Chapter 1

She was obviously nervous.

“What is it, Sandra?” I asked impatiently, looking at my watch.

My neighbour, a woman in her 50s, finally spat out what she had come to ask me. Sandra was a relatively pretty woman for her age, with her pure white skin and dark hair. She wasn’t by any means fat, but she had thick legs and ample breasts just a little smaller than my own. Even though I was only 27, she had to look up at me as she spoke. Not just because I was taller, but also because… Well, in my young age I’m far more successful than she ever can be, obviously.

“I want the best for my daughter, Katie,” she said. “And that includes getting into the best college. You’re the smartest woman I know, Tanya, and I was hoping you could help her out… tutor her. I’d pay you, of course. I know you’re a busy woman.”

I rolled my eyes. I didn’t need the money and I really didn’t have the time to tutor some girl.
  
But Sandra begged.
“Please, Tanya. With your help, I think she could be the top student…”

I felt sorry for Sandra, and she’d been awfully polite. I groaned.
“Fine,” I said with a sigh. “Send her over this evening when I get off work.”

She hugged me.
“Thank you sooo much, Tanya.”

I had almost forgotten about agreeing to see Katie until I pulled into my street. Ugh - the last thing I wanted was to spend my evening dealing with her. In fact, I was quite short with Katie when she knocked on my door.

“Come on,” I said with a hint of annoyance in my voice, “Let’s get started.”

Katie was pretty, with her blue eyes and light brown hair. She had that nerdy look about her, her hair tied back, a knee-length skirt, white sandals and a floral top. Her skin was pale - she took her studies seriously and while her friends tanned on the beach, Katie could likely be found studying in her room.

“So, tell me about your studies,” I said as we sat on the couch.

“Thank you so much for doing this for me, ma’am,” she said softly. 

She was so sweet and polite that I stopped being annoyed and set about looking through her studies with her. She was clearly already smart, and I was sure I could help her be top of her class.

We started to go through her work, and I could see Katie was immediately responding well to my teachings. 

“I really look up to you,” she said sweetly as we finished. “The big house, the fancy job. How smart you are. And of course, you’re beautiful,” she gushed. 

“Thank you, Katie,” I said with a warm smile. 

“Most welcome, ma’am.”

I chuckled. I liked Katie.
“Please, call me Tanya.”

And so, an unlikely friendship was born. I was being paid to tutor Katie, but it felt more like she was a friend than I was helping out. She was lovely, and soon, our sessions weren’t just about work. We chatted about life. Her friends. Her crush. My job. My marriage. She was easy to talk to and always so respectful.

It was weeks later when Katie knocked at my door on a Sunday. 
“Oh Katie, you’re early,” I said, looking at my watch. “I have a few things to finish up. You can come in and wait if you want?”

“Sure,” she smiled, heading in towards the couch while I headed to the kitchen.

When I returned, I found Katie lying along the couch, white sneakers on the ground, her bare feet up, resting on a cushion.

I hadn’t felt any anger towards Katie since that first tutor session. But I was angry now. The cushion she was resting her feet on was the cushion I used to rest my head on when I lay on the couch!

I was about to tell her off… but I found myself unable to tear my eyes away from the sight of those pretty little feet on my head cushion. Pretty? Did I think her feet were PRETTY? Ugh - what was WRONG with me?!

“Oh Tanya, hi! This cushion!! What’s in it? It’s like the perfect footrest!”

I was panicking. I couldn’t understand why I was feeling… weird… about her feet on my head cushion. 

“It’s full goose down,” I said softly, hypnotized by the sight of her massaging her feet into the soft cushion. “It’s my head cushion for when I lay on the couch…”

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” she said, worried that she’d upset me. She began to remove her feet, but I shook my head.

“It’s ok, Katie,” I said, my voice a little shaky. “We’re friends and… I’m glad my head cushion could make your feet so… comfortable.”

“That’s so sweet,” Katie smiled, returning her feet to the cushion. 

I just stood there awkwardly, trying to understand why I was giving her permission to keep her feet in the place I rested my head.

Katie was a little confused, too. She’d be furious if someone had their feet on her pillow! Why was her tutor okay with it?

Katie wasn’t bitchy at all - but like all young women, she was prepared to test boundaries. 
“Studying with my feet up sure beats sitting upright,” she giggled.

She looked up at me. Was I going to conduct the study session with Katie lying down, feet on my head cushion?

She got her answer when, since the couch was full of Katie’s body, I sat on the floor, grabbing one of her textbooks.

The session was awkward. Usually, I’d take Katie through certain readings that I thought were most important, giving her little quizzes. This time, my head wasn’t straight. I could barely focus on the readings myself - they were just words on the page. And the longer I stayed there on the couch, struggling to get control of the lesson, the more Katie began to get curious about the sudden change in her tutor.

“Are you okay, Tanya, ” she asked with genuine concern in her voice.

“Yeah,” I said, “I think I just need a drink.”

Finally, I had a reason to get up off the floor. But that did nothing to crush my sudden feeling of submissiveness, and I heard my own voice ever so softly say, “Can I fetch you a drink, Katie?”

She raised an eyebrow. Dug her toes into my cushion. And said “a Diet Coke would be lovely.”

I tried to get a grip on myself as I made us a Diet Coke each, but when I returned, Katie was studying me. She looked at the glass.

“Oh. I really like ice with my Diet Coke. 4 cubes. Do you think you could get me some ice, Tanya?”

She was super polite with her request. She was testing the boundaries. I couldn’t blame her. She was a young woman who was being treated like a damn princess by an older, successful, powerful woman. She was intrigued and wondering what was going on.

I knew if I said “No, drink it as it is”, she’d apologize for the request, sit up straight, and forget all about her sudden little position of power.

I tried to say that. I really did. But my eyes glanced down toward her feet on my cushion, and I blurted it out.
“Sorry, Katie, I should have known better”, I said, returning to the kitchen to put 4 cubes of ice into her drink. And I definitely heard a quiet but pretty audible giggle while leaving the room.

As I started back toward the living room, I told myself off.
“Get control of yourself, Tanya,” I ordered.

I placed her glass down and sat in the armchair across the room. Katie smiled. She was a smart girl, and she knew she’d pushed far enough. 

She began to talk about some of her friends, and we fell into one of our usual chats like nothing had happened. 

When she left that day, I told myself that indeed nothing had happened. My momentary attraction to her feet was nothing. Katie didn’t suspect anything. I was just being silly.

But that night, as I sat on the couch with my husband, I kept glancing at that cushion. Kept imagining Katie’s gorgeous little feet on it. And soon, I couldn’t resist. I lay down, swinging my legs up, laying them across my husband’s lap as I cuddled my face into the cushion, breathing deeply. I wasn’t sure if I could really smell the soft scent of Katie’s feet or if I was imagining it, but I liked it, drifting off to sleep on the couch. 

The next evening, after work, I was answering the door to Katie. 

I was ready for her. All day I’d been prepping myself. Whatever had gotten into me the day before wouldn’t happen again!

I’d even moved my head cushion to the armchair to ensure Katie’s feet couldn’t get to it, and when she arrived I quickly sat on the couch so Katie couldn’t lay down on it like some Princess. I’d gone over our lesson plan for the evening so that I could just concentrate on my studies and nothing else.

Things were back to normal, Katie the perfect student, me the perfect tutor. Well, almost back to normal. I admit, I caught myself a few times glancing down at her sandal-clad foot as she sat cross-legged. She seemed to be flexing her foot a lot, but I was sure she didn’t mean anything by it. She paid attention to my teachings, did well on my quizzes, and went home without any issues.

Only once she left, I was overcome with exhaustion. I realized it had taken all of my energy to stay in control. I’d had to focus so hard, and now I was slumping on the couch, breathing heavily, mentally drained. 

I found myself standing, walking to the armchair. Toward my head cushion. I took it in my arms, collapsing on the armchair, and snuggling the cushion. I was shaking. I couldn’t get Katie’s feet off my mind. I sunk my face into my cushion, breathing deeply. 

Suddenly, my phone rang, and I reached over, to answer it. It was Sandra.

“How is Katie going with her studies?” she asked.

Not now. This couldn’t be happening! I’d used all my energy resisting Katie. I had nothing left. And now I had her mother asking about her.

The floodgates opened. I started rambling, and I couldn’t stop myself. I went on and on about how amazing Katie was. That she was the smartest girl I’d ever met, and that she was also so lovely, so sweet… that I considered her my best friend.

There was silence while I sang Katie’s praises.

Finally, Sandra spoke.
“I’m very glad to hear that, Tanya. Sounds like you’re getting a lot out of your time with my daughter.”

“Oh I am, Sandra,” I said sincerely. 

“I think we’ll actually have to end our agreement soon, though. It sounds like Katie has learned plenty and to be honest, even though it’s only two hundred dollars a week, money is really tight and I don’t think I can afford it much longer…”

I couldn’t help myself.
“Oh Sandra,” I said, “Like I said, I consider Katie a friend. I understand you can’t afford it anymore, but I want the best for Katie, just like you do. I’ll keep tutoring her free of charge.”

There was silence, and I wanted to put the words back in my mouth… but it was too late.

“Very well, Tanya. That’s very generous of you. You’ll continue tutoring my daughter for free.”

Again, my submissive feelings made me speak before I could think, my voice hushed - almost a whisper.
“Thank you, Sandra.”

I’d just thanked my neighbour for allowing me to tutor her daughter for free.

“Interesting,” she said out loud. “Very interesting. See you soon, Tanya.”

I put the phone call behind me. I reasoned that I was just being a good neighbour to Sandra and a good friend to Katie. I told myself I wasn’t falling under the spell of her pretty feet. I convinced myself that Sandra wasn’t suspicious at our weird phone call. Everything was okay.
 

Chapter 2

The following evening, it was even harder to maintain my focus. Katie was again the perfect, and I tried to make sure our time together was full of learning, making sure there was no free time for me to fall further under her spell. It was a success. A few times, Katie tried to turn our conversation casual, but I kept bringing her back to her studies. 

She did manage to pull off one power play, asking me sweetly for a drink. When I returned with her Diet Coke, she looked at it.
“Four ice cubes,” she smiled. “Very good memory, Tanya.”
She’d said it slightly condescendingly, and when I blushed and thanked her, she giggled, smiling bigger than ever, joking, “Soon I won’t have to ask for a drink, you’ll just have it ready for me when I arrive.”

I brushed the comment off, but I couldn’t help but feel it was a big moment. The first time Katie had really shown any sign of true superiority over me. 

Again, her feet pulled my attention to them on several occasions as the lesson went on, but I was strong enough to take a deep breath and regain control. Again, after she left, I collapsed on the couch, exhausted, glad I’d gotten through another session without succumbing to the submissive feelings that were eating away at me.

But as I recovered, my phone vibrated. It was a text from Katie.

“Tanya, I left my back at your place…”

I looked over to see her handbag sitting there on the floor, right down between the couch and the wall. Like she’d hidden it there. I told myself I was being silly. Of course, she hadn’t hidden it there. Why would she do that?

“Sure, Katie, I’ve got it. Come round and grab it.”

She replied quickly, “I would… but I’m already in my pajamas. Would you bring it over for me?”

I stared and stared at the message until Katie added to it.
“You don’t want me to have to get dressed when you could just easily bring it to me, do you, Tanya?”

“Of course not, Katie, I’ll be right over.”

I should have run a mile the second. Sandra answered the door, seeing me with Katie’s handbag. Her smile terrified me. There was no doubt in my mind—Sandra knew something was happening between her daughter and I. 

“Drop the bag and leave, Tanya!” I ordered myself.
But Sandra, through a knowing smile, said, “She’s upstairs. Come on through.”

And so I was waking up Sandra’s stairs, towards Katie’s room.

“Come innnnn,” she sang as I knocked on her door.

I was hypnotized from the moment I walked in. Katie was on her bed, in tiny pink sleep shorts and a white singlet. She was laying, head perched up on her pillow, one leg bent, the other straight, foot resting on a cushion.

“Your uh… your bag,” I said.

“You can put it over there,” she said, nodding at her desk.

I put the bag down, saying “I’ll see you tomorrow, Katie.”

I headed toward the door, but Katie’s voice stopped me.

“Tanya… our lesson was so full on today, we really didn’t get a chance to talk. Can you stay for a bit?”

I shook my head, “I really need to go…”

She pouted—that typical eighteen-year-old girl pout. I gave in.

“What do you want to talk about?“

She smiled. That smile of a young woman who just got her way.

“Come. Sit.”

There was only one place to sit. On the end of her bed, right near her foot cushion.

Katie began to tell me that she was upset because a boy she liked had started dating another girl.
“Some beach-going, big-breasted blonde,” she pouted.

I looked at her. “He’s crazy, Katie. You’re incredible, really smart, and amazingly pretty. You deserve better.”

She grinned at my compliment.
“You think I’m pretty?”

I nodded, “Of course.”

Katie looked thoughtful for a minute. 

“Tanya. Do you have a crush on me?”

I was astonished! “What? No, sweetie! You’re my student, and my friend! I think you’re an amazing young woman, but I’m straight and happily married!”

She nodded. But she was smiling, apparently not the least bit upset at my rejection. 

“Sure,” she said, “But you’ve been acting weird for our last few sessions.”

“W-weird?” I asked. Was she onto me?

“Mmhm. When I first started taking lessons from you, you were so assertive. So strong. So sure of yourself. Lately, you’ve been… passive. Humble. You stay quiet and listen attentively when I talk. Your hands shake. You can’t hold eye contact with me. And…”

She wiggled the toes on the foot that was on the cushion, my eyes immediately falling to her foot. She giggled, “You can’t stop stealing glances at my feet.”

I tore my eyes away from her foot.

“You’re imagining things, Katie,” I said, unconvincingly.

“You’re probably right,” she sighed. “Of course, if you are right, you’d say no if I asked you for a foot massage, right?”

I was in trouble. I didn’t have the energy for this. I’d exhausted it just by getting through our study session.

She was staring at me, challenging me. I was breathing heavily.

She was flexing her foot.

“Well, Tanya? What would you say if I asked for a foot massage?”

I looked at her. She was oozing confidence.
“Katie… please don’t…” My voice was barely a whisper.

“Shhh. It’s okay, Tanya. We’re friends. Friends help each other to study. Friends bring their friends' diet cokes with ice. Friends return handbags when it’s left behind. Friends let friends rest their feet on their head cushion. And friends…”
She stretched out, extending her leg, and placing her foot in my lap. 
“…give foot massages.”

My hands couldn’t resist, softly closing around her pretty foot. 
An “ughhh” escaped my lips. It was the sound of defeat. The sound of me giving in to my submissive desires. The sound of me losing the internal battle I was having trying to avoid this exact moment.

Katie made a sound, too. A long, satisfied sigh. She’d suspected I had a thing for her. She’d been trying to figure out what it was. She did, for a while, think I had a crush on her. But it didn’t make any sense. She’d replayed our interaction over and over in her head, and she’d come to realise that my behaviour had changed when I’d seen her feet on my head cushion. Katie felt that either her tutor, neighbour and friend had a crush on her, or she had submissive reactions to her feet. She had hoped and hoped it was the latter. She’d studied me, watching my reactions when she’d flex her feet or wiggle her toes. Day by day, she’d become more sure that I was powerless under the spell of her feet. And now, as my fingers kneaded her silky soft soles, she knew for sure.

For at least 30 minutes, we sat in silence, Katie alternating feet, sighing as I proved to be an excellent foot masseuse. For my part, I was spellbound. Katie’s feet were so soft. Her high arches and perfectly formed toes had my full attention. 

“Katieee, everything alright up there?”

It was Sandra’s voice. Katie giggled.
“Never been better, mum.”

She slipped her foot out of my hand, saying, “You better go. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”

I nodded, heading towards the door.

“Tanya?”

I turned to her.

“Quit trying to keep my feet away from that wonderfully soft face cushion of yours. Tomorrow, when I come over, I want it in place ready for my feet. My Diet Coke should be waiting for me. And you should probably make sure hubby isn’t home if you don’t want him to see you continuing my foot massage.”

I nodded, whispering, “Yes, Katie,” the young woman giggling.

I was trembling as I left her room. What had I done???

“I think we need to have a chat,” Sandra said.

What choice did I have?

“I’m curious, Tanya. You say my daughter and you are friends. But your friends are the social elite. It’s a little strange that you enjoy hanging out with her and tutoring her…”

I nodded. “She’s an amazing young woman,” I said honestly. “That’s why I agreed to keep tutoring her when you said you couldn’t afford it anymore.”

Sandra sipped her wine, noticing my demeanour was different to usual. I was in a deep submissive state, having just rubbed her daughter’s feet. Sandra didn’t know why I looked so humble - but she liked it. She’d always been a little intimidated by me - in fact, it had taken her months to summon up the courage to ask me to tutor her daughter. She enjoyed seeing me looking less than the powerful, assertive character I usually was.

She rolled her eyes. “You should have thought of that before you started taking two hundred dollars a week from me to tutor her.”

Even she didn’t anticipate my response.

“You’re right, Sandra. I should never have charged you to help someone as wonderful as Katie. It was wrong of me. I’m honoured to be able to help her out.”

Her eyes opened wide. Something was definitely up with her usually bitchy neighbour.
“If you’re that sorry, maybe you should return the money I paid you?” she asked.

I could see she was a little unsure of herself. Like her daughter, she was just testing the waters. But she got exactly the response she wanted.

“Of course, Sandra. That’s more than fair. Helping your daughter has been like a gift. Do you have your bank details handy?”

Sandra watched on with shock as I transferred the money. She’d paid me up front for eight weeks of tutoring Katie - sixteen hundred - and just like that, the amount was back in her account.

“Wow,” was all she could say.

Soon, I was back on my couch, hands shaking. My mind went back and forth between Katie’s foot massage and Sandra’s incredulous reaction to my refund.

Almost without thinking, I found myself reaching for my phone, hand trembling.

“Tanya?”

“I’m so sorry to disturb you, Sandra. I know it’s late. I just can’t stop thinking about how wrong I was to charge you for tutoring Katie. I know I paid you back… but you’ve been managing without it all this time while it’s been sitting in my account. I feel I should be… paying you interest.”

There was a long silence. I panicked. I’d gone too far. Sandra was rightly creeped out.
“You know what, forget I called, Sandra. I don’t know what I’m saying. I must just be tired. Sorry to have bothered you.”

“Oh, no it’s ok, Tanya. It was just a shock. But now that you mention it, it was rather horrible of you to accept my money instead of just being a good neighbour for me. Now that you’ve brought it up, I’m actually quite angry at you for taking advantage of me like that. What interest rate did you have in mind?”

I wasn’t sure how to respond.
“I guess uh… maybe 10%?”

It seemed high, but I was a mess and it was the first number that entered my head. I could imagine Sandra rubbing her hands together with delight! So her response shocked me.

“10%? Tanya - I have never felt SO insulted. I was thinking more like 50%.”

Her tone - she was always so polite and respectful to me - shocked me.
 
“I’m sorry, Sandra, I… I… I mean yes, you’re right, of course, 50% is reasonable.”

“Well, that was before you insulted me, Tanya. Now you’ll pay interest not only for me ALLOWING you to hang out with my daughter, but for insulting me, too. I want 110%”

I didn’t have any strength left to argue, even though it was clear she added this extra 10% to rub in my face, making me give her even more than she initially gave me. Which was ridiculous.
 
I thought if I resist, Sandra would quickly turn it into a joke accepting 50%. But I didn’t resist. When I enthusiastically agreed that 110% was fair and apologized to her once more, I heard her laughing.

“Tanya? I don’t know what’s gotten into you. But I just checked on Katie and she won’t stop smiling, and I’m now forty-five hundred richer. I like the new you.” I realized forty-five hundred she just stated was not 210% of sixteen hundred.
“Actually, transfer my forty-five hundred to me right now. I think I have plans for it tomorrow.”
 
She was waiting for my response, but I couldn’t come up with anything adequate.
 
“Sure Sandra, right away, thank you I’m… Good night.”
 
She laughed heartily once again and hung up. And all I could do was quickly transfer money to her, four and a half grand of course, grab that cushion, the one that started it all, and bury my red of shame face into it.
 


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