Power Sabotaged - New Life

Power Sabotaged : A New Life For Sheila : Part 6 : New Horizons

Bob was good to her, she now felt. She was happy with the food he gave her, and even more with the physical needs he answered. He was not entirely the perfect soul mate, but she found she enjoyed his company and his conversation, to a good degree. She enjoyed his flattery and attentiveness even more. Because this was the most attention she had received in recent years she found she needed this. Although she did not want him to take her for granted she made herself available to him whenever he wanted, as much as possible. She had nothing else of much importance to do, except daily chores, at this time when the whole economy was in abeyance, and nothing was as it had been.

But he did not want her all the time. Perhaps it was just as well that he did not, because there were many things which did need to be done to keep her home in order. Food provision, preparation and preservation had to be managed, and were made more difficult without electricity. Luckily her cooker was gas, and with matches she was able to 'cook' sometimes when she had the appropriate food. However the gas pipes were subject to occasional interruption by the terrorists, although they seemed to concentrate more on electrical supplies and the government seemed able to repair whatever damage was occasionally done to the gas network.

She needed to maintain a frequent presence in her house so that it was not burgled or damaged by the swollen ranks of those who resorted to criminality in these hard times. She also did not want her neighbours asking too many questions about where she went so much of the time or what she was getting up to. She needed to stay in contact with neighbours to find out all that was happening in the neighbourhood. They had become her main source of news now that TV, radio and internet were no longer possible.

She wondered instinctively why Bob did not want to see her on certain days, when he seemed so keen the rest of the time. She understood of course that she was not a normal 'girlfriend'. He had paid for her charms in food, the privileges of his stockpiling. She had refused to be his for nothing, had been shocked and resistant when he had made his first suggestions. How could she protest when he did not need her for much of the time.

When she first surrendered and came to his door, he had been dressed only in towel. He had not wanted to let her right into the house. She could and had only imagined that one of his other conquests or another woman, who had 'sold' herself to him, must have been in there with him. She felt some jealousy, although she had no right to be jealous. She also felt curiosity. Who was this other woman, or quite likely, those other women? Were they regulars like herself, or occasionals, or one offs. Did they view him as a lover, a friend, or merely as a man who could pay them in kind?

"Bob?" she asked. "Why do you not want to see me tomorrow? What do you do then? Is it another of your women?"

He seemed slow to answer, unenthusiastic. What secret did he wish to hide? Or did he just wish to keep her sweet by avoiding admitting to his other woman or women.

Then he allowed himself to explain. "Yes I have other women. Like yourself I have encouraged them to come to me in return for favours. Before the current collapse a woman's price was high, but I have found it is now a much lower price. Women will sell themselves for a much lower value than before, and I find they will share a man, even if they would rather not. I did not want to say much about my other women. You are all different! I regard you as a friend and lover, but in a sense you work for me too.

"There are many women selling their charms now, since the lights went off," said Bob. "There are certain places, near the centre of town, where women congregate to earn favours, food or 'gifts'."

Sheila's ears tingled with interest. The idea of ordinary everyday women on street corners, advertising their charms, unlocked a chasm in her mind, out of which dark and dangerous fantasies emerged. She had gone a small way towards that perverse freedom from the conventions of her past in her dealings with Bob, but she now found she had a great curiosity towards the behaviour of other women.

"Have you used such women? How do you know?" she asked frankly.

"Yes I have been there, and used them. Only a handful of times. I have been there, both before the current crisis and since. Those 'businesses' are incredibly changed by the recent disasters. Women who would never have engaged, and certainly not openly, in such behaviour, are now having a go, in desperation perhaps, as a source of their food needs."

"Will you show me Bob? I want to see this," she asked unexpectedly.

"I wasn't thinking of taking you there," said Bob. "I don't think you need to go there! You have enough of me to occupy you, and I have been giving you food also."

"I want to see it! Somehow the idea excites me," she explained. "Tell me Bob. How is it that there are enough men with food or supplies to trade all these weeks later. You would think they would be running low on food stocks by now. How can they keep using their food for sex, and then come back again another night and another beyond that?"

"I suppose they have a lot of food! They are rich and they purchased the stocks when the power cuts began."

"And what about you Bob? How did you get your hands on so much food?"

"I was sensible! I acted when I had my chance. I made sure I had plenty. I was lucky too."

"How much have you got left? You've been 'spending' it generously, on me, and on the other women. Your stocks must be down by now. You've been eating food yourself over the last weeks. There can't be much left."

Bob became quite quiet, unlike his normal talkative self, unwilling to answer. It seemed to Sheila that he must be getting worried, that his foodstocks were inevitably running out.

"I want to try it!" she declared, lying next to Bob in the morning after another rewarding bout of lovemaking.

"What?" he asked, rousing himself from post sexual slumber. "What do you want to try?" He did have an idea of what she might be referring to. She had been asking questions about this for days now and had even got him to walk down there with her and show her what went on. It was on her mind, obviously. He assumed that must be what she was talking about.

"I want to stand on the side of that street and see who wants me. To earn some money or food that way excites me. I just want to try it."

"Are you so desperate for food?" he asked rhetorically, in his earthy way. "Haven't I been feeding you enough?"

"You have been feeding me well Bob, and I find I do love you, in a special way I never expected when we first made our arrangement. Are you getting a bit possessive Bob? You never said I had to be yours exclusively. You haven't been exclusive in your own behaviour," she reminded him, "neither before or after you met me. I thought you liked that variety."

"Of course I do. I have insisted on it," he admitted. "I guess I have become quite attached to you Sheila. You are the one I feel closest to. That is certainly so! Probably I feel you care for me and feel comfortable with me, and so I feel comfortable with you and close."

"And I feel that too," she smiled, pleased to hear this admission, which confirmed her sense of his feelings. "But surely I am not the only woman who inspires you? You've still sowed your seed elsewhere!"

"I can't help that. I am a man and I want to try many women if I can. This crisis has given me a chance to do that, even more than I did before," he explained.

"What is it you find in the others?" she asked, interested to find out.

"Well each one is different. I like the different shapes. The other regulars are also attractive to me. I like to try strangers sometimes. The pick ups from town are exciting. I don't know what I am going to get, but it's a great turn on to try a strange woman from time to time, a different figure, a new face. Sometimes they are very beautiful, even though I would not want to share more than my body with them. Sometimes they are younger. I appreciate the freshness of a younger body?"

"If you feel like this about female variety," she said, "then why should you feel reluctant to let me go and have my adventures?" Hearing his words about liking the variety of women, did not upset her. She felt the words he spoke were natural and honest. She found they mirrored her own curiosity for more sexual partners and gave her the right to take them too.

"I did not say you could not," he said. "I just said have I not been feeding you well enough."

"You have fed me well. But as I said the other day, I bet your food is running out!" She sensed he was reluctant to answer this one, as he had been the other day. This was a worry to her as much as to him, but she pried no further at this moment.

After a short gap of silence, she said, "My desire to try the street corners is not because you have not been feeding me well, although of course I could always do with as much food or money as I can get, as we all can. My desire to try this is not because of any desperation for food. It is a desire for excitement, to see if I can hook any other men, temporarily, as an adventure, a one off. Maybe I will try it a few times if I like it. If you can have these adventures why can't I?"

"Show me where they are. I want to see them," she insisted. She referred to these ordinary women who had, like her, placed themselves into the hands of men in order to earn money or food, or something exchangeable. These women, from Bob's descriptions, had gone further than she had, offering themselves, perhaps randomly to those who were willing to make an exchange for the pleasure of their bodies.

"Alright if you must," he replied. He did not sound enthusiastic. She guessed he was still reluctant in case she began to sell herself in the streets and he had to compete for her favours with other men. She was touched that he might value her so much that he would not wish to see rivals monopolising her. Perhaps he felt he had a claim on her and did not wish to see her escape from his influence.

They walked together in the dark through darkened sections of the city where many went to bed early in the absence of light, and others read books or played games by candlelight to keep themselves occupied. Periodically there were sounds of chaos too, a smashed window, an argument. The police were nowhere to be seen! They defended installations and tried unsuccessfully, so far it seemed, to track the real culprits, the terrorists, so this nightmare of a modern world without its mod cons could be ended, and normality return. But even the police and the army were short of fuel for their vehicles, and could barely see their way. To Sheila few of these things mattered tonight. She was excited, the prospect of naughty behaviour, of breaking the bounds of tradition and normality which had previously bound her, made her excited if a little nervous. She had told herself, and Bob, that tonight she would observe only. She wanted to come close to the action, to dip her toes in the water, so to speak, but she would not swim. She would see how she felt before she went further.

Ladies stood on the sides of the roads in this area of town, near the centre, but slightly out of it. It had been a traditional red light district in the past, but never as busy as this. All of them were presentable and normal in appearance, women who could be housewives, office workers, shop assistants, even professionals, she imagined. Here there were no drug addicts or wayward teen. These were adult women, who knew well what they did, and had chosen to do this. They walked along the opposite side of the street and then waited in the shadow of a doorway watching and waiting to see who came.

Even on these streets of furtive activity there were no cars operating. Petrol deliveries had been regularly sabotaged so in the evening there were no cars belonging to customers, or to passers by, who might wish to observe the naughty transactions which took place. Only those engaged in the elicit trade as ladies for hire, or as customers, were likely to be down here anyway.

A tall man walked slowly up the street making no secret of his observation of the ladies along this sidewalk. A tall dark haired woman with a very pretty face became his choice. She looked every bit the professional office working woman from the style and sensibility of her clothing. Presumably they discussed a price, whether in monetary terms or in kind. There was an interchange between the two of them. Quite likely she drove a hard bargain because she was pretty, but he was willing to pay it evidently because they walked off together down the street.

"Where will they go?" Sheila asked. "To a hotel or a side alley?"

"We can follow them if you like," Bob said jokingly, although maybe he meant it. She was not sure.

"Let's follow for a little while. At long distance of course," she said. Seeing the reluctance in his face she added, "Just for a short while, down the street."

She led him down the street, quickly so they did not lose the couple. Within a minute the dark haired woman led the man into a side alley. Sheila imagined they were trying to get away from this district where all could know their purpose, so their relationship might seem less casual to any onlookers. Sheila peered around the corner to see the fleeting back of the customer as he followed the lady. Evidently she had somewhere to take her client, not too far away.

'Well that didn't look difficult,' thought Sheila. The worst thing was the 'loss of face' from standing on the side of the street. The act of lust itself would be a lot easier! She had appreciated it with Bob so why not with other strangers? The physical act would be perfectly private.