Michelle Freeman -The Therapist

Michelle Freeman

Thursday Morning

Miriam Davies smiled at the bottom of the stairs as she wrapped her arms around the soft squidgy waist of her partner Michelle Freeman. She then gently kissed her on the lips and quickly released her hold and took a step back and ran her tongue along her lips and smiled "Oh babes, how naughty, the Malibu with a hint of Marlboro mouth wash again this morning!" she winked and ran her hand through her dark hair and tidied her pony tail with her green fluffy hairband, took a deep breath of air and licked her lips again of the sweet and sour taste of the alcohol and cigarettes.

"Guilty as charged babes" She saluted "but honestly babes it was just a very small one!" she happily grinned.

Miriam shook her head, paused, and then tucked her equally dark hair behind her ears "Don't go too quickly today babes as ever it's a long one, as such you better get yourself in there and ready...okay babes?" she smiled and patted and affectionately squeezed her on her large black dress skirt which covered her rather fat bottom.

"I'm on it!" Michelle replied as she wiggled her backside with emphasis which wobbled around in the confines of the skirt and tights and then with a deep breath disappeared through the door into her office as the doorbell went and Miriam chuckling to herself opened the door to the front door of their building.

"Welcome, you must be Tina Bailey?" Miriam offered her hand to the slim mousey brown-haired women, she turned and looked to her side, "and you must be Catlin?" She smiled as the identikit looking but younger teenage daughter. "Please don't be scared, we are all going to have fun, please come in follow me and please make yourself comfortable in my office. I will introduce you to my par...colleague Michelle in a moment."

She turned and pushed open the white door into her little office, the walls were white, the floor was red tiled and there was a grey filing cabinet with an unloved houseplant, kettle, and kitchen roll on top. All behind the pine wood desk which had a black phone and papers scatter on it, "Take a seat." She stated and pointed to the two black chairs opposite her desk. "I would and should offer you a tea or a coffee but ultimately that would be pointless exercise as the real drinking of the proper stuff will start shortly." She grinned as she made herself comfortable in her office chair, running her hands through her hair again, and adjusting her white blouse as Tina and Catlin sat down and began nervously looking at each other.

"For our risk assessment and to determine the drinking plan, can you introduce yourself and let us know why you have taken our services?"

"Err well I Tina have been too protective of my daughter Caitlin for far too long."

"Right?"

"Well, she is off to university next month and I have never allowed her to drink alcohol."

"And?"

"Well..." She took a deep breath and looked at Catlin and then back to Miriam "...she will want to drink, you know, not being under my control and like, I don't know, 5 years late, I don't want her to be a lightweight date and yes, I could get her drunk at home, but that is completely different environment, and I am not sure I could!" she smiled nervously and bit her lip.

Miriam rubbed her hands together and leaned forward on to the desk. "Not a problem, my partner Michelle is an expert, and I call her professional drinker, what I still recommend after our phone call last week is our Beer to Spirit and Back programme. Over the next few weeks, you come in and for a two-hour session and you have a drink and play some games with Michelle, and soon enough you will be learning your limits and when you have gone well beyond them so in the future you will know how to behave when drunk?"

Catlin looked at Miriam as she nervously nodded and then turned her head back to Tina, "Are you sure about this mum?"

Tina took a resigned deep breath and looked nervously as she chewed the inside of her mouth and nodded the affirmative.

Miriam smiled confidently and interrupted "The room is totally safe, for example we have removed any sharp edges for when you fall over. I have to say that in the coming weeks, you will unexpectantly fall over. I look at it as almost adult soft play. Also, for your safety, we record all sessions and delete them as long as expected everything is just good drunken fun. Along these lines I will need you both to sign these forms to accept that we are going to provide alcohol to you both as adults and that you have paid for the alcohol upfront and that that we accept no liability for any liquid damage to clothing or if unfortunate any broken body parts through the activity of enjoying plenty of said alcohol." She offered the pen to Tina and with a quick glance at Catlin she signed the bottom of the document without reading it and then handed the pen to her daughter and with a disbelieving shake of the head and a concerned glance at her mum for confirmation, she signed too.

With the pen resting on the papers Miriam huffed as she pulled out the card machine from the desk draw and punched in the numbers and Tina put the card in the machine and almost grimaced as she tapped her pin in.

"Excellent, it's all gone through!" Miriam announced triumphantly as the machine beeped and then printed out the receipt. "I know it's only eleven in the morning but it's a Thursday, the sun is out, it's warm, you are more than welcome to go over to Michelle's office for a celebratory first beer?"

Tina nervously nodded "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely"

"Come on, you ready? Let's do this."

Miriam picked up her phone and rubbed her lips together and took a deep breath waiting for the other end to be picked up before saying "Hey Babes, all good!" and swiftly put the phone down again a few seconds later the door behind them opened as dark haired rather chubby, rosy cheeked, wide bottomed Michelle Freeman appeared "Good morning you two." She smiled her cheery face. "If you would like to both, come with me and take seat, first just follow the white line to the two chairs?" She asked held the door open as the two women flowed through the door into the other side. As Catlin and Tina looked at each other shrugged their shoulders and easily followed the line to the desk.

The room was a mirror image of the opposite office, large rectangular room, with red tiled floored space and there was a white gaffer taped straight line down the middle from the door to the pine wood desk in one corner a comfortable chair behind it and two hard chairs with green fluffy towels on top in front. Against the back wall there was a long counter with a radio CD player on top and white fridge whining underneath, and in the end wall there was a white door through in the small wet room toilet.

"Please make yourself comfortable on the clean towels. I don't expect you will use them today. As my mission for this morning is as you can expect, not to get you legless, but to give you the first enjoyment of the delightful buzz that alcohol will give you, as I understand you have signed up to the full programme. The rather more enjoyable state that comes from pushing your limits to see what we can and can't achieve will come at later date. Please take a seat and I will get you the first drinks." Michelle stated as she walked over her stride ensuring that her hips wiggled as she made her way to the fridge, she opened the door and bought out three bottles of Corona. She shook her head and bent back down and got a lime out and a knife from a draw under the counter and walked back to her desk her stocking covered legs swishing as she walked. She opened the draw of her desk and brought out a chopping board and cut the lime in to six wedges and then reached back into the draw and got the bottle opener out.

She handed the bottle and the bottle opener to Caitlin.

"Your first important job is to open the beers!" she grinned as Caitlin looked as if it was a trick.

She easily popped open the bottles, Michelle offered the chopping board and asked her to push the lime in the top.

"So, this bottled lager is not too strong, and when drunk with the obligatory lime, really does make it taste rather nice, it is a great summer beer." Michelle stated as she took the opened bottle back.

Caitlin took a gulp and winced "Ohh the lime is sweet but ugh."

"Great! Keep going!" Michelle said picking up the bottle and taking a gulp herself. "Can I ask if either of you smoked?"

Caitlin looked aghast "Of course we don't!" she stated.

Michelle nodded and looked at Tina "Excellent, good for you!" she replied, "You will eventually find that alcohol and cigarettes go so rather well together!" she grinned as she pulled open her draw and extracted a pack of Marlboro Reds from a carton and placed it on the table. She pulled off the cellophane and quickly opened the pack placing the cigarette between her lips. With a flick of her lighter and concave of her cheeks the cigarette was alight.

Both Caitlin and Tina coughed as the smoke from Michelle's exhale and cigarette drifted aimlessly around the room.

"Are you sure about this mum, is this legal, we are indoors?" Catlin asked nervously holding the bottle and sniffing the now smoke-filled air.

Michelle laughed. "This is totally legit, this is my home and office!" Michelle grinned as she almost seductively took another drag on her cigarette. "So, kick back and chill!" She purred as the exhaled smoke twisted and popped as her tongue moved.

Tina looked at Caitlin and shrugged her shoulders "Yes, I think so!" Tina smiled and nervously took a gulp of her beer.

***

"Well done on drinking you first two bottles of beer, you should have that slightly enjoyable swimming feeling?" Michelle stated before necking the last drip from the bottle.

"Yeah, I guess so!" Caitlin smiled.

"Good, what I recommend, is that we leave that there for today. Next week, on Monday or Tuesday, I can never remember but if you come at the 2pm slot and we can have a couple more beers and then open the wine?"

Catlin looked at Michelle and then to her mum and shrugged her shoulders.

"I can recommend that you partake and enjoy in some homework. Please get home, maybe go via the shop, no, definitely go via a shop, then you can open a beer or two in the evening and continue to relax."

"I haven't had alcohol in the house for years!" Tina exclaimed.

"For these sessions, like at school, homework is a vital part of the experience." Michelle claimed as she smiled and brought her latest cigarette to her lips taking a deep inhale.

Tina bit her bottom lip and slowly nodded approval "Oh okay, I guess Caitlin and I will practice at home."

"Excellent, that is a great idea. One thing I might suggest you visit the loo before you go, it could be a long wait for the bus, and it's far too early, even for me, for puddles. I will see you both later!"

Michelle grinned stubbed out the cigarette as she stood up and shook both by the hand and sat back down and instantly pulled out another cigarette from the pack, lit it and smoked as they then took in turn visiting the toilet at the end of the room.

Thursday Afternoon

Michelle brought her hand to her mouth and gently coughed. She shook her head and then twisted and straightened her skirt around again attempting to get the zip at the back and to make it straight as the cistern hissed loudly behind her, she slowly bent down and picked up her bag. With a final mental push, she walked to the other side of the bathroom to wash her hands. She pulled down the blue paper towel from the white box on the wall and dried her hands, dropping the towel on top the overfull bin. Shaking her head again, cross that she or Miriam had not emptied it.

She swung round and dropped over violently her handbag on the side of the sink and rummaged around inside and brought out her brush and ran it through her thick shoulder length mahogany hair a couple of times and smiled at what she saw, her chubby cheeks were rosy, and her hazel eyes were for her passable glazy for a normal day of drinking, her crow's feet in the corner of her eyes were what see thought growing and deepening by the day, she shook her head dismissively and retrieved her bright red lipstick. She slowly applied it studying her thirty-two-year-old face in the mirror. She dropped the lipstick back in the bag as she rubbed her lips together and adjusted her almost transparent white blouse over her lacy white bra and with a smile, she flicked at the top two buttons open revealing a little more skin and the enticing valley between her breasts knowing that her next client was Peter Dickinson and how much he loved to stare, or even perv at her large chest.

She picked up her bag and then opened the bathroom door and with her three-inch heels clacked down the room, her stocking covered thighs swishing loudly as her fat thighs rubbed as she walked in her overly tight pencil skirt.

Michelle got herself settled in her calm inducing cream covered office, she glanced on the large analogue clock on the wall it took a couple of seconds for the drink in her brain to work out the time. It was three twenty, she had ten minutes until he arrived, she pulled out a cigarette from the pack on her desk and deeply inhaled once she got it alight, she exhaled out the corner of her mouth and studied her desk and opened the bottom draw and pulled out her nearly empty bottle of red wine.

She had opened it when Caitlin and her mum had left, and it was now nearly empty, she had planned to open it just before Mr Dickinson arrived; but Mr Henderson at two till three had been a little more stressful so the wine had flowed, she twisted the already open screwcap lid and took a gulp straight from the bottle, wincing at the taste. She leaned into the draw and retrieved the wine glass in the bottom and emptied the contented of bottle into the glass. The empty wine bottle was dropped into the bin, the cigarette was tucked into the corner of her mouth as she put her glasses on, pulled out her file on Mr Dickinson and studied it between gentle pulls on the cigarette and gulps of her wine.

Her peace was disturbed when Miriam rang through, she exhaled and with a cough, she stubbed out her cigarette. Then waved her hand around to try and dissipate the smoke in preparation and then looked up as he knocked on the door and Michelle gulped the last drop from her glass and put it back in the draw and shouted "Yes!"

After half an hour of him wittering on about how useless wife is, and that she wasn't pulling her not so insignificant weight in the relationship, and after Michelle's advice she is very good getting very drunk, a little too good at it as such is not being much use.

Michelle was dutifully making the right appreciative noises as he spoke encouraging him to keep talking and drinking as she appeared to make notes in her big black book.

Peter Dickinson stopped talking when Michelle burst into a fit a of giggles, not at that his lazy wife Fiona had left all their dirty laundry on the bedroom floor and was not going to pick it up, but at that her biro lid popped off her pen as she casually flicked at it.

"What is so funny at our bedroom being a state, with her disgusting piss-stained knickers everywhere?" he demanded as Michelle attempted to gather herself at the desk and successfully managed to get the lid back on the end of the pen.

"Oh absolutely nothing sir, it's good to see she taking the relaxing by sitting doing nothing but eating, drinking and smoking process so well!" She said sternly and then giggled again at her attempt at being stern and twirled the pen in her fingers as if it was a majorette baton before tutting as she put it between her lips as if was cigarette. She looked up at the clock as it struck 5, "I so very sorry, you know Mr Dickinson you have paid for the hour, but, as its err, Thursday, and I think my Miriam will let me, it is probably still hot and sunny outside," she flapped her arms like a bird whilst dangling her pen, how do you fancy the last half an hour or so having a drink with me outside in the bar over the road?"

***

Michelle swirled her second wine glass around and took a gulp before putting the glass down "I am again so very sorry; I know this is totally unprofessional and totally not normal" she slurred, "but I do find my own alcohol sessions so very thera-pera-peutical." She stated as she pulled out yet another cigarette from her pack leaning against her empty first glass and lit it, with a deep drag, she then dangled her cigarette as she picked up her handbag and rummaged around and then placed the cigarette in the ashtray in the middle of the table as she quickly nervously reapplied her lipstick looking at her little compact, before tucking her hair behind her ears and looking at him again. "It was just getting so warm in the office; the wine and the breeze here is rather nice." She smiled and picked up her cigarette and took another drag.

Peter picked up his second pint and as he sipped it, he took a long look at her focusing his eyes on her slightly exposed chest "It's okay, as usual with you, Fiona won't notice if I have a drink or two. But I do need to be back by six thirty"

"Why?" Michelle twisted her stray bang hanging down in her finger and took another drag on her cigarette.

"Because she will be cross." He stated and sat up straight.

"Why?" she twiddled her hair again, this time taking another large gulp of wine, loudly licking her lips afterwards.

"Because she expects me home."

"Why?"

"Because she, I mean we, will need our dinner."

"We have discussed before how keeping her well fed will keep her happy, but why do you need to cook it? Michelle asked as she quickly finished off her wine with an audible gulp leaving the glass dangling by its stem unsteady between her fingers.

Peter paused and thought for a second "Because she is getting too fat, too drunk and lazy to do it herself."

Michelle slowly nodded her head and grinned as she swirled the empty glass in her fingers before putting it down, the smoke from her cigarette drifting across her face "Great, you see our meetings are doing well, you need to shower her in praise for being comfortable, ring her up in a minute and tell her you are also being lazy after a beer or three with work colleagues and are picking up very large satisfying and greasy Chinese takeaway on the way home?"

"She won't want it."

"Of course, she will, especially if she has also been drinking all afternoon, she will take anything!" Michelle giggled then licked the final dribble from the glass. She gulped and thoughtfully nodded "Of course she will," she repeated herself "I'm not meant to say it, but you have told me before how much she loves those juicy fatty sweat and sour pork balls covered in that awful fattening red sweet sauce." She paused and stared at her empty large glass of white wine with a myriad of red lipstick imprints across the edge of the glass as carefully returned it to the table, she smiled flirtatiously at him to cover it and hid behind her cigarette.

"Err, Michelle, maybe we should carry on next week as I think that those two large glasses of wine have now gone to your head?" Peter asked and nervously tugged at his shirt collar and gulped down his pint as Michelle twiddled her hair around her little finger and flattered her eye lids at him.

"Shhh, it has, but you may have noted a tiddly bit that I may have had a tiny little head start with wine and beers earlier this afternoon with another client" she stated using her fingers to insinuate small. "But as ever once I've started and am very much ready for annnother dink." She smiled as she stubbed out her cigarette.

"In that case, as its only Thursday, and I need to work tomorrow I think I might have to leave you now! Shall I ring your colleague?" he exclaimed nervously.