serious reflection on Kimiko's plight. They were not going to be seen as voyeurs. Kimiko help the pose seemingly unselfconsciously for a long moment until Mrs Ogawa carefully took the rope back from Cara to release her.

Standing still completely naked, Kimiko explained the origins of Shibari as a means of restraint and torture of prisoners in ancient Japan. Now the hipsters could stare candidly at the naked woman since she was educating them in the exotic art. And then Kimiko stressed the pleasurable aspects of the way that it was practised in the now. Most of the crowd looked away, apparently in deep thoughts. Were they shy at the suggestion of sexual satisfaction? During this time, Mrs Ogawa had produced a second rope.

Emily knew what that meant. "Me!" she squealed. Kimiko spoke to Mrs Ogawa who nodded, with apparently complete disinterest. So that was decided.

Kimiko smiled at Emily. "Your turn will come," she told her. "But firstly, Madam O will demonstrate a pose of unrequited desire." She nodded at the Shibari master.

Instructed by Mrs Ogawa, Kimiko knelt down pressing her calves to the back of her thighs until she was flat on the floor so Madam O could tie her calves and thighs together, spreading her legs as she faced the audience. She then bound Kimiko's arms behind her, again wrapped the rope above and below her breasts and for the finish, had Kimiko bite on the rope which then trailed down her stomach.

Meanwhile, Emily shook out of her dress and in keeping with Kimiko's state she also removed her underwear. Now naked, she watched the tying of Kimiko in a manner suggesting that she had no problem completely exposing herself to the room. And now it was her turn. Madam O placed Emily's hands together in front of her, then bound them together with a complex arrangement that used a lot of the rope. She then bound Emily's feet the same way so that she was immobilised in that position.

Kimiko looked over at Madam O's work on Emily and let her rope enticingly drop from her mouth. "This is the easiest way to bound a captive," Kimiko explained. "She won't be escaping anywhere." Emily smiled at that notion. And Madam O produced a third rope. "There is a chance for a third volunteer," Kimiko urged the audience. Madam O looked to Cara who chose not to notice.

There was a hubbub amongst a group in black and leather. "Well, I will," a woman in the group loudly exclaimed. She took off her leather jacket and marched up to Madam O. She took off her top and slipped out of her combat pants, standing there in her bra and panties. She looked over towards her group who remained aloof. "That's enough," she decided and spread her arms as she looked to Mrs Ogawa.

The Shibari master shrugged as she began work on her third captive. She placed the woman's head down and had her kneeling with her bottom up towards the watchers. Already it was clear that the thin material of the woman's underwear was not hiding much of her genitals. Madam O positioned the woman's arms straight up behind her, tying them together like that. The rope was wrapped across the woman's breasts and around her neck. Madam O gently nudged the woman's legs slightly further apart and wrapped one heel and calf against the back her thigh, exposing her further.

"She's not going anywhere either," Emily observed with a smile. And as if to underline that fact, Madam O carefully folded the woman's discarded top and combat pants into neat squares and placed them next to her. Madam O went over and studied Emily. After a moment, she untied Emily's feet, only to position Emily so that she was exposed as much as Kimiko was. When Mrs O had finished arranging her, Emily looked back to the Shibari master and smiled at her. To Kimiko's surprise, Mrs Ogawa smiled back at Emily, clearly liking something she saw in her.

Back in Mrs Ogawa's hotel suite, Kimiko disrobed as she asked the twins what they would like to drink. Emily chose to follow her lead and stripped naked too.

Cara decided that she should show their hosts what she was made of. "Mailgirl position one," she ordered Emily who obeyed, getting down on her knees, her breasts thrust forward in the well-known pose. Kimiko stiffened involuntarily in reaction. Did Emily or Cara notice and wonder why? Apparently not.