Confessions of a Dominant BBW...
Being a 'big' girl in today's street parlance usually refers to the bra size one looks for in Marks and Spencer. But I've always been a 'big girl' -- since even before my mammaries started developing into the super-size jugs they are now.
It wasn't that I ate too much -- it just seemed that was how I was meant to be. My grandma always looked rather large in those old family photos, and I recall being curious that grandad was relatively puny. Not that that held any particular significance to me when I was that innocent outsize slip of a girl.
Many a teenager, blundering bright-eyed into young adulthood, is acutely aware of their body, and all of its shortfalls from the accepted norm. Their lives are often a wretched experience because of it. Not so my own. Despite being the size of a house, I was relatively content. I accepted being 'Fatty Mattie' early on at school, but because I was friendly, and took all the jibes in good humour, people were inclined to drop the unkind names, and instead, affectionately refer to me as Tilda, which of course is short for Matilda. Which itself is a bit of a laugh, since Matilda invokes the image of a slender waif. Well, to me it does. Don't argue.
My lovely mum splashed out and enrolled me at ballroom dancing classes when I was in my teens. She figured I would need all the help I could get to reel in a marriage prospect later in life. The class was short of boys, so several of us girls had to double-up as practice partners. Obviously, I wasn't any boys' first pick, so I found myself constantly doubling up. Nothing wrong with that, but you find yourself learning to dance like a man, wrong foot leading, etc.
About week four, some new boys joined. I found myself paired with Lenny, a nervous little lad, who persistently trod on my toes or held me by my bum instead of the middle of my back. I repeatedly told him off, in as nice a way that I possibly could, but it seemed the more I scolded him, the more excited he became, and the more he tried to touch me up. Admittedly, he had a problem actually reaching round to the middle of my back, and he did often have to contend with my leg in his groin, as a result of my dancing-gender, but he was enjoying it too much. In the end, I smacked him round the head, incurring the wrath of the teacher, who informed me that my behaviour was not considered acceptable ballroom protocol, and banned me.
Maybe such injustices germinate the seed which determines the way one's life subsequently is to pan out. Or maybe I would have grown into a bossy cow anyway. Don't answer that.
Certainly, losing my cherry quite early on, albeit during an illegal drink and drugs-fuelled rave, did give me an extra confidence boost, and I eventually secured a clerical job, where quite quickly I achieved promotion to office manager.
A couple of years flew by, and I was becoming quite settled. My job involved dealing with people -- something which many folk cannot handle. But I was good at it, and I knew it. My only niggle was the money -- I felt I should have been earning more. Then I met Nina.
"But your smile lights up the room, Tilda," Nina protested, when I suggested my appearance was not a money-spinner. "And when you close your mouth, your classical bone structure and big brown eyes frighten the shit out of a significant slice of the male population. You're perfect BBW Domme material, Tilda. You gotta believe it."
Up to that point, we had been casually chatting about life, clothes, money and other London clubs besides the one in which we were sitting -- me, Nina and Nina's friend, Ray. Looks-wise, Nina was the opposite of me -- tall, blonde, slim and stunningly beautiful. For a moment, I thought they were lining me up for some friend of Ray's, and were encouraging me to feel wanted.
"A WHAT material?" I spluttered, almost choking on my treble Club Malibu cocktail.
They explained the terminology. Yes, I knew I was 'Big', and a 'Woman', and I did have hair as black as night, ruby lips and naturally-long eyelashes. But 'Beautiful'? I was certainly kissable, I thought. Just whether the rest of me was worth bothering about.
"Loadsa men would sell their souls for a night with you," Ray chipped in. "Bigger the better, many'd say."
But it was the 'Domme' bit that was giving me the collywobbles. "That's something involving stiletto-heels and whips, right?" I said, choosing to be cagey, as I was not well-versed in the genre. "I don't do either of those things."
"Ray and I run a little business over in Bayswater," Nina explained. "It needs an extra partner to make the books balance and cover appointment overlaps. You and me, Tilda. We'd make a perfect team. Drop in for a cuppa, sometime. See what you think."
"Whoa," I remonstrated. "You're talking about a knocking shop? I can't believe..."
"No no," Nina interrupted. "Nothing like that. Discreet. Private. No sex involved. Well, maybe the occasional helping hand, but we're not whores, Tilda. I like to think of myself as a deviation therapist. You can make your own rules, and what you say, goes. Think of it as social services."
I was anything but convinced. It sounded like something I'd been warned about at Sunday School. "No chance," I said. "Not unless Hell freezes over first."
By the following Wednesday, the weather forecast for Hell had seriously changed for the worse, largely as a result of my application for a salary rise having been turned down. I took some time off and tubed it to Lancaster Gate. Nearby was Nina's little den of iniquity -- a basement flat. It was accessible via steps down from the busy sidewalk -- better than being in a quiet apartment block where all non-residents are viewed with suspicion by neighbours and security men. I pinged the intercom.
"Mistress Thunderthighs reporting for a cup of tea," I said.
"Push the door and come through, Tilda," Nina answered, laughing.
We sat and drank tea in a tiny kitchen area, while Nina gave me a brief run down. Then she showed me round. There were more rooms than I had imagined for a basement flat -- a dressing room for staff, a utility room, and three rooms converted for special-purposes, including a schoolroom and Ray's pride and joy, the dungeon. I tried not to be too fixated by some of the equipment and the variety of costumes hanging around.
I began to understand why, despite Nina's high earning power, they needed an extra source of revenue to counter the overheads. The flat was in quite a respectable area of town, so the rent was high, and they had a full-time maid to field the phone enquiries, keep the place tidy, and deal with the often icky business of cleaning up after a scene. It also needed the beefy Ray, who provided backroom security, in case things ever got ugly. Nina's skilled boyfriend also doubled as carpenter, and electrician. Don't ask.
"So, when can you start?" Nina challenged. I felt that I needed a training course, and at least a hundred dry runs. Why on earth don't they put these things on the National Curriculum? She read my thoughts. "Here, I've scribbled a few do's and don'ts -- give it a read, then have a shifty in the dressing room wardrobe. There's some size 24 stuff which might fit you. When you've got a bit more established, you'll be able to get some nice outfits made to measure. I have a sissy client due in a couple of mins, so I need to get cracking. Catch you afterwards -- we should be able to get you started this afternoon."
I refused to let Nina's whirlwind suck me into its vortex. I don't do panic. I do control. I figured her urgency was a tactic to get me on board before I'd had time to think it all through properly. I made myself another cup of tea, and out of curiosity, skimmed Nina's ad-hoc dominatrix manual.
Negotiation of the scene... safe words... panic button... first aid... what to do if joe passes out... places on body to beat... places not to beat... rope knots... Rope knots? It was reassuring that if after learning all this and the job fell through, I should be able to breeze into the Royal Navy.