Questions And Answers

Author’s Note:

My inspiration has left me of late, the dreaded writer's block (which I rarely suffer from) has hit me hard. Even this note was a challenge to write. However, I’m going to take a spoonful of my own medicine and follow the advice I’ve given others in the past and just power on through. Until I get back in the swing of things the fruits of my labour may be questionable at best.

Thank you for all your support and patience, it is very much appreciated.

Dansak

Emily stared blankly at Jessica with a mix of disbelief and intrigue.

“I’m sorry if I’ve shocked you,” said Jessica, draining the last of the tea from her mug.

“I’m not shocked, well, not in a bad way,” said Emily, examining her empty mug.

After an uncomfortable silence, Jessica smiled and said, “Would you like more tea?”

That seemingly innocuous question was very clever. Emily could politely refuse the offer of more tea and leave now, thus saving both their blushes. Or she could stay and see where this was leading, although she had a pretty good idea of what was coming.

“Yes, thank you,” said Emily.

The words had left her mouth before her brain had time to consider the repercussions. Another awkward silence held until Jessica had made their tea and sat back down at the kitchen table opposite Emily. Then they both spluttered out their words at the same time, the comedy of which led to much-needed giggles.

“Sorry, go ahead,” Said Jessica.

“I’ve got a feeling you’ve told me all this for a reason?” she asked nervously.

“I was planning asking you, but now that you need somewhere to live…I don’t know, it feels horribly opportunistic of me.”

“Ask me what?” Said Emily, knowing full well what Jessica was going to say but for reasons unknown to her she felt the need to keep up the pretence of ignorance.

“I’m sorry, I’ve made a complete hash of this. I suppose the best thing to do is just come straight out with it. James and I would like to invite you to join the harem. You could live here, the other girls are all lovely, I’m sure you’ll like them.”

As much as she had been expecting the question, it still came as a shock to Emily.

“I er…well, um...”

“I’m sorry, it was wrong of me to ask you like this. Forget I said anything and…”

“No, Jess, it’s fine. I’m just a little taken aback, it’s not every day you get asked to join a harem.”

“No, I suppose it is a rather unusual request.”

“So what exactly are you asking me? Will I live here and be having sex, you know, to pay the rent?”

“What? God no! Oh, Emily, I’d never…shit, this really isn’t how I pictured this conversation going. I’m sorry if I’ve offended you, please forgive me.”

“No, it’s me that should be sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I know you’d never ask me to be a whore. I’m just not sure exactly what you are asking me?”

“I’d like to formally invite you to join our harem. It’s an idea I had that…”

“Wait, this was your idea? I presumed it was James’ idea.”

“No, this has all come from my rather perverted imagination. The idea is to have five beautiful women living here in a sort of twenty-first-century harem. On the one hand, we’d live our normal lives, we’d go to work, socialise with our friends or whatever. But on the other hand, we commit to James being the only man in our lives and dedicate ourselves to his pleasure.”

“How much would I need to pay you for rent and bills?”

“Oh don’t worry about that, I’ll happily cover all the costs. And before you protest, this is not about sex for services and I’m not making you a special case for you, I won’t take any money from the others either. This is about living an alternative lifestyle and getting a hell of a thrill out of it at the same time.”

Emily wanted to **** the issue of making some sort of financial contribution, but given that she was in no position to do so she swallowed her pride.

“That’s very generous, thank you. How will this work, will he spend a night with each of us or something?”

“We still can work out the fine details together as a group, but I’m pretty sure as far as sex goes it’ll be a lot more open than that. The idea is that James gets to have his way with us whenever and however he wants. That will definitely include us girls having sex with each other, and more than likely group sex too. Can I ask, are you bi-sexual?”

“Good question, I’m not sure really. I’ve never had sex with a woman, although I did snog a friend at a party once. I am attracted to women though. I suppose I’ve not been very adventurous sexually. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I haven’t wanted to do more stuff, I’ve just never had the opportunity.”

“You’ll certainly get the opportunity if you move in here. Speaking of moving in, would you like to have a look upstairs and see what bedroom you’d prefer to have?”

“Oh, erm, thanks, but I’d better get going. You’ve given me a lot to think about. Thanks for the tea and the chat.”

“Okay, well take your time and think things over, call me if you want to discuss anything, okay?”

“I’ll call you soon, I promise.”

When Emily left Jessica picked up her phone, there were six missed calls from James.

“Shit!” she yelled aloud.

“Hi, James, sorry I missed your calls.”

“I was beginning to worry, is everything okay?”

“Yes, fine. Emily was here and I switched my phone to silent so we could talk.”

“Sounds interesting. Did you ask her?”

“Yes, she’s thinking it over and will get back to me, I’ll tell you about it when I see you. How did things go with Lucy?”

“You’ll find out soon enough, we’ll be with you in about five minutes.”

“We?”

“Uh-huh, me, Lucy and Sarah.”

“Does this mean what I think it means?”

“Yup.”

Left to her own devices, Jessica would likely have descended into a melancholy panic about Emily’s reaction to her offer. But she barely had time to touch up her make-up and brush her hair before they arrived. James had a big grin on his face when he came through the door and was doing a good impression of the cat that got the cream. Lucy was a ball of energy and full of giggles and excitement as they showed her around the house. Sarah was far more circumspect though.

During their quick tour of the house, Jessica got the gist of what had happened that morning with the non-existent flat in London and Lucy’s newly found eagerness to join the harem. It all seemed a bit too good to be true though, making Jessica wonder if Lucy knew exactly what she was letting herself in for.

When the four of them got back to the kitchen and sat down she said to her, “James told you about the harem then, how do you feel about it?”

Lucy smiled, “Excited, but a little nervous.”

“I know what you mean, I feel the same way, I think we all do, it’s only natural.”

Then Sarah spoke up, “Jess, what exactly is the set-up going to be, James mentioned that Lucy could live here, is that right?”

“Absolutely, the plan is for all of us to live here.”

“And you're calling this a harem, but it’s a poly, right?”

“Yes. It’s a bit like a cross between a kitchen table poly and a patriarchy, but the patriarchal element is very light, it’s nothing too heavy. Think of it as us five girls making ourselves available for James to have sex with as he wishes. We will all need to commit to each other exclusively though. By that I mean we don’t have sex with anyone outside of our group and we will not be inviting anyone else to join. And we’ll need a strict policy on secrecy too, we want this to be kept private from the outside world.”

“Well that’s put my mind at rest,” said Sarah, “I knew you’d be sensible about this but it was good to hear it anyway.”

“Have you got any questions, Lucy?” asked Jessica.

“Lots, but mainly I’m just curious when this is all happening.”

“Dani is moving in this weekend. Emily is yet to confirm if she’s joining. But you can take all the time you need to think things over, and if you’re happy then you can move in whenever you’re ready.”

“I’ve got all my things in Sarah’s car, can I move in now?”

Sarah turned to Lucy and said, “I think Jess is right, maybe take a bit of time and think about it, there’s no rush.”

“I don’t need to think about it, seriously, I’ve never been so excited about something in my life.”

“Are you sure?” said Jessica.

“Yes, I’m sure, if you’ll have me then I’d love to join.”

“Then welcome to the harem,” said Jessica.