Another exciting new short story.....
Mangrove Erotical
I sat in my chair looking out my window. I was trying to finish up my final project for my medical internship. I should have been more focused like i usually was, but tonight I couldn’t keep my mind off home. I would be returning in just a few days, but every minute seemed like hours and hours like days. I couldn’t eat and I couldn’t sleep. I just stared out my window seeing the rain trickle down the glass and panes. London was such a dreary place. I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to live there and the past six months completing my internship there had felt like prison.
My mind started to wander to the last night before I left home in Singapore, the night I spent with Fiona. She was a friend of my sister and very attractive. I don’t get nervous easily, but she made me nervous. She told me my haircut wasn’t suitable for England and that I should come by her apartment for free cut and shave, that it would be a favour since she thought the world of my sister. I insisted that I couldn’t accept, but my sister persisted that I needed it and how impolite it would be to turn down the services of one of Novena’s finest stylists. So at last I agreed.
When I arrived outside her apartment, I was a little taken back. The building she lived in had twenty floors and she was on the nineteenth. I had to press a button outside and wait for her to buzz me in.
“The door will be unlocked. I’m tied up on the phone, but come in and have a seat in my chair. I will be out in just a moment.” she told me over the intercom.
When I walked in there was a large picture of her hanging in the foyer. She was naked-or appeared to be. She was holding a red silken sheet that matched the colour the colour of her lipstick. I got lost in the art for a minute, her features we so symmetrical and striking. There was no one I had seen before like her.
I’ll be right there!” She said, awakening me from my trance. I quickly darted for her studio room and sat down in her hair cutting chair.
I looked around. Everything was black, white, and red. It reminded me of her. Whenever I would see her out with my sister, she would always be wearing small black dresses and red lipstick in high heels. She always was so sophisticated.
I heard her walking across the floor towards me, her high heels clicking on the hardwood floor. “Oh you’re going to need a shampoo first, come here and sit down in my shampoo chair”.
I got up and sat down again in her shampoo chair. I felt slightly uncomfortable, but forgot my discomfort when the warm water hit my scalp and she began running her fingers through my hair and I shut my eyes.
“Your sister tells me you haven’t had much luck lately.” she tells me. The smell of perfume fills my nose and I open my eyes to see her leaning over me, the very top of her cleavage exposed. Was I there just for a haircut or was it something more? I didn’t want to misread her signals and offend her and my sister find out. I resisted the urge to touch her for the moment. I would need to be sure.
I haven’t. I was passed up for two promotions since I started working for my old company and then the girl I was dating moved back to Japan. She didn’t give me much notice either, she told me she was moving and was gone three days later. No real reason, she just said she wanted to move back in with her parents. Now I have an internship in England, but there’s no guarantee that I’ll be promoted when I come back. They’ve lied to me twice about promoting me, so I’m not sure the effort is even worth it to go.” I confessed.
“I have something for you. It was a gift from a shaman on Pawai Island, Singapore. It’s a Bracelet of Success.” She told me as she wrapped a towel around my neck and led me back to the cutting chair. Her fingers seemed to linger as she placed the bracelet around me hand. “Just remember, success comes in many forms.”
There was a sudden crash and I looked to see a photograph of a Mangrove Forest in a frame lying on the floor surrounded by shattered glass.
“Clumsy me, I’m constantly bumping things with my elbows.” She laughed as she grabbed the broom.
“Did you take that picture?” I asked her.
“I did. Kayaking is one of my hobbies. Maybe when you come back from London we can go one day.”
“Yes, I love kayaking.”I responded. Just then, her intercom has a ring.
“I’m here.” says a man.
“Come on up, I am with a client, but it shouldn’t take much longer.” she says and she presses a button.
When he came in, he gave her a kiss on the cheek and then I noticed her large engagement ring on her finger. I felt awkward and confused. I tucked the bracelet she gave under my sleeve.I sat there while she cut my hair and gave me a shave, trying to make polite conversation. I continuously would think about it over and over. Did she not know he was coming? Was she just being nice to me? Did she say we should go kayaking meaning just me and her or me and her and my sister? I was frequently fighting off the questions in an attempt to do better at my internship. I only took the bracelet off to shower. The more I would think about, the more convinced I was that she DID want me. You don’t give people jewelry just because they’re your friend’s brother. She must have been attracted to me and her fiance seemed completely naive to our obvious chemistry. I resolved that as soon as I got home I would take her kayaking and we would do everything that my mind and body wanted to do to her that night in her apartment before we were interrupted.
The evening my internship ended, I went to the airport to see if I could get a ticket for home for that night. Most of the other members on my team were going to stay in England for another week since we didn’t have to go back into work until the following Monday, but I was a man on a mission.
The next day, I landed back in Singapore and got a cab to my apartment. I had a good shower and put on fresh clothes and headed to Fiona’s apartment. I hoped she didn’t have customers today. We needed to be alone. I buzzed her over the intercom and told her I was in the mood to go kayaking and asked if she had customers.
“No she said, come on up.” I could feel my body hardening on the elevator ride up.
The guy from before answered the door to my dismay. “Hey kid, Did Fiona tell you the good news?” I guess to him I was a kid. He looked like an old man to me. “We got married last Saturday. We just got in from our honeymoon!” He exclaimed. My heart and penis sank.
“We are so tired.” She appeared with a smile. I never had noticed before, but Fiona looked at least twelve years older than me. I had never seen her without her makeup before.” We aren’t going to go, but you are welcome to borrow our kayak and the truck. The compass and the map should be in the front seat.” She said as she handed me the keys.
I thanked them both as politely as I could muster. I felt defeated and stupid, but since I was stuck with their kayak for the day, I would at least give it ago on my own in the mangrove forest. It may even be good to help clear my head I decided.