The Air Stewardesses' Footmen Ch. 04

"It sounds like Darren is taking it hard."

"Taking it hard? Darren is beating himself up over his massive misjudgements, that his misgivings have been vindicated so painfully. Darren said: 'How can I hold my head up? How can I look any of those arrogant and self-satisfied, haughty and overbearing air hostesses in the eye again? Knowing they can order me to my knees before them on a kneeling mat and rightfully expect my silence as I massage their stinky after-shift feet while two other air hostesses use my shoulders for footrests, dangling their fumy pumps in my face to taunt me while awaiting their own foot massage.' Darren has already emailed job applications to some of our rival airlines; they will all know what happened yesterday at BlueSky Holidays. But he is not sitting around waiting for replies to his emails; he is using his Day-off today to apply for jobs in person. He says Sunshine Holidays, Value Vacations, Delightful Destinations, Grecian Getaways, and MedClub18-21 will all be recruiting."

"Right; so when Darren leaves, that will leave us plus Tony, Glen and Greg as just the remaining five BlueSky Holidays cabin crewmen at Gatwick."

"That's right, Mason. But I'm hearing that after Ms Summers culled us yesterday by removing all of the dross from the gold, as she put it, Personnel is looking to recruit about thirty new cabin crewmen. But they say the new vetting procedures for compatible candidates mean it might take some time."

"Understandable. The new Subservience to Stewardesses directive will be the stumbling block for many would-be cabin crewmen."

"No doubt, Mason. And as soon as I got off the phone with Janice in Crewing, I gave Tony, Glen and Greg a quick call. And they all told me the same thing. One of the girls in Crewing have been onto them this morning, telling them their rosters have been altered to double-shift them today and that their flight duties and Stand-bys for the next month will be maximised through the minimum lawful rest perioding. Janice said she and the other girls in Crewing are rising to the present cabin crew shortage challenge. They are trying to outdo each other's 'creative rostering' to give us last surviving revised-contracted cabin crewmen the minimum possible time off-duty. Janice laughed when she told me she and the other girls in Crewing would love to be able to triple-shift cabin crewmen and even have us all tied hotline to their phones on rapid reaction Stand-by availability on our rare Rest-days over the coming month. But I don't think she was joking."

"Ha! You know what they say, Terry: Many a true word is spoken in jest."

"And Mason - talking about Stand-by duty. It seems that Janice has done even better than having us hot-lined to her phone on rapid reaction Stand-by availability. Janice said that Ms Summers will announce today that cabin crewmen are to report to the crew room for Stand-by duties. We are to be on-hand to provide our foot massage and pump polishing services for returning air hostesses while awaiting our possible call up."

"Well, my girlfriend won't be pleased about that. Gemma has me doing all sorts of household chores and lots of errand-running while I'm resting at home on Stand-by. Gemma is already unhappy about my job, and this latest directive of our COO will bolster her aggrieved contention that I should give up my position as a cabin crewman with BlueSky Holidays. Gemma wants me out of this job and into something nine to five because my predominantly late hours don't allow her to have the social life she wants. But more than anything, it is about the unpredictability of it. And Gemma has a point. Gemma would tolerate it if she at least had the certainty of regular hours. But she is fed up with all of the cancellations of our social plans at short notice due to Crewing's sudden re-rostering and frustrated with all of the other last-minute disappointments due to flight delays. And whoa! Now I have to tell Gemma that I'll be spending my Stand-bys at work, massaging the feet and polishing the after-shift pumps of our returning air hostesses?"

"Anyway, Mason, what about last night? How does it feel to have joined the foot appreciation club? Because, Mason, don't tell me you haven't!"

Terry apparently wasn't interested in hearing about my domestic dramas, so now he had got around to the real reason for his call.

"How does it feel? Terry, I'm still getting my head around it; what happened in our crew room last night. Because providing after-shift foot service for our female counterparts didn't turn out to be the dispiriting ordeal I'd been dreading."

"Mason, you are a master of understatement. Because last night on your kneeling mat, I saw you derive the same delicious pleasures and amazing satisfactions as I did. You enjoyed massaging the returned air hostesses' tired and achy dark nyloned feet. You enjoyed serving as their double-footrest. And you took great pride in polishing up their after-shift uniform pumps - like me, considering it a privilege as well as a pleasure to polish them. You have now accepted the fact of your initiations last night in the crew room and in the locker room: You are not only a dutiful after-flight footman, providing post-flight foot service for returned air hostesses because you have to; but service-oriented, administering after-shift foot care and providing uniform-pump maintenance because you want to."

"I don't deny any of that, Terry. On my kneeling mat, my emotions were in turmoil. I was out of my mind with excitement. The side-by-side Trio seating system dreamed up by Senior Stewardesses Jasmine and Amelia to best facilitate the underprovided returned air hostesses' post-flight foot service was such a thrilling set-up. I didn't want the ever-altering three-at-a-time combinations of centrally seated and outer seated air hostesses to end. The hosties were all pushing buttons - buttons I didn't know I had. But Camilla was the thriller."

"Mason, that was glaringly obvious. No one present last night could possibly have failed to notice that Camilla was somehow special to you - and they didn't! And by now, news of your unseemly stimulation on your kneeling mat at Camilla's dark nyloned after-shift feet will be common knowledge in the crew room: 'Senior Stewardess Camilla Cameron now has Cabin Crewman Mason Mallard not only under her thumb but under her heel.' Because let's face it, Mason, you were already under Camilla's thumb - Camilla didn't need the COO's introduction of the Subservience to Stewardesses directive to command your subservient obedience; she already had it. Glaringly apparent also, Mason, is that you have a submissive streak a mile wide. I would even go as far as to say you have masochistic leanings. The more Camilla talked down to you, the more you reverenced her; the more she belittled you, the more you adored her; the more she overstepped the implied but unclarified limiting parameters of her new era empowerment, the more you worshipped her."

"Yes, and I have been unable to think of anything else today. But I should have resisted. I should have done for Camilla what I was required to do under the terms of my revised contact and no more - not a thing more! Because now I am aggrieved with guilt, wracked with self-recrimination at my unbecoming betrayal of my girlfriend."

"Camilla took photos of you and some video sequences too, didn't she, Mason? It had something to do with your girlfriend. Your girlfriend is in the middle of all this. Didn't Camilla say that she would post all of her photos and videos on social media sites unless you made sure she had her way about something tomorrow?"

"Yes, which is why I'm in such big trouble now, Terry. Senior Stewardess Camilla captured me on her smartphone camera, a snapshot of me in the locker room sniffing inside Senior Stewardess Donna's after-work uniform pump."

"Yes, I saw that, Mason. But then I hightailed it back to the crew room to assume my kneeling mat for the two teams of delayed air hostesses."

"Well, Camilla immediately sent that photo to my girlfriend Gemma's email. In her excitement of the moment, Camilla couldn't resist it. But Gemma can't have seen that photo yet, because I would certainly know about it. And that single photo would have been damaging enough on its own. But Camilla saw the bigger picture, as it were. Camilla's saw her unbelievable opportunity, her golden chance to get at Gemma big-time. That's why Camilla took a whole lot of other photos and some videos of me in the crew room on my kneeling mat, providing post-flight foot service to her and her cronies and a lot of other air hostesses. Camilla said to tell Gemma that she would email all of those photos and videos to her today at six p.m. And Camilla said that her album-style compilation, which she would entitle 'Foot Games', would come with a one-time proposition to Gemma. Tomorrow lunchtime over the phone, Gemma must politely agree to Camilla's terms to prevent her from posting her photos and videos of me on social media by going to her knees in our living room with me as a witness and begging to kiss the soles of Camilla's feet."

"I don't think I'm getting this, Mason. It is not Gemma's reputation that is at stake. So why wouldn't Gemma tell Camilla to go take a hike, to post all of her pump sniffing and foot serving photos and videos of you on your kneeling mat, wherever she likes?"

"Terry, that's the question: Why wouldn't she? Because for Gemma, kissing the soles of Camilla's feet - in her own home and me looking on - would be the ultimate humiliation. A crushing capitulation that would leave an irremovable mental scar. Gemma would never live such shame down, could never look Camilla in the eye again. Ah... it's a long story, Terry. Camilla and Gemma have been pulling each other's hair since secondary school; I know because I was there. And believe me, seeing them in action isn't pretty; they really go at it. But some of their aggressions are psychological. That's what these photos and videos of Camilla's are all about. Camilla, this time via non-physical means, is aiming to get at Gemma through me. In Camilla's eyes, I'm an incidental victim but not an innocent bystander. Being Gemma's boyfriend makes me legitimate prey, and at work, I am an easy repeat target for her. But this time, it's different. Camilla is going for an all-out victory. Camilla told me she's had enough of being at permanent loggerheads with Gemma, had enough of their constant catfighting and wants to end it. And now Camilla thinks she has the leverage to end hostilities on her specific terms with who, with grudging respect, she calls the 'Ginger Ninja'. Camilla wants a knockout blow, and now she has the means to deliver it. So that Gemma will never in future so much as raise her voice, let alone raise her hand to Camilla."

"So, if her own victorious outcome to this continual catfight with Camilla is so vitally important to Gemma, what's to stop Gemma from telling Camilla there is no way in this world that she is going to kiss her feet? What's to stop Gemma from thwarting Camilla's foot-kissing ultimatum by dumping you, Mason? What's to stop Gemma from telling you that you are history?"

"Well, that's what I'm so worried about, Terry. Gemma means the world to me, and this thing could go either way. Camilla is prepared to insert her photographic wedge between Gemma and me. But to Camilla, prying me away from Gemma and ruining my life would be scant consolation at not winning the mega-prize - her ultimate victory over Gemma. And so Camilla has given Gemma a diabolical decision to make. And either way, Camilla wins. Kiss the soles of her arch-foe Camilla's feet, humbling herself beyond measure in the ultimate humiliation to prevent Camilla from posting the photos and videos of me on social media. Or suffer her longtime enemy Camilla being the callous wrecker of our relationship, the spiteful dismantler of our engagement, and the malicious annihilator of our prospects of future happiness together."

"So, what do you think will happen, Mason?"

"Well, it's for Gemma to decide. Dump an irredeemably compromised boyfriend; a would-be irrevocably scandalised fiance. Or declare Camilla her conqueror and accept Camilla's ceremonial rite-style conditions. Submit, knee-bound, and comply with her longtime antagonist Camilla's infliction of her chosen celebratory coup de grace final-victory put-down."

"Maybe you should prepare yourself for the worst, Mason," advised Terry. "Most girls, given such a choice, would drop a guy like that faster than a bag of spiders."

"But Camilla knows all about my, well... deferential, relationship with Gemma. So Camilla calculates that Gemma will see her total surrender foot-kissing submission to her as a high price and a painful price but a price she will pay. Because Camilla understands just what kind of hold, what sort of grip Gemma would have on me if she sacrificed her self-esteem at her bete noire Camilla's feet to save my reputation. I would never hear the end of it, never finish paying for it. As it is, Gemma believes I should always defer to her. And, we've been here before. When Gemma sees the chance to have things her own way, she grabs her opportunity with both hands. When I was on the dole for nearly a year and couldn't pay my fair share of the bills, Gemma lay down the law and exerted her control over me, becoming domineering and demanding - authoritarian. And how do I say 'No' to Gemma's authoritarianism? Deny her? Defy her? Straight-jacketed with guilty gratitude and honour-bound beholdenness."

"That's a good question, Mason."

"Thanks for calling, Terry, and for the heads-up on the double-shifting, maximised hours and minimised rest periods Crewing are planning for us. From what you have told me, Janice, Suzy and the other four girls in Crewing mean to work us last six remaining Gatwick-based cabin crewmen pitilessly until enough of the new hosties arrive and settle in."

"You are right, Mason. But I'm looking forward to it. Think of it: All of those new air hostesses, leaving their jobs at Sunshine Holidays and MedClub 18-21 and our other rival airlines because they want to work at BlueSky Holidays under Ms Gina Summers to benefit from her female-priority ideology. I can't wait to serve on my kneeling mat at their dark nyloned after-flight feet and to polish their after-shift uniform pumps for them. And on top of that, we will be serving our Stand-by duties in our crew room, to be on-hand to massage our returned air hostesses' feet and polish their uniform pumps. And Mason - I thought I was in dreamland last night!"

"Yes, Terry, and because we are on-hand during our Stand-bys in the crew room, some of the departing air hostesses will also expect us to provide pre-flight foot massages."

"Mason, I hadn't thought of that!"

"And I should follow your example, Terry, and improve my relations with Crewing. Get on Janice's good side with a pledge of future no-argument cooperation. Give Janice and the other girls in Crewing all of the latitude they want with my roster, and I could waive my home call-up protocol protections, too. That should earn their positive remarks on my file; maybe even a special notation that will reach the desk of Ms Gina Summers."

"That would be a good move, Mason," agreed Terry. "You can't go wrong with that. All good things for Ms Summers to put in her dossier on you."

"I've got the proviso patronage of Senior Stewardess Donna and the pledged conditional support of most of the air hostesses I served last night on my kneeling mat. And if any good words from the girls in Crewing reach the desk of Ms Gina Summers, even better. But anyway, Terry, I've got to go. I've still got things to do around the house and some shopping before Gemma gets home from work at about a quarter past five. And I'm dreading it. First, Gemma will want to know why I was so late home from work last night when my flight returned on time. She will then turn to the subject of my revised contract with BlueSky Holidays regarding the Subservience to Stewardesses directive. Then I have to tell her she's got an email from Camilla; you already know what that is. Also, I have to tell Gemma to expect an email from Camilla at six o'clock: Camilla's photos and video recordings of me in our crew room on my kneeling mat at the dark nyloned feet of our returned air hostesses - not least, Camilla. And worst of all, I have to inform Gemma of Camilla's ultimatum: Camilla's foot-kissing proposal. To be conducted as a formal ceremony in our living room during Gemma's lunch break from her DIY workplace tomorrow."

"Yes. Well, good luck with all of that, Mason," condoled Terry. "Gemma sounds like a real firecracker, and I think you are about to set her off. So, I'd better let you get on then with your domestic duties. Bye, Mason."

***

It was always a bad sign when Gemma did not proffer her cheek for me to ritually kiss upon her arriving home. And so when Gemma arrived home from her work at the local big-chain DIY superstore at 5:15, ignoring my How-was-your-day inquiry and then fending off my more affectionate home welcomings, she was apparently not grumpy with work issues but still mad at me.

Gemma elbowed me aside on the doorstep, and without even taking her coat off first, she set about inspecting the thoroughness to which I'd applied myself to the household chores she'd given me to do and the correctness of the shopping items I'd bought and put away. Looking to find fault with the former or dissatisfaction with the latter, but ultimately frustrated, Gemma finally announced her approval and contentment at the adequate completion of her house husbandry assignments for me today.

Thawing slightly, Gemma allowed me to help her out of her coat, and she finally accepted the cup of tea that I customarily made to time with her homecoming. Gemma said nothing, but her pointed look told me I was by no means out of the woods yet for my latest broken promise to take her to our local pub for a drink last night and for arriving home unaccountably late. But it would keep. Gemma wouldn't get into it yet; she would wait until after she'd watched her early-evening soap opera shows.

Gemma's temper was already simmering, and I was dreading the clock ticking round to 6 p.m. when Gemma would learn something that was guaranteed to bring her blood to the boil.

I considered preparing Gemma to cushion the imminent shock and hopefully reduce the repercussions. But I couldn't find the words. I would have to own what I had done. Which meant not to try to defend the indefensible but accept the retributive consequence.

With her cup of tea in hand, Gemma sat at her customary end of our three-seat sofa to watch the early evening soaps; her end of workday relaxation ritual before she took a shower and we had our evening meal.

I knew what Gemma would do when I sat down at the other end of the sofa because she always did it. Of course, I could have sat on the middle cushion next to Gemma, but I liked an armrest.

Or, at least until today, that's what I'd always told myself.

Because, in light of my in-flight insights yesterday and the crew room/locker room revelatory events of last night, now I knew the underlying truth behind my soap-time positional preference on our three-seat sofa. That I sat at the other end not for the armrest but for the better vantage point; not to better see the TV shows but to better watch Gemma's shoe-dangling shows.

As soon as I sat down at my end of the sofa, Gemma swung her bare legs and flat-shod feet up and towards me, improvising her armrest as a backrest. Then, positioning one foot on the middle cushion and resting the calf of her other leg on her upraised knee, Gemma popped her heel from her well-worn black work flat and dangled it from her toes, right in my eye line with the TV.