lucky that I don't have to
work. He doesn't realise what he's doing, you see.' The words
sounded slightly sanctimonious even to her ears, but Madam Tisset
agreed without even sounding sarcastic.
'No, of course
he doesn't. He's a man, poor dear. He probably thinks he knows
what's best for his little wife, and talking won't make him change
his mind. He's probably got a few good points we can eventually
work on. But darling, if he's a model husband he's unique.'
As they were
talking Esther followed her down the corridor, up some steps, and
to another door, which opened to reveal a plush, if not
over-decorated living room.
'W-where are
the others?' she asked uncertainly.
'I don't do
classes. I work with individuals.'
She was
horrified. 'But won't that cost a lot?'
'Don't worry
about it. I get paid for succeeding. You let me know if I fail.'
Madam Tisset threw off her raincoat. She was wearing a sexy, red,
body-hugging dress, and her bust spilled from the low top. She
unlaced her ankle boots and collapsed on the worn settee with a
sigh. 'God, those shoes kill me.'
Esther smiled
nervously. 'Why do you wear them, then?'
'Image,
dearie. That's one of the first lessons I'm going to teach you. Men
see in a woman what that woman let's them see. It's all about
image. Trust me! What I don't know about men doesn't exist. You
see, this isn't only about training you, it's about training him
and, believe me, ducky, he'll enjoy the experience.
'Right,' she
went on casually, 'take your clothes off.'
'Pardon?'
'Strip.' She
crossed her legs and rubbed her foot. 'Tell me if I'm wrong, but
I'd guess you never used to wear such middle-aged frumpy rags
before you got married. You decided it was time to mature, to do
the married lady act, and hubby encouraged it.'
'Well, Kevin's
very conscious of the image we present. He's right to be, you
know.'
'Of course he
is. Even men are right sometimes, but with you it was probably
downright jealousy. He was afraid of other men taking a shine to
you.' Her nose wrinkled. 'And if you go out looking like that you
can be sure no other man will. It strikes me he achieved his aim,
only the trouble is before you know it he won't look twice, either.
Very soon he'll just see a dinner-maker, vacuum cleaner and
baby-making machine when he looks at you, and he'll find his bit of
pussy outside the marriage chamber. Ah, I see by your face he
already does. Now, don't get me wrong, you can do the motherly bit
for him if you want to, but you can also play several other parts,
according to the situation at hand. Bring him back into the fold,
so to speak. Let him know you won't stand for any nonsense. It can
be fun, believe me.'
Esther
gingerly removed her camel coat, slipped off her flat shoes, but
balked slightly at unzipping the sensible wool dress in front of
this strange woman.
Madam Tisset
flashed her a look. 'All of it. You have to trust me or we'll get
nowhere fast.'
Esther
stalled. 'You're making it all so - so sordid and sexual. I thought
a self-confidence class would have something to do with being
assertive.'
'You mean judo
type crap? Dearie, leave the macho stuff to men. They can flex
their egos for all they're worth. We've got other weapons, and they
are sexual, make no mistake. Self-confidence is what you have
inside you, it affects how you do things, how you look, how you
feel. But it's also what other people imagine when they look at
you. You can control all of that. Take you, here and now. The image
I see is that of a housewife. It's boring. Let's get rid of it,
shall we?'
Eventually
Esther stood there in her naked glory.
'That,' Madam
Tisset said with conviction, her pale eyes widening, 'is one nice
body.' She stood up, took two steps, yanked a couple of cords, and
suddenly the room seemed to be filled with wall-to-wall mirrors.
Esther flushed bright red and instinctively tried to hide herself,
an impossibility in the circumstances, as the gyrations of the
naked woman in the multiple mirrors