"So when is the shoe lady coming over?" Mark asked at breakfast the next morning. Mrs. Little had insisted meeting their parents in person to discuss what she had seen.
"We are meeting her for lunch at Teresa's house. It's nothing big, but she was really worried we were going to be upset about what she stumbled into."
Mark sniffed. "Normal people probably would be upset."
Mark's Mom laughed. "You would let Nancy do anything she wanted."
Mark nodded not bothering to dispute or affirm such obvious truths.
"Nancy and Kelli seemed to have really hit it off. I hear she is going to meet her for lunch too."
"You are all eating together?" Mark asked.
"No, I'm not sure of Nancy's plans."
Mark nodded and wondered what would happen now that Nancy had met someone she so clearly liked. "I'm off to do my mowing."
* * *
As the days passed, the budding friendship between the two girls meant Mark saw less of Nancy. She was around but rarely alone. He received nothing more than a brief kiss and a hug on those few occasions. Mark pushed the lawnmower back into the garage the following week when Nancy popped around the corner. "I still haven't forgot about my coupons."
Mark smiled. "I didn't think you would. Kelli is a real fun girl, eh?"
Nancy smiled. "Yeah she's awesome. We are into a lot of the same things."
"Yeah, I noticed."
"No silly, not that stuff. Well at least not only that stuff. She was a dancer in high school, she’s a swimmer so we've been hanging out at my pool, but mostly she's lonely, I think." Nancy responded.
"That's good." Mark said turning back to the mower.
"Do you miss me?" Nancy said.
"Terribly, I haven't spoke to you more than a few moments since you met Kelli. I'm trying not to be jealous." Mark admitted.
"I'm sorry, but maybe this will cheer you up." Nancy smiled
Mark turned and stepped closer. "Really?"
"I was hoping to do another coupon tonight at my house." Nancy said.
Mark stopped and mentally prepared himself, he knew there was only one coupon left he had written and at least four he had not, the odds dictated this was going to be a surprise. "Ok, I am free for the rest of today."
"Kelli and I have been working on how to do this one." Nancy held out a coupon she retrieved from her purse.
"Kelli too, together?" Mark said obviously nervous.
"Yeah, we talked about it." Nancy held out the coupon.
Mark grabbed the coupon after wiping his dirty hands on a rag.
Mark read it once and then read it again slowly trying to digest what it meant. "Well, ok...I guess that should be interesting."Decorate your room with me.
Nancy looked at him and narrowed her eyes a bit. "Is something wrong?"
"No, no, I'm looking forward to it." Mark turned away and began absentmindedly wiping down the lawnmower with the rag, not because it need it but because he knew his face would give away his surprise.
Nancy looked at him again and then walked away. "Be at the house as soon as you are done with your shower. I cleared it with your Mom."
"What did she say?"
"Who, Kelli?" Nancy stopped and turned around.
"No, my Mom."
"I didn't tell her which coupon, she just told us to be careful and stay out of the public eye this time."
Mark shook his head and went inside the house to shower. His thoughts boiled. Time flew by as he imagined how Nancy and Kelli would interpret the coupon. He never dreamed Teresa would write something like that, he expected embarrassing costumes and tight ropes. This could mean anything. The least likely scenario being the girls might question his opinion on various decorating techniques, more likely he will actually be the decoration. There is a lot of room for some extremely embarrassing situations.
Mark put on a shirt and shorts and slowly walked out the backyard and down the green belt to Nancy's house. The sound of laughing and splashing reached his ears from several yards away. He peeked his head over the privacy fence to see Nancy and Kelli laughing in the pool. Nancy wore a dark-green one piece speedo that looked spectacular as it tightly hugged her frame. Kelli wore a familiar looking blue bikini, perhaps it was Teresa's, but it looked completely different on the younger girl's less buxom body. All in all, Mark preferred Nancy's choice of swim wear to Kelli's. When they saw him climbing over the fence, they called him over. "Hey Mark come here."
Mark stepped up the wooden deck that surrounded the pool. "Hey girls, having fun?"
Nancy hopped out and grabbed a towel off one of the deck chairs. Mark could not help but stare at the shiny suit clinging to her body. Kelli laughed as she also dried herself off. Kelli was quite fit but bikinis were just not Mark's thing. "You were right Nancy, he really digs your suit."
Nancy smiled. "Told you so."
Mark turned away quickly embarrassed at being so obvious and looked toward the house. "Teresa home?" He tried to change the subject.
"No, she's still at work. Are you ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." Mark said.
Kelli pulled on a T-shirt over her bikini top and slipped her fingers along her bikini bottom to dislodge the fabric from between her cheeks. "I definitely need to remember my suit next time."
Nancy smiled. "It's ok my Mom doesn't mind."
"Yeah, but this doesn't fit all that well." Kelli laughed and whipped her long wet hair which gleamed black in the late afternoon light . "Anyway shall we go have some fun with your boyfriend?"
Nancy wrapped her red hair into a towel. She kept it shorter than Kelli's but when the natural curl was flattened with the weight of the water it was longer than Mark realized. "Yeah, let's go."
Mark walked between Nancy and Kelli up the stairs to Nancy's room. The place looked normal and no obvious decorating had happened yet. "I feel like I am being escorted to the gallows."
"You love it." Nancy grabbed his arms and held them to behind his back. "Two women have your fate in their hands."
"Careful Nancy, we don't want him to bolt." Kelli said.
"You won't run, will you?" Nancy whispered, her breath tickling his ear.
"As long as Teresa isn't around." Mark said softly
Kelli went to the door. "Yeah, Nancy showed me some of those pictures from the album." Kelli smiled. "I promise we have nothing so extreme in mind. I'm going to go get the stuff."
Mark rounded on Nancy after Kelli left the room. "You showed her those pictures?"
Nancy shrugged. "She's a friend and it's not like I gave her copies."
"You have known her only for a few days" Mark said.
"We really seemed to click." Nancy shrugged
"I just am a little surprised she is so involved in these coupons, they were a gift to you."
Nancy paused for a second. "Are you saying you don't want her here?"
"Well I just want you to enjoy your gifts, I did not give them to her."
"Mark, I promise I'm enjoying them. Thanks to you I have made a really good friend." Nancy kissed him gently. "And she is only as involved as I want her to be."
Kelli returned carrying an odd collection of items. In one hand was a round wooden post attached to a wide plywood base which stood nearly waist high. In her other hand she held a longer wooden rod which appeared to be a hanging rod from a closet, and lastly she carried a duffel bag slung over one shoulder. "I think I got it all."
Mark stared at the collection of items. He was too bewildered to be frightened. "I have no idea..."
Nancy smiled. "You are going to be my new lamp and a rack to hang my clothes on before I put them in the closet."
"He will be a great place to hang wet swimsuits." Kelli added. "Assuming it all works out like it should."
"Exactly, shall we get started?"
Mark shook his head. "Ok, let's get this over with. What do you want me to do?"
Nancy smiled. "Well...you need to put on this," She held up a small speedo-like swimsuit that was made of a black spandex material. To Mark it looked more like the bottom half of a bikini. "Or this," She pulled out the silver unitard he had worn when he was her pillow.
Mark groaned. "Ugh, don't make me choose."
"Sorry you have to." Nancy responded.
Mark shook his head. "Nope, not gonna do it."
"Seriously!," Nancy threw the clothing on the bed. "Just pick one. No one will see it, you are going to be completely covered."
Kelli threw her hands up. "For goodness sake, I'll flip a coin. Heads it's the black, tails it's the silver." Kelli tossed a coin into the air and let it fall to the floor. "Heads."
Mark shrugged and grabbed the scrap of black material off the bed and retreated across the hall into the bathroom. While stripping off his clothes he almost laughed over the hopelessness of the situation. Why was he even doing this? He could just tell Nancy that he did not write this particular coupon and that Teresa had added it without telling him. Of course if he did that, Nancy would be disappointed, at least she appeared to be enjoying this, why else would she involve Kelli?
"I'm screwed." Mark said allowed as he pulled the tight garment up his legs. "If Nancy weren't so damned beautiful."
Mark pushed open the door and scampered across the hall into Nancy's room. Kelli whistled as he entered which earned her a playful punch from Nancy. "Don't be getting any ideas."
Kelli shook her head. "He's a little young for me."
"You like 'em young though," Nancy responded.
Mark was getting a small taste of what it was like to be an attractive female, being gawked and whistled at. He remained quiet though realizing talking would only create tension. "Ok, Mark, stand here." Nancy grabbed the wooden pole rising from plywood platform which was just wide enough to stand on. Mark stood on the wood so that the pole was behind him resting in the crevice formed by his legs. The pole stopped just shy of his crotch. "Put your feet as close together as possible." Nancy said as she picked up a roll of plastic wrap. The foot wide plastic crackled with static electricity as she pulled it off the roll which she quickly began to wrap around both his legs and the pole.
"Uh Nancy," Kelli interrupted. "Hang on a second, I think you should wrap one leg to the post and then the other." Kelli said.
"Why?"
"It will keep his legs from bending. Here Mark raise your other foot onto this chair." Kelli brought over a chair from the desk.
Nancy shrugged. "Ok, I didn't know you had done this before."
"I haven't, just thinking it will be more secure this way. He will probably need some padding between his knees and ankles too. I once wore a mermaids tail." Kelli laughed. "It was so tight my knees and ankles had bruises on them."
"I would have like to seen that." Mark said as he raised one leg.
Nancy slapped him on the bottom as she tightly pulled the plastic wrap around his left leg and the post.
"Hey, ouch." Mark said.
Kelli laughed. "You two are still cute."
Nancy applied two layers or wrap and there was no way Mark could bend his knee. He then put his other foot down and Kelli wedged two wash clothes between his knees and ankles and she continued wrapping until he was covered in at least three layers of plastic from the ankles to his waist.
"Ok Mark can you bend your knees?" Kelli asked.
Mark struggled a bit but only was able to bend at the waist. The plastic creaked and squeaked but no movement could be seen.
"What are we going to do about his feet?" Nancy asked looking at his bare feet.
Kelli shrugged. "We can cover them with something later. We need to do his arms next. Grab the other bar."
Nancy grabbed the longer wooden bar and walked behind him holding the bar against the back of Mark's neck.
Kelli picked up the the plastic wrap. "Ok, Mark raise your arms above your head." Kelli and Nancy passed the roll of two inch wrap back and forth to each other forming a criss-cross of plastic across his chest which was welding the wooden bar to the back of his neck just above his shoulder blades.
"Ok now let's move down his arms." Kelli held Marks arm against the wooden post while Nancy wound the plastic down the length past his fingertips until his arm was welded to the wooden post. She repeated the process with the other arm. Mark's arms were held out parallel to the floor and his movements were limited to bending at the waist and neck. This allowed him to twist side to side and forward and back, which he demonstrated.
"He will be able to knock off any clothes we place on his arms." Nancy said watching Mark move around with a smile on his face.
Kelli picked up some white tape and began to wrap a second layer over the top of the first. "I'm not sure what we can do, I doubt he can escape but he's not an effective piece of furniture. The lamp we have will be on the floor in seconds."
Nancy placed her fingers under her chin while she watched her friend wind the tape methodically around Mark's arms. She crisscrossed it also across his chest but this did nothing other than ensure there would be no escape. When Kelli cut the tape Mark continued to taunt them by bending at his waist and nearly caused the wooden platform to tip forward as he shifted his weight. He caught himself before straightening up. The wooden platform wobbled back and forth. "Careful there Mark, a fall is going to do some damage to your face without your arms to break the fall." Kelli said.
Nancy tossed her wet swimsuit across Mark's arm. Mark smiled and tilted his arms so the garment slid onto the floor. "Nice try girls."
Nancy frowned and reached into the backpack lying on the bedroom floor. "You may be a broken drying rack but even broken furniture can't talk." Nancy pulled out a white ball from the backpack which had a white strap dangling from it."
"Hey now. I'll be quiet." Mark said seeing the ball gag in her hands.
The frustration was evident in Nancy's response. "Too late," she said.
Mark allowed her to fasten the ball behind his teeth with a resigned sigh. It was worse to resist in his current predicament.
"Now let me think." Nancy said sitting on her bed with her chin in one hand.
"We need a bar between his wrists and his waist, like a prop." Kelli said.
Nancy's eyes suddenly lit up. "Hey I think I've got it. We need to go to get some stuff."
"What is it?" Kelli asked.
"Come on, I'll tell you on the way." Nancy said as she darted from the room. She stuck her head back in moments later. "You won't go anywhere will you Mark?" She smiled at him.
Kelli allowed herself to be pulled from the room. Mark sighed and tried to break free of the layers of plastic holding him in place. He did not struggle long, there was no real point. The multiple layers of wrap and tape would not break.
Moments later Kelli returned and grabbed her purse off the bed. "Forgot my purse." She stopped at the threshold and slowly turned around. Her eyes twinkled and she smiled at him as she slowly walked closer. "You do look scrumptious."
Mark's eyes got large as she got closer. Kelli licked her lips. "Almost good enough to eat."
Mark eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What was she doing? She could not possibly take advantage of him while he was helpless, if Nancy found out... Mark shook his head and grunted through the gag.
Kelli got closer until she he could feel her breath on his face and smell the faint aroma of chlorine that clung to her from her time in the pool. She kissed the white gag in his mouth and licked her lips. "See ya." She flipped her dark hair over her shoulder and skipped out of the room.
Mark was stunned. What would he do about this? Did Kelli really like him or was it just the highly charged situation. Should he tell Nancy? If she believed him she would lose a good friend, if she did not believe she might accuse him of trying to ruin her friendship, he had admitted jealousy after all. Several minutes of worry passed and Mark decided to keep it to himself to see what happens, he did not initiate the contact so he was innocent. And she had not kissed him really. Nancy needed a friend, she did not have many because of her schedule. But what if Kelli told Nancy what she did, and he didn't mention it. "Shit, shit, shit." Mark mumbled around the gag.
Mark sweated through the minutes thinking over what he should do, if it happened again he would have to confront Kelli and hope for the best, maybe he should ask his Mom. An endless roll of scenarios and possibilities ran through his mind distracting him so much he did not realize someone was now standing in the doorway. Someone with a scary looking smirk on her face.
"So time for another coupon eh?" Teresa said. She sauntered into the room wearing a simple pair of slacks and a button down blouse. Compared to her normal casual attire these clothes were downright boring.
Mark started, his old worries replaced now with a set of new ones.