Welcome To Saturn Beta - Part 22 free porn video

"Ben!" Amber screamed. "Well! Fancy seein' you way out here!" "Hey, Amber," he said with a smile, and then he immediately turned his attention to Tyler. "Hi, Violet." "Oh," Tyler said, trying to regain his breath. He could feel blood rushing to his cheeks, and he could pointedly sense each individual item of clothing he had on, especially the garter belt. "Hey, Ben." "Well, don't act too excited to see me," Ben said jokingly. "I'm... well, no," Tyler stammered. "I mean, yeah, I'm glad to see you. Just really surprised." Amber hugged her fiance from the side and leaned her head on his shoulder. Isaac was the next to speak: "Ben came out to the plant this morning." "What for?" Tyler asked. Placing both hands on the pink sheath surrounding his well-defined hips, he alternated rapid glances between Isaac, Ben, and Amber, trying not to let the situation overwhelm him too much. He strained to maintain his nerves. "I mean, not that I mind, or anything. I just... yeah, what ARE you doing way out here in Este Golfo?" "For the tour," Ben said. "Isaac and I talked about his job, the night he proposed to Amber. We've kept in touch since then, and he's always telling me new stuff about his job. I figured I'd come check it out." "We give tours, apparently," Isaac added. "I had no idea." "Aaaanyway..." Amber said, moving things along. "Isaac's about to die of hunger, so we're gonna head out now. You guys wanna meet us there? We're goin' to that Italian place across the street. We're gonna get an appetizer or some salad or somethin', and we'll wait to order the main course 'til you show up. Sound good?" "You... I..." Tyler stammered, looking around the boutique in a panic as Amber and Isaac wandered away. The electronic bell jingled again as they exited. Now it was just Tyler and Ben, standing in the rear of the shop together. Ben looked admiringly up at Tyler, who was still standing on the platform, clad in his form-fitting pink bridesmaid dress. Tyler looked off to the side. "You look amazing," Ben said, taking a step toward the platform. "That's what you're wearing to the wedding?" "Yeah," Tyler muttered, still not making eye contact with Ben. He brushed his hand across the slippery fabric over his thighs. This was suddenly very uncomfortable. He didn't mind being poked and prodded by Amber and the boutique owner as they sorted out the final details of the gowns... but having Ben look at him, while he was trussed up in something so tight - and so pink, so girly! - it was impossible for Tyler to not fidget a bit. He knew Ben was enamored with him. Enamored enough to ask Tyler to come to Miami with him, stay with him, live with him... And hell... Ben, after all, was the man whom Tyler had targeted for his most recent unsuccessful info brokering scam. And Tyler had offered sex to him, and Ben had turned it down, and Tyler assumed afterward that they would never see each other again. Their relationship was a complicated one, to put it lightly. "You don't seem too thrilled about it," Ben replied, studying the layered expression on Tyler's face. "Huh?" Tyler said, snapping back to the present. He looked down at Ben from his elevated spot on the platform. "Oh. Uh, no, it's fine. I mean, it's what Amber wants us to wear. It's her wedding." "True. Well, she has good taste. You do really look fantastic." "Thank you," Tyler said. He was about to change the subject to something less self-focused when the boutique owner reemerged from the side room. "Oh," the owner said, seeing that her shop was nearly abandoned now. "They left. Well, I suppose we ought to get you changed, Violet. Unless you want to walk around Este Golfo looking like that." Tyler sighed. "Not particularly." "Help her on down, young man, if you don't mind." Ben stood at attention and grinned shamelessly. "I don't mind," he said, while offering his hand to the lovely young lady in the body-hugging pink dress on the platform. Despite his discomfort with the situation, Tyler took Ben's hand and stepped carefully down the platform steps, unable to see his high-heeled shoes under the waves of organza ruffles that hung down beyond his knees. His garters and stocking tops stretched teasingly with every step as he went into the back of the boutique. In the dressing room, with the help of the boutique owner, Tyler shimmied out of the bridesmaid gown. The owner left to hang the gown up as Tyler got back into his daytime clothes - a simple sundress and sandals, which allowed him to open up his legs and walk normally again. He paced around the dressing room for a minute, enjoying the freedom of movement. He remained in the dressing room for a few minutes, habitually fingering the spinels of his navel piercing as if for good luck, delaying the inevitable. Ben Rosenthal was out there. He was apparently coming to lunch with Tyler, Amber, and Isaac. Suddenly, as though a switch had been flipped upon Ben's surprise appearance, Tyler forgot all about wedding planning. He forgot about Este Golfo, and the house Amber had bought, and all the enjoyable afternoons he had spent wearing a bikini on the beach for the past month and a half. He very nearly forgot about Violet Taylor entirely. He remembered himself. He once again took up the mantle of Tyler Hillman, the info broker from Miami who was temporarily waylaid in the custom-designed body that looked like a supermodel. He remembered what Dennis had said back in Miami, about how Tyler had been losing his edge for a while now... and he remembered how upset he had been, during that meeting in Dennis' office, more than a month ago. The memory stoked something in Tyler. With the reemergence of Ben Rosenthal, Tyler felt the need to prove himself... to prove he could still establish a target, run his game effectively on them, and sell all their most intimate and profitable secrets to the highest bidder. Tyler took a deep breath, slung his purse over his shoulder, and exited the dressing room. Ben smiled warmly at him. Tyler smiled back. ***** Isaac had wolfed down his salad and breadsticks by the time Tyler and Ben arrived at the restaurant. Before Tyler could sit down, Amber invited him on a trip to the ladies' room. "I haven't had a chance to go yet," Amber explained, as she stood up from the table. Ben sat down at the chair across from Isaac while Amber practically dragged Tyler to the restroom at the back of the restaurant. Tyler couldn't help wonder what was going on. Amber stood in front of the sinks in the ladies' room, folded her arms, and looked expectantly at Tyler. "Well," she said toothily, "this is an interesting development." "Ben?" Tyler said. "Uh, yeah. 'Interesting' is one way to put it." "Yeah... so... I have an idea." Tyler put his hands on his hips. He knew exactly what Amber was going to say, but he played dumb nonetheless. "An idea about what?" "About the wedding. Because, well... I know you're disappointed about Connie not bein' your date. And, well... I know you're a lesbian and everythin', but I don't want you bein' lonely at the reception. You get what I mean?" "You want me to ask Ben to be my plus-one," Tyler said. "He's better than nothin', right? I'm just sayin', Violet. I mean, I've told you before, he's an interestin' guy, and good-lookin', and a gentleman. You could do worse." Tyler hesitated, but only for dramatic effect. He had already thought about this. The minute he walked out of the dressing room and saw Ben Rosenthal smiling at him, Tyler had figured out what he was going to do. It was perfect. Violet Taylor, even after more than a month of no contact, still had Ben Rosenthal wrapped around her finger. Tyler knew he could get another crack at Ben's phone, easily, when the time was right. And the rightest time would be around Amber's wedding reception. The details of Tyler's plan could wait... right now, Amber was waiting for a response. "I think it's a good idea," Tyler said, after a short moment of plotting and scheming. "You... really?" Amber said excitedly. "Well, shit, that was easy. I thought I was gonna have to fight you tooth 'n' nail before you'd agree to it. Great! It'll be a lot more fun that sittin' around by yourself at the reception. Trust me. Plus..." "Plus," Tyler interrupted, "if I have Ben with me..." "Yup..." "...Other men at the wedding won't try to..." "Exactly. See? It's perfect!" Tyler nodded in agreement. With Ben as his official date for the wedding, he wouldn't be subject to the advances of the groomsmen or other bachelors at the reception. This whole idea kept getting better and better. "Well, good," Amber said, as she went to the ladies' room door. "I suppose we should get back to lunch. The boys will think we fell in." Tyler laughed as he and Amber went back to the table. Sure enough, Ben and Isaac were talking about their businesses. He and Amber took their seats while Isaac spouted off all kinds of scientific terms and Ben responded with financial ones. Amber looked off into the distance, not knowing what the hell they were talking about, and not particularly interested in knowing. Tyler pretended to pay attention while working on the ins and outs of how he was going to get at Ben's phone again. Toward the end of the wedding reception would be best. Tyler could just do what he did last time to get access to Ben's phone - pretend to be cold, ask to borrow Ben's jacket, and then go find somewhere private to pull the data. If Dennis was right, and if the timescrambling security measure activated only after six hours of the data being on an unfamiliar device... then Tyler would have plenty of time to return Ben's phone, say his goodbyes, change out of his bridesmaid dress, and make a break for Dennis' office on the other side of the state. Este Golfo to Miami was a two-hour trip, tops. Tyler was still mentally working out his plan when he heard his name in the periphery. "Violet?" Amber said. Tyler blinked a few times and turned his head. "Hmm?" "We're talkin' about you." "Oh," said Tyler. He sat up straight in his chair and smoothed his skirt. "Sorry. I was off somewhere else." "Apparently," Ben said. "We were talking about the wedding. Amber's saying that you planned the whole thing." "Um... well, not really. Sort of. I helped." "Helped? Please," Amber said. "You've done all the research. You made sure none of the vendors were tryin' to screw me over. You've been drivin' and callin' all over town to get everything organized for me. You've done way more work on the wedding than I have, I think it's fair to say." Tyler shrugged and looked off to the side. "Maybe." "Maybe my ass. You're too modest, as always." Tyler just smiled and shook his head. Amber spent the next few minutes raving about how much Tyler had helped, how he'd found all these great vendors and locations without any help from Amber herself. She mentioned that Tyler had done basically everything, except for two things - booking the bridal beautician for the day of the wedding, and sorting out the bachelorette party. "I'm in charge of that one," Amber said, deviously, as the waiter arrived with their lunches. "And Jackson's in charge of my hair 'n' makeup. I wonder what she has planned. Oh well, not gonna worry about it. Jackson's never disappointed me before. I doubt she'd start now." They ate and talked, until Isaac looked at a clock on the wall and realized he had to rush off back to work. He kissed his future bride, apologized to the rest of the table, and left the restaurant with half his lunch still steaming on his plate. Amber, ever the foodie, immediately asked the waiter for a to-go box. ***** When Tyler, Ben, and Amber exited the Italian restaurant, ben got to work on hailing a self-driving car for the three of them. The car arrived a minute later, and off they went down the road toward Amber's new house on the beach. Nobody had much to say, as they were all nearly comatose from the pasta they'd eaten. Amber hadn't eaten much - she had to maintain her figure for the wedding, after all, and she no longer had the benefit of nanobots swimming around her body to keep her weight steady. She had two to-go boxes next to her on the seat. And she was alert, Tyler noticed. Almost as if she was up to something... "Oh!" Amber said suddenly, after a couple blocks, as the self-driving car went past a drugstore. "That reminds me. Hey, Ben, can you stop the car?" "Er, yeah," Ben said, sitting up straight and taking his phone out of his jacket pocket. He tapped a few buttons and the car slowed to a halt. "I forgot," Amber said. She pointed back at the drugstore on the other side of the street. "I need to grab a few things. Allergy medicine. All the trees 'n' flowers 'n' saltwater are doin' a real number on my sinuses lately." She opened the car door and got out. "You guys go on ahead. I'll be back in a bit. Make sure to put my food in the fridge!" Before Tyler could question it, Amber shut the door and walked away towards the drugstore. Tyler wanted to roll his eyes at how obvious Amber was being. She didn't have sinus problems - she just wanted to give Tyler and Ben some time alone together in the car. Tyler recrossed his legs under his dress as the car got going again. "She has been sneezing a lot," he lied, covering for his friend. "She's so used to the recirculated air on the station." Ben nodded. "Good point." He paused and looked out the window, then looked back at Tyler only a few seconds later. "I know I keep saying this, but it really is good to see you again." "Thanks," Tyler said, resting his hands atop his skirt. "It's good to see you, too." "And it's really impressive. What you did for Amber's wedding, I mean. It can be a lot of work. That's quite an accomplishment from someone's who had never even been to Earth before. And you did it all in only a couple of months?" Tyler shrugged. "It came naturally to me," he said haughtily, teasingly. "A lesser girl would've been overwhelmed by it all." "I'm sure," Ben said, smirking at the unsubtle flirtation. "You're going to be around for a while, I assume. At least until the wedding's over." "That's the plan." "Well, tell you what... on your way back to the spaceport in Miami, stop by my place. We'll grab lunch, or coffee, or whatever. It'll be fun. I can show you around town." Tyler smiled deflectively. He didn't need to be shown around Miami. He'd been living in Miami since before Ben had been born. "I'd like that," Tyler said. "That'd be nice." "And, y'know, if you want to hang out a bit before that... just give me a call. You can meet me in Miami, or I can come out here. I'll make time for you." Tyler shifted in his seat. "Taking the tour of Isaac's plant wasn't the only reason you came out to Este Golfo, was it?" "Nope," Ben said, shaking his head. "Not at all." Tyler blushed at this, despite himself. Ben just had that effect on him. Tyler felt warm in all the right places - and some of the wrong places, too. He loved the feeling of being wanted, of inspiring the desire for companionship and intimacy in someone else. Connie Giordano had made him feel confident, beautiful, and sexual... but Ben made him feel different than that, somehow. There was a word for how Ben made Tyler feel, and Tyler struggled to think of it as the car drove ever closer to its destination. What was that word? Ben made him feel... what? "You look like you're deep in thought," Ben observed aloud. "Everything okay?" "Hmm? Oh, yeah, everything's fine." Tyler straightened up in his seat, got a hold of himself mentally and emotionally, and smoothed his dress. "So, hey, about hanging out..." Ben looked at Tyler expectantly with his hazel eyes. "Yeah?" "Yeah. Are you busy next Saturday?" Ben patted his hands against his knees. "I am now!" ***** Another week raced by in a blur of activity. The wedding plans were set. Everything - save for the bachelorette party and the wedding-day beautician - was under Tyler's control. He pecked around on his pink GammaNow QX7, messaging back and forth with the florist, as he and Amber rode through the Everglades on the way to the Miami spaceport. Amber had insisted on meeting up with her friends as soon as possible - she refused to wait for them to arrive at Este Golfo unattended. Amber bounced in her seat. "Oh, I'm so excited! Can't wait to see everyone again. It feels like it's been a million years." "It's only been a couple months," Tyler said, keeping his eyes on his phone. "Yeah, well, it feels longer." She turned away from the car window. "So when's Ben gettin' into Este Golfo?" Tyler put the phone down. He looked at it, somewhat forlornly, as it rested on his knees. "Friday afternoon." "Good. Well, I hope you don't plan on runnin' around with him that day. That's the..." "The bachelorette party. Yes, Amber. We all know." "Just makin' sure. I put a lotta thought into it, and I don't want anyone skippin' out. Two days 'til the party... three days 'til the wedding... Oh, I can barely contain myself!" She began fidgeting and bouncing on the seat again. Tyler smirked, shook his head, and looked out the window. Miami's spaceport loomed ahead, minutes away. Amber took up her phone again and began shooting messages back and forth with everyone that had come from Saturn Beta. She smiled and laughed, and nearly started crying, as she rocked back and forth in anticipation. Soon enough, the self-driving car crawled to a stop in front of the arrivals curb. Tyler recognized the faces waiting there - redheaded Zoe and severe-looking Lola, who was staring at her phone... and then Jackson, who wore her raven hair down and unstyled, which looked almost unnatural on her. A familiar-looking faded canvas duffel bag rested next to her left foot. Amber leaped out of the car and practically tackled Lola, who just stood there and took it. She didn't acknowledge Tyler as he got out of the car and put his hands behind the pleated peach skirt he wore. "Hey, Violet," Zoe said, coming over for a hug. Tyler reciprocated. "Hey, Zoe. Good to see you again." In the periphery, Jackson knowingly nodded. "Miss Taylor." "Hi, Jackson," Tyler said, before Amber engulfed her as well. "It's so good to see y'all! Oh my god, I'm so excited." Amber stopped speaking for a second, looking around the curb. "This isn't everyone, is it?" "Nah," Lola said, pointing a thumb over her shoulder. "We got a couple stragglers dealing with their bladders. By the way, Amber..." "Hmm?" Amber said. "Here comes your wedding gift." Lola pointed at the road, and everyone turned to look. A big, long, sparkling white car was coming up the ramp. Amber put both hands over her mouth. "You got us a limo!" "Damn right. We got a two-hour ride ahead of us. Might as well enjoy it." "Lola..." Amber stammered as the self-driving stretch limo halted at the curb. The limo was done up with white paint with silver glitter everywhere, designed to catch attention, advertising a bridal party within. "We can use it the rest of the week, too. Whatever you need. It'll be parked at your house full-time." "Wow! Lola!" Amber exclaimed. She began bear-hugging her friend once more. "This is perfect. Oh, god, you're so nice!" "I have my moments. We can change it to whatever color you want, too. It's got something called..." "Hologramatic paint! Yup, I know all about that. All the taxis down here have it! Other stuff has it, too. Did you know you can..." Amber stopped, looking as though she had to force herself to shut up. Tyler was about to ask her to finish her thought, but he was interrupted. Jackson, looking back at the spaceport terminal, cleared her throat. "Speaking of wedding gifts, here comes mine." A man walked out of the terminal, dragging a purple suitcase behind him. Tyler thought he recognized him, somehow... and as he wheeled closer, Tyler definitely recognized him. He had to blink a couple of times for the familiarity of this man to register in his brain. "Pierre?" he said. "In the flesh, honey," Pierre said, in his flamboyant lisp. "Nice tan, by the way. You're looking healthy... unlike me. Christ, this hypersleep sickness is just killing me." "Everyone, this is Pierre," Jackson said, as Pierre wheeled his bag next to her. "Pierre is a stylist. A capable one, if rumors are true. He'll be the one doing Amber's hair and makeup. Pierre is hoping to leave his job at the salon on the 20th floor, and to join us at the company. The wedding day is an audition, of sorts. If he blows everyone's minds, he gets the job. If not, well..." Pierre scoffed. "Please. There is no 'if not.' It's a done deal. Just ask my girl Violet over here. She knows what's up." All eyes turned to Tyler, who just weakly nodded. "Uh, yeah," he said, remembering the knockout job Pierre had done on his hair and makeup before the symphony. "Pierre's really good." "He's also gayer than a pink unicorn drinking a tangerine-mocha martini," Jackson stressed, "so none of you ladies need to worry about being taken advantage of. I offered him a room at your house, Amber. I hope you don't mind." "Hell no!" Amber said excitedly. "The more the merrier!" Her mood sank, just a bit, as she looked around the curb one more time. "Okay. Is that everyone?" "No," Zoe said, smiling at the terminal doors. "But that is." Everyone turned to look once again. A petite young woman, with pale brown skin and hair even darker than Jackson's, struggled with getting her suitcase onto the curb. She eventually righted the wheels on her bag and hauled it into the open air. As the young woman drew closer, Jackson, Zoe, and Lola looked back at her with smirks on their faces. Amber, however, began screaming in her patented ear-splitting way. She leapt into the air and ran over to wrap this unknown girl in a tight hug. "Okay, okay," the young woman said in a small, almost squeaky voice. Tyler had a better look at her now - she was some kind of east Asian, possibly Korean, though Tyler couldn't be sure. No matter her ancestry, she was adorable to look at. And she was the shortest of Amber's friends... several inches shorter than Tyler himself, who, since his transformation, was usually the shortest one around. "You did it!" Amber hollered. "You actually did it!" "I actually did it." "Who is that?" Tyler said, leaning into Zoe's ear. Zoe chuckled. "I'll let her tell you herself." When finally released from Amber's clutches, the Asian girl wheeled her case across the curb and presented herself to Tyler. She looked even shorter - and cuter - up close than she was from a distance. She wore a simple black blouse over an impressive, perfectly-proportioned pair of breasts. Tight jeans wrapped around her legs and she had on a pair of flat sandals. "Hi," said Tyler, holding his hand out. "I'm Violet." "Oh, I know," the girl said, shaking Tyler's hand firmly... much more firmly than a woman would typically shake. "I've seen you around the station a few times." Tyler felt uneasy all of a sudden. Everyone except him was smiling - even Jackson, who only rarely showed her teeth. "Um... okay," Tyler said. "Well, nice to meet you." "We've already met." Amber laughed openly as Tyler rolled his eyes. "Okay. Great. Is there a joke here that I'm not getting? Anyone want to fill me in?" "I'm May Young," the new girl said. May Young. The name reanimated a memory in Tyler... something from months ago, a strange and awkward conversation he'd had somewhere... but he couldn't quite place it right away. But then it clicked. "May Young?" Tyler said. "Yes," May said, smiling up at Tyler with perfect teeth. "Aw," Amber said, looking legitimately disappointed. "Violet already knows, doesn't she? I thought I was gonna get to tell the whole story." Tyler continued. "May... Paul?" he said, putting a hand behind his head in disbelief. "You're Paul?!" "Nope, sorry. I'm May Young. At least, that's what my fake passport says." "Ahem!" Jackson said, in a lowered voice. "Maybe don't advertise the fact that you're carrying forgeries in the middle of a spaceport, please! "You people are fuckin' weird," Pierre said. He opened the back of the sparkly limousine and grabbed a suitcase. "And I have no idea where Este Golfo is, but maybe we should get there sometime tonight." The other girls began loading up the limo along with Pierre. Tyler could barely move. He stood on the curb, looking May Young over from head to toe until an amazed smile crept across his face. This was Paul. The guy who knocked the hell out of a handsy sleazeball at the first Ringed Amusements event Tyler ever worked. The tall, broad-shouldered, strong- jawed guy who was one-third bartender, one-third event security, one- third anatomical designer, and a hundred percent burly masculinity. Paul was a specimen. And, well... this May Young body of his was a specimen, too, albeit a completely different kind. "You can stop staring any time," Paul said, in his tiny voice from his tiny body. He used what little remained of his previous muscle mass to heft Jackson's canvas duffel bag into the limo. "Sorry," Tyler said. He grabbed a bag and brought it around to the back. "I just... wow, Paul. I can't believe that's you." "It's not, for the next few days," Paul said. "Call me May. She. Her. I'm used to it." ***** Pierre had never heard the story of Paul Mayfield and May Young before. So, halfway between the spaceport and the start of the Everglades, Zoe began to tell it. May chimed in occasionally, correcting details that Zoe had gotten wrong. When Zoe got to the part about Jackson sneakily turning Paul into a tiny Korean woman with disproportionately large breasts, Pierre's jaw fell open. He looked over at Jackson disgustedly. "Jesus, lady. I'm not so sure I wanna work for you anymore." "You wouldn't be the first one to come to that conclusion," Jackson replied. She turned her head toward Tyler, who was sitting on the other end of the limo, holding a champagne flute. The limo had come with a refrigerator, and was stocked with several bottles of booze and plenty of glassware. Tyler raised his drink toward Jackson. "I'll drink to that," he said, sipping the champagne and leaving a streak of lip gloss on the rim. "We all will," Amber said. "C'mon, Zoe, finish the story. Unless May wants to tell it herself." May shook her head. "I'm good." Zoe continued. Tyler, who was seated immediately to Paul's left, kept looking over at him as Zoe regaled everyone with the story. Tyler still could barely believe that May Young was Paul Mayfield, transformed temporarily. Paul seemed unfazed by the entire situation, although he was a bit woozy from the hypersleep and the champagne. Once Zoe ended her story, Amber piped up. "So, y'see, after me 'n' Isaac got engaged, he told me that he was gonna have five groomsmen. He's got a brother, and a couple best friends, and two cousins that he's really close with. He said all five of 'em had to be in the weddin', no matter what. So I was scramblin' to think of five bridesmaids. Obviously I was gonna have Lola and Zoe and Jackson, since we've known eachother forever. And Violet, too, cuz... well, Violet, I mean, I know we've only known eachother for a little bit, but you're already one of my best friends." Amber was getting teary-eyed as she spoke. Tyler's eyes misted over a bit, too. Seeing Amber get emotional caused a response in him that was starting to feel less foreign with every passing day. "So," Amber continued, after wiping the corners of her eyes, "I needed one more. And I thought long and hard about it, and... well, the choice was kinda obvious. Paul's one of my best friends, too. And he's been female before. I figured he wouldn't mind doin' it again for a few days. Though he hadn't made up his mind by the time I left the station with Violet. Tell you the truth, May, I thought you were gonna chicken out." Paul snorted. "Nah. No way. I made up my mind way before you left the station. I just wanted it to be a surprise." Amber looked over at Jackson. "Really?" "Really," Jackson said, resting her champagne flute on her knee. "May Young has actually been among us for the last week or so. She said she wanted to get used to that body before the wedding. In order to 're- establish her center of gravity,' she said." "Yup," Paul said. "You ladies are a lot more top-heavy than us guys are. I didn't want to be awkward at the wedding. Or at the reception." Amber clapped her hands. "Oh, I can't get over how happy I am! I'm so glad! Now Isaac won't have an odd-man-out on his side of the aisle. Oh, shoot, speakin' of which... hey, Violet? Call up the boutique. I need to talk to the owner." Tyler did as he was told, then handed the pink phone across the car to Amber. With the tumult quiet at last, Pierre looked over the six women gathered together in the car and shook his head. "So fuckin' weird." "Goddammit, Pierre," Zoe said, rolling her eyes. "Join the twenty-second century already. It's only weird because you're making it weird." A few seconds later, Amber spoke into Tyler's phone. "Yes, hi. It's Amber... yup! So, wanted to let you know, it turns out I'll be needing that fifth bridesmaid dress." Amber paused for a moment as everyone in the car, save for Pierre, glanced over at Paul. Paul fluttered his long lashes at the attention, which made Zoe laugh. "Yup," Amber said. "The one for the really short girl. Yup! She made it! So... yeah, can you have that dress printed by... Okay, great! See you tomorrow morning. Bye!" Amber hung up the phone and handed it back to Tyler. "We are in the clear, ladies," she said. "Everything'll be ready for all six of us tomorrow mornin'. So we'll get up, have breakfast, then head over to the boutique to make sure everything fits right. And then..." Amber began rubbing her hands together, grinning shiftily at everyone else in the car. "What?" Lola said. "And then," Amber said, "the bachelorette party." "She's been scheming something for weeks," Tyler said. "And she refuses to tell me what she has planned, so don't ask me." "And don't ask me, neither," Amber sang. "Cuz I ain't tellin'." Paul looked at Tyler with his dark, almond-shaped eyes, seeming somewhat concerned. All Tyler could do was shrug. ***** The rest of the ride to Este Golfo was full of drinking, laughing, and storytelling. Zoe and Lola filled Amber in on what had been happening at the company in her absence. There were no conventions currently and none scheduled in the near future, so the girls were getting by on freelancing alone. And since there were no conventions, there were fewer people on Saturn Beta, which meant fewer potential clients, which meant Ringed Amusements was going through a dry spell. "It's a bit depressing," Jackson said, after her third glass of champagne. "Though I suppose it's useful it this instance. It made it easier for me to leave temporarily." "Hey, yeah," Amber said. "What's happenin' at the company without you there? Did you just shut the place down for a few weeks?" Jackson scoffed. "Absolutely not. I have someone covering for me in the interim." "Who?" "Renee," Tyler said, without hesitation. "I'll bet it's Renee." "You'll bet right," Jackson said. Amber looked around the interior of the limo. "Oh. Yeah, I guess Renee didn't make it, huh?" Jackson nodded. "She sends her regards. She would have liked to come, but... well, it was a choice between going to a wedding and having the chance to take over the company for a couple weeks..." "Yeah," Zoe said, leaning back in her seat. "That's Renee for you. Always trying to prove herself as a professional." Amber shrugged. "Well, her loss. We'll have tons of fun without her." A moment later they arrived at Amber's house, and she gave everyone a tour. By the time the party had reached the second floor, though, the hypersleep sickness was in full force. Amber began assigning bedrooms to everyone. Realizing that there would be six rooms to split across seven people, she insisted that Pierre have space to himself, since he was the only boy. "Not quite the only boy," Lola joked. Everyone looked at Paul, who shrugged and took it in stride. "I don't see any other boys around here," he said. He looked across the second- floor hallway at Tyler. "Unless I'm forgetting someone." Jackson smirked. Tyler blushed a bit and laughed it off, trying not to blow his cover. The other girls, and Pierre, sniggered along with Paul. Amber evaluated the situation aloud. "I think we better give May her own room, too. Since she's here under... y'know... special circumstances. And we probably better let Violet keep her room to herself, too, since we all know how fond she is of the ladies. She might not be able to control herself if she's sharin' a bed with one of us." "You'd better believe it," Tyler said, furrowing his eyebrows. "Tell ya what," Amber continued. "Lola? Since you're my maid of honor 'n' everything, how 'bout you and me bunk together? I got a huge bed in the master. We'll have plenty of space." Lola nodded. "Works for me. Assuming your future husband doesn't mind the idea of you sharing a bed with a prostitute." "He'll get over it," Amber said, winking. "All right. Anyone with hypersleep sickness, y'all go ahead 'n' crash. Me 'n' Violet can hold down the fort without you until mornin'." Everyone selected their rooms as Tyler and Amber returned to the ground floor. Amber opened a bottle of wine, cut up some cheese and crackers, and sat down in the breakfast nook. Tyler joined her as the sound of five pairs of feet stomped around on the floor above, along with a chorus of toilet-flushing and suitcases being unzipped. "It's so great to have a house full of people," Amber mused. "Didja get everything taken care of with the flowers?" "Yeah," Tyler said, swirling the wine around in his glass. "All set. Everything's ready to go now. All that's left is waiting until Saturday." Amber sighed. "Two days. Two days and I'll be a kept woman." She looked seriously at Tyler. "Y'think I'll be okay? Bein' married and everything. I'll be a good wife, right?" Tyler leaned across the breakfast table and placed his hand atop Amber's. "Totally. Definitely. If I were a man, I'd marry the shit out of you." Amber laughed. Tyler did, too. And eventually the bottle of wine migrated over to the living room, where Tyler and Amber stretched out on the sofas and talked quietly about Amber's wonderful future until they both, quite by accident, fell asleep. ***** Tyler's eyes jolted open with a start as he heard the sound of a nearby faucet. He patted down the pleated peach skirt he wore and sat up on the sofa. He looked over at Amber, whose eyes were still closed. He turned and looked over toward the kitchen. There, holding a freshly-poured glass of water, stood Jackson. Her unkempt hair was still laying lazily over her face and shoulders. It was weird to see her like this. She almost looked like a completely different person. "I couldn't sleep," Jackson explained quietly, not wanting to wake Amber from her spontaneous nap. She padded across the kitchen floor barefoot. "I think I'm going outside for some proper unrecirculated air. Care to join me?" Jackson opened the sliding glass door which lead out to the deck and the beach beyond. Tyler blinked a few times and rose from the sofa. Jackson smiled dimly, as though she were pleased that Tyler had taken her up on her offer. She slid the door closed behind her after Tyler walked out onto the deck. "I imagine the sunsets are incredible," Jackson said as she dropped into a chaise lounge at the other end of the deck. "We're facing west, right?" "Right," said Tyler, easing into his own chaise. "That's the Gulf of Mexico, right there. And, yeah, the sunsets are pretty great." Both Tyler and Jackson took a deep breath as the sun crested downward over the gulf. It was a nice evening. The warm air, and slight breeze, felt good against Tyler's bare calves. Jackson closed her eyes and began speaking. "Do you remember," she said, "when we talked in my office, when you were still deciding whether or not to come back to Earth with Amber?" "Vaguely," Tyler replied. "One thing I mentioned during that conversation was that there might be some work for you here on Earth. The kind of work that could go toward paying off your debt to me." Tyler turned away from the beach to face his boss, panicky. "What did you sign me up for?" "I didn't sign you up for anything. Rule number one, remember. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do." "Okay," Tyler groaned. "What's the job?" Jackson sat up a bit in her chaise. "You, specifically, were requested. It seems someone on this planet is quite impressed with your wedding- planning abilities and would like to bring you on board to help out with a different event." "Um," Tyler said, leaning forward on his knees. "Okay. That's... strange. Who was it?" "A young man named Ben Rosenthal." Tyler's stomach caved in. "You've got to be kidding me." "I'm not. He contacted me before we all left the station for Amber's wedding. And he seemed... enthusiastic. Generous, too. He was willing to pay our highest hourly rate and every extra surcharge I could dream up." "To help him... wait, what kind of event are we talking about, here?" "A fundraiser. Cocktail attire. Back in Miami. And, listen, Mr. Hillman... I wasn't kidding about Mr. Rosenthal's generosity. You'd be making more on this than you did with Connie Giordano. It's enough to pay back the rest of your debt to me... and still have a little leftover for yourself." Tyler stared out at the gulf. He went over all the implications in his head - Ben paying for event-planning services, all while Tyler planned to steal and sell the data from Ben's phone, against the backdrop of Ben's infatuation with the person of Violet Taylor... "He's... interested in me," Tyler said, after a moment of silence. "Well, obviously. I don't suppose you've bothered to tell him that Violet Taylor is a lesbian." Tyler didn't answer. He refused to give her the satisfaction. "It's fine," Jackson continued. "After all, that's a good chunk of the business at Ringed Amusements. Putting yourself on display at events and conventions, getting men to notice you, stringing them along..." "I'm not stringing him along," Tyler protested. Which was a lie, of course. He had absolutely strung Ben along for a long time, even though it was for reasons other than what Jackson had in mind. "Well," Jackson said, mistrusting Tyler's words, "remember two things - Ringed Amusements' rule number one, and the money. You can cut ties with me and the company forever if you do this. And Ben can't ask you to do anything you're not willing to." Tyler collapsed back into the chaise and looked up at the sky. "It's too weird. I think it's weird. I mean, yeah, I'd like to... finish up my employment with you. But... Jesus. It'd be massively awkward." "Well, it's about to get more awkward. He has a condominium in downtown Miami. A fairly large one, he claims." Tyler closed his eyes in disbelief. "He wants me to stay with him?" "Naturally. In separate rooms, if it makes you feel better. The fundraiser is a week from this Saturday. You wouldn't be staying with him for long. And he would be required to keep his hands off you." "Good." "Unless you don't want him to." Tyler again remained silent. God, Jackson was so, so good at tweaking him with her words. Maybe there was something to them, though... Tyler had, after all, allowed Ben to get close on multiple occasions. They had kissed several times. They had held each other while dancing at the Chicago 1926 jazz club, then held eachother even tighter and closer during the elevator ride back to the 20th floor. They had made out feverishly with so much passion that some of Tyler's lipstick had streaked across Ben's mouth. And then Tyler had invited Ben into his room at Pyramid Suites, for coffee... for sex. Ben had refused, of course. Just like he had refused to take advantage before, during the other time he escorted Tyler down to the 20th floor, after Tyler had gotten blackout drunk and made himself prone and ripe for being taken advantage of. After those two episodes, Tyler wasn't sure Ben Rosenthal had it in him to pressure Tyler into doing anything... intimate. If Tyler did decide to take Ben's job offer, and live in his condo for the week leading up to the fundraiser, Ben would likely be just as much of a gentleman as he always had been. Likely. But possibly not... Tyler turned to Jackson. "I'll have to think about it." "Well, think quickly," Jackson replied. "He needs to know by Sunday. He'll have to get someone else to help him if you're not up for it." Jackson stood and went to the deck's short staircase, which lead down to the sand. Once she reached the bottom step, she looked through the railing at Tyler, who was still seated in the chaise. "I think I'll take a walk. Get some sand in my toes." "Be my guest," Tyler said. "By the way, Mr. Hillman, I'm forgoing our original arrangement on this one." "What arrangement?" "The first one we ever made. The one where you told me I could book you for whatever jobs I want, so long as they don't explicitly require prostitution on your part. We shook hands on that. We've both held up our ends of the bargain on it, which I appreciate... and I'm sure you appreciate it, too. The Rosenthal job, however... I'll admit it's potentially more uncomfortable for you than anything I've booked you for previously. So I'm not requiring you to take it. Consider it a courtesy on my part." Then Jackson left, walking north along the beach, leaving Tyler alone with his conflicted thoughts. ***** Amber and Tyler were the first ones to wake up the next morning, and they set to work on breakfast immediately. Soon the entire ground floor was filled with the savory smells of eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, coffee, and biscuits covered with cheese. Slowly but surely the rest of the crowd from Saturn Beta emerged from their rooms and made their way downstairs. Amber kept a close eye on the clock as everyone shoveled food into their mouths. They all seemed incredibly hungry. Understandable, since they technically hadn't eaten anything in several days. Then it was off to the great room, where Pierre had Amber sit in a folding chair before a floor-length mirror. He yanked at her hair, twisted it, did it up with pins, curled it around his thumbs, and flattened it out with his palms, all while going over the details of how Amber could get herself beautified for her big day tomorrow. Lola, Zoe, and Jackson piped in with their own opinions occasionally. Tyler and Paul stayed off to the side without saying a word. They both felt horribly unqualified to comment. Once Pierre was satisfied with the plan for tomorrow's hairstyling, Amber summoned all her girls into the big sparkly limo and ordered it toward the bridal boutique near the center of Este Golfo. Upon arriving, the owner ushered everyone into a private room in the back, where Amber had her last fitting for her wedding gown. It had poofy shoulders, a form-fitting bodice with elaborate lace detailing, a full ballgown skirt pocked with white rhinestones, and a train that went on forever. It was loud, attention-grabbing, and beautiful... so it suited Amber perfectly. Removing the gown again took a few minutes, after which Amber slipped herself into a loose, bright white sundress, which was a different garment than she had worn into the boutique. The owner left the room with Amber's gown and came back with a rack full of pink bridesmaids dresses and matching high-heeled shoes. All the bridesmaids lifted their custom-printed dresses off the rack and went into a row of private dressing rooms behind a wall, where they stripped down to just their panties before donning their wedding-day attire - garter belts and stockings included. Soon everyone was helping eachother zip up and adjust their outfits. Tyler took it upon himself to help Paul, who was having understandable difficulty getting himself situated in the mermaid-style gown. "You have to put the bow on over the zipper, May," Tyler said to Paul. Tyler had already wriggled into his own gown, pulled the zipper up to the small of his back, and fastened the butterfly bow in place above his shapely behind. "Ah ha," Paul said, in his small, almost squeaky voice. He allowed Tyler to take care of the bow as he held his arms out for balance, looking down at the waves of pink organza ruffles that hid his feet from view. Amber left the room silently, retreating behind the side wall where the dressing rooms were. "There," Tyler proclaimed, after fixing the bow. He rearranged the sash behind Paul's shoulders so it properly hid the zipper's pull tab, then leaned downward into Paul's ear. "Are you doing okay?" he said quietly. Paul turned and looked at Tyler with his dark, almond-shaped eyes. "Yeah. Fine. Why?" "I dunno," Tyler said. "Just... y'know... making sure you're doing okay." Paul chuckled. "You don't need to worry about me, Violet. You've got to remember, I've done this before. I've been in May Young's body more than you've been in yours. Plus..." Paul paused and looked up at Tyler judgmentally. "I actually want to be doing this, unlike you." Tyler tilted his head. "What's that supposed to mean?" "Oh, come on," Paul said, struggling to keep his voice low. "Last time we talked about it, you made it pretty clear that you couldn't wait to get your old body back." "Well... yeah..." Tyler said. He folded his arms under his breasts, remembering the conversation he'd had with Paul in that bar on the 39th floor, ages ago. Paul ran his hands over the form-fitting gown, from his shoulders to his hips, checking the fit and the feel of the beautiful garment he wore. "Do you still feel that way?" "Sure," Tyler said, shrugging. "I mean, I guess I do." "Would you go back to you old body today, if you had the chance? Right now? You'd miss out on Amber's wedding. You'd break her heart." Tyler sighed and put a hand on his hip. "Okay... no. You're right. I'd rather not switch back right this instant. It'd probably rip my dress, for one thing." "Look, Violet," Paul said, "if there's one piece of advice I can give you - for life in general, not just for your current situation - it's that you always have to make the best of your circumstances. Enjoy it. Try new things." "Yeah, yeah," Tyler said. "You said basically the same thing back on the station." "Well it's good advice, so it bears repeating. Just treat it like a vacation." Paul looked at himself in one of the back room's many mirrors, twisting this way and that, looking at himself in the bridesmaid dress from every angle. "That's what I'm doing. Taking a vacation from Paul Mayfield, being part of a close friend's wedding, and doing a few things I've never done before. That's what a vacation is." "Things you've never done before?" Tyler said, looking at Paul through the reflection in the mirror. "Such as?" "Such as being a bridesmaid. Wearing a garter belt. Riding around in a self-driving stretch limo. Going to a bachelorette party. And I might, well..." Paul's voice went down to a whisper, and he took a tentative step toward Tyler in his heels. "I saw an adult store when we were driving into town yesterday. Thought it might be fun to... y'know. Grab a few things there. I'm kind of curious to see what a vibrator's like." "Oh," Tyler said, smiling shrewdly. He'd tried a vibrator before - almost immediately after he'd been fully transformed into a woman, in Amber's dorm room, practically by accident. Paul leaned in further. "Have you ever... y'know... messed around down there?" "Well, sure," said Tyler. He paused, then looked at Paul with disbelief in his eyes. "Wait. You've never..." "Nope," Paul said. "I've been curious, but, when I was May before, I... never really felt the need to do anything down there." "Geez," Tyler said in a pitying way. "Take it from me... you're missing out." "Probably. Which is why I'm doing something about it while I'm on vacation." His tiny voice rose to its normal volume again. "Along with all the other experiences I've never had... like wearing a tight pink dress, without a bra, with a bunch of ruffles at the bottom, while standing in front of a church full of people. And chances are I'll end up dancing with a couple men at the wedding tomorrow... never done that before. And I'm going to enjoy all of it, because there's no reason not to." Paul turned away from the mirror and smiled triumphantly, as if he'd discovered the meaning of life and was rubbing it in Tyler's face. He walked into the center of the back room. Amber came in from the other side of the wall and began squealing as Paul approached, raving about how cute he looked in the dress. Zoe had to put a hand over her mouth to hide her reaction. "I'm not laughing at you, May," Zoe said, smiling hugely. "I'm sorry. It's just... I haven't seen you looking like this in a really, really long time. I'm still getting used to it." "Getting used to what?" Paul said. He put a hand behind his head and rocked his hips from side to side seductively. "Being outshined by a little Korean girl?" Everyone laughed at that one, even Tyler... and even Jackson, who was looking less and less severe by the moment. Less tired, too. Tyler hadn't seen her yawn once all day. She had been yawning a ton toward the end of the convention, right before Tyler left for Earth. Tyler was glad the she had caught up on her sleep. This trip was doing her a lot of good. She had almost completely stopped being the conniving boss-lady from spindle #7 on the 48th floor. Almost... Almost. Tyler tried not to think about the discussion he and Jackson had had last night, on the deck, regarding Ben Rosenthal's job offer. Business could wait. Right now, Tyler was occupied with other things. Fun things... like a vacation, just like Paul had said. The boutique owner gave each bridesmaid a quick lookover, then claimed that everything was fitting perfectly and didn't need to be altered further. Amber regained that weird, devious smile on her face again. "Okay," she said, rubbing her hands together. "Finally. Time for the bachelorette party. Y'all go get changed." The bridesmaids went behind the side wall, to their dressing rooms. Tyler entered his and looked at the space where he'd hung up his blouse and skirt... both of which were now missing. In their place was a sundress similar in style to the one Amber had changed into, although this one was a shocking fuchsia color. Tyler rolled his eyes at Amber's surprise. That's what she'd been doing behind the wall while everyone else was trying on their bridesmaids dresses - switching out everyone's clothes. "Dammit, Amber!" Lola shouted from behind her dressing room door. But that was the only word from anyone on the subject, as everyone decided to play along with whatever Amber was up to, obediently putting on their sundresses - same style, same color. Amber looked over her assembled cadre and put her hands on her hips. "Well, don't you all look adorable. Five perfectly-matched bridesmaids. Follow me." She left the back room without another word, and everyone fell in line behind her, wondering what the hell she was up to. Soon they were all in the limo again as it drove down one of Este Golfo's main drags. The sun hung high in the sky, and the limo's clock informed Tyler that it was half past ten. How the morning had flown by... "Are you gonna tell us where we're going?" Lola said, looking annoyed. She picked at the fabric of her sundress. Tyler had to admit, it was strange to see Lola wearing something so... subdued. He was pretty sure he'd never seen her in a skirt that long before. Narrowing her eyes, Amber looked sharply at Lola. "You'll see." "God, fine. Y'know, it's usually the maid of honor's job to plan the bachelorette party. This is bullshit." "Well, the maid of honor only showed up on Earth yesterday, so her opinion doesn't matter." Amber and Lola playfully stared daggers at eachother, while Zoe and Jackson rolled their eyes. Tyler and Paul, sitting next to eachother in the limo as usual, just smirked. "We're here!" Amber said while looking out the window. The limo halted in front of a large, standalone building similar to Amber's new house. Another plantation-style mansion, tall and wide with a big porch, just a mile or two away from Este Golfo's downtown. It even had a white picket fence, on which was mounted a sign that said LIGHT AND HARMONY DAY SPA. Lola looked oddly at the sign and the mansion behind it. "A spa, Amber? Your big crazy secret bachelorette party is a spa day?" "Yup!" Amber said, exiting the limo and barging up the front walk without bothering to wait for her bridesmaids. "Well," Jackson said, watching Amber scamper off, "that's adorable. Amber's insidious idea for the height of debauchery the day before her wedding is taking us for a day at the spa. I guess I shouldn't have expected anything remotely objectionable." Everyone unloaded out of the limo and headed inside, where Amber was registering everyone's names into an old-timey hardbound ledger. The spa manager came forward from behind the reception desk, introduced herself as Kelly, and shook everyone's hand. A door opened on the side of the entrance room, and out came a small army of employees dressed in identical light-green unisex tunics and white slacks. Tyler counted more than a dozen employees representing both genders. "Now, ladies," Kelly said authoritatively as Amber continued scribbling in the ledger, "you have the full Light and Harmony staff all to yourselves. The bride-to-be has booked the entire establishment for the rest of the morning and the entire afternoon." Zoe and Jackson hummed appreciatively at this news. "And," Kelly continued, "you will need every minute of that, because she has the six of you booked for just about every service we offer... and one that we don't." "What's that supposed to mean?" Lola said apprehensively. Kelly ignored the question and guided Amber and her bridesmaids to a small locker room in the back of the mansion. She instructed the bridal party to strip completely, underwear and all, and wrap up in one of the thin, deep purple satin robes hanging in the lockers. "Oh," Kelly said, holding an index finger in the air, "and anyone wearing any jewelry below the ears will want to remove it. Ankle bracelets, toe rings, what have you." Kelly then departed, closing the locker room door behind her. Tyler looked down at himself and became very conscious of his navel piercing. "You heard the lady," Amber said with raised brows. "Let's get nekkid!" Everyone complied, eventually. Tyler was unflustered as he disrobed, as he'd been in various states of undress several times in front of the other Ringed Amusements employees, before every event in the 5th floor lounge. Paul, however, was a bit hesitant, giving Tyler a disconcerting look as he slowly removed his own fuchsia sundress. Tyler wondered if Paul had ever showed off his feminine goods to anything other than a mirror. Tyler eased his navel ring out and left it with the rest of his clothing; and despite any reservations Paul had, he and the rest of the party were soon in their purple robes and off to a room on the other side of the hallway. Inside were several body-length, padded tables covered in sheets of paper... it reminded Tyler of a doctor's exam room. Six attendants - all female - stood next to six of the tables, holding small wooden cases in their hands. "Ladies," Kelly said to Amber and her bridesmaids, "these fine professionals will be your estheticians today." Before Tyler could ask what an esthetician was, Kelly's employees opened their wooden cases and took out small, curved metal instruments. Tyler recognized them instantly - LHR devices. Tyler and the others were about to get their body hair removed. Kelly bowed out of the room as her estheticians offered their paper-lined tables to their clients. And now, Tyler noticed, the color was starting to go out of Paul's face. This was definitely a new level of personal, physical exposure for him. Tyler wasn't too keen on the idea either... it was plainly obvious that the estheticians weren't going to just be removing leg hair. Tyler suddenly became very conscious of the bush surrounding his lower mound - it had been a while since he'd attended to it properly. Amber and Zoe had no such reservations, and had shed their robes and hopped up on the padded tables near the front of the room, chatting happily with their estheticians. Jackson and Lola followed suit. Leaning into Paul's ear, Tyler eased the robe off his shoulders. "Vacation," Tyler whispered to Paul. "Just treat it like a vacation, remember? Like you said." "I'm trying," said Paul. "You're doing fine," Tyler said, as he shucked his robe and hopped up on a paper-lined table, completely nude. An interesting dynamic was forming here... because Tyler recalled a conversation he and Paul had, months ago, back on Saturn Beta. Paul had thoroughly encouraged Tyler to never be ashamed, or embarrassed, or afraid while wearing the body of Violet Taylor. He had told Tyler to do things he'd never do as a man... "really crazy stuff," those were his words. And now Paul couldn't so much as declothe himself for some relatively run-of-the-mill hair removal, despite the fact that five nearby women - including his boss! - were completely nude and going through the procedure themselves. He looked concerned as he struggled his tiny body up onto the table. Tyler was tempted to give Paul a hard time for not being able to take his own advice. Tyler decided to make a point of being braver than Paul. At the esthetician's order, he lowered his back onto the table, bent his knees, and spread his legs, fully exposing his pussy and all the hair surrounding it. He began conversing with his esthetician, with Zoe on the table next to him, and with Jackson on the other side of the room, yammering away with everyone present as if it was no big deal that his snatch was on display for all the world to see. The esthetician worked on Tyler's mound with her curved LHR unit, burning all his pubic hair away with the warm blue light. Once finished, she moved onto his legs, and Tyler snuck a peek at his nether regions. Every trace of hair had been removed, leaving nothing to get in the way of his lower lips. It looked extremely sexy. He would have reached down and touched it if he'd been in private. Across the way, Paul was staring straight up at the ceiling as his esthetician worked on his raven-black mound. He was completely silent and looking very uncomfortable. "You doing okay, May?" Zoe asked as her esthetician moved on to the reddish hair inside Zoe's armpits. "Yeah," Paul said unconvincingly. "All good." After a few minutes, Amber and her bridesmaids were devoid of hair from the neck down. They all put their robes back on. Zoe came up behind Paul and put her hands on his shoulders, trying to rub the stress away. She could tell how awkward the hair removal process had been for him. Kelly appeared a few seconds later, thanked her estheticians, and guided her customers into the next room. It was dimly lit inside, and several identical, pitch-black pods were lined up along a wall. Kelly explained: these were sensory deprivation pods, custom-built for the ultimate in relaxing baths and aromatherapy. Once inside, the client would hear and see nothing - only the senses of smell and touch would be stimulated for as long as the treatment lasted. Amber smiled excitedly; her bridesmaids looked at the pods with nervous curiousity. A minute later, everyone stood and waited by their assigned pod as the spa employees fiddled with some knobs on a control panel outside. Then the tops of the pods opened mechanically, and Amber and her bridesmaids were instructed to take off their robes again. Tyler submerged his nude body into the warm, slippery-feeling water inside the pod and lowered his head against a raised headrest. He shut his eyes and sighed contentedly. A couple minutes later, the lid of Tyler's pod lowered and closed with a hissing sound. Tyler found himself in complete darkness and utter silence, which made him a bit uneasy; but then a few low-pressure jets began gently, inaudibly churning the water in the pod, which relaxed Tyler almost immediately. A short moment went by before a pleasant, floral smell filled the pod. Time melted away as Tyler became more and more relaxed. He saw nothing and heard nothing... he only felt the water swirling around his feminine body and breathed deeply the scent of a garden in full bloom. A long time passed, devoid of light and sound. Eventually the treatment ended and the lid to Tyler's pod opened again. He opened his eyes, wondering if he'd fallen asleep. The other girls sat up in their pods, bare-breasted and wide-eyed. Even Paul was looking much better - all the color his adorable face had lost in the hair-removal room had returned, and his fantastic tits hung off his chest without shame. "That," said Zoe to nobody in particular, "was fucking amazing." "Mm-hm," Amber agreed, stretching her arms and emitting a massive yawn. "I reckon I could spend all day in there." "I feel like I have," Lola added. "How long were we in there?" Amber stopped stretching. "Well, I paid for an hour, so it better have been an hour. Guess we should get our robes back on, huh?" Grudgingly, the group extracted themselves from their pods. Once appropriately attired in their robes, everyone followed Kelly out of the sensory deprivation room. She took them to another dimly-lit room, this time full of fleece-padded massage tables. The room was staffed by twelve attendants - and, to Tyler and Paul's chagrin, all of them were male.