Diane opened the door to the apartment, just as the phone 
rang. She put down the bag of groceries and picked up the phone. 
"Hello?" she said.
    "Hi, Diane? Is Cindy there?"
    "Nope, sorry Eddie. She won't be back 'till tonight."
    "Okay. Tell her I'll meet her at ten o'clock on Friday at the 
marina. We're going on a cruise on my partner's yacht this 
weekend."
    "Yeah, I know," Diane said. "So long, Eddie. Have a nice 
time."
    "We will. So long!"
    Diane hung up the phone and said to herself, "That's what you 
think."
    Her other roommate had overheard and said, "What was that, 
Diane?"
    "Oh, nothing, Bobbi."

    Cindy and Diane were working out at the gym where Cindy 
worked. It was after closing, which was more convienient for both 
of them. They were the only two in the whole building. They 
finished their aerobics, and began to loosen up. It was Thursday 
night, and Diane still hadn't told Cindy about the phone call. If 
she could get Cindy to stand Eddie up, then maybe Diane would 
have a better crack at him...
    Diane and Cindy were dressed in leotards and leg warmers. 
Diane was on the gravity bar, held upside down by straps on her 
ankles. It improved the circulation to her head and loosened up 
her joints. Cindy was right beside her to help her out.
    "Oh, by the way, Diane," said Cindy.
    "Yes?"
    "Did Eddie happen to call yesterday?"
    "Uh, why do you ask?"
    "Well, we're going on that cruise this weekend, and he still 
hasn't called. I was just wondering if he had left a message when 
I should meet him."
    "Nope, he didn't call," Diane said a little nervously.
    Cindy walked around the gravity bar, looking down at Diane. 
"That's funny," she said. "Bobbi said that you talked to Eddie on 
the phone yesterday. You don't remember that?"
    "Uh, no. She must be wrong."
    "No, she was sure," said Cindy. "Are you sure he didn't call, 
and you're just trying to make me `miss the boat?'"
    "No! No! Why would I want to do that? Uh, could you let me 
down, now Cindy?"
    "Oh, don't give me that. You don't think I've noticed you 
staring at Eddie? I think he did call yesterday, and I think 
you're hiding it from me."
    "No! I wouldn't do that. Please let me down!"
    Cindy glanced at Diane's feet, held to the gravity bar with 
the leather straps. Idly, she dragged a fingernail across the 
bottom of Diane's left sole, making her titter softly.
    "What did Eddie tell you?" said Cindy.
    "No! Please, don't do that," said Diane. "Please let me 
down!"
    "Not until you tell me what Eddie said," said Cindy. She 
dragged another fingernail across Diane's right sole, making her 
laugh out loud.
    "No! Stop, please!"
    "I guess you want to do this the hard way, then," Cindy said. 
She lightly scribbled her index finger against Diane's big toe, 
which Diane wiggled away. It was no use. Cindy followed her toe 
with her fingernail, lightly brushing it, making Diane breath 
harder and harder, trying to keep in the laughter.
    "You gonna tell me?"
    Diane was silent, except for her heavy breating and 
occasional sobbing laugh. Cindy then ran her fingers gently over 
Diane's reddened soles, and she began to laugh out loud. 
"hahahahahahaha! Nononono! Please stop! Stop! I can't stand it! 
hahahahaha"
    "Not until you tell me what he said," answered Cindy. Diane 
wriggled on the gravity bar, but it was useless. She was 
completely helpless under Cindy's tickling touch. Cindy moved her 
fingers in a quickly accelerating circle on Diane's right foot, 
causing her to laugh even harder. She was laughing so hard she 
shook.
    "Still not convinced?" said Cindy. She then reached over to 
the stool next to her and picked up the ballpoint pen that was 
lying there. She began to write on the sole of Diane's left foot. 
Each letter was increased ticklish torture for Diane. Cindy spoke 
each letter aloud as she wrote it. "W-h-a-t  d-i-d  h-e  s-a-y ?" 
The question mark she wrote on Diane's right foot, from heel to 
toes, and it was too much for poor Diane.
    "Hahahahaha! Okay! Okay! I'll talk! I'll talk! He wants you 
to meet him tommorow night at ten by the marina! That's all! 
That's all!"
    "Thank's a lot, Diane," Cindy said. Diane was still sobbing-
laughing as Cindy let her down from the gravity bar.
    "C'mon," said Cindy. "You've had a rough night. Let's shower 
off. No hard feelings?"
    "Okay. I guess no hard feelings. I guess I was wrong to try 
to keep that from you. But let's go to the weight room for a 
while."
    "But it's already getting late."
    "C'mon. Just for a bit. Neither of us has to work tommorow," 
Diane said.
    "Okay. Let's get our sneakers on, though."

    Cindy was doing leg lifts on the bench with Diane "spoting" 
her. Diane moved around behind her as she was just wrapping up 
her set. Before she knew it, Cindy's left wrist was taped to the 
leg of the bench! Before she could react, Diane had taped her 
other wrist to the bench as well.
    "What's going on, Diane!?" Cindy asked.
    "Well, maybe there were a few hard feelings after all," Diane 
said with a smile. She bent down and taped Cindy's knees to the 
bar that held the weight on the end of the table. Cindy couldn't 
move now.
    "No, Diane, come on! Please!" Cindy pleaded. Diane ignored 
her. She got a small stool and sat down by Cindy's feet. Cindy 
tried vainly to kick them away, but was unable to because of the 
tape holding her knees together.
    Slowly, agonizingly, Diane pulled at the laces on Cindy's 
right sneaker, loosening it. She then did the same to the other. 
Cindy was getting more and more nervous. Diane then pulled the 
sneakers off by the heels. Cindy wiggled her size five feet in 
vain. Then Diane rolled Cindy's sweatsocks off slowly, one at a 
time, so that Cindy could have as much time to anticipate and 
dread what was coming up.
    Once Cindy's feet were bare, Diane wrapped her ankles to the 
weights with the athletic tape, securing her totally and making 
her utterly helpless.
    "What you did to me in there wasn't nice, Cindy," Diane said.
    Cindy only moaned.
    "In fact, I think you should know first-hand how I felt in 
there, so that you never try anything like that again."
    "No! Please! I promise! I'll never tickle you again! I 
promise!"
    "Uh-uh," said Diane. "We're going to do this my way."
    Diane started by brushing her fingers against the instep of 
Cindy's left foot. Cindy giggled. Smiling viciously, Diane did 
the same thing to Cindy's right foot, making Cindy chuckle 
loudly.
    Diane then brought her fingers softly against Cindy's toes, 
which she tickled and tickled without mercy for what seemed, to 
Cindy, like hours. Cindy was able to wiggle them however, and 
since this made it tough for Diane to tickle them properly, she 
taped Cindy's big toes together. This made it nearly impossible 
for Cindy to wiggle her toes to stop Diane's tickling touch.
    Then Diane let loose, wiggling her long nails against Cindy's 
helpless soles wildly. Cindy felt it everywhere from her heels to 
her toes, and was lost in helpless laughter. Tears were streaming 
down her cheeks, and she begged Diane for mercy in between 
gasping for breath. Diane showed her no mercy, however, until she 
was laughing so hard that she was only shaking. Then Diane 
stopped.
    Cindy looked up at her, tears streaking her face, still 
shaking and gasping. "Now I think we're even, Cindy," Diane said.