"Oh god! This guy is loaded!" Laura said after Richard had left the room.

Laura and Jennifer were sitting in the main living room, across from each other. Jennifer was wearing her black satin dress that she had worn to the musical. Laura was garbed in jeans and a T-shirt.

"Mother doesn't know about this, right?" asked Jennifer.

Her sister shook her head. "I didn't say a word to her. Are you really gonna do this without telling her?"

"We're having a slightly more formal elopement, that's all," rationalized Jennifer.

"So, how the heck did you meet this guy?" she asked.

"Well, it's really a long story," said Jennifer. "But I was fired from my last job, and the debt collectors were closing in on me..."

"I don't know if I like the sound of this," Laura said.

"Richard advertised for a live-in maid," she said. "I really needed the money, and I was lucky that Richard hired me."

"Uh huh," said Laura, sounding unconvinced.

"Well, obviously a little more happened," said Jennifer, looking down and turning slightly red, "But in the end he proposed to me."

"Why do I have the feeling that you're leaving out a *lot*?" asked Laura.

"Well..." temporized Jennifer. She's going to find out soon enough, she thought, either when she's fitted for her dress or at the wedding. "He's a little kinky," she said.

"With all this money?" said Laura. "I could put up with a little kinky," she said. Laura looked around, and did not see Richard anywhere. "What's he into, anyway?" she said in a conspiratorial whisper. "Spanking? Bondage? What?"

Jennifer had no idea that her sister knew about such things. Before she could reply, she heard Richard's footsteps.

"I brought refreshments," said Richard, carrying a tray with three full glasses on it.

Jennifer took one, then Laura did. Richard sat down next to Jennifer as her younger sister asked a question. "You're obviously well off," she said. "Why don't you have a servant or three to bring the drinks out?"

"Well, I had one," said Richard. "But it seems that I'm to marry her in two weeks. That has changed our relationship a bit," he said. Richard looked at Jennifer. "Afterwards, we can talk about bringing any more employees on board," he said.

"I see," said Laura as she sipped her drink.

Jennifer crossed her legs. She was wearing black six inch heels on her feet. Rubber stockings covered her legs. Laura stared at her older sister's feet for a long moment as her shoes became visible.

"Jennifer has an appointment to have her dress fitted at ten on friday," said Richard. "Could you make it at ten-thirty?" asked Richard.

"Probably," said Laura. "I don't think I work till three on friday. I'll check. Where is it?" she asked.

"The sign said FS incorporated," said Richard. "It's off of sixty third street. Ask for Mary."

Laura throught about that. "That sounds familiar somehow," she said.

"We wanted to talk to you ahead of time," said Richard, "because we're not exactly having a traditional wedding,"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"The wedding is going to be here, not at a church," said Richard. "And it's going to be a theme wedding. All guests in appropriate costume."

"That's cool," she said. "Theme, like a medival or civil war theme?" she asked.

"Something like that," said Jennifer.

"What's the theme?" asked Laura.

"I'll be blunt," said Richard. Jennifer braced herself, prepared for the worst. "It's kinky outfits, fetishes, and bondage," he said.

Laura's eyes opened wide at this, in spite of Jennifer's previous hint. "My god," she said softly.

"Can you see why a church is not an appropriate setting?" he said.

"Um, yea," she said. Now it was Laura's turn to look away and blush.

"We will understand if you have a problem with this, and don't want to participate," he said.

"I... god, I don't know," said Laura. She looked up at Jennifer. "You're really gonna do it this way?" she asked.

"For Richard, anything," she said, with a smile. Richard returned her smile, but only halfheartedly.

"I'm... geez, this is so strange," said Laura.

"How can we help you to make up your mind?" asked Jennifer. "I'd really like to have you there."

"Well, maybe if you told me what I'll be wearing for this 'theme' wedding? And what I'm supposed to do?"

"Well, it won't be too different from a normal gown," said Richard. "It's... acutally, it's fairly close to something that Jennifer has in her wardrobe now," he said. "Would you like to do a bit of a dress rehersal, so to speak?"

"That would probably be good," said Laura.

Laura stood there in the red rubber hobble dress. From the shape of her body underneath, it was obvious that she was wearing a corset underneath. Six inch red stiletto heels were on her feet. "You look wonderful!" said Jennifer as Laura slowly turned in place. She was very unsteady in the heels, and Richard had to steady her more than once.

"All you have to do is walk down the aisle," he said. "You will have the best man there to lean on," said Richard.

"This is so weird," said Laura.

"I'd really like to have you there," said Jennifer.

"All right," concluded Laura. "I'll do it."

With her sister gone, Jennifer sat down on a chair and looked at Richard. "Richard," she said. "There's something that's been bothering me," she said.

"What is that?" he asked.

"Well, I've lost track of time, and I'm not quite sure, but I think my period was supposed to come yesterday or today," she said. "What if..." she asked.

Richard smiled at her. "I'll bet you anything that you're not pregnant," he said.

"H... how can you be so sure?" Jennifer asked.

"This issue came up once before, with Susana," he said. "I had a vasectomy," he said.

But he's so young, thought Jennifer. "You don't want kids at all?" asked Jennifer.

"Not exactly," said Richard. "But I know what my preferred lifestyle is, and I don't want accidental children. I have at least a dozen frozen sperm samples, however, in case I... in case *we* should want to have children."

This made Jennifer feel better. She knew that she did not want a child now... but that might change someday.