[Recap: Tom and Hayley offer a very specific personal service, turning people into living items of furniture, as a side hustle to their day job at Harbinger’s Home and Garden store. Their commissions have been getting more elaborate recently. Working so closely together, the line is blurring between their personal and their professional lives.

This story contains themes of forniphilia, bondage, confinement, orgasm control and woodworking, though not graphic woodworking.

There is a follow-on story exploring the relationship of Minh and Zoe too. Have a look at A World Of Our Own.

This story is also submitted to the Geek Pride Story Event 2023]

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CLICK AND COLLECT: MIRROR, MIRROR

Milly slotted her plate into the dishwasher and straightened up her Harbinger’s uniform, pushing through the doors back out onto the shop floor, leaving Hayley and I on our own at the little table in the break room.

“Awkward,” Hayley observed.

“What was?” I asked.

“Geez, you’re oblivious, Tom.”

“Am I? What did I miss?”

Hayley’s mouth set in a firm line, her emerald-green eyes fixed on me.

“Seriously, what?” I persisted.

“She all but asked if we were an item.”

“Who? Milly?”

“Yeah, what did you think all that was about?”

“I guess I just thought it was chit chat. You know, lunch, gossip, that kind of thing.”

Hayley huffed and got up, sweeping her long auburn hair back from her pretty face, rethreading her ponytail through the little black hair tie, then smoothing down her skirt. I watched her hands travelling over the stiff material of the Harbinger’s company-issue uniform. She stopped and I looked up. Hayley’s face was unreadable, staring down at me.

“What?” I asked again.

Hayley shook her head, replying, “If you have to ask, it doesn’t matter.”

She put her cup and her plate into the dishwasher and went back to work. I watched her go, then found myself staring down at my plate. I didn’t like the friction between us. I just didn’t know what to do about it.

The afternoon passed slowly, with Hayley keeping herself busy in another part of the store. I’d look down an aisle and see her with customers, smiling and laughing at something they said, and catch myself watching her face, the way she shook her head, the line of her hip. I knew what she wanted to talk about, but it was more complicated than she imagined.

An hour before closing time, I heard a call over the loudspeaker, asking me to go to aisle twelve. I made my way across the floor and saw Hayley talking to two young women in the furniture section. She noticed me and beckoned me over.

“Hi,” I said, approaching them, “How can I help?”

The women were almost identical from the back: same height, same bob but one blonde and one black, same slight shoulders, dressed in jeans and casual t-shirts, and when they turned to me, neither pretty nor plain.

“This is Minh,” Hayley said, gesturing to the dark-haired girl with Asian features, “And Zoe. They’ve got a question.”

The blonde-haired girl, Zoe, looked at me nervously, but it was Minh who spoke up.

“We heard you do click and collect.”

I shot a quick glance at Hayley, then nodded.

“Yes, we offer that service,” I confirmed.

“Okay, uh, good.”

“What did you have in mind?” I asked.

Minh turned to Zoe, and said, “Here we go.”

“Wait,” Zoe replied, “Last chance?”

“You already had your last chance.”

“No, come on, go again.”

Minh shifted, putting her hands on her hips, replying, “Final, final, this time. You lose, no backing out, okay? Pi to ten.”

Zoe’s face creased in irritation, but she began to recite.

“Three point one four one five nine two six five four five.”

“Five three five, bitch.”

“Four five, I swear.”

“Nah. Get good.”

Minh grinned triumphantly, folding her arms.

“Fine, okay,” Zoe grumbled.

“Trust me, this is gonna be amazing.”

“Amazing for who? Not me. I’m gonna be….”

“You’ll be right in the thick of it, you’ll see, that’s why we’re here. These guys are pros.”

Zoe’s eyes flicked from me to Hayley, unsure. I wondered it best to step into the conversation at this point.

“What can we help you with?” I asked, “What’s the occasion?”

Minh took hold of Zoe’s hand and held it up for us to see. There was a ring on her finger, a little diamond glinting in the light.

“I managed to find her a boyfriend,” Minh replied, “And I managed to talk him into popping the question. Now I’m organising the hen party and then I’ll be her chief bridesmaid.”

“And then what, after that?” Zoe quipped.

“I think my work’s done. I’m pretty sure you can handle it from there. Unless you need me to step in afterwards, too?”

Zoe pulled her hand away, looking nervously at the displays.

“I just don’t know,” she muttered, “Now we’re actually here.”

“Don’t worry babe, I got you all taken care of. Now, do you want to pick? What would look nice in your hallway?”

“Uh, what? In the hallway?”

“Yeah, I spoke to Ben, we think at the end there’s room and it’s just a blank wall anyway, once we move that little bookshelf. Plus, it’s brick, it can take the load. He checked.”

“Ben checked?”

“Yeah, babe, he’s fully into this.”

Zoe’s cheeks coloured, and her friend leaned closer, leering seductively.

“Maybe you get to use it on a regular basis. He seemed keen.”

“Minh,” Zoe gasped, but then she looked away.

Minh turned to us.

“We’re looking for a full-length mirror, two-way glass. It’ll need a cabinet behind about the depth of, oh, let’s say….”

Minh put her hands on Zoe’s body, turning her side on, pressing one hand against her petite breasts and the other against her back. She withdrew her hands, holding them aside.

“About this much depth to it. Oh, and it’s going to need electrical points for the hardware, and I was thinking strip lighting that we can switch on so you can see through the mirror if you want to.”

I caught Hayley’s expression out of the corner of my eye, but focused on Minh’s face instead, my mind running through the permutations.

“Okay,” I managed to say, “So, are we thinking something like this?”

I led them over to the mirrors, showing them frame styles.

“What about this one Zoe? White? Or this? It’s pine, would look nice in the white hallway. It’s important that you like it.”

“Uh, yeah, the pine.”

Minh nodded, turning back to me, asking, “So how long, do you think?”

I stepped up to the mirror, assessing it with a critical eye.

“Needs a hinge, the cabinet I can do already, I have something in mind out the back that should fit your dimensions if we swap out the door. The electricals will take a day or two, then the lighting. Say, a couple of weeks? How’s that?”

“Can we do the twentieth? That’s when her party’s booked. I’ve already sent out the invites.”

“Sure,” I nodded, “We can come and install, let us know what time after five.”

Minh hesitated for a moment.

“Uh, I was wondering if you could hang around afterwards? I mean, include it all in the quote obviously.”

Hayley shrugged, asking, “What would you need, and for how long?”

“I’ve booked four of us out for dinner at eight, and then I thought we’d hit a club until about midnight, then back to Zoe’s apartment.”

“And you wanted us to do the installation then?” Hayley asked.

“Oh no,” Minh replied, “It’s me and three girlfriends. Zoe isn’t coming.”

Hayley frowned, “I’m not following.”

“She doesn’t like going out where there’s people,” Minh continued, “She’s much more comfortable in front of a screen, writing code. She works at Kikster, she helps build the AI. It’s not exactly conducive to a social life.”

“I go out. You make me sound like a hermit.”

“You haven’t been out for weeks, Zoe.”

“Because I’ve been in.”

“Yeah, in bed. Getting down to business, letting your man appreciate your body as well as your intellect.”

Zoe blushed slightly, but then Minh’s attitude softened. She indicated the mirror.

“I know how much you struggle with being out, with all the people, so that’s why I came up with this. It’s going to be great. You’re gonna go out on your hen’s night with us all, and you’re gonna stay in at the same time. No stress, no anxiety. If it gets too much, we just abort and you’re safe at home.”

“I guess.”

Minh caught her friend up in a hug, murmuring into her ear, “I got you. Don’t worry, I got you babe.”

—

We were on the premises by six. A young guy with a ponytail opened the door to us and came down to the van to help us haul the components up into the apartment.

“You’re Ben, are you?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“What do you think about all this?”

“Wild.”

He lifted the other end of the mirrored doorframe, and we walked it out of the back of the Harbinger’s van.

“You gonna be around tonight?” I asked.

“Nah, off to Sam’s. Girls get the place to themselves.”

Hayley picked up a cardboard box and followed behind us as we manhandled our load to the elevator bay.

“You aren’t concerned about your fiancée?”

“Nah, she’ll be fine.”

Hayley and I exchanged looks.

“We’re going to be around all night, so we’ll keep a close eye on her,” I said.

“Cool.”

By the time we’d ridden up to the apartment, Hayley and I had both given up any attempt at conversation, angling the heavy frame through their door and propping it up next to the cabinet we’d brought up earlier. I checked the mirror.

“All good?” Ben asked.

“Yeah, look, you can leave us to it if you like. We’ve got it covered.”

“Yeah, okay. I was gonna head off.”

Hayley nudged me, murmuring, “I’ll go check on the bride to be.”

I nodded, then turned my attention back to the task at hand. Between Ben’s monosyllabic responses and the strange mood Hayley was in, I was glad to be left on my own, fitting the wall brackets that would secure the cabinet in place. It took me a while, but sliding the mirror-door into position was easier and I was just tightening the bolts when I heard a voice behind me.

“Oh, wow.”

I turned, and there was Minh, decked out in a shocking red party dress, barefoot still, but her make-up was complete, her black hair drawn back from her face with a butterfly clip.

“Like it?” I asked, stepping back and closing the door.

“You really can’t tell,” she murmured.

“Not until this.”

I reached down the side and clicked a hidden button, illuminating the strip lighting that ran around the edge of the inside, revealing the empty cabinet with the series of straps dangling from the back wall.

“This is so much better than I imagined. Fuck, I almost want one of these myself.”

“Well, you know where to come.”

Minh chuckled evilly, “Oh, there’s no doubt about that Tom, so will Zoe. She’ll know exactly where to come by the end of this night. Speaking of which, all set?”

I nodded.

“Okay, let’s get her installed. Ben’s already left and I’m due out the door in fifteen, so it’s just the two of you. Well, three of you, but I guess I’m not counting her.”

Minh went back the way she’d come and appeared a few moments later, leading Zoe by the hand. Hayley followed behind them both.

I had to take a moment to maintain my composure. Minh had transformed the blonde girl we’d met in the store into a strange cyberpunk fetish fantasy. She was stripped bare, but her body was wrapped in a harness, black leather straps done up tight around her curves, between her breasts, parting her legs. Shiny metal rings glinted in the light, some of which were already threaded through with straps, others unused. Around Zoe’s wrists and ankles were thick leather cuffs, and a matching leather collar was fastened around her neck.

But it was her face that caught my attention, or rather the lack of it. Zoe’s mouth was stopped with a gag, her eyes covered with a bulky headset, with headphones over her ears. Wires dangled down behind her back, and more wires snaked around her waist, reaching up to little white pads on her breasts. More wires snaked down to her crotch, attached to similar pads on her inner thighs and peeking out from beneath the thick leather strap that was locked between her legs. There was a chunky sports watch on one wrist.

“Like it?” Minh exclaimed, turning the helpless, blind figure around in the hallway.

I could see a small unit mounted on the harness in the hollow of her spine, to which all the cables were attached.

“I did my doctorate in immersive virtual worlds. I always knew it’d come in useful. Zoe’s real good at software but I discovered early on that it just wasn’t for me.”

Minh ran a hand through the hair of the other woman as she stood silently in front of us.

“It turns out I’m more of a hardware girl.”

She arched an eyebrow at me suggestively. I couldn’t stop staring at what she’d done to her friend.

“Shall we get her installed?” Minh asked.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” I muttered, “Right this way.”

I reached out and took Zoe’s hand, feeling the tightness of her grip as she clutched me. She didn’t withstand as I directed her towards the cabinet. Minh was immediately by my side.

“She was always so willing to try out my little experiments when we were in postgrad together. She was the perfect subject. We had such fun. We tried everything.”

I opened the frame, swinging the mirror. Minh backed her friend into the little space behind it. Carefully, she latched the straps bolted to the back wall to points in Zoe’s harness, then fixed her wrists in place with another set of straps and then finally knelt at her feet to bind her ankles securely to the back wall. Each movement was precise and delicate. At last, she stood up, her attention focused on the occluded face of her friend.

“I fucking love her,” Minh murmured, then she shot me a quick look.

“Don’t worry, I’ve switched her hearing off. She can’t hear a word. From this point, she only hears what I want her to hear, only sees what I want her to see.”

With that, Minh closed the front, leaving us staring at the ghost of our reflections and the brightly-lit outline of the woman she’d trapped inside the mirror. She stepped back.

“What are you going to do?” I asked.

“Not do, have already done, see?”

Minh held up her phone. There was the usual array of icons on the screen, but the background picture caught my attention immediately.

“I’ve turned her into a screensaver. She’s just going to sit here in my pocket all night until I get her out and play with her.”

“Play with her? How?”

“The goggles, they’re meshed to the phone camera, so she can see out. Like right now, she can see and hear everything I’m saying as if I’m facing her. We’re going to stand her up on the table, letting her see everything. I’ve boosted the data so she’s got ultra-high definition resolution on the video feed. Audio, well it’s a lot lower bandwidth. Plus, the kinda shit they play in the club is all just low-fidelity anyway.”

She swept the phone around the hallway, first towards me and then Hayley, before training it on the mirror, showing the helpless figure secured within. Zoe wriggled, seeing her bound form for the first time.

“There’s one more little innovation. I was saving it as a surprise for later, but, y’know what? I just can’t wait. I want to see her squirm.”

She held the phone up to the mirror and then swiped a finger across the screen. Inside her glass prison, Zoe’s body contorted.

“What did you do?” Hayley hissed.

Minh reached around the side of the mirror, switching off the internal light. We were suddenly staring at our own reflections again, the woman trapped within completely invisible to us now.

“I had an idea, and shit, it was such a tricky thing to get right, but you saw it, right, it worked.”

“What did?” Hayley persisted.

Minh turned back to us, showing the screen again. Her finger hovered over it and then she traced a tiny circle around the crotch of the background figure. Behind her, we heard the tap of the harness rings against the glass. Minh shrugged.

“Haptic feedback system,” she explained, “It translates the position of the fingertip to a location on the figure and then activates a stimulation pad on that part of the body. I rub this, and she feels it there.”

Minh’s fingertip continued to stroke the crotch of the figure on the screen. We could hear muffled noises coming from behind the mirror.

“I wasn’t sure about calibration level,” she mused, letting her finger drift up towards one of the figure’s breasts, eliciting another muted response behind her, “But then I realised that it doesn’t really matter. Well, to me anyway. It’s going to matter a lot to poor, trapped Zoe. She’s completely at my mercy until we come back and let her out. We can do anything we want to her, stroke her all night in the club if we like, until she’s cumming her brains out at the slightest touch.”

Minh’s expression was sly, each word enunciated clearly, and I realised it was for the advantage of the woman in the mirror, letting Zoe know exactly what Minh’s plans were for her.

“There’s a training net hooked in too, monitoring respiration, blood pressure, heart rate from that watch on her wrist. I reckon we just need maybe a half-dozen data points before it’s able to pick out the orgasm peaks for itself. Then we can just feed that back and let it go automatic. It’s a pretty crude AI model, but Zoe’s the shit-hot coder. I’m just an interested amateur.”

Minh blanked the screen, cooing, “Time to deactivate you for a while, Zoe. I’ll turn you back on again when we get to dinner.”

She turned back to the mirror and made a show of checking her make-up, leaning forward until her face was close to the glass.

“I’m going to enjoy having you under my thumb,” she murmured, “Just like old times, babe.”

With that, she turned and sauntered past us both, down the hallway to the front door.

“Back by midnight,” she called over her shoulder, “She should have had enough by then.”

The door opened and she stepped out, leaving Hayley and myself alone.

“Now what?” Hayley grumbled.

“I guess we wait.”

“Six hours?”

“She’s paying us for it.”

“No Tom, I mean Zoe, under the control of that witch, like a goddamn voodoo doll frozen on her phone screen for six hours.”

I shrugged, replying, “You gotta hand it to her, she took what we did and she really made it her own.”

“Maybe we should report her, Tom.”

“Or maybe we should hire her.”

—

In the end, we took turns, sitting on a chair in the middle of the hallway with the cabinet illuminated so we could see inside. Oblivious to us, Zoe remained isolated in her own world, her eyes seeing only what Minh chose that she would see, her ears only hearing what Minh allowed her to hear, and every few minutes the helpless, bound woman trembled and squirmed as someone, somewhere brushed a finger across a phone screen to make her dance and writhe.

I walked up behind Hayley and rested a hand on her shoulder as she sat on the chair.

“Want me to take over again?” I asked.

“Nah, it’s nearly midnight anyway. The witches should be flying in any minute.”

“What makes you so sure?” I asked.

Hayley pointed at the figure behind the glass.

“That,” she said.

Zoe stretched, her breasts pushed hard against the glass, her body taut, every sinew straining. A slick trail of moisture trickled down the insides of her thighs.

“She’s a squirter, is our Zoe,” Hayley observed, “That’s the third one I’ve seen. I bet they’re in the cab right now, shitfaced, rubbing away at their little voodoo doll effigy, cackling to themselves.”

Zoe’s body relaxed, slumping in her harness, her head drooping, utterly spent.

“Never give control of your orgasm to your drunk friends,” Hayley muttered, “It just brings out the worst in them.”

We heard a rattle behind us. The door opened and a group of women in gaudy party dresses stumbled through. The last to enter was Minh, her hair down, stumbling on her high heels. The other girls came to a halt as they noticed the sight at the end of the hallway. One of the girls staggered forward, brushing past us to get a better look.