'tales From the Orient'

Thanks to 'ausfet', 'anonymous' and all you other guys for your positive feedback; it's the first time I've done anything like this so constructive criticism is good for my morale. Please keep it coming. As I said in my introduction to Rashoman 1 the story is as much to do about how situations are seen from the view points of the participants – this will become clearer as the story unfolds. So, it won't be just a litany and description of various erotic situations – although there'll be some of that as well.

As for those of you who don't like the story – well;

And if I can find out how to include some pictures in the text I'll do that as well.

*****

Rashomon 2 - Singapore 1969

Dee took a deep breath... then went on;

"Do you remember that before you went away on your jungle exercise we had an argument?"

Well, yes, I did. It had all started off as something silly – I'd asked her why couldn't I have a rack in our refrigerator for keeping my beer cold or something like that, and then it escalated into all sorts of unrelated complaints on both sides, ending up with me saying I was now sometimes feeling embarrassed in the way she flirted with Rod or 'Scottish' John or some of the other lads. I know I'd told her I was relaxed at the way she behaved with other men (even at that time I was all in favour of women's lib even if I was only 22!) and she was free to do what she liked. But even so, we'd not been married very long and primal jealousy still erupted every so often. I knew full well that the other guys would try and bed her if they could, just as I would have done if I'd met her when I was a single man.

She immediately and forcibly let me know wasn't very happy about my attitude – and being a Yorkshire girl, she didn't mince her words. She said she didn't flirt deliberately to lead them on - she was just enjoying herself - and it wasn't her fault if my friends found her attractive. We talked about it and eventually we kissed and made up but I could tell she still wasn't happy.

Then she said;

"I was still feeling a bit resentful after you left. Who were you to tell me what to do and not to do? Anyway, the next day I went shopping down town and just by chance on a street market found a lovely silk and lace top. It fitted me perfectly, it looked pretty and felt rather nice against my skin so I thought you might like me in it as well. Then a few days later Jo came around and told me there was going to be a fancy-dress beach theme party at the Company Club. The Club had asked if she'd be willing act as a sort of gatekeeper at the party and would I like to join her and they could do it together? Well, yes, that sounded a bit different so I said I'd love to. Apart from Jo I hadn't seen anybody else since you'd left and I'd heard nothing from you - although as you were in the jungle I suppose I didn't really expect anything."

"By then I fancied a bit of social life if only to cheer myself. Jo and I had the same outlook on life and I knew we would have fun together. We talked about what to wear and we decided that if Jo went as a 'jungle bunny', wearing one of Pete's army vests and a pair of jungle trousers and some flowers in her hair, then I would go as something completely different – something more like a 'surfing bunny'! I showed Jo my new lacy top and she suggested that if I wore it with something like a sarong then that we would really complement each other. So, I bought a lovely white sarong and wrapped it around my waist. Even though it wasn't quite see-through I thought my new top on its own without a bra could be thought of as a bit bold; but Jo just said I looked lovely in it. She'd be wearing one of Pete's aertex type army green vests without a bra, which definitely made her quite eye catching - and she said she didn't care."

"Come the Saturday evening we went down to the Club in Jo's Mini, and as people arrived we did our gatekeeper act, pretending to frisk those coming in. The men didn't complain – and more than one of them tried to persuade us to search them again – but some of the wives were a bit sniffy. Then 'Scottish' John and Rod arrived, both dressed as Malaysian pirates – bare chested and wearing sarongs, black pirate makeup and hats and carrying imitation scimitars! As soon as we saw the expressions on their faces Jo said 'this could be interesting' and they approached us smiling wickedly."

"Both the boys wanted Jo and me to strip search them – privately! But we told them to behave themselves and they'd have to be happy with being searched the same as everybody else - and refusing to search under their sarongs, although from the look on Jo's face when she was searching Rod she might happily have taken him to one side if she could! Then the party carried on as normal with lots of socialising and music and dancing. Later on, Jo and I ended up dancing with John and Rod, then while everybody else was taking a break for the buffet they asked us if we'd like to go for a walk in the gardens for a bit of fresh air."

"Well, I remembered what you'd said about flirting but thought "What the hell – I'll not be told what to do – I'll do what I like!" John had been fun and quite charming all evening, just teasing me like he always does but not pushing me too far. Even so I knew full well he wanted more than just a walk and some fresh air. But I felt confident I could look after myself and if Jo was there at the same time I thought we could give each other moral support if we needed it."

"We wandered out into the gardens, John with me with Rod with Jo. It was a typical Singapore night – the air was very hot and muggy, the scent from the tropical flowers and undergrowth was quite exotic and as there was the odd flash of lightning in the distance I thought it was probably going to start raining soon. All four of us wandered off through the gardens, which led down a slope from the Club. John and I were just chatting and flirting and although I let him put his arm around my waist I told him to behave himself. Then at some stage I realised Jo and Rod had disappeared."

"I was about to say something when John said he knew of a garden bench where we could relax and have a cigarette. I thought that sounded safe enough and now we were just outside a Nissen hut (a prefabricated accommodation hut with a curved tin roof) that was used for visitors. John said the garden bench was just behind it. I knew he was trying to get me on my own but by then I didn't care; he'd been lovely all evening and I was enjoying his company."

She stopped and looked at me with a slightly concerned look on her face. For some reason as she'd telling me all this I'd started to feel a strange tension building up inside my stomach. Then I realised that instead of feeling upset with her as I might have done in the past for putting herself in such a potentially compromising position I was suddenly feeling strangely excited; and I couldn't understand why. But at the same time I did have a tremendous desire to know what she'd been doing. So, I just smiled reassuringly at her and told her to go on. She almost sighed in relief, paused for a moment and went on;

"Well, we found the bench; and honestly, I know what you're thinking but nothing really happened; well, OK, we snogged a bit and I suppose there was a bit of petting, which to my mind doesn't count. At first it was fun then John got a bit; well you know what I mean - and he suggested we might find it more comfortable in the Nissen hut – he said the mosquitoes were annoying him and it was more private. The mossies were certainly a nuisance but I knew that if I agreed to go into the hut with him; then things could rapidly get out of hand. So, I said I wasn't prepared to go that far. Then there was a sudden tremendous clap of thunder, more lightning and it suddenly it started to rain – a typical Singapore tropical storm. That literally put a dampener on things so we quickly ran back up to the Club. I didn't see Jo again until she drove me home after everything had finished, and she said that she and Rod had taken shelter from the storm in the Nissen hut."

I said I knew that Nissen accommodation hut. It had small individual cabins, each with a single bed and was for use by visitors – and it was often empty. As a single man I'd used it for a couple of illicit assignations myself so I was pretty certain I knew what Rod and Jo had got up to. I told Dee that and she just smiled and said;

"Yes, I had a feeling that was what John had in mind; As you know I've always thought he is very attractive but I told him I was newly married and in love with you. I said I liked him and a bit of flirting and petting was just fun but I wasn't prepared to go any further. Jo didn't actually say what she and Rod had got up to in the hut but on the way home she couldn't seem to stop grinning and talking about him and said he'd been 'a bit of a handful'".

I smiled at her – that I could understand. A few months before I'd asked Dee to marry me Rod and John and I had gone to Penang for a week's R&R. Part of any R&R in those days was visiting various bars and brothels and we quickly ended up in one such establishment. To cut a long story short both John and Rod had to change their original choice of girls halfway through the evening as both girls said John and Rod were 'too much for them' and a couple of more experienced girls took their places!

Dee didn't say anything about John – although having seen him in the showers I could understand what the Penang girls had meant – but if that was all that had happened Dee didn't sound all that different from some other wives in the Club who I knew sometimes enjoyed themselves with single men. I was thinking particularly of Pat and Judy. So, all in all it didn't sound too bad - and at least Dee hadn't tried to hide anything from me. I thought she'd finished but then she went on rapidly and said she had something else to tell me – and it was a bit more ... Oh, I thought here we ago again but I'd promised I wouldn't be angry with her so I nodded my head again.

She took another deep breath and said that the day after the party at the Club Jo had told her that Pat and Judy and herself had decided that they ought to go out for a 'girls' night out' the following Saturday. The reason for this was that Jo and Pete were due to return to the UK on posting quite soon and Pat and Judy and their husbands were also going around the same time.

Unfortunately, the British army, in its wisdom, had decided to send myself and Pete on this jungle exercise and Pat and Judy's husbands to Hong Kong while leaving the wives to clean the quarters, pack the heavy baggage and get everything ready for when their husbands came back before they all went back home to UK! Naturally the three wives were not at all impressed with this, there was a lot of arguing but because it was all tied in with the timing of the air trooping flights there wasn't much they could do about it. So, they decided that if their husbands were going to enjoy ourselves in the fleshpots of Hong Kong and the Malaysian jungles they too would enjoy themselves for a final time in the social jungle of Singapore. Jo asked Dee if she'd like to come along with them for a night out. Dee said she was getting bored being on her own - so why not?

So, the following Saturday there was a dance night at the Nurses' Club at the Alexandra Military Hospital, which wasn't all that far away from the area where we all lived. Then Dee went on with what had happened, something like this;

"Jo, Pat and Judy and myself took a taxi down to the Nurses' Club. I had a new dress – you know, the one with the long zip up the front - and the other girls had party dresses so we felt ready to enjoy ourselves."

"As it so happened there was an American aircraft carrier, I think it was called the 'Ticonderoga', in Singapore and the ship's jazz band was playing at the Club. As we entered the Club we expected there would be lots of American servicemen there on leave from Vietnam. But we were happy with that and were just looking forward to a good night out.'"

"Things started off promisingly. The band was playing fabulous dance music, and everybody was enjoying themselves. I danced a few times but after a while I took a break on my own to have a cigarette. I was on the edge of the dancefloor when a group of guys who had been eyeing me up came across towards me. One of them, obviously drunk, came right up to me, said something I didn't understand, then reached forward and suddenly pulled down on the zip fastener on my dress, as far as it would go – and you know how far it went - right down past my waist!"

"I was stunned! I reacted instinctively and slapped him across the face – hard! Then I realised what I'd done and burst into tears and tried to pull up the zip – but the damned thing jammed! The man fell back onto the floor and I turned around and started pulling at the zip while trying to hold the front of my dress together. I felt so embarrassed and exposed – as you know I don't like wearing a bra with it so I had nothing underneath."

"Now things started rapidly getting out of hand. The man's friends started shouting and I thought they might become violent or something and suddenly there was another man stood next to me. I looked at him angrily, expecting more trouble. But he just smiled, reached for the zip fastener, took it out of my fingers and gently eased right up until it to the top. Oh... not quite what I expected...

(To be continued...)