'That's good!' She had liked that interpretation of her initials, with all of its connortations of corsets and bondage.

'Tell me more about yourself! Or perhaps you would like to ask me a question? Or one about my wife!' He certainly didn't restrict the conversation.

'Is your wife there?' She liked talking to couples, especially ones as open as this, but rarely got the chance. Now, two opportunities in one day! And she had missed out with the Bradfords in the first instance!

'No! She's gone out to a professional dinner! But, you wouldn't be able to talk to her anyway!

'Why's that!' She felt that here was someone, who might be dominant and perhaps imposed a strong will on his wife.

'She's a technophobe!' She laughed. It never ceased to amaze her, how many people were missing out on the joys of the Internet, by being frightened of technology! 'But, you might have liked what she wore to the dinner!'

'She's gone by herself?' It was surprising to her that he hadn't gone. Considering that he was obviously proud of his lady, what she wore and how she looked.

'Yes! It's a formal legal dinner. Numbers were extremely and very strictly limited, so partners of any form or persuasion were not invited.'

'That's sad. I suspect you would have enjoyed displaying your wife! Especially, as she seems to have been very strictly dressed.' She had returned the word deliberately.

'Yes! I would have liked to have gone!' She herself, would have loved to have a proud man at her side at such a function. 'Her long formal dress, was as exquisite as it was strict!'

She returned to his previous question. 'Describe this extremely strict and exquisite gown! You said I would have liked it. I might have very different tastes! I might like different colours!'

'They might be different, but not that different. I doubt that you would not have liked it!' She doubted it too, as anything special and restricting appealed! This dress appeared to be both.

'I'm wearing a burgundy suit over an ivory blouse and a white corset.' As with most men in the chat room, he would have asked anyway, so she got in first. 'And your wife?'

'She's wearing a long, full dress in a heavy, gold and red silk brocade, all based on a strapless, low-cut corset bodice, with a little bolero jacket over the top.'

'I'd like that! It sounds absolutely wonderful!' She had told the truth. 'How tight did you lace her, before she left?'

***

'She imposes a series of standards on herself!'

'I like that! I sort of do that for myself.' Even if, she did admit to sometimes slacking in the execution of her own orders. She put an errant shoe back on her foot!

'Normally, she laces or more correctly is usually laced to twenty inches for work! And has been for eighteen years! She wouldn't want to frighten or embarrass anybody, by going any tighter! That size goes well with her thirty-four inch bust and hips.'

'That's about an inch smaller than me all over! From a natural twenty-seven waist!' She thought and then added more. 'I go to twenty in the evenings and at week-ends. Going smaller could be hazardous for me.' She remembered how she had nearly fainted, when trying to go below! 'As well as losing the beauty of my shape. So I will stop at twenty for now! Maybe next year!'

'As an engineer and a designer, I would say proportion, shape and cut is everything.' The style again!

'What standard is your wife adhering to tonight. As it's a very special dress, does it have it's own? It would be more severe than normal!'

His reply was short. 'Yes! And more severe!'

'As the dress is in effect the corset, then there will be an improvement, as there is nothing other than the corset to measure!'

'You're getting the idea!. She always insists that the laces are fully closed at the back. And tonight, I will have used a special knot, so that I'm the only one, who can release her!'

'So the laces are designed to be visible in this dress!' She was beginning to regret ever having expressed any doubts about liking it! 'And therefore, it is very obvious to everybody, that she is fully corsetted and laced extremely tight!'

'Yes! And of course! The laces are also very unusual, in that they are red, with a real golden thread running through. I bought them in Delhi!

'In India?' She was liking this more and more. Perhaps, one day she would be able to borrow the dress. It would be ideal for the Bank's Christmas Party! That would certainly mean the end of Miss Very Boring!

'Yes! They're very strong and extremely flexible. It usually takes about twenty minutes to get all of the slack removed from the laces and everything aligned perfectly, so that she is fully laced, but totally comfortable.'

'So she is smaller than her normal twenty!' He was still holding back. Again she thought how she liked his style.

'You could say that!'

'How much smaller?' She was getting impatient now!

'What would you think about eighteen inches?'

'That would be very good!' She knew it was more like a bid, than a definite fact!

'That was her original standard for the dress. But tonight she has gone to the dinner at seventeen! She thinks it's eighteen though, as I secretly took a whole inch out of the dress! I'll tell her when she returns!'

'Even better! It was rotten to make it smaller!' But rather erotic and strangely compelling! 'She can still breathe, OK? That's very tight!'

'Yes! She's been that size before for short periods at home, but this will be her first evening by herself that tiny. Not bad for a lady of fifty, who's had three children!'

'I said before it was very good. Perhaps, I should add a few more very's!' Oh! that she would be able to do that in twenty years! 'Tell me more about the dress!'

'I've said most things about it. Overall, it looks very dramatic because she has quite narrowish shoulders, a beautiful rounded bust and cleavage shown to perfection by the dress. The skirt is very full, with a proper antique Victorian petticoat underneath!

She was impressed, but needed to obtain the complete description. She asked another question. 'What else is she wearing?'

Copyright 1999 by Ewart Higgins