Adelle stood in the hallway by the foyer of the house she had been renting. Of course, her actual name was not on any of the papers. The house could never be traced back to her. A Dollhouse administrator using the Dollhouse for such personal use was in strict violation with several codes, and no one knew the horrific consequences of violating those codes better than Adelle DeWitt. She let out a sigh as her mind began to race with nothing but pure panic.
"You are Adelle DeWitt," she thought to herself, reminding herself of that name that held such respect as a calm and collected figure. Her mind stopped racing, but her body tensed even more for a moment. The anticipation of her upcoming engagement was filling her with such excited and nervous yearning in every inch of her body. She didn't understand why she was nervous though. She knew it would be perfect. That's what the Dollhouse was for.
Her last secret engagement had been far more within her comfort zone. The soft and thin body of Raven kneeling by her feet, awaiting her command. Whiskey made the perfect "Raven". Once again, Adelle had to be reminded by herself that every Doll made the perfect anyone. Last time had been her third engagement with Raven. Even though it was Whiskey with each different personality, every time that it was a different one, it felt like a different body to explore. New skin to touch. New fingertips to be dragged lightly over her arms and new lips to caress her flesh. Raven had become almost too familiar to be exciting anymore.
Besides, their engagements were too much like Adelle's work. During their time, Adelle was authoritative, confident, and shouted commands. Though, surely, her commands to Raven were far more interesting than anything said at work, and with far more pleasurable results. The tight leather outfit, which made Adelle feel both ridiculous and heightened her sexual excitement at the same time, was also quite apart from her work experience. Her body could almost feel itself vibrating in the costume, trying to reach every unmentionable area of itself out to be felt and stroked, pushed against in subtle but strong ways that made her eyes roll back. The whip, however, she felt like she was always carrying, always waiting to crack it at someone who dared disobey or pause to question an order of hers in their head. The thick leather handle of the whip felt so right in her hand.
Today was a new day though, a new engagement. A new body of Whiskey's to explore with her eyes, fingers, and her graceful tongue. As far as Whiskey knew, she was Lisa, an old girlfriend of Adelle's. They had broken it off mutually two years ago for career reasons, but were on good terms since. Lisa had taken a plane into town to visit Adelle and recapture some old times while she was in California on a business trip. Ivy had programmed all the information about Adelle herself into Topher's basic programmed personality; it wasn't very hard for her to alter imprints when Topher wasn't looking.
It was probably terrible for security, but in instances such as this, lax security was Adelle's godsend. Whiskey's handler could also be trusted not to speak of her hidden pleasures. Adelle had certainly paid her and Ivy enough to not speak a word. Or, Adelle wondered, could it be fear that they knew she had the power to frame them for any terrible thing she wished and have them sent to the Attic? She liked to think that they did it because they liked her. This, however, she knew was ridiculous. Adelle DeWitt didn't have friends. Just employees and colleagues.
She heard a click as the front door was opened. After taking a deep breath before plunging into the afternoon's events, she shuffled to the silver tray table beside her and poured iced tea from the pitcher into the two glasses that awaited. She could now hear the slight clicking of Whiskey's—no, Lisa's—shoes as the heels tapped against the tile. "Hello, Adelle," Whiskey greeted her with simply as her slender form appeared at the entrance of the wide hall and leaned against the frame of the arch. She looked at the drinks Adelle had. "Iced tea?" she questioned. Adelle half-expected this to be followed with Raven's swift and rigid apology or Winifred's endearing innocent giggle, but instead Lisa said, "I guess you've gotten a bit too mellow while I've been away. I was kind of expecting wine."
"You'll drink it and you'll like it," Adelle responded playfully. She hoped that her dominatrix tone wasn't still lingering. The interaction seemed to feel normal for Lisa though, who gave a short laugh under her breath and smiled, such an adorable smile, mostly from the corner of her mouth. It was one that clearly was worn by a professional independent woman who very rarely got the opportunity to be adorable. Adelle had never seen it on Whiskey before.
Lisa grabbed the iced tea and sipped it gently. Adelle found that she was perhaps guilty of staring at her lips cusped around the edge of the glass for a moment too long. "So, how was your flight?" Adelle quickly said to snap herself out of her trance. It was a stupid question, she realized, as the Dolls were programmed to give so little thought or question the Dollhouse, whatever airport or train station or other place it was supposed to be, and the people there.
"Oh, it was fine, I suppose," Lisa answered before Adelle had a chance to think of another subject to change the conversation to. "There was this one weird guy at the airport though. He looked at me like he knew what I was about to go do." Adelle froze. Alpha. She knew it had to have been him. He had been off-putting to her for a short while now, always seeming so off, even for a Doll. And clearly he had left more of an impression on Whiskey's persona than he should have. However, Topher assured her that a composite event was impossible, so she hadn't pushed the matter.
"What do you mean, 'Like he knew'?" Adelle asked in a worried tone.
"Oh, nothing much, just the general, 'You're about to slink off to an ex-girlfriend's house for lesbian sex, aren't you?' look guys sometimes give. He was probably either a perv or a bigot. Either way, you know he's a little bit jealous." Adelle smiled satisfactorily. Clearly Lisa was an upfront woman, just as she had ordered. Did Alpha know, though? Did he know what Adelle was doing with the Doll known as Whiskey? Did he know how much she adored those angelic soft ridges of her face…?
And with that, all thought of Alpha was lost in her appreciation of Whiskey's flexible yet consistently appealing beauty. "God, it's so good to be back in Los Angeles," Lisa remarked.
Adelle thought for a moment, trying to remember where Lisa worked, and said, "I can't imagine working in New York. Even dirtier than Los Angeles, and so cold."
"And with no one to keep me warm," Lisa said, trying to pull off a joking tone. The honesty seeping through the words betrayed her though. Adelle crossed the few steps over to Lisa and placed her hand delicately on her arm, stroking its length as she moved to hold Lisa around the waist from behind. Her lips gingerly kissed Lisa's soft neck. A new neck. And Adelle knew she had gotten exactly what she had asked for.
* * *
The bed was soft, but firm, just as it should be. The dark wooden bed frame groaned as the lovers moved onto the mattress. Their shirts already slipped off, Lisa confidently unclasped Adelle's bra and slipped it off, letting it slide down over the side of the bed. She touched her hand to Adelle's supple breast and sucked passionately on her neck as Adelle began to remove her bra as well. Underneath it, the skin was even smoother than the silk that had lain atop it. Adelle pressed her lips against Lisa's chest, savoring the sensation of her firm breast giving slightly to her warm lips. Even the sweat beginning to form tasted sweet.
"Now lay back," Lisa said with a steady yet joyful tone. Adelle complied, comfortably so. It was surprising to her, as compliance generally gave her great discomfort. She raised her hips above the bed to ease Lisa's task of slipping her underwear off, sliding it over her sleek thighs and past her slim calves, pulling them over her feet, past her toes and off to the floor with her bra. Lisa then pulled herself down the bed. Adelle spread her thighs wide, quaking lightly with anticipation, and Lisa moved her head in towards the opening between them.
As her tongue entered, Adelle threw her head back and, looking towards the ceiling, let out a small gasp that was halfway a moan. After a brief moment she allowed herself to exhale. Lisa worked masterfully with her warm, slippery tongue, and with her fingers that massaged all the right areas at all the right times in all the right ways. Adelle would have again thought on the brilliance of the Dollhouse's perfection, had she not been consumed light-headedly with bliss.
Making the fantastic pleasure all the greater was the thought of giving Lisa the same pleasure in a short while. Adelle was always granting pleasure to people, but rarely directly, as it was generally not her way of being. But this, this was different. As her body tensed and released again and again, a pattern which gave way eventually to pure ecstatic limpness, it also yearned to be granting the same sensations to Lisa. Adelle's body at last experienced a great spasm with an ecstasy so pure and visceral that the French compared it to death. She moaned loudly and could not stop a grin from taking over her face.
And now it was Lisa's turn. Not so gently Adelle tore off Lisa's underwear. She again kissed Lisa's breast, and kissed along her body down over her stomach, to her waist, and then below. She touched her lips to the blushing pink flesh and let her tongue be her instrument. The realm it worked in was again completely new, as it had been with Raven, Winifred, and Angela before them, all of them as different a Whiskey as one could ask for. For the better part of an hour she worked, bringing Lisa to her end twice in the process.
* * *
Adelle slipped back into the bed, her naked body sliding neatly under the soft sheets. She handed Lisa a glass of wine and took a sip of her own. "Now this is what I was expecting," Lisa said, still smiling widely from their recent shared experience. Adelle laughed a small laugh and sighed peacefully.
"Makes me wonder why we ever ended it," Adelle replied, almost forgetting herself that they had never met before that day. Lisa stared ahead thoughtfully into space for a moment, seeming to ponder what could have been had they not ended it.
"Well," she finally said, "You know. We've both got our careers, and in the end, that was just… You know what, forget it. We're here; we've got good wine, good sex, and each other. What more could we ask for?"
"I can't think of a thing," Adelle responded honestly. It was then that the thought dawned on her that she was almost cruelly masochistic. Adelle could have had anything she wanted, anything at all, and she chose the have a shell of a former relationship. Not true love, not even an astounding fling, but rather a return of memories that never happened and a sad ending she had created all herself. She wanted to know herself, to figure out why she would do such a thing, but the wine was stopping that from happening for the moment.
"What's wrong?" asked Lisa, sensing the discomfort in Adelle's mind. Adelle knew she couldn't very well answer. Like all that Lisa was, she would have to present something else. A lie.
"Oh, it's nothing. I just… Just miss you."
Lisa laughed quietly. "Well stop it, Silly. I'm right here. No need to miss, just enjoy." Lisa succeeded in easing Adelle's mind. She decided she would take Lisa's advice and just enjoy, advice she began taking by polishing off her glass of wine. She leaned over Lisa's divine body, bent down, and kissed her soft lips.
After several seconds, Adelle said to her, "You're right. It's time I stopped thinking and started enjoying myself. There's only so much time and every minute of it should be valued and used well."
"I can drink to that," Lisa said, picking up her glass from the bedside table and finishing her wine as well. She set the glass down and giggled, rolling over onto Adelle, and began passionately kissing her, emotions rolling over them both like great unstoppable waves of ecstasy.
* * *
Adelle stood crouched under the sun wearing a warm, crisp yellow polo shirt and short white shorts the hugged her hips and buttocks rather fantastically. The concrete beneath her feet was inviting, not cold nor hot, a soothing shade of green. She steadied her grip on the rubbery handle of her racket carefully. Suddenly, a bounce, and her coiled thighs sprang, her body moving into action. She bulleted towards the left, racket outstretched at the end of her arm. She missed by about two feet.
"I don't know," Adelle began, as she went to fetch the ball, "Why on Earth we picked tennis. I'm dreadful at it." She grabbed the fuzzy yellowish sphere in her palm and walked back towards the service line.
"I thought that's why we picked it?" Lisa joked. "Besides, we get some fresh air this way. Can't spend all the day in the bedroom, can we? Well, we could, but someone insisted we spend some time together doing something else, too." She rolled her eyes playfully at Adelle, who was preparing to serve.
"Er, how do you score this again? I never did learn tennis. It just looked fun," Adelle admitted. It would have been embarrassing for the ever-confident character she played for the outside world, but with Lisa she was herself. Before receiving the information she sought, Adelle gave up and declared, "Love, serving three," and dropped the ball through the air.
"It's forty-love, actually," Lisa corrected, laughing. The wires on Adelle's racket collided with the object as it passed through space, propelling it forward, just over the net. Lisa dove forward, knocking the ball back over. Adelle watched as it sailed over, helpless to move in time to do anything but stare at it.
"Damn," Adelle dejectedly stated. Lisa threw up her arms in friendly triumph.
"That's game point for me!" Adelle again made her way to the ball. Defeat was another thing she could only admit with Lisa. They were so close already after such brief time. Or from Lisa's perspective, (nearly as valid a perspective as her own, Adelle rationalized) they had grown so close over time and were now past the hard part and could just be comfortable with one another. Either way, she thought it was lovely.
Adelle tossed the ball underhand to Lisa, who caught it and smiled. Adelle thought it was a most angelic picture as it happened, her lips parting to reveal her white teeth as the corners of her mouth pulled back, the sun shining brilliantly off of her hair in the moment. Adelle unconsciously slowly smiled herself. She opened her mouth and breathed deeply inward, feeling pure content. She almost missed Lisa's serve, a fluid motion that her body ran naturally.
Adelle sprinted towards the ball, and her racket made contact, batting the ball over the net, where it landed with a hollow pop on the court and bounced away, just out of reach of Lisa and her racket. "At last!" Adelle exclaimed, throwing her head back and laughing. She paused for a moment, watching Lisa as Lisa stared at her adoringly before leaving to fetch the ball from its new place against the chain link fence. The air fresh and the sun perfectly warm on her skin, Adelle had truly been granted the perfect day.
* * *
Adelle opened the light wooden door to the bathroom and stepped inside. She stripped off her shirt and pulled down her shorts, her shoes and socks already abandoned by the bedroom door. The sweat on her body slipped slowly down her curves. It was time for her to shower, to cleanse away the remnants of a dreamy afternoon. She removed her bra and pulled her underwear down to the floor, daintily stepping out of it and tiptoeing toward the shower door. She slid it open slowly and hopped inside, closing it behind her.
She placed her hand on the unfeeling metal knob and turned it counter-clockwise. Water came spurting out from the nozzle above her in a steady stream. The pressure was even and the warm water soothed her body on the surface and under the skin. Her muscles breathed a sigh of relief and all of her relaxed. She pulled back her hair and let it be drenched in the clear water as well. This was exactly what she needed.
Suddenly, she heard a click and the small rush of air being hurried aside as the bathroom door was pushed open. The soft sounds of clothes slipping over skin reached her ears, and her body warmed in expectation. Lisa's underwear joined Adelle's on the white tile floor, and moments later the shower door was pulled open to reveal Lisa herself standing there, her gorgeous nude form draped against the wall. "Room for one more?" she asked Adelle.
Before getting the response, a "Why, of course," said gently but with undertones of thrill, Lisa stepped in. She took her place behind Adelle, and curled her arm gently forward around her lover's body, her hand placed delicately over Adelle's breasts. She kissed Adelle's neck lovingly, and moved down to her shoulder with increased passion. She took some of her fingers then and reached them between Adelle's legs. She began sensually stimulating her clitoris, and then inserted the fingers into the opening between Adelle's thighs. She moved her fingers in and out with grace and precision. Every part of Adelle yearned for more, and she leaned her head back against Lisa's neck in ecstasy. "Wanna move this to the bedroom?" Lisa sighed and said.
"Oh, God yes," Adelle moaned. She reached her hand forward, fumbling, and grasped the knob. Turning it again but in the opposite direction, she put a stop to the flow of water. Lisa gently removed her fingers. Adelle turned around to face her, and Lisa put her other hand warmly on Adelle's shoulder. She then moved her hand down Adelle's arm until reaching Adelle's own hand, and she took it, grasping gently. She slid open the shower door and pulled Adelle out with her.
Adelle grabbed a towel off of a bar on the wall as she was urged past it, and stopped to dry herself off briefly. Lisa took one of the fluffy white towels and did the same. They tossed the towels to the floor with their discarded clothing and continued into the bedroom. Adelle lay back on the bed, spreading herself out, her whole form open for Lisa to view and have her way with. "Wait," Lisa said as she crossed the room to the duffel bag she had brought with her. She pulled out a pair of handcuffs and looked at Adelle, grinning mischievously with half her mouth.
Adelle could not stop herself from also grinning. Lisa was definitely not without her surprises. Lisa crossed the room back over to the bed. She took Adelle's hand and placed one cuff around it, clasping it tightly. She pulled the other cuff and the chain around the center pole of the wooden headboard and cuffed Adelle's other hand in the same fashion. "You just let me do all the work," Lisa said happily. She moved down towards Adelle's thighs and began working her genius with her tongue.
It was after several minutes of this that she again crossed the room towards her bag. "Hold on," she told Adelle as she reached for something. Her hand returned into sight with a large strap-on in tow. Adelle's eyes widened, half in surprise that Lisa had been holding onto this the whole time, and half in anticipation, awaiting taking it into her body. Lisa strapped it on and ran back across the mostly empty room to the bed.
She grabbed Adelle and flipped her over onto her stomach, her arms crossing uncomfortably over each other as the handcuffs tightened around the post. The discomfort only added to the excitement for Adelle, though. After all, she wouldn't have had a tiny bit of a kinky side programmed in otherwise. Lisa got on the bed, kneeling, and thrust her hips forward. The strap-on penetrated Adelle, and she let out a small gasp.
For the better part of an hour Lisa worked masterfully in her. She thrust and turned and touched in ways Adelle never would have thought of even if given years. The first orgasm occurred not long after the start of the experience, after about ten minutes of rough movement. Not content to leave it at that by any means, Lisa had grasped Adelle's shoulders from behind and pushed all the harder, all the deeper.
When Adelle came for the final time, she thought it may just have been the single greatest orgasm of her entire life. "We," Adelle began, but had to stop to catch her breath, "We have to do this again some time."
"Oh, lots," Lisa responded in agreement. Adelle turned herself back over, and Lisa released her from the handcuffs. For a moment they just lay back on the bed, side-by-side, staring at the ceiling. They then looked at each other and both just began giggling. "Oh, wow," Adelle said, still laughing. "That was… There just aren't words for it."
"Well," Lisa began, "If anyone could find them, it'd be you, my silver-tongued Adelle." An awkward moment suddenly occurred. It was only truly awkward for Lisa, but Adelle sensed her tension and empathized, feeling it as well. Lisa had referred to Adelle as hers. Not a problem for Adelle, not really, as they had only just met, but for Lisa it was a large step backwards in the necessary detachment she had cultivated when she had to leave Adelle years ago.
"Ah, well," Adelle started to say, breaking the silence, "I suppose you have a flight to be catching soon, don't you." It was a statement said obviously regrettably.
"Shit," Lisa responded. She clearly didn't want the evening to be over, despite the awkwardness that still lingered. She sighed and rolled over, letting her legs fall over the edge of the bed. With a groan, she sat upright. She slowly stood and made her way into the bathroom to round up her undergarments and put them on once again. Adelle reluctantly did the same. She wished that she could have just lain in bed all night with Lisa, but Whiskey was the most popular Active, and Adelle could steal only a single day.
The two of them donned their clothes and made their way back to the foyer. The heels of Adelle's shoes clicked against the ceramic tile as she walked Lisa to the door. "Wait," Adelle said. "I want you to stay." She knew the words were wrong before she even started to say them, but she couldn't help herself. "I don't want you to go back to New York. I don't want us to be apart, I don't want us to be broken up. We should be together." Lisa stood in the doorway and looked mournfully at Adelle.
Tears began to form in the corners of Lisa's eyes, and in moments there were tears streaming down her face. Adelle herself was staring longingly at Lisa, with the beginnings of tears in her eyes as well. Lisa nodded slowly. "Yes. Okay," she told Adelle. "We'll do it. We'll make it work. If I have to, I could leave my job and look for work here. We can do this." She walked back to Adelle and put her hands on Adelle's shoulders, and then moved in closer to embrace her. She buried her face in Adelle's hair, crying even harder now, half joy and half sorrow.
Adelle couldn't take it anymore. She burst into tears herself. She knew she couldn't possibly have Lisa as a full-time girlfriend. Lisa only existed as she could manage to get the Dollhouse to program her into Whiskey. There wasn't even a Lisa to have a relationship with. Adelle had fallen for some microchips in a wedge. It was too much to bear. She knew she had to part with Lisa. She needed a treatment.
"You have a non-refundable flight to catch, I believe," Adelle said, a small laugh coming through her tears.
"I suppose I do," Lisa responded in the same manner. "I'll come back, Adelle. Really soon, I will. I'll come back as soon as I can and we'll pick it up where we left off, I promise."
"It sounds wonderful," Adelle said, crying harder than ever. Her tears were those of pain, but some of them came from the joy she felt from fooling herself into believing they could be together. "Go, catch your flight. I'll be seeing you again soon," she finished. Lisa picked her bag up again and put her hand on the door knob.
"Goodbye, Adelle. I'll call you as soon as I land in New York!" Lisa promised. She put her hand tenderly on Adelle's cheek and gave her one final kiss before opening the door and stepping through it. She closed it behind her as she went off to her car, and Adelle was once again alone.
* * *
Alpha. It was a week and a half later, and an anomaly had occurred, a horror had been released. Adelle had just received the report from Mr. Dominic that Alpha had escaped, successfully evading all the security. "Is Topher imprinting someone with the new doctor yet?" she asked Mr. Dominic over the phone from the comfort of her office above.
"Yeah, he's using a Doll that Alpha sliced up but didn't finish off. She was pretty badly cut up so she wasn't much good for clients anyway," he informed her.
"What Doll was this?" Adelle inquired, worried.
"Uh, Whiskey," Mr. Dominic responded. Adelle's heart froze for a moment and she stopped breathing. She sat in silence, staring forward in disbelief, grasping the phone tightly. "Ma'am?" Mr. Dominic asked, concerned about her silence.
"Umm…. I'll be right there," Adelle said, collecting herself. She hung up the phone and headed towards the elevator. She allowed herself one gasp, letting out tears for just a small moment in the privacy of the metal box. She quickly wiped them away. She had to look professional and unattached to not arouse suspicions, to maintain her authority. The doors opened, and she was in the Dollhouse, standing face-to-face with Laurence Dominic.
"Right this way," he told her, gesturing with a wave of his hand for her to go in front of him towards the imprint room. Adelle led the way, pulling open the doors and arriving just in time to see Whiskey rising from the imprinting chair. She looked around her at the bodies that had yet to be dealt with, scared and in shock.
"Oh my God," she spoke, "It's worse than I could have imagined." As she talked, she reached her fingers up to her face, near her fresh new cuts. Her index finger touched one of them and she winced in pain. "I have to get to work right away if anyone can be saved," she said and got up. She walked right past Adelle without even looking at her as she left the room.
"Lead the way, Dr. Saunders," Topher said and followed her out. So that was it. It was all finished. All the women Adelle had loved were dead, now and forever. She would never see Angela, Winifred, Raven, or her dear Lisa ever again. Instead she would be haunted by their ghosts, walking around her place of employment thinking they were someone else. Alpha had done this to her. He had done it for Echo, but Adelle knew that he maimed Whiskey instead of killing her to torture her. He had known, somehow.
The grieving process was not allowed to last long, as the chaos needed to be controlled, and the Dollhouse needed its cold, merciless leader. There were bodies to be cleared and people to be reprimanded. Dozens of dolls that needed to be wiped of the traumatic memories and returned to their spa lifestyles. A week passed, and everything was almost back to normal already. The Dollhouse was indeed masterful at bringing swift closure to matters. Nothing could bring Adelle full closure, however.
She was masterful at compartmentalizing though. It did not take Adelle long to at least accept the facts, that Whiskey and all the people Whiskey had been were gone, and the reserved Dr. Saunders had taken her once irresistible body. Adelle had set that aside and was determined to grab hold of a new fantasy to live out, a new way to define perfection, just as her clients always sought. As she grazed the spacious main area of the Dollhouse with her eyes, they caught on a beautifully fine body. One she could imagine filling with so many perfect things.
It was a man, with muscles so perfectly rounded and smooth but containing such power. He was graceful, but undeniably solid, a playground to twist and writhe around, to cling to. Adelle had never felt limited to one gender. She was too good at having her way to have just one of them. This other Doll, this "Victor", was the perfect next choice. "Who knows," Adelle thought as she stared at his immaculately fine facial features. "Maybe I'll even make this one a true love." The thought was laughable to her, but like everything a Dollhouse client got, it was also just perfect.
