Sunday dawned early and most of the girls had gone to the temple to say their prayers. I lay in bed and lounged, waiting for someone to seek me out but all was quiet. I closed my eyes and went back to sleep, awakening at another soft knock, this time from Suki-san.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes. Just sleeping."
"You are late for class."
"Oh! I'm sorry. I hadn't realized it!" I jumped out of bed, forgetting that I was naked. Suki-san admired my figure with a sensual gaze that heated my cheeks. "I was waiting to hear them in the halls... "
"The girls go straight to the classroom from their prayers." I felt her hot breath on my neck as her arms came around me, her hands cupping my breasts and firmly stroking my nipples. "Now, you should get dressed and hurry up."
"Yes, Suki-san." She turned me in her arms and we kissed for a few long moments. Her mouth tasted of butterscotch and chocolate. We gazed at each other for a second, then she kissed the tip of my nose and headed down the hallway. I joined her in the classroom a few minutes later, thanking Naoko for saving me a place and making myself comfortable.
"Now, yesterday, we spoke of pleasuring the female and we learned about female genitalia. Today, we shall learn about seduction."
"Seduction? What will seduction have to do with our duties as geisha?"
"Quite a bit, Akina." Suki-san tugged on a girl's hand who was sitting near the front. "Come on, Yeshune. I require a volunteer." Yeshune sat on the couch at the front of the class, trying her best not to giggle. "Now watch. I shall seduce her without words."
Suki-san first took her shirt and pants off, then crawled onto the couch, her eyes locked onto Yeshune's. The young girl smiled nervously, smoothing her kimono down over her legs. Suki-san moved beside her and reached out a hand, gently smoothing the woman's hair back from her face and cupping her chin. Yeshune looked down at her hands folded in her lap, then back up into Suki-san's eyes. Suki-san's hands did the seduction. They touched, stroked, gentled. Before our eyes, Suki-san hypnotized Yeshune with her touch. When she reached into the woman's kimono, no doubt squeezing her breast and giving her a warm kiss, Yeshune was hers.
"That's how it's done."
That day and the next two weekends, we honed our seduction skills. The simple method of the first day progressed into more complex techniques and became foreplay. There was verbal foreplay, consisting of everything from innocent words to filthy phrases. Several of the girls couldn't fathom the idea of talking dirty but with Suki-san's help, they learned quickly and at length, became comfortable. Oral foreplay was next. Practicing on each other, we learn the art of raising the temperature: licking inner thighs, sucking toes, nibbling on necks, kissing the wet slit but not slipping the tongue in. Everything we learned was designed to break down barriers, set the client at ease and make the woman beg to be brought off. Foreplay was the difference between being a whore and a geisha and a keyword here was patience.
Three weeks before the end of my year, we were called in to Hana-san's office by Suki-san. By then, there were only nine of us. Akiko had left due to becoming pregnant and could no longer be involved in the program. Each day became a dress rehearsal for a day in our geisha profession. We played the
shamisen
, we spoke with each other, read the newspapers and practiced the tea ceremony. Suki-san began by pronouncing us the best class that she had ever had. Hana-san gifted us with jade brooches, meant to be used with the kimonos and gave us our final exam.
Upstairs awaited nine of Hana-san's best regulars. We were to each pair off with them and give them the best service we could. Our sessions would be videotaped for later critiquing and the woman who provided the best service would win a coveted spot in Suki-san's
o-chaya
as well as have a gift of her own choosing. We were given twenty minutes to prepare and chaos broke out as we all tried to exit the room at once.
Suki-san pulled me aside, giving me one of her patented lover's kisses and a tender embrace this time. "Make me proud."
I didn't say a word. I knew what she expected of me and I wouldn't let this beauty down. I went to my room and pulled out a garment bag that I'd been hiding in the very back of my rack of kimonos. I laid it on the bed and unzipped it, pushing the plastic material aside and gazing on nearly $5,000 worth of kimono. Raw magenta and pink silk and golden embroidery made this a work of art and I had paid a high price. I quickly stripped, pulled the kimono on and did my hair and makeup until I resembled an Utamaro geisha. Perfect. I slid my two-toed stockinged feet into the
geta
and ascended the stairs.
Maybe it was just me, but the world seemed to stop when I reached the top of the stairs. I've always had an unfair advantage because of my height but something told me that the extra money I'd spent on the kimono and the extra time I'd spent learning makeup skills had paid off. Even Suki-san stared at me. I bowed to everyone in the room and immediately shuffled over to Suki-san, reserving my lowest and most deferential bow for her.
"Good evening, Suki-san."
"Good evening, Nikki-san. May I say that you take my breath away."
"
Domo
." I tried not to grin. Instead, I flicked my fan out and turned to the woman she was speaking with, giving her a slight nod of my head. I would later find out that this was the fabled Nozomi-san, the geisha all aspired to become. She was older, in her late forties, with coal black hair, deep, dark eyes and an infectious smile. Her small hands were elegant, even in their arthritic stage and her legs were smooth and unmarked. I had caught her eye, but looked away quickly. It would not do to presume that I was on her level. I fanned my heated face and waited for Suki-san to address me again.
"Nikki-san is our best, Nozomi-san."
"Is she?" I felt her apprising eyes on me but resisted the urge to look up. "I heard that she's American."
"Yes, she is. She came to us from San Francisco, in the great state of California."
"Ah, I see. She's very tall."
"Not so much so. She's 5'9". While she is taller than some of us, her height does not put her at a disadvantage." Nozomi-san gave her a nod. "Do you wish to have her service?"
"I don't know, Suki. I haven't made my choice yet." My heart dropped into the depths of my already nervous stomach. "But I reserve my right of first choice."
Suki-san gave a nod. "As you wish, Nozomi-san." I gave a parting nod and allowed Suki-san to escort me away, where Nozomi-san could not overhear our conversation. "She likes you!"
"She has a funny way of showing it."
"She is our best female-only geisha, Nikki-san. Perhaps she is just jaded."
I gave her words some thought as I watched the other girls mingling and conversing with the other women. Only a few were dressed in kimonos. Most were wearing street clothes: jeans, T-shirts, dress slacks, suits. Nozomi-san was wearing a double kimono, a specialty item that I'd thought about buying but ultimately turned down. The inner kimono would be nothing more than a thin, gauzy robe with a silken collar. Perfect for seduction. So I knew that Nozomi-san had come with the purpose of being seduced. Shibumi approached her but was quickly turned away. Yeshune, Naoko, Keiko, Akina and Risako also tried but she rebuffed them easily. I wondered what she was waiting for.
I pocketed my fan and went to the table Suki-san had set up, gathering a small bunch of strawberries and a cup of crème frâiche and shuffled over to where she had sat. "Nozomi-san, may I serve you some strawberries?"
Her dark eyes seemed to pierce through me and I was pleasantly surprised when she said, "Yes."
I knelt on my haunches at the side of her chair, used a small melon baller to remove the stem, speared it on a cocktail knife and dipped it in the crème, lifting it to her lips. Her eyes met and held mine as the sweet red berry slid past her lips, the cream collecting at the corners. Nozomi-san chewed for a long moment, our eyes still holding, then her tongue slid out to clean the cream. "Good?"
"Yes." She gave me a small smile. "Another, please."
I spent the next twenty minutes feeding Nozomi-san the strawberries. When the plate was empty, she sat back with a smile and said, "Thanks." I nodded and arose and spent the next hour avoiding her. Suki-san came to find me, sitting in the hallway and having a cup of tea.
