Chapter 4

"My life would be so much richer, if only I were free I were free and with Mezyana. If only we could express our love in the way most lovers can without fear. All I can ever think of is Mezyana and how much I yearn to be near her." Binta sighed. "If you've never loved, you can never know how much pain this separation causes. Whenever I think of love or comfort or devotion - and that is so often - all I can think of is Mezyana.

"I want to live with her when I leave here. To share all my moments with her. Especially those little moments: the ones which mean so little when experienced alone and so much more when I'm with the one I love. We'd have our own home. We'd sleep in the same bed. Kiss each other as we left for work in the morning. Sit arm in arm, watching the television, feeling the comfort of our embraces. Laugh over shared memories over a beer or a meal out. Be as inseparable as the best of heterosexual couples. These are such innocent desires. And they so utterly overwhelm me."

Binta ran her hands through the long strands of her hair and gazed sadly at her naked lap. Ana smiled wanly. Her emotions were curiously unfocused. She was reassured by Binta's commitment to someone else. She'd never felt so strongly towards someone as Binta had, but she appreciated and rather envied the yearnings.

She was about to comment, when a knock distracted her attention towards the door. A broad smiling woman's face was peering round. Like Binta, she wore no clothes and her very long hair reached down to just below her waist. She was deeply sun-tanned and her hair was bleached blonde by the sun. She was much taller than Binta, - who wasn't especially short, - and built proportionately. She boasted round breasts, a taut stomach and muscular thighs. Ana was acutely aware of the incongruity of her interview clothes and the nakedness of her companions.

"Hiya!" their new companion called out breezily. "How's it going?"

Binta noticeably responded with less enthusiasm. "Hello, Ketaba. Have you met Ana? The director's new secretary."

"Pleased to meet you, Ana!" Ketaba grinned warmly, approaching her and kissing her tenderly on the lips. "So you've not come to join our profession? Well, I'm sure that like Inta you'll soon see its advantages. It's a good life! Very healthy and curative! As I'm sure Binta's been telling you..."

"Of course I haven't, Ketaba! I'm no more likely to endorse prostitution than you are to endorse alcohol or tobacco."

"There's just no comparison, you silly girl!" rebuked Ketaba, sitting by Binta's feet on the end of the bed. "But you're, well, unnatural. So you're not likely to have a very balanced view on the profession." She smiled warmly at Ana. "Don't believe all the perverse advice our pretty little dyke might give you. She hasn't exactly chosen this career. She doesn't know how lucky she is that the government has deemed this an appropriate punishment for her criminal behaviour. She's got a chance in life she'll be inestimably grateful for the rest of it."

"I just don't understand how you can possibly imagine that the torment of being mauled and abused by strange men can ever be something to be grateful for."

"Don't listen to her! She'd never have opinions like that if she enjoyed normal unperverted sex. Prostitution is a good career. It's the only one where a woman can be physically active, give pleasure to others, earn a respectable salary and still never have to leave her bed. It's kept me healthy and if I were skinny and malnourished like Binta I'd be more grateful. Still, despite her admirable devotion to naturism, she rather compromises her healthy image by her carnivorousness and sloth."

"There really can not be very many women who advocate prostitution as healthy. It's not just a way to keep fit and healthy on the punters' expense."

"Don't be so facetious, Binta! What do you think Ana must think hearing your sarcasm about a career which most people here have freely chosen? I take pride in my work. I like the physical exercise it gives me. And I like it when clients appreciate a good job done well. And a man cannot disguise his appreciation: I can tell you!"

"Don't disgust me, Ketaba! Any lingering enthusiasm I ever had for men before I worked here has been more than eradicated by rather too frequent and intimate association."

"Don't deny that you enjoy it!"

"Of course I do. I can't understand how women could ever voluntarily put themselves through this ordeal. What do you think, Ana?"

Ana's composure was disturbed by the question. Her natural sympathy inclined her towards Binta, but she didn't wish to disagree too strongly with this large naked woman to whom she'd only just been introduced.

"I just don't know enough to hold an opinion."

"Listen to the less perverted employees here and you'll get a much more balanced view. One of the advantages of the profession is that it understands and caters for naturists. I just don't think Binta at all acknowledges how lucky she is to live and work where clothes are optional. It's a healthy, life-giving freedom you just can't find anywhere else. Much as I might criticise Binta for her unconstructive attitudes and criminal tendencies, I must admit to a kindred feeling to a colleague who shares my enthusiasm for a natural untrammelled life."

"Our similarities there are extremely shallow," sniffed Binta. "You're just a fanatic"

"At least I'm not a pervert!" snorted Ketaba in return. "Honestly, Ana, I don't know how you can sit in the company of someone who so blatantly disregards the natural order as Binta does. Surely the very notion of her crude perversions disgusts you! How do you know she's not going to try and seduce you?"

"Don't scare Ana with your crude homophobia. I'm no more likely to try seducing her than you are to seduce every man you meet..."

"Don't be sarcastic! What could be more natural than the active pursuit of sexual intercourse? What do you think, Ana?"

Ana's experience of sex was far too inadequate for her to express an opinion. She stuttered a few non-judgmental words before her face burnt into a blush. Fortunately, neither of her companions chose to comment on her virginal embarrassment.

"I detest all unnatural practises, especially homosexuality. The purpose of sex is to reproduce, and women who practise it with other women, and men with other men: Why! it's as disgusting and unnatural as murder, drug-taking, sodomy and cannibalism! Our government recognises this and does its best to suppress such activities. The president has frequently spoken of his intentions to stamp out it out, and although I disagree with him on most things, on this I am in full accord."

"I'd have thought that President Marmeluke would be very unlikely to share your opinions on naturism," challenged Binta. "I imagine he considers it every bit as perverse as sado-masochism and incest."

"There really is no comparison! Naturism is nothing more than a return to the natural order. It is a healthy and commendable relaxation of the individual in the unfettered body. The other things you mention are all totally contrary to the natural order. If everyone were homosexual then the human race would very soon be extinct. If everyone were naked, then everyone would be much healthier and more fulfilled. I'm shocked to hear a fellow naturist even hint of any comparison. The only reason naturism isn't widely practised in this country is consideration to those misguided people who have an unnatural disgust for their own bodies, but if it were so bad why is it permitted in a state institution like this Brothel?"