Allow Me

Plot With Me

"Face me again," Georgie said.

Adelaide spun around with the grace of a ballerina, her chemise twirling about her hips.

"Start pulling up the chemise, but do it really slowly."

This was it. The grand finale of her little show. She'd never seduced anyone properly in her life, and yet here she was, seducing an innumerable number of faceless men. They would lust after her in a way that no one ever had before. Not even the man who had called her 'wife.'

Holding her hemline between her thumb and forefinger, she pulled it upward - knee, thigh, cunny - and over her head. Tossing it upon the floor, she drew herself up tall, naked as the day she was born.

The room had been cold only moments ago, but now Adelaide was so hot that she was nearly panting. Heat pooled between her legs, an ache that she knew, but which she had never felt outside of her bedroom.

"Alright," Georgie said, her voice business-like, as though she did not feel the headiness that threatened to drown Adelaide. "Now sit on the chaise, prim and proper, like you are in your nicest ballgown."

Adelaide furrowed her brow. "How is that supposed to be enticing?"

"It is not, on the surface," Georgie said as she mucked about some more with the camera, scooting it closer to the chaise. "It is the juxtaposition of it. You are sitting like a lady, but you are naked like a whore. It makes men's brains go a little haywire."

Gregory made a strangled, disapproving sound by the door. Georgie ignored it.

When her friend phrased it like that, Adelaide thought she understood the crux of the matter. So, she stepped back and sat down on the chaise, the material tickling the bare backs of her legs. Everything felt coated in static shock. Alive.

She sat up the way she had been taught; as though there were a metal rod in her spine. The pose pushed her breasts up and outward obscenely. She held her breath as Georgie's face once again disappeared and the flash went off, immortalizing the lady and the whore in one fell swoop.

Was she supposed to feel this warm? And...what was she supposed to do now?

"Lie back," Georgie said.

Adelaide dropped backward until she was slumped, her body now draped across the chaise, boneless. Her heart fluttered when Georgie nodded with approval and the camera went off. She was doing this right. She was good.

It went on, with Georgie giving instructions and Adelaide following them. She spread her legs and closed them. She covered her breasts and she bared them. With every successful shot, she slipped further and further into that heady trance.

"You are just the perfect subject," Georgie cooed mindlessly.

Adelaide thought she might choke on the praise. Perfect - what a word. She could live in that word forever.

But alas, the winter daylight was short, and soon the studio was darkening too quickly to keep up with. With a disappointed sigh, Georgie looked about the room and tutted.

"Do we have enough?" Adelaide asked.

"We have plenty," Georgie said. "But I could have taken a thousand more if the day would allow it."

It was not a direct compliment, but it still made Adelaide preen. At least someone wanted to look at her for hours on end. Someone thought she was perfect.

Standing up, she grabbed her robe from the floor and pulled it on. For some reason, it felt more scandalous to have it on than it had been to be completely bare.

"It is safe to join, Gregory," Georgie called out. She'd just started the process of dismantling her tripod.

"No," Gregory said curtly.

"Stop being ridiculous," Georgie said. "You can look at Adelaide."

"No," he repeated, petulant. "Not until you really believe that I have been faithful."

"Fine, be contrary. We will have fun talking amongst ourselves."

That made Gregory perk up. "Talk about what?"

"You'd know if you join us."

With that, Georgie flopped down onto the chaise where, moments ago, Adelaide had debased herself. Adelaide joined her, the hot, untamed feeling slowly fading.

The temptation of gossip was what ultimately reeled Gregory in. With a scoff, he sauntered over to the chaise, covering his eyes with his hands, so that all he could see was his own feet.

"What are you going to do next, then?" Georgie asked. "After the photographs come out, I mean?"

That part, Adelaide knew almost completely.

"We will open the account on the same day," she started, "That way there is no way for him to interfere. Are you still going to look at flats with me, Gregory?"

"Yes," he answered, "Do you want me to be the one to sign, or should I make William do it?"

"You should do it, since your name will also be on the bank account. Then, I will move in and start to work on some way to make money. If he grants me a divorce, I can take over the deed eventually. I have thought about making my own gossip rag. It might be seedy, but I have enough knowledge to write for a few years, at least. I have an appointment with an investor, as well, and hopefully he can guide me on what moves to make."

Georgie nodded along to her plan. It eased Adelaide to recall that the woman next to her had done all of these things, as well, at some point. Well, not the divorce. Then again, Adelaide might not even get that.

Only Georgie would understand her unsavory plans.

"It might be petty and vindictive, but I want to do something to hurt him."

Georgie did not even flinch away at that. "What do you think you'll do?"

"I don't know. I just know that I want it to hit his ego."

"Hit his ego?" Gregory chimed in. Then, with an absent-minded shrug, he added, "That's easy. Just tup Archie."

Adelaide looked at Georgie.

Georgie looked at Adelaide.

That was all it took for a plan to form, each passing second only solidifying the pesky details. Gregory was correct; there had always been a tether between Theodore and Archie which was stronger than the one he shared with his brothers, or any of his other friends. The few times that Adelaide had been in conversation with the both of them at once, she had felt distinctly like a ghost.

Well then. Let her become corporeal.

She quirked a brow upward. "Archie?"

For the first time, Gregory looked at her, dropping his hands to reveal his afflicted expression. "Do not do it," he said severely. "You will never respect yourself if you do."

"You will never forgive yourself if you don't," Georgie countered.

"You will be stooping to his level," Gregory said.

"You will be giving him a taste of his own medicine," Georgie shot back.

"Georgie."

"Gregory."

By the end of their tit-for-tat, Adelaide realized that they were not fighting about her at all. Whatever they were doing, it was between them and them alone.

And whatever she did next, she, too, had to do it alone. Moves had to be made in shadows, lest they be cut off at the pass. If she wanted to hurt Theodore, she required the element of surprise.

"Hm," she said, relaxing into the idea. "Well, I suppose we shall see how things unfold."

It was vague enough to appease Gregory, though he cast her a suspicious look before bringing his hands back up to cover his eyes. Once he did, Georgie looked straight and Adelaide and mouthed the words she most wanted to hear.

Do it.