Lara hurried to begin, annoyed as always when she realized how long it would take to do a simple polish change.
She reached for the nail remover. Instead of acetone, like any reasonable salon would have used, Robin bought only soy-based nail polish remover. It came in wipe form, and was frustratingly ineffective at removing polish. The pedicurist had to rub the wipe vigorously over each individual nail, sometimes for an entire minute, to remove all trace of lacquer. Lara grasped Robin's big toe and began carefully wiping her old polish off. She had put it on for the girl not more than two days ago.
"I made time for us to do yoni breathing later" Robin said casually.
"Thank you, Robin," Lara replied, trying to smile instead of grimace.
It was probably another exercise from the Institution. Another extended session of teasing and denial where Robin would reach the heights of sexual bliss while leaving Lara a frustrated, unfulfilled mess. Robin was a sadistic lover. It appeared to please her that Lara was sexually frustrated all day; she enjoyed finding uses for all of that energy. Lara couldn't count how many hours she had spent with her head in Robin's lap, gingerly lapping at the girl's pussy under constant scrutiny on the pretext of 'helping with her OCD.'
Lara finally got the last of the polish off.
"Will you need another paycheck advance before Friday?" Robin asked.
"No thank you," Lara answered, "a few of the girls from the Chanel store gave me some pinkcoin. I can make it to Friday now."
"You didn't ask them to tip, did you?" Robin started in,
"I don't want them paying money. They are influencers. They are talking to people about the experience, getting people excited about this place. We want them here."
Lara bit her lip. These 'influencers' were coming to see her specifically! Another way Robin was using Lara to make profit for herself, sharing none of it with her personal slave girl.
"I did not ask them to tip, Lady" Lara said.
Robin liked it when Lara called her 'lady', especially when the girl was imploring her for something. It was a bitter reminder of their difference in status - Robin was the only one among them with a title now. It felt like a different lifetime that Lara had looked down on Robin for having a newer title of nobility, the sort that can be purchased.
"Fine, then. Just keep up the good work. I'm talking to people about franchising this concept."
Lara thanked Robin for the compliment, then began putting fresh polish on her nails.
She tried not to get caught up in shows of kindness like this. A compliment was nice, but Robin could have easily picked that up from a popular management self-help book. Robin still kept Lara as a slave. Still paid her in pinkcoin - a ludicrous cybercurrency that was pretty much just scrip. Then there were the rumors Robin had spread about her, and the endless little ways she was always striving to dominate Lara's life entirely.
All the while, Lara Rabynya sat here working for her! Massaging women's hands and feet, polishing their nails, listening to them brag about their amazing lives. Even though Robin acted like she didn't care if the salon made a profit, she was still very hard on Lara to do excellent work to keep people coming back. The unfairness of the situation was infuriating - a summation of the inequality that Lara used to despise. She had been so sympathetic to the class struggle, back when she had wealth. Now she was penniless, working for her rich bitch friend, and living worse than any working class girl!
Lara was massaging Robin's feet as her polish dried. Her soles were incredibly soft. She might not have worked a day in her life. Her toes were proportionate, slender, a little long. Lara noticed these things - it was her job to do exactly that. There was a spot around the lumbrical muscles between her toes that was very sensitive, and Lara would dig at it with both thumbs to create the right accupressure strokes. This entailed moving around Robin's milky soles, millimeter by millimeter, trying to sense her tension and help her feel better. Lara was a gifted foot masseuse for all her practice, and Robin basked in all the attention.
It was autumn, but Lara wasn't much for seasons. She didn't go outside often, her mistress having so many things to keep her busy indoors. Generally on her hands and knees. It was well enough: her agoraphobia had become a lot to contend with. Usually, Robin opted to have Lara wear a blindfold whenever she needed to ride in a car - say when traveling between the salon and Robin's apartment or one of her estates.
They learned the sensory deprivation was necessary on Lara's first day out from the Institution, when she found herself incapable of setting foot outside. She needed not only a blindfold, but also restraints for her wrists and thighs. Nor was all of this to prevent an escape attempt, but because facing wide open spaces was that unthinkable for the girl now. Robin also put a vogmask on Lara, on the pretense of protecting the girl's sensitive lungs but it just felt like another demonstration of control. The mask kept in place the cotton that Robin would stuff in Lara's mouth. Sometimes when Robin was in a bad mood, she would specifically use cotton that had been between women's toe separators and put that in Lara's mouth, giggling at the girl's weak protests and the look of dismay on her gorgeous face.
The massage went on in silence. Robin was sitting in the chair, carefree, playing with her cell phone while Lara was hunched over with all of her attention focused on the girl's shapely feet. Lara couldn't zone out, or look away, or lessen up on the pressure. Something like that might annoy Robin, and the girl could be very cruel when she got annoyed. That cotton ball punishment was actually pretty light on the spectrum.
Another customer walked in, cutting short the massage. Although she liked to monopolize Lara's time, Robin disliked turning away customers. She sent Lara to fetch her pedicure supplies and take care of the girl.
She only wanted a foot massage, though, so there was no rest for Lara's poor hands as she started right in on the girl's feet, straight out of her leather boots! She wasn't wearing socks, either - it was perhaps the most objectionable thing Lara could think of. The woman was named Leena, she worked at a nearby apothecary and had an account providing Robin with massage oils. She was very pretty, with an almond complexion, dark hair and dark eyes. Her feet were quite different from Robin's - Leena had tiny size 5 feet with shorter toes. There were tiny flecks of black covering her otherwise smooth, light soles.
It collected onto Lara's hands throughout the massage, making her stomach turn. At least as much as it could turn within the punishing confines of the corset that Robin made part of her work uniform. And Leena was so casual being around all of this! Completely fine that a poor girl was slaving away over her sweaty feet while she carried on a conversation with Robin about their supply chain. Apparently the price of lavender had gone up, so their usual massage oil was about to become considerably more expensive.
"Who cares?" Robin said, "I'll keep buying it. I very much enjoy the way it smells."
Leena smiled and looked very relieved to be keeping the woman's business. Robin continued talking.
"It's a different experience I am trying to create here. Everything has to be the best. Look at my technicians! Lara here gives the best massage in all of London. Aren't you loving her right now?"
"I kind of am, actually! Leena said, casting an appreciative smile down at Lara.
"My feet are really sensitive so it's hard for me to enjoy a massage. She's doing a really good job."
"Thank you," Lara replied, bowing her head. Then she looked up to make eye contact while continuing the massage.
Her eyes still had those golden flecks floating around in a scintillating way. They were nigh-on entrancing. Sometimes, Lara and would get lost in the gaze of the woman whose feet she was massaging for a very long time but Leena didn't want that today. Instead, Robin and Leena talked about other things: potential changes to the salon, things in their personal lives. As usual, Robin found a way to humble brag about everything and Leena acted really interested in everything the girl had to say.
Robin adored the attention. She sat back in her high-backed pedicure chair designed to look everything like a throne, and watched Lara caress and pamper Leena's feet with a bemused grin on her face. It wasn't unusual for Lara to service ten or more women in a single day and sometimes many more than that, if all they wanted was massages.
They were almost always wealthy. Many were landladies, or successful entrepreneurs, sometimes wives or daughters of someone rich. Lara suspected that Leena was a trophy wife, or else some kind of heiress. She had to get back to the shop though, so Lara helped her on with her shoes and she left without paying - Robin's treat. Then Robin held out Lara's e-cigarette, for her to take a hit.
