"Hello?" Amanda yelled out as she stood on her tiptoes and peered over the wooden gate. "Are you back here, Dr Kim?"
"C'mon in," Kim Peterson yelled back, "I'm back here by the pool."
Amanda fiddled with the gate latch for a moment until she was able to get it open and swing the wooden gate in. She made her way around the corner of the house and spotted Kim sitting at the same poolside table where the two of them had spoken yesterday. Kim was completely nude as she always was when she was at home, and she was sipping a glass of wine as she relaxed under the stars. Even though she was not surprised by the fact that the town doctor who had examined her since she was in grade school preferred to be nude in the privacy of her own back yard, Amanda was still a bit at ease as she walked over and sat down.
"Is Dr. Rick here?" Amanda asked as she looked around the property.
"He's inside on a conference call with some doctors at the regional hospital," Kim answered, noting that this response seemed to relax her visitor a bit. "He will probably be out later, but he knows that you would probably want some time alone with me."
"I guess so," Amanda said, "but I am still not sure why I am here."
"Well, I think that will ultimately be up to you, dear, but I got the distinct impression yesterday that you needed to talk to someone. Someone who might be able to help you with your anxieties about your own body and the sexual feelings that you are starting to experience. Does that sound right to you?"
"Yes," Amanda replied a bit nervously as she looked down, "I think I would like to do that. Are you sure you want to spend your time with me?"
"Rick and I have been your doctors since you were in about 3rd grade, I would guess, and you have been a good neighbor for just as long," Kim answered. "We have watched you grow into a beautiful young woman and we both want you to be happy. I don't know if we can help you with the emotions that you are struggling with now, but we are certainly willing to help. I have some ideas, but if you are willing to try them, remember that we view you here as a friend and a neighbor, not as a patient at our clinic."
"I understand"
"So please feel free to call us Kim and Rick, without all the doctor formalities."
"I'll try, but it may be hard to break that habit for a while," Amanda said. "What did you have in mind for tonight?"
Kim took a sip of wine and paused as though to collect her thoughts. She looked over at her visitor and tried to get a sense about Amanda's readiness to embark on the plans that she had arranged for the evening. "How do you feel about your body, Amanda?" Kim asked with a surprising frankness. "Do you like the way you look when you see yourself in the mirror after a shower? Are you happy with your appearance when you are out with friends or alone with Ben?"
"I - I guess that I am happy with my body," Amanda replied in a voice that made it clear that she was startled with the question, "as much as any girl can be happy. Don't we all have thoughts about being prettier or thinner?"
"Of course it is natural for people to dream about being more attractive or athletic, but it is also important to accept the appearance of your own body and feel comfortable with who you are."
"Do you think because I did not take off all of my clothes with everyone else and go skinny dipping yesterday, I am not comfortable with my body?" Amanda asked with a bit of annoyance showing in her voice.
"Of course, not, dear," Kim replied, "there are many people who do not feel comfortable going naked in public, especially in a mixed crowd. I was thinking more of your comments about feeling uncomfortable about letting Ben see you when you are alone with him."
"I've never felt comfortable being naked," Amanda confessed after taking a long pause to collect her thoughts, "even when I am alone in my bathroom. That's why I never shower with other girls after practice or change in front of them."
"Then I think this may a place for us to start, because satisfying sexual relations with another person begin with a foundation of trust. If you are not able to develop that level of trust with Ben when it comes to showing your body to him or touching each other, everything about your physical relationship will be strained."
"I have thought that many times, but it is not so easy to just change my feelings when I am alone with Ben."
"When you watched all of your friends splashing around in the pool yesterday without swimsuits," Kim asked, "did you wonder what that might have felt like for them?"
"Yes"
"Then how about trying it tonight? No friends around to embarrass you now. If you would like, I can even turn of the patio lights so that it would be darker. Maybe if you try it, you will show yourself a kind of confidence that you have never experienced before."
"Would I be alone?" Amanda asked with a look that suggested that she was considering the suggestion.
"I can leave you alone while you undress if that would make you more comfortable," Kim answered, "but I was hoping to spend more time with you this evening and I am sure Rick will want to swim after he is done with his call. But remember, we have already seen you naked many times at the clinic, so you have nothing to show us that we haven't already seen."
Amanda sat and thought about the invitation for a few moments and then got up, walked over to the pool, and reached down to feel the water temperature. Apparently reassured that it was "like bath water" as all of her friends had declared yesterday, she returned to the table and nodded. "This is wonderful," Kim said as she stood up and gave her young visitor a reassuring hug. "Tell you what. I will leave you alone while you get ready and go in and make some snacks for later." With that, she went in the patio door and turned off the patio lights before she stepped into the house.