Chapter 8: Doing Terrible Things To Me

He smiled at Mike, offered his hand and said, ‘Hi, I’m Christopher, are you Lewis, I almost didn’t make it in time?’ ‘He’s in the back room,’ Mike said shaking his hand, ‘I’m Mike, go on through.’

As Christopher walked into the back room, Lewis smiled at him and said, ‘Hi, you must be Christopher, I’m Lewis.’ As they shook hands Lewis could see Christopher looking concerned. He guessed he was surprised to see someone so young.

Once he had closed the shop door and put the closed sign up, Mike went through to the back. As Lewis started to introduce him, Mike said, ‘We’ve already met. I’m about to go home,’ Mike told him, ‘So I’ll leave you to it.’

‘I think Christopher is a bit concerned about my age.’ Lewis said smiling at him. ‘I’m sorry,’ Christopher said, ‘I didn’t realise it had shown. I’m not sure I can discuss my problem with someone so young.’

‘Don’t be fooled by his age,’ Mike said, ‘When it comes to sorting out people’s problems, he’s three times his age in wisdom.’ Mike told him a bit about what he’d done for him and Valerie.

‘He’s seen over a hundred people in here,’ Mike said, ‘And he’s sorted every one of their problems out for them. Just give him a try, after all, what can you lose?’

Lewis saw Mike out with their usual hug and a kiss in the shop. Then he called Christopher in and showed him his key in the lock. After explaining the significance of it they returned to the back room.

Sitting with a coffee Lewis explained a few things and reminded him that he could leave any time he wanted. ‘I didn’t mean to offend you earlier,’ Christopher said sounding apologetic, ‘I just assumed you would be so much older.’

‘Actually, now I think about it, Danny did say he was in his first year at university so he’s probably still in his teens too.’ ‘Just like me.’ Lewis said grinning.

‘Don’t worry I’m not offended I’m used to it, and I understand perfectly. Fortunately, people soon seem to relax and feel able to tell me what’s bothering them. Up to now I’ve managed to find an answer for every one of them. A lot of them the same day, but some have taken a little longer.’

‘It might help you to know that almost all problems have an element of sex in them, some a lot, some a little. I’ve dealt with all sorts of sexual abuse, rape, fraud and even a couple of killings. But nothing you tell me goes out of this room unless you give permission for it to do so.’

‘When we’ve finished our coffees, you can decide if you want to leave or stop and try. I won’t be asking you anything about your problem until you feel relaxed enough, so that shouldn’t be a worry to you.’

‘In the meantime, if I ask you anything you don’t feel able to answer just yet, all you need to do is say ‘Pass’ and we’ll skip it until later. But we will keep going until you have felt able to tell me everything about you and everything that has happened to you. Without that knowledge I won’t be able to help you properly or successfully. I can encourage you, but I won’t force you to do that. You move on when you feel ready not me, it’s in your hands.’

Picking up the empty cups, Lewis told him, ‘If you want to try, go over to the settee, take your shoes off and lie down. If you don’t, just let yourself out. If you do leave, you will be welcome to return at any time in the future.’

Christopher had liked Mike and Lewis when he met them, and he was already starting to feel at ease with Lewis. Given what everyone had told him he decided it would be daft to have come, and then just walk away without even giving it a try.

A few seconds after Lewis finished speaking, he got up, went over to the settee and after taking his shoes off, he lay down. Lewis came over and smiled at him. ‘Every journey starts with the first step,’ he told him, ‘And you’ve just taken it.’

Looking at Christopher lying flat, Lewis could see a man with more padding than he should have. He was about two inches taller than himself. Even lying flat his stomach was decidedly rounded. He had a nice smile and seemed like someone who was normally happy.

However, Lewis could clearly see worry in his face which he didn’t think was just nerves at being here. His colouring was between off white and brown. He had taken his jacket off when he came in, so he was just wearing a T shirt and trousers. His chest was a little broader than Lewis’s, but the start of man boobs showed clearly through his T shirt.

Sitting down at his side, Lewis explained about questions and massage and how he could say ‘Stop’ at any time. ‘I’ll start on your back,’ Lewis explained, ‘So when you feel ready, just turn over and we’ll begin.’

Christopher felt frightened at the idea of being touched, any physical contact had terrified him ever since the reason for him being here today had happened.

Realising Lewis was just going to sit there patiently and wait until he was ready, he said, ‘Physical contact frightens me, please don’t be offended at my reaction, I can’t help it even though I feel sure that you won’t hurt me.’

‘I understand,’ Lewis told him, ‘Just know that nothing in here will either hurt you or take you by surprise. Before we do anything, I’ll tell you what I want to do, why I want to do it and what I expect to gain from it. But even then, unless you say it’s ok to go ahead, nothing happens.’

Making an effort, Christopher turned over. As Lewis rested his hands on his head, he felt him go tense. He kept them still for a few moments then started a slow gentle massage. ‘I won’t move off your head or ask any questions until you say go.’ Lewis told him.

After a few minutes he felt Christopher starting to relax. He was surprised to find that the massage on his head not only felt relaxing, but he was enjoying it.

‘Go.’ he said at last. Lewis carried on over his head for a little longer then moved down onto his shoulders as he said, ‘All I know about you so far is your Christian name and that you are thirty-four. Can you tell me how long ago it was when you stopped being happy and carefree.’

As Lewis massaged down his back, he felt strong muscles covered with loose padding. He was almost at his waist before Christopher answered, ‘Two months ago.’ ‘And would I be right in thinking that what happened then and since is the reason you are here today?’

‘Yes.’ Christopher said as Lewis’s hands moved up onto the back of his trousers. His mind was on that terrible day, and it took a few moments to become aware of where Lewis had his hands. As he opened his mouth and sucked in air in preparation to screaming ‘Stop,’ he was suddenly aware that it was actually giving him quite a nice feeling.

His body had gone rigid, then Lewis felt him relaxing slowly. He also heard Christopher let his breath out slowly and knew he had been about to shout ‘Stop.’ He stayed on his cheeks until he had completely relaxed, then as he moved down onto the back of his thighs, Lewis asked, ‘What was your first job when you left school?’

Christopher was taken completely by surprise as his mind had been building up to expect more questions about his problem. It threw him for a few moments. Then as Lewis moved down his lower legs he answered.

‘I left at sixteen,’ he said, ‘I had no particular skills or qualifications, so I got a job labouring on a building site.’ As Lewis came back up his legs he asked, ‘How did you find it?’ ‘It was hard work,’ Christopher said, ‘But I was much fitter then and I soon toughened up. I liked it.’

Lewis reached his cheeks again, and as he massaged them Christopher told him, ‘I can’t believe how nice that feels, I didn’t think I’d be able to let anyone touch me anywhere ever again, let alone there.’ ‘That’s great to hear,’ Lewis told him, stopping on them a little longer than he had intended. ‘It shows how much you are relaxing with me.’

‘What did you like about labouring?’ Lewis asked as he moved on up his back. ‘I liked being outside, which I mainly was.’ Christopher told him. ‘Also, it was straightforward work. Someone would tell me what to do and leave me to get on with it. I could plod along at my own speed. I enjoyed seeing the building work starting afterwards on something I had prepared too.’