Chapter 6

Diary entry 6.

Probably because of the feelings I now had for Ben and the fact that he'd seen me naked and had not attempted to molest me and knowing I could trust him, I unburdened myself. Ben knew enough about lesbian relationships not to be shocked by my tale until it got to the part where Penny tricked me and gave me the thrashing. "She wasn't really your friend all along. No real friend would have done that to you. She just used you to get her satisfaction," he commented and I knew he was at least half right although during our love making, I'm sure we really did love each other. "Would you let me read your story please? I'll understand if you say no but..."

I knew I'd already said he could read the story and he'd taken my account of my life with Penny very calmly and without showing any antagonism to me, only against Penny. Still I was uncertain about letting him read the pornography I'd written but thought, "He'll read it if it is published so why not give him a preview? No doubt he's read many stories on the web and mine is not that different to them." In the end to stall for time I replied, "You just want to see if it gets you horny."

"Well that's what it's supposed to do." He laughed and I laughed too and brought up the file.

While I lay face down on the bed watching the screen without being close enough to read the text, I tried to interpret Ben's thoughts from his bodily emotions as he slowly scrolled through the story. At one point he surreptitiously moved his prick into a more comfortable position so I knew it was having the desired effect on him. "Well?" I asked when he'd reached the end and sat staring at the screen.

Reluctantly it seemed, he turned to me and half tried to cover the tenting of his sweat pants. It certainly had aroused him. Mimicking our tutor he started, "This essay by Emily Jenkins shows considerable promise. It is well written in a narrative style and shows in some detail, the trials and tribulations, of how unfortunate girls were treated in days past when they were sold into the service of the landed gentry." At this point he couldn't keep up the pretence or a straight face and grinned. "It's very good Em, much better than many of the stories I've read on the Net and certainly better than those the UniMole usually prints. As you've noticed, it aroused me so it served its purpose. I can only make one small criticism, a very minor one really but one that didn't seem right for the period. At one point you wrote. 'At 9:30 she approached me'. I think that is a modern way of saying the time. Emily more likely would have said, 'At half nine or half past nine.' Just a minor point but as I'm doing Creative Writing too, I thought I should point it out just in case you decide to submit it as a piece of coursework." He grinned and I did too and wondered at the care with which he'd read it. I thought he'd probably scan the bulk of the text and concentrate on the sex bits but it was almost like he proof-read it word for word. I agreed to alter it in the final draft. "Are you going to finish it? Finish it without Penny goading you on?" he asked.

"Possibly, unless I get bored with it but at the moment, fictional Emily and the others are part of a family in my mind and I feel I have to tell their story. Talking each chapter over with Penny did spur me on a bit, but her idea of realism is not what I wished for and it will be a day or two before I can sit comfortably on that chair to type. In any case I'm supposed to finish an assignment this weekend. Have you done yours?"

"Not yet but I brought my laptop. Will you let her read it when she comes back?"

"Probably not until it's done and she sees it in the paper and that won't be until well into next term. She didn't get to read the last chapter before..."

"Would you allow me to read each piece as it is written and 'goad' you on? I'd like to see you finish it."

He sounded genuinely sincere but I answered flippantly, "What so you can get in on this realism thing and rape me while I'm still sore from the thrashing?" I tried to sound angry but a catch in my voice should have given me away but even so it fooled Ben who looked shocked that I would believe he would do such a thing.

"No, no," he protested, "Just constructive criticism..." Quickly realising I was teasing we both burst out laughing.

"Come and give me a hug, Ben."

In the middle of the afternoon, Penny walked in on us without knocking and caught Ben applying yet more salve to my bottom. We knew it was unnecessary to put it on as frequently but he liked doing it, and I enjoyed the soothing sensation of his hands rubbing my tender buttocks and the fact that his fingers strayed to other areas. The pain had eased considerably but it was still there and I couldn't sit comfortably even on the soft mattress.

Penny's face dropped when she saw Ben's hands in places she thought were her preserve. The fact that they weren't even a woman's hands upset her more but she swiftly recovered. "I was going to apologise and ask you to forgive me and to see if I could help relieve your suffering," she started, "But apparently you are using it as an excuse to seduce a boy to give you satisfaction."

She probably would have gone on but Ben stood between us and growled, "What do you want? You were supposed to stay away until Monday."

"I wanted to see how Emily was. I didn't think you'd be of much help to her..."

"You really wanted to know if I would take her to the nurse or the hospital. There's still a chance I might do that, then you'll be in real trouble. You can see how bruised she is. Go back to Pete."

"You can go back to Pete, I'm with Moira again now Roger's gone home."

Up to then I'd kept quiet and half hidden behind Ben. "He's staying here until I am well enough to defend myself against a bitch like you. Maybe you should move out permanently because I don't think I can ever trust you again. Certainly I shan't want to be your lover." I was the one who'd rented the room and it is my name on the rent book although I needed someone to share to help with the payments. All at once tears started rolling down her face and for the first time I felt she was showing signs of remorse but whether it was because I now had the controlling hand or whether she was really sorry for what she'd done, I didn't know.

She did start to apologise but when she came towards me, Ben blocked her passage and quietly told her to leave and not return until Monday. "Think about what you did; the pain you caused, both the physical pain and the mental one. Had not fate sent me here to provide a little comfort for her, you might now be answering police questions. Think on that. You may be sure Em will be thinking about it too every time she tries to move or sit." Brooking any further argument he gently guided her to the door. I heard voices outside and comments from a group of girls in the corridor when they saw Ben in our room and Penny being ushered out.

Chapter six. M'lady and the boot boy

Cook made a potion to settle my stomach and a little later placed a bowl of vegetable soup in front of me. "Get that down yer lass. Methinks you had too much rich food last night that yer guts ain't used to and then yers had nothin' inside yer belly all day, that and yer curse all combines to make yer sick. That there soup should help buck you up. Yer'll have to hold a cold cloth on yer face for a bit to keep the swelling down and yer'll have a real black 'un afore long." I knew cook was right as I could hardly open my left eye and when I did get to glance in a mirror, I saw the whole area was beginning to form a large bruise and the whole of one side of my face was swollen grotesquely.