The Childhood Friend Merida Voguel

“And release the tension in your arms and legs as you come back to a resting position. Take a nice slow breath in … and slowly let it out. Okay, that is the end of the session. I'll see you all next week.” Merida said to her class. She went over to grab her towel to wipe down her body of the sweat from the session as she gave farewells to the few regulars she had in this class. Merida went into her office to prep for an introductory yoga course she was starting later that day. Merida wanted to take a short break but knew she didn’t have the time. Her studio wasn’t doing too great and she was barely making enough to break even each month. It had been almost two years and she still wasn’t stable. She remembered when taking those business courses at the community college that many businesses didn’t make it to five years but she thought that she would be able to manage. She sat down at her desk and went over the routine for the afternoon and then went on to dealing with bills, as she started opening envelopes, exhaustion overtook her as she laid her head down on her desk.

Merida jolted upright and found herself in an unfamiliar place that was dimly lit. Looking at her surroundings it seemed like the backstage of a theater. Faint voices were coming from the other side of the stage curtains but couldn’t quite make them out. At least as far as she could see there weren’t any exits backstage so she guessed she might as well go figure out what the hell is going on and where she was.

Which was when she heard, “How touching, and please bear with me, as we now have our next contestant. Time to welcome a blast from Mark’s past. Merida Voguel.” from a short blonde woman who sat next to a decent looking man Merida didn’t recognize and another woman seated across from the two of them. “Please Merida come have a seat, my name is Cassandra and I am the host of this season of Harem Hotel.”

“Uh, What?” was all she could manage to get out as she walked over to the chairs. Merida felt a strange desire to sit down next to the woman across from Cassandra. As she did she suffered from a bout of vertigo as she gained memories of the woman next her introducing herself as Allie Asher, and the man, Mark, she realized was her childhood friend. “What was that and what is going on?”

“As I said I am this season’s host of Harem Hotel in which you are a contestant on competing for a position in your Master’s Harem. Now why don’t you introduce yourself to the audience.”

Merida felt compelled to turn to the empty theater and said, “Hi My Name is Merida Voguel, I know Mark as one of the boys from down the street he, his brothers and I played a lot together and went exploring the woods behind some of our neighbors houses when we were kids. I haven’t really seen or thought of Mark for something like the last 15 years though I will say that he is decent looking and I remember him being nice. I am currently self-employed having opened my own yoga studio two years ago. I am 34 years old, 5’6”, 120lbs, my measurements are 36C”-24”-28”, I am straight though I did experiment with a couple girls at parties. My last sexual encounter doesn’t exist unless we count making out and some light fondling of breasts, or masturbation to smutty romance novels.”

Merida’s face flushed and she looked at the ground as she finished revealing her personal details and what she said about the man who was apparently her childhood friend. As she looked up she brushed her fizzy auburn hair out of her face revealing her piercing green eyes she as glanced at Mark and then quickly away again. “Wha.. What am I doing here? What do you mean competing to be in a Harem?”

Cassandra raised a finger motioning that Merida would need to wait a moment “Now I will answer your questions but as I told Allie here I don’t want to repeat myself too much so we will wait until we have everyone here for questions.” Merida wanted to protest but found herself unable to as Cassandra continued, “Next up is a woman who had a very similar upbringing as Mark himself, though unlike Mark she never did lose her faith. Let’s welcome our next contestant.”