by Luke Young
Her breathing quickened to an almost normal pace.
Scott continued, “It’s almost time to come back to this safe room and fully awaken. When you are ready I want you to open your eyes. Paula, when you are ready, open your eyes.”
The patient rocked back and forth slightly then slowly opened her eyes. She looked to Scott then to Victoria and began to cry.
After pulling a tissue from the box and dabbing her cheeks, Paula trembled, folding her arms across her chest. “Oh my God. Do you think that really happened? With Cameron and William and…”
Victoria asked, “So you never recalled any of that before?”
Paula shook her head.
“Do you remember that party?”
She nodded. “The, um, beginning of it.”
“What do you remember about your relationship with Cameron after that party?”
“We stopped seeing each other. We never really spoke again.” Paula cleared her throat and dabbed her tears with the tissue.
Victoria asked, “Would you like to take a break?”
Paula nodded.
Victoria stood and motioned for Scott to follow her as she made her way toward the door. The two professionals stepped outside of the room then when Victoria returned a few minutes later she found Paula standing and gazing out the window. “Do you think there’s something wrong with me? Do you think I’m a bad person? A sexual deviant?”
“No, I don’t.”
Paula turned to look at her. “But how could a normal person do that with two people at the same time.”
The therapist resisted the urge to share a fond personal memory and instead held back a smile as she said, “Please sit down.”
The patient made her way back to the chair.
“I think you were simply acting out sexually. A young, lonely, confused woman feeling pressure from her parents, from her religion, from God. A woman who had all these desires and feelings, which were being stifled by all the forces around her.”
Paula nodded and choked back her emotions, staring at the carpet.
“Putting yourself in a dangerous situation like that when you were drinking heavily probably wasn’t the best choice, but it sounds like you were able to escape before anything happened that you didn’t want to happen.”
Paula leveled her gaze to Victoria. “You know, I never thanked William.”
“Did you ever speak to him after that?”
“No.” She shook her head.
“I think this memory has been plaguing you for all these years. Boiling just below the surface— there in your subconscious. Preventing you from really enjoying sex with your husband.”
Paula moved to the edge of her seat.
Victoria added, “I think now that it’s been brought to light, you can begin to come to terms with it and forgive yourself. Give yourself permission to put it behind you and to explore things that you and your husband enjoy.”
“But how do I…” Paula cringed as she shook her head. “Do I tell him about this?
“I think complete honesty would be best in this situation. Especially given the infidelity, even though that wasn’t entirely your fault.”
“I don’t know. Do you think he’s going to think even less of me?”
“He sounds like a strong and wonderful man who loves you. I think he’ll be happy that you’re getting better. Happy that you can move forward to hopefully what will be a more fulfilling marriage.”
Paula paused a moment and sighed. “Maybe you’re right.”
Victoria asked, “Would you like to bring him in to a future session and we could tell him together? Or I could simply sit back and listen while you tell him and I’d be here to answer any questions that come up.”
“Yes, I think I would like to tell him here with your support.”
19
Brian arrived at the tennis club a few minutes early hoping to catch his brother before he left. With the unusual and sensitive Jillian situation weighing on his mind, he was desperate to talk with someone. Finding him in the locker room, he stepped into the large shower area and said, “Dude, I’m glad you’re still here.”
“Hey, Brian, what’s up?”
Brian rubbed his forehead. “I need some advice.”
“From me?” Jim snorted. “You never ask me for advice.”
“Yeah, I don’t have anyone else to talk to,” Brian whined.
“Gee, thanks.” Jim squeezed shampoo into his hand and started to work it into his hair.
“I didn’t mean it that way.”
“Right,” Jim grumbled. “So, what is it?”
“It’s Jillian. I think she wants me to have sex with a man.”
“What?” Jim rinsed the lather from his scalp then looked at his brother as if he needed help. Professional help. With a whole team of doctors. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You know my friend Jeremy?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s coming to Miami again soon and he’s going to stay with us.”
“Okay, so…” Jim looked at him, waiting.
“He was here a couple weeks ago and Jillian was acting really strangely around him. We were all in the sauna together and she was all flirty and—”
“It sounds more like she wants to bang him.” Turning toward the wall, Jim grabbed the bar of soap and soaped up his manhood.
“No, listen. Remember the strap-on thing that Jillian, you know…” Brian’s facial expression screamed the horrific details.
Jim cringed. “Dude, please don’t talk about you getting violated with a strap-on while I’m naked. It’s just weird.”
Brian sighed. “Geez, can you wrap it up and get dressed then? I mean, how many times are you going to wash your dick?”
“I’ll bet you want to wash it for me.” Holding back a laugh, Jim shot him a pointed look.
“Knock it off.”
“All right. All right.” Jim turned off the water then used both hands to cover his junk. Then he made a big production out of keeping as far away from his brother as he possibly could as he headed for his towel.
“Funny.” Brian sneered.
“Hey, I don’t want to lead you on or anything.” Jim put on an evil grin, looking over his shoulder as he grabbed his towel from the hook. “I don’t roll that way. Not that there’s anything wrong with it.”
“Okay.” Brian rolled his eyes as he headed out of the shower room. “I’ll just wait for you out here.”
When Jim strolled into the locker area with the towel wrapped around his waist he found Brian sitting on the bench with his head in his hands.
Jim asked, “So, what the hell is this all about?”
Lifting his head, Brian looked to the ceiling and began, “So there’s the strap-on thing and—”
“It was only the one time right?”
“No, that’s just it. She keeps mentioning it. She even brought it with us on our trip to New York.”
“No way. Did she rape you there too?”
“No, I faked being sick,” Brian whined.
“Oh, my God. You’re like a woman now.”
“I know. I know.” The sexually tormented brother shook his head.
“I mean, what guy turns down sex.” Jim chuckled. “Especially in a hotel.”
“You don’t understand. She’s writing this male—male romance…” Flabbergasted, Brian lifted his palms. “… or it’s some sort of threesome thing. I don’t know, but it’s those same stupid characters based on her and me.”
“Yeah…” Opening his locker, Jim grabbed his underwear from his bag and held it up giving his brother a hesitant look.
“What?” Brian asked.
“Could you turn around?” With his brows raised, Jim spun his index finger at his brother.
“Why?”
“Cause I need to remove my towel so I can put these on and, you know…” Jim shrugged.
Brian glared at him. “Fuck you. Just put on your damn underwear.” Brian added sarcastically,
“I promise I won’t try to blow you.”
Cackling, Jim pulled the towel off and slipped on his boxer trunks. “Sorry, it’s just so much fun messing with you.”
“Can I finish my story?”
“Sure, who’s stopping you?”
Brian exhaled sharply. “So we’re in the hotel room and about too, you know…”
“Uh-huh.” Rolling his eyes, Jim made a hand gesture which screamed for him to get to the fucking point already.
“All right.” Brian continued on loudly, “I open her stupid laptop and its right on a page of this sex scene she’s writing where she’s asking me to suck my friends dick and—”
Suddenly a toilet was flushed around the corner. Brian’s jaw dropped as they both stood motionless listening to the sounds of the stall door open then the person washing their hands.
“Crap,” Brian whispered.
Seconds later one of the senior citizen club members emerged from the sink area and gave them a peculiar look.
“Mr. Larson, how are you?” Brian said weakly.
Frowning, the old man studied them for a moment.
“We were just, um…” Brian continued sheepishly, “My wife is a writer and, um… well she…”
The old man dismissed them with a frown and a wave of his hand as he slipped out the door.
Brian sighed. “This probably isn’t the best place to tell you about this.”
“Just finish the story while I’m still young. Geez.”
“Where was I?”
“You were about to blow Jeremy,” Jim announced gleefully.
“That’s right,” Brian began then when he took in his brother’s expression he shook his head. “You’re enjoying this, douche bag.”
“Maybe just a little bit.”
“Can we just get through this without all the jokes?”
“I promise I’ll behave.”
Brian sighed. “So I read the story which clearly was a fantasy about her, me and Jeremy in bed together and her making me, you know…”
“You look like you might be good at that.” Jim covered his mouth to keep from busting into laughter.
“Fuck you.” Brian sneered.
Jim shot him a knowing look. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“Oh, screw you,” Brian shot back then he frowned. “I mean, blow me.”
Jim widened his eyes with put on concern.
Brian shook his head. “Wait, please just stop fucking with me.”
Jim shrugged. “With every word you’re digging yourself a bigger hole.”
“Look.” Brian exhaled deeply. “Can I just finish my story?”
Jim lifted his palm and held back a laugh.
Brian let out an exasperated sigh before continuing, “So then I found the strap-on. I mean, who travels on a plane with something like that. I’ll bet the baggage screeners were having a big laugh.”
“Did she carry on?” Jim asked as he pulled on his shorts.
“Yes.”
“Damn, what if you guys got caught up in like a random check?” Jim began. “I mean, they would have pulled that thing out right in front of everyone in the security line.”
“I know, right!” Brian shook his head.
“You’ve got to keep your sex toys in your checked baggage.” Jim gave him a confident nod then pulled a t-shirt over his head.
“Wait, you guys travel with sex toys?” Brian looked at him, horrified.
“Sure. I mean, the anal beads usually stay at home, but we’ve been known to take some other pieces.”
“Okay…” Brian paused a moment processing that nugget, took a deep breath then his face sank. “Um, I didn’t tell you the worst part.”
“What’s that?”
“I overheard her on the phone with Jeremy and she was talking about…” Brian cringed with his words trailing off.
“Talking about what?”
He closed his eyes then shook his head. “Me being able to handle something… that big.”
“You’re kidding?” Jim narrowed his eyes. “You heard her say that?”
“Uh-huh. She also said she’s been like slowly getting me ready for it and… oh, shit and in the sauna Jeremy told us he’d been in a threesome with another guy.”
“Oh, that’s the wrong kind of threesome.” Jim widened his eyes.
“Yeah, tell me about it.” Brian nodded with a frown. “There’s only one kind of threesome and it doesn’t have two dicks.”
Jim looked straight ahead for a few moments then shook his head slowly without uttering a word.
“So, what do you think?” Brian asked.
“I think, um… I think you’re fucked.” Jim held back a smile. “Both figuratively and soon to be literally.”
“Gee thanks,” Brian muttered.
“Sorry.” Jim patted him on the back hard. “Good luck with all that.”
“Okay, never, ever ask me for advice again.” Brian glared at him.
“I’m kidding.” Jim took a deep breath. “There has to be a way out of this.”
“What do I do? Because I really don’t want to have a threesome with Jeremy and I certainly don’t want to accept his penis into my mouth or anywhere else for that matter.”
“You’re absolutely sure that she’s… I mean, could you be like completely off base here or like losing your mind?” Jim asked a bit horrified as he sat down on the bench and grabbed his tennis shoes.
“There’s no doubt about it.” He nodded. “She told me strapping on makes her feel powerful and she’s always writing about stuff then forcing me to do that same crap.”
“Forcing you?” Jim shot him a skeptical look.
Brian sighed. “Okay, I do most of the stuff willingly. But this… She’s crossing the line.”
“I’ll say.” Jim made a face.
“I mean, would it kill her to write a two girl and one guy threesome scene.” Brian lifted his palms up. “I’d be interested in helping her explore that.”
“Sure.”
“Purely for writing research purposes.” Folding his arms, Brian held his head high.
“Of course. You’d make that sacrifice for her career.”
“That’s right,” Brian said braggingly. “That’s just the kind of guy I am.”
“How dare Jillian try and use you like this?”
“Uh-huh.” Brian nodded. “Seriously.”
Jim cleared his throat then whispered, “And I should probably tell you that Victoria has been hinting again about this strap-on thing with me too.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, but I’m controlling the situation.”
“How?”
“I open all the packages that come to the house and when I saw one of these little male humiliating devices, it conveniently…” He made quote marks with his fingers. “… got lost during shipping.”
“My God, what’s with them?” Shaking his head, Brian wrinkled his nose.
“I don’t know, but I think someone needs to be taught a lesson.”
“Definitely.”
Jim rubbed his chin, pausing for a few moments then a grin slowly spread across his face. “So Jillian wants you to be bisexual, right?”
“Yeah…”
Jim flashed him an evil look. “Well, it sounds like she’s about to overshoot that mark and knock you completely to the other side.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re about to have an affair with Antonio from the club.” Jim raised his eyebrows and smiled.
“No way.” Brian shook his head.
“No, not a real affair. Just make her believe that you are.”
“Oh, okay.” Brian shot him a confused look. “But how?”
“I’ll tell ya.”
20
With Kaylie finally asleep, Victoria slipped into her bedroom and sighed in exhaustion. She flopped down on the mattress and closed her eyes. Spreading her arms out over the fluffy comforter, she stretched out. Then her hand brushed across something and she
grabbed it. It was Jim’s t-shirt. Smiling, she brought it to her nose and breathed in deeply. She loved his scent, well, most of the time anyway— not his three-sets-of-tennis completely sweat soaked shirt smell, but his normal, going about his business, manly musky smell was just fine. It was more than fine. It made her heart race.
Suddenly she heard the shower running and her eyes popped open wide. With the gears turning in her mind, she pressed her tongue against the side of her mouth, grinning. It had been a while since they’d showered together.
It was time to change that.
Rising up from the bed, she pulled her clothes off and quietly pushed open the bathroom door. Inside the recently renovated bathroom was a long open shower designed so it needed no shower door. She made her way to the entrance and gazed inside smiling at her husband as he stood facing the showerhead, his face under the spray. As he squirted some shampoo into his hand, she stealthily made her way until she stood directly behind him. Sudsy water splashed over her as he worked the lather into his hair.
Reaching around him, she placed her hand on his flaccid penis, startling him. He craned his neck, opened his eyes slightly then slammed them shut, grimacing from the stinging shampoo. “Victoria, is that you?”
“I hope so… or we have a problem.” She chuckled. He began to turn to her and she put a hand on his shoulder. “No stay where you are.”
“What are you doing?” He wiped his eyes carefully with his fingers.
“Um, touching you. You don’t want me to?”
“No. I mean, yes, I do.” He tilted his head into the spray of the water, running his fingers over his face.
“Good.” She pressed her lips to his shoulder then nibbled on him playfully.
He squinted and reached back to touch her. She took hold of both of his wrists and said, “No, just relax. Let me touch you.”
“Okay.”
She guided his arms to the shower wall. He placed his palms against the tile and took a deep breath.
“Just relax.” She whispered in his ear. “Let me take care of you.”
He sighed.
With her cheek resting against his back, she wrapped her arms around him and placed them on his chest.
After massaging both his pecs, she slowly slid her hands down, his warm, wet skin until she reached his belly. Her fingers lingered there for only a moment, before venturing further to his tightly coiffed pubic hair. She ran her fingers over it then brushed her index finger against the root of him.
