"Madeline, you fucking slut!" Shelly exclaimed playfully. She was lounging poolside with her neighbor, both of them clad in bikinis. It was Thursday afternoon, the school bus wouldn't drop Madeline's son off for another hour, and the two ladies were getting caught up.
"I know," Madeline giggled. "I couldn't help it. I don't know what came over me."
"I can't believe you did both of them. WITHOUT ME!!"
"Oh my God, Shelly -- it was sooooooo good. I mean it was weird at first. Like when it was just Eric, and I didn't know Dave was waiting outside -- it felt almost uncomfortable having a strange man in my house. Someone I was attracted to, but wasn't my husband.
"It started out so innocently, too. I was in the kitchen getting a drink for Eric -- trying to figure out what my next move should be. Like how could I get him to stay?
"When I came back to the living room, Eric had put one of my playlists on. It was my Girls' Night mood music. He just sorta took me in his arms. We slow-danced for a while. It was nice. I mean really nice. I could have danced with him like that all day. And then we just started making out.
"I was so nervous. I kept looking at the windows, the door, the clock. I was worried someone was going to walk in on us. Then he unzipped the back of my dress. Suddenly I didn't care if we got caught. Part of me almost wanted to. It made the whole experience more exciting!"
Shelly glanced downward and noticed Madeline's nipples were rock hard under her bikini. The happy little homemaker was getting really worked up retelling her sexual escapades of the prior day.
"Mmmmmm, I'm so jealous," Shelly purred. But she wasn't. Not in the least. She had fucked Madeline's husband all afternoon -- even texted her own husband Bob during the act, telling him she would be late picking him up at the airport. Traffic was terrible, she had lied, backed up due to an accident on the freeway. In truth, Shelly just wanted to squeeze a couple more orgasms out of her best friend's husband.
"Scott and I had sex last night."
Shelly's nostrils flared with Madeline's sudden, unexpected confession. That was news to her. A twinge of jealousy shadowed her face.
"Oh?" she asked, trying to keep her voice curious. "How was that?"
"It just wasn't--"
"The same?"
"Good. Christ, Shelly, it just wasn't good."
"Ouch," Shelly made her voice sound concerned, but she was hiding a smile behind her wine glass.
"I know. I'm kinda scared. I don't know if Scott has changed or if I have. We just didn't do it for each other last night. Not like we usually do. We just sorta, I don't know ... fucked, ya know? It was just sex, just going through the motions. He had an orgasm, I think, but I didn't."
Shelly made a pouting face, and put a sympathetic hand on Madeline's thigh.
"But the worst part," Madeline paused, unsure if she was about to cry or about to laugh. "The worst part is that I suddenly have all these strange cravings."
"Like what?"
"Penises."
Shelly burst out in laughter, and Madeline laughed, too.
"No, really. Before Scott, I was a virgin. With Dave and Eric, I got a hint of what I might have happened if I hadn't gotten married so quickly out of high school. And now ... I just want more. I want to explore. I want to experience all the different sizes and shapes. I want to touch them, to taste them ... to FEEL them! But damn, I'm married, you know? I can't really do that. I have to get these feelings under control."
"I bet I know what will help."
"You do?"
"Why don't you go see my shrink. I see him once a week. You can take my Friday appointment, tomorrow."
"Really? Shelly, I didn't know you went to see a psychiatrist."
"He's a psychotherapist, that's different. And there are a lot you things you're just learning about me," the sexy blonde replied, giving Madeline a playful wink.
There certainly was. Up until Tuesday night, Madeline had thought Shelly was a happily married woman herself. Sure, she had caught Shelly doing some pretty lewd things with different guys at the nightclub: making out with them, grinding on their thighs -- she'd even caught Shelly giving one guy a blow job under the table. But because Shelly had always come home with her after Girls' Night was done, Madeline figured her BFF was just having a little flirtatious fun.
And then Tuesday night happened. Madeline saw an entirely different side to her best friend. A wild side, deviant and depraved. And Madeline had let Shelly drag her down into the rabbit hole, too. She wasn't sure how far this hole went, but definitely felt herself tumbling deeper and deeper. And she loved it.
Shelly had been fumbling through her purse, and pulled out a business card. She handed it to Madeline.
"Trust me, Madeline, see Nicholas. He'll help you with this little issue. Take my 11am appointment, then let's get together afterwards at Dandelion's for lunch. You can tell me all about it."
*****
"What do you wear to your first appointment with a psychotherapist?" Madeline asked herself, flipping through her wardrobe.
Her first temptation had been a pair of ripped jeans and a casual top. That would be the most comfortable. But then she thought about the office environment. She would likely be sitting in a chair, opposite Dr. Hines. She imagined how she would look from his perspective.
In her mind's eye, she was seated in a chair, opposite his desk. Her hair was curled in big waves, her face dolled up prettily with makeup. She was wearing a dress, sitting with her legs crossed. They were talking back and forth amicably, she and Dr. Nicholas Hines.
As Nicholas started to speak, Madeline uncrossed her legs. Slowly. She shifted her hips and then crossed the opposite leg atop the other. All Basic Instinct and Shannon Stone like.
Nicholas stopped talking, his attention drawn to the opening of her dress. Was she not wearing any panties? When Nicholas looked back up to her face, Madeline's eyebrow was arched, and she was smiling.
Her cell phone vibrated noisily, breaking her reverie. Madeline blinked, her attention coming back to the here and now. She fanned her face with her hand.
"What is wrong with me?" she asked herself.
Madeline looked down at her phone. It was a text message from Shelly.
SHELLY: Good luck today, sweety.
MADDY: I am nervous.
SHELLY: Relax. Be yourself. You're just talking. Be open and honest.
Madeline settled on knee-length, casual frock. It was a party dress, vintage: dark blue with large white polka dots. The dress was a tad retro, sleeveless, with wide straps over the shoulder. A narrow cinch belt allowed the one-piece to accent her curves. With her hair curled and makeup applied, Madeline looked like a sitcom housewife from the 60s. She looked at herself appraisingly in the mirror.
"A little flirty, but mostly reserved. Perfect for someone who has no idea what to expect!"
Madeline paired the dress with a pair of topaz teardrop earrings and her blue, mid-heel sandals. She wrestled with the idea of wearing her wedding rings, sliding them partially off her fingers.
"Don't be silly, Madeline," she told her reflection in the vanity, sliding them back on. "You're not going dancing. This is a psychiatrist visit, not a night out."
She reapplied her favorite lipstick -- Cherry Pie, of course -- grabbed her car keys, and was off to her morning appointment with Dr. Hines.
*****
Nicholas Hines had an office downtown. It was on the third floor of the Morowitz building, across from Doctor's Park. Madeline arrived a few minutes before her appointment, just in case there was paperwork to fill out.
The waiting room was small, but comfortable. There were several chairs and a low coffee table with magazines on it. A receptionist sat at a small desk. She looked up from her computer as Madeline entered.
"Hello. Mrs. Brown, right? Welcome!"
She looked young to Madeline, in her mid-twenties. She had sandy-brown hair, freckles, and greenish eyes. She was plain looking, a bit flat in the chest, but her smile lit up the room. "My name is Katie. Oh, I love your dress. Vintage, so adorable!"
Madeline smiled warmly at her. She liked Katie.
"If you could give me your insurance card, I'll make a quick copy and then bring you back to see Dr. Hines."
Katie had a little card scanning device at the desk. She scanned the card, then handed it back to Madeline.
"Follow me, won't you, please?" Katie began leading Madeline down a long hallway. There were several side doors down the left side of the hall, and floor to ceiling windows looked out to an adjacent building on her right.
"So many offices," Madeline commented as they passed several closed doorways. "I thought it was just Dr. Hines here at the practice."
"It is. Just Dr. Hines, I mean. These are different therapy rooms, for different client needs. We'll be down here at the last office for your first consult. Dr. Hines is taking a call, but he'll be along shortly."
Katie opened the last office door, and stepped aside for Madeline to enter. It was a moderate sized space, comfortably furnished with a desk, two cushioned chairs, and a couch. The couch had a short narrow back, and a single arm-rest. Madeline supposed that was so a patient could recline their head on one end, and dangle their feet off the other. Freud stuff: "lay down on the couch and tell me about your mother."