The doorman told her, respectfully, “Mr. Wright asked me to tell you that he will be in the bar… and would you please join him there… “
Faye murmured her thanks, assuming that Bill had already tipped the man for his service.
His quick smile assured her of it as she went through the door past him, toward the bar.
Bill was seated at a booth, facing the door. She went quickly to him, he arising to seat her, his gentlemanly ways coming to his aid: His voice was warm and cordial. She noted that he had shaved and was dressed in stylish fashion. There was, also, something of humbleness… perhaps even of contriteness in his manner.
“Good afternoon, Darling,” he said, brushing her lips with a swift kiss.
She couldn’t help her grin. It seemed absurd. The man greeting her was, most certainly, a different man, who only a few hours before, had practically raped her… on their wedding night. No! Dear God! He had raped her. There was no other word for it! He had forced her… even tied her up!
“Hello, Bill… I’ll have another martini!”
“Another…?” He grinned back at her and turned to order her drink from the scantily clad cocktail waitress waiting at his elbow. He watched her walk-away, a practiced, sexy hip sway. Then, he turned back to his wife.
“We can relax here… with our drinks. for a while…”
“Good idea…” she agreed. “We both need to relax… after l-last night…!”
Capturing one of her bands in his, he asked, “Is everything… all right…? I mean… you’re not…?”
“Yes… I’m all in one piece… except for a-a… broken hymen… which is par for the course, I suppose…” she assured him; then continued, “I saw a doctor… He examined me and gave me a prescription.”
Bill heaved a sigh of relief. “That’s good! I thought I might have hurt you… pretty bad… or something.
“No… I’m just awfully sore… down there. The doctor said I was suffering from Honeymoonitis… he prescribed rest… and no sex for twenty-four hours!” she told him. There! It was easy!
“Twenty-four hours!” he blurted. “Twenty-four hours… without…?”
“Doctor’s orders!” she said, blithely, grinning at him.
“I’ll be damned!” he exploded. “How do we arrange that? Do you realize… or does that doctor realize… we’re on our honeymoon?”
“The doctor suggested s-separate rooms…”
His anger boiled over in him. “Separate room? No! I’ll never agree to that, by God!”
“Yes, you will, Dear!” she smiled, sweetly, at him. “Will you arrange it, right away?”
Bill arranged it! Within the hour, Faye was in a room of her own. It had been easy. She used the most powerful lever at her disposal. She had been insistent, overcoming his objections, finally, by simply threatening to take the first available flight out of Las Vegas… if he did not agree to her terms!
It was the first of many such little victories for her. If sex, she decided, was so all-important to him, she would make it important for herself… but for different reasons.
Bill’s Uncle Morris was upset! Actually, he was apoplectic! Faye had never seen anyone that angry before; fervently, she hoped she never would, again.
The upshot of their stormy interview, after they had told him of their elopement and the matter of a gambling debt incurred during their honeymoon, was that the young couple were unceremoniously ejected. “You’re on your own from now on!” he yelled at them. “And don’t come back!”
His uncle, also, during the next week, changed his will, and Bill was disinherited.
“Well… That’s that!” Bill said, “So, now, I make it on my own!”
Faye was disturbed. “I don’t want t-to come between you and your uncle!”
“Forget it! It was bound to happen!” he told her.
Against Faye’s objections, he resigned the job his uncle had arranged for him in Burbank, where he had been working when he had met Faye.
“It’s a clean break from everything,” he said. “Anyway, I already have another job lined up with California Fabrication as an Assistant Production Manager. I’ll be working under a man by the name of Royce…”
They moved into a modest apartment.
Bill’s job with CalFab seemed, at first, to be exactly the sort of thing he liked most… except for Royce.
Little by little, Faye learned to respond, warmly, to their lovemaking; although, there were several sex activities she didn’t like and refused, constantly, to indulge in them.
It was not exactly to Bill’s liking. He had been used to more freewheeling sex, and he felt that Faye was too restrained; however, in the face of what he had done to her on their wedding night, he felt he owed it to her to modify his own wild desires… So, their sex-life became rather routine, conforming to her more conservative outlook. It was straightforward, nothing-fancy sex for them… an almost humdrum, ho-hum sort of life. It pleased Faye. She didn’t ask for more.
As for Bilclass="underline" The wildness in him became domesticated. He tolerated. He didn’t like to do it, particularly, but he did.
Chapter Five
Doctor Mathew Bender had removed the bulky body cast from Bill. He was just finishing an exhaustive physical examination. His silence seemed foreboding to Bill, and he asked, nervously, “Well, Doctor… am I ready to go home…?”
“I don’t see any reason why not… It’s just as I’d thought earlier… the X-Ray studies show no damage… muscles were abused some… some bruises… and as far as I can tell there’s no nerve damage. Everything seems to be normal, and I think some mild exercises to start rebuilding muscle tone would be in order… walking will be good…” the doctor said.
Turning away, he started to write out a prescription for a mild pain killer. He went on, “I’ll arrange for your discharge from the hospital.”
Bill was thoughtful, wrestling with indecision. He made up his mind, cleared his throat and said, “Doctor… there’s just one thing…”
Doctor Bender looked back at him. “Yes…? What’s that?” he asked, absently.
“Well… I’ve always been… pretty virile and…” He stopped short.
“And what?’
“Well… ever since I’ve been in the hospital ten or eleven days… I haven’t had an erection!”
The doctor smiled, reassuringly, “Nothing to worry about there!” he said. “As soon as you get home… I think that very lovely wife of yours will be able to change that! It’s quite normal… your body’s energies are involved with healing.”
But, what if she can’t?”
“I don’t think it’ll be a problem!” the doctor stated, flatly. “But there are many techniques she could use.”
“Such as…?”
“Manual or oral stimulation… or both… different positions… or you might read some of the so-called pornographic books. The descriptions and pictures can be very stimulating and educational… I recommend them to many married couples who are having problems.”
“Faye won’t go the oral route… she…”
“Many women won’t,” Doctor Bender observed, “until they learn. Here, I’ll give you the title of a book. It’s an illustrated sex manual… explains in detail the best and most highly stimulative types of sexual activity.” He wrote the title on a piece of paper and handed it to Bill. “If both of you read it… it’ll be better!”
“Bill looked at the title of the book. “This is pornography…?”
“I didn’t say that!” Doctor Bender snapped. “There are some misguided people who would prohibit any kind of sex instruction! They would call it that!”
“I see… How about the other books… and magazines?”
“If they help people to enjoy sex more there’s nothing wrong with them! I read them, myself… and there hasn’t been a single psychological study that’s ever shown they do any harm!” the doctor said.
“All right… I’ll have Faye get this one for us,” Bill said. “It might help..
“There’s no doubt about it, Mr. Wright!” Doctor Bender told him.”… And, you’ve nothing to worry about… really!”