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  More Team Building

  I woke from the dream and sighed. If I’d had a choice, I wouldn’t have woken. I wasn’t surprised to discover where my hand was, however.

  Why is it that you can wake from a nightmare, and if you fall back asleep, you can go right back to the same nightmare, but that never, ever, ever happens when it’s a really good dream? Why? Just… Why?

  “Argh!” I half-screamed.

  I lay in my bed, there in the dark, rolling onto my side. I thought about the dream. The details were already growing distant. I stared in the dark.

  “And who was she, anyway?” I asked. “God, she was hot.”

  * * * *

  It had been nearly a year since Tara Stout, the CEO of RealSoft, had declared the entire company would have a team building weekend hosted by Altered Events. I would have quit on the spot if it had been co-ed, and I knew I wasn’t the only one. But at least she’d sent the men in one direction and the women in another. I’d dreaded the entire thing, but I had come out of the experience with a different perspective.

  An altered perspective, one could say.

  Since then, things at RealSoft had taken a significant turnaround. First, the worst of the problem people were gone, regardless of their sales numbers. We hadn’t replaced them. But people smiled more. At least for now, the infighting had disappeared. And productivity was up, up significantly, from what I could tell.

  Tara had given out bonuses. They had been small, only 500 dollars, but I wasn’t going to turn down a bonus. Everyone from the receptionist to the Director of Operations had received the same bonus, and if anyone thought she deserved more, no one said anything in my hearing.

  More importantly, as far as I was concerned, I liked coming to work again. I looked forward to it. I liked my job. And I thought the people around me agreed with me. Furthermore, I’d made friends at work. I had done that intentionally, working my way around the company and inviting people to lunch with me. I wasn’t the only one, and a few people invited me before I could get to them.

  Oh, I didn’t do it with all 35 people in the company, but perhaps half that. Still, that was 20 people who I wouldn’t have called friends before.

  And then there were the ones who had become more than friends, and for that, I’m going to back up.

  * * * *

  I stepped into Nan Wu’s cube. She turned, and as she watched me, I lowered myself to my knees. She grinned and rolled a little closer, coming to a stop with her feet on my thighs. I found myself looking at her belly button, but she used two fingers to lift my chin. “You look good like this.”

  I smiled. “I’m glad you think so.”

  “Tara told me something.”

  “Good.”

  “I’m not going to say it here. 24 hours.”

  “Sure,” I said.

  “Friday. I’ll text you my address.”

  “Sure,” I agreed.

  “Kiss.” She offered her hand. I kissed the back, then lifted my hands. I collected her hand and then kissed each finger before turning it over and kissing the palm.

  “Get out of here now.”

  “Yes, Lady Wu.”

  She grinned at me.

  * * * *

  Three days later found me on her doorstep. She opened the door and stepped aside. I stepped past her. She pulled the door closed, locked it, and we turned to each other. She was grinning. I think I was, too.

  “You’re really going to let me do this?” I nodded. “We’re not going steady,” she continued. “I don’t care how much fun this is. I don’t know if I’ll ever come out to my parents, and I’m not going to be in an I-love-you relationship if I have to hide it. I feel like I’m sneaking around enough, but that would be too much.”

  “I understand, Lady Wu. You’re not the only one who knows the words you’re about to say.”

  “24 hours,” she said. “Selena-pet obeys her lady.”

  “24 hours,” I agreed.

  I felt the compulsion come over me. It took a few seconds, but then I knew I belonged to her, body and soul. I lowered myself back to my knees, my head bowed.

  She stepped closer. “You belong to me.”

  “Yes, Lady Wu.”

  “Undress, Selena-pet. Slowly.” She stepped away and sat down on the sofa. I put on a show for her.

  * * * *

  That wasn’t our only time. Even after the altered reality ended, she kept me for conversation and cuddling until Sunday morning, and there may have been some slightly un-kinky sex, too. Since then, we’ve been friends at work, and we go on dates that may or may not end with her using my trigger phrase, but it wasn’t steady.

  It was sometime after that when Gail came to my cube. She sat down in the guest chair, and I turned to her. “We should talk.”

  “You don’t look happy to be here.”

  She moved closer. “I can’t stop thinking about you.”

  “How literally do you mean that?”

  “Not literally, literally,” she replied. “But. Dinner. I don’t want to talk about this here.”

  “Sure.”

  “It’s just dinner.”

  “Gail,” I said gently. “It’s okay. No expectations.”

  She stared at me then shook herself. “God. I’m getting hot just thinking about you.”

  I laughed. “I’m sure I should be upset. Where?”

  She named a place, and I nodded. “Six?”

  “Sure. Gail, should I go home and change?”

  “No.”

  And so, I didn’t, but I did spruce just a little bit before leaving work. She’d invited me to a slightly-upscale restaurant, and when I got there, she was seated in the corner. The hostess led me to the table, and I smiled as I sat down. “Hey.”

  “Hey,” she said.

  “Why are you so nervous?” Her fidgeting was incredibly obvious.

  “I keep thinking about what I want to do to you, Selena.”

  “Don’t you mean what you want me to do?”

  “No. I mean what I want to do to you, and I wouldn’t let anyone do half of them to me.”

  “Sounds like fun.”

  “Selena.”

  “Gail.”

  “Tara told me a phrase.”

  “I told her to tell you. Do you want to know what’s funny?”

  “Sure. I could use a laugh.”

  “I have no idea what the phrase is.”

  “Seriously? She said she used it.”

  “She did, and it worked exactly as it was supposed to. But I don’t have a clue what she said.”

  She snorted. “They really fucked with you.”

  “I invited it, maybe not all the details, but I invited it.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “Good question,” I said. “I was as ready as anyone to quit, and if Mary hadn’t stood up when she did, I would have. I’d been Altered once before, and I’d hated it, although maybe not as much as Mary had.”

  “They’re not supposed to do what they did to you,” she said.

  “They can do anything we give permission for,” I said. “I must have given permission.”

  The waiter showed up. We ordered then waited for him to leave us alone before we continued the conversation. “I’m straight. I know I am.”

  “And?”

  “And I don’t think I’m straight around you.”

  I laughed. “I’m that good.”

  “I should have been disgusted, Selena. Watching you with Ida, though.” She shuddered. “I should have been disgusted. It was even worse when you belonged to Tara. I practically creamed myself, especially because of what we talked about.”

  “Did you think they were real dragons?”

  “Yes. More mind fuckery.”


  “You like that word,” I observed.

  “Unless you come up with a better word, I’m sticking to it.”

  “I thought they were real, too. You were being an idiot, sticking around like that.”

  “I think that was more fuckery,” she said. “The idea of leaving you behind was worse than the idea of both of us being eaten together.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Which is why it’s fuckery.”

  “True. I want you to do me a favor.”

  “Oh? Another favor?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Have fun.”

  She snorted. “If anyone owes someone a night, I owe you.”

  “Well, one of us conveniently has a trigger phrase, and one of us doesn’t.”

  “I think this is more fuckery, that I can’t stop thinking about you.”

  “It might be,” I said. “Or I might represent what you consider forbidden fruit, which has always been alluring to people. Or maybe I’m just that delectable.”

  “You’re not,” she said.

  “That’s mean.”

  “Selena, I’m straight. Until that weekend, I’ve never looked twice at you or any other women, and I’m not thinking about anyone else. I’m thinking about you. Furthermore, I’m thinking about you while you belong to me. Except sometimes it’s the other way around.”

  “If you have a trigger phrase, I don’t know it.”

  Food arrived, and we talked about work. The waiter asked about dessert, and Gail said, “No, thank you.” We each plunked down cash and stood up, walking from the restaurant together.

  On the sidewalk, I turned to her. “I took a Lyft to get here. My car is safe at work. I’d appreciate a ride.”

  “Sure.”

  She led the way to her car. Once it was started, I set my hand on her arm. She froze and turned to me. “You know you want to say the words, Gail.” Slowly, she nodded. “And I want you to say the words.”

  “I can’t stop thinking about it,” she whispered.

  “Saying the words might help. Or it might make it worse. Who can say? Say the words, and then have fun with me, but I’d rather we kept it between ourselves.”

  “I will,” she said. “Selena-pet obeys her lady.”

  “Until morning,” I replied, and the compulsion took me over.

  Gail had a tickle fetish. And a spanking fetish. And a few others. It was a lovely, lovely evening.

  * * * *

  In the intervening months, I’ve spent time with all three of them, Nan, Gail, and Tara, but none of them regularly. Nan has told me several times she isn’t ready to come out to her parents, and I don’t think it’s going to change. Gail is straight, except now and then when she’s with me.

  And Tara says, “I don’t have time for a full-time girlfriend.”

  Part of me is disappointed. But part of me is really happy, too, probably the happiest I’ve been in a long time. I’m casually dating three different women, and even if I know it’s not going to go anywhere further than it has, not with any of them, I have a good time when we’re together.

  But I’ve been having dreams. And daydreams. And while it’s not as bad as when Gail couldn’t stop thinking about me, I’ve become a little fixated.

  Not on a particular woman. Not on the things we do when I’m with the three of them.

  But simply on being Altered.

  Questions

  “Hey,” I said into the phone. “This is Selena Stark. We met. Um.”

  “I remember you, Selena,” said Joy. “May I put you on speaker phone?”

  “Are you home?”

  “Yes. With Evie. No one else is here.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Yes.”

  There was a pause, and then she said, “It’s Selena. You remember her. From that software company.”

  “I remember,” Evie said. “Hello, Selena. Can you hear me okay?”

  “I can,” I said.

  “We’d given up on you.”

  “I asked you to call me if I didn’t call you.”

  “We talked about it,” Evie replied. “Joy is smiling now, though.”

  “Look. Can we get together?”

  “You sound upset, Selena.”

  “I’m not upset. I’m a little anxious.”

  “You could come over.”

  “I think I want to meet in public.”

  There was a pause, and then Joy asked, “You don’t trust us?”

  “That’s not it,” I said. “I’m not calling you to play. I’m calling you because I need someone to talk to. And maybe playing would be fun, but if we meet somewhere private, I’m fairly certain it’s not talking that we’d do.”

  They both laughed. “Enough said. Sure. When?”

  “Soon.”

  “Tomorrow evening? Dinner?”

  “How about the Museum of Art? Seven PM. It’s quieter, and we can walk and talk.”

  “Sure,” Joy replied. “Seven. Meet inside?”

  “Sure. You know where it is?”

  “The big museum near the capitol building.”

  “Right. Thank you.”

  “Are you all right, Selena?” Evie asked.

  “Mostly,” I said. “Things are good. Work is good. Do you know about a certain trigger phrase?”

  They both giggled. “We sure do. Have you been offering any durations?”

  “Yes,” I said. “It’s fun.”

  “Good,” they both said.

  “Altered Events seems to have cured RealSoft. Things there are a lot better.”

  “We’re glad. We don’t always get to hear.”

  “Ida’s gone.”

  “That’s the woman we gave you to first,” Joy asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Good. I didn’t at all like her.”

  “No one likes her, but she’s a good saleswoman. And a raving bitch who thinks the world owes her. I’m glad she’s gone.”

  I paused, and there was awkward silence. “Well,” I said finally. “Museum. Seven. Just inside, near where you give donations.”

  “Perfect.”

  * * * *

  They arrived together, holding hands as they walked through the door. They smiled when they saw me, and Joy dropped a twenty into the donations box on their way past it. That was generous, and it told me a lot about them.

  “Hugs?” I offered.

  “Sure.” I received warm hugs from both of them, and then we turned.

  “Thanks for meeting me.”

  “We’re glad you called us,” Evie said.

  I nodded, and we wandered the museum for a while, looking at the ancient artifacts. It was while we were looking at stone figures from Crete that I said, “If I ask questions, will you lie to me?”

  “Would a liar admit it?”

  “I’d rather you refuse to talk to me than lie to me.”

  “You want to know how much Altered Events screwed with your brain.”

  “Yeah, and if you left things behind beyond the trigger.”

  “First,” Evie said. “That’s not what we do.” She gestured between her and Joy. “We don’t touch any of that. Way, way above our pay scale. So, when you say ‘you’, we interpret that to mean ‘the PhDs at Altered Events’ and not ‘Joy and Evie’.”

  “Yes. Should I say ‘they’?”

  “Maybe, but as long as we know you’re not suggesting we played mind games with you.”

  I nodded and then wandered to the next display case. They followed after me. “You won’t remember, but you asked for the trigger,” Joy said.

  “Do you know the words?”

  “Yes. Do you?’

  I laughed. “No.”

  “They do it that way,” Evie said. “Do you know what else they do?”

  “No.”

  “If it gets used by anyone you didn’t authorize, it stops working, even if you resist it.”

  “Seriously?”

  “We know you were Altered,” Joy said. “We know the words. And we think y
our boss was told. We don’t know if anyone else was.”

  “Right on all accounts. And I told her to tell two others.”

  “Going to tell us who?”

  “Nan Wu, the woman who won me at chess, and Gail, the woman who sat with me while the dragons considered eating me.”

  “I remember the Asian woman,” Evie said. “And I know about the dragons, but I don’t remember more details. Sorry.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” I said. “Gail is straight, except, apparently, around me.”

  “Ohhh,” Joy said. “Now I remember. She’s really cute.”

  “She is,” I said. “Nan isn’t out. And Tara doesn’t want to explain about me. So it’s very, very casual.”

  “Gotcha,” Evie said. “Are you upset?”

  “No. It’s fun, and while it’s happening, I don’t want it to stop, but most of the time, I see it as something to enjoy for a few hours, or maybe a day or so, but never longer. I haven’t offered more than a weekend, and that made me uncomfortable.”

  “Good,” Joy said. “That’s part of the Alteration.”

  “Oh.”

  “Are you asking us if that can be changed?”

  “No. I like it the way it is.”

  “All right.”

  I gestured, and we moved to the next room. This had masks from… somewhere. I wasn’t really paying attention, only making sure no one was near us when we talked. “Do you know if there were other Alterations?”

  “You need to know a few things,” Evie explained. “First, Altered Events is not licensed as a psychotherapist clinic. If you wanted to stop smoking, you would go somewhere else. We’re an event center.”

  “Okay, I think I knew that.”

  “If we played with your mind, and you wanted it erased, you wouldn’t come to us. You’d go to a licensed psychotherapist, and she would oversee the treatment. She would contact us, and we would give her everything we did, but she would erase it, not us. Except.”

  “Except?”

  “Except we’re really careful,” Joy said. “You have several kill switches on your trigger. If someone tries to get you to do something dangerous or illegal, it breaks the session, and the trigger will never work for that particular person again, even if you allow it.”

  “And we told you it dies if the wrong person uses it. We can’t even use it unless you give us permission first, even though we know what it is. We could, right now, end it just by using it.”