PORTAL: entrance, gateway, opening, ingress
Chapter 1
Spring was nearing its end when First Sergeant Argus Mitchell received his honorable discharge. Invalided home from the Middle East with a shattered hip, the marine had been made whole against after a complete hip reconstruction and receiving extensive psychological therapy,
The size of his gratuity made Gus' eyes water.
Gus was roaring to go. Those months of intense hospitalization had come close to breaking him but one particular thing had helped him through and it wasn't the prayers of the well-meaning chaplain: it was the nursing.
Until falling into the hands of compassionate care, Gus had lusted after and left numerous women in his wake like discarded toys. Under that prolonged nursing care he'd learned about the individuality of women, there was more to women than the power of their return hip thrusts and even hardened females more often than not could reveal a soft center.
The nursing staff chided him, educated him and reformed him from his former heartless attitudes. But the Queen Bee amongst them was a buxom redhead physiotherapist assigned to teach him to walk on his rebuilt hip and eventually swim, run, climb and vault until finally he was unable to determine which was his stronger side.
At the stage when gradual improvement convinced Gus his left leg would return to good-as-new condition, he joked with Mrs Bennett: "What about sex?"
Her reply was succinct: "What about sex?"
"Will I be able to work a woman until she's screaming in delight and my left hip won't let me down?"
The trainer save an ambiguous reply that left Gus puzzled: "We'll have to see, won't we? Time's up Gus. You've done well today. Please return to your unit."
Gus returned briskly to the six-bed unit wondering about the use of Mrs Bennett's word 'we'.
Next morning at Mrs Bennett's workout room she locked the door, which was unusual. Minutes later they have their first sexual engagement that left Gus panting and grinning hugely. Mrs Bennett left her Cowgirl position, checked he was physically okay, and then had him stand behind her while she touched her toes, instructing him to bang her doggy style -- although her choice of words were somewhat more refined. Finally she lay on her back and instructed Gus to pump her he ran low on energy.
"How do you feel?" she asked.
"Like I've been put through a Laundromat. I'm rather out of practice."
She chuckled and said she meant his hip.
"What's wrong with my hip. Do you have a complaint?"
"No, you were even better than I'd anticipated. We could do this every second day, revising your rehabilitation program. It appears the perfect physiotherapy for you."
Gus licked his lips.
There wasn't much Mrs Bennett could teach Gus about sex apart from the importance to some women of foreplay and graduated from Mrs Bennett's class as expert in clit teasing.
Gus was given small ceremony where the Sergeant Major presented him with yet another service medal, to go with his other service medals and awards for heroism. Most of the hospital staff turned out for the parade because Gus had been a popular patient, always ready for a laugh and a tease that had softened since his admission to the rehabilitation facility. The Sergeant Major read out details of First Sergeant Argus Mitchell's citations for bravery. The oohs and aahs flowed from the nursing staff, joined by an auburn-headed physiotherapist who'd now idolized Gus because she'd lost weight in recent months due to the revised workouts.
An hour after leaving the camp Gus had purchased clothing, nothing flashy, and a pre-owned nondescript gray Ford. Gus hit the gas pedal and whooped, "Go car go. I've had enough of the Marine Corps and North Carolina."
Where to go hadn't been narrowed right down. With his parents deceased, his sister working in an embassy in China and his brother engaged in post-graduate medical studies in Edinburgh, Gus finally made his choice. He aimed for California and decided to see what happened on the way. All he wanted was adventure in reconnecting with civilian life.
At Knoxville Gus impulsively changed direction for Cincinnati and after a look around then went on to Indianapolis. That broke the long trip to California but since he was reasonably close he thought he'd head for Illinois for no other reason than he'd always liked the name of that state.
Gus entered Illinois having no idea what he'd do as a career. One thing he was sure about after his illicit affairs with soft-centered Mrs Bennett was he'd find a suitable woman to marry and have kids if that's what she wanted. Now thirty-four, he'd been trained as a marine to navigate in the dark over difficult terrain, to parachute, to shoot people dead, kill armed people with his hands, play poker and perform honorably at all times except when mashing the enemy. Of those attributes, playing poker and being of fine upstanding character would be useful in civilian life but he doubted if aware of his other attributes the Mafia or Murder Inc. would take kindly to his ethical attitudes. He had no intention of being retrained.
After leaving Indianapolis Gus stopped for lunch at a small town and feeling horny twice attempted to chat up waitresses. Both asked how much would he pay, so he told them to get back to work. Gus returned to his vehicle and noticed he'd parked almost outside a physiotherapy clinic. In the marines he'd been taught survival techniques including infiltrating the enemy's home ground. This time his quarry would be a nicely rounded physiotherapist because he knew what they were good at doing: coordinating physically. Gus thought out a plan. Collecting his medical file from the trunk he marched forward with a faint smile of a man on a secret mission from which he expected success. Dead easy, huh?
"I'd like to see a consultant practitioner please ma'am."
The tired-faced fat woman receptionist asked, "And you are...?"
"Gus."
She glared. "I mean your full name so I can check my appointment book."
"I want to consult a consultant first."
"You'll need an appointment for that," said the woman, growing noticeably cross.
Gus remained staunch, as trained. "The consultant will decide whether I need an appointment."
The rude woman barked, "Just a minute. She muttered into the phone, "Billie, trouble at front desk. Do I call the security firm? Okay."
She turned to the most unpopular guy she'd faced in a month and practically spat, "Miss Jones the owner of this practice will be with us in a moment."
"You mean she'll be with me, don't you?"
Gus heard the thin-lipped receptionist pass wind.
A cute blonde came through an office doorway looking a little peculiar in her body stance. Gus took it as an amateur she was adopting a defensive unarmed combat position. She looked at Gus -- he was six-two and appeared three feet across -- and she said "Oh God."
Gus figured she didn't mean him.
Cutie asked the receptionist, "What is your problem?"
Before the enemy responded, Gus said, "This rude receptionist insists I make an appointment to see a consultant when I want to see a consultant about whether I should make an appointment."
"Is this what you call a problem Mary?"
"Well yes, but frankly I don't like his attitude. He's too demanding."
The blonde appeared uncertain what to do.
"Are you Billie?"
The blonde looked at Gus surprised and said yes.
