British English. Don't worry when it seems a character's name suddenly changes. All will be revealed.
Florence
"I've volunteered for a secondment." said Florence.
"Yeah, where to?" said Duncan.
"I'm going to do six months at Princess Anne's Hospice."
"That doesn't sound much fun; waiting for patients to die."
"It's to cover for pregnancy leave and you're right; it isn't what most nurses would choose. But there will be a lot of advantages. Firstly it's closer to our house than City General, so less cost to and fro, less strain on my old mini, and more time at home. And secondly, it'll earn me brownie points. I'm a Band 7 Nurse Practitioner. When I return to base, six months at the hospice will look good on my resume. And it will put me ahead of the competition for the post of Band 8 Chief Nurse, which should come up next year. That will be a good payrise and get me a much needed new car."
"All sounds good to me - go for it then babe."
***
With a name like Florence, she was destined to become a nurse. Her mother had followed the same path. So at nursing college she'd got her head down and made sure she was good at it. At the moment she was glad to get away from City General for a while. A new doctor had started there a couple of months ago and he was not good news. Many females tend to lean towards the bad boy type, and Florence was no exception. Harvey was handsome and he knew it. Many of the females in the hospital were fluttering around him, but he perversely ignored them all. His sights seemed to be set on Florence. Her husband Duncan was an area sales manager. He mostly worked behind a desk but occasionally had trips away from home when completing major accounts. This gave her a golden opportunity to give Harvey the green light, but she never succumbed. A secondment to the hospice would remove her from temptation.
***
She'd been working at the hospice a month when she sat down with Duncan.
"I want to talk about Mr Gough; he's in the final stages of cancer."
"What about him?
"Well he's only 60 and in good shape for his age. He'll start deteriorating soon, so this is the last time in his life he will look and feel reasonably well. He twisted his ankle in the shower last week; could have happened to anyone. One of the girls was giving him a bed bath. She made a point of reporting to me that he's got an enormous penis which is still working."
"She had sex with him?" Duncan asked.
"No, but she was tempted. He offered her Β£500."
"I suppose he has that much cash stashed away in his bedside locker!"
"No, what he has is a solicitor / accountant who is organising his will and finances for when he's gone. The guy visits him every other week."
"I think I know where this is headed."
"I told the nurse she did the right thing in telling me. Then I admonished him for harrassing her; squeezing her arse made him hard. A lot of the old men do it; and they get away with it of course. What have they got to lose? Most of them are just dirty old men that get too free with their hands. They're annoying but harmless - most of them couldn't get it up if a nurse did encourage them. But Mr Gough seems to be in a different league. He's rather sad and got talking to me."
"What did he say?"
"He told me how he missed his late wife. But to get straight to the point, he's offered me serious money for sex."
"How much is serious?"
"He offered me Β£5,000 to have my arse; he's never had anal sex in his life. It would only be the one time, so he doesn't go to his grave never having experienced it. He's prepared to pay in cash, or can transfer the amount directly into my bank account. If I were to go through with it, cash is obviously the better option. I can use it for a new, or good, second-hand car. Then there'll be no trace for the taxman to investigate. What do you think sweetie?"
"Wow! That's quite an offer."
"That's what I thought. He knows he's on his way out of course; they all are, and anal sex is something he always wanted to try. I'm not going to tell you some sob story about a dear old widower's dying wish; he's probably exaggerating anyway. To be honest, I'm not really interested in the whys and wherefores. I'm just trying to be practical. We both know I'm not a whore but it is very tempting don't you think? And five grand would make a big difference to us - better than him leaving his money to some cat's home."
"I have to agree."
"I know you hear stories of one and done where the spouse then reneges on the deal. You hear about women who 'just want to try' something. It might be a black man or another woman or a gangbang. Then they find they like it and want more. But if we went ahead and did this, it really would be only once. You and I like anal so that aspect is no problem for me. Mr Gough sees it as his last chance and is hardly in a position to demand more afterwards. Neither is he in a postion to set up hidden cameras and blackmail me. And I'm not likely to want a return match with a 60 year old whose health will soon deteriorate. It really would be just one fuck and no more."
"And now you want to know what I think?"
"Of course; I would never do such a thing behind your back."
Duncan had worded his question carefully. If he appeared to behave as if he was in a postion to give or refuse permission - it would come across as if he owned Florence. And she deserved better than that. Whether she defied him or agreed with him, any hint of ownership would put her back up. So telling her what he honestly thought was a genuine response. They were both adults and could certainly do with the extra money. So he told her.
"I've also heard the stories of unusual marital deals, and there are often plenty of opportunities for them to go wrong. But this really does seem to be a case where we can get it over and done with and go straight back to normal afterwards. I think you should do it."
"Thanks, I was hoping you'd say that. There are a couple of details you need to know first."
"Let me guess. He wants you to call him daddy, and wants me to join in and do the double!"
"Duncan, sometimes you amaze me with your insight. But no, he hasn't suggested what I should call him anything in particular. But he does want me to dress as what he thinks of as a 'proper' nurse. He means not scrubs or civvies. He wants the traditional one-piece button through white dress, and black stockings, no other underwear. I'm probably going to have to adapt a fancy dress costume. And as for you, he wants to see you before we do it. He's an old-fashioned chap and wants to know you're ok with it. He comes from an era when the bride vowed to obey her husband."
Now Duncan felt relieved about how he'd responded. Florence would never have vowed to obey, so steering away from ownership avoided a potential mistake. She might tolerate that attitude from old Mr Gough, but not from him.