Chapter 14 - Pure Brandy
I reached my goal, finally, on the schedule we expected.
Kelly told me to hurry home the following Friday. That afternoon
would be the last time anyone would see Ran for a while. I was
already well on my way to changing and had the wine-red
lace-up-the-front corset in place when Kelly got home. It may not
have gotten laced as tightly as Kelly usually did, but only because I
didn't have as good a leverage. I was determined to maintain the
standards we had set for Brandy even without Kelly in attendance.
"Good, you're almost ready," she said. Put on your denim
skirt and the red lace blouse and I'll join you as soon as I can. We
have an appointment in thirty minutes."
"Where?" I called to her as she went into the closet.
"You'll see," she grinned as she handed me her own corset to
lace up the back. Soon she was squeezed down to her own optimal
figure and went to finish changing. I completed my preparations,
ending with the tight, shiny gloves I typically wore to disguise my
hands. Kelly walked in as I was pulling these on and I saw a sly grin
light her face.
"What are you smirking about?" I challenged.
"You'll see," she repeated, teasing.
One last check in the mirror and we were ready to go. By now,
my swing in heels was so normal that I found myself sashaying even
when dressed as Ran. I was going to have to do something about my
dual life or Ran's reputation was history anyway. We walked out of
the house and I saw Billie Jo leaning against her car door. She was
dressed similarly, though she had decided on leather for her
miniskirt. She waved and laughed as we moved closer, then opened the
car door with a flourish.
"Your chariot awaits, Milady," she called.
Throwing a questioning glance at Kelly, who blandly ignored
it, we crossed the small area of grass and were soon in Billie Jo's
car.
"Where are we going?" I demanded again.
"You'll see," they said in unison, then dissolved into
laughter.
In a few minutes I did see, as we pulled into a nail parlor
parking lot.
"Don't you think she needs long, elegant fingernails?" Kelly
asked Billie Jo.
"Certainly," Billie Jo replied.
"Okay," I said with an embarrassed flush. "I'll try it, but
only if you do, too."
"Why do you think we came along?" Billie Jo said.
Soon we were seated before a manicurist who patiently
described the various styles we could choose, explaining the
difference between acrylic and fiberglass, built-on and pre-formed
nail tips. Billie Jo wanted me to try long, curved, dragon lady
nails, but Kelly held out for a straighter shape, though just as long.
Again I agreed to anything that they would try also, which settled the
question as Kelly said she just couldn't see herself as a dragon lady.
In the end, we selected an expensive silk-wrap process. After all,
this was the start of a very special vacation. They both insisted I
go first, so I pulled off my gloves and extended my hands to the
manicurist. She looked at me quizzically for a second, but I only
raised one elegant eyebrow, daring her to make a comment. She blushed
with embarrassment for having questioned the femininity of such a
beautiful woman and proceeded to apply the nail forms. While my new
nails were hardening on the forms the manicurist proceeded to Kelly
and Billie Jo. We had our own little assembly line set up, with each
step demonstrated first on me then applied to the others. Finally my
nails were hardened and shaped, extending almost an inch past the ends
of my fingers.
"What color polish would you like to use?" the manicurist
asked.
"Oh," Kelly interjected, "I have her polish right here."
Kelly offered a deep, frosty red that matched the lipstick she
had previously chosen for me. I looked at her with suspicion and her
answering grin indicated that she had planned this for a long time.
The manicurist quickly applied what would turn out to be the first of
several coats of polish and had me place my nails in the dryer as she
moved on to trim and finish Kelly and Billie Jo. Periodically she
would test my nails and apply additional coats when they were ready.
By the time she had the other two ready for polish my own nails were
completely dry, with a hard, lustrous shine. I couldn't stop admiring
the shape they gave my hands and the grace they gave my movements.
Everything I did seemed to send a flash of color. The other two
laughed at me as I waved my hands about, but they were clearly envious
as well.
I reached to pick up the gloves I had worn in and laughed as
my nails hit the table. The tough silk wrap protected them, but I
wondered how long they would last as I gingerly took the gloves and
then tried to open my purse. The long nails now seemed everywhere,
interfering in everything I wanted to do. Taking a deep breath, I
decided I would not let the inconvenience bother me. My hands looked
gorgeous and I was proud. The other two cycled through the nail
dryer, their polish matching the glossy colors of their own lipstick.
When they were done, we all went sauntering out to the parking lot and
fell off our tall heels into the car, giggling crazily at the
intensely sensuous look of our hands, legs, and clothes.
"Where do you want to go eat?" Kelly asked, the sly smile back
on her face.
"Oh, I'll thing of something," Billie Jo said with a
too-casual nonchalance.
Their conspiratorial grins increased as we arrived at the same
restaurant which had been the scene of Brandy's debut, though at first
the parking valet did not recognize us since we were in Billie Jo's
car. As we pulled up to the entryway, the valet hurried to my door on
the passenger side. He opened it, then I swung my shining legs out of
the car and offered him a glamorous hand for his assistance. His eyes
bulged at the long smooth shape of my legs though he still obviously
hadn't looked at my face. When he did, a broad grin broke out.
"Welcome back, Miss . . . ," he paused in invitation.
"Brandy," I said. "It's nice to be back."
Dropping my voice to a soft whisper, I continued, "Last time
you said you'd take good care of me. I decided to take you up on
that."
The intimacy implied by my soft comment reduced the poor guy
to stammering incoherence, and the other girls had to get out of the
car by themselves. I smiled with the look of cool amusement that had
given me such fits when I was on the receiving end and waited
patiently for him to let go of my hand. When Kelly and Billie Jo
arrived by my side he seemed to come back to life and dropped my hand.
"Three of you," he breathed. "Wherever you come from, I'm
immigrating."
"I don't know if you could pass the entrance requirements," I
teased.
Shaking out my long hair, I ran my shining nails through it in
a slow, sensual motion and then turned toward the door. The parking
valet gulped and stared and the bulge in his pants looked positively
painful. Billie Jo gasped as well, amazed at the power and poise I
had just demonstrated.
"Shameless, simply shameless," I heard Kelly snicker. Billie
Jo giggled in response, but she looked at me with more respect.
I let them catch up and whispered to them both, "I said I'd be
pure Brandy, I never said I'd be a lady at all. If I were a real
woman, I'd tease guys when I could be safe about it, so get used to
it. Kelly's the angel, not me."
This time I went to the hostess myself and announced our need
for a table. My soft, musical voice was the trigger for attention
from the men in the area and I could see the local stud patrol
forming. I wondered how they would sort out. As Ran, even before
Kelly and I had married, I could never have approached such lovely,
sensuous creatures in a bar. I had met Kelly first in a professional
setting, at an investment seminar, and she had been well-dressed but
not so blatantly sexual. She had come a long way in her own awareness
of how beautiful she was and again I was glad to have met and captured
her. Her angelic smile and bouncing vivacity added to that new
sensual self-appreciation to make her seem like the perfect woman to
spend your life with, which was actually exactly right.
Billie Jo had also been transformed. Before she had been in a
shell, reserved and a bit severe. Now, the combination of her
awakened awareness of her beauty plus her long-delayed understanding
of what men were good for gave her a hunger for virile men which
matched their hunger for sensuous women. The appraising glance with
which she swept the room showed a willingness to meet a man more than
halfway, but it would have to be a real man. The challenge in her
look actually intimidated a few of the men (as it would have
intimidated Ran), but it brought others to attention like bird dogs on
a scent. Interestingly enough, the blatant studs with open shirts and
chains were among those put off. They seemed to gravitate to the
repressed women, the ice maidens, who would presumably be grateful for
their attention. The real men with enough self-confidence to meet
Billie Jo's challenge did not need to advertise so bluntly. It would
take due care to shut down the arrogant, but finding a man with
well-deserved pride was obviously Billie Jo's quest tonight.
I leaned over to Kelly and whispered, "Look at Billie Jo.
That's a hunting look. I wonder if we'll have to find our own way
home tonight, or if she'll loan us her keys. For sure, she doesn't
intend to leave alone."
"Look who's talking!" Kelly gasped in wonder. "If anyone is
on the hunt tonight, it's you. I really am going back to that parking
lot guy with a Kleenex, though he's more likely to need it for the
dribble at his pants than the drool at his mouth. You're terrible!"
"Really?" I questioned. "I'm not trying to be cheap, only
seductive. I've been teased often enough to figure that it's inherent
in femininity."
"No," she backed down, "actually you're doing fantastic and I
wish I had your sophistication. From now on, I'm taking notes from
you. You come across as definitely not cheap, not easy, but certainly
possible. Exactly right for a single girl on the make, or an
outrageous tease. Just be sure you're ready if some guy doesn't want
to take no for an answer. Teasing like that gets women raped. It's
not a valid excuse, but some types of men like to use it."
While we had been whispering, the stud patrol had begun the
too-cool-to-rush shuffle in our direction. Perhaps it was because my
memory had made him into something better than real, but none of those
approaching seemed nearly as interesting as Dart Tanyon had been.
Billie Jo seemed disappointed as well. I flattered myself with the
thought that she had chosen to share her first man-woman sexual
experience with me, even if I had been little more than an available
tool. At least her standards were high enough to exclude these
approaching would-be hunks. On the other hand, Kelly had again
attracted a good-looking, likable type who had drawn her off for a few
quiet words so smoothly I didn't know they were gone. As the other
studs jockeyed for position, our table was called and I grabbed
Kelly's arm and pulled her with us. Billie Jo and I laughed on the
way to the table at her dismayed expression.
"What would you have done if you caught him?" I teased.
"Listen to you!" she giggled. "We might have had to find out
just how silver your tongue is if one of those hunks had latched onto
you."
The three of us were the focus of all the eyes in the room. I
distinctly saw one overweight geek (about like I used to be, I
supposed) edging a spoon to the side of his table. Choking down my
mirth, I danced lightly to the other side of our group but Billie Jo
had no idea what was going on until the spoon fell to the floor with a
tiny ring just as we passed the table. The geek bent down to pick it
up, clearly going for a beaver shot. We all laughed hilariously,
which had him blushing furiously just as he deserved. At least I had
never been that much of a geek.
"What do you suppose he would have done if he got a look at
what I have up my skirt?" I asked innocently, which provoked fresh
gales of laughter.
"If he had been in here the first night and you tried that
little dance, you'd have ended up on your ass and everyone in the
place would have known your secret," Kelly giggled.
"Don't remind me. I felt like I had a flaming arrow over my
head saying 'Look at this clumsy fool!'"
"Well, he did get a look up my skirt," Billie Jo grinned, "and
I have on a tiny g-string even more sheer than the one you guys gave
me. He knows a secret you two don't even know yet."
"What's that," we chorused.
"I shaved this morning, all over. I'm as clean as a newborn
baby down there."
"Ooh," Kelly gasped, "that'll bring your nipples up."
"Speak for yourself," I laughed as I poked her in her corseted
ribs.
This set us all off uncontrollably. We were laughing so hard
that the people at the tables around us began to grin as well. Our
infectious laughter soon spread throughout our section of the
restaurant (except for the geek's table) and in a few moments, the
manager came by to see what was going on. The people at the first
table he reached were laughing themselves by then. When he politely
asked them what was so funny, they suddenly calmed and admitted that
they didn't know, which set them off again. He chuckled with them and
moved on, finally realizing that the epicenter of the mirth explosion
in his restaurant was at our table.
"I'm glad to see you ladies are having such a good time," he
began with a smile.
"Yes we are," I giggled, trying to get the others to calm
down. "Your parking valet promised us you would."
"Would what?" he asked in confusion.
"Show us a good time," I responded with a wink.
The manager flushed, but I could see another tent pole
forming.
"He said I would show you a good time?" he queried with a
little annoyance.
"Well, actually, he said 'We'll show you a good time', but I
figured if it was your restaurant then it fell to you to make good on
any commitments made by the staff," I explained, almost able to get
through that whole outrageous statement without snickering.
The manager was a good-enough looking guy, fit and trim. He
probably didn't have much trouble finding women, though he had no
wedding ring. I could see the wheels turning in his head as he tried
to decide whether to encourage this flirtation. He looked at Billie
Jo and Kelly, who were red in the face from laughing and were trying
to appear innocent (an easy job for Kelly, but impossible for the
hunting Billie Jo). Then I could see his expression change as he
reached his decision, unfortunately.
"Well, Miss . . .," he paused.
"Brandy, Kelly, Billie Jo," we chorused in confusing
counterpoint.
"Well ladies," he began again, not sure why this simple
statement also threatened to set us to giggling again. "You've made
my restaurant a happy place tonight. I'll have your waiter bring you
drinks on the house. But please, try and keep it down. Some of the
patrons come here to relax, not laugh so hard they hurt."
"Really?" Kelly questioned, "tell us who and we'll go cheer
him up."
"Yep," I grinned. "I bet we could put a smile on his face."
"Just like yours," Billie Jo chimed in, pointing out the
embarrassed grin worn by the manager.
He shook his head and moved off, but a few minutes later the
waiter did come by with drink refills. We finished our meals and got
ready to leave.
"Watch out for teetering spoons," I warned with a grin.
"Watch out yourself, I've got nothing to hide," Kelly
retorted.
"Well, I guess I've got nothing left to hide," Billie Jo
added.
"Right," I rounded out our little vaudeville act.
"No, left," Billie Jo repeated.
Those near enough to hear us grinned with us, watching in
appreciation (if male) or envy (if female) as we strolled to the exit.
The valet had parked Billie Jo's car close to the entrance and
as we approached he scurried to get it. In a moment was holding my
door again, offering me his hand to steady the fall off my towering
heels into the seat.
"Did you have a good time, tonight?" he asked.
"Not entirely," I pouted, though the twinkle in my eyes
contradicted my full lips. "But the night is young," I continued with
a wink. As he let go of my hand, I let a long nail scratch lightly at
his palm. His gasp was enough to catch the other girls' attention.
They looked at me with fake glares and then broke up laughing again.
"Shameless," Kelly admonished.
"Completely," Billie Jo confirmed.
I pretended to blush, but they both knew I wasn't sorry at
all. The parking lot attendant carefully closed my door after I had
swung my legs in. His blush was real, as was the reaction
demonstrated in his pants. I wondered if he could even stand up
straight. As we drove off I tossed my hair around so I could get a
look at him, and saw him gently rubbing his palm where my nail had
trailed across it.
