Doctor of Desire

Ch. 07: His Lucky Star

Casey knew Sol Levine from grammar school back in Southie. Sol was the best stickball player on the block. But they hadn't spoken much to each other over the years. He had seen a headline in the Entertainment section of the Globe mentioning a major Hollywood agent named Sol Levine, but he figured it could have been anybody.

Then Sol called him up. Out of the blue.

"A little bird I know heard from another little bird who knows you that you got this discreet little profession going, where you kind of help out the ladies with, let's say, a certain kind of physical problem, and I figured you could help me out. Not that I'm a lady, though around here you never know for sure who is or was...Well, nevermind. You know I am in the picture business and..."

Casey knew what was coming. Now and again, at a party, when someone figured out what he did, how he helped women get their sex lives back, then he always heard, "Damn, you must have some stories to tell! You could write quite a book, or maybe make a movie!"

So Casey told Sol he wasn't interested.

"I can't share these stories. I'd get sued. There's actually a doctor/patient thing here."

Sol laughed.

"Casey, Casey. I don't make pornos and I don't work with people that do, or at least I don't know if they do. Couple of times I have had to cover up some early indiscretions for a client. No, what I got here is someone who needs your help, bad. And I need your help, too, because she is losing her sizzle and she loses her sizzle she doesn't make pictures, and she doesn't make pictures I don't get paid."

"An actress?"

"You could say an actress."

"And you're telling me this young woman is a protégé of yours...

"Yeah."

"You're telling me she would get more work if she could sort of amp up her sex appeal? She's kind of a plain Jane, good actress but needs some..."

"Not exactly, but close. This young woman, let's call her Jane... Yeah, that's good. Jane Doe. Jane is actually pretty accomplished, pretty well known."

"Would I know this person?"

"Assuredly. Box office. Definitely box office."

"Can you tell me her name?"

"Might not be a good idea right at this moment. The paparazzi around here, and around her, and around me are worse than the CIA."

"So how am I going to give her lessons without them picking up on the whole thing and casting me as her latest, or a male whore, or...?

"We'll have to work that out. Suffice it to say, it can't happen here. For starters, we'll say she is going into rehab."

"And what exactly is the problem?"

"In a nutshell, she is so sick of being a sex bombshell that she can't stand men. She doesn't want to wear anything hot on the red carpet. She doesn't want to make the kind of pictures that, damn it, take advantage of her assets. She wants parts as bag ladies, or junkies or frowsy trailer trash. You gotta help me."

Casey knew this could be tough. What would he do with a real prima donna who expected catering hand and foot? Besides, he didn't totally agree with the plan. If she wanted to be an actor rather than a bimbo, that was her career choice. Still, a plan was beginning to form.

"Sol, do you have some money to burn?"

"Some."

"Ok, here's what I need. Private plane from LA to Bangor, Maine. Hairdresser and costume person on the plane. No mirrors anywhere on the plane. Private vehicle from the Bangor airport to a camp I know. You pay for the camp and the guide. OK?"

"So when do we start burning money?"

"That was it."

"That? That for her is a taxi ride. That is riding lean and mean. That's all you need?"

"That, some supplies and you keep the jackals at bay for two, three weeks. Really bamboozle them."

"That's hard. But that will be fun. There are guys and gals I am dying to lead on a wild goose chase."

A month later, the woman who climbed out of the private jet onto the tarmac at Bangor airport drew absolutely nobody's attention. She had mousy brown hair that looked as if it had been hacked with a saw in the dark. A splotch of thick freckles and blemishes marred an uneven tan. The famous puffy lips looked chapped; and when she gave a shy smile the teeth behind those lips appeared discolored and a bit crooked. The million-dollar ass was well disguised by a pair of paint-spattered overalls. A baggy flannel shirt hid the cleavage thousands of men had spilled seed over in their dreams.

They simply climbed into the Landrover and soon were winding through heavy pine woods.

Casey shook his client's hand. There was nothing elegant about it.

"Casey...Casey Darden."

"Jane...Jane Doe."

If he had closed his eyes the voice with its throaty growl might have told him who he was talking to but he looked her straight in those amethyst eyes.

"It's good to meet you, Jane. Do you like camping, fishing?"

"I haven't done much of it, but I'm willing to learn, though some people think I'm dumber than a fish."

"Fish can be pretty smart."

"So can I, given half a chance. But I thought I was here so you could teach me how to fuck."

"No."

"I figured some romantic hidden resort, maybe a little rough, a little elegant. Canoes under the full moon. Cocktails by the lake."

"Not exactly"

"Which explains the no makeup and the ugly overalls and why I had to leave all my people behind."

"Yes."

"So where are we going?"

"Fishing."

"Fishing? You weren't kidding. Will I have to stick worms on hooks? I'm sometimes vegetarian."

"No worms. We use flies."

"Flies? I knew they had big ones up here... You're serious? How do they tie them on the hook?"

"Imitation flies, but some guys would tie real ones on if they thought it would catch fish."

"I was dumb."

"No, you just didn't know. That's OK. The whole idea is that you try something you haven't tried before. Are you game?"

Her face lit up with the famous smile, though the funky teeth somewhat dimmed her glow.

"This could be fun!"

The Landrover pulled up in front of a low building with a small plaque in brass next to the door that read "Aquarius Aquaculture. A stunning redheaded woman was locking the door. She was tall and the haunches she revealed were high and round and separate. She turned and waved and large green eyes sparkled. Her rusty hair, pulled high with a calico scarf bounced with impudent curls. She effortlessly picked up a huge backpack in one hand and tossed it into the back of the vehicle.

Casey introduced her.

"Jane, this is Doctor Mollie MacGregor. She's an ichthyologist and an M.D., so she can tell us all about the fish we will be catching and patch our booboos, should we have any. Mollie, Jane."

Casey expected some sparks to fly when the two women met. After all, Jane had a rep for never wanting anyone who thought she was hotter within fifty yards. They timed visits to the red carpet so no competing starlets were on the scarlet strip. There was the hair pulling lawsuit and the on set catfight and all those extras fired for no reason.

Jane smiled and stuck out her hand.

"Mollie, I'm glad you're here. I thought maybe I was going to be stuck with cock doc here and a bunch of horny moose hunters trying to sex me up in the wilderness. But we girls can stick together against these beasts, can't we?"

Mollie flashed her perfect pearlies.

"I'd like that a lot."

They drove for quite a while, until the sun had set and the peepers and cicadas were loud outside as the Landrover pulled off the road and followed a track where the bushes brushed the sides of the vehicle.

Mollie and Jane were talked out after hours of ignoring Casey and gabbing about everything from nail polish to types of trout. Now they drowsed.

The vehicle pulled into a clearing. Suddenly, looming in the headlights was a tall rawboned figure in a bright red shirt and red-checkered cap. He was holding a shotgun. He smiled and Casey could see it was something he didn't do often. He was putting it on for company, like a stiff, tight suit.

Mollie got out of the car and he stood with the inside of his mouth showing, the barrel of the gun sinking like a stiff limp dick.

She smiled at him and made it worse.

"Evening, Howard. You got everything set up for us?"

Nothing came out of his mouth. His head nodded.

"Great. Can we eat? I'm starved. And this is Jane. And you've met Dr. Darden?"

Relieved, he shook Casey's hand for a long time.

"Can't say I have. Talked on the phone some though. This way, everybody. Ladies' tent over there. Fellas' over here. Keep 'em zipped. There's some flies."

Casey stowed his gear in the large tent and sat for a bit on the folding cot, lantern light casting hazy shadows on the canvas, the murmuring of the women's voices coming from the other tent, the smell of trout and home fries sneaking in the door flap. After a while he went out to join the party.

Chunks of hardwood served as stools around the fire where Howard flipped some lightly battered fish in a cast iron skillet. Coffee bubbled in a pot. Howard pointed at it.

"You got some coffee there, or some beer in a bag in the lake. It'll be cold enough."

Nobody was saying much. They stuffed themselves with hot fish and potatoes and scooped coleslaw from a plastic bucket.

Howard stirred the fire, peered up at Jane who was lit only by the flickering light of the fire.

"Understand you're an actress. I don't know much about that."

Jane giggled.

"It can be fun. You can wear really nice costumes and they have great food on the set usually, although there was this one time when we were shooting in Mexico and everybody was barfing between takes...I'm sorry. We're eating."

"Don't make no never mind. So you do TV and movies and such?"

"That's right."

"I don't get to the pictures much. My cousin George has a TV I watch when I'm in town."

"So you probably haven't seen me on TV?"

"Not that I recollect. You want to tell me some of your movies and such?"

"Not really. You probably wouldn't have seen 'em anyway, and if you did you probably wouldn't like 'em. They're mostly about spoiled rich kids."

"You got that right. Ain't me. Though I got some money put by. One day maybe I'll get me my own camp, or a rig to take folks out in the ocean."

"That'd be neat. You could see dolphins and whales."

Casey was not doing his job. He was supposed to be watching his client, figuring out why she was so hostile to men. But a certain redhead was flirting with him bigtime, a throaty chuckle punctuating her stories about the locals, an elegant, strong finger dancing now and again on his leg.

After a while she stretched, pushing one sculpted elbow high into the air, lifting a generous bosom. She yawned like a kitten.

"Long day. Think I'll splash some water on my face down at the dock, check out that full moon in the dark water and turn in. You coming?"

Casey would have liked nothing better, but he knew it was not part of his job.

"Guess I'll help Howard clean up. We all need to pitch in."

Mollie ran a hand down his shoulder.

"OK, the moon will be around for a while..."

Howard woke them at the crack of dawn the next day. He had water boiling in a big pot.

"Just for today I got some hot water for you to wash with. Can't promise this every day. Casey you can take this down on the dock and add a little lake water. Big sponge down there I use to clean off the canoes. Y'wanna get clean you can jump in or you can sponge off. Only the bravest jump in. Ladies first. Here's towels."

Mollie went first. Casey felt like a twelve-year-old. He desperately wanted to peek through the bushes that screened the dock from the campsite. Mollie sang 'Summertime' as she washed. She returned with her wet red hair twisted up in a towel, no makeup but gorgeous. As she sat by the campfire to drink her coffee she gave Casey a wink. He was sure she knew exactly what he was thinking.

Jane went next. She looked a little nervous but happy for the adventure. A few moments later there was a splash and then an ear-piercing scream that went on and on. Casey raced for the dock. Jane was nowhere to be seen, but shrieks came from the water.

Casey spotted two small hands hanging onto the edge of the dock. Jane was trying to pull herself out of the water but she could get no purchase on the slippery wood. Those famous high round breasts were flushed pink with cold, purple corollas puckered tight around bullet-hard nipples.

Casey lifted her up and clapped a towel around her, rubbing her hard. Jane was dancing and yelping and swearing. She spotted Howard.

"You bastard! Why didn't you tell me it was fucking freezing in there? I think my nips are going to fall off. You could've said something."

Howard was bashful and politely looking away across the lake.

"I beg your pardon, miss. I did say only the bravest..."

"I thought you were just talking about jumping into a wild lake where maybe there are fish and stuff. I wanted to show I was brave. I thought maybe you were testing us..."

Mollie had appeared with a blanket and she wrapped Jane up in it and led her back to the tent. Giggles and squeals came from inside as Jane bundled up. Casey washed himself on the dock from the hot water pot. As he stood up he turned to see Mollie sipping her coffee and watching him from a few yards away. She saluted him with her cup.

"I didn't mean to be rude, but I was curious, kind of like I would be if I discovered a new species."

Casey was only a little put out, mostly amused, flattered and a bit turned on. He showed her his backside as he put on his pants.

"So what kind of specimen am I?"

"Very interesting. Fit. Strong. I was curious how you are 'adapted' to your profession."

"I get your point. But it isn't about equipment, or technique, though I can see why you might think that."

He took the mug of coffee she handed him.

"It is more about figuring out what is missing in the woman's mind. In theory, I might never have to touch her at all,"

"That would be a shame. I'm sorry I'm not the client. So why am I here?"

They sat on a fallen log next to each other and gazed out across the misty water where a loon dove for fish, giving its mournful cry.

"Mollie, I was hoping you could do two things..."

"I usually don't sleep with women, except..."

"That's not it, although I'm not saying lay off..."

"Good, because we were very...comfortable...in the sleeping bag last night. She was kind of nervous with all the woodsy noises, so we zipped 'em together. It was cozy."

"Fine. Step in the right direction. But I was actually thinking of your professional skills. I wanted her to see that a beautiful woman could be very skillful and smart. And another thing..."

"Yes?"

"You notice that there is absolutely nothing glamorous or even sexy about how she looks?

"Yes."

"But you look fine. That's no accident."

"So she's the homely for a change."

"You got it."

"I can live with being sexier than a famous movie star."

"Just don't lay it on too thick."

"I promise. I can be subtle."

She shook her bundle of red curls from the towel, the early morning sun making them glow like a halo.

Back at the campfire Jane was tucking into a huge breakfast of eggs, sausage, hash browns, crusty bread toasted over the fire. She was bundled up to the chin, her wet hair hidden under a wool cap of Howard's

"Eat up, guys. Howard says after this we have to live off what we can catch or find. You'll have to make your own. He's already packing the canoes."

They ate well, they pissed in the bushes. They put on lifejackets and pushed off onto the mirrorlike water, all very aware of what it would mean to fall in.

The first day Casey had Jane and Mollie share one canoe while he and Howard took the other. It might have made sense for him to share a boat with Jane so he could scope out her aversion to men, but she needed to learn the natural world. He also was eager that she "just be another girl" with Mollie.

He couldn't have cued the wildlife better. Every sort of songbird was courting. In the reeds seven kinds of ducks, mallards, mergansers, wood ducks, loons stirred and flapped and clucked. Mollie guided her canoe just beyond the nesting sites where green-headed males squatted under the tails or broody brown females, fertilizing the next clutch of eggs.

Along the banks otters squealed and scrambled, tangling around each other so that you couldn't tell where the female began and the male ended. A pair of beaver pumped away next to a high lodge mound. Invisible critters skittered in the underbrush.

The sexual energy was electric, pulsing all around them. Curiously, it didn't seem to affect Howard who quietly piloted them through almost invisible channels between the lakes and pointed out the wildlife with a single word.

"Eagle" "Muskrat." "Heron." "Bear."

Jane shrieked and stopped paddling as they drifted by not twenty yards from a pair of black bears in the shallows. Their faces were smeared with berries. They were energetically humping, the male's sharp claws clutching the sides of his smaller companion, a huge red tongue hanging out his long maw.

Casey glanced over at Mollie and her eyes could have lit a fire, lids half closed, mouth slightly open. She smiled and quickly became professional again, pointing out thick clusters of frogs' eggs to Jane.

When they finally made camp they were all tired except Howard, who threw together a delicious dinner of stew and biscuits. In the growing gloom Jane peered into the trees beyond their sand bar.

"Will the bears come and get us. Maybe that's silly, but will they?"

Howard threw a stick on the campfire.

"We don't bother them, they don't bother us. I keep the food up high in bags that don't stink. Fire's between us and the woods. My tent's that side of yours. Rest easy."

Howard took out a harmonica and started playing old camp songs. Jane cuddled next to him and sang along.

"Oh my darling, Clementine. You are lost and gone forever..."

Casey sat next to Mollie drinking hot cider. Mollie whispered.

"Funny pair. They connect, but like brother and sister. No sparks there at all. On the other hand, have you finished your cider...?

"Almost."

"I really need to show you something..."

"I don't know..."

"You want to crank up her sexiness."

"That's what I do."

"And after today she isn't hot and bothered...?"

"Maybe not."

"Let's raise the stakes."

"You think?"

"Come on."

As they left Howard called out.

"If you think you hear a bear make a lot of noise."

Mollie laughed.

"Don't worry. We will,"

Mollie led him just a little way along the shore to a grove of young pines.

"Here is good."

"What?"

"Take your knife and cut small branches from the pines and pile them up over here. Get a lot of them."

"What are we doing, making some kind of trap for wild life?"

"You might say that."

She showed him how to weave the branches together until they formed a high, springy pile. From under the knapsack she always carried she took a strong thermal blanket and covered the boughs, tucking it under. Then, quite swiftly she slipped out of her jeans and underwear. She was tall. Placing her hands on Casey's shoulders she faced him eye to eye.

"I hope you won't mind if I am very frank. I am so horny I am dripping. I mean it. For real."

She took his hand and pulled it between her legs.

"See?"

She was indeed so wet that her honey ran between Casey's fingers.

"Lord that feels good. Press up, please, hard. Oh, yes."

Her whole body shuddered.

"Wow, thanks. I didn't expect one so quick. But please, here's what I really need. I'll just tell you. I don't want any foreplay except for this. I'm going to lie down and put my legs up. I want you to eat me until I come...again. I warn you, I get very wet. Then I want you to come into me hard and just hammer me as hard and fast as you can. Can you do that?"