Edited by Rosmarina (whose advice and assistance are much appreciated)
Please do not reproduce this story without permission.
== Chapter 19 ==
I got a bit of a shock when I woke up the next morning and had to think about it to work out where I was. Chloe had apparently already woken up and managed to get out of bed without disturbing me. I could hear her in the kitchen and smell some coffee brewing. I stretched and enjoyed just lying there for a moment, then I remembered that I wasn't here to laze around in bed. I should be offering myself to Chloe as her companion, her fuck toy, or in whatever way she wished to make use of me. I quickly got out of bed and, still naked, crawled into the kitchen.
As I crawled it all came back to me... What had happened last night, I mean. As I entered the doorway of the kitchen I looked around, and it was hard to believe that this was where we had both masturbated together last night as in daylight it seemed quite different. I noticed the almost empty bottle of wine on the table and remembered Chloe sitting there sipping from a glass as she talked about her feelings. Then I looked up and saw her watching me, and I could tell from the smile on her face that she was not troubled by any conflicting emotions this morning. Of course I didn't want to ask her about that.
Instead I crawled over to Chloe and kissed her feet. I wanted to resume my place as my dear friend's submissive pet if I could. I really wasn't comfortable with the way Chloe had seemed to want to be my equal last night. Chloe was also still naked, and as she looked down at me I wondered whether she realised that I was trying to tell her she should treat me like her slave and not her friend. It was hard to tell what Chloe was thinking from the brief glances I could make since I was concentrating on worshipping her beautiful feet, but at least she seemed content to allow me to lap at her toes for a minute or two without falling to her knees beside me.
Eventually Chloe tired of my attentions and told me to sit at the table as she'd made some coffee. I hoped this didn't mean that she wanted us to be equals (or as equal as two slaves can be). We had not exchanged more than a few words so far this morning so I really didn't know what she was thinking. I decided it was best if I just went along with what she wanted and sat down to drank my coffee.
Chloe asked me if I'd slept well, and I told her that I had as I'd been really exhausted. I decided not to mention what I'd been up to during the time I'd been away from her, and I especially didn't want to say anything about my experience with Ming Ming as that would only complicate things, and it had nothing to do with Chloe at this point. Chloe teased me that when she'd woken up I'd looked like an angel, and at first she thought I must have fallen out of the sky and landed in her bed during the night.
I told her that I was too much of a slut to be an angel, and instead of falling out of the sky, I had been sent by my Master to lick her cunt. This wasn't strictly true as Master had only told me to keep Chloe company, but he probably realised that this would involve licking her pussy at some stage. Chloe laughed at my cheeky reply, but I could see that the mention of Master had reminded her of what she had been telling me last night.
At first I cursed myself for being so insensitive, however it seemed she was instead deep in her own thoughts. After a few seconds Chloe sat down next to me and looked into my eyes. She said that every time she thought of Master she wanted to get on her knees and beg him to accept her as his slave -- even though he was not here to respond. "I have such a strong desire to give myself to him," she told me. "I'm trying to be sensible and think things through rationally, but a part of me wants so strongly to surrender and leave all decisions to Master."
Of course I understood exactly what she meant as I'd felt the same way when I was considering becoming Master's slave. Then it struck me that she had referred to "Master" as if he already owned her. I wondered if it was just a slip of the tongue or whether in her heart Chloe had already made her decision.
I couldn't ask and I didn't want to go back into confidante mode with Chloe as I was hoping instead she would decide to beat me or use me, but Chloe once again began to talk to me about her thoughts. She told me that at first she had agonised over her decision. But gradually, as she worked through all the issues in her mind, she became more and more convinced that there was really only one choice she could make. It had been increasingly clear to her for some time that she could not go on as she had been indefinitely. She already knew that she needed to make some major changes in her life but she just hadn't quite known what to do.
Looking directly at me she said that her best friend had somehow sensed her need and come up with a solution, and she knew that all she had to do was accept the proposal that had been made to her. I could see tears in her eyes and wanted to say something about not only being her friend but also being her slave, but couldn't think of how to put my thoughts into words so I kept quiet.
Chloe told me she knew very well if she accepted my proposal it was not a temporary decision that could easily be changed. At the same time she felt there was a kind of inevitability about it. She found that the more she thought about it, the more certain she was of the decision she had to make.
She said the fact that she was actually prepared to enslave herself really scared her, but she also felt incredibly excited and very much wanted to take that step. Strangely, she added, the two lots of very different emotions complimented each other. Her fears made her excitement and yearning even stronger.
I just sipped my coffee and listened. I really wanted to avoid encouraging her one way or the other. We had been friends for so long and knew each other intimately, so there was nothing unusual about Chloe chattering away to me about whatever was in her head while I just listened.
The only difference was this time she was not just talking about her thoughts or feelings but a decision that would change both our lives forever.
Suddenly Chloe took my hand across the table and said that this morning she had such a strong feeling that she must accept her true place in life. She told me she felt she had always been destined to become a slave even though she had never seriously entertained doing so until now. She told me the fact that she had actually reached a decision like this was almost more than her mind could accept. She had tried to avoid consciously admitting to herself that after only a day or so of considering such an option she had already made up her mind.
I knew that it was not just the last few days of course. I was aware Chloe had felt a sense of dissatisfaction and that a deep yearning to express the submissive side of her nature had been in the back of her mind for a very long time. Until recently she had been too busy with her demanding career to really focus on such things, and probably sub-consciously she had wanted to avoid thinking about it.
As if Chloe could read my mind she suddenly said that although she felt a certain inevitability about her decision, she was constantly tempted to avoid thinking about it and to try to find something else to occupy her mind. She said that up until last week her lifestyle had been built around looming deadlines and last minute changes that required her immediate attention, so it was hard to break a pattern that had built up almost unnoticed over many years and suddenly go off in a different direction. Although she had considered trying to avoid the whole thing somehow, she knew this was no longer a possibility.
More and more, Chloe said, she thought that a new life of slavery would be a new adventure like nothing she had ever experienced before. She had always considered herself to be a very adventurous woman who was not afraid to explore things that most people would find daunting, but now she was not so sure she was as adventurous as she liked to think.
Maybe, Chloe wondered, all the frantic activity she had indulged in as a creative and artistic person and the self-promotion involved in creating such an image was nothing more than a facade. Had she been trying to hide her deepest desires from herself in order to avoid admitting what she really wanted?
Now that had finally admitted to herself what she really was Chloe said she felt a great sense of relief and she no longer felt any conflict about seriously considering a life of slavery. Finally, she said, rather than continuing to try and resolve all these thoughts, she had decided to spend the morning finalising outstanding matters that needed her attention anyway as she was sure that this would be more productive and it was something that just had to be done. She was always busy and hated boring paperwork so a big pile of forms, letters, and other documents that she had not yet properly looked at had accumulated until she could not put off such things any longer.
Then Chloe looked at me with a strange expression. After staring at me as if she had only just realised I was her slave she said "Show me what an obedient bitch you are and get to work cooking us both a special lunch while I dealt with my paperwork." I was happy that she was giving me some instructions and knew that I would enjoy cooking for her...
As she got up to leave, Chloe said that dealing with forms and correspondence was mindless work as it required such attention to detail, but she felt it would be very therapeutic for her to spend several hours without thinking over and over about the same issues she had just mentioned to me. She added that it would be good to be able to begin getting her life into order and that I was not to disturb her!