Doctor's Delight (2 page)

“Well…”

“And now you’re
engaged and Susie has a boyfriend. Again.”

“Cherry, any
man would have to be out of his mind to not want you—”Susie
began.

“Oh, come on!”
Cherry poked her soft belly with a forefinger. “I’m fat and thirty
five. No man wants me.”

“That’s not
true.”

“Of course it’s
bloody true! How many times was I picked up at the pub? When did
any man show any interest in me?”

“You have
plenty of male friends.”

“Friends.
Friends!” Cherry stopped talking when a hospital clerk looked
inside the door and glanced around in search of someone before
retreating again. “Friends, Susie. Men want to be my friend, not my
lover.”

Maxie and Susie
looked at each other.

Cherry sighed
and leaned her chin on one fist. “I’m not jealous of you two. We’ve
been friends for years. It’s just…”

“You want to be
loved,” Maxie said.

“No. Yes.”

“Decisive,”
Susie stated.

“I want...”

“A man.”

“Exactly.”

“We’re trying,
sweetie.” Maxie patted her hand. “There’s some new doctors coming
to the town and we’ll see them here. Maybe one of them?”

“You don’t
understand.” Taking a deep breath, Cherry pushed the coffee mug
away. If it were anyone else but her two friends, she wouldn’t have
had the gumption to speak her mind. “I’ve given up on finding a man
to love me.” When Susie opened her mouth to object, she held up her
hand. “All I want is to know what it’s like to be held. Kissed.
Have sex.” Okay, maybe that was taking it a bit too far, especially
at work.

“That’s all?”
Susie’s eyes had widened.

“Yes.”

“I can fix
that.”

“You can?” Both
Cherry and Maxie asked at the same time.

Before Susie
could answer, four more nurses came through the door, one of them
the DON. They sat down at the table, talking amongst
themselves.

Susie winked at
Cherry. Maxie looked dubious. Cherry wondered what the hell Susie
was thinking.

On their way
back to the ward, Susie nudged Cherry. “Maxie and I will be over
tonight to chat a bit more.”

“You will?”

“We will.”

“Good,” Maxie
said. “I can’t wait to hear your plan.”

Cherry watched
her friends disappear down the corridor and rubbed her chin. Susie
could fix her yearnings? What on earth did her friend have in
mind?

And did she
really want to know?

~*~

Sitting
cross-legged on the sofa, a romance novel open but face-down on her
lap, Cherry stared moodily at the television screen. The sound was
turned off but there was enough for her to know what was
happening.

The actress was
being thoroughly kissed by a mouth-watering actor. He was cute, she
was cute. They were both so bloody beautiful it made Cherry want to
be sick. Violently.

Picking up the
remote, she jabbed the off switch with more force than necessary
and threw it back down on the sofa. Now she could see her
reflection in the dark screen. Short, fat sheila. Phooey.

All her life
she’d been friends with the males of the species. Friends and
nothing more. She was everyone’s mate, no-one’s lover. She’d only
been kissed twice in her whole lifetime. Once by an over-sexed
teenager in school, and the other time at her fifth birthday party
by the little romeo who lived next door.

What gold star
moments.

Now she was
thirty five years old and a virgin.

“It’s not that
I don’t want to be a virgin,” she told Frizzo and Sugar, who were
both lolling back on the other sofa opposite her. “I just want, for
once, to be held. Touched. Kissed.”

Frizz blinked
his gold eyes at her and Sugar yawned.

Ignoring their
obvious disinterest, she continued, “Is it too much to ask?
Everywhere I look, men and women are making out. Kissing. Touching.
I’m not. Is it too much to ask? I don’t want to die without
knowing, just once, what it’s like to be made love to.”

“And you don’t
have to,” a cheerful voice said from behind her.

Cherry nearly
fell off the sofa. “Hells bells!”

Susie plopped
down onto the sofa beside her.

“Just come
right on in, why don’t you?” Cherry sighed. “You heard me talking
to the cats, didn’t you?”

“Lovie, we both
did.” Maxie perched on the armrest of the sofa opposite. Her eyes
were dreamy.

Cherry scowled.
“Ben jumped your bones when you got home, didn’t he?”

“Yeah. Man, he
is so built.” Maxie grinned.

“Glad to hear
it…for the fiftieth time.”

“If you got it,
brag about it.”

“Forget her.”
Susie waved her hand at Maxie. “Cherry, I have the answer to your
problems.”

“And that is
what?”

“You need to
hire an escort.”

“For what? To
go to a dance?”

“No, dingbat. A
male escort. A male…”

“Yes?
What?”

“Male
prostitute, or for a subtler term, a male escort,” Maxie
explained.

“A male
escort?” Cherry couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Are you
kidding me? A male escort?”

Susie nodded
eagerly.

“You reckon I
should hire a male
prostitute
?”

Maxie frowned.
“I don’t think she’s taking this very well.”

Cherry stared
at her. “Max. A male prostitute? I mean…Maxie!”

Leaning back on
the sofa, Susie plucked the book from Cherry’s lap and started
reading. “What have we here? Oh yeah, saucy love scene hotting up.
‘He touched her, smearing her moistness over her clit, finding
the—’”

“Give me that!”
Plucking the book from Susie’s hand, Cherry tucked it behind her
under the cushion. “And explain your suggestion to me.”

She still
couldn’t quite believe she’d heard correctly. Mainly because she’d
entertained that idea herself a couple of times. Like in the middle
of the night. Entertained, but not seriously. Sort of.

Hearing one of
her best friends suggest it…

“Tell me.”
Susie held up the remote control. “What were you doing with this
while reading that sex scene?”

“Turning off
the TV.”

Maxie
sniggered.

“Forget the
remote.” Cherry folded her arms. “Male escort?”

“Hey, I thought
it was a stupid idea, too,” Maxie said. “But just listen. It
doesn’t half sound bad, which is a huge shock, coming from Susie
the Mole.”

“Oh, that’s
rich, coming from you who has just been shagged and was brazen
enough to brag about it to us.”

“The male
escort?” Cherry probed, knowing that if she didn’t interrupt the
two girls would go off on their own tangent.

“Oh yeah.”
Susie grinned. “Why don’t you just hire a male escort for the
night?”

“Oh.” Cherry
pursed her lips. “Hire one for the night, huh? Are you crazy?”

“Not at all.
Cherry, you’re the one who’s unhappy with being thirty five and a
virgin.”

“Wrong!” Cherry
scowled. “Thirty five I can handle. A virgin…it’s not the
virginity, Susie, it’s…it’s…” She searched for the words.

Maxie took pity
on her. “Being held, kissed, and made love to?”

Cherry sighed.
“You heard every word I said to the cats, didn’t you?”

“Yep.”

Susie raised
her brows. “You can’t find a man to do that, so hire one to do
it.”

“Damn, that’s
cold,” Maxie retorted when Cherry could only stare at her
friend.

“Bare facts,
Maxie.” Susie shrugged. “This is not the time for sweetness.”

“You’re not
kidding,” Cherry finally managed. “Stick the knife in a little
deeper, why don’t you?”

Susie refused
to be embarrassed. Instead, her expression was determined. “Cherry,
you’re a grown woman. This is no time to be modest. You want what
no man has yet given to you. Why not buy it?”

“How desperate
do you think I am?” Cherry snapped.

“I thought you
were looking at Ducks Arse a little hungrily the other day.”

“I’d call that
by-passing desperate.” Maxie shuddered.

Cherry glared
at her.

“Now think
about it,” Susie said. “A lot of professional women hire male
escorts. They’re busy, they don’t have time for relationships. They
hire a male for a few hours, get that companionship—”

“Have a bloody
good shag,” Maxie interrupted.

“Have a kiss
and cuddle and make love,” Susie finished. “What’s wrong with
that?”

“What could
possibly be right with it?” Cherry demanded. She couldn’t believe
she was hearing this idea.

“Everything,”
Susie replied. “You can ask for the kind of bloke that makes your
panties wet. Short haired, dark-haired, long-haired, blue eyes,
well-built.”

“Well hung,”
Maxie added.

“Hung like a
horse.” Susie nodded. “You can hire your dream lover for a few
hours or the whole damned night.”

Cherry shook
her head. “Look, I really don’t—”

“Yes, you do.”
Susie had a small smile on her face. “They’re expert at their jobs,
they don’t care about your build or anything. Their job is to
please you. You, Cherry. You can have that closeness.”

“I don’t think
it’s quite the same.”

“It’s what you
want. Kissing, holding, love making.”

“Well, yes,
but—”

“So what’s the
problem?”

Cherry stared
back at her two friends, who looked right back at her.

“Diseases?’ she
finally suggested weakly.

“Health
checked. Condoms.”

“Yeah,
but—”

“Have your own
supply in,” Maxie said. “Besides, you have no guarantee with any
bloke nowadays.”

“What about
Ben?”

“Ben’s been
around, trust me. A lot of blokes have.”

“And women,”
Susie added.

“You’d know,”
Maxie said. “Listen to Susie the Mole, Cherry.”

“Up yours.”
Susie gave Maxie the finger.

“Charming.”

Cherry shook
her head. “Look, I know you’re trying to help but I’m not so sure
this is a good idea.”

“Come on, what
else could you possibly object to?”

“How about
someone finding out?” That was something of which Cherry couldn’t
stand the thought. “What if my sister and brother-in-law found out?
Good God, what if my parents found out?”

“Male escorts
are discreet.”

“How do you
know that?”

Susie pursed
her lips, then shrugged. “Oh, bugger it. I’ve hired a male escort
before.”

Cherry and
Maxie stared at her.

“You what?”
Cherry’s mouth fell open. “You?”

“Hey, I was
in-between relationships and I was lonely. I only wanted a bit of
companionship, pretty much what you want.” She crossed her legs
nonchalantly. “That’s why I’m in the position to give you this
information.”

Cherry stared
at her. Susie was beautiful, with thick blonde hair, big blue eyes
and an hour-glass figure. She had men panting over her wherever she
went. And she’d hired a male escort?

“Don’t look so
shocked.” Susie grinned. “I got what I wanted. A well-hung,
good-looking male who catered to my every whim. My every whim. I
hired him about five times in two weeks, and he was worth it.”

“Would you hire
him again?” Maxie asked in fascinated curiosity.

“If I didn’t
have a boyfriend?” Susie thought to herself. “Well, sure, if I felt
like it.”

“Felt like
it?”

“Horny. Like
Cherry.”

“Hey!” Cherry
scowled. “I am not horny.”

“Honey, you’re
a thirty-five year old virgin with sex on your mind. Trust me,
you’re horny.”

“Shit.”

Maxie
laughed.

“So, how about
it?” Susie asked. “Male escort?”

“Well, I don’t
know.”

“Take what you
want, or wait another thirty five years.”

“I’ll have
cobwebs by then.”

“You won’t
remember what it’s for by then, you mean,” Maxie corrected.

Cherry looked
at her. “Have you ever hired a male escort?”

“No. But then,
I have Ben.”

“Well, what
about before Ben?”

“I had other
boyfriends.”

“What if you
hadn’t had other boyfriends?” Cherry persisted. “What if you didn’t
have Ben?”

“Well…yeah, I’d
think about it.” Maxie’s cheeks pinkened.

“There you go!”
Susie said triumphantly. “Let’s get you a male escort.”

“What? No!”
Cherry shook her head.

“Come on, then.
Hypothetically, who would you ask for?” Maxie queried.

“Maxie—”

“Hypothetically. I’d ask for a man in his early twenties, short
brown hair, built like a brick dunny.”

“How romantic.”
Susie pulled a face. “I’d ask for an older man, more experienced.
Black hair. Lean but strong.”

Maxie looked
expectantly at Cherry.

“What?” Cherry
was feeling a little flustered.

“Who would you
hire as your pleasure machine?”

Pleasure
machine? It sort of had a tantalizing ring to it. “Well…”

“Yes?” Susie
and Maxie looked eagerly at her.

“Well, I guess
I’d ask for a man with long dark hair, but it has to be neat and
clean.”

“Of course.”
Susie shuddered. “Dirty and dishevelled - yuck”

“Strong
features. Piercing eyes. Full lips, but masculine, you know?”
Cherry warmed up as she thought of her dream man. “I’d want him to
be well-built. Some good muscle on him.”

“Gotta have
muscle.” Maxie nodded.

“Tall. Big
hands.”

“All the better
to cup you with, my dear.” Susie winked.

Cherry grinned.
“Big enough to cup me with. Long fingers.”

“Oh yeah.”
Maxie slid down off the armrest to sprawl on the sofa. “Long
fingers for stroking. Sure fingers.”

“I think I’m
getting wet.” Susie muttered.

Cherry could
picture him in her mind. “Long, strong legs.”

“You’re right
into the long and strong, aren’t you?” Maxie sighed dreamily.