Harem House Chapter 39 Part 2

Arthur’s workout initially allowed him to ponder things, but soon became exhausting as he and Brad pushed themselves to their limits. He didn’t have to hold back and keep some of his strength in reserve today. His sleeveless gray t-shirt was dark with sweat by the time he finished. The cotton clung to his torso until he used it to fan himself in a pitiful attempt to cool himself.

Brad went just as hard, not letting Arthur pull ahead. Stretching afterward felt like heaven, easing their muscles back to life after working them to death. They fist-bumped at the end, and Brad headed into the locker room as Arthur approached the girls. 

Kelly’s eyes devoured him as if she were starving and he was a three-course meal. She chewed her bottom lip, causing the other girls to turn and look in Arthur’s direction. 

Arthur tore his shirt off as he walked, revealing a torso of ripped muscles that glistened under the overhead lighting. 

“Damn.” Mindy said, still in awe. “I want me some of that.” 

Selene giggled. “Right?” 

“That’s my boyfriend.” Kelly said, as if the other girls weren’t also dating him. “Hot, right?” 

“You’re a lucky woman.” Mindy said, playing along. 

The girls giggled amongst themselves, which was what Arthur heard when he reached them. He couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corner of his lips. 

“I’m heading into the shower.” Arthur said, letting them know his workout was over. 

“Need help?” Selene asked. She raised her hand. “Pick me. I’m flexible, I can reach all those hard-to-reach spots.” 

Arthur laughed, assuming she was joking. 

“Pick me!” Mindy said, jumping up beside Selene. “I’ve got some bubbles you can play with in the bath.” She pushed her shoulders back, accentuating her chest for effect. 

Kelly rolled her eyes. “If I were grading you, I’d deduct points for a pun that bad.” She told Mindy, then turned her attention to Arthur with a smile as Mindy pouted. “Have a good workout, Sir?” She asked, teasing him with her tone almost as much as the others. 

“You uh…” Kat stammered, trying to say something just as witty in the face of Arthur’s abs. She absent-mindedly caressed them with her fingers. “Pick me.” 

Arthur shook his head. “I’m not picking anyone.” He said. “None of you can come into the men’s locker room.” 

“I could sneak–” Selene started. 

“No.” Arthur said. “There will be no sneaking into the men’s locker room. We’d get into a lot of trouble.” 

“Stairwell then?” Selene asked. 

“I’m sweaty and gross from the workout.” Arthur said. 

“So?” Selene asked. “I want to taste you that way. You’ve never let me before.” 

“And I’m still not allowing it now.” Arthur said. His tone remained firm, with annoyance creeping into the edges. Kat seemed to recognize it and held Selene’s forearm as if holding her back. Selene pouted, but obeyed. 

“Yes, Master.” She said, and returned to her cooldown stretches. 

“Some people find hot and sweaty to be sexy.” Mindy said, defending Selene. “There’s nothing wrong with that, right, Boss?” 

“It’s fine, it’s just that now’s not the time.” Arthur said, checking behind him to ensure no one was overhearing this conversation. “When we’re in public, just call me Arthur.” He reminded Selene. 

“Can I still call you Boss?” Mindy asked. 

“Boss is fine.” Arthur conceded. “If you have to.” 

Mindy smiled. “I have to, Boss.” 

Arthur rolled his eyes. “Everything go okay with your workouts today?” He asked, checking up. 

The girls nodded, and Kat spoke up. “Kelly is a cruel personal trainer. I don’t know why I ever thought she wasn’t a sadist.” Kat said. 

“Just because I pushed you doesn’t make me a sadist.” Kelly said, laughing. 

“Maybe not, but the burpees do.” Kat argued back. 

Kelly laughed. “I did them too!” 

“But you’re you, and I’m me.” Kat said, gesturing to their bodies in turn. “Burpees are no big deal for you. They’re awful for me.” 

“You’ll get used to them.” Arthur assured Kat. “And they’re great exercises.” 

“Really?” Kat asked, with half-sarcasm, half-hope in her voice. 

“No, not really. Burpees are awful and they will always be awful, but you can do more of them before you cry if you practice.” Arthur said, laughing with the girls as they laughed at his response. 

Kat swatted at him, but the playful blow lingered too long on his side to be angry. 

“I just wanted to come and say goodbye before I left for work. Mindy, I’ll see you at the office?” He asked. 

Mindy saluted. “Yes, Boss.” 

“And I’ll see the rest of you tomorrow morning, assuming you don’t hit the SOS.” He glanced at Kelly. 

Kelly nodded. “I updated the girls during the workout.” 

“I wanted to tell you about the plans last night.” Kat said. “But I was outvoted.” 

“I appreciate that.” Arthur said. “I also appreciate you waiting until I was ready. I probably would not have reacted well to the idea last night. I’m still not sure it’s a great idea, but I trust you.” He said to Kelly. “Just… be careful. If you piss her off, we have to be ready to deal with the fallout. It’s your well-being I’m worried about, not mine.”  

“And we appreciate that.” Kelly said. “But don’t worry. I promise that if anything goes nuclear, we will fetch you right away. Otherwise, enjoy your guys’ night. Play some poker, or whatever it is you guys do.” 

“Okay.” Arthur said. He kissed Kelly’s cheek, then Kat’s, then Mindy’s, and finally Selene’s. “Have a good cooldown.” He said. 

“Have a good shower.” Selene said. “Think of us and how much we love you.” 

Arthur chuckled and waved goodbye as he headed toward the men’s locker room. He was an incredibly lucky man.

Despite the temptation to follow Selene’s advice, Arthur was quick in the shower, in and out in a matter of minutes. However, he took the time afterward to shave, which added another few minutes. He hurried out of the athletic center once he dressed and power-walked toward the admin building. As a newly promoted supervisor, it was his responsibility to set a good example and arrive early. He walked quickly, thinking about his girlfriends as he walked, so much so that he almost didn’t see Sarah and Tara waving at him and waiting for him on the path. 

He caught up to them and nodded. “Hey! On your way to work?” 

Tara nodded. “How’d you know?” 

Sarah laughed. “Did you have a good breakfast? We must have missed you in the dining hall.”

“Oh, I’m coming from the gym.” Arthur said.

“I thought I smelled fresh cologne.” Tara said. “You smell amazing.” 

“Aftershave, and thanks? I guess.” Arthur shrugged. Sarah leaned over and sniffed him, pressing her nose into his neck. She took a deep inhale and laughed. 

“You really do smell amazing. What kind of aftershave is that?” Sarah asked, leaving her hand on his arm as if for balance from the lean over his shoulder as she stood straight again. 

“Uh…” Arthur’s brain was firing off warning bells and waving red flags everywhere. His speech stalled as he looked between the two women. Were they flirting with him?

No. They couldn’t be. They were Sarah and Tara. They joked around sometimes, but they were friendly and decent workers. Sarah didn’t have excellent attention to detail, but she honored her shifts and never called out. Tara had a boyfriend, didn’t she? It was probably inappropriate of Arthur to ask. But Sara let her manicured fingers slide along his arm as she released her touch on him, smiling at him the entire time.

His conversation with Kelly the night before buzzed in his brain. He was clueless when it came to this stuff, but he was starting to realize that people flirting with him was more common than he’d realized. Tara might not be flirting with him, but passing him an honest compliment in the way she might have complimented a fellow woman. Sarah, on the other hand, was invading his personal space, making eye contact, then looking away when he met her gaze, laughing like everything he said was hysterical, and touching him. She was initiating several flirtatious behaviors. She was flirting. 

Now the question was: What should he do about it? To acknowledge it might make things awkward. To ignore it would be routine, but her flirting made him uncomfortable. Weren’t they the ones who reported his and Mindy’s relationship? Why was Sarah flirting with him if she thought he was some kind of disgusting pig taking advantage of a freshman? 

“Uh…” Arthur repeated as they approached the doors. 

Sarah and Tara glanced at each other, wondering what had made him short-circuit. 

“Old Spice.” Arthur answered, finally. “It’s just Old Spice.” 

“Isn’t that like, for senior citizens?” Tara joked. 

Arthur shrugged. “My girlfriend likes it.” He said, thinking of Kelly as he opened the door to the admin building and held it for them. 

“Which one?” Tara asked, with her tone teasing. “Sarah certainly seems to like it. Are you going to add her to your stable of women?” 

“My…” Arthur hesitated. “No.” He shook his head. “I mean, they all like it, I think, but Kelly is the one I was thinking of initially. She’s the one who specifically enjoyed it. I think she’s the one who recommended it to Lori, who gave it to me as a present once, and I’ve just been using it ever since.” 

“Lori, your ex?” Tara asked. “Why did she dump you again?” 

“She didn’t–” 

“It was mutual.” Tara and Sarah said simultaneously. 

“Yeah, we don’t believe you.” Tara said. “Not that we’re saying you did anything wrong. But nobody who initiates the break-up mopes as much as you did.” 

Arthur sighed, walking through the halls with them. “She believed she had to choose between love and her career. She chose her career.” 

“And you don’t believe that?” Sarah asked. 

“I would have tried long distance, or been willing to go with her, but she decided to end things instead.” Arthur said, slightly annoyed, but doing his best not to let it show. “Now, I think we should get to work.” He held the office door open for them. “Let’s keep my personal life out of the office, okay?” 

“You got it, Boss.” Sarah said, squeezing his arm on her way past him into the office again. 

Arthur silently took his seat at his desk and started work. He was noticing things more now and wondered if he should discuss it with Beth. Sarah’s flirting made him uncomfortable, like she was trying to trap or trick him somehow. He didn’t intend to fall for it, but the fact that it was happening made him nervous. Yet another problem on his plate.

~~~

The rest of Thursday night was an alcohol-fogged haze for Lynn. She’d drunk more than she should, and the last thing she remembered before getting into an Uber was Sanjay giving her his number. 

She awoke on Friday morning, totally alone. Silence filled the space of her bedroom. The deafening absence of noise blanketed everything as if it had snowed overnight. The house above her was empty. Arthur had locked and secured the doors against her. He’d even gone so far as to replace the poolhouse lock, the garage door lock, the garage code, the spare key code, and the sliding glass door to the kitchen. The house was officially a ‘No-Lynn zone.’ 

She had her apartment, the things in it, her car, and her parents—no one and nothing else. 

The loneliness tried to crush her again, but she didn’t let it. Why should she care if she’d spent the night alone? So what if she had no friends? People were losers anyway. So what if Deb had blocked her on every social media platform? It shouldn’t bother her if all of her calls and texts weren’t going through to the woman she was closer to than her mother. 

Lynn sniffed. 

No. This betrayal wasn’t going to get to her. She wouldn’t let Arthur win. He could keep Deb. Lynn didn’t need her. Sure, she’d thought Deb was the one person who would never give up on her, but this was just what people did. They abandoned her. 

Her friends in high school? Gone. 

Her best friend, Angie, had attended a different school, and according to social media, she was doing well; however, she had stopped responding to Lynn’s messages years ago. Even the ones who’d gone to the same college she had didn’t talk to her anymore. They were losers anyway, but at least in high school, they’d been loyal losers. In college, they forgot who they were, who she was, and they turned on her. One by one, they turned, just like Deb. 

The friends she made in college? Well, friends was a strong word. She had roommates in her freshman year, but they weren’t the cool girls. She’d tried for a sorority, but those bitches had their queen bees in place already, and they’d made damn sure not to let Lynn into their hives. What kind of sorority had GPA requirements? Lynn rolled her eyes just thinking about it. 

Then came the whole fiasco with that incompetent dean. He had one fucking job, and he couldn’t even do that without getting caught. Lynn had barely managed to avoid the fire on that one, but ultimately it didn’t matter. Her grades went poof, and so did her collegiate career. Pendleton was only giving her a chance because her parents had to beg, swindle, and leverage every favor they had. 

She’d tried to live with them, but her mother told her that some independence would be good for her. That was probably Deb’s idea. “It’ll be great. Move into the house, share it with Arty and other Pendleton students, and make friends.” 

Yeah, right. Lynn didn’t have friends. She had people she could use like the tools they were. Not that she was going to find a use for anyone in the house. 

Instead of filling the house above her with students, Arthur and his girlfriends took it, stuck Lynn in the basement, and wouldn’t even let her talk to him. He was supposed to be her golden ticket. In high school he’d worked his ass off for her grades, and there was no doubt in her mind that he’d be willing to do it again if it weren’t for his fucking transformation and sick, demented girlfriends. What kind of freaks those girls must be to want to share a man between them.  

Then those freaks turned Deb against her. She had no one on her side now. No one to talk to. No one to ask for advice or help. No one capable, anyway. Her parents listened, but they were useless beyond providing financial support. At least that was still coming in, no matter what Deb threatened. 

Lynn groaned. 

Last night should have been fun. The plan was simple: Step one, meet Katelyn’s Ex, Sean, at the bar. Step two, send him running back to Katelyn. She’d spent days chatting him up, subtly asking him questions about his previous relationship. The ultimate goal was to block Katelyn from joining the harem, and consequently, her living in the house. 

Plan A: she’d meet Sean at the bar, show him that he wasn’t shit by texting on her phone all night instead of paying attention to him, and he’d go running back to familiar pastures. The plan was perfect, and it would keep Katelyn out of Arty’s little harem. Hell, she might have even been grateful to Lynn for helping her and Sean get back together. Then Lynn would have an ally, maybe two.  

Unfortunately, Sean fucked that plan right in the ass without lube. 

Sean wasn’t in the lustful mood she expected. Instead, he was miserable and pathetic, like every loser. Maybe she’d pushed too hard, or underestimated how in love Sean had been. Katelyn had dumped his miserable ass, and Lynn could see why. He was a crybaby. 

Like an idiot, Sean jumped the gun and approached Katelyn yesterday at the dining hall. Her guard was up, and Kelly, that fucking bitch Kelly, had gotten in the way. Apparently, Katelyn had joined Arthur’s clique and had become one of his girlfriends. So she tried Plan B: make it look like she and Sean had hooked up, just to piss off Katelyn, Kelly, and probably Arthur. She didn’t have any use for Sean beyond that. Unfortunately, Sean was still hung up on Katelyn and rejected Lynn. She still couldn’t understand it. 

What the fuck did Sean or Arthur see in that twig that made her worth fucking, let alone a relationship? How could either of them look at her when Lynn was right there? 

Sean even told her she was hot, but apparently, he believed she was too hot for him, which was true. She was a goddess, and he had a face that looked like he’d marry his cousin. He ran away from her, so she chatted up some other guys, got three phone numbers, and drank way too much beer. She’d Ubered home and needed to fetch her car from the bar’s parking lot.  

Out of those three guys, only one looked promising. Her memory was hazy, but he went to Pendleton and said he had pretty good grades. Sanjay was another junior and a biology major. He wanted to attend medical school after graduation. Lynn stopped listening after that. He was shorter than her typical type, but he had a handsome, swarthy appearance. It was just a pity he couldn’t read a room, or listen instead of talk. He hadn’t asked her a single thing about herself, except to ask if she had any sisters. She left him in the bar without inviting him anywhere, but she had his number if she got bored and needed a free dinner. 

Still, it didn’t change the fact that she came home alone. 

Lynn pulled off her night mask and threw it toward the trash can in frustration. She slid from the bed and forced herself to rise. The light-blocking curtains kept the window from annoying her with midmorning light. She’d stripped her clothes off last night on her way to bed, sleeping naked. She didn’t bother with pulling on a bra or even stepping into a pair of panties. There was no one here, and even if there were, none of them wanted anything to do with her. She was as free as any bird with nowhere to fly. Worse than that, she was alone. She didn’t even have a roommate she could push around.  

The one person she’d reached out to for support had blocked her completely. Auntie Deb had turned on her, and all because of something that happened so long ago that Lynn barely thought about it. Her and Arthur’s first and only time together. It was a disappointment, to say the least, and he’d been uncooperative. He should have knelt and worshipped her like the goddess she was. Instead, he’d fucking cried. 

Where were all the men? Where were the guys who didn’t break down or wear their emotions on their sleeves? The tall, rugged men who looked like Arthur did now, but had more emotional fortitude than the average kindergartner? 

Lynn wiped the sleep from her eyes with the back of her wrist as she padded into the kitchen. The sudden change from soft carpet to cold tile woke her up, and she jumped back to the carpet, crossing her arms over her heavy breasts to keep them from hurting in the leap. 

She looked around the apartment for her slippers, turning this way and that. 

“Fuck.” She sighed, not finding them. “Where the fuck are they? It’s not like anyone else moved them.” 

She kicked her cowgirl boots aside and pulled her shirt from last night off the floor. Her slippers fell out of it, having caught beneath the shirt as she lifted it. She sighed, threw the shirt onto the sofa, and stepped into her slippers. 

She stepped into the kitchen. The coffee maker sat empty, staring at her as she approached. There was no one else to fill the water, clean the filter, or set the pot. She hadn’t set it last night either. Living on her own sucked. At least in college she’d had roommates to do this shit. Grabbing a cup of coffee from the pot was the easiest thing to do in the morning when someone else made the coffee. 

If she were on campus, she could buy a cup, but no, her parents didn’t want to pay for a dorm room when Auntie Deb had a room she could rent. The cheapskates. It wasn’t like they couldn’t afford it. She couldn’t wait until she turned twenty-five and gained access to her trust fund. Arthur had his savings, which, according to Auntie Deb, he’d worked for and saved. So why couldn’t she have custody of the money her parents set aside for her? It wasn’t her fault that Arthur’s parents had kept his a secret, while hers had told her about it. Why did she have to learn fiscal responsibility just because Deb thought teaching it to Arthur was a good idea? 

Men were supposed to be responsible with money; that was what they were for. Lynn shouldn’t have to worry about that. She was too hot to ever worry about money or how she spent it. 

She took the water container from the side of the pot and filled it at the sink, standing there as she watched the water run. The heat rose from the sink, steaming the air and reminding Lynn of the burning handmark on her face last night. 

Auntie Deb had really flipped. She’d smacked Lynn, right across the face. 

The memory of her slap stung more than the faded red mark on her cheek. The reality hadn’t sunk in last night as she pretended to listen to Sanjay. Nothing made sense. Deb had always taken Lynn’s side over Arthur’s when they were kids. She was the one who always pushed him to look out for Lynn, to be nice to her, and she always stuck her neck out for Lynn’s sake. She’d helped her so many times in high school and college, and now she was mad–burn the house down mad–and had thrown all of that away? 

This was Arthur’s fault. He said something to Deb to turn her against Lynn. But what? What could he have said that had possibly flipped Auntie Deb? Even Uncle George was cold to her at the door, and that old man was usually more uncomfortable in her presence than anything else—the perv.

Lynn set the filled water container on the coffee maker and rinsed the pot. She returned it to the coffee maker, and took out the filter, throwing yesterday’s ground coffee beans in the garbage and replacing them with a dozen scoops of today’s ground coffee beans. 

She closed the lid, hit the button, and looked around for her phone as the coffee pot heater started. The percolating noise of bubbling water echoed through the apartment as Lynn moved through the open space. She took the phone from her nightstand and checked her messages. Her frown deepened as she read her father’s response to her late-night text. 

Lynn: Hey, Papi! I know you and Mami said you’re putting me on an allowance last night, and I get it. Totally. However, I realized after I left that I had already spent a significant amount of money this week before I knew that was happening. So, do you think we could start that next week? I’m a little short on food money this week because of it. 

Papi: Didn’t you tell us last night that you just went grocery shopping yesterday? I’m sorry, honey, but we’re sticking with the allowance. We will deposit the money into your account every week, and it’s your responsibility to manage your budget. Let me know if you'd like us to review the budget with you, or I’m sure you could always ask Auntie Deb or Uncle George. 

She fumed. How dare her father tell her no? How dare he catch her in a lie that wasn’t even that important? She’d gone grocery shopping, so she had food, but what did that matter? She needed that money. What was she supposed to do? Sell pictures of herself online for cash? 

She could make a lot of money doing that, but it seemed like such a lot of work. Her thirst traps and cleavage shots on Instagram were popular enough, but they weren’t producing any money she could take to the bank. Perverts flooded her comments with requests for her OnlyFans information, which she didn’t have. Perhaps she should consider starting one, if she could find someone to handle all the editing and technical aspects for her. That’d teach her parents to fuck with her cash flow. 

Hell, she wondered how much Sanjay would pay to see her right now, standing naked in her apartment, being all domestic. Indian guys were good with tech, right? Was that racist? Probably. Lynn didn’t care. Sanjay might be a good candidate if he could learn to shut up. He’d probably do it for free, and if he got too handsy, she could put him in his place. Short and scrawny didn’t threaten her. He could be her new Arthur, or she could find some other simp who could do it all for her. She didn’t have time to cultivate a customer base or pretend to enjoy attention from perverts, but if bots could do the work, she could pose and rake in the cash. She strode back into her living room. 

Her naked body was attractive, she knew that, but in her apartment, there was no one to see it. Her hips, breasts, butt, legs, and every aspect of her flesh seemed tailored by nature to make her every man’s, and most women’s, desire. Plenty of people at the bar would have come home with her and gladly worshipped her body. They’d pay for the privilege, too. 

So why the fuck hadn’t Arthur gotten it up all those years ago? Why was he pushing her away now and not running into her arms like the lovesick lapdog he was supposed to be? Maybe he was pissed that she hadn’t recognized him in the hot tub at that first reunion weeks ago. That wasn’t her fault, though. He couldn’t blame her for not realizing how much he’d changed. Arthur was the one who’d blocked her on social media. 

Had she come on too strong in her senior year? He’d been in love with her his whole life, but when he finally had the chance to be her boy toy, he cried about it. Had she pushed the humiliation thing too far? She’d planned it all that night so long ago, and she enjoyed herself, but he acted like she’d done something to him, rather than for him. Deb said that he’d told her the details and how it led to the fight with the football team, was that what she was upset about? 

She should’ve stopped them from beating him, but they wouldn’t have listened to her anyway. It wasn’t her fault that Arthur startled her. What was he doing running after her anyway? He should have just waited for her in the room, as she had told him to. She would have come back after a night of partying and used him again, like a good boy. Maybe after some rest he could have gotten a freakin’ boner. Men. She couldn’t trust them to do anything. He didn’t listen, so he got what he deserved. That wasn’t her fault. 

Deb blamed her for her son’s mistakes, though. So that meant Arthur did too. Did he tell his girlfriends? No. He’d never be willing to admit to his lovesick groupies that he wasn’t all man and couldn’t get it up. He must have told them some version of the events that turned them against her, though. Kelly seemed to suggest she knew more than the others. She might even be aware of Lynn’s issues with the dean. She’d have to discuss it with her tonight. 

She checked the clock on the coffee pot. It was early still, nearly eleven in the morning. That gave her plenty of time to order food and make it appear as though she’d cooked. She had to assume Deb wasn’t coming tonight, which meant she couldn’t get Deb to help her cook, aka make dinner for her. It also meant it would be just her, Kelly, Mindy, Kat, Rani, and Katelyn. Six people, herself and five of Arthur’s six whores. She wondered why the sluttiest of them, Selene, wasn’t coming, but she didn’t care. That bitch would get hers eventually. 

Lynn needed food for six people, and all for a fucking apology facade that didn’t even matter anymore. Deb had been the one she was doing it for in the first place. She didn’t need to calm Mindy, but keeping Deb on her side had been necessary. 

What the fuck was the point now? 

Mindy should have been off the board already. One by one, her plans were failing and falling apart. It burned Lynn that Mindy’s parents were so wholesome and understanding. Apparently, they were fine that their daughter was bisexual. That was no big deal to them? They were the only Korean parents Lynn ever heard of reacting that way. 

Not that she knew any other Korean parents. 

At least Rani’s parents would be pissed, when Lynn finally found them. That hunt was proving difficult. It was like Rani had carefully segregated her college life from her home life. Her social profiles only went back to her freshman year of college; before that, there was no record of her online presence. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Was she an orphan? Maybe that was why she lived on campus and kept to herself. 

Kelly’s mother hadn’t responded to Lynn’s friend request, nor had Katelyn’s, or Kat and Selene’s. Except for Kelly, Lynn wasn’t friends with any of them on social media. So they had no mutuals. Now, though, Kelly had given her a way in. With a mutual friend in Kelly, Lynn might be able to convince those parents where they would know her from. She was friends with their daughters from Pendleton, obviously. It’d be a good segue to queuing up whatever dirt she needed to dish to their parents. 

She’d be damned if she let them live here unscathed after the insults they hurled at her at brunch, and the way they kept her from talking to Arthur. He shouldn’t be with them. They didn’t own him. Lynn owned him. The sooner they realized that, the better off they’d be.

Lynn sighed, looking around the apartment. It was a decent place. Sizable. Even with some of the floor space used for utility purposes, such as storage, water heaters, the furnace, and the electrical box, the in-law suite was approximately the same size as her parents' apartment in square footage. At least her parents had a balcony, though. Losing her patio privileges sucked. The pool was right there and heated. Maybe she’d go for a dip. She should enjoy her last few days of living in this ghost town of a house. Pretty soon, the girls would be there to remind her that all she had was this apartment, and that no one wanted her there. 

Usually, she thrived on hatred, but even the great Lynn Barerra had her limits. She needed someone to bitch to, to listen to her vent, to do things for her. A roommate could do that, but she didn’t have any candidates. Skylar hadn’t returned her texts after homecoming. Apparently, she resented Lynn ditching her so Lynn could attend an exclusive party that proved to be nothing but a prank. Lynn rolled her eyes and crossed her legs as the memory of that night made her heart pump faster.

The memory of sitting naked in her car, masturbating to the shame of streaking through the hotel, made her fingers itch. She needed to stop masturbating to the memory of Kelly spitting on her cheek in the admin building, or nude Selene closing the door after taking her clothes away. Her dreams had been too sexual recently and too focused on Kelly, Arthur, and the girls for her comfort. She couldn’t even cum anymore without picturing Kelly standing over her, humiliating her for Arthur’s amusement. It was both sickening and arousing to contemplate. 

She stepped into her bathroom and washed her face with cold water. She looked at herself in the mirror, but only briefly. Without makeup, it was like looking at an unfinished painting. Lynn turned off the light and shuffled back to the kitchen. She poured herself a cup of coffee and let it cool. The steam wafted into the air above the mug in gentle swirls. 

So the plan with Sean to take Katelyn off the board failed. The plan with Mindy failed before that. Rani was a non-starter. Selene was fun to mess with, but she wasn’t ready to get her fired yet. She had to make Selene believe she had the power, though. 

Lynn’s skin crawled at the idea of having to flirt with that store manager again. Ugh. The things she did for victory. 

She was due for a visit to the library to mess with Kat. Lynn could order Kat to help her find some books and waste some time bossing her around. That might be fun. It’d have to wait, though. She was supposed to put on a pleasant appearance for tonight. She had to pretend like she wanted to be their friend and humiliate herself with an apology to Mindy. 

All so she could, what? Break up the harem and make Arthur realize he wanted her? Get through college? Why the fuck did she need college? 

At this point, she had a choice to make. 

She could surrender. Without Deb in her corner, she had no chance of getting Arthur on her side. She could give up, move in with her parents, abandon the idea of attending a college she’d flunk out of in a semester anyway, and live her life as she saw fit. She’d party, have fun, and marry one of her dad’s rich friends who wanted a sugar baby. She’d have to pick someone who was into never sexually satisfying her, and having her berate and humiliate them for it. There were guys like that on the internet, right? Why not in real life? Why did her stomach sour at the very thought of it? 

A variation on that would be starting her own porn channel somewhere. A few poses, some masturbation videos, and she’d rake in the dough and make enough to cover her bills and live however she wanted. Sexual liberty, financial independence, and getting paid for getting off sounded like a good gig. 

Alternatively, she could go nuclear. It wasn’t about victory anymore. There was no victory. There was no getting Arty to do her assignments and help her pass college, so her parents would stop nagging her. She’d never be able to ingratiate herself into his circle of friends, depose Kelly, and replace her as their queen. What could she do? She could blow it up. Figuratively speaking, of course. She wasn’t going to do anything that might end with her getting hurt. 

No. Lynn would take their personal relationship bullshit and make it public. She’d out them as poly, bisexual deviants. At least three of them could kiss their careers goodbye. She’d be doing them a favor. Who in their right mind wanted to be a teacher anyway? 

And Arthur? He’d be so easy to frame as a misogynistic monster. “He manipulated those poor women and took advantage of them. He brainwashed them, but once they escape his cult, they’ll come around.” None of it would be true, but who the fuck cared? No company in its right mind would hire a man with that much bad press. Not in today’s market. 

Could she leverage that with Deb? No. That would only piss Deb off more. If she threatened Arthur’s future or tried to force Deb into liking her again, she’d just end up making things worse. 

So what was she supposed to do? She had nothing to gain by any of the options ahead of her. The porn route might make her money, but it wasn’t the same as satisfaction against Arthur and his girlfriends. Either way, she lost, and they won. She couldn’t have that. She sipped her coffee, letting the heat against her lips and tongue wake her mind.

“What the fuck do I want?” Lynn asked her mostly transparent reflection in the window. “To be on top again?” 

She couldn’t see a path to that. 

“Someone to fuckin’ listen to me?” Lynn glared at her reflection as if it mocked her. How dare the reflection show the emptiness of her apartment and the lone figure standing amid the barren suite? 

“College is so fucking boring.” Lynn moaned. She didn’t want to go to classes. She didn’t want to do anything. She just wanted to live her life. She was in her twenties. She was supposed to travel, party, and have a good time. Why did her parents want to ruin that? 

Travel. There was an idea. Who the fuck said she had to stay here? She could plan a trip. Maybe she’d go down to Miami and spend a week on the beach. Or the Bahamas. A few weeks in the Bahamas at a resort would let her forget all about Auntie Deb’s betrayal. She could party at the clubs, as usual, dance, drink, and have a good time. She’d flirt, test her powers over strangers, amuse herself with them, and then leave them wanting more. That always made her feel better, right? 

Until she woke up in the morning, alone as usual. 

Of course, she’d be just as alone there as she was here, but at least there she’d have alcohol in her hand instead of coffee. She stared out at the pool, looking at the tiered stone patio and the steps leading to the house’s kitchen and three-seasons room. 

Fuck them, and fuck their rules. Lynn hadn’t thought they were serious about those clauses in the lease, or at least she should have been able to manipulate Arty into forgetting about them. She might not have access to the pool, but there was no one here. No one could enforce it. 

Lynn finished her coffee, setting the empty mug on the counter as she left her apartment, still naked. She closed the sliding glass door behind her as she left the far corner of her living room and stepped onto the forbidden territory of the house’s back patio. Fuck it. The girls weren’t here yet, and she might as well enjoy the pool before they arrived. 

She walked into the water and swam through the heated pool, surrounded by the warm autumn air. She became a nymph with her hair flowing out behind her, a lady of the lake. Nothing else existed in the world, just her and the water. No betrayals, no family abandoning her, no friends turning their backs on her, no men disappointing her. She was alone, sure, but the water was there. 

She floated on the surface of the water, letting it hold her up as she opened her eyes to gaze at the sky above. Her hair floated and fanned out behind her as she drifted lazily toward the deep end. The water muted the world, dampening the sounds that tried to reach her ears. No birdsong called her, no vibration of her phone in the kitchen could reach her. Not that anyone called or texted her anyway. 

Was that why she hated the girls so much? Because they had each other, and she had no one? 

No. That was stupid. She was being dumb and emotional, like Arthur. 

Lynn took a deep breath, pulling her legs under her and standing in the pool so that her shoulders and head remained above the water. She flipped her hair behind her, pulling it back with her hands. She’d need a shower, but she needed one anyway. 

She swam toward the shallow end again, going under and kicking. She became a nymph once more, letting her hands walk on the bottom of the pool before she brought her feet under her and rose from its depths like Venus. Water cascaded from her form, dripping onto the stone beside the pool. Her curvy hips, thick thighs, bountiful breasts, and every inch of her smooth, flawless skin glistened with beads of water. Some of the heavier droplets caressed her curves as they drove rivulets across the lines of her body and fell to the ground with her movements. She had no towel to cover herself, and she didn't need one. 

She walked with her head high and her body on full display, proud of the form nature blessed her with. Her wet footsteps smacked with every stride toward her apartment door. Water drops fell from her hands as she grasped the handle and pulled. 

Nothing happened. 

She pulled again, and nothing happened.  

Shit. 

Lynn’s eyes went wide as she struggled, pulling on the door several times without it budging. Her hand flew to her hip, but her phone wasn’t there. It was on the kitchen counter, inside. She was naked, and locked out, alone on a property with a house she couldn’t enter, and no one to call, even if she did have her phone. 

Lynn tugged on the door again, and again, and again, but it didn’t move any more than it had the first time. She closed her eyes and felt the tears join the wetness of her skin. Her eyelids flew open, and she let out a frustrated “Grah!” As she stomped away. She tried the poolhouse door, the main house kitchen door, the poolhouse back door, the three-seasons room back door, the front door, the garage’s side door, the garage panel doors, which she couldn’t lift, and her main entrance, all of which were locked. 

It was only after making that round that she realized there were cameras on some of those entrances. She blushed in fury, but calmed herself. It wasn’t like the security company checked that footage unless something happened. Deb, George, or Arthur might check it on a live feed if they got an alert about motion, though. Was there a way she could put her head in the frame without the rest of her? 

She had nothing to cover herself with but her limbs. Would Arthur even come? 

No. Arthur wasn’t about to ride to her rescue. Those days were over. Deb probably wouldn’t help her either. Frustrated, she stomped to the back patio again. She stopped at the side where the extra key was and tried to unlock it, but Arthur had changed the combination to the secure container. It wasn’t his, Deb's, or George’s birthdays. 

She tried hers, but it didn’t work either. 

“I could break in…” Lynn said, speaking to herself now, but voicing the thought aloud gave her something to listen to other than the voice in her head that told her she was stupid, and this is what she deserved as a stupid fucking cunt. Who walks out of the house with absolutely nothing and closes the door behind them without making sure it's unlocked first? 

She could drown, and no one would find her body. No one checked on her. No one cared. Was she depressed? No. Depression happened to other people. She didn’t get depressed, she got angry. How dare they abandon her? How dare no one care about her? Didn’t they know who she was? How hot she was? How lucky they should feel that she wanted them? 

She seized one of the patio chairs and hurled it against her sliding glass door in frustration. “Grah!” The glass door made a noise, but the chair bounced off it, not even leaving a crack or a dent. Lynn stared at the sliding glass door. 

The tint in its glass mocked her, reflecting her naked body at her without its makeup, her hair flat and clinging to her. She looked hideous to herself above the neck, and worse, ineffectual. She couldn’t even break a glass door. Deb had mentioned they were reinforced, so she didn’t need to worry about break-ins, but everyone said that. What were the odds of someone actually doing it? 

“I’m so fucking stupid.” Lynn said, breaking down. Her body convulsed involuntarily as her tears broke free from her eyes. She collapsed onto the patio chair, hugged her knees to herself with her feet on the edge of the seat. Hot, wet tears carved their paths over her cheeks and dripped from her chin. 

It’d been years since she’d cried. She didn’t let her emotions get the best of her. She used them when she needed to, but if they weren’t going to be useful they could fuck off. That was her philosophy. Only this time, her emotions didn’t listen. They overwhelmed her. Waves of loneliness crashed against waves of self-recrimination, and she folded into herself, curling up and hoping she’d float instead of drown. 

The tears fell, and she couldn’t stop them. Was this how Arthur felt when he cried all those years ago? Except she didn’t have an audience.

Why hadn’t he enjoyed it? He was supposed to enjoy it. He was supposed to thank her for allowing him in her presence. Angie said he’d be one of those guys who was into a woman being mean to him. He responded well enough to it in high school and kept coming back for more. She’d been an absolute monster to him, teasing him, putting his insecurities on display for all to see, and he kept returning. He loved it, craved it, and got off on it, right? Arthur never abandoned her during all those years. He must have been into it. He must have enjoyed her cruelty the way some men do. 

She’d been mean at the motel, like he wanted, and she enjoyed it. She’d been the cruelist queen bitch she’d ever been. In return, he’d been the most pathetic he’d ever been. His whiney little tears and pathetic reactions had been a huge turn-off at the time. Still, she got there eventually. She enjoyed humiliating others. She got off on it all the time. 

Recently, though, after Selene’s little prank at the hotel, she’d only been able to cum when she imagined herself being the one humiliated. Running naked through the lobby, hoping no one saw her, and knowing they did. 

Well, she was humiliated now, even if there was no one to see her. She was a dumb fucking bitch, naked, and alone. It’d be hours before someone came who might help her, and even then, it’d be Kelly or one of Arthur’s other girlfriends. She’d have to hide and hope Kelly or one of the girls had a key. Maybe she could slip in behind them without them noticing, somehow. What if they came in through the main house and left the door unlocked? But what if they locked it? Or worse, what if they came around to the basement entrance? 

What was she supposed to do until then, anyway? Preparing dinner for them was out of the question. 

She could play it off like she’d planned it this way. Dinner would be pizza, or something ordered to the house. Since they enjoyed naked parties so much, like their hotel, she’d tell them that was what she’d planned. Skinny dipping in the pool.

They’d never fall for it. Did Lynn care? Not particularly. She didn’t care about anything anymore. Let them come. Let them find her here, crying, naked, alone, and still not knowing where it all went wrong. They parried every thrust she’d made at them. Every taunt or jeer she’d tossed at them, they mocked. Every move she tried to make, they danced around. 

How dare they work together and mock her even as she tried to drive them apart. Arthur had turned them against her from before they met her. Why couldn’t he get over himself? Why wouldn’t they even give her a chance? They didn’t trust her. 

Ha. Maybe that was the third option: If you can’t beat them, join them? 

“Ha.” Lynn laughed at the idea, wiping her tears as they continued to fall. “They’d never allow that. Arty would never allow that.” 

She looked up at the big house, the dreams that had filled her head weeks ago when Deb said she could move in here. This house wasn’t her palace anymore. It was her prison. The basement was her Superman Castle of Solitary Confinement, or whatever people called it. She was alone, and she was so damn tired of losing. 

Breaking in, she might be able to get her things at least. But she wouldn’t be surprised if Deb or Arty used it as an excuse to break her lease. Deb said they were looking for ways to evict her. She didn’t need to give them one. Then again, try as she might, she couldn’t think of another way into the house. She had to either wait or break in. Those were her choices. 

She chose to wait. She only had six or seven hours to go until dinner.