Sammi was excited. She’d received an invitation to a club named “Women Overcoming Obstacles for Leadership.” She’d never heard of the club. She’d heard great things about its founder, Judith T. Chevre. The fancy embossed invitation, with hand-drawn calligraphy, came from Judith herself.

Judith was a well-known local advocate for women in leadership. She was the CEO of a local consulting company and an outspoken feminist. Sammi learned from the invitation that Judith repeatedly restarted the club, inviting a few lucky girls to participate in each new iteration.

The purpose of the club, said the invitation, was to help selected young women who she’d determined had leadership potential. They would meet for five weeks, once a week, on Wednesdays at 7:30pm. Punctuality was required for participants. Invitees could visit the first meeting to “try and see.” The invitation promised networking opportunities with executives. There was also a financial reward for full participation.

Sammi was a senior in college. She had some job leads. This club might be her ticket to something better. The financial reward was certain to be small, but it would be nice. Sammi decided trying it out couldn’t hurt. Sammi was also curious to meet Judith T. Chevre in person. Every time someone said “female leadership,” Judith’s name often followed. Sammi wanted to meet this local celebrity.

The invitation did ask Sammi to keep the club and her invitation a secret. This was an exclusive club. Judith wanted to choose who knew about it and who she invited. Sammi thought this was an odd request, but this was Judith! Sammi figured the woman had earned the right to make this request. It was also a little delicious that she, Sammi, would be invited to a secret exclusive club. It didn’t hurt her ego, that’s for sure. The meeting was in a meeting room of a ritzy hotel. The situation didn’t seem dangerous. Sammi would bring some mace, as she always did, but she didn’t expect to need it.

The invitation said “wear whatever you want to wear.” Ugh. Sammi thought this was the worst thing to tell a girl. Now she had to guess what level of formality would be expected. Sammi decided she would make a guess and hope she wasn’t too far off. It did say “whatever.”

Sammi posted the invitation on her dresser mirror. Her mirror reflected her pretty face with hazel eyes. Her dirty blonde hair poured down past her shoulders and had blonde highlights. Her smooth light skin and fit curvy body invited men to undress her with their eyes.

Sammi didn’t have anything better to do or anyone to coordinate with. She lived alone in a small apartment. She’d broken up with her ex-boyfriend Bill over a year ago. She did miss some aspects of their relationship. Unbidden memories arose. She remembered them both naked in bed. She remembered his muscular arms enveloping her bare shoulders as he pistoned into her ready pussy. She remembered a delicious 20th birthday orgasm. It had felt so good. “Stop!,” she told herself, “I was smart to move on.” She’d broken off their relationship a few months later and hadn’t had sex after that. She sometimes got a little horny, but she had self-control and self-esteem. She wasn’t going to expose her tits and give away her pussy to any random cock. She’d wait for a man who met her high standards.

Sammi arrived at 7:00pm for her first meeting. She wore a black pants suit. Under it she wore a modest embroidered white blouse with long sleeves and a high neckline. Dress shoes with medium heels completed her outfit. Sammi always dressed modestly and conservatively.

Sammi discovered the club was meeting in a small and swanky hotel meeting room. She looked in. A large podium, essentially a beautifully stained wooden box, was in the corner. Six plush chairs were in the center of the room. The chairs faced the long wall behind the podium.

The long wall was almost completely covered by a huge projection screen. The screen was currently lit saying “Women Overcoming Obstacles for Leadership” followed by “Judith T. Chevre.” At the bottom right was a picture of Judith’s face. Cute animated fireworks repeatedly went off. Sammi regarded the screen more closely. It had an odd flicker. She stared at the screen longer than she’d intended. Sammi decided the animated fireworks certainly were interesting. She did need to move on. With effort, Sammi turned away from the screen.

Judith and five girls were chatting in the middle of the room. All of the girls were about Sammi’s age. Sammi was straight, she wasn’t looking for a girlfriend. Sammi did instinctively size up her competition. Sammi knew she was pretty. Sammi always dressed modestly, but she knew she had an awesome body. Almost any man would jump at the chance to get Sammi’s naked body into his bed. Sammi realized being pretty and having a great body wasn’t special in this room. Every girl in the room was pretty and had a great body. Each girl had perky breasts, a flat tummy, and a shapely ass. Judith also looked amazing. Sammi idly thought that Judith could start a successful high-end modeling agency with the girls here including Sammi herself.

Sammi was shy by nature, so she went to the back of the meeting room first. She liked to learn a little about the situation and prepare herself before talking with others. A “Sammi” name tag awaited her, so she put it on. Catered food was also in the back. Sammi discovered the food was high-end. Next to the food were a few chilled wine bottles accompanied by generous wine glasses. The area’s drinking age was 21. Sammi’s 21st birthday had been about half a year ago. She hadn’t done a lot of drinking after she had turned legal.

Sammi poured out a tiny sample of one of the wines into a wine glass. Sammi didn’t know a lot about wines, but the wines seemed expensive to her. She took a sip. The wine was spectacular. She’d never had a wine as good. Sammi felt both out of place and elated. She was in a swanky room in a ritzy hotel, with impressive food and spectacular wine. She was going to meet a local celebrity. She felt like she’d been given a hall pass to the real adult world. She wanted more of the wine. She also wanted more of the lifestyle the wine hinted at. Sammi filled her wine glass and turned to the people in the room.

Sammi scanned the name tags. She saw that the other girls’ names were Kathy, Sarah, Cindy, Denise, and Katina. Kathy and Sarah were blondes, while Cindy was a brunette. Denise had straight black hair and appeared to be Japanese. Katina had tight curls of black hair that flowed past her shoulders of light chocolate skin. Also present, of course, was Judith.

Judith was more than present. Judith owned the room. Judith was in her mid-30s. She was fit and curvy. More than that, she was a knockout. She was wearing a white silk blouse with a red matching business skirt and jacket. Her skirt was surprisingly short. The high heels of her red shoes were high. Far more of her tits were exposed by her blouse’s scooped neckline than Sammi would have been comfortable showing. Judith did have the goods. Judith’s large and perky breasts jutted out and dared onlookers to touch them. Her miniskirted long smooth legs would tempt any man to touch them, to caress her legs up under her skirt, and perhaps to have his hands wander to her inner thighs. Sammi knew she’d never dare wear an outfit like Judith’s.

It wasn’t only Judith’s clothes that made an impression. Judith’s long blonde hair flowed in such perfect waves that it could cause a traffic accident. Her perfect tanned white skin and full lips could cause sonnets to spontaneously compose. All the girls were straight, so they weren’t exactly attracted sexually. She wasn’t their type sexually. There was no denying Judith was dripping with sex appeal.

Judith’s jewelry was the expensive real thing. The collection she wore appeared to be worth more than some houses. Every girl noticed Judith’s expensive jewelry and couldn’t help but covet them. Judith’s perfume was subtle, intriguing, and costly. Even her clothing, while it didn’t cover much, was from a named designer and was made of luxurious fabrics. Every girl wanted what Judith had. If leadership training would give them success like Judith, they couldn’t wait to start.

Judith walked from girl to girl, making small talk with each. Sammi found Judith’s attention flattering. Judith was amazing at witty conversation. She was the embodiment of sexy confidence. Her smile was contagious.

None of the girls had met a woman like Judith. Judith’s attentive and confident banter won every girl over. Judith was exciting to be with. Every girl soon wanted to be like her. Every girl wanted to live like she lived.

At 7:30pm sharp Judith said, “please take your seats, ladies!” As requested, Sammi took a seat. Judith walked to the podium.

Judith began. “Welcome to the ‘Women Overcoming Obstacles for Leadership’ club. I’m going to help you learn how to overcome your obstacles. I’m going to help you be prepared for potential future opportunities. I’ve had a lot of successes. I’ve also had many challenges. I’m a woman in a man’s world. Don’t you ever believe that it’s anything other than a man’s world.”

The girls nodded assent. All had received petty slights over the years because they were girls. All were pretty and had shapely bodies, so they’d all received unwelcome passes and vulgar comments. All had suffered the indignity of not being considered seriously.

The bigger problems they’d had were side-effects of the hypnosis incident that had happened over four years ago. A new hypnosis technique had been discovered. It enabled men to enslave women through special videos that became publicly available. Once women were enslaved, there was no known cure.

The hypnosis videos included a few safeguards. Women could not be enslaved by men in the woman’s extended family, both biological and adoptive. The hypnosis videos also only worked on females who were 18 or older. The woman would be enslaved to only one man, the man she first imprinted on after seeing the video. These safeguards were not enough to protect the world.

Roving gangs of men soon kidnapped legions of women at gunpoint and enslaved them. Women who tried to convince themselves that the “world was their family” found themselves enslaved instead. Many women voluntarily enslaved themselves to their husbands or boyfriends, to protect themselves from a worse fate. Once this became common, many men decided that men should firmly rule their households. Many women worldwide had learned that their new household role was to be quietly submissive and obedient. Doormats had more rights than many women in their own homes.

A countermeasure had been developed. The “counter-hypnosis measure,” usually called “the counter,” protected women from the enslaving hypnosis by men. Unfortunately, the counter only worked if the woman was not enslaved. When the counter had been first developed, its effectiveness was unknown and there were serious concerns that it would permanently damage women’s brains. A few brave souls had accepted the counter early. Once the counter had been found to be effective and safe, it had spread like wildfire among unenslaved women.

Every girl in this room had undergone the counter. Every girl was glad she wouldn’t become enslaved by a man through hypnosis. Many women were permanently enslaved by one man or another, so the girls saw subservient enslaved women every day. Every day reminded each girl that she was lucky compared to many women.

The counter had not protected the girls from the incident’s broader effects on society. There was no general way to be certain that a woman was not enslaved. Enslaved women often voted in blocs against unenslaved women. In many countries women were now permanent minors and always under the control of a male guardian. America and many other countries hadn’t gone that far, but in these countries it was now widely agreed that enslaved women weren’t fit to be voters or leaders. Many women had lost their right to vote, once evidence surfaced that they were enslaved.

Many people weren’t sure they could trust any woman who tried to be a leader. Today few leadership positions were held by women. Only a few women were experienced leaders today. These women were typically tough as nails and had taken big risks by accepting the counter while it was experimental and considered dangerous. Judith was one of those few women.

There was one way society could be certain that a woman was not enslaved. The hypnosis videos only worked on women who were 18 or older. The counter, by contrast, could be applied at any age. So a woman who accepted the counter before she turned 18 was known to be unenslaved. The counter had become available a little more than 4 years ago, so the oldest such women were 22 years old today. Careful records were kept so these unenslaved women could prove their status.

Every girl in the room had received the counter before she’d turned 18. As a result, all the girls in the room were provably unenslaved women. Every girl knew this would not be enough to lead. Society was now primed to distrust women in powerful positions. Even worse, the rarity of female role models made it hard for today’s young women to learn how to take on leadership roles while also being feminine. Books are not enough. It’s impossible to overstate the importance of role models.

Every girl here knew of Judith. Judith was one of those few inspiring examples of real feminine leadership in the local area. Judith had accepted the counter early, when it had been first developed and still considered quite risky. As she had explained in her autobiography, Judith intentionally chose to gamble her brain on a technique with unknown safety risks and uncertain effectiveness. She felt not taking the gamble was riskier. Judith felt that you needed to determine your goals and focus on achieving those goals. She felt you should expect to take risks to achieve your goals.

Judith’s calculations had been correct. Today she was a success. She was one of the few feminine leadership successes girls could look to.

Judith’s autobiography had come out last year. It was unofficially required reading for any local girl who wanted to eventually lead. In this area, whenever a girl asked how to move into leadership roles, Judith was often one of the first examples people trotted out.

Judith had a reputation as a woman of action and an unstoppable force. Judith did not disappoint in person. Her confidence was infectious.

Judith continued her introduction. “My goal is to prepare you for your future. I would love to see you succeed in leadership as a woman. We’re going to have five meetings, including this meeting. It’ll be once a week, starting at 7:30pm sharp. The meetings will each last for two-and-a-half hours. Each night I’ll first give a two-hour presentation about what I’ve learned. For at least the next half hour, you must spend time getting to know me or each other and stay in this room. You can optionally join us up to an hour before the presentation starts. If you do join us early, I will gladly welcome you. You’ll get some great refreshments!”

All the girls listened politely and positively. Committing to attend five weeks of two-and-a-half hour meetings wasn’t a difficult time commitment. Getting to know a local celebrity was appealing. Judith was exciting to be with. All of the girls wanted what Judith had, and they would gladly attend some meetings if those meetings would help the girls achieve something similar. Judith then explained the rewards.

“If you attend and participate in every meeting, you’ll each get to network with an executive to jump start your future. Also, for every girl who fully participates in every meeting, there’s a reward of $100,000 each. I hope all of you will fully participate in every meeting.”

Judith now had Sammi’s undivided attention. Whoa. $100,000? That was a lot of money. Sammi did some math in her head. If she attended all five meetings, attending each meeting was the equivalent of earning $20,000. It was equivalent to $10,000 an hour, ignoring the social time. For a college student like Sammi, who was scraping by financially, this amount of money per hour was hard to fathom. Sammi didn’t know if Judith’s presentations would help. Judith hadn’t said exactly who they’d meet, either. Sammi decided it didn’t matter. This amount of money was mind-blowing. Sammi realized she’d have to be an idiot to miss a meeting.

To emphasize the seriousness of her point, Judith reached into her purse. She pulled out ten stacks of cash. Each stack was half an inch tall and wrapped in a mustard-colored band.

Judith raised the stacks high and showed them to her surprised audience. “Each of these ten stacks contains one hundred $100 bills. This is what $100,000 looks like. Imagine, please, what it would feel like to receive $100,000. Imagine feeling it in your hands. Imagine what you could do with this money. I hope you’ll attend every meeting.”

Sammi was blown away. Sammi had needed to be frugal to get through college. She’d never seen this much cash anywhere. She would love to receive that! Sammi started thinking of how she could use the money she was seeing. This would be life-changing. She felt a sudden burning desire to possess the money.

One of the blonde girls raised her hand.

Judith smiled and said, “yes, Kathy?”

“This is amazing. Why are you doing this?”

“That’s easy. I’m working to help change society for the better. Things can change. I’m changing things a few women at a time. Your selection is no accident. I think each of you has great potential, much more than you realize. In these meetings, I will share what I’ve learned with each of you. I’ll do my best to prepare you for your future. My goal is to change each of your lives. I believe that if I keep changing girls’ lives, the world will eventually change.”

The girls looked at each other. Their astonished expressions said it all. They’d all made the same monetary calculations. Seeing the money made it all real. They loved the goals they were hearing. Simply getting to know a local celebrity like her could change their lives for the better. Judith was famous and embodied their dreams. This was the opportunity of a lifetime.

These meetings were now the absolutely most important items on their calendars. None were engaged, but if any had been, every girl would have changed her wedding date to attend.

Judith smiled. “Let’s begin! As I said, each week I’ll give a 2-hour presentation. Please pay careful attention to them in their entirety. They’ll sometimes be a little tedious. Don’t let that discourage you. You have to know fundamentals to succeed. After my presentation, stay here in this room for 30 minutes where we’ll all talk and get to know each other. You can then leave. There’s a $100,000 reward for each of you who faithfully attend every week.”

Judith turned on the presentation behind her. A massive “1” filled the screen. Every girl stared at the screen. Judith began her presentation.

Each girl found Judith’s presentation on leadership to be an odd combination of boring and mesmerizing. Judith repeatedly presented general platitudes. There was nothing clearly wrong with what she said. Nothing she said seemed like a new insight either. She simply made one obvious observation, followed by another, followed by another. Even the slide format was plain. The slides were simple text bullet slides in a huge ordinary font on a basic off-white background. The large font was quite unnecessary. The room’s small size meant every girl was close to the giant screen. The screen nearly filled each girl’s vision.

The massive screen had an odd flicker that was almost imperceptible.

Judith said the flicker wasn’t important, so every girl knew the flicker wasn’t important.

The tedious presentation was quite the contrast to Judith’s ability to have sparkling one-on-one conversations. Each girl found herself slowly tuning out the contents of Judith’s presentation. Somehow the presentation was both boring and intriguing. No girl could look away from the screen, even for a moment. Time flew by. Before they knew it, the two hours were over. The girls could remember parts of the presentation, but it was so tedious that they found it hard to remember much. Sammi found it objectionable, but could not articulate an objection.

The girls had light conversations afterwards with each other and with Judith. Sammi learned a little about two of the other girls, Kathy and Sarah.

Kathy’s hair was platinum blonde and had a gorgeous gentle wave. Her blue eyes complemented her perfect fair skin. She was wearing a black denim mini skirt, paired with a contrasting white short-sleeved button-up shirt. Chunky lace-up boots completed her outfit. Most of her shirt buttons were unbuttoned, so her outfit showed a lot of skin. The center of her too-small bra was on display, as was her cleavage. Sammi suspected that Kathy’s statuesque beauty would fetch Kathy a hefty fee if she ever decided to become a high-class escort.

Kathy was fiercely independent. She was determined to rise to the top “without help from a man.” Kathy was a little frustrated that people who found she didn’t want a boyfriend presumed she wanted a girlfriend. Kathy was straight. She liked men, “from a distance” she said. Kathy had long ago decided a relationship with a man would impede her options. Kathy wanted no romantic entanglements because she valued her freedom more. Kathy valued her freedom over anything else.

Sammi thought Kathy’s independent streak was a little over the top, but Sammi understood it. Sammi also understood being mis-understood. Many people confused Sammi’s shyness with submissiveness. Sammi was never the first to speak, but she was never going to simply “do what she was told.” Sammi generally listened carefully first, then acted. Once Sammi felt she understood a situation, she did what she decided to do. Underneath Sammi’s quiet and modest exterior was a steel spine.

Sammi also chatted with Sarah. Sarah was also a blonde, with hair slightly darker than Kathy’s. She had light blue eyes and fair skin. She wore a purple cocktail dress that looked a little like a bridesmaid dress due to its pleated design. The ladylike elegant dress was a one shoulder mini fit and was flare pleated. Sarah had paired it with black and silver sequin open toe heels, along with other silver jewelry. She seemed well put together.

Sarah’s most obvious feature was her glowing smile. Sarah was in a delightfully happy long-term relationship with her loving boyfriend. Sarah’s boyfriend treated her like a princess. That was even his pet name for her. He always treated her with the utmost love and respect. He often sent her romantic messages and thoughtful tokens. Sarah absolutely loved the adoring way her boyfriend treated her. Through the years, watered by her boyfriend’s adoration and care, she had blossomed into a joyful and confident woman. Every year Sarah had grown to love him even more intensely. Sarah completely depended on him and she didn’t care who knew it. Even after years as a couple, Sarah’s boyfriend always made her feel special and protected.

Sarah’s best friend had confided to Sarah that he was currently looking for a ring. He had not popped the question yet, because he was looking for the “perfect ring for his perfect princess.” In Sarah’s opinion, the perfect ring would be whatever ring from him was firmly placed on her finger.

Sammi was surprised about how much Sarah shared about her sex life. Sarah’s boyfriend was thoughtful and respectful in bed, too. Whenever Sarah wanted to make love, they made love. In bed, he would praise her beauty in ways that made her blush. His earnestness made it clear this was no unfelt flattery. He was also an infinitely patient and giving lover. Through his careful study of her responses over the years, he’d learned exactly how to best sexually please her. He had become an expert in gratifying her G-spot. They weren’t adventurous, but Sarah wasn’t looking for adventure. Sarah wanted to be intimately in her man’s arms and to have his dick in her pussy. She always had a mind-blowing orgasm whenever they made love. They now made love almost every day. Sarah knew exactly what she would be doing when she returned home to her lover. Sarah could not wait.

Kathy disapproved of Sarah. Kathy thought having sex was fine, sure. Kathy also flatly stated, “you don’t need men for a sex life.” Kathy felt Sarah depended on a man too much. Sammi thought Kathy was being too harsh. Yes, Sarah was obviously smitten. Yes, there are always risks if you depend on someone else. On the other hand, there were worse problems in this world than depending on someone you love. Especially someone who loves you as sacrificially as Sarah’s boyfriend seemed to do. Frankly, Sammi was a little envious of Sarah’s blissfully happy domestic life with her boyfriend.

After 30 minutes they went their own ways.

Sammi was perplexed. This was an odd club. Sammi thought this should be called a multi-week seminar, not a club. The girls’ ages were nearly identical and they were all gorgeous. If the girls she’d chatted with were any indication, though, the girls had quite different temperaments. Judith’s presentation had been, well, tedious. Sammi couldn’t remember much of it. Sammi had to admit being paid to attend presentations was awesome. Judith was also so earnest. Judith was a delight in conversation. Judith was obviously successful.

There was something “off” about the whole thing. Sammi couldn’t remember anything specifically objectionable about the presentation. If anything, the presentation was too banal. Yet Sammi somehow instinctively objected to the presentation. Even more oddly, she objected in a way she couldn’t explain. Something about the presentation made her angry. Sammi knew this was a completely irrational feeling.

The amount of money on offer was staggering. Especially for so little being asked in return. Perhaps too much. Was there a hidden agenda?

Sammi had done other boring things, while dealing with new people, for fewer incentives. Attending a few boring meetings for this amount of money was easy to justify. Sammi’s objections were vague and impossible to justify. Sammi decided her objections were nonsense.

Sammi committed herself to completing this set of meetings. She wouldn’t have made that commitment if she had known where it would take her.