Malaise 1

It was only eight-thirty in the morning, Elisa reminded herself, mind wandering as the hot water ran down her sore body. Another spinning class down, and the leftover adrenaline and endorphins buoyed her satisfaction with the achievement. Ever self-critical, she knew she hadn't pushed herself that hard, but when you're sufficiently talented most people can't tell when you're just showing up. She'd been doing a lot of showing up lately, in all aspects of her life, and the fact that nobody seemed to be catching on only served to deepen the fog of malaise that blanketed her recent days. It sapped her energy and soon enough showing up was about all she could manage. The exercise at least got the blood pumping, and of all the impressive activities that Elisa filled her calendar with, it was the one she most enjoyed. That's not to say it was her only hobby, but rather, that she doubted that spending hours late at night reading erotica while her husband binged TV would quite arouse the same jealous appreciation on social media. She allowed herself to linger a few moments longer, soaking in the warmth, even replaying a mental highlight reel of some of the erotica she'd been enjoying lately. More and more she inhabited these quiet moments, before sleep and after waking. Realizing she'd taken too long, the rush from accomplishing something she would let herself feel good about was already starting to fade, and it was time to go off in search of the next hit.

Elisa toweled off and walked out towards her locker, already preoccupied with the logistics of getting ready and to the office. Since she was in a hurry, it was natural that she'd run into Jenny in one of her chatty moods. Jenny - friendly, outgoing, earnestly new to exercise, and most infuriating of all, very impressed with Elisa. "Elisa!" she called out, some fatigue from the class still showing in her voice. Elisa maintained pace and returned a forced smile and curt nod. "Great job as always!"

Being congratulated on what was frankly a mediocre effort struck a nerve with Elisa. Her inner critic was already sardonically remixing the well-intentioned comment over a montage of her recent shortcomings. It must've shown on her face, because Jenny seemed taken somewhat aback and averted her gaze. Elisa hesitated for an instant, considering apologizing, yelling, maybe crying, something to explain what made her the way she was. None of those things happened, and she returned to her locker the next aisle over.

Rather than deal with the unpleasant fact that she was now officially the kind of person who snapped at compliments, Elisa instead focused her blossoming irritation on the way Jenny's eyes fell over her longer, better-toned legs as she passed by. "You won't get this far if you're so easily impressed," she chided the other woman in her thoughts. The way Jenny tried to be friends, Elisa suspected that the new girl thought that earning her approval would somehow be enough to transform her into Fit People. "Got no easy answers for you, kid," she continued the mental lecture. "Hard work and success? Secret is,"

"Secret is, you don't know how to do anything else

."

The speed and strength with which this thought popped into her mind threw her for a moment. Elisa had her share of dour moods but the speed at which this one was coming on surprised and unnerved her. She regarded her own subconscious like a schoolteacher glaring at the back of her class, trying to figure out which of the snotty little brats had had the nerve to-

"Well it's not exactly wrong, is it?"

Shit, there it was again. Her recent stress and moods must be taking more of a toll than she had realized. If this was the beginning of something serious, now was an especially bad time for it professionally. In the pace it had taken her to get from the shower to her locker, Elisa had gone from countess of the morning to counting down the hours until she could hide away from the world. Hiding uninhibited and free, just her and the deep dark internet behind the closed door to the office that her husband knew better than to disturb. She could make the office in good time if she skipped the coffee, which she told herself wasn't good for her anyway, but really she just no longer felt like she deserved it. She twisted the dial to enter her combination, unlocked the locker, and reached in. And all her clothes were missing.

Elisa flashed with annoyance at first, thinking she'd mistakenly picked the wrong locker in her preoccupied state. But then she remembered that she'd put her combination in; it had to be hers, it was her padlock, and it was secured completely. The shock dawned rapidly. This made no sense. Did someone pick her lock, steal her things,

and then replace and lock the lock

? Technically not impossible, but strange, and there were very few people around at this hour. With her mind struggling to make sense of it, she bent down to look inside, and realized the locker wasn't empty after all. A latching leather collar sat on the floor of it, connected by a thin chain that ran back into the darkness. At this Elisa started feeling disassociated, her mind clearly skeptical of what she was seeing. She tugged at the collar and with a clinking rattle it came to her along with an improbable length of chain. The locker faced outward from a wall, and behind the wall was...let's see... about a twenty-foot drop to the parking lot.

Underneath the toned body, the luxury car, the diploma from a top-twenty University, and the partner-track career, an insecure young girl gave out a quivering whimper. There were rules, and the rules said what gets rewarded and what doesn't, and what can and can't happen. This, whatever it was, was not in them. Curiosity was quickly turning to horror, and suddenly the cool supple leather of the collar made her skin crawl.

"Elisa?" Jenny's voice. She had been in the row over, but her voice was coming from behind her. The locker room was dead silent otherwise. Elisa turned her head quickly and looked up to see Jenny standing there in her RN scrubs. Embarrassment proved stronger than fear and Elisa quickly shoved the collar back in, shifting to shield the view with her back, and made a show of rummaging around in the locker before turning. She tried looking annoyed at Jenny, but judging by the concern on Jenny's face she was doing a poor job of masking her panic.

"Are you feeling okay?" Jenny asked, visibly taken aback.

"Uhm, just fine, thanks..." Elisa murmured and looked away, unable to maintain eye contact. Jenny considered a moment, inched closer, and piped up.

"You worked pretty hard today, huh? ...Why don't you take a seat?"

Maybe she latched on to the compassion in the worried girl's voice, or maybe she was just too shaken to maintain her usual assertive aura, but Elisa took her hand and uncharacteristically let herself be lifted up and sat on the bench. She gave an appreciative nod and stared ahead, and after a few deep breaths realized that Jenny was still gently holding her hand. The shorter girl sat next to her, and with a practiced motion she was dressed to match, turned Elisa's hand palm up and placed two fingertips over her wrist.

Elisa blushed; unexpected human contact was always a shock to her. During summer vacation trips to the beach she'd usually find herself sitting on the periphery of the campfire as her girlfriends got more physically flirtatious with the boys. It wasn't to say that didn't interest her - when she got home the latent sexual energy she'd absorbed would fuel intense hours-long masturbation sessions - but touch filled her with an anxiety so strong it precluded anything further being fully enjoyable. She must've given a small shudder, for Jenny's other hand reached up to give a brief reassuring pat on her sore upper arm. "Try to breathe deep, okay?"

Once more, Elisa went along, feeling humbled and embarrassed. She was agonizingly self-conscious that she was wearing nothing but a towel, but she couldn't deny that it was an improvement over confused panic. After about fifteen seconds, Jenny turned to her with a concerned look, and asked her a few more times about how she was feeling and if she'd like some water. Elisa declined the water, in no hurry to be left alone with her locker.

"Elisa...have you been under a lot of pressure lately? Sleeping okay?" The weight of recent weeks filled her mind, and she shrugged a noncommittal 'Maybe' while thinking 'Always and Never' were the true answers. Normally she'd think this line of questioning was getting awfully familiar, but now she welcomed the investigation. It felt so reassuring to be cared for like this.

"Why don't you sit here a while then go home for the day?" Elisa nodded along, but then then shook her head no.

"No. Thanks. I'm fine really, I have so much to do today and I'm already behind..."

If I can even find some clothes--

"Elisa. You should go home today and masturbate." Elisa's eyes went wide. Jenny's suddenly assertive, matter-of-fact delivery made it even more shocking. The words coming out of her mouth... nobody had ever spoken to her before like that. Before she could muster a reaction, Jenny continued.

"You're showing symptoms of stress and exhaustion: unexplained elevated heart rate, shallow breathing, erotic fantasies intruding into consciousness." Jenny's hand now rested on her knee, and she looked up into Elsa's eyes. Elsa wanted to get angry, wanted to scream, couldn't. "This one appears to be a reimagining of your college lesbian shower fantasy with an added humiliating twist. Beating yourself up over some professional mishap?"

This is impossible she can't know nobody could know

-

"When you do, make sure to focus on the shock in instructor Lea's voice upon finding you collared and chained to the locker, on all fours, ass exposed under your towel. The undertones of pity and shock are especially potent when mixed with the burning sensation of an attractive and athletic woman's gaze roaming over your ass and pussy." Elisa stared, mouth agape. Jenny continued, quite confident she was being listened to.

"Those few moments of shocked silence where she comes to a conclusion about what a slut you are and what you want are especially important, so make sure to dwell on them." Jenny's words dragged her mind over every lurid detail, not unlike how she imagined Lea dragging her head up to her crotch by a fistful of hair.

"Your pulse is rising again; that's good! That's a healthy response. Please lift the towel for me Elisa." Elisa's hand clenched the hem of the towel, holding it tightly in place, gathering up the courage to look this Jenny in the eye. The earnestly pleasant expression Jenny always flashed her after a workout trying to start up a conversation was professionally inquisitive, inviting her to go along without being threatening. "Elisa, haven't you've been dreaming about showing off your waxing for a while now?"

Elisa gulped. Her temples pounded in time with a throbbing in her clit. "What's...What's going on?"

Jenny flashed a worried look, and looked straight ahead for a moment. "Well, let's have a quick look around, but promise me you won't move too fast, okay? You're in a pretty delicate state right now." Jenny let go of her wrist, and wrapped Elisa's arm around her shoulder to help her to her feet. Elisa tensed at first, resisting, until the sound of a rattling chain sent her eyes wide and adrenalin flooded her veins anew. It came from her locker. She slowly started to turn to look, when Jenny stopped her with a hand on her cheek and guided her back to meet her gaze. "Certain... conditions," Jenny motioned towards the locker with her eyes and spoke with a nurse's cheery euphemistic dismissal of something extremely discomforting "by the time they become visible, are already seriously advanced. I'd like to get you into treatment, the sooner the better. Won't you come with me?" Jenny's eyes were pleading, genuinely concerned.

Elisa tried to comprehend, until a pounding from inside the locker sent her to her feet. She almost pulled Jenny up with her.

"Easy Elisa, easy, come on, here we go." Jenny guided Elisa out of the aisle of lockers. She gave a quick glance backwards as they rounded the bend, and when she realized Elisa saw her do it, gave a quick smile. Elisa still had it in her to be shocked to see the aisles of lockers extended a few hundred farther than the usual four, the long corridor vanishing in the distance. Same story behind them. Jenny gave her a moment, then they started walking in the direction where there once was an exit.

They made slow going at first, as Elisa halted and scanned each aisle they crossed. Each one in and of itself was ordinary. Regaining some presence of mind, Elisa tried to think of the best question to ask under the circumstances: Where were they? How did they get out? What was that thing back there? Her vocal cords received all these suggestions, duly noted, and she blurted out "Where are my clothes?"

Brilliant, thought Elisa. Her usual confidence, cultivated over a life of high achievement since college, was in the pits. It must be embarrassingly obvious how out of control she felt, she thought. Even under the incredible circumstances, the inversion of the usual power dynamic stung. "We'll get all that sorted, hon. You're fine here. Please don't worry." Elisa accepted the reassuring remarks gladly. She trusted Jennie; it was too terrible to consider the alternative.

The change came on gradually. The air grew heavier, warmer, wetter. Faint wisps of steam from an unseen shower grew to obscuring clouds. Then came the scents. A whiff of sport deodorant, shower gels, beneath it all sweat, athletic and tinged with the carnal. Murmured voices, low conspiratorial tones, men and women young and old gossiping. Elisa's face flushed and her ears strained against her will to make out the words against the pounding of her heartbeat. Her whole body felt heavy, rubbery, even more tired than when she'd just gotten off the bike in a previous life thirty-odd minutes ago. She managed to focus in on one conversation and realized it was some young guys rating women in their gym. They sounded like desperate losers with too much time on their hands, so, why was she trying so hard to hear if they spoke her name?

"You see that loaded bitch in class man? How much to make you go up and just smack her right on her tight little ass?" They all laughed. Elisa couldn't tell if they were talking about her. She realized how often she had checked out the figure she cut in the mirrors, partly out of admiration, partly wondering if the outfit was so provocative that some guy might...do just that. She could so easily envision, even feel that smack and it made her skin flush.

The faintest sounds of eager copulation teased her as they slowly walked forward. Slapping, moaning, grunting, spanking, eager dirty talk. The voices grew close, the steam closed in, and visibility dropped. The voices must be coming from the aisle they were crossing, but she couldn't clearly make anyone out. She'd think she see a human form, only for her eyes to catch onto another passing by... lots of motion but nothing definitive. She was surrounded by voices and sounds but couldn't pin anything down.

"What is this? Who are they?" She asked Jenny, breathing hard. Jenny considered a moment, then turned to her.

"It's about what you imagined you were missing out on back then, remember?" Jenny ventured softly. In this sex-charged place it was all too easy for Elisa to remember the awkward teenage years when her more athletic girlfriends gossiped for weeks leading up to their trip to Regionals. Sounded like it would be an absolute orgy from how they'd described it. The young, introverted Elisa hadn't yet realized that most teenage sex discussed didn't actually happen, and so concocted elaborate fantasies fueled by an aching fear that she was missing out. She had avoided those friends for weeks after the trip, too afraid to hear about what might've transpired.

They started seeing forms actively copulating in the mist. One girl eating another out on a bench. Two buff men taking turns thrusting into a skinny third. A girl, giggling, kissing two men while jerking them off onto one another. Elisa's heart was leaping out of her chest watching it all, and she caught herself staring time and again.

"Elisa, I know these are very potent for you. Can you keep going or is the need for climax overwhelming?"

Elisa stepped away from Jenny, shocked. Jenny reached out two hands to Elisa's elbows, steadying the taller woman. The look on Jenny's face was dead serious, all professionalism. Somehow, Elisa realized she could respond honestly to this normally unthinkable question. A long moment passed. Elisa gulped, working up the courage to respond.

"I-maybe just give me a minute," Elisa couldn't look her in the eyes after all; her gaze fell, and she turned towards a bench a row back out of sight. Jenny's hold stiffened, stopping her.

"I'm sorry Elisa, but you shouldn't be alone in here." Elisa looked around, the urge overwhelming her, growing ever more helpless. She couldn't do something like that in front of Jenny, but the thought of going on without was impossible too. Jenny must've read the pleading in her eyes, as she reached up and slowly began to unwrap Elisa's towel.

Elisa stood frozen as it was undone. Jenny focused intently on what she was doing, moving slowly, not rushing anything. Elisa lifted her arms when prompted and the towel slid off, and Jenny laid it out neatly on a bench. Turning back to Elisa, Jenny's hands gingerly touched her waist, and she lowered the dazed, naked woman onto her back on the bench. Jenny knelt at her side. She placed one palm gently on Elisa's forehead, and with the other, parted her legs. Elisa slowly lowered her feet to the floor, spread open, jolts of excitement shooting through her. Jenny placed two fingers against her neck, and ran her other hand up one thigh and down the other, brushing close to her clit.

"Aaand deep breaths," Jenny coached, placing her fingertips over Elisa's upper abdomen as it expanded with. Elisa forced air in and out, but it was all too much, and she remained tense. Jenny probed her inner thighs, glutes, and abdominal muscles, feeling out the tension. "Breathe into here and relax..." As Elisa exhaled, Jenny worked the muscles, loosening them. A woman's moaning reached fever pitch nearby. Jenny's fingertips brushed against Elisa's clit and moist lips. "Listen to your fantasies while taking a care not to get lost in them. She's shuddering on the cock of her personal trainer, remember? One class a week for months, the flirtatious glances became conversations, building up so slowly and now it's all finally happening?"

Elisa moaned, imagining herself clench down greedily on her hot ex-trainer's plunging cock so vividly she could feel it. Jenny was gently rubbing her clit in circles. "Remember how you picked your tightest, skimpiest outfits on training days, always pushed yourself that little bit extra? Almost worked up the nerve to ask your husband for permission?" The shock of someone else knowing her deepest fantasies was past, but damn did Jenny always knew exactly what angle to bring up. This time it caused Elisa to spasm and she bucked her hips up into Jenny's fingers. Right on cue, Jenny progressed to sliding a finger up and down between her lips, circling her clit at the top.

Elisa's resistance was all but melted away and pleasure was rapidly building. The nearby woman's (hers?) voice was starting to build towards another climax after some shuffling noises, like they were trying a new position. This was Elisa's closest voyeur experience and it was intense. But she was being watched herself, from just beyond the edge of her vision. Under the circumstances that was more disturbing than hot, and threatened to take her out of it.