Close Observation Ch 06

Ron was impressed at how quickly Helena, or Marie, had recovered her poise. She'd looked very flushed when she saw him and hadn't been able to make eye contact. She seemed to get it back together quickly; Ron didn't think the doctor had noticed anything.

Ron felt uncomfortable. He found it difficult to judge what to say with Helena there. He couldn't shake the image of Helena, stood in front of Emma as Emma licked her vagina. Alex seemed to pick up on his discomfort; they'd been going through basic details: when he'd served, where he'd served, what he'd experienced generally, then Alex seemed to change tack.

'Ron, is everything ok? Are you feeling ok, now?' he said.

'Yeah, I'm fine,' said Ron. He was still having to really fight the instinct to call him 'sir.'

'Ron do you hear any voices, or anything like that?' said Alex.

'No,' said Ron. He was confused and concerned about the question, which must have been obvious.

'Ron, we don't have anything in our information, in the information we've received from your GP, suggesting any psychosis; like voices, or delusions or anything, I don't want you to think that. The reason I've asked that question is that you do seem distracted... and sometimes when people I talk to, not just veterans, but generally mental health service-users, they're distracted because there's things going on, they're hearing or seeing things which aren't really there, and they're trying to concentrate on talking to me and dealing with that stuff,' said Alex.

'No nothing like that,' said Ron.

They went back to talking about Ron's experiences overseas. Alex kept asking about whether there had been one single thing which had happened. Ron told him that there hadn't been, not really. He told Alex that he felt it had been more a case of an accumulation of things that had happened over time, that seemed to have had an impact. Ron wondered if he was disappointing them, if maybe they were hoping for something sexy like in a film, like he'd stumbled on a village of dead civilians and babies or something. They talked about his health since he'd come home. Helena chipped in a couple of times to ask him for details about symptoms he'd experienced.

The appointment ended with Alex telling Ron he would like to see him another three times. He explained that these four appointments were an assessment phase, and that after they were wrapped up, Alex would have a good idea of whether it would be appropriate for Ron to do more-long term work with the team. He thanked Ron for coming. Helena said it was nice to meet him.

His phone rang about forty-five minutes after he'd left. He'd gone home and was trying to read a book he'd got from the library about his old regiment. He was having trouble concentrating on it. It said 'unknown number' on his phone, but he knew who it would be.

'Hi,' he said.

'Hi Ron,' said Helena.

'Can we meet up and have a chat?' she said. She sounded anxious. She was outside somewhere; he could hear traffic in the background.

'Certainly. I think I'm working this afternoon, but I might be off later. Or perhaps we could meet tomorrow,' he said.

'Tonight would be best,' said Helena.

'I'll have to ring you when I know what I'm doing. How do I get hold of you?' said Ron.

'I'll text you my mobile number,' said Helena.

'What should I call you?' said Ron.

'Marie, except in front of clients,' said Marie.

***

The chaps were still exhausted. Toby told Ron on the phone that they weren't going anywhere that day and wouldn't need him till tomorrow morning. Ibrahim 2 still couldn't get the makeup and glitter off of his face, and Toby said the rest of the chaps were teasing him. He'd called Marie and they'd agreed to meet for coffee.

She was there when he got there. She looked almost as uncomfortable when she saw him as she had that morning.

'Hi,' she said.

'Hi, you alright?' said Ron.

She already had a coffee. Ron got himself a drink and went back to the table. He had the feeling that she had rehearsed what she was going to say to him. He thought she looked gorgeous, even just wearing her every-day clothes for work.

'Ron, if my placement finds out, they'll tell the uni, and I'll be off the course, and I honestly don't know what I'd do. I can't let that happen,' she said. Ron thought her voice was beautiful. Hearing her talking did something to him, and he wondered if that was why so many of the girls, and customers, seemed so smitten with her.

'It's alright, they won't find out from me, don't worry,' said Ron. She looked surprised.

'Really? You promise?' said Marie.

'Yeah, course. Why did you think I'd grass you up?' he said. She looked at him for a few seconds.

'I thought I'd have to... do stuff for you. I thought we'd have to work out an arrangement,' she said. Ron laughed at her.

'I hope this job isn't warping your perspective of men, Helena... sorry, Marie,' said Ron. 'I like Marie better, it's a nice name.'

'Thank you,' said Marie.

'So, are we ok now?' said Ron.

'Yes. And thank you,' said Marie. She did look relieved.

'No worries,' said Ron.

'...Alex, Dr Smith-Crowden, he says... I shouldn't really be telling you this, he says he expects we'll be taking you on, and he says it will be a good opportunity for me to work closely on a case. He wants me to do some therapy stuff with you,' said Marie.

'Right. What would that entail?'

'Have you heard of Dialectical Behavioural Therapy?' she said.

'No,' said Ron.

'Ok, well, DBT is, essentially, a way of helping a person to develop ways to regulate and, basically, cope with their emotions, by exploring what causes those feelings and changing the way the person responds to that stimuli. That's what we'd be doing. Does that sound like it could be of benefit to you, Ron?' said Marie.

'I don't know, maybe, but you'll have to keep in mind, it seems like in terms of intelligence, you're like Stephen Hawking, and I'm like Steven Gerrard. You might have to dumb things down a bit. I'm not sure what 'stimuli,' is,' said Ron.

She smiled.

'I'm not sure who Steven Gerrard is,' said Marie.

'He's a footballer. He's thick as shit,' said Ron. She snorted with laughter. 'Pardon my language,' he said.

'That's quite alright. Don't do yourself down though! You don't seem thick!' said Marie.

'I might not be at your level,' said Ron.

'Don't put yourself down!' said Marie.

'Are you going to be at all my appointments?' said Ron.

'The next three, then you'll probably keep seeing Dr Smith-Crowden, but you'll see me as well, separate appointments,' said Marie.

'Are you going to fix me?' said Ron. She smiled. He thought she had a lovely smile.

'We don't have a magic wand, Ron. What I do, the theory side, its evidence based. The evidence suggests that DBT can have a really positive effect in cases like yours,' said Marie.

'That sounds encouraging,' said Ron.

'If you'll permit me to ask, how much do you need fixing? How bad have things been, really? said Marie.

So, Ron started telling her about some stuff that had happened when he was in the army; and then he told her about some stuff that happened after he left.

***

Katie rang Ron later that night.

'Hi,' she said.

'Hi, you ok?' said Ron.

'Fine. Ron, you were there the other night, with Emma?' said Katie.

'At the flat?' said Ron.

'Yeah, with that Layla girl,' said Katie.

'Yes. Why, something wrong?' said Ron.

'No... She wants me to take her on,' said Katie.

'Sorry? ...Emma wants you to take Layla on?' said Ron.

'Yeah. They're having a thing,' said Katie.

'They looked like they were attracted to each other,' said Ron.

'What do you think?' said Katie.

'About what?' said Ron.

'Well, you're a guy, do you think I can make money from her,' said Katie.

'...I nearly shot in my trousers watching them,' said Ron.

She laughed.

'The man from del monte says yes,' she said.

'And that guy, he looked like he didn't know what had hit him,' said Ron.

'Mark? He's booked them again,' said Katie.

'I'm not surprised,' said Ron.

'She's rough round the edges though,' said Katie. Ron thought that she probably was. He wouldn't be surprised if she'd grown up near where he'd grown up. No offence taken, though.

'Is that important?' said Ron.

'Yes. I don't want to sound like some awful person, but you've probably noticed that the girls are all quite sophisticated. They're all university educated. Anabelle went to fucking Roedean, for God's sake. And that's part of our thing, I can say on the website the girls have got class, they're not sucking cocks to go and buy crack,' said Katie.

'Is that what it says on the website?' said Ron, smiling to himself.

'Between the lines it does, Ron, yes,' said Katie.

'I don't know, I can only tell you my perspective, and if punters are seeing that, I'd expect them to come back for more. But what do I know? I'm hired muscle, aren't I?' said Ron.

'I met her. I had a coffee with her after Emma rang me,' said Katie.

'What did you think?' said Ron.

'Don't get me wrong, she's hot, and I definitely wouldn't mind getting fucked by her, but she's rough. She just is,' said Katie.

'So, you're not taking her on?' said Ron.

'I said I'd give her a go. She's going to do a booking with Emma and Annabelle. I was hoping you could be there,' said Katie.

'When?' said Ron.

'Sunday evening. Ron, if she steals anything, or if there's any drugs, you tell me, ok?' said Katie.

'Ok,' said Ron.

'Great,' said Katie.

***

It was the chaps' last day in London. It had been a nice, warm day. They were flying out from Heathrow very early the next morning. When Ron had arrived, they were all up and ready. They'd had all of the previous day to rest after their big night out. Ibrahim 2 had managed to get almost all of the makeup off of his face, but he still had silver glitter on his forehead and around his left eye. Ron thought he looked comical. When he first came in the room where everyone was eating their breakfast, Yousef and Ahmed had nearly wet themselves laughing at him, and he responded angrily in Arabic.

The first stop was just around the corner. The chaps wanted to see the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum. They enjoyed seeing the dinosaurs; Ron took photos of them standing next to a tyrannosaurus rex. Next was the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. They saw the changing of the horse guards at Horse Guards Parade. Ron thought that the men on guard, members of the Household Cavalry Regiment, could have been smarter. He took more photos. He managed to get one of Mo standing next to one of the mounted Guardsmen just as the Guardsman's horse defecated onto the pavement, which amused the chaps.

They walked through St James' Park towards the palace. Ron had brought a big bag of peanuts. The chaps loved seeing squirrels come right up to him to take nuts out of his hand and had been very amused when one had climbed up Ron's clothes to get one. Soon they were all feeding squirrels with nuts and having tremendous fun. At the Palace they stood outside the gates and Ron took more photos.

Another trip to Harrods followed, where even more money was spent. The chaps then went up and down the Brompton Road, ducking into boutiques and fashion outlets. They bought so much that Ron had to drive them home so they could stow their new possessions in their luggage before carrying on with the day's activities. Lunch was in Mayfair. Ron wondered if his sautéed shitake mushrooms, enthused with celeriac sauce, could have spent a tiny bit longer in the pan.

In the afternoon they went to the Tower of London. Ron knew the Yeoman Warder who guided their tour from his days in the army. When the tour group got to the chapel at the end, the warder told everyone to turn their phones off before he did his presentation about the history of the chapel and the historical figures who were buried there. Halfway through, a female American tourist's mobile rang. The warder went up to the woman and took the phone. He explained to the person on the other line that the lady was in trouble for not turning her phone off.

The chaps queued and saw the crown jewels, and they had their photos taken next to one of the tower's ravens. Some staff members moved around the site dressed as famous historical figures who had lived at, died at, or been associated with the tower. A young lady dressed as Anne Boleyn walked close by them. She was very pretty, and Ron saw the way Yousef and Ibrahim were looking at her. He worried that they'd try to get her to have sex with all of them for money and felt genuinely relieved when she kept walking past.

It was a long tube ride back to Kensington. Time was getting short, so as soon as they got back, the chaps all hurried to pack for the flight. Before they left to head back to Heathrow, they gathered in the front room. They had bought a whole case of blue label whiskey for Ron. They had a bought a card which they all signed. They thanked him for looking after them. Ron was touched. He really liked the chaps and would miss them. Ibrahim 2 still had glitter on his face.

***

Ron had picked Annabelle up from the square in Pimlico. She lived with Victoria, which Ron hadn't realised. He thought the square where they lived was lovely. It was almost sunset, and the remaining sunlight made the trees and greenery in the middle look lush and beautiful.

He'd seen Anabelle at the party with the chaps. He'd remembered thinking she was very attractive. When he picked her up, he realised she really was beautiful. She had freckles, not many of them, but they were there. Her hair was blonde like Emma's but straight where Emma's was curly. Her eyes were really bright blue, almost shockingly so. When he looked in her eyes, he felt hypnotised by her, like he was under her spell.

'It's Ron isn't it?' she asked.

'Yes,' he said. She did sound very upper-class. He remembered Katie had told him Anabelle had been to Roedean school, which was about as posh as you could get. The accent made her even sexier; it was just like with Emma, you knew that this sophisticated, educated, princess of a girl was absolutely fucking filthy.

They chatted in the car. One of her relatives had been an officer in the army and served in the same division as Ron. Ron was too polite to tell her that the regiment her great-uncle had been in were a bunch of scruffy rent boys. Annabelle was charming. She didn't talk down to him, she was respectful, she made it seem like she was really interested in what he said. Ron thought she was lovely, absolutely lovely, and in the background was the knowledge that she would let men bend her over and sodomise her, and she'd smile when they did it to her.

***

Annabelle let them into the flat. Layla and Emma were in the kitchen. Emma was sat on Layla's lap and had her arms round Layla. They were already dressed and made up. Layla had her thigh-high leather boots on again. Emma wore stockings and suspenders. Annabelle kissed and hugged them in greeting. Ron had the feeling that Layla was impressed with Annabelle.

Three clients were coming, it would apparently be what was referred to in the trade as a 'party.' The men hadn't used the agency before. Katie had asked him if he'd be able to deal with three people ok and Ron had said that he could. He went into the box room behind the mirror. He had a message on his phone, he had more work with Toby. An American businessman was coming to London. He was bringing a security guy with him, but Ron would tag along as well.

He saw Annabelle come out of the bathroom. She had stockings and suspenders on, like Emma. Ron wondered if the client had asked for them to wear lingerie. Annabelle had a great figure, she had fantastic legs. She looked almost as tanned as Emma. Ron heard the buzzer go. Annabelle went out to greet them with the others. He kept looking at his phone. Someone he knew had sent him a photo of a black cat wearing a baseball cap.

When they all came into the bedroom, Ron thought the clients looked like teenagers. He wondered if they were breaking some sort of age of consent law. They boys were upper-class, and Ron thought maybe they were six-formers at a public school, splashing their parents' money on escorts. Two were tall and skinny, with dark hair. The other was short, squat and blonde. They weren't nervous or uncomfortable, they walked in like they owned the place. One of them had a bottle of champagne. Ron noticed that none of them were bad looking. One of the tall, thin ones was actually a bit of a pretty boy.

You all need to take a shower. The bathroom's there,' said Layla, gesturing to the bathroom to their left. The dark-haired pretty boy went into the bathroom and shut the door. The squat one went to put his arm round Annabelle.

'You all need to take a shower before the fun starts, my darling,' said Layla. The squat one didn't look happy, but he didn't argue. Emma went to get glasses.

'When does the time start then? I don't think we should pay just to be stood waiting for a shower,' said the other skinny one.

'I tell you what, my darling, we'll start the clock when you've all been in the shower and got nice and clean, ok?' said Layla. She was assertive and in control, Ron was impressed with her. Annabelle decided to go and help Emma find glasses.

What are you guys up to in London?' said Layla.

'We're down for a rugby match,' said the squat one.

'He's playing,' said the other one.

'Our school are playing against another school,' said the squat one.

'Are you a good player, my darling?' said Layla.

'I'm alright,' said the squat one.

'I bet you're a good player, with those big muscles,' said Layla.

The first one, the pretty boy, came out of the bathroom, and the squat one went in.

There were still just the three glasses in the flat, the two wine glasses and the pint glass. Ron thought they should get some more. The tall one that had already showered opened the champagne and poured. He seemed quite happy to be stood there naked.

'We'll drink from the bottle, you can have the glasses,' he said.

'Thank you my darling,' said Layla.

They made small talk and drank for a bit. It took a few minutes for the squat one to come out of the shower, then the last one went in. Emma said she liked the champagne. The squat one seemed happy to just stand around naked as well. Ron thought they were probably used to all that stuff at their fucking public-school buggery club. When the other skinny one came out, still towelling himself off, Emma went up to the pretty boy. She looked shy as she hugged him and kissed him. Layla was sat on the bed, she beckoned to the squat one to come over to her. He was already becoming erect. Annabelle was left with the other skinny one.

Pretty boy asked Emma to take her clothes off, and she did. She was just left in her stockings. They started kissing. He stooped down and sucked on one of her nipples. She rubbed the back of his head tenderly. Layla had the squat one's penis in her mouth. Like the other night, with the other customer, Ron noticed again how she seemed to close her lips really tightly around his shaft as her mouth went up and down on him. He came quickly. She swallowed his semen.

'You've got quite nice tasting spunk,' she said.

'Thank you,' he said, amused.

Annabelle was kissing the other one. She was holding his penis in her left hand, gently stroking him, getting him erect.

Does that feel nice?' she said.

'Yeah it does,' he said.

She got down on her knees. She looked up at his face for few seconds, smiling, teasing him. 'Would you like to come in my mouth?' she asked him.

'Yes,' he said. He was laughing.

She had cupped his testicles, and started to gently stroke them, moving her hand gradually back and forth. She took his penis into her mouth and sucked on it, her mouth moving up and down rhythmically. She closed her eyes as she sucked him. He came quickly. Ron wasn't surprised that he did.