Ted's Dolls 19: Mitch 2 (Patreon)

If you haven't read any of the Ted's Dolls stories before, you should start with Ted's Dolls 1: Jane.

“So? What do you think?” Mitch said.

“I'm not sure this is necessary,” Ted said. “But, it might help. Let me see the back end again.”

Mitch walked Ted through the steps to maintain the cloud service part of the app he had developed for matching renters to dolls for Ted. He paused on the daily prep sheet that would tell Ted how many dolls were requested that night and how many dolls he might be short by or have in surplus. During a surplus, he could tag a few of the potential dolls and tell them not to stop by as they would not be needed. He could also tag the potential dolls that were available if needed so that a shortage could be filled quickly.

“The shortage list would be the real help. Save me from having to call around to see if someone could be a doll on an evening they didn't just show up.”

“That was one of the reasons I made the app.”

“You mean aside from trying to bribe me to let your buddies rent a doll ever again.”

“That, too. Yeah. But, that time I was here and you had to tell, what's his name -- Billy? --There were no dolls left. He looked so dejected.”

Ted sat back in his chair. “So how much?”

“I was thinking 5% of each booking.”

“One percent.”

“With the amount of energy this is going to save you? The links to FeeFriend alone are worth more than that.”

“Fine. Three percent.”

“Four.”

“Done.”

Mitch picked up the laptop and switched apps. “Now, I have this for marketing.” On screen was a QR code. “This is a link to the app in the two major app stores. You might want to read the app store pages for the apps. I had to make the iStore page rather vague to keep within their terms of service.”

Ted and Mitch spent the next hour going over the material Mitch had prepared.

“They only real issue left is the app existing at all,” Ted said.

“What do you mean?”

“Right now, I have a cash operation for a service that isn't exactly something I can run television advertisement during the evening news. There are probably jurisdictions where it would violate local indecency laws.”

“You're the one who's always saying it isn't prostitution.”

“It isn't. But that wouldn't stop a prosecutor from trying to prove otherwise.”

“Being under the radar isn't safety from prosecution.”

“I know. I'll have my lawyer look at the terms of service statement to make sure it isn't missing anything. We can go online tomorrow or Tuesday.”

* * *

“I can't tonight, Serayna. I have football practice,” Kordell said.

“I thought you usually had Tuesdays off,” she said.

“Game's on Friday,” Nia said.

“See? She knows,” Kordell said. “We're playing Friday night instead of Saturday this week. So I'll have Saturday off, not tonight. Can't you two study with Trinity?”

“Not since she hooked up with Ayush. The only thing you can study with them is Making Out.”

“I'm sorry, Babe, I thought you had the game schedule.”

“I do. I just don't have the practice schedule.”

He gave her a hug. “That's on me, Babe. We'll study on Saturday. I gotta go now. You still have Nia.”

“I have a meeting at the paper tonight,” Nia said.

“Go do your sporty stuff and you go do your journalism stuff.”

He laughed. “You will learn the rules to football.”

“I won't.”

After he left, Nia said. “I'll be around tomorrow.”

“I know,” Serayna said as her phone beeped. She looked at it.

“Anything important?” Her phone beeped as well

They both read the same email. “It's nothing,” Serayna said. “I've got to go.”

“Take care,” Nia said.

Serayna left the cafeteria and found a chair in the student center. The email was from Ted, probably a mass email. It explained that there was now a phone app for anyone who wanted to be or to rent his dolls. Serayna had not been a doll for Ted in a couple weeks. She downloaded the app and there was special greeting inviting her to activate the Being a Doll part of the app. She did this and was impressed at how automated it was. Since she had nothing better to do tonight, she scheduled herself to arrive at Ted's around six and to leave around eleven.

* * *

“Hello, Serayna,” Ted said. “I haven't seen you in a while.”

“I had nothing better to do.” She looked over at the wall over Ted's desk. Mounted like an animal head wall trophy, it was as if Paris had put her body through a plaque up to her waist, arched her back up, and someone had removed her arm. No clothing covered what there was of her body. There was a smile on her face. Below the spot where she was somehow connected to the wooden shield-shaped plaque was a brass nameplate reading “Paris.” Taking the image in, Serayna said, “That's new.”

“I'm experimenting.”

“Well, yes, I received your email about the app and thought I'd stop by.”

He pointed at the sofa where four anonymous dolls sat. “It wasn't just you.”

“Oh, will you need me tonight?”

“I actually will. There are already five dolls with their Renters tonight and I might come up short on dolls.”

Ted was still standing by the door and when the knock sounded, he opened it immediately. “Hi, Nia.” The two girls stared at one another. “You two are friends right? I'm pretty sure each of you has mentioned the other to me.”

“I didn't know you did this.”

“You should have told me. I guess I should have told you.”

“Yeah, I figured that,” Ted said. “That's why I outed you to one another. In the app, you can follow one another so you'll each know when the other is available for rental.”

“We could do rental nights with each other.”

“That would solve a lot of awkwardly trying to explain why I might be busy when I'm not.”

“Yes, no more fake Sentinel meetings.”

“You didn't have a meeting tonight?”

“I'm here, aren't I?”

“The other benefit is, being friends, your clothes can share a milk crate. This is my last one,” Ted said. “I need to buy a few more if this keeps up. If you two don't mind sharing a crate, maybe you don't mind getting undressed in the bathroom together either.”

Later, as dolls were returned, he told them to rate their Renters and answer the question of whether you wanted to be their doll again. This could help them get matched with Renters they have liked in the past.

* * *

“Have you seen the app?” Rhana said to Emily in the cafeteria, sitting down. “Hi, Jane.”

“What app?” Emily said.

“The Ted's Doll app?”

“They finally released it?”

“You knew there was an app being made?”

“I was a doll for this guy who then put a note in my hand when he returned me to Ted. The note asked me to send him email so he could get my input on designing it.”

“Was it that Mitch guy you were talking about?” Jane said, as she was also downloading the app.

“Yeah,” Emily said. “Oh, look the 'doll with a friend' idea I gave him is here.”

“What's that?”

“Here, let's friend up. Once we're friends in the app, we can see when each other have a doll session booked. Like, here I see you're getting dolled tonight. Today's Wednesday, right? So I assume this is for the poker game Earl plays in?”

“Yeah, me and Beverly, I need to add her as a friend, will be there. You're still invited.”

“What's this?” Jane said.

Rhana and Emily tell Jane the story of Beverly and Rob.

“So, did you get groped last night, too?” Jane said.

“Best part of the night,” Rhana said.

“Jane's never been a doll for rent.”

“Neither have I,” Rhana said.

“I've only been a doll once,” Jane said. “I've been a mannequin a bunch of times.”

“Oh, that's right. You're the mannequin from Bluebelles. I though I saw you there a couple days ago.”

“Wasn't me,” Jane said. “That was the production mannequin made in my likeness.”

“There's a mannequin made that looks like you?”

“Five different models, actually.”

“It sounds great,” Emily said. “But now she mopes on weekends that she was replaced by a real mannequin.”

“I don't mope,” Jane said. “Let's return to the poker game. Are you gonna go with Rhana to get groped at the poker game.”

“There is a certain appeal to it. But the game ends after midnight. Ted wouldn't be able to restore me until morning.”

“Beverly had Ted make it so she returns to normal at six in the morning. Ted could do the same thing for you. I'll be a statue doll until Friday morning for the game.”

“As long as Earl isn't waking me up to drop you off at our room early tomorrow morning,” Jane said.

“You could stay at our place until morning,” Rhana said. “It's not like Earl hasn't already seen you naked.”

“And you're okay with that?” Jane said.

She lowered her voice, “Emily's given Earl a blowjob and Earl's eaten her out while I was ten feet away watching them do it. I don't think her being naked around Earl is a boundary for me. Heck, I give you permission to fuck Earl tomorrow morning as long as the two of you involve the doll me in some manner, assuming you join us at Rob's and Bev's place as a doll tonight for the poker game.”

* * *

Ted entered the office of The Sentinel, Tamara was sitting at one of the desks. “Hi, Tamara. Why did you call?”

“Have a seat. We heard you were doing a showing for Alumni Weekend and were wondering if you wanted to say anything in the article the week before the event.”

“And you're alone here so only you get turned into a figurine if I get mad?”

“Peter said you'd say something like that.”

“Now I feel predictable.”

“To answer your question, no. They all just have classes or other things to do now.”

“I suppose I could say a few words.”

“The university gave you a grant. This is actually news. Visiting Alumni on Friday and kids touring the campus on Saturday will get complimentary copies of the edition of the Sentinel that this article will appear in. Nothing in the article needs to say anything about people in your exhibit being real people turned into dolls. But, the perspective of the artist will interest people.”

“Not the high school seniors.”

“No, but their parents might read the article,” Tamara said. “Can we do the interview now?”

“I suppose so. This will be its own article or just a paragraph in the Alumni Weekend article?”

“The latter. When did you first learn to create works in your medium?”

“I've told I won't explain how I do what I do.”

“I'm not asking how, just when did it start.”

Ted sighed. “I was eleven when I made my first... piece.”

“Oh. How did your family react?”

“You don't quit, do you?”

“Were they encouraging, amazed, shocked?”

“My mother was thrilled when she found out. My father was more reserved. He didn't see my works immediately since my parents separated when I was nine and he no longer lived in the area.”

“Was that an influence on your work?”

“Probably. Everything you experience is an influence to some degree.”

Tamara looked up and waved at someone behind Ted. “You can come in, I think. Ted, have you met Nia?”

Nia gave Ted a nod and he said, “Certainly. Nia is one of my dolls.”

“You are?”

“I am.”

“Why didn't you tell me for my article?”

“At the time, I didn't want anyone to know,” Nia said. “I was just looking for Peter but I guess he isn't here.”

“No, it's just us. I'm interviewing Ted for the alumni article.”

“Why?”

“Ted got the Alumni Dinner Grant.”

“There'll be dolls on Alumni weekend?”

“That's what they want me to do,” Ted said.

“You should add a signup for models in your app.”

“App?” Tamara said.

Nia quickly explained the app to Tamara, showing it to her with her cell phone.

“So much for keeping a low profile.” Tamara said.

“That ended with the Halloween exhibition. Are there any other questions?”

“Sorry for interrupting,” Nia said.

“Not a problem. You can stay if Ted doesn't mind.”

“Not at all.”

“How did you find out about the grant?”

“I knew nothing about the grant until I received it. And I only found out the Grant's name from Nia a few moments ago.”

“Why do you think they picked you?”

“The Halloween thing I did. They saw the show and thought I should do another show for the alumni. I have no idea why. I'm not an artist.”

“They wouldn't give an art grant to someone who wasn't an artist,” Nia said.

“Whether that's true or not, I don't call myself an artist.”

“Any last thoughts?”

“I just hope people like it. I hope my models are happy with it, too.”

* * *

“I'm going to tell the others,” Mitch said.

“Just don't tell them about me,” Toby said.

“They'll figure it out. I've missed more weeks than you. But the only ones I showed up to, you missed.”

“They aren't that smart.”

“They aren't?”

“Artie isn't.”

“But Neil and Joel are.”

“Joel might take the idea best of the three.”

“I was thinking Neil. But Neil's useless since we don't let him near the dolls any more.”

“So, you'll only tell Joel. He is your roommate, Mitch.”

“Fine.”

Mitch returned to his dorm room.

“Hey, Mitch. We got a doll lined up for tomorrow?”

“I was looking for you. I wanted to talk about Ted's dolls.”

“Did we mess it up again?”

“Not exactly,” Mitch said. “This is a secret. You can't tell Artie or Neil or anyone else.”

Joel sat up straighter, paying more attention. “Is something wrong?”

“No. It's about how I got us a doll the past few weeks.”

“Okay.”

“Ever since Neil threw up that one Friday on one of the dolls, the only way I could get Ted to rent us another doll was if we provided the person who was turned into the doll.”

“You found someone willing to be a doll for us?”

“Yes.”

“It was you, wasn't it?”

Mitch nodded.

“But, you were there some of the-- and Toby.”

“I'm not allowed to confirm or deny that.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“You should know. And...”

“And you want me to be the doll tonight.”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yes, you just had to ask. You and Toby have been doing it for, what, six weeks. I'll take a turn. I'm sure Artie would take a turn. Why didn't you want me to tell Artie?”

“I had assumed he wouldn't let us live it down.”

“Oh, he won't. But he'll also take a turn once the initial hilarity subsides. I bet we could get Tom in 105 to do it too.”

“Why Tom?”

“I invited him to the party tonight. We usually give him a go at the dolls if we have the dolls for more than a few hours. I figured there's no reason we couldn't expand the group.”

“Sure. So at six, I can go with you to Ted's and you'll be the doll tonight?”

“As long as we tell everyone and everyone starts taking turns, sure.”

“That was easier than I expected.”

“One question,” Joel said with a smirk. “What's it like getting rammed by all those dicks?”