Growing into the Job, Post 544: Retail Therapy, Epilogue

“I swear, I still feel the rush!” Shanette’s voice cut through the hum of the room, her tone light but still vibrant from her performance, “I, like, wish I could do it all over again!” 

The girls were completely absorbed in the energy of the early evening and had crowded around me, standing in a loose circle, their chatter filling the space above my head. I was perched on one of the high stools at the table, my feet dangling awkwardly in the air, too far from the floor to feel like I was on solid ground. My legs felt not only heavy and uncoordinated, but they looked ridiculous and ridiculously skinny in the khaki shorts the girls had last changed me into. 

Shanette was glowing, her smile as wide as when she’d waved off the praise they’d immediately showered on her when she showed up at the bar. “Seriously, though, I didn’t expect that kind of reaction. The energy in that room was insane.”

‘Insane’? That was putting it lightly. The reason I was in these shorts is that the pajama pants I’d previously been wearing at the fashion-show-turned-coming-out-vocal-tour-de-force for Shanette had…uh, become soiled. I’d somehow been made to climax - along with every other guy that had been in the audience, the girls told me - by the power of Shanette’s voice alone. The shock of it still lingered, though it was becoming easier now to push to the back of my mind. That Shanette’s voice had done that to me -  to all the men in that room - should still have been terrifying, but I’d learned to swallow events like that down. The mind-bending, impossible surrealities that accompanied these moments, and the implications for the future, were beginning to taste like a familiar flavor. I could digest them, but I was also worried I was. uh…growing an appetite for them. 

Randi’s smoky voice broke in, teasing but warm. She had met us here, having come straight from work. “I heard you were amazing, Shanette,” she grinned, obviously proud of her longtime friend, “Sounds like you’re our new rock star diva. I wish I’d caught the show. I’d buy a concert shirt.”

The girls laughed, and I found myself just listening. There was something contagious about their laughter, the way it illuminated the space, the way they belonged here. There I was, though, sitting in the middle of them - still too quiet, too still. I was used to feeling a little out of place - a nearly-middle-aged dude hanging around a bevy of pretty young women -  but tonight it was more pronounced. They were all so vigorous, so...alive. And me? Well, I was more than a little less than what I used to be, and it was hard to ignore it now. 

The restaurant here at the Vendare Center that the girls had chosen, Siren & Co. Taphouse, was buzzing with that happy, post-work energy you’d find on a Tuesday night at a place like this. You could hear the clinking of glasses, the hum of scattered conversations, and the occasional burst of laughter from nearby tables. The lights hung low, warm and golden, with a soft glow spilling from the bar area. The restaurant/bar felt casual but alive, the air filled with a gentle buzz - people, mostly women but some men as companions, enjoying their early night out. 

I couldn’t help but notice how the girls fit here. They moved with ease, so natural, so confident. Lakshmi’s radiant smile, Randi’s assertive energy and Shanette’s earthy, voluptuous warmth filled the space as if they owned it. Josie was up at the bar getting a drink, Aubrey was currently in the ladies’ room - she’d downed three Pinot Grigios in the space of twenty minutes, earlier - and then there was me. I felt smaller, fragile, like the stool was too big for me now. Maybe it wasn’t just the stool - maybe it was everything else, too. 

They all casually stood around me, their protectorate, having taken charge of finding the table, getting me boosted up into my seat, and making sure I was comfortable. Now they were surrounding me, drinks in hand, and I couldn’t help but feel a little odd about the notion that I probably looked like a kid encircled by a team of young, doting moms…or at least big sisters. The last thing I wanted was to be the center of attention, but though they chatted more to each other than to me, I couldn’t deny that I was their full focus. And somehow that made me feel even more out of place. 

Josie’s voice pulled me back; she was returning from the nearby bar with an enormous mug of beer...

...and somehow jumped right into the conversation. “I’m just glad I could be part of something that felt so…real. You know? Here, shortie, this is for you.”  She set the beer down in front of me,  beamed at me and then back at her taller, darker-skinned, heavier-chested friend.  “Shanette, I’m so glad we got to be there.” Had she been able to hear what we’d been talking about? From way over at the bar?

I nodded, not sure what else to add, and 100% feeling dwarfed not only by this bevy of tall young women but now this near half-gallon of beer. I still felt ashamed about my lack of control earlier, and was now afraid they were expecting me to drink this thing. 

Randi, of course, noticed my discomfort. “You gonna finish all that by yourself, Squirt?” As the de facto leader of the “boss girls” in Melissa’s absence, Randi had slid into the conversation easily, even though she’d missed the events of the afternoon. She leaned in towards me, to my awkward perch on the stool, and put a hand on my shoulder. ”Maybe we can help you,” she said with a portentous wink. 

I did my best to chuckle, not really knowing what she meant by her tone, and looked away. For now, though, the girls were all looking at Shanette, and back hanging on her every word. 

The girls could not stop talking about Shanette’s performance. The applause, the energy... but all I could think about was how she had done it. How, with just a song and her voice (that voice), she had affected the entire crowd, and had rendered every man in the room - including me - helpless. I shuddered to think how it could be turned around and used for other purposes, and between that thought and the memory of the song itself I could feel a chill in my bones, like a tremor that had never quite stopped. A faint trace of the moment still lingering under my skin caused me to shiver. It was a power I had not figured out how to process yet, and it had left a mark.

Shanette stood across the table from me, radiant in a new scoop-neck white top that hugged her enormous chest and shoulders like it was painted on, along with the same high-waisted black leggings she’d been wearing at the office earlier. Gone were the bedazzled crocs from earlier, though; she’d tottered in to Siern & Co. on heels she’d snagged from the fashion show, a pair that easily made her the tallest person in the whole place (though my other female companions weren’t far behind). She still looked to be in perfect makeup from the runway - contoured, sculpted, dramatic - and her hair hadn’t moved at all since the performance, long and full of volume, baring the slope of her neck and the soft glint of gold hoop earrings. She was glowing - actually glowing. There was something electric still rolling off of her.

“I don’t even know how to explain it,” she was saying, her tone hushed but still somehow rich. “I opened my mouth, and it was like...I could feel the whole crowd in my body. I knew where their energy was. I felt them - not just listening. Following.”

Josie leaned in, propping one elbow on the high-top’s edge. “It was crazy,” she said, grinning wide, her brand-new tank top cut low enough to draw eyes from admiring husbands at tables nearby.

I glanced down and caught a glimpse of Josie’s long bare legs, the short denim cutoffs showing off smooth skin and her new nude heels making her tower even higher above me, the only one seated here. They’d put me up here to get me a little closer to their level; the high-top chair made it so I had a view of their chests and necks rather than the midriffs I’d be facing if I was standing. 

Josie was still flushed from the excitement of the day, her eyes glinting with pride and something else - a sort of giddy energy that came from feeling powerful. All of them had it now.

“People really responded,” Shanette went on, her voice thoughtful. “Like...I’ve never felt that before. I mean, I’ve also never sung in front of a crowd, really. But I didn't know I’d have that kind of... pull. Like I could ask them to do, like, anything, and they would.”

Randi gave a low laugh, the kind that came with knowing too much. “Well, maybe you could try it next time,” she said, pushing a long wave of raven hair behind one ear. Her outfit was also from work - flowing floral skirt down to her ankles, the matching top tied just above the navel. It was professional enough, sure, but also loose, soft, an unusual look on her. 

“You think so?” Shanette asked, but not dismissively. She was seriously considering it, there being a ‘next time’.

“I do,” Randi answered, leveling her with a look. Randi was rarely without sarcasm, so the look had weight. “I think you were feeling it then, and you’re also feeling it now - the same thing the rest of us are starting to feel. That...y’know. Control. Of others. And that connection.” Her eyes flicked around the group. “To each other. To her.”

I watched them nod, each of them - Josie, Lakshmi, Randi, Shanette - like they were part of some unspoken current that I was not built to access. They were synced. Powerful. And pleased.

But maybe I was part of it too.

Lakshmi - still dressed in her new soft-faded, figure-hugging jeans and long-sleeved lace top that teased her midriff when she shifted - folded her arms and beamed at Shanette. “You made something happen in that room,” she said, “I could see it. The crowd was not just reacting - they were changing. You were changing them.”

“You know,” Josie added, looking up from her pink cocktail and back at Shanette, “you could be famous, like seriously famous. Like, popstar on TV famous. Especially if you keep doing songs like that.”

Shanette gave a soft laugh, but it was touched with something new. It was not the same shy deflection she might have given just days ago. She was different now. She stood straighter, and her smile held something deeper - belief. “Maybe,” she said. “But I don’t know if I want that…or, well, I don’t know if I want it that way. Like, just me. When I picture it… I don’t really see myself alone. I see all of us. You, Melissa. All of us.”

She looked around the table as she said it - and yes, she included me in that glance. Was I part of this ‘us’?

“I don’t want to be some, like, popular singer on my own,” she went on. “I want to be a part of something bigger. If I get famous, if I make music, it should be for us. To lift all of us. Melissa made us more, and this-” she gestured vaguely at herself, her outfit, her figure, the echo of her own performance “this is maybe just how I give back. Or, like, contribute.”

There was a beat of silence. I saw Randi nod, just once, slow and approving. She’d ordered a Manhattan, and took a sip. There was a charge, an unspoken energy between the group of young women here at the table. Lakshmi was the first to speak again, murmuring: “That is exactly how it should be. We are all finding our way, I think.”

And I sat there - on my too-tall stool, my feet swinging just above the floor, my hands too small to wrap fully around the quart-glass of beer - wondering about my place in all this.

Josie leaned in a little to Shanette, tilting her head, a mischievous glint in her eye. "So, where's Scottie? I mean we saw him walk the runway with you-”

“He looked so skinny, Shanette,” Lakshmi added. She was on her second Amaretto Sour. “Is that the new diet you have him on?” 

Shanette answered yes, that she was doing her best to make him look as small and skinny as she could compared to her. “Did it look like that up on the runway?”

“Yeah he was adorable, down there at your hip! And I figured he'd be coming here with you too, tonight,” Josie continued, “but- here you are." 

“Single and ready to mingle,” quipped Randi. 

Shanette’s lips twitched with a soft smile, but there was no hesitation in her voice when she answered. “Yeah ha. I put him in an Uber, sent him home. I dunno. I just felt like I had…someone more important to take care of tonight.” Her dark eyes flicked toward me, and I felt the weight of her words settle into my skin. 

As if on cue, the girls’ attention snapped back to me, their collective gaze shifting focus, their smiles widening ever so slightly. It was subtle, but their energy shifted, like a gentle tide pulling them closer to me. 

“We were so excited to be able take care of you today,” Josie said, her tone light but not without its depth, like a young mother holding her child in her arms. I couldn’t deny there was something comforting in it, something that made me feel safe, even though I knew I should be feeling other things, too. The way her breasts stretched against the tight tank top, the neckline dipping low enough to catch more than just a glimpse of cleavage above, made my eyes flicker for a moment. Her hands were resting on the edge of the table, one near my elbow, drawing me back into the moment.

“You will be fine with us, until Melissa gets here,” Lakshmi added, her voice soft but steady as she leaned against the table next to me, crossing her arms with an easy elegance that pulled at the lace of her top. The subtle strip of midriff that peeked out from under her shirt was effortlessly alluring. She smiled at me, but there was an intensity behind her gaze. “Melissa trusted us to take care of you,” she said, almost as if the words themselves held weight, like a promise.

A warmth started to spread through me, the kind of warmth that made me feel both grateful and uneasy. Their attention was nice, sure, but it had a pull to it, a subtle possessiveness. They weren’t just here to help me in my shrunken-up state - they were taking responsibility for me. And in the process, I felt smaller, more fragile than I had before.

“Has Melissa said if she’s coming?” Randi asked, glancing at her phone as she shifted slightly, making her floral skirt sway and settle, brushing the tops of her thighs. She had a way of making even the casual movement feel deliberate, the soft billow of fabric accentuating her tall, curvy frame. Her floral top matched her skirt, whose diaphanous fabric fluttered like a soft wind behind her as she checked the screen.

She read through her messages and let out a long, soft sigh. “Still nothing. She must be getting run through the ringer with all the testing at Evolution. Their biggest, bustiest guinea pig.” Her voice was filled with a hint of concern, but her expression was more pragmatic. “I’m sure she’ll catch up when she can.”

I nodded, taking in the subtle discomfort in Randi’s tone, but my attention was once again pulled to the way the girls were looking at me. Their collective gaze was unwavering, a mix of protectiveness and something else. I noticed it more now, the weight of it. 

I tried to push the feeling aside, but it was hard to ignore. They were all watching me - not just as a guy or a friend, or even as the owner of the cock they’d each had their way with on multiple occasions - but as something fragile. Something to be cared for, taken care of. And I couldn't tell if that was comforting or suffocating. Maybe a little of both. In fact, as I looked from one girl, to the next, to the next, meeting the eyes of each of them in turn, something in my chest fluttered and my breath caught in my lungs. 

Randi’s laughter broke the tension before it fully settled. Her smile softened, but there was still a glint of something more in her eyes, like she was dealing with some powerful urge. She stood back from the table, casually adjusting her skirt and glancing at the others. “I swear the more I’m around him,” she said with a smirk, “the more mommy I’m feeling. How’ve you girls been handling this all day?” 

And then, just like that, Lakshmi looked up. Her sharp, dark eyes tracked something approaching from across the room, making me look up myself. Aubrey was back. 

“Some of us,” Lakshmi finally answered, “are handling it better than others.”

Aubrey looked drunk as a skunk. 

She was weaving through the crowd, past the other high-top tables, her movements a little unsteady but full of purpose. Her eyes were heavy-lidded but she was glowing with energy, her new tight, pale green sleeveless tee hugging her overfull chest as she made her way toward the table. Her jeans - also a recent purchase - fit snugly, and her high heels clicked against the floor with every step, pulling the attention of those nearby. Her cheeks were flushed, and when she saw me looking her way her eyes went suddenly wide

“Eeeeee….!” she squealed, and immediately her steps went to double-time: <clickclickclickclickclick!>

My eyes goggled as her chest bounced and jostled and she raised her arms up and out to me and before I knew it she’d - ooof! - wrapped my head to her bosom in a tight, drunken hug. 

“I missed you!!!” she sang, and I felt the cocktail she’d been holding spill out into my side.

“Hey hey hey careful there Mama,” Randi laughed, smoothly removing the drink from Aubrey’s hand.

“You were only gone for, like, five minutes…” Josie said. 

“And that was way too long!!!” Aubrey laughed, still embosoming my face and entire head and in fact pulling me in tighter, heedless of the fact that I’d stiffened, flushed beet red, and was trying to pull away. 

She, of course, was drunkenly oblivious, and wasn’t having it. All she cared about was that my face was smothered in her chest, and that I could feel the warmth radiating from her. The thought that I might not be able to breathe - not that I’d have complained, really- was obviously not a concern, nor was my overwhelming embarrassment.

She moaned, and gave my entire torso a playful little shake. 

I heard Randi chuckle, but there was a softness in her voice when she added, “Aubs, watch out, he’s going to pass out. We need him alive, remember?” 

“Okay okay Aubrey, yes. Maybe let him breathe a bit,” I heard Lakshmi say, and only then did Aubrey’s arms loosen around my head as she and Josie gently pulled them away. 

I was released from her hug, flustered, and looked up at her. She looked absolutely carefree in the drunkest way possible, such a change from the normally more quiet, demurely conservative Aubrey I knew. She was obviously high on too many Pinot Grigios but the energy in her was contagious and as she greeted the group with a wide, drunken grin the other girls all laughed. This was an entertaining change in Aubrey, to them, for sure.

“Sorry about that,” she finally said to me, giggling, swiping the back of her hand over her lips. “I’m... I’m okay, I swear.”

The other girls laughed again, and I couldn’t help but feel a rush of affection toward her. But, as always, with the affection came that slight, lingering discomfort. Aubrey’s presence in the room shifted everything, making the air feel just a little thicker, just a little more alive with whatever energy the girls were powered-up with tonight. And I had the sneaking suspicion that she wasn’t the only one who was feeling it.

Amidst Aubrey’s giggles, the food the girls had ordered arrived - a small mountain of gourmet fries, sliders, and a salad that the girls immediately began picking at, laughing, and sharing. I couldn’t help but notice how natural it all felt to them, like they belonged here in this moment. The way they grazed on the food, sipping from their drinks, trading bites and laughs, was effortless. They were so comfortable, so together, like they were in their element.

I, on the other hand, was still just…there. Still perched on my stool, feet dangling, watching them with a kind of detached amusement. The food looked good, but I couldn’t bring myself to eat it, or even sip at my beer (if I could even lift it). I hadn’t been able to eat solid food for a while now, and I hadn’t quite gotten used to the fact that I couldn’t indulge in this ritual that was so important among people: sharing food, having meals and drinks together.

Randi, ever the assertive one and seeing me so quiet, leaned over and - maybe wanting to engage me a bit - hoisted the glass stein of lager and pressed the rim of the giant glass up to my lips. “Drink up, Squirt,” she said with a sly grin, her eyes glinting mischievously.

I recoiled slightly, my nose scrunching up as the smell of the beer hit me. “I-I can’t... I’m not really a beer guy,” I stammered, in a bit of a lie - I was usually fine with beer. Randi, though, wasn’t hearing it.

“Oh, come on,” she said, her smoky voice playful but firm. “It’s just one beer. Even though it’s, like, half your size.” She nudged the glass closer, making it impossible to refuse.

Before I could protest any further, Lakshmi jumped in. “Wait, no, Randi, hold on. His stomach cannot take it that way…” She paused for a moment, the realization having dawned on her. “I know what we can do, though. He cannot drink it like this, but maybe if-? Like the way we can feed him food?”

“Oh, YES,” Shanette exclaimed, catching on quickly, “I want to see this..!”

A chill ran through me as the thought made me stiffen - I knew what Lakshmi was implying. I wasn’t sure if I was mortified or just plain excited by the whole situation. “I really don’t think that’s-”

But before I could finish, Aubrey’s eyes lit up with mischief, clearly way too excited by the unspoken idea. “Ohhh, I’ll do it!” she said, bouncing pneumatically on her toes.

I opened my mouth to protest, but she was already pulling the glass towards herself, her hands having joined Randi’s around it. Quickly a huge swig of beer was sloshing around in her mouth.

"Oh, you're going to love this, Daddy!" Josie crowed, her grin wide.

And then, in one smooth motion, and before I could blink, Aubrey’s hand was around the back of my head, she’d leaned down into me and pressed her lips to mine. The beer immediately flowed from her mouth directly into mine.

The girls erupted into laughter around me, their voices blending together in a chorus of ‘Awwwws!’ and cheers, drawing the eyes of other tables The sound of their clapping and giggling was so loud I could hardly think, but Aubrey’s delighted <squee!> into my mouth was what really made my head spin.

I felt the bite of the beer, warmed by her mouth, and swallowed, somehow managing to get the whole mouthful down, even as the overwhelming embarrassment made my face burn. I could feel my chest tighten, my body stiff, and tasted the pleasant bitterness of the lager in my mouth. I looked up at her, our faces still locked in a beery kiss. I felt my face crimson, but she was already giggling, practically glowing with pride. She broke away.

“I did it!” she said, laughing so hard she almost knocked me out of my seat. "And you did it! You swallowed! I knew you could!"

“Yay!”  “How was that? Refreshing?” “Good job!” came the adulations from around me. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die, but then Josie leaned in, beaming as if this was all perfectly normal, and took a swig of something else - her drink, something pink, maybe vodka and cranberry - I couldn’t tell. She took a step towards me.

“You have to keep drinking, Dr. J,” Lakshmi said, even as Josie was moving in, settling herself aside me, “We have to make sure you are hydrated, remember?”

I shot a look over at Lakshmi, who clapped her hands with amusement and watched Josie take my chin in her hand. The air in the restaurant had shifted - light, full of laughter and noise, still, but now it felt different. Despite the drink of beer my mouth was already dry from the sheer awkwardness of what was happening. My eyes had found Lakshmi’s in a plea for help, but she just raised an eyebrow.

Without a word, Josie had swilled a mouthful of her Seabreeze around her mouth and - tilting my head up to her - kissed me, making me take this offering, sweeter than the beer and mixed with the taste of her cherry lip gloss. I swallowed, and my eyes watered.

The girls cheered again.

“Omigosh, we are gonna get you so drunk,” Shanette laughed.

Next it was Lakshmi, then Shanette and Randi: Amaretto, white wine and whiskey. Then more beer. Throughout it all the girls cooed, laughing and egging me on under their collective gaze - protective, nurturing, possessive. As they took turns feeding me drinks - finally back to my giant beer, I couldn’t help but notice how the atmosphere shifted. It wasn’t just about taking care of me. It was about making sure I didn’t object to their care. They were enjoying watching me submit to it as much as they were actually feeding me the booze with their mouths, if not more.

I swallowed the drinks - more beer, more confusion, more lips on my face and tongues down my throat. More hands grasping my sides, snaking between my legs. Shanette’s tit against my face, Randi’s ass on my lap. My body was feeling loose, warm in a way I hadn’t felt in a-

I was getting drunk.

They wanted to loosen me up. And, lightweight that I was, it didn't take much. 

It was maybe after a third of my brobdingnagian beer was gone down my gullet, and the girls had ordered another round of cocktails for themselves, when Aubrey gave me a delighted look after I’d started giggling myself. “See? It’s not so bad being with us…mmph…for drinky-drinks. Letting us take care of you. I’ll make…we’ll make sure you’re nice and hydrated alllllll night,” she promised, her eyes a little unfocused as she petted my face, but so pleased with herself.

I was given another mouthful of beer, by this point much less reluctantly, trying to push the discomfort - and the overwhelming sensation of everyone in the bar staring at me as I sat there, a twerp being mouth-fed by a crowd of women - aside. At this point, I’d already heard the whispers of “that’s Dr. Vulni” from around the restaurant, and I was doing my best to ignore them. The beer, now diluted with their care and laughter and flavored by something their mouths gave me, wasn’t as bad as I’d thought it would be. In fact, it was pretty damn good.

And by now, I wasn’t sure if it was the beer that was loosening me up, or something else entirely. Not only was I drunk on alcohol but the girls’ perfumes had me buzzing too - I was listing in a sea of familiar florals, vanillas and citruses. I felt them around me in ways that I never had before, the subtle touches, the way they kept adjusting my seat to make sure I was more comfortable. Josie’s hand brushed against my shoulder as she casually repositioned my chair, her fingers light on my skin. She gave me a warm smile. “You good, Daddy? You seem a little quieter than usual.”

I nodded, trying to push the words back, trying not to feel all of it, but her concern made my stomach tighten. She was so sweet, so...careful.

Shanette, standing on the other side of me, leaned in just a bit, her body close enough that I could feel the warmth of her skin through the fabric of her tight shirt. She casually brushed my arm, the touch fleeting but purposeful, before she smiled. “You know,” she said softly, her voice warm, “you really do look better when you’re relaxed. So handsome. It’s nice to see you having fun with us.”

Her words made my chest tighten, but I couldn’t stop myself from feeling a little... tender toward her. The way she spoke, the way her lips curled, and those dark eyes of hers looking at me with a certain soft intensity. I caught myself looking at her even more - mostly at the heart stopping curves of her chest swelling under and bulging out of the neckline of that tight white top.

And the same thing was happening with all of them, really. I couldn’t seem to help myself. My eyes kept drifting to their breasts, to their hips and legs, to the way their bodies moved and shifted as they spoke and laughed and drank. The girls had always been beautiful, but now it felt different. The more they doted on me, the more my body responded, even as my mind rebelled against it.

I tried to laugh it off, maybe to regain some control, but the words came out awkwardly. “Well, I don’t think I’ll be forgetting this anytime soon. You’re really going all-in on the whole ‘taking care of me while my girlfriend’s busy’ thing, huh?”

Randi chuckled, her voice low and warm with a hint of mischief. “Yeah, Squirt. Melissa giving us this assignment has ramped our maternal instincts up to eleven.”

“We are just making sure you are well taken care of,” added Lakshmi. 

Aubrey, beside me already, leaned in a little closer, her eyes sparkling with too much drink in her system. She cooed playfully, her voice teasing. “But you don’t mind, do you?” She was still buzzing with that euphoric energy, and as she leaned in toward me, her hand brushed against my cheek, and I could feel the warmth radiating from it and the awesome power of her unbridled empathy having its way around my mind. She giggled before adding, “You’re so good at letting us do this for you. And we appreciate that so much...”

Before I could respond, she stood up straighter and, with a slow, dramatic movement, pushed a single, massive breast out toward my face, right there, too close. My eyes widened as I stared at the soft, pillowy curve of it, the fabric of her bra straining to hold it in place. But it wasn’t just the sight of her massive boob that made my jaw literally drop, it was how her nipple pressed out, completely visible through the fabric, erect and ready. “See? See how much?”

“Holy headlights, Aub,” Randi laughed, watching as Aubrey pushed her erect nipple even closer to my face. 

I stiffened, feeling my face flush with both embarrassment and something else. Aubrey leaned in until her breast was mere inches away, her voice becoming a sing-song drawl. “I can read you, Dr. Jayyyy,” she grinned wide, clearly reveling in the power the size of her breast gave her, “and I felt it, you know? When we first got here, I saw you sitting there, all quiet and self-conscious when we were talking about Sheryl and how calm and powerful she looked earlier, sitting up there with all those other rich women.” Her voice softened as she tilted her head. “I…I could almost taste your... inferiority complex,” she mused, tilting her head again, watching me stare, still, straight at her tit, “You’ve been trying to hold that in, haven’t you?”

I opened my mouth, trying to deflect, but before I could say a word, she purred:

“But I don’t think it’s workkkkking, do you?”

With that, she suddenly pressed her chest closer, and I needed to quickly turn my head to keep the nub of her nipple from pushing itself into my mouth. Instead, it squashed into my cheek and I felt her hand come behind my head to plaster me to her bosom. I heard the other four girls laugh as the scent of Aubrey’s perfume was filling my senses, making everything seem hazy. My heart was racing, and my thoughts were muddled. I wasn’t sure whether to push her away or let her keep going.

But just then, with the side of my face squashed into Aubrey’s tit and facing Randi, Randi’s phone dinged - a distinctive message alert that I recognized. She picked it up from the table and glanced at the screen, her face shifting from playful to something more neutral…and then flashing with something darker.

“Hey, it’s from Missy,” she said, her tone more serious now. “She’s not gonna be able to come meet us. In fact, she says they have to keep her overnight.” There was a pause as Randi turned her eyes to me, and something inside her flashed. “And she asks us to keep him with us”

She paused again. 

“And to ‘take really good care of him’.”

The shift in the atmosphere was subtle, but it was there. The weight of the new night that now suddenly lay ahead of us seemed to settle into the room as the girls all shared a quick glance - and then, one by one, looked down to me. Shanette bit her plump lower lip, overcome with something, 

“Mmph..!” I exclaimed as Aubrey's hug only tightened, and I could swear I heard her groan as she pressed my face deeper into her soft chest.

“Oh, doctor…” she cooed, and I felt her heartbeat quickening against my cheek, a rhythmic thudding that overpowered the rush in my own veins, trying to anchor me in place, to keep me there with her. 

Lakshmi, who had been quiet for a moment, had to set her drink - an Amaretto sour, her usual - down with a soft <clink> against the table. She exhaled, a deep, thoughtful breath, working to gather herself.

I could feel the shift happening in the circle of girls, but Josie was the first to verbalize it, her voice light but with a note of disbelief. “Omigod, did you all FEEL that?” she asked.

“Josie,” Lakshmi gave her a brief, but sharp look, her eyes a flashing reminder, “language. But... something did just change. It is like the energy shifted. I could feel it.”

In that moment, their collective attention turned toward me again - the little man with his little head squished into Aubrey’s giant boob. The change wasn’t subtle - their heads swiveled in unison, eyes locking on me with renewed intensity. The warmth in the room seemed to grow suddenly suffocating, and now I was the absolute center of it all. But it wasn’t the same as before. It wasn’t just the maternal instincts of my chaperones playfully ratcheted up a few notches. Now the girls were being consumed by them - care and concern, and I could almost smell it: the urge to just mother me to an inch of my life. They were more focused, more hungry, and here I was - a face in Aubrey’s tit. 

I swallowed hard. My chest felt tight, and the flutter in my stomach became something heavier. I tried briefly to pull away from Aubrey; I had no chance. There was a pressure on me, and not just Audrey’s strong grip, but the weight of their attention. 

Melissa wasn’t here. She wouldn’t be here tonight, and I might not see her until tomorrow. And though I hadn’t expected it to affect me this much, I couldn’t shake the strange feeling crawling up my spine that I’d be lost without her. Without her in the evening hours, everything would feel wrong. But now I had these girls, five of them, in her place. My sense of dependence on women was suddenly acute, and acutely chilling. The night had suddenly become more intense, more intimate, and I didn’t know if it was the absence of Melissa or the girls’ growing shows of dominance, but it made me feel more nervous, more apprehensive than I’d ever admit.

Josie was the first to break the silence again, her voice soft but full of an unmistakable maternal energy. “Ohhhh,” she cooed, her head tilting as she saw my expression, “he looks so worried!” She took a step closer, her fingers brushing the side of my face as if to reassure me. Her cleavage came closer. 

I wanted to pull back. To brush her hand away and tell her I was fine. But the moment I tried to muster the will, I felt the way the air shifted around us - how all of them were suddenly circling me, their eyes glowing with a golden-green intensity I couldn’t escape.

Shanette leaned in the closest of all, her voice low and soothing and her enormous chocolate breasts, stretching her white top to its limits, were inches from my squashed-up face. There was something else in her voice now, more sultry than before. “Don’t worry, cutie,” she murmured, the nipples of her breasts growing visibly right in front of my eyes, “We’ll take care of you...”

“Yeah when we got here you looked like some sort of midget dad taking his daughter and her friends out for dinner…” Randi offered, “…but now-” 

“You’re our little boy, our little, little boy…” Shanette purred, pressing her breast the final millimeters into my nose and eyes,  her soft breast now completely sandwiching me to Aubrey’s, “surrounded by his five big, busty Mommies.”

She pulled back to let me breathe, the girls all groaning around me. The air around us had shifted again, heavier this time, more tangible. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something unspoken was passing between them - the way their glances darted to each other, the way their energy seemed to coalesce. It was subtle at first, but it became unmistakable. They were all silently making a decision, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about the unspoken agreement blooming between them.

Randi broke the silence first, her voice soft in its smokiness, but there was a clear purpose behind it. “Girls, we have to get him out of here,” she said, her eyes glinting as she caught everyone’s attention, “let’s take him home. He’s had enough of this place.”

They were all nodding.

“It’s too loud for him here.”

“He’s had a long day.”

“He must be so tired.”

“He needs us to put him to bed.”

“He needs us to pamper him.”

They were eager now, eager to have me alone, to themselves. While the others were all still nodding, though, there was a brief hesitation in Lakshmi, who let out a quiet sigh. “But where is ‘home’ going to be? We cannot all fit in his tiny apartment.”

I could feel the weight of their attention, the way they were all watching me now, like they were waiting for me to react. But I didn’t know what to say. I could only sit there, trapped in the middle of their growing warmth and energy.

Randi raised an eyebrow as she looked down at me, Aubrey’s gentle fingers caressing my scalp where she held me to her breast. “I mean, we could try,” she teased, her own fingers gently tapping the edge of her drink with the <clink-clink-clink> of manicured nails. “Dr. J, imagine all of us crowded in your room with you? All of us in one big pig-pile?”

There was a titter of laughter from the table. Aubrey, drunk, let out a giggle and chimed back in, “A pile of us? That would be too many ladies…”

“I think we need to nurture him,” Shanette offered, pressing her tit more firmly to my face for a moment, “not smother him.”

Randi glanced down at my plight, my head now sandwiched again between the tits of two of Far Horizon’s most well-endowed women, and was quick with a remark. “Well, I dunno Shanette. He doesn’t seem to mind the smothering, does he?”

And then, as if on cue, the girls giggled and began to close in on me even more. First, it was Josie’s boob, moving just a bit closer, then Lakshmi’s, in her white lace top. Finally, Randi, in gauzy floral, all their upper bodies pressing into my head and before I knew it, I was in complete darkness, completely surrounded. Their chests, soft and full, pressed in from all sides. I could barely breathe with the warmth and weight of them all around me, their soft giggles and teasing voices swirling in the space above me. 

I was frozen, unsure whether I should protest - we were still in public! -  or just go along with it. There was something more in their attention now, something that made me feel small and cradled by their gravity, and it was impossible to resist.

And it wasn’t just their attention that was impossible to ignore. The maternal energy of the girls had been climbing all day, and had reached a new summit - gentle, but relentless. And as much as I fought the instinct to pull away, to resist, I couldn’t deny that this was what Melissa wanted.

I could feel myself being pulled deeper into their chests, their attention wrapping around me in ways I couldn’t untangle. And finally, when I was released to come up for air, I found something in my voice, some resolution. “I guess that’s it, then, ladies,” I mumbled softly, my voice almost a whisper, “Looks like I’m yours for the night…”

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