Chapter 25: Building A New Woman

“Come on, sleepyhead, up and at ‘em!” said Georgia loudly. She slapped Barbara on the butt lightly as the alarm clock rang and she climbed out of bed.

Barbara rolled over and groaned. “What time is it?”

“It’s time to wake up and go get healthy, remember?”

“Bah!” Barbara muttered a few curses and climbed to her feet. She followed her friend into the bathroom. “I’d better get real healthy to justify this. Exercise and rabbit food for a week, and I get to pay for the privilege?”

Georgia laughed and stepped into the shower. She was out about five minutes later, during which time Barbara had managed to brush her teeth and use the toilet. They swapped positions. When Barbara emerged from the shower, she found Georgia going through one of the dresser drawers. Georgia tossed her a terry cloth outfit, and then pulled one from a different drawer for herself. “What’s with these?”

“They provide everything, even workout and exercise outfits. Put it on.”

Barbara shrugged her shoulders. She tossed her towel through the door to the bath and examined the terry cloth outfit. It was a small one-piece romper, with a zipper down the front and an elasticized waistline. “Uh, underwear?” she asked.

“Don’t bother. I didn’t even pack any. When we workout, they’ll provide some sports bras and stuff. We don’t have to worry about washing them or packing them or anything. Come on, try it on.” Georgia stepped into her own romper and pulled it up, then slipped her arms into it. She zipped it up and wriggled around a touch to make it fit right, then pulled the zipper down far enough to show some cleavage. “See?”

“Cute!” agreed Barbara. She pulled hers on and looked in the mirror. The romper was fairly snug and form fitting, and rather short, like she was wearing short shorts. It looked good on her, sort of wholesome and sexy. She saw Georgia slipping into a pair of sneakers and followed suit. “So, what’s today’s schedule?”

Georgia headed for the door. “I had to give that a bit of thought. The way I see it, today is sort of an intro to the place. I’ve signed us both up for a little bit of everything, all day long. Then, after today, you can do what you want. Maybe it’s with me or maybe not, just have some fun. Alright?” They had reached the elevators and Georgia hit the DOWN button.

“Okay by me. Just what are we signed up for, anyway?” asked Barbara.

Georgia gave an evil grin. “Ohhh, I don’t want to spoil the surprise!”

“Georgia!”

“Right now is breakfast. After that is a nice bath, some exercise, a massage, that sort of thing. After lunch, maybe some more exercise and lounge around the pool. Tonight - dinner, a drink or two, maybe visit the lounge. Really routine stuff.”

“Why don’t I trust you?” asked Barbara suspiciously.

“Because you are a cynical woman?” replied Georgia self-righteously. Barbara simply snorted at this.

Breakfast was simply juice, green tea, and fruit salad. Barbara made several pithy comments to her friend about the benefits of bacon and eggs, all of which were ignored. She kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, knowing Georgia was up to something, whatever it was. She found out after breakfast.

Upon leaving the breakfast buffet, the two women went down a hallway towards a connected out-building, stopping at a door marked “Ozone Cleansing.” There was a definite hint of ozone in the air in the hallway, which only increased when they went inside. “Ozone cleansing?” asked Barbara. “This is the ‘nice bath’ you mentioned?”

“Something like that.” They went to a small registration desk, and Georgia introduced themselves by their first names and room number.

The girl at the desk, dressed in an abbreviated white nurse’s outfit, smiled brightly and asked, “Two irrigations, correct.”

Suddenly it began to dawn on Barbara what was about to happen. Her head whipped around to protest to her friend, who was already saying, “That’s right!”

“You have got to be shitting me?”

“Honey, thirty minutes from now, that is something neither one of us is going to be capable of!” laughed Georgia.

“An enema? An ozone enema?”

“It’s a high colonic. Anyway, you’ll be fine. It’s good for you. It will clean out the toxins...”

“And anything else!” protested Barbara.

“ ... and flush out your entire system.” Then, Georgia leaned closer and whispered, “Don’t worry, we’ll get a cock or two up there today so we can fill it up with something else!”

Barbara stared in disbelief. “Jesus Christ!” She followed her friend into a changing room, where they slipped out of their rompers and put on a simple medical gown, the type that left both their butts feeling the breeze. From there they went into the “Cleansing Room”, where the ozone smell was even more prevalent.

Forty minutes later, the two women were back out in the hallway, dressed and moving onward. “We don’t have to do that every day, do we?” asked Barbara.

“Only if you want to. If you prefer, they also offer various herbal solutions, as well.”

“Holy Christ, you’re kidding me!”

Georgia laughed. “Hey, do what you want. I just wanted to let you see everything. Me, I always start with this, but afterwards, I just get a regular enema most days. It really is better when I get a nice cock up there. Everything will be nice and clean.”

“Speaking of which, when do you think we can get some action? I’m feeling needy. You and the girls yesterday were very nice, but I was hoping for something else, you know!”

Georgia laughed and led Barbara to a large and well-equipped gym. Another staff member, a pretty, redheaded Irish girl, Colleen, wearing a sports bra and spandex bike shorts, greeted them. “Ladies, welcome! Can I help you sign in and get started?” Both Barbara and Georgia assented to this, and Colleen explained some of the gym procedures and asked their intentions.

“I just want to tone everything up some,” said Georgia.

Barbara blushed. “Uh, that too, but I kind of need to lose a few pounds, too,” she admitted.

Colleen smiled. “Don’t we all! Don’t worry about it. We can work on it here, and then when you go home, you’ll know enough to keep working out at a gym. Okay?” she asked brightly.

Colleen led them into a locker room and got them lockers, sports bras, and spandex shorts of their own. She also found some tennis shoe ‘footies’ for socks. Back in the gym room. She handed them both a towel and pulled some free weights out from under the counter. Each weight weighed a kilogram, and there was a pair for each of them. “We’re going to start out with a mile walk, followed by some Nautilus time. Alright?”

“A mile?” protested Barbara.

“Oh, will you behave! You make it sound like the Bataan Death March!” Turning back to Colleen, Georgia said, “That’s fine. If she falls by the wayside, the guards can simply shoot her.”

Colleen laughed and pointed them towards a door to the gardens. “Just follow the red brick path. See you in fifteen minutes.”

“Fifteen minutes!” wailed Barbara. That seemed impossible to her, but she went out behind an industriously moving Georgia. They would need oxygen at the end of all this, she devoutly believed.

Amazingly, they arrived back at the gym almost exactly at the allotted fifteen minutes, neither huffing nor puffing. Colleen smiled and explained that fifteen minutes was the same as four miles an hour, and the average healthy person normally walked at a pace of three to four miles an hour. She hadn’t done anything she wasn’t perfectly capable of already!

Colleen then turned them over to a very large and very buff young man for their Nautilus workout. Barbara smiled pleasantly at him. Jack looked like he worked out by lifting the huge machines, not using them, and his muscles looked very tasty to her. “Oooh, thank you! I’d love a good workout!”

Georgia laughed. “Me, too! Maybe we can get a joint workout?”

Jack laughed at this. He undoubtedly heard this on a daily basis. “Maybe, ladies, maybe, but first we need to get you through this one. We can worry about that later.”

This workout was much more difficult for Barbara. She had never worked out with weights or on a machine before and really had no idea what to do or how to do it. Jack had to show her each different use of the Nautilus and watch her closely, just to keep her from hurting herself. As it was, by the end of the session, Barbara had aching muscles in places she didn’t even know had muscles.

“It gets better,” said Georgia.

“You lie! I hurt everywhere.”

“It gets better,” was repeated. “By the end of the week, you’ll be teaching Jack. Come on, let’s get that massage.

“By the end of the week I’ll be dead,” replied Barbara, weakly following her friend.

“You’re doing just fine,” was the positive comment. “Come on, a massage, a swim - by this evening you’ll be in shape to find Jack and get another workout. Hmmm?”

Barbara groaned. “Only if he’s into necrophilia!”

“He’s awfully cute. Don’t you want to find out if all of his muscles are that big?” teased Georgia.

Barbara groaned again.

The massage was outside, in a tented pavilion overlooking a scenic view down the valley. Once they got to the view, a young girl helped the two women out of their rompers and onto massage tables. They lay on the tables, face down, arms folded under their heads as pillows, naked, with towels discreetly laid over their backs. After the girl left, Georgia looked over at Barbara. “Now don’t go to sleep. I ordered up two deluxe massages, and trust me, you will want to be awake!”

“Oh, really?” asked a skeptical Barbara. What could be special about a massage?

“Really!”

A minute later, Barbara understood her friend’s comments. Four men, large and muscular young men, slipped through the back flap of the pavilion and split up, two to both Georgia and Barbara. First, they took off their tunic tops, then the towels over the women disappeared, then the men peeled off their shorts. The masseurs were simply gorgeous, well built, muscular, tanned all over, and with beautiful, long, and thick cocks. Georgia looked over at Barbara. “I told you you’d like this massage.”

“You were right!”

“Now just lay back and let them do the work. I guarantee you that you will feel amazing at the end of it!” She turned away and rested her head on her forearms. “Gentlemen, you may begin!” she said happily. Georgia had what she called a ‘salt and pepper’ team, a dark-skinned Jamaican, and a very fair Slavic man, with a pronounced Eastern European accent.

What surprised Barbara was that there actually was a massage involved! Warm massage oil was poured on her back, and her two men, both Latinos, stood on opposite sides and gave her a very thorough rubdown, going from her shoulders down to her feet and back up. Then she was flipped over and got the same treatment on the front side. This time, however, it seemed as if one of the two always was working on her breasts or pussy. She had two small orgasms before either man did anything other than touch her breasts and cup her mound.

Barbara jolted alive at the next touch! Her eyes snapped open as she rose on her elbows, looking down her body she found one of her masseurs leaning forward, his fingers gently prying her pussy lips apart, his face nuzzling between them, his tongue exploring her slit. She gasped and looked over to the side to see the other Latino standing there near her head, his stiff cock in his hand, long and thick, as he gently stroked himself and smiled at her. Looking over at the other table, she saw that Georgia was well beyond her. She had climbed off her table and was kneeling on the padded floor; her Jamaican masseur was slowly fucking her from behind, doggy style, with an immense cock, while the blonde Slav knelt in front of her, holding her head in his hands while she sucked his cock.

Barbara smiled at the young man standing near her and wiggled a finger, inviting him closer. He eagerly stepped forward. Barbara opened her mouth and leaned closer as she slowly took him inside. Once his cockhead had passed her lips, she closed them and began to slowly and carefully nibble and suck his cock, slowly pulling him deeper, almost as if she was devouring him, inch by inch. The young man whimpered in delight as he reached down to cradle her head, trying to thrust in, but Barbara used her hands on his cockshaft to keep him from facefucking her. It was her turn to gasp and whimper next when the masseur eating her out stood up and crawled onto the table. Lifting her ass up off the table, he pulled her up and onto his stiff cock, slamming it in full bore, filling her completely on the first stroke.

Barbara moaned around the cock in her mouth as the brawny young men used her for their pleasure. They were overpoweringly stronger than she, and they ravished her body ruthlessly. She could hear Georgia moaning across from her as well, as her friend was fucked hard and deep. Suddenly both her lovers began cursing in Spanish, and she felt several jolts of jism pumping into her cunt just before the cock in her mouth swelled even further and a load of cum splashed onto her tongue. She frantically swallowed it all down.

It was apparent that this was only the first round of the morning. Barbara wondered whether the deluxe massage meant two masseurs or two fucks, but she planned on taking whatever she could get! Both young men took only a few minutes to stiffen again, especially with them standing on opposite sides of the table, with Barbara alternately stroking one while sucking the other. As soon as both were hard, the two men repositioned her with her butt at the end of the table and her legs hanging off. The masseur she had sucked off stood between her legs, rubbing massage oil on his cock and down her ass; as she lifted and spread her legs, he inserted his cock into her cleansed asshole and pushed in. She whimpered as her asshole was plumbed, and then looked across at her friend. Georgia was also on a second bout, straddling the Jamaican, his cock up her pussy, while the Eastern European vigorously plowed his cock up her ass, sandwiching her. Georgia’s eyes were closed, and she was making a wide variety of loud incoherent noises as they double-fucked her.

Barbara settled her legs up over her new friend’s shoulders as he buttfucked her, then turned her head and began sucking off the other man. This fuck took longer but was deliriously wonderful. She felt incredibly alive and energized when they filled her with their second loads. Grinning, she sat upright on the table as they left and looked down at Georgia, sprawled on the floor pads, covered in sweat. “Now that’s a great way to start the day!”

Georgia laughed and crawled to her feet. “I told you so, didn’t I?” She grabbed their towels and the pair wiped themselves off, then they slipped back into their rompers. “Come on, a quick shower and change, then some lunch and a swim. Hmmm?” Barbara eagerly agreed.

Lunch proved more interesting than breakfast. Both women went back to their room and quickly showered before slipping into their bikinis and beach wraps. At Georgia’s suggestion, they went down to the swimming pool and ate a light lunch at the pool café. They both had salads and mimosas. “Think of all that Vitamin C!” commented Barbara when she suggested them to her friend. Georgia had laughed and agreed. Afterwards they headed out to the pool and found a pair of chaise lounges.

Georgia stripped off her beach cover and jumped in to cool off, then climbed back out. She found Barbara laying on the lounge chair, rubbing suntan lotion on. “You’re not going in?”

“Maybe later. Here, use this or you’ll burn up.” She held out the tube of sunscreen.

Georgia took it. “You normally tan topless.” She peeled off her own suit, both top and bottom.

Barbara looked around. “Can I?”

“Sure. It’s like I said, clothing optional. Trust me, nobody will mind.”

“Really, if I looked as good as you two girls, I’d join in,” came a comment from the side. Both Barbara and Georgia looked over at the lounge chair nearest them. The occupant was a trim woman in her early fifties, with short, frosted hair and a trim figure. She was wearing a very flattering one-piece suit.

“Hello, thanks for saying that. I’m Georgia.”

“I’m Barbara.”

“Hello, I’m Betty. You girls just arrive?” Betty stood and moved her lounge chair closer, then sat down and motioned for a waiter to come closer.

“We just got here yesterday,” answered Georgia. “You?” When the waiter came over, she ordered another pair of mimosas.

“Oooh, that sounds wonderful. I’ll have one too!” said Betty. “I’ve been here a week already. I come for two weeks every three or four months, to tone up and stay in shape ... and for other reasons.” She said the last with a sly smile on her face.

“Oh? Other reasons?” quizzed Barbara lightly.

“Mmmm, yes, and I think you might know what those reasons are, too.” Betty smiled sweetly at the young waiter.

Barbara laughed at that. “You’d look fine tanning like us,” she said.

“Kind words, darling, but I think that might be pushing my luck. Besides, how would I explain to my husband the lack of tan lines?”

Georgia answered, “What explain? Tell him you used a tanning booth. Or just say you were laying around naked and letting young men ogle you. See what he thinks about that.”

Betty laughed at that. “I don’t think so. I love my husband dearly, but he’s not as ... um, liberated ... as I am. I come here every few months and unwind, and then I go home and play the good little wife. What about you two?”

“Divorced,” said Barbara.

“Widowed,” said Georgia.

“I’m sorry to hear that. For both of you, I mean. So, are you two...?” Betty wiggled her fingers at the two younger women.

Georgia grinned and laughed. “We’re sort of friends with benefits. We’re neighbors and raving nymphomaniacs.”

“We prefer guys,” said Barbara.

“But we like girls, too. You?” asked Georgia invitingly.

Betty smiled but shook her head. “Sorry. Nothing against it, but it doesn’t do anything for me. I do like the guys here, though.”

The three women talked and sipped at mimosas the rest of the afternoon. Barbara took the opportunity to look around the grounds and the pool at their fellow guests and staff. As Georgia had said, poolside nudity was quite commonplace, though the on-duty staff maintained some clothing. Likewise, there was a considerable degree of casual sexuality on display. There seemed to be a number of secluded alcoves around the pool area, and it wasn’t uncommon for a couple to move to an alcove, to return thirty minutes later looking sweaty and sated.

The most obvious case was a young twenty-something couple across the pool from them. At first they didn’t seem to be anything more than a young pair of sun worshippers like the others. She was a very cute brunette with short and curly hair, with an hourglass figure that was a few pounds short of being plump. When she took off her beach wrap, she was naked underneath. He was a few inches taller, and like her, good looking but a touch heavy, perhaps a few pounds short of having love handles. He also was naked beneath his beach robe.

They both stripped off their robes and sat down on chaise lounges lying close enough to touch each other. They then pulled out a bottle of suntan lotion and did each other’s backs. Then, he sprayed a heavy stream over her front as she lay face up on her lounge. Then the young man worked it into her skin thoroughly, essentially fingerfucking her to orgasm. Afterwards she returned the favor, using the lotion over his entire front and finishing off with a hand job that spurted cum into the air and splashing onto his chest. Then she wiped him clean, and they lay back to catch some rays, as if nothing untoward had happened.

“Well, that was certainly interesting,” commented Betty. All three women had been avidly watching the goings on.

“No kidding,” agreed Georgia. Barbara nodded and murmured affirmatively as well.

Betty sat up and began packing her beach bag. “No offense, girls, but I think I am going to find me a young man or two and see about a very private massage.”

“Sounds excellent. See you later,” commented Barbara. After Betty had left, she turned towards Georgia and smiled. “Want to do the same? Or want to try that friends-with-benefits thing?”

“Let’s try option two. You know, we haven’t done that since we got here, and I happen to know there is a toy chest in every room.”

Barbara’s eyes lit up at the mention of toys. She sat up as well. “Time to explore that, then.” She stood and pulled her swimsuit back on and held her hand out for Georgia. “Let’s go!”

They walked hand-in-hand back to the elevators and rode in smiling silence up to their floor. Georgia fished out her key card and let them in. She unceremoniously stripped off her swimsuit and beach cover, tossing them onto a chair as she moved off to the bathroom. “You make a couple of drinks and I’ll take a quick shower, then you can shower while I find the toys.”

“You bet,” agreed Barbara. She undressed as well before moving over to their makeshift bar. The room didn’t really have a wet bar (although Georgia had confided that for enough money, that sort of room was available) and had set up their booze on a side table. They had each brought a bottle, Georgia with rum and Barbara with vodka, and the maids kept the room stocked with ice and mixers. Vodka tonics seemed a good choice, so Barbara made a pair of them, strong. She set one in the bathroom, and then returned to the bedroom. Curious about Georgia’s description of a ‘toy chest’ in each room, she began to explore.

The previous evening both women had been too tired to do anything more than eat or sleep, and that morning Georgia had bustled them off as soon as they had awoken. Now, with a bit of free time, she began looking around. The dresser had been empty when they arrived, and Kim and Maria had put their clothing in it. Instead, she went over to the nightstand on her side of the bed and pulled it open. Inside was a tube of lubricant and several vibrators and dildos.

“Getting started without me?” Georgia came in from the shower, toweling off with one hand and carrying her drink with the other.

“Just exploring, so far.”

“Well, go shower and I’ll look around, too.”

Ten minutes later, showered, dried, and with her glass empty, Barbara returned to the bedroom. She grinned wickedly at Georgia, who was laying back on the bed, legs splayed wide, with a large vibrator in her hands. Her friend was vigorously using it, pumping it frenetically into her drenched cunt, the smell of pussy juice redolent in the air. She moved over to the side table and made herself another drink before she returned to the bed. “Now who got started first?”

Georgia gasped as she orgasmed, and then turned off the vibrator, a large straight and hard model, in a pink plastic. “I should probably be punished. If you want to tie me up and spank me, that stuff is in my nightstand, in the bottom drawer.”

Barbara kept the distress out of her eyes. That had never been one of her fantasies, and now just gave her painful memories of her ex-husband. “That’s alright. Anything else amusing?”

“You might like this.” Rolling over, Georgia reached into the drawer and pulled out a large double-ended dildo. It looked like it was almost two feet long!

“No way will we get that in us!”

“You never know until you try.” Georgia lay back on the bed and spread her legs wide. It took her a couple of minutes before the monstrous dildo had managed to slip inside. “Jesus, this is big! You’d better use the lube before you try it.”

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Barbara asked in disbelief.

“No guts, no glory. Try it.”

“Jesus Christ,” was the muttered response. Barbara rooted around in her nightstand and came out with a new tube of AstroGlide. First, she squirted some on her friend’s pussy, where the dildo was already hanging out obscenely. Georgia began to work the dildo in and out, working the lubricant inside herself, and was able to get several more inches of dong inside her.

Barbara squirted some more lube on her fingers and coated the other end heavily. “You’d better put some on your pussy, too,” commented Georgia. Barbara nodded wordlessly and did just that, coating her fingers with some more AstroGlide and working it into her overheated pussy.

“How do we do this?” she commented curiously.

Barbara returned the odd look. “Good question.” She slowly pulled her legs up and rolled so that she was kneeling on the bed, the double dong projecting from her pussy like a grotesque penis. “Here, you kneel and get close to me and put the head in, and then we can get closer.”

Barbara followed the instructions and quickly had the false cockhead between her pussylips and into her channel. “That wasn’t too hard, actually. The lube really helped.”

“Something to remember when we publish the self-help book. Now, let’s move together.” Both women kept a hand on the dong as they inched closer, pushing it deeper in both of them. At the end they looked down, amazed to see it was almost totally inside them. “I can’t believe we did it!”

“My God, I feel so stuffed! I’ve never had anything in me this big before!” cried out Barbara.

“Should we take it out?” asked Georgia. Now that she had it in and properly lubricated, it felt great. Her pussy was throbbing!

“Yeah, in about a half hour. God, just fuck me with it!” groaned Barbara.

Georgia laughed and began pushing and pulling the double-headed dildo, working it back and forth, into one pussy and out of the other, then reversing direction. Barbara moaned, leaning forward against her friend, her head on Georgia’s shoulder, as her iron hard nipples worked against the other’s. Eventually the two of them collapsed onto the bed, arms wrapped around each other, crotches humping against each other as they fucked each other manically.

Eventually it became too much. With a loud whimper, Georgia pulled away, the dildo slipping out of her pussy, followed by a flood of cum. Barbara rested for a moment, dazed, then removed it from her own as well. Unable to move, she dozed off, followed momentarily later by Georgia.

Barbara woke up when she felt Georgia moving around on the bed next to her. Groaning mildly, she stretched, cat-like, on the bed and then rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She looked over as Georgia climbed to her feet. “Now what, more toys? I’m more hungry than horny right now.”

Georgia nodded. “Let’s clean up and get dressed. Put something nice on. After dinner we can go into the lounge for a few drinks and see what’s cooking.”

Barbara sat up on the bed. “There’s a club here?”

“After a fashion. It’s more than a bar but less than a nightclub. You’ll like it.”

“And the dress code is...?”

“Casual but dressy. Like last night, a nice little sundress and a pair of heels. There’s definitely going to be some men there, as well as some women. Quite a few staff members come by looking for an evening drink and hoping to get laid,” answered Georgia.

Barbara snorted in laughter. “They come to score with old fogies like us?”

Georgia shrugged. “I suspect it’s in the contract, you know? Like, I doubt the INS would really be overly happy with the immigration status of all the employees. I mean, I was talking to one of the girls here last year. She was from Ireland, very cute, redheaded like Colleen earlier, really big tits ... well, anyway, we had a few drinks and ended up back in my room. They get decent enough money, and nobody hassles them about green cards or shit like that, but it’s pretty much expected that they provide whatever services the guests are looking for, and I do mean whatever.”

“So, they have to put out or they get thrown out?” Barbara didn’t much like the sound of that.

“I think it’s more that it’s part of the job. Nobody forces them to do anything, but it’s explained up front. They wouldn’t get hired if they weren’t happy with the arrangements to start with.”

“And this girl, she explained this, and she didn’t feel like she was being used?”

“No, she was actually pretty cool about it. Don’t forget, in a lot of the world, sex isn’t the big puritanical thing we make of it. Lots of Europe and Asia are a lot more casual about it. If people are enjoying themselves and nobody’s getting hurt, what’s the difficulty?”

Barbara shrugged in acceptance. She started cleaning up the toys and putting them away. “Okay, I suppose. So, this morning, that was...”

“That was a very enjoyable massage. We enjoyed it. Those young studs fucked the shit out of us and came twice. I bet they enjoyed it, too. Listen, just act naturally. Be discreet. You can’t just blurt out ‘Let’s go fuck!’ to the staff, but if someone is interesting to you, there’s no harm in mentioning that you might need some help back in the room and asking them if they could help out. Maybe they can’t, like they’re on duty or something, but they’ll probably be able to point you in the right direction.”

Barbara went into the bathroom and cleaned up, then went to the closet and pulled out a short sundress with a tube top. Georgia had already slipped into a halter topped dress, longer but with a pair of long slits up both thighs. They both slipped on their high-heeled sandals. As they left their room, Barbara asked, “Ever had anyone turn you down?”