Sunlit Factories (Jess and Max)

[Dr Bellwright]

Characters
The images are not supposed to be exact match for a character, but instead set guidelines and overal looks along with emotional state.

Athena:
An owner and founder of the Parlour of Divine. She in her early thirties and proud owner of dark past and even darker secrets. Woo!

Ophelia:
Recent hire in Parlour of Divine, unlike the rest of the employees she is a quartermaster. She might look like a prude, but only because she is surrounded with people who made whoring their professional endevour. She did apply for the job in brothel in the first place!







Visual Inspiration




@JessTheMess

 

[JessTheMess]

Prologue

Athena sat on her sofa, with her hand splayed along the back, and tried hard to focus on what was happening on the bed opposite her. This was the interview room, where new girls and guys were interviewed and put through the ropes, metaphorical and literal to see if they were the Parlour of Divine material. Currently the bed was occupied by two, both in their early twenties. They were currently locked in sixty-nine with the girl on top, but Athena simply could not feel anything.

They were hot and all…well probably, judging by how much they were into each other at least. But Athena's mind was busy with a different set of problems. The ones that threatened her life, the lives of her employees, and her business.

She loosened the belt of the short dark red silk robe that she wore, to see if this would wake something up in her, she looked down and considered trailing her finger down her bare thigh, but that was too much, and would not work.

"Turn around. Let…mhm…Lars on top." – Athena said slowly, remembering the name of the guy. – "And Lars tease her a little." – Athena said, trying to get her mind off the dark and gloomy thoughts and back to the thoughts about work. This part of work required her to be able to get aroused, this was the final metric. She hired clean courtesans, well-spoken courtesans, but in the end, the courtesan was supposed to be able to steal your heart. And Athena had a great taste for whores, sluts, minxes, cocottes, hookers. Call them whatever you want, Athena managed to find girls that traders planned trade routes around, and she had proof of that from the mayor of this very town, who thanked her for bringing business.

Get your shit together. – She told herself and glanced at the door which opened. Her newest recruit peaked her head in the room through the opening of the door. Unlike the rest of her recruits, she was not in the business, she was her quartermaster.

"Am I interrupting?" – Ophelia asked.

"Come in. I want your opinion." – Athena said with a smile. Sometimes you needed a slight change of scene to get your mojo back. Not to mention the fact that Ophelia needed more exposure to the business. She felt a little guilty for pushing the woman that hard, but she reminded herself that she pushed everyone hard, herself including.

 

[Dr Bellwright]

Ophelia knew what was happening in the room, but she could not bring herself to the state, when she could just enter the room, where two people fucked. Two people fucked and one sat on the sofa and watched them. She knew that she needed to get comfortable with this and yada-yada-yada, but goddess it was hard.

"Come in. I want your opinion." – Athena said, and Ophelia's heart sank. She did not want to dispense any opinions. But this was her job now, and Athena was her employer. Ophelia nodded, swallowed straightened up and entered the room. She nodded towards the couple too, and mouthed greetings. She was not sure if she was supposed to interrupt people when they were like that.

To be more specific, they were currently in the middle of regrouping. The guy was lying on his back, but now he was on all fours on top of the girl, still sixty-nine. He leaned and started licking the girl's mound, while the girl slowly pulled her tongue out and started to circle his dangling cock with it. Ophelia swallowed and sat in the armchair next to the sofa where Athena currently was.

The way the girl worked made Ophelia think of icicles and how somebody would leak them from below…if icicles were thick and cock shaped.

She worked hard to make sure that her breathing was not audible, and focused on her notepad. She slowly and deliberately opened it. – "Of course Miss Athena." – Ophelia said and swallowed. – "Now or after the report on supplies?" – Ophelia continued trying to look more or less incredulous. She knew that Athena knew that she was uncomfortable, but this part was a game or at least acknowledgement. Ophelia needed to become comfortable with this, and as they say – fake it till you make it.

She licked her lips and turned her attention towards the couple. It figures that the opinion part of the request would be about the couple current engaged on the bed.

 

[JessTheMess]

"Let's go with report first." – Athena said, giving Ophelia a breather, she considered tightening the belt of her robe and pulling the fabric a bit closer to make the improvised neckline less deep. But decided against it. She figured it would be a little weird if she started to cover herself up in front of Ophelia. – "Miss Ophelia." – She stated the title. She wanted the girls to know that Ophelia was part of an adult supervision, along with herself, and tried to indicate it with deference when she worked with Ophelia.

Lars' tongue was still on top of Lissa's clitoris when he looked at two ladies with an appetite for more.

"Attencion." – Athena clapped, and Lars dropped his gaze back at Lissa's slit. – "Lissa dear, with every clap I give from now on bite his cock." – Athena said, and the girl made an acknowledging sound. Her teeth slowly slid along the head of her penis as if she was warning him.

And then Athena added. – "Bit hard." – Seeing the way Lars' face melted when he felt Lissa's teeth scratch against his sensitive skin. She already regretted issuing that particular order, but one had to roll with the cards dealt. She'll exact more appropriate discipline next time.

Athena turned her attention back at Ophelia, who was red, quite red, but she was handling it. She deliberately went through her notepad and unfolded a couple of ledgers on the arms of her armchair.

"I apologize, miss Ophelia, please, you've mentioned a report?" – Athena returned the conversation and leaned back, switching her mental attention to Ophelia, while still maintaining contact with the couple being interviewed.

 

[Dr Bellwright]

"Yes" – Ophelia felt like the light red blush on her cheeks was permanent, but she opted to just stop thinking about it, thinking about it usually made her think about more lewd things, and incrementally it spiralled the entire thing out of control. She is professional, and she can do this job like any other.

"I've ordered two-thirds more red wine and less white. We have a lot of leftover white and people don't seem to drink it as much in the fall." – Ophelia started to go through her ledgers line by line.

Costs of doing business, she went through laundry costs for the bed linen, and the price to replace bad, worn off, or damaged bed linen, same with glassware and other costs. Lissa or Lars would occasionally make a comment, but Ophelia was at this point in her element. She mostly ignored them, not because she did not respect them, but because they seemed to be otherwise engaged and to be fair their livelihood depended on this interview, and Athena hiring them, she saw other brothels and competition.

This was the best to work in.

"Also took the liberty to inform our supplier that we are going to be reducing purchases of beef jerky." – Ophelia cleared her throat, giving her boss a second to react before she continued. – "I overheard, and then asked around, it seemed that some of the courtesans were complaining about the taste." – Ophelia did not want to specify.

"Cum taste?" – Lissa asked.

"Yes. Anyway, I talked to some herbalists in town and they told me that salty snacks can do it. So I've ordered fruits, dried fruits, and nuts as snacks instead to try." – She reported and looked at the couple, she let her enjoy the view of two young bodies engaged with each other. – "Well, they will try I guess." – Ophelia tried to crack a joke, feeling relaxed, now that her report was done. – "You had a question or request for me earlier miss Athena?"

 

[JessTheMess]

Athena listened to Ophelia's leveled voice as she reported, switching her attention between two courtesans who were currently interviewed, and Ophelia, she raised her brow when her quartermaster mentioned her initiative with beef jerky and fruits. This was good news, even if wrong. She had a feeling that Ophelia will take ownership of tasks, and she did. Also…maybe she knew an expert she needed. It was not a given, herbalists were easier to find, but nevertheless.

"Yes, but before I ask." – Athena leaned in towards Ophelia. – "Do you know any demonologists? Or anyone really who deals with that in the city?" – She asked, and then after the answer she pointed at two "lovers".

"Tell me miss Ophelia. Would you come back to see one of them…or maybe both?" – She asked, and then added. – "Assuming you've allocated money." – She used Ophelia's language. She had numerous conversations about the way she hired with Ophelia before, but this was the first practical meeting, however improvised. But she wanted her new quartermaster to know one simple lesson.

It is easy to get a man or woman to pay for sex once. It is hard to get them to crave it regularly.

Parlour of Divine excelled at returned customers, and Athena was the driving force behind it. After the answer, she clapped. – "Alright boys and girls, we are done for today." – Athena said and stood up, straightening her short robe. – "I'll see you tomorrow for one more session, and then you'll have your answer within three days." – Athena said and made her way out of the room. – "Separately of course." – She added.

Lars and Lissa looked at their potential employer, they wanted to comment on the fact that they did not cum yet, and this was an hour and a half session of teasing and frustration, but both managed to realise to keep their mouth shut.

"Thank you miss Athena." – Both echoed each other and then looked at Ophelia, who was collecting her ledgers and notebook before they stood up, somewhat awkwardly looked at each other, smiled at each other, and proceeded to dress.

 

[Dr Bellwright]

Ophelia blinked and then again, if blinking could be audible, everyone would have noticed her blinks. – "Demonologist?" – Ophelia repeated but then regained composure. – "I mean, not as such, and not somebody who would openly admit it. But I believe I know a young man." – Ophelia said, and then turned towards the couple, though they did not seem to pay attention. Was it something openly discussed in the circles like this? Brothel circles?

Ophelia was not sure, but she swallowed nevertheless. – "I can hm." – She was not sure if "introduction" was something she would do in this case. Usually, when somebody asked her, for say recommendation for a herbalist alchemist, or blacksmith, she would write a letter, to the said professional, explaining that she sent them an acquaintance or colleague of hers. Both to take credit later, also to put the professional at ease, so they know that their colleague is trusted, she would not introduce somebody if she did not think they were trustworthy, she had standards. But in this particular case, she did not want to leave the paper trail.

"I will leave a note with his address later today." – She simply said.

Later when Athena asked her about her opinion she was not surprised. She expected a question like this. It was quite clear that Athena was looking for somebody to take more responsibilities around the overall day-to-day operations of the place, and Ophelia would need to pick up the slack if she wanted this to become not just a salary. And she would need to get over her squeamishness, which she did to be fair, though at her own pace.

"I enjoyed the view, though, I have not paid too much attention." – She ruffled with her papers. – "No offence to you Lars right? Lissa?" – Ophelia said and swallowed. – "I would love to attend a session tomorrow, maybe I can place myself in a correct mood, less number-y?"

Ophelia felt her cheeks go red, she screwed this up, she almost offended, or definitely offended the courtesans, and possibly looked like she was trying to get a free demonstration, when she tried to over-correct. But then Athena nodded, and she relaxed, a little. She smiled at Lars and Lissa who were currently dressing and started to fold her notepad and papers.

"Feel free to grab drinks at the bar before you leave, see you tomorrow." – Ophelia said, trying to see if she indeed offended them by implying that their performance was not alluring enough to distract her from her job or not. But two, however young were good at hiding their emotions, at least from Ophelia.

Chapter I

Frederic was sitting behind the counter of his bookshop when he heard the ding of a bell on top of the door and straightened up. Thursday evenings were slow days, and to be honest, he was looking forward to closing in an hour. But a customer is never bad, right? He reminded himself that he should install some mirrors on the ceiling. He preferred the layout as it was currently: customers could not see anything except for the wall of books as they entered. Frederic believed that it would engross them in the world of literature faster. So he opted not to have a direct line of sight with the entrance. But it would be nice to see who entered. Mirrors on the ceiling should fix that, but he had postponed the visit to the glasswork for months now for one reason or another. – Tomorrow. I will do it tomorrow. – Frederic thought and straightened his crisp white shirt, and checked if it had any ink on it.

Though, this particular customer did not seem to be engrossed in the world of literature. It was a woman in her late twenties or early thirties, quite a hot woman, even if she downplayed it in the cloth department, in fact, he could swear he saw her somewhere. But in any case, she made her way directly towards the counter, that is, after she found it in his labyrinthian shop.

"Can I help you?" – Frederic smiled politely and stood up. Judging by the energy, she really wanted him to do something.

 

[JessTheMess]

Athena looked at herself in the mirror. Brown trousers, a white shirt, linen suspenders, and a linen hat. She did not want to be seen as herself as she went into "Frederics Curiosities", the shop that Ophelia disclosed. Apparently, this Frederic was "Not a Demonologist, but Demon Enthusiast, but if you ask me, it's better not to engage professionals." – Ophelia told her, and Athena was…well she was not sure if she agreed or not. But it was a contact.

She looked at herself again. The attire was designed to make her look boring, like a servant on a day off or something, the only thing that could oust her, were her nails. She had ornamental work done on her nails, but even without a colorful manicure, the quality could oust her to somebody observant. She put her hands in her pockets, only rich women wore lacy gloves in the summer, so she will have to remember to keep her hands in her pockets.

She entered the shop and found herself a little confused. She looked around and found no one, it was books wherever she looked, corridors of books, in such a small space in the center of the town. She almost cursed when she finally glimpsed something that looked like a counter and not another bookshelf.

"You can." – Athena said. – "Hello, I'm Madam Fleur." – She said and licked her lip. – "Are you Frederic?" – She asked and subdued a look of disappointment when he confirmed. He was easy on the eye, maybe a little too easy, but she hoped for somebody older, grittier, somebody who could beat a demon up. She shook her head. Young was probably good enough. – "I don't know how to do it." – Athena said and looked around. – "I heard you have a side hustle, working with horns, tails, and other stuff." – Athena was wondering if she was being too forward or not enough. She finally looked around and then put fingers imitating horns to her head, right above the peak of her hat. – "You know those chaps." – She said and then folded her hands back, watching Frederic's reaction, and then she added the most important thing. Because even if he understood, there was no reason for him to confirm it. – "I have money. Some on me." – She said.

 

[Dr Bellwright]

Frederic was pretty sure he understood what the woman meant from the beginning. As they say, you had me on a side hustle. But he did not interrupt her, instead, he let her go through the motions, he was a little annoyed. He did not have a lot of clients for his side hustle. But they all came with made-up names in the beginning. This seemed unfair, they knew his name, and it was in the shop. – Have a decency to announce yourself. – He thought, but then again, he did not have a lot of clients, it was a buyer's market, so he would need to go through the usual dance of getting into the "trusted circle" and all that.

He noticed the detail on her nails, so when she said the magic phrase "I have money" it was easier to sell. Anyone could get a delicate manicure, but there was no reason to go above and beyond.

"Do I know you?" – He asked her, the face was familiar, and walked from behind the counter and towards the entrance. – "Let me close the shop, and we can talk."

Soon he was leading the woman towards the stairs and to the first floor, and finally his office. The office in contrast to the ground floor locked quite ascetic. Maybe because he tried to save money or to rest from the abundance of books, trinkets, and detail downstairs.

The actual place where the "side hustle" happened was downstairs, below the cellar. But he needed to assess his potential client, a prospect There were a lot of crazies, and before he could confirm or deny something, he wanted to check.

"Are you sure you don't want me to escort you to a doctor? They can help with most things." – Bullshit, he thought, but he needed to say something like this, mostly to have plausible deniability, just in case this woman was a plant. Just so he could say that he was just helping a woman who seemed distressed in case all this was just some play.

"Please sit here, I'll make us tea and we can talk." – Frederic said. – "So what are you prepared to tell me? I would urge you to either say the truth or openly state that you are not ready to tell me certain details." – Frederic said, there was some tiredness in his voice. Most clients in this field had embarrassing details, that they were not ready to expose from the get-go. – "Just say no comment. Or later. Lies can make things worse." – He warned, knowing very well that most people did not care.

 

[JessTheMess]

The office was rather a spacious place, with a very minimalistic interior. There was a coffee table with two armchairs and a desk with an armchair…and that's all. She figured he did not need much. Athena had to share her place of business with many people, so her office was filled with trinkets, professional and not. But if she had the entire place to her own – she could imagine having a room like this.

She sat on the armchair and waited for the tea. The way the man talked, sounded a lot like she would talk to her clients and employees. Urging them to say the truth, instead of hiding it. It usually took multiple nights with a client, before they told her their real desires. It took multiple interviews before employees would tell what they were really good at.

So she nodded, she felt his pain, she wanted to say. – "Oh I know, I am different, I will tell you the truth." – But when she opened her mouth she realised it was not that easy. Instead, she said. – "Yes, I understand, also some of the details are not my secrets to share. I will need to come here with somebody, or meet in a different place." – She said, trying to explain the delicate matter.

"The jist is – my friend is in your line of business. She was, what one could call a warlock. But she got into deep shit." – She said and looked at Frederic, who did not respond, instead he sat there and listened. Of course, this is not enough detail. She thought. – "The demon is Incubus, she does not know his name. And he communicates with her only when she is asleep. But she has suspicion that he watches her somehow." – Athena added, and threw her hands up. – "I understand this is not much, and I might be wasting your time. I can agree to pay hourly, and maybe you can give me a list of questions I can get answers to.

 

[Dr Bellwright]

Frederic nodded, he looked his prospect over, looked at the ceiling, looked at his shoes, her shoes, as he was trying to decide what to do. This was his first prospect by proxy. Before that person affected (or the person who wanted to be affected) came directly to him.

"I don't usually do this through somebody else." – Frederic said. – "I don't have a questionnaire as such. But I can give you a trinket that will…for the lack of a better word – record the strength of the presence." – Frederic finally said. – "In regards to compensation, I will charge you ten gilden for a full or partial hour, until we establish the nature of the affliction and decide on compensation in case of the best-case scenario and the worst-case scenario." – Frederic said – "Do you have anything else to share, or do you need some time to think?" – He asked Athena.

 

[JessTheMess]

Athena nodded. The price was not steep, at least for the initial phase, but was not cheap either. Somehow this, and the fact that he wanted to discuss best and worst outcomes made her both terrified but also calm. She obviously wanted to hear, that problem can be just solved, drink this potion, pee on the statue, and demon begone. But the fact that Frederic was preparing for different outcomes made her at peace. This man was professional, or at least seemed like one.

She nodded. – "Let's use that recorder of yours, I'm going to leave hundred gilden." – She said. Sure there were lives at stakes, demons, and curses, but in the end people needed bread on their table, and she learned that she could get a better service, if she proved people that she was stable. If she paid on time, the contractors did not need to worry, and keep looking for more customers.

"Let's call it a credit, and then we'll go from there." – Athena smiled and clapped her palms against her knees.

 

[Dr Bellwright]

Frederic's attention was naturally brought to the clap, and he stood up, figuring most of them were done. – "I appreciate it." – He referred to her paying a hundred gilden ahead and he led his now customer back to the stairs downstairs. – "Please follow me." – He told her, once they were on the ground level. Frederic led her towards another door that lead down to the cellar. – "We are going one level deeper, than the cellar." – He told her, it sounded prudent to warn a lone woman ahead of time, that the dark cellar is not the final destination.

He lit a gaslamp in the cellar. The cellar was mostly empty space with shelves, along the walls. Shelves were filled with jars with various pickles and condiments. Frederic moved one of them and disengaged the lock.

In the adventuring books that Frederic read from time to time when he was a child, people simply pulled on a book or torch and doors opened. In the real world, somebody had to provide the force. So all he could do – was unlock the lock, but then he had to pull on the shelf door himself to actually open it. Behind it was another flight of stairs down. – "Please. Follow me." – He said, and added. – "I could have killed you upstairs, there is nothing dangerous downstairs." – He said and regretted an arguably bad attempt at putting the woman at ease.

"Welcome to the Laboratory." – Frederic said once they were downstairs and lit gaslamps, and then he exclaimed. – "That's why you are so familiar. You are Athena, the Athena, the Courtesan Pirate!" – Frederic exclaimed, he had a pinup poster on the wall of his laboratory, the types that beginner artists sold in the bazaar.

He instantly shut his mouth up though, he had other posters, but he did not get to hang them yet, and at this very moment, it must have looked like he had a crush on her, or at least that persona of hers.

"I have other pinups." – He said. – "I mean, of other people, not just you." – He said, he was losing his confidence by the minute. – "I mean your secret is safe with me. Let me bind the recorder to you." – Frederic tried to sound competent and professional, and opted to simply ignore the fact that he had Athena's poster. Also, he decided to work hard not to look at her.

 

[JessTheMess]

Athena followed Frederic down the second flight of stairs. He was only partially correct, if he did want to kill her, it would be easier to do it in the second level of the cellar. But she figured he was not the type. She saw a lot of people in her life and could be fairly certain. Though once lights were on she did gasp and then felt her cheeks warm up.

She rapidly exhaled.

She was not above blushing, a lot of people assumed that courtesans had perfect control over their emotions, but Athena found that the opposite was true. She was an amazing courtesan because she could feel, and she could empathize. Though she did learn a few tricks. She rapidly and soundlessly exhaled again. The exhale trick seemed to help with hiding the fact that she was blushing.

"Right." – She said and tried to hide her smile. She did not try hard, just enough to look like she politely tried to hide her smile. – "Of course you have a lot of ladies here." – She paraphrased what he said. She could have said that it was just a lookalike, but she had to admit, that painting was fairly accurate…was he a customer of hers?

But she opted to stop egging Frederic, she did not want him to just close down and reject his services. – "You got me, I'm Athena." – She told him and then added. – "I would appreciate discretion." – She said, both because she would indeed appreciate it, but also to make him feel more comfortable. She asked him to help her, to make him feel like he had some power in this business transaction too. She mastered the ways to make men and women feel confident when they were the most fragile.

She waited for Frederic to rummage through his devices and fought an inner desire to come and stand next to her poster.

 

[Dr Bellwright]

Frederic tried to ignore the way Athena smiled, her smug face, and the fact that he had her poster, instead he came back to her with a flat crystal that had what looked like – an oversized butterfly wings in it. – "They will be able to record the presence." – He told her, and managed to look in her eyes without a chuckle, blush, or any other reaction. He would be proud of himself if the situation was not of his own making. – What kind of idiot puts only one poster on the wall? – To be fair he did not plan to escort people to this room, but he will need to address this issue later.

"Before you enter the room with your friend, you need to activate them." – He said, and waited for Athena to extend her hands and accept the crystal. – "Rub it with your palms, make it warm." – Frederic said and then thought for a moment.

"This might be strange to do naturally, but try to stand for about five minutes far away from your friend, then two or three minutes close to your friend, and then leave immediately." – Frederic said, and looked at Athena, he realised that he'd better explain to her what he was trying to get. – "I want you to take readings from 10 feet away from her, and then from 2-3 feet away from her, after that, you need to remove the device from being close to her." – Frederic said. – "You can use an excuse to leave the room and leave the recorder outside." – He added, but realised that Athena probably knew how to make excuses.

"Then try not to touch it directly, keep it in a pouch." – He told her, and fished the pouch from his pocket. – "And come back here." – He smiled politely, demonstratively not looking anywhere near the wall where the poster was pinned.

 

[JessTheMess]

Athena accepted the crystal and pouch, the crystal seemed to be warmer than it should have been, and she fought the urge to lift it and look at the details. While it was quite clear that she did not understand anything related to Frederic's profession, something inside really wanted to avoid looking like a total dilettante. She nodded and listened to him. He was clearly avoiding looking at the poster, and she could not blame him. He did not look like he to leer over a woman, whatever the history was, it was not that obvious.

"Switch on by rubbing it, stand far away, stand close, then leave. Got it." – Athena said and put the pouch in the pocket of her wide trousers.

She stood there for some time and then followed Frederic out of the room. – "Are there any risks? Can it explode, or announce its presence?" – Athena asked. Frederic was busy extinguishing lights on their way up, back to the ground floor, and she had some time to think about things that could potentially go wrong.

Soon they were on the ground floor, and they looked at each other a bit awkwardly and then smiled almost simultaneously. – "Well, see you later." – Athena said, and walked away. The situation was quite ridiculous, and she would not mind inviting a man like Frederic for a bottle of wine, and hearing scary and crazy stories about demons…if she was not one of his clients. – Also, maybe he could show me other pinups. – she chuckled on her way back home.

 

[Dr Bellwright]

The next day Ophelia entered the interview room. There was nothing special about the room, it was their spare room in case something was wrong with one of the main rooms. Also, this was the room for interviews and occasional training sessions.

Athen asked her to come earlier, a good twenty minutes before the interview, the last interview with Lars and Lissa started, but Ophelia requested it to be half an hour. She was not sure if the were going to discuss the same thing, but she had questions of her own. She felt like she failed to assess and ascertain the experience the day earlier. It would be an overstatement to say that she felt guilty, nor did she lose her sleep. But she was definitely looking towards the way to improve. Also, she was wondering if she offended the courtesans by her lack of attention.

"Good day Miss…I mean Athena." – Ophelia and Athena agreed to forgo honorifics when they were alone. Ophelia greeted her employer. – "I wanted to ask how can I improve." – Ophelia asked, and felt an urge to move her hands downwards along her dress, to straighten it up. She then looked towards the bed and nodded towards it. – "You know with helping you. I mean assessing courtesans. I don't mean in person." – Ophelia went quest, she was spiralling without any need. It was three weeks in, and she still found it somewhat hard to talk openly about sex work. She put her hand up when she sensed that Athena wanted to insert a word and maybe help her.

"Sorry. I got it." – She inhaled. – "I want to be able to assess if whores we interview are good fucks, and good enough to become our courtesans or not." – She knew she went too far, there was no reason for those particular words but Athena did not seem to mind.

 

[JessTheMess]

Athena smiled. – "I know you think you should be comfortable with everything in three weeks." – She waived towards the bed. – "But let's be honest, three weeks is nothing, it is alright." – Athena said and pointed towards one of the armchairs. – "I wanted to talk about something similar to you." – The proprietor of the brothel told her. She realised that she felt a little uncomfortable and even shy asking her, but she never let those feelings tell her what to do. She used them as compasses, as advisors, but she decided not to stop just because something told her that it looked improper.

"I wanted you to take a more active role in the interview." – Athena said. – "At some point, you would not need to do it too." – What she meant was like me. – "But you need to develop your taste. You don't need to undress or anything." – Athena said, as she looked at Ophelia. – "But I would like to ask Lars or Lissa or both ideally to try and entice you." – She said. – "Don't worry, you will be able to stop it." – Athena could feel her lower abdomen stir a little. She wanted to see both of them try to seduce Ophelia. She let her imagination fly for a moment but then returned. – "I think need to ease into this role. I believe, like all normal people would, you segregate and compartmentalize the emotions from the work. And usually it is the right strategy." – She looked at the bed, and then back at Ophelia. – "But we both can agree, that this strategy does not work in this particular situation.”

 

[Dr Bellwright]

Be careful what you wish for. You may just get it. Ophelia remembered the old saying. That was exactly what she was asking, yet she felt uncomfortable in the armchair. She sat there less than a minute ago when Athena offered, but now it felt like she was there for hours, and needed to stretch, or jump, or run the hells away. But this was an obvious and quite correct way of handling it, in a controlled environment, with Athena, her employer watching her. She could feel her cheeks radiate warmth.

"I…Thank you." – She finally said, this was moving faster than she expected, but there was no need to inspect the gifted horse and all that.

"How would that work?" – Ophelia asked. – "Do I need to do anything, or prepare?" – Ophelia blushed when she realised what she was going to say. – "I did not expect it per se. But I had a bath less than an hour ago, and all." – She said, forcing herself not to look down. – You are working towards getting better at your job. There is no shame in it what so ever. – She reminded her and then realised that in her attempt to avoid looking down, she was staring at Athena. She blinked, smiled, and shruged. She knew she was overdoing the whole interaction but in the end, she relaxed. Athena seemed to know what she was going through.

 

[JessTheMess]

Athen stood from the sofa and sat in the free armchair. – "Please take the sofa." – Athena said, and then added mischievously. – "You will prefer to have space, instead of being squeezed by those two in the confined space of the armchair." – Athena said, she was enjoying this preparation process, there was no need to hide it, but then there were no rules about her needing to hate her job. She loved it.

"We will start slowly." – Athena said, looking at how Ophelia was getting herself comfortable on the sofa. – "You will ask them for a lapdance." – She said. – "I will specify the boundaries." – Athena said, and then listed a few. – "They are not to engage in sex, no kissing, no licking, they have to get you excited with the lapdance alone." – She said. – "In the real world, only boring places have rules like no touching." – Athena clarified. – "Most dancers know, that if they make clients touch them, they will get a client for longer, and have bigger tips. It's like a myth about prostitutes and kisses. We love to kiss." – Athena said, the excitement sipping through her voice.

"But in any case. They will of course be naked by the time they engage with you." – Athena said. – "And of course, if something goes wrong, feel free to stop it at any point." – Athena clarified, just in case. – "Just a word of advice though." – Athena said. – "I'm not toying with you or anything. Just try to have a good time, and then tell me, in the end, we want to see, if they can give our customers a good time. And maybe unbutton a couple of buttons on your blouse. They will be relentless if they think you are too uptight. Unless you want them to be relentless." – Athena said, knowing very well, that Ophelia was not in the market for that particular experience.

 

[Dr Bellwright]

Ophelia looked down at her linen blouse and then back at Athena. She decided to do as advised and unbutton the top of her blouse, but the idea that she was going to do that because somebody suggested was just so alien. She was particularly aware of her motions as she lifted her arms and undid three top buttons, she then looked below and undid the belt on her skirt. Somehow this returned the agency to her. The fact that she was not just undressing because she was told, but had the initiative to pull the belt out and put it on a table behind the sofa. She then finally looked at Athena.

"Thanks for the advice" – She said and sat back on the sofa. At this point, she hoped for two things. One is that she would not make a full of herself, another is that this however small action was the hardest.

Alright, if she was honest with herself, she hoped she could enjoy the interview, there was nothing wrong with loving her job. She loved most of the aspects of her job, starting with haggling over prices, and optimising logistics. She could enjoy the hiring process too. The thought seemed both ridiculous and rational at the same time, and Ophelia decided to just change the subject, lingering on the thought was no longer helpful.

"Do you have any other advice for me?" – Ophelia asked, noticing a glint in Athena's eyes. Of course, she was enjoying it, but Ophelia could not really blame her employer. She would if she was in her shoes. – "Or maybe we can call them in earlier, I don't have anything else to discuss, to be honest. Asking for that much time ahead was greedy on my part." – Ophelia said.

 

[JessTheMess]

Athena nodded. – "No worries, I was one to request time too." – Athena asked, one day she would know how to schedule just enough time, but that was not that time yet. – "I believe there is a special type of genius who knows how much time to request." – She said and stood up. – "You sit, relax, I'll go call Lars and Lissa, I will be back in five minutes." – Athen said and walked slowly towards the door. She wanted to give Ophelia little time to collect her thoughts, but also not too much, for her to start panicking or spiraling out. Athena was not a stranger to it herself, though she worked hard to push those thoughts away. Even as the madame of her little brothel, she still performed duties and had clients, and felt insecure from time to time.

She closed the door behind her and counted to twenty before going towards the bathroom where Lars and Lissa could be found.

Athena found Lars and Lissa in the bathing room as she expected, currently, Lars held Lissa's hands against the wall as she kissed him. Lars meanwhile pretended like he was avoiding her, while he rubbed his shaft against her stomach.

"Oh, we are." – Lissa was the first to notice Athena.

"Practicing." – Lars said and straightened up, he turned towards Athena, and then, unexpectedly turned red and covered his cock with his hands. The two still needed Athena to approve their "job applications."

"Good for you." – She said, smiling at them politely but distant. She did not want to scare them, but she did not want them to become familiar either. Not until they were properly hired. – "Get into your robes." – She looked around, and noticed no robe in the vicinity but there were two towels. – "Or towels. We are ready for you." – Athena said and left the room, leaving the couple to their own devices.

 

[Dr Bellwright]

Ophelia sat alone in the room for a while, she looked in the corner where the mirror was, and smiled at herself, then turned her face serious, then smiled again. She continued it for a little while, trying to find the face. But there was no such thing, as the best emotion or the best facial expression. She looked at her hands. Good thing she washed them, would be awkward if she had to leave to wash her hands in the middle of it all.

And then she remembered not to spiral out of control. She leaned back and tried to relax. And then somebody knocked on the door and three people walked in. It was Lars and Lissa "dressed" in short towels, and Athena closing the procession.

Ophelia noticed that Lissa had her towel tied higher than required, mostly to raise the bottom hem. Ophelia was quite sure that if she scooted just a little lower on the sofa, she could see Lissa's lower lips.

She licked her lips. She switched her attention to Lars, who obviously had an erection under his towel, and then she lifted her eyes towards them. She avoided looking at Athena, mostly because she was afraid to laugh out loud at the absurdity of the situation. Especially considering she did not think of the situation as absurd any longer. Ophelia slowly spread her legs and smiled at Lars and Lissa. – "Well, I guess I am your last interview." – She said, she liked the phrase, she smiled satisfied with how she handled herself so far.

 

[JessTheMess]

Athena slowly made her way towards the armchair. She tried not to disturb the "magic" and then just as slowly sat back. She observed as the couple moved over Ophelia, while Ophelia seemed to have found confidence.

"My name is Lars. We were never formally introduced." – The young man said, he bowed a little took Ophelia's hand into his, and kissed it. Not according to etiquette. Athena was quite sure that he licked her hand too.

And the way Lissa smiled confirmed Athena's suspicion. The scene was very sweet, and innocent at least at first. But then Lissa took Ophelia's other hand and moved it closer to her mouth. She sat next to Ophelia and as she looked directly into her eyes, Lissa started to lick her fingers, manicured with long nails fingers. Athena wanted to give Ophelia some "privacy", and did not look at her reaction. She felt that she could break Ophelia's confidence if both of them met the gaze, instead, she opted to watch the pets – Lissa and Lars.

Lars walked around the sofa, and both of them did not waste any time. Athena made a mental note, to focus on their attraction skills.

Lars, from behind, placed his hands under Ophelia's ears, and slowly moved them lower, towards her neck, and shoulders, sliding them into the opening in her generously unbuttoned blouse and finding her bralette.

His lips found her earlobe, and he played with it, then moved his tongue behind her ear, under it, and towards the neck, scouting her skin for the sweet spots that made Ophelia's skin goosebumps.

Lissa, after she licked all fingers on Ophelia's hand to her satisfaction switched up. She stood back up and then plumped on Ophelia's right thigh. Or to be precise, she sat directly on her knee, with her wet pussy.

Athena wanted to ask Ophelia if Lissa was wet already or not, but remembered her previous decision, instead, she kept putting salacious questions into the mental list. She smiled, imagining how red Ophelia's face will be when Athena would ask her the questions in her list. She switched her attention back to the triplet.

Lars attracted her attention, as he diligently licked, bitten, and kissed Ophelia across her shoulders and neck. Lissa was unbuttoning the rest of Ophelia's blouse while she slowly gyrated her cunt against Ophelia's knee.

 

[Dr Bellwright]

Ophelia's mind turned to horny mush. She remembered Athena mentioning something about going lightly or maybe pacing herself. But right now she wanted their lips all over her body. She looked at Lissa, the girl was gyrating on her knee. Part of her wanted to cry out something as They passed, hire them. Part of her wanted to start taking notes. But both of those parts lost to one that just watched young girl, willingly grind herself against her thigh and knee. There was something animalistic, the way the girl demonstrated the urgency with which she wanted Ophelia. She had to tip her hat to her. Ophelia could feel her cunt spasm in desire, and then Lars started to play with her nipples. They engorged and hardened immediately.

One thing Ophelia was not sure about, is what to do with her hands. She lifted one, trying to caress Lars' muscular hands and shoulders whenever she reached them. Her other hand she moved towards Lissa, but she had to admit that both of them were currently out of reach. And then she swallowed. She did not look at Athena. The blasted woman started it all, she could stop it all whenever she thought it appropriate. Ophelia finally decided what to do with her hands.

She retreated from her "assailants" bodies and moved them towards her blouse, she unbuttoned it fully accompanied by Lars' playful teases of her breasts. He switched his attention from her breasts in general to focusing on her nipples. His tongue masterfully teased and licked her neck.

She locked her eyes with Lissa and proceeded to undo the buttons on her skirt.