Case 98-1 "Tower in Her Pocket"
by Prof. Richard W.
(formerly of the University of ____________)
All of the characters and their behaviour are fictional, and anyone attempting their behaviour is bound to get into a lot of trouble. Copyright Β© 2005 by Richard Williams, all rights are reserved. This story was written in 1998.
*
Heidi Norton was a raven-haired woman in her mid-20's, with an easy smile and an engaging laugh to match. I met her by arrangement in the grand new Denver Public Library's Periodicals room-- someplace safe and open is what she needed. She had been sent to me by a former faculty colleague, Jill Madison, who had heard just enough of Heidi's story to know that it was up my line and too hot for her to handle.
Heidi was an engineer, Jill told me, quite a brilliant young woman. Observant, meticulous with details, alert. If Heidi said something was wrong, something was wrong. Something had happened to Heidi that was beyond normal, and could I do something about it?
I was surprised at Heidi's easygoing manner, given the careful attention to the details of how we would meet. Subsequently, I was to learn that her strong personality was carrying her through this very personal crisis. She just wanted the reassuring public setting while we got started and the library was perfect for us. As I developed a rapport with her, she relaxed, as my interview subjects eventually always do these days, and I suggested we move to one of the quieter study alcoves. In that setting, with the dull noise of traffic underneath our voices, she told me her amazing story.
Her smile remained, softened as a feeling of calm passed over her. I was glad that my lover Sophia was not watching us, as she might have had doubts about my own willingness to resist the old urge to become intimately involved with my attractive subject. Heidi remained unaware of that, I trusted, and spoke in an unstressed voice.
-------------------------------------------------
We were in Paris when it happened. It was only two days of our seven-day excursion from Denver. Two girlfriends and I took advantage of the low fares for British Airways' service inauguration and flew to London. We had never been overseas before, and it all seemed to move in such a whirl. We took the Chunnel train to Paris, checked into our pre-booked hotel, and were out to see the sights.
Do you know what a long hike it is up Montmartre to see the view? When the little funicular railway is not running, that is what one does.... hike. We were following a guy of about age 19 or so up the stairs. He was wearing jeans and we were teasing each other about how good his butt looked. Jean, one of my friends, made a comment about how it was too bad there was only one of him to go around, and then Kerri, the other friend -- she's older than Jean and I -- suggested that at age 19, he probably imagined that he could handle all of us. Kerri and Jean talked some more about how horny 19-year old guys are, and how easy it was to get them to come. It was kind of raunchy teasing, I guess, but we were far from home and feeling really independent. [She laughed at herself.]
We were at the top, looking out over the City of Light, and now there was just one other person near us. The jeans guy had gone on ahead somewhere. The sole other visitor was an elderly man, maybe in his late 60's. [I winced, but remembered that I was much closer to that age than she.]
He introduced himself to us without us asking, and began to tell us about the buildings spread out below. My friends weren't very interested, and began to edge away. He actually knew a lot about the buildings, though, and I remained to listen.
Reynard was his name, and he really had a good sense of humor in addition to being able to tell the stories of Paris architecture. He switched to cutely-accented English when my high-school French stopped functioning. Unlike some Frenchmen, he gave me credit for trying-- flattered me by saying that I seemed very intelligent. I laughed a lot, and relaxed with him. [A half-smile crossed her face.]
I should have done what my friends had done, but the old guy and I were so perfectly on each other's wavelengths that my concerns vanished. Eventually, though, he noticed that my friends were slipping away, and he suggested that we must say our farewells. First though, he wanted to show me a trick for remembering Paris.
Holding his hands out with one palm facing down and the other facing up, he framed the Eifel Tower in them. He got me to do that, too, and it was neat how the distant tower appeared to be in the palm of my hand.
[At this point, I asked her to show me what he did, how he held his hands, but she would not. This puzzled me at the time, although her reasons became clear soon.]
Then, he had me pretend to slowly telescope this little Eifel Tower down between my palms, till my hands would touch each other. As I did so, he calmly explained in a smooth voice, that I would feel very comfortable in doing this, and that it would put the energy of the City of Light into my hands, that I could carry it in my pocket. He told me that this would let me keep Paris in my memory, and that perhaps I would come back and visit him. I laughed in agreement, sure! I can't say exactly what all he said, because at that point, just as I clapped my hands together, jet lag caught up with me I imagine, and I kind of drifted off.
It was just a second or so, but I guess he noticed, because suddenly I realized that he was raising his voice and telling me to wake up. I felt embarassed, but really full of energy. My friends were coming back to drag me away, so I had an excuse to leave then, but actually now there was less chance of me falling asleep, I was so refreshed.
As we headed down to the little cafes and bookstores, Kerri and Jean told me that they were amazed at how long I had talked to Reynard. They claimed that I had carried on chatting with him for fifteen minutes while doing that tower-in-my-pocket trick, but I think they were really stretching it. I did talk to him for quite a while, but that trick only added a couple of minutes.
["I must ask you a very personal question at this point," I interjected. She nodded agreement. As calmly as I could, I spoke "did you feel sexually aroused when you were done speaking with him?" Heidi started to speak, then stopped herself, then began to speak again.]
Yes, I did! It's amazing that you knew that. I never told that to Dr. Madison when we spoke.
Yes, I felt an attraction to him! I didn't tell Kerri or Jean that at the time, either. It seemed so strange. I think it was the combination of our teasing about the 19-year old guy, and then perhaps the sheer stimulation of talking with Reynard. Whatever, as the three of us walked down the hill, I realized that I was wet from just thinking about things.
Something else funny, that I bet you wouldn't guess is that I remember his phone number- Reynard's phone number. And I don't remember him telling it to me. I even have thought about calling him, but I've got this bigger issue to deal with.
[I nodded encouragement. She had spoken freely about her sexuality, and now she was headed into the deepest water of her story. Things were going well.]
The three of us had a good time that evening, although Kerri and Jean got a bit smashed, and I was kind of embarassed by how loud they were- especially when they started in topping each other with more "horny 19-year old" tales. It was kind of a relief to get back to my room.
For a minute, I thought about what Reynard had told me. It had been quite a day, and I did want to remember it all. I tried taking the imaginary Eifel Tower out of my pocket, and waved my hands as if I was shaking it out to full size. It wasn't an earth-shattering feeling, but he was right, it did bring back the image in my mind right away.
I started undressing-- I especially wanted to get those panties off, as the cold air on the damp cloth was making me uncomfortable. I was down to my underwear -- nothing fancy, Professor, just comfortable for travel -- and I heard someone make a low whistling sound.
You can imagine how I almost lost it right then! I whirled around, and there was the 19-year old guy in the room with me. He seemed perfectly at home, and not at all threatening in his manner.