Subculture

by Sarah Veitch

  ‘Happens to most of us in the caring profession,’ Ria concurred with a wry grin.

  They sat down, Lisa turning sideways in her chair to better observe the other woman’s strong yet sensuous features. Her brown eyes were ringed with a black kohl which matched her hair. Scarlet lipstick with a hint of gloss outlined her full mouth and showed off her almost-even small white teeth. She also boasted a light tan. How old was she? Lisa settled on circa thirty. She realised she’d been staring and added quickly ‘I keep meaning to get fit.’

  ‘Then let’s use Vitality’s pools and go for regular swims,’ Ria said picking up one of the Clinic’s brochures and flicking through the aquatic photographs.

  The herbalist nodded. ‘I swum back home in Scarborough but since I came here I’ve been so busy...’ Busy thinking about Michael, she admitted to herself. She wondered if the sex surrogate had missed the doctor whilst she was travelling. She searched in vain for a way to bring the topic up. She’d already compromised herself once by asking Achille if the former surgeon was married. She’d be damned if she’d be quite so obvious again.

  ‘I’ve started to use essential oils in my practice,’ Ria murmured, looking at the inset which introduced Lisa to the brochure. ‘Have you got any tips for giving a full body massage?’

  ‘Not really, I’m still learning about that side of things myself,’ Lisa admitted. ‘But they’re really useful for minor aches and ills. For instance, a drop of lavender oil rubbed along the hairline can sometimes stop a tension headache in its tracks.’

  ‘I’m dealing with their cocks and quims rather than with their heads,’ Ria said with a wicked grin.

  ‘And do you actually... satisfy them?’ Lisa murmured, looking at the surrogate’s long slender legs and pouting breasts, and knowing that she would appeal to men of all ages.

  ‘If they’re virgins who fear the first act, or people who can’t find a sexual partner then yes, I have penetrative sex with them,’ the black-haired woman replied. She winked. ‘But for every man I take inside me there’s ten I don’t touch yet still send back cured to their wives or girlfriends. Most of them just need to relax, to learn to believe in themselves and their power to attract.’

  ‘And do you... doesn’t your boyfriend mind?’ Lisa prompted. She held her breath, hoped that the woman would say that she didn’t have a boyfriend or that her boyfriend didn’t care.

  ‘Michael? He can hardly object since he employs me,’ Ria said with a slightly sneering grin.

  The breeze seemed to disappear from the room. Lisa felt the muscles of her stomach contract. So Michael was spoken for. He had just wanted her as a diversion. Thank God she hadn’t fully made love to him at the casino last night.

  ‘What lousy luck,’ she murmured, forcing her voice to stay calm. ‘You’re separated for weeks then as you reach Malta he leaves for England.’

  ‘We can always write to each other,’ Ria said.

  ‘But he’ll be back before the post arrives,’ Lisa answered, turning to look more fully at the other girl.

  ‘He told you that? You saw him last night, then? I didn’t realise...’ the Sex Surrogate muttered, turning away to set the brochure down.

  ‘No, I didn’t see him last night. I went straight to bed after the trip to the casino. He pushed a note under my door,’ Lisa explained.

  ‘He’s always been thoughtful like that,’ Ria toed the ground with one patent heel.

  Lisa forced out the painful words. ‘So, how long have you been dating the good doctor?’

  ‘Oh, many months - ever since I took the position here,’ Ria said.

  Lisa nodded - so Michael spanked and satiated all his staff with equal measure. If only he hadn’t looked at her as if she was special. If only he hadn’t written that he’d miss her, and made her foolish hopes lilt. ‘He... doesn’t strike me as the settling down kind,’ she muttered with difficulty. If Ria was innocent of Michael’s philandering she had no wish to hurt her. But the herbalist was curious as to how much or how little the other woman might know.

  ‘You mean because he punishes the staff when they’re bad? He was doing that before me - and he’ll continue to do so. Sometimes I spank young Bakar and I reckon that makes us about even,’ Ria said.

  ‘And you don’t mind him - well, undressing them from the waist down?’

  Ria shrugged. ‘If I’m bored I sometimes watch. It’s a lot better than playing Scrabble. They get so embarrassed having an audience, but they put up with it because he makes them come so overwhelmingly.’ She turned to Lisa. ‘Talking of which, have you been a bad girl and had to be punished by the doc?’

  ‘No way - I’m nobody’s plaything,’ Lisa lied stiffly. She stared unseeingly at her patient list then added, ‘I have to go now. There’s a client due in five minutes and I want to do some provisional reading first.’

  ‘Poor you - I got back early so I’m a free agent till Friday,’ Ria laughed, as the herbalist walked self-consciously from the room.

  A free agent. The words swum around Lisa’s head throughout the intolerably long day. She had to think positive, she told herself. She was free to be Reece’s fiance again. Somehow had to forget Michael’s caresses. But she couldn’t forget the sound of his taunting or the swish of his rattan cane. Though she’d genuinely writhed under each lash, the situation had excited her. Much as she’d hated the humiliation, she’d adored the spectacular orgasm at the end. There had to be a way to incorporate a little erotic punishment into her love life. She had to find a means to tell Reece that she wasn’t averse to being spanked.

  After much musing, Lisa put together twenty photos she’d taken of Vitality and its plush surroundings. Then she slipped in the one of Carmen lying with her skirts raised over Michael’s knee. The girl’s panties were pushed down. Her bottom was scarlet. They take an old fashioned approach to discipline here, she wrote on the photograph’s back. Then she paused. That simply made the act sound punitive. Makes a change from missionary position, she added in a shaky hand and added six exclamation marks.

  Lisa stared at the envelope for a long time, as she tried to envisage her lover’s reaction. Then she mailed the snapshots with her usual letter and started to watch for the post, eagerly awaiting his reply.

  Chapter Ten

  The hours pass slowly when you’re waiting for someone to return - especially when you’re pretending not to. Lisa normally relaxed between consultations, but now she made cups of tea that she didn’t want then further tidied her already immaculate Consultation Suite. She had to be friendly but untouchable when Michael Landers returned, she told herself edgily. She had to seem unperturbed. Somehow she’d get through what remained of her three month stint here then take her bruised heart back to England, back to Reece.

  Lisa sighed and added two drops of an anti-depressive oil to the vapour ring attached to her lamp. She’d have to postpone the wedding for a while, of course - her attraction to Michael had shown her that she wasn’t ready to marry Reece yet. She’d simply tell him that she wanted them to keep dating for a while longer. He’d understand.

  He was a good man, Lisa told herself. Her heart sank. When people used these words it was usually to make up for some other deficiency in the man’s persona. He’s a good man, they said - and silently added but a little dull and plodding. He’s got a good heart - but he’s never made mine skip an excited beat.

  A knock tattooed through her door. Lisa jumped, then tried to push the anxious blush from her face. Had Michael returned this quickly? ‘Enter,’ she called, then winced at the double entendre. She must stop thinking about sex.

  Jamilla hurried in. ‘Forgot to refill the vapour rings in your consultation rooms,’ she murmured. ‘What with Michael away, we’re all out of our usual routine.’

  ‘Do you miss him?’ Lisa asked. The openness of the question surprised herself. She hadn’t meant to sound so blunt.

 
Jamilla put down the essential oils and smiled. ‘Of course I miss him. He’s a wonderful employer.’

  Lisa sucked in her breath; she had nothing to lose now by assuaging her curiosity. ‘I thought he meant more to you than that.’

  ‘You mean...’ For the first time, the Maltese woman dipped her head as she put the sandalwood and bergamot phials back into her cavernous apron pocket. ‘He pleases me, yes.’

  ‘And you don’t mind that he also pleases Carmen and Dania and... other staff members?’ Lisa prompted, keeping her voice light and even.

  Jamilla picked up her bunch of keys and took a step towards the door. She spoke quietly. ‘I have all the satisfaction I need, yet no other demands on my time and energy. Why should I want something more?’

  Because men and women are more than genitally linked. Because most of us want someone who is special. Because people fall in love. Lisa felt the thoughts swarm round her brain. A holiday romance wasn’t for her - she wanted ongoing passion. Couldn’t bear to just have a partial share in her man.

  ‘I’m glad life is good to you,’ she said to the housekeeper, meaning it.

  ‘I think it could be even better for you,’ Jamilla said.

  ‘Me? Oh I’ll get by.’ Lisa picked up her herbal diary to read over the next patient’s notes.

  Jamilla left. The patient arrived and soon departed with a relaxing tisane. Physician heal thyself, Lisa thought wearily, as she massaged some diluted geranium and rosewood oils into her own tense abdomen.

  Then the phone rang. Was it Michael calling from England this time? She’d told Marie-Rose that she was too busy to speak to the doctor. She couldn’t bear to hear his voice, remember his calm insistent tone. Bend over the desk, Lisa. Pull down your pants for me. That’s it, sweetheart. Her tummy lurched its lust. Marshalling her courage and her coolest voice, she picked up the receiver and murmured ‘Yes?’

  Marie-Rose’s hesitant words filtered down the line. ‘Don Muscat, a patient of Ria’s, has just turned up at Reception. He’s desperate to see someone. Ria is out shopping, so I thought...’

  ‘Send him up,’ the herbalist said easily. She greeted the fair-haired man at the door of her consultation room. He was about eight years her junior, and had the well built torso of someone who spends three or four nights a week in the gym.

  ‘Take a seat, Don,’ Lisa invited, her own gaze taking in his white cotton trousers, tan belt and tan coloured polo shirt. He was very pleasing to the crotch and on the eye.

  ‘Sorry to arrive without warning,’ the newcomer said with an engaging grin. ‘I was driving to my fiancee’s and suddenly turned the wheel in the direction of Vitality. I guess I just wanted to talk to Ria again before I made any final decisions regarding Jill.’

  ‘Jill’s your fiancee?’ Lisa clarified.

  The man nodded. ‘She’s great - she hasn’t done anything wrong. That’s why I feel so guilty.’

  ‘Guilty that you’ve...?’ Lisa prompted, starting to nibble her pen.

  Marie-Rose had given her the briefest details of the patient - only Ria knew what had really been going on in the man’s mind.

  ‘I feel guilty that I still notice other women,’ Don Muscat admitted with an apologetic shrug.

  ‘You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t.’ Lisa tried to give him an encouraging smile, but her thoughts again turned to Michael. She found the doctor so attractive that her pelvis ached with need. ‘Give me a brief version of events,’ she added softly. ‘Tell whatever seems important to you.’

  Don Muscat nodded. ‘Well, I met Jill two years ago and we’ve been dating ever since. I knew she wanted to get married and... I guess on one level I did too. You know, the idea of a shared house, having someone to come home to. But since we set a date for the wedding I haven’t wanted to... perform.’

  ‘And Ria’s helped?’ Lisa queried. Jealousy caused a heavy dragging feeling between her bra-cupped breasts.

  ‘Sure. She showed me that there was nothing physically wrong, that the problem was a psychological one,’ Don Muscat murmured.

  You mean she shafted you, Lisa thought wearily. Aloud she said, ‘So what made you seek out Ria’s help today?’

  ‘I... we’d talked and she’d sent me away to decide what I wanted to do about Jill. Last night I decided to end my engagement. I was on my way to see Jill today and tell her when I bottled out.’

  Genuinely sympathetic, Lisa leaned forward. ‘You wanted Ria to reassure you that you were doing the right thing?’

  ‘I guess so.’ He shrugged. ‘Maybe I was just delaying the horrible moment. It’s hard to tell someone you love that you’re cancelling the wedding plans.’

  ‘You’ll continue to date Jill?’ Lisa prompted. This was so like her own situation with Reece that it felt almost eerie.

  ‘I doubt that she’ll have me,’ the man answered then gave a long low sigh. He looked steadily across the desk at her. ‘I’m aware that she may want my head on a stick for changing our plans like this.’ He hesitated. ‘I mean, if someone called off your wedding at two months notice would you want to know them any more?’

  ‘I... I guess not.’ She’d feel as if she wasn’t good enough. She’d feel devastated. Like most women, she’d erroneously blame herself. The fair haired client was looking at her expectantly. Lisa sought to reassure. ‘I’m working as a herbalist here - but I trained as a counsellor before so I can provide either form of therapy. We can talk now, or I can give you a relaxing herbal tisane to drink and essential oils which you can inhale to further de-stress.’

  ‘I’d hoped that Ria... I’ve got all this tension in my neck and shoulders. She sometimes gives me a massage,’ the twenty year old said.

  ‘I’m not really trained to...’ Lisa started. The phone rang and she jumped and noticed that the man seemed surprised by her sudden edginess. ‘Hello?’ she said.

  ‘Dr Landers is back. He’d like to see you in half an hour. Should he visit your treatment suite?’ Marie-Rose queried down the telephone line.

  ‘No - I’ll be out. I’m too busy,’ Lisa muttered, the words tumbling over each other. Then she slammed down the phone.

  ‘Sounds like you’re the one who needs a massage,’ the youth grinned. ‘Are you overworked here?’

  ‘I’ll admit I’ve had a difficult few days,’ Lisa admitted. She glanced at the door, knowing that Michael could come through it any second. He was Ria’s now, though - she, Lisa, had to keep away.

  Driven by panic and anger, she swiftly stood. ‘I’ll give you that massage if you like. I know its a bit unorthodox, but I’ve more essential oils in my bedroom and we won’t be disturbed by the phone there.’ She flicked her machine onto answer mode, ushered the man out, then locked the suite. ‘I don’t have a massage couch I’m afraid, so I’ll spread a large quilt on the floor for you to lie on.’ She walked the man to her large and well-aired bedroom with ensuite bathroom and ushered him in.

  ‘Don’t you just want me on the King Size?’ Don Muscat asked. He looked well worth having on the bed. He looked like a male model or film star. Lisa again admired his taut upper torso and small cotton-clad hips. She wanted to feel him all over, and would do, she told herself firmly, but only in the form of giving him a revitalising massage.

  ‘A bed is too soft for a massage,’ she explained. ‘When I press down on your muscles you’ll sink into the mattress. We want an ungiving support for your body which will also protect my knees.’

  ‘You’re the boss! Just tell me which way you want me,’ the man said, looking with obvious appreciation at her body then at the fragrant room.

  Lisa felt a little arc of sparks thrill its way across her groin. Ignoring it, she took the spare duvet from the wardrobe and spread it across the large expanse of carpet under the open window. Thank goodness Michael had been so generous with her bedroom space!

  ‘This is some room. Is it fun to w
ork here?’ Don Muscat queried.

  ‘It has its moments,’ Lisa said. She realised that she didn’t want to talk about her work or her employer. She just wanted to lose herself for an hour or two in an uncomplicated act. ‘Take off your clothes then lie down,’ she bid. Another little frisson nosed its way from lower belly to mons at her own directness. Lisa loosened the collar of her turquoise shirtdress and did a little deep breathing as she stared at the man.

  ‘Yes Ma’am,’ Don replied with a grin. She realised that poor Jill had had lots of girlish competition. And competition from more mature women like herself?

  She sat down as he shrugged out of his polo shirt, unbelted his cotton trews, and pulled both garments from his body. Hesitated, still clad in close-fitting white briefs, then pulled them off as well. Lisa stayed seated on the bed, drinking in his naked perfection. His phallus was a semi-hard fleshy tube underlined by thick blonde hair.

  ‘What do I do now?’ the client continued easily.

  You make me come upon your cock till I forget the past few days, Lisa thought with savage honestly. ‘Just relax on your tummy with your hands by your sides,’ she replied, bringing the ethical side of her persona into the phrase.

  ‘Yes, Ma’am,’ the man said. Again the slight submissiveness in his tone sent excitement to her pinkish nipples. It was true then, that even masochistic women could swing both ways. Lisa acknowledged her own sense of power as she watched Don Muscat lie at her feet, his bare bum an inviting target. If only he was her lover rather than a client. If only she was wearing a belt...

  Forcing her mind back into business mode, the herbalist went into her dressing table drawer and brought out a grape seed base, and two phials of essential oils.

  ‘I’m going to use ylang ylang to cure your restlessness and rose to lift your emotional tiredness,’ she told the man as she unscrewed the bottle tops.

  ‘Sounds fine to me.’ He lifted his head to smile at her and Lisa knelt to turn his head slightly to one side.