We'll Get Through This Together

We'll Get Through This Together

This is not necessarily our 2020 lockdown. As with my story 'Lockdown Toy Boy,' the lockdown scenario is merely the vehicle for events to unfold. All participants in sexual activity are over the age of eighteen.

1 - Tallulah

I groaned out loud as my phone rang for the fifteenth time that day -- or was it the sixteenth? Each previous conversation had been the same and I couldn't face another. When I saw the caller id, my shoulders slumped even further. It was my employer - the woman who was paying me to look after a pack of mad, assorted canine delinquents, and in whose annex I currently resided.

I felt I should answer it and my unenthusiastic greeting must have resonated down the miles to Cape Cod. The response came back. "You sound pretty down, honey. Bit of a shock, huh?"

At least it was more of a grown-up conversation than those I'd had with my various friends. They were all worried about not being able to hang out, see their boyfriends -- or in Cassie's case, her new girlfriend -- and generally do the things that late-teenagers do.

Relieved that this call wasn't going to be full of histrionics and angst, I reassured the woman I was ok, but it had been a bit of a blow even though half-expected.

"Yeah, we felt it was coming, but like everyone else, we put our heads in the sand. Nothing we can do though, hey? From tomorrow night we're locked down and we'll just have to ride out the storm."

We went on for a few minutes in similar vein until the woman became more business-like. "So, we're cutting it short up here on the Cape. We thought about sitting it out, but those of us that work for a living need to be back in our own homes on secure lines. Ain't gonna work up here unfortunately so we are flying back early tomorrow."

She sighed. "Gonna be strange being almost quarantined in our own homes and it's going to be hard without our husbands." She let out a rueful little laugh. "Typical -- they take off for a dream holiday on the golf courses of Scotland and now they'll be holed up somewhere with no place to go and nothing to do! Never mind, we'll all be safe and we'll get by somehow!"

If it were possible, my heart sank even lower. The annex was so much nicer than my shared apartment. The girls were great, but my room was tiny and even though we all tried to be discrete when we had people back, it was impossible not to overhear things that maybe were best left unheard. Here I was free to do what I liked and in the absence of my employers, being overheard was not an issue.

And I loved the dogs and they loved me. The thought of not seeing them for however long this lockdown was going to last tore at me more than anything else. I was meant to have another week of it while Mrs. Henderson was up on the Cape, plus many more to come over the summer months as she and her husband took themselves off to various exotic destinations. Now it was being cut short and I'd be holed up in my room for the duration, unable to see anyone other than my housemates.

For a brief moment, utter despair washed over me. Then I was thrown a lifeline which I grasped at with relief and elation.

"Been thinking, honey. We're all going to be silly-busy without the men-folk, so we'll still need someone to look after the dogs. The annex is totally isolated and self-contained. We'll make it worth your while to stay on and look after Lilith's and Daisy's as well."

I suddenly found some enthusiasm for the first time that day and accepted her offer gleefully.

After a few more minutes of discussion, she signed off. "Oh well, see you tomorrow sometime, no doubt. Maybe once I'm settled back we can discuss terms over a glass of wine. And maybe think about a few other things you can do to help lighten the load for us?"

As the call ended I flopped back onto my bed, a huge grin on my face. My employer's last words rang in my ears.

"Don't worry, Tallulah. We'll get through this together!"

I loved looking after the Henderson's dogs, crazy as they were. Over the years there had been between four and six of them and the current count was five, ranging in size from a majestic Siberian Husky down to a cute-as-a-button dachshund called Slinky. In between were a black Labrador, a Collie and an adorable patchwork quilt of a mutt with bits of everything thrown in for good measure.

At first, as a new kid in town, it was a welcome distraction for me. Fitting into a new culture in a new country proved difficult, and leaving England aged fourteen had been a huge wrench for me. I loved dogs and had always been around them. Unlike in my home and school life, I felt I had friends at last and they were a great comfort to me.

Back then, the Hendersons had also recently moved to the area when they took over a high-end real estate agency run by an elderly relative who was retiring. When they began to bring the dogs to the grooming business my mother ran in the town, I started looking after them, taking them for walks while they waited their turn to be pampered. As we became more attached and the Hendersons began to trust me more, I looked after them on their frequent business and leisure trips.

When Mrs. Henderson's mother passed a couple of years later, the annex in which she lived for part of the year was unused. I was seventeen then and was deemed old enough to stay over for the odd weekend. It was ideal and I loved those heady summer days when I could roam with the dogs in the extensive grounds of Milton's Creek, the exclusive gated community in which they lived. The estate was so large there was no need to go out into the wider world.

There were open meadows, woodlands and picnic areas in the communal part of the estate and each of the eight individual properties had its own large private gardens and were far enough apart to ensure total privacy. The creek that gave the property its name flowed through the grounds like a sidewinder, segmenting each property -- some of them twice. It was crossed by pretty bridges and the area was dotted with cupolas and gazebos. It teemed with wildlife and it was a joy to be out there amongst the birds, butterflies and chipmunks.

Even Sabre the husky had plenty of room to let off steam. My heart always ached for poor little Slinky, trying to keep up with his bigger pals, his little ears trailing on the ground as his tiny legs went fifty to the dozen. His sad face always seemed to be saying, "I have to do ten steps for every one of theirs!" Although I loved them all, I seemed to form a special bond with Slinky.

When I was eighteen, I moved out of the family home into a small apartment with two other girls. It was mainly to escape my stepdad who I had never liked, but despite now being free, it was cramped and privacy was at a premium. Luckily for me, that time coincided with the Hendersons asking me to stay for longer periods. Given that their jobs took them far and wide and they had a holiday home on Cape Cod, it meant I almost spent as much time at Milton's Creek as back home.

And that was just fine by me. I had space. I could breathe. I had the dogs and I occasionally looked after a few others on the site. It was definitely a nice environment to be in.

I threw myself into a heady whirl of sexual enlightenment and soon had a small but devoted following of young men who would jump at my beck and call. I was obviously accomplished given the satisfaction they showed, but for me something was lacking. I just couldn't put my finger on it and put the absence of a spark down to waiting for 'Mr. Right'. It all became very mechanical and clinical and despite being turned on by what I was doing, there was no real 'Wow Factor' in any of it.

I tried everything to hopefully make the earth move, but almost always ended up enjoying my own ministrations more than anything I did with Luke or Chad or Mitch or any of the others.

One night, I got very drunk and poured out my soul down the phone to my friend Cassie. Two nights later, she came to hang out and brought another girl with her. It turned out to be her new girlfriend and by the time they had turned me inside out, boys were largely out of the equation. She had seen in me what I had either been to ignorant to see or too scared to admit. At last I had found my niche in life and was very happy indeed.

As I turned nineteen, things were looking up. I was making very good money as a dog-sitter, there was a long summer ahead of me before I decided what to do with my life, and most of it would be spent in a very nice exclusive community with a few adorable pooches.

Then the damned virus hit us.

That first morning was like a nightmare come true. I felt like I was in the first few scenes of a Sci-fi or Horror movie as realisation dawned. Cassie had not only turned me onto girls, but also the writings of Stephen King. The Stand had gripped me from start to finish, with its tale of a disease-ravaged USA at the mercy of the devil incarnate. As the news sunk in, I envisaged me, nineteen-year-old Tallulah Hendricks, fighting off Randall Flagg and his cohorts with three thoroughbreds, a mongrel and a brave little sausage-dog called Slinky.

Then reality dawned and Mrs. Henderson called to say they were coming home early. When she asked me to stay on, I was so thrilled I almost cried. I'd have the grounds to roam in, and the dogs to look after. If I needed to fight off Randall Flagg, at least I'd have loyal allies.

I would lose my 'visitors rights', but that wasn't so bad - there were plenty of other ways to keep myself satisfied for the duration.

Even so, I decided on one last fling. I drove back to my apartment, grabbed all the gear that would fit into my little car and dragged Fliss back with me for a last tumble before we were all put into isolation.

I sighed with contentment as she left. I had no idea when my next intimate contact would be, but at least I would be relatively safe and comfortable.

A day later, my world and my life were changed forever when Mrs. Henderson arrived home and told me to call her Faye.

2 - Faye

Looking back, it seems a little strange now. How we watched a gawky, precocious fourteen-year-old grow up so quickly. Five years in your thirties is almost no time at all. In those five years between fourteen and nineteen, a lot of things change.

And boy, did a lot of things change with Tallulah Phoebe Hendricks?

She was always confident and outgoing and it was her idea to take ours dogs for walks when we sent them for grooming at her Mom's parlour. We had moved into Milton's Creek on the recommendation of my very good friend Daisy, who already lived there. The extra space meant we could have dogs galore and soon added to our existing collection. Very soon, it was commonplace to see of a gawky, pigtailed teen with big round glasses and braces the size of the Hoover Dam chasing after assorted canine maniacs.

She was as devastated as we were when some of the older ones went to the great kennels in the sky and helped nurture their replacements into the fold. She seemed completely empathic with them and Slinky was always more at home with her than us. She soon became a valuable and trusted companion to the pack and began staying in the annex when my Mom passed.

Tallulah was then eighteen and looked very different to the gawky girl we had first known. When she walked the dogs in our presence, I could sense Brett appraising her long legs, her perfect butt and the delightful mounds that had sprung up almost overnight on her chest.

One sunny evening, Lilith and I sat sipping mint juleps on the terrace. As usual, the guys were on golfing trip, and as a usual when the cats were away, the naughty little mice they left behind had to find some way of amusing themselves.

Tallulah walked by with the pack scrambling around her. She was wearing distressed shorts that at some distant time had possibly had a fleeting relationship with a pair of jeans, and a bright orange top tied up beneath her breasts. Her flat tummy was bare and we both did a double take at a small butterfly tattoo near her bellybutton. Long blonde hair flowed in the breeze and she turned and gave us a cheery wave. The braces were long gone and her huge, wide smile revealed perfect white teeth as the sun glinted off her sunglasses. Her wrists were ringed by a mass of bangles and bracelets and a heavy pendant swung between her breasts on a thick leather chain.

Lilith and I looked at her retreating back with our mouths open for a long time. Oblivious to our stares, she threw balls and toys for the dogs, hair flying, her sweet laugh carrying across the still evening as she called to them.

Finally, she turned to me. "Where the heck did that time go, Faye honey?"

I shook my head. "Dunno, Lil. But somewhere down the line, that little Miss Hendricks - she got herself all growed-up."

She let out a long exhalation of air. "Did she ever?"

We had a pretty steamy evening thereafter and the next morning we both agreed our dog-walker had been in our thoughts as we made out.

It was two months later that I first saw what Tallulah was capable of. At first I was angry and felt a little betrayed that she was having 'guests' in our annex. Then I recalled myself at her age and felt a little pang of jealousy that those days were over for me. The heady rush of excitement and sexual enlightenment was just beginning for her. She had it all ahead of her. She was beautiful, she was uninhibited and very adventurous.

Just like Faye LeBron had been aged eighteen. Just like Faye Henderson still was now, aged thirty-eight.

That first night, it had just been me. I have no idea what possessed me to think of the camera we had installed in the annex when my Mom used it. She'd had a couple of falls as her health deteriorated, so we had installed it along with a panic alarm. It had all but been forgotten since she left us.

As per usual, the boys were golfing in Florida and me and the girls were up at the Cape. It was a common occurrence when the guys were away. They were happy chasing little white balls around the countryside and probably had no inkling what us three girls got up to while they were on the whisky and cigars.

We'd had a fine night but I still wanted a little more action, so broke out my best vibe. As I did so, I thought about Tallulah for some reason and a thought crossed my wicked little mind. I wonder if she uses one of these?

For a few minutes, my vibe was forgotten as I reinstalled the camera app on my tablet. I didn't expect so see anything, but when I managed to remember how the app worked, my eyes nearly popped out of my head. I remember clutching the duvet and whispering, "Is that the guy from the Golf Pro-shop?"

It took me a few minutes to stop being offended, and I only managed that by admitting to myself I was jealous I wasn't there with them. Ten minutes later, Pro-Shop Jake pulled out and shot over Tallulah's tummy and titties. I was willing myself back home so I could take the girl in my arms and lick her clean when something dawned on me. She didn't like it one little bit. She pretended to play with it but it clearly did not turn her on and the fixed smile she wore never reached her eyes as she trailed her fingers in the mess he left and sucked on them less than enthusiastically.

The next night, the three of us watched her with a different guy and when Lilith urged me to zoom in, I looked at her sadly. "Can't babe -- fixed length. It was only supposed to show if my Mom was unconscious on the floor, not provide a home-made porn show for three pervy thirty-somethings."

On my return, I had a zoom-and-pan camera installed and another in the living room for good measure.

Each time we watched her, there was something new; something she had learned or a subtle change in her. First we saw a new tattoo on her right shoulder, then something inscribed above her hip bone. We couldn't get the full picture or read the words, but they looked beautiful.

But my favourite session of all came three months before I made my fateful call to her. As I watched Tallulah lose her Sapphic cherry, my first time with Daisy at college came flooding back to me and I almost shed a little tear at the sheer beauty of it all.

Tal was lounging on a beanbag, a bottle of beer in her hand and two girls were opposite her on the futon. I settled back to see what might occur, but after a while decided it was just a girly night in with a bottle of cheap wine, a beer or two and who could tell the naughtiest tale.

I was just about to switch off when Tal went into the kitchen and the tall, skinny girl turned to the little ginger one next to her and gave her a full-on kiss. I zoomed the camera in and watched with bated breath as the tall girl extended her tongue and the ginger one flicked hers against it. They gave each other a smouldering look that said only one thing. They were an item.

Then one of them looked over her shoulder towards the door and grinned. I panned and zoomed in a perfect arc to reveal Tal, standing in the doorway, watching the little tableau impassively with her hand on her chin.

Ginger beckoned her towards them with a little smile and Tal shook her head. It didn't take a genius lip-reader to know she had said, "No way!"

The other girl held out a hand and Tal backed away, her head shaking more furiously. It looked like she was saying, "Fuck off, Cassie!" Her mouth was wide open and she held her arms out in a 'What the fuck?' gesture.

The tension in the annex was palpable as Tal backed up against a wall and froze as her two guests moved slowly towards her, gentle smiles on their faces. Words were exchanged between Tal and the taller girl and she shook her head once more, sucking in her lips and putting a hand over her mouth. More words and she removed her hand. The words were clear once more.

"No... fucking... way!"

The tall girl held up a finger and pointed to the ginger girl. She said something I couldn't lip-read, but took the import to be, 'Try it once.'

Tal took a deep breath and nodded slowly. I realised my fingers were going deep and I was willing it to happen. She stood stock still with her arms straight down by her sides. Her throat rippled as she swallowed hard and let out a long shuddering breath. She was tall at around five-nine, so the shorter girl had to stand on tiptoe. She put her hands on Tal's shoulders for support and slowly puckered her lips and moved forwards. Tal screwed her eyes tightly shut as their mouths met. I zoomed in as far as the camera would allow as the girl's tongue flickered along Tal's tightly clamped lips.

Undaunted by the lack of response, she went on, her hands now in Tal's long hair. Tal maintained her clothes-store mannequin stance, completely unmoved as the girl pulled her down towards her and slid a leg up and across her buttocks. The other girl took one of Tal's hands and placed it on the butt of the ginger girl. Again she left it there completely unmoved as the girl became more animated, her lips and tongue still working on the impassable façade Tal maintained.

I held my breath, willing her to go with it and heard a voice from a long way away. "Come on, Tal, give something back." I was shocked to realise it was my own.

As her mouth opened a fraction, I heard a hissed, "Yes!", again almost unaware I had said it. Tal opened one eye and the tall girl reached up to stroke her hair, nodding and smiling. Tal reciprocated a little more and her hand began to move on the girl's rear. There was a momentary pause then all hell broke loose as they went at each other like feral dogs.

The tall girl was bouncing on the spot, her little titties jiggling, long dark hair flying. As she turned slightly I could see her mouthing the words, "Me! Me! Me!"

The ginger girl broke their embrace and Tal and the other girl now got into a clinch, before she re-joined them and they fell in a laughing, giggling heap on the sofa. As they extricated themselves from the tangle, the two girls got up and each took one of Tal's hands. She rose with a radiant look on her pretty face and they guided her through to the bedroom.