The Mirror Ch. 06

With his right foot, James nudged together the smooth edges of the two large pieces of broken mirror nearest him ... and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as, by means of some unnatural flash-weld – the light, a brilliant, ultra-bright glow – James saw the two large pieces of broken mirror seamlessly fused back together.

James should leave now, he thought.

Leave now. Right now. Get in his car, and go to work.

Instead, James slotted the mirror's frame back into its plinth-like stand.

Carefully, he then reinserted the faultlessly 'repaired' piece of mirror into the bottom groove of the ornately carved hardwood frame.

He then nudged two more pieces of the broken mirror together ... with the same, ultra bright 'flash-weld' result.

Carefully, James reinserted this piece of seamlessly fused mirror glass into the top groove of the mirror's frame.

Now, there was just one more piece left. Just one more piece, of his unnatural five-piece jigsaw puzzle.

James should leave well alone.

He really should ... after all that had happened. After all, meddling with the unknown, could lead to ...

But his curiosity was getting the better of him.

Right into the centre, James carefully reinserted the final piece of broken mirror ... completing the 'circuit'.

And the brilliant-white, ultra bright flash-weld light sizzled and crackled all over the mirror's surface; its intense, laser-beam like light seamlessly fusing this last piece into place ... and restoring the mirror glass, to its former perfect condition.

And now, the mirror was pulsing.

Pulsing its eerie white light; the eerie white light, that emanated from all around the edges, where the mirror fitted into its ornately carved hardwood frame.

Pulsing.

Signifying, that ... something, was about to happen.

James sat down in his most comfortable chair; his black leather, well-padded armchair ... and waited for the amazingly realistic, true-to-life 'picture' on the mirror's two-foot high, four-foot wide ultra high-resolution 'screen' to resolve ...

"Hi, Jen! Hi, Shaz," said Lisa brightly as she came into Tootsies Pedicure Salon. "I've just popped in during my lunch break, to make an appointment for my complimentary reflexology session and pedicure."

"Hi, Lisa! How nice to see you!" replied Jennifer delightedly.

"Hey, Lisa!" exclaimed Sharon. "That was a great night we all had, at Krystal's, wasn't it?"

"Yes," replied Lisa. "And Disco Dave was every bit as good as I'd heard he was!"

Opening the Appointments Book, Jennifer said, "Right then, Lisa. Let's see where we can book you in ... Would any of these dates and times suit you, Lisa?" Jennifer suggested, pointing to the vacant appointment slots that were left, during this week and next.

Ah yes, James remembered ... On Saturday night, at Krystal's nightclub's opening night, the two proprietresses of Tootsies, Jennifer and Sharon, had gifted Lisa – one of Miss Julia Carson's five office girls, and his colleague – a complimentary voucher, as a present for her twenty-first birthday.

"Hi, Jen! Hi, Shaz!" said Joan the barmaid brightly, as she also now came into Tootsies, right on Lisa's heels. "I've come in for the free reflexology session and pedicure, that you promised me on Friday night ... remember?"

James remembered Joan very well – he had very good reason to ...

Joan was the very attractive dark-haired busty barmaid with the million-dollar legs, at the Cock & Bull pub. She had caught him staring at Jennifer and Sharon's flip flop discarded feet as they'd sat on the high barstools chatting to her. Which had promptly resulted in his painful and humiliating punishment by the three of them – and, right in front of Debbie, too!

Their summary chastisement: Jennifer and Sharon – the Barstool Blondes – each delivering a resounding, stinging slap to his face; and Joan the barmaid, slowly pouring his almost untouched ice-cold pint of lager over his head ... And, even now, he could still hear the highly delighted, uproarious cheers of approval of the Cock & Bull's half-sloshed Friday-night drinkers ... And Joan the barmaid's highly censorious: "Just give me one good reason, why I shouldn't ban you?"

On the 'plus' side, though, it was Joan the barmaid who'd suggested to Jennifer and Sharon that they consider taking James on as their employee. And quite apparently, the seed of an idea that Joan the barmaid had planted had taken root, and flourished, in the minds of the two reflexologists.

"Hi, Joan!" said Sharon brightly, greeting her friend. "Of course we remember! In fact, you are our next appointment, and we are all ready for you ... Oh, and by the way: me and Jen have taken on a new employee. In fact, you've just missed her – she's gone to the Job Centre to sign off the dole. Her name is Melanie. She's a real sweetie! And she starts work at Tootsies tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Joan," said Jennifer. "And, believe it or not, but me and Shaz have actually been thinking over your suggestion of taking on a male employee ... and taking it seriously. We want that foot-fetish guy, if we can find him. You know, Joan, the guy who you caught staring at our feet, in the Cock and Bull? We've found out about some tablets, called 'Inhibitol Ten'. See, the tablets would keep him 'quiet', all during his working day, so that he would actually be able to concentrate on massaging girls' and women's feet, without getting all—"

Lisa, who'd been listening in to the conversation, piped up, "Ha ha ha! There's someone just like that, in our office! James, his name is. Oh, poor James! He was on the very verge of getting fired from his job, today, because he didn't come in to work. Ha! But the real reason why the boss, Miss Carson, wants to get rid of him is because he's always staring at our feet – mine, and the other office girls' feet – and not getting any work done. But we all pulled together, me and the other office girls, and saved James's job – saved him for ourselves, more like! Ha ha ha!

"Oh, I've lost count, of how many 'final' warnings Miss Carson has given him. The girls tease him on purpose! Slipping their feet out of their black leather office pumps, and playing with them, in such a way as he can see the soles of their feet – we all know he really loves that! I even do it myself. It's ... it's like a lovely sense of power. The idea, that I've actually got him sitting there, getting all hot and bothered, and absolutely pining for my stinky, pantyhose'd feet!"

James saw Jennifer and Sharon exchange meaningful looks.

"Ha ha ha! laughed Lisa. "Me and the other office girls get a real kick out of it. A real kick, out of having him so helplessly in our power – because he is, you know. He really is. It took us a while to actually cotton on to him ... but then we did. At least, Maxine did: she was the one who actually sussed him out. I must say, me and the other girls took some convincing, when Maxine first told us of her suspicions – well, I mean! Who wouldn't? But Maxine was right: ever since we started ... teasing him, James has always been ready and on hand to do the slightest, littlest thing, for us all."

James watched Jennifer and Sharon exchange some more meaningful looks.

Lisa went on, "I suppose we shouldn't do it, really – tease him, I mean. It's because of all of us, after all, that James is always in trouble with Miss Carson ... Having said that, though, we all dragged the 'the foot boy' situation – that's what we all call him: 'the foot boy' – out into the open, today.

"It actually looks, now, as though Miss Carson has come around to the idea of letting us all have James massage our feet, for us. In between the jobs, that we give him to do, and the errands, that we send him to run, we'll have him serve us, massaging our feet at our desks.

"We'd been meaning to put the idea to Miss Carson for a while, now. But then today, it all just came to a head ... Of course, Miss Carson will be making good use of James, as well – after all, she is, the boss. Ha ha ha!"

James watched Jennifer and Sharon exchange yet more, meaningful looks.

Jennifer said, "Um ... Lisa, how old is this James? Twenty ... twenty-one?"

"And, what does this James look like, Lisa?" inquired Sharon, her voice betraying her excitement, in her growing conviction that she and Jennifer had so fortunately found their man.

Via the unnatural medium of the mirror, James watched, and listened ...

But the mistress of the mirror's spell over him, had been broken.

Broken, by Debbie.

And so, James was no longer tempted.

No longer tempted ...

Not even by a new job, at Tootsies Pedicure Salon, as Jennifer and Sharon's mobile foot care consultant – their on-the-road, reflexologist and pedicurist.

Where, every workday morning, to ensure that he would be 'quiet', for the next ten hours, he would have been obliged to take an Inhibitol 10 tablet, in their presence.

After which, driving Tootsies' logo'd and fully kitted-out van, he would then have gone from assignment to assignment.

And, at the feet of every female client that Jennifer and Sharon sent him to, he would have fully ... exposed himself, to whatever use, misuse, and downright abuse, as the Tootsies off-premises clients might choose to indulge themselves.

* * *

Monday – 1:30 p.m.

James went down to the Hopwell House residents' car park, and got into his Astra.

It seemed a long time ago now, to James, since he'd last been in his car. But it had only been on Saturday night, when he'd nipped out to his local Tesco before they closed at 10 p.m., for ... provisions.

James put the key in the ignition, and turned it. As usual, his car started up first time, and ticked over as sweetly as ever.

Upon hearing the Astra's engine start up, Joe Jessop, the janitor of the Hopwell House block of flats, put down his stiff-bristled sweeping brush. And James, upon seeing his caretaker friend approaching, rolled down the driver's window for the imminent confab.

"James! All right, cock-sparrow? I haven't seen you for a few days. And when I saw your girlfriend and her mum leaving, earlier ... well, they weren't neither of them looking too clever. I didn't like to ask, but ... is everything all right, mate?"

"Yeah, Joe. Thanks, mate. I've just been a bit ... out of sorts, lately. I've had to take half a day off work. But now, everything's okay ... In fact, everything's rosy."

James looked at the Astra's dashboard clock, which read 1:40 p.m. Yes ... he would easily get there in time.

"I'll see you later, Joe," said James, with a wave farewell. And Joe returned the gesture with a smile.

James put the Astra in first gear, and he listened to the sound of the gravel crunching under the tyres as he gently guided his car out of the residents' car park, and onto the road.

The road, to Julia Carson & Associates.

* * *

On the way to work, James was wondering how he'd word his advertisement in the local newspaper ...

And then he hit on it.

'Large, attractive antique mirror, with an ornately carved hardwood frame. Just £20 – a bargain, in anyone's book'.

And then James found himself chuckling ... and then giggling ... and then laughing out loud.

Chuckling, and giggling, and laughing out loud, as he wondered who the next owner of the mirror would be.

The next owner, to find himself ... enchanted, by the mistress of the mirror.

The End.