Chapter 8: Pams Predicament

Danny arrived at Johns at quarter to ten. He was in the hall ready to leave. Danny had messaged him yesterday to warn him, so he was off shopping. They had a hug and a kiss then John set off.

Danny went into the kitchen and put the kettle on, then prepared two cups ready. When he had come out of school yesterday and switched his phone on, there had been a message for him.

‘Hi, Danny, I’m Pamela. I’m twenty-four and have a problem regarding my boyfriend. I have just had some building work done. As I chatted to Keith, one of the young builders, over a coffee we got talking about problems. He told me he knew someone who was very young but had an excellent record of sorting other people’s problems out.’

‘I told him I had a friend who was having problems with her boyfriend but said she couldn’t talk to anyone about it. I don’t know if he believed me about the friend, but he gave me your number. If you can help, I’d be very relieved. Thanks, Pam.’

He had texted back, then rung her. He had explained a bit about it and invited her to come round this morning, which she had agreed. Shortly afterwards the front doorbell rang.

Answering the door, he found a lady a few years older than him. She was the same height and very slightly overweight, but with a lovely smile. He smiled back. ‘Hi, Pam.’ he said offering his hand, ‘I’m Danny.’

He invited her in and as he closed the door she said, ‘Thank you for seeing me, you come highly recommended.’ ‘That’s good to hear,’ he said as he led her through to the kitchen.

As they sat at the table with their coffee’s, Danny explained all the details plus what would happen next if she decided to stay. ‘If you stay,’ he told her, ‘We will go through to the lounge. I’ll ask you to take your shoes off and lie on the settee. Then I’ll tell you the next stage. Nothing that happens will take you by surprise or hurt you.’

‘Whatever we do, I will tell you about it first. Then I’ll tell you why we’re doing it and what we hope to gain. Even then, nothing will happen unless you say, yes. You can get up and leave anytime you wish without having to explain why. There’s no need to explain, because if you aren’t happy, there’s no point in continuing, we can’t succeed.’

Danny got up and went to the door. ‘Time to choose,’ he said. ‘Follow me to the lounge or let yourself out.’ As Pam stood up, he went out into the hall and on into the lounge. Pam followed him in. ‘That’s a good start.’ Danny said indicating the settee.

Pam took her shoes off and lay down. She looked very nervous. ‘Are you ok if I sit here?’ Danny said pointing the edge of the settee by her knees. When she nodded, he sat down.

‘You have just done the first two of the three requirements to solve any problem,’ he said with a smile. ‘One, you’ve admitted you have one. Two, you’ve decided to do something about it and here you are. The third one is to see the whole process through to the end and a solution. Only you can decide that.’

‘Now, in a moment I’ll ask you to turn over. Then I will put my hands on the back of your head and massage your back down to your feet and back up again. Whilst I do, I’ll ask you all about yourself. If I ask you something you don’t feel relaxed enough to answer yet, just say pass and we’ll leave it until later, ok?’

‘Also, very important.’ Danny said, ‘If at any time you feel uncomfortable, just call out stop and we’ll stop immediately. Then we’ll wait until you are ready to continue.’

‘Ok,’ Pam told him giving him a nervous smile. ‘Turn over when you feel ready,’ Danny said, ‘I’ll massage your head, but I won’t start down or ask questions until you say go.’

Pam turned over and settled into place. Danny rested his hands on her head, feeling some tension immediately. He massaged gently in silence. After about a minute he felt her tension start to ease, then soon after she said, ‘Go.’ in a wavering voice.

As Danny moved down onto her shoulders, she tensed up again. Danny said, ‘Usually I don’t ask any questions about your problem to start with. I first find out a lot about you and your life. I also get you feeling relaxed and at ease with me. But as you have already mentioned it is a problem with your boyfriend, can you tell me anything about it?’

As he approached her waist she had started to relax again. ‘I’ve just met a man I really like,’ she told him. ‘He is making it clear that he would like to be my boyfriend. I’ve never had a boyfriend before, and I’ve been putting him off. But it’s driving me mad.’

Moving up onto her cheeks, she tensed very slightly, but not as much as before. As Danny massaged all over them, she started to relax once more. ‘You say you really like him,’ Danny said, ‘So is he the problem or is it you?’

‘It’s me,’ she said, ‘He’s lovely.’ ‘I’m sure you are too,’ Danny told her. ‘So, can you tell me why you are turning him down?’ ‘I’m scared,’ she admitted. ‘Absolutely terrified.’

Danny was moving down her legs now. Pam felt quite at ease. ‘Would you feel the same if it was any man or is it just him makes you feel that way?’ he asked. ‘Oh no,’ Pam said as he started back up her legs, ‘He’s a lovely gentle soul. I’d be the same with anyone.’

As he massaged her cheeks once more, this time with no sign of stress, Danny asked, ‘Have you been out with him yet?’ ‘Not really,’ she said. ‘We were sat next to each other at a works dinner recently. We spent most of the time chatting to each other. But we haven’t intentionally been out just together.’

Danny was moving up her back and said, ‘You spent the whole evening talking happily, so you must have got on really well. What happened when the meal finished?’ ‘We went home.’ she said.

As he massaged her shoulders Danny asked, ‘Did he offer to see you home?’ ‘Yes,’ she said sounding sad. ‘But I told him I’d come with friends, and they were expecting me to go home with them.’

‘How did he take that?’ Danny asked. ‘He seemed disappointed, mind you so was I. He walked to the hotel foyer with me. I told him I had to go to the ladies. He had held my hand as we walked out, so he lifted it up to his lips and kissed it. It felt wonderful, I gave him a smile and went into the ladies. I went into a toilet and sat and cried for ages.’

Danny took his hands off her head then said, ‘Turn over.’ As she settled on her back, she was looking sad. Danny smiled at her and said, ‘You’re doing really well. Now I’m going to do exactly the same on your front. With more questions naturally.’

As he massaged her head Danny said, ‘I’m going to ask about you now, although I will include occasional questions about what might be troubling you. Just remember the ‘Pass’ and ‘Stop’ then nothing can upset you.’

He moved down onto her shoulders and massaged them. As his hands touched, she went tense again, even more than on her back. ‘Tell me about where you live and who lives there.’ he asked. That threw her, it was such a simple question. She was starting to answer as she suddenly became aware of Danny’s hands massaging her breasts.

She went rigid and opened her mouth to scream out stop. But before any sound came out, the lovely sensation it was giving her calmed her down. As she closed her mouth and relaxed slightly, Danny moved on down to her stomach.

Pam let out a long sigh. Danny took his hands off right away. ‘Are you ok?’ he asked. ‘I think so,’ she said. ‘I was absolutely terrified feeling your hands on my breasts, but before I could shout stop, a lovely feeling flowed through me. I feel so confused.’

‘I’m going to go back to your shoulders and start again from there,’ he said. ‘Just try and concentrate on the nice feeling. Remember what I told you. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is going to hurt you in here.’ He smiled at her.