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THE OLD BRACE MAKER - PART TWO

And that was how it began. They rummaged together until they found a matching pair, then on her suggestion they went for coffee to celebrate her purchase and afterwards exchanged phone numbers. They spoke a few times on the phone and then he asked her out on this dinner date. Her brace was never mentioned again by either of them until now, his indirect reference to it at the junk table and her response had been sufficient for both of them. Until now. Now she wanted to discuss it, something about it was clearly troubling her, and his assurances hadn't seemed to pacify her much.

"Dave, I don't think you understand", she went on, "I wear it all the time, I have done for years, and so I've never ... it would be a problem to ... well, it would be a problem for you to..."

There was no easy way to say it, so she got straight to the point: "The thing is, ... you see, I've never... slept with anyone... " She was blushing so much that he thought her cheeks appeared almost puffy under her eyes. " ... um ... there, I've said it ..." she gave a nervous laugh and because she couldn't turn away or hide her face she just closed her eyes in a vain effort to escape from the discomfort of this moment.

He didn't know quite how to respond. Her admission had triggered a flurry of questions in his head and he was wildly guessing at possible answers. Was she saying that she hadn't, or couldn't? Or that she wanted to now, or didn't? Why not? Was she just nervous? Was it simply that she wanted to remain a virgin until she married but was a bit embarrassed about it? Not a bad idea these days, and becoming quite fashionable too. Or were there other issues here? Was it the brace? Was there a real medical problem, somehow related to the brace, or was it just an excuse, a smokescreen?

She opened her eyes to see him looking at her quizzically. He had been quiet for some time and with horror she realized that she might have misread the situation completely and that her intensely embarrassing admission may have been quite unnecessary.

"Oh, I hope I didn't come across as being presumptuous... I mean ... I didn't mean to imply that I expected... that you wanted ... um ... Oh dear ... I've really blown it now... I'm not very good at this, am I?"
She seemed on the verge of tears. He took her hands in his and squeezed them. Then, while she sat there stiffly with her head held erect and eyes squeezed tightly shut again, he leaned across the table and kissed her softly on the lips. "Hush," he said "a little presumption isn't a bad thing at all. I have to admit to being a bit presumptuous myself. Now what's all this anxiety about? Why are you so tense?"

She breathed in slowly before she replied "Because this is the moment I've been dreading all my life. For as long as I can remember. I haven't even had a serious relationship.... because I wanted to avoid this moment, this conversation". Her eyes were still closed, but now a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"Claire, help me to understand. What are you so scared of?" He wiped the tear away gently, then allowed his fingers to linger against her cheek.

She took his hand and moved it down until it rested on the steel neck ring. "This" she whispered.

"The brace is what makes you scared of intimacy? Are you very self-conscious about it?"

She half shrugged, half nodded, or she tried to anyway, but her head barely moved. "That was always a huge problem when I was younger, when I first got it I was a spotty teenager and with it on I just felt so ugly and awkward and shy that I was probably quite unapproachable. Then as I got older my self-confidence never really caught up, even when people said nice things about me I never really believed them or felt good inside, I've always felt like "the girl in the brace", I still get distrustful of men who are nice to me, I never let them get too close. Well, I haven't until now". She smiled at him and gave his hand a little squeeze.

"But surely you must have come to terms with the brace by now? Claire, you're a very beautiful woman, your brace doesn't alter that in the slightest, does it still bother you, are you still so self-conscious about it?"

She seemed to be relaxing somewhat. "Oh, no, that's not really the problem now. No, I made friends, sort of, with this brace ages ago. I had to, I realized that we are going to be companions for a long time. I'm resigned to that now". She paused, then she gave her deep giggle again, as though she had just seen the funny side of something. "The problem now is more ... um ... physical?" She was smiling.

He looked puzzled. "Physical? Do you mean your condition... is there something ... I mean are you not able to ... have sex? Is it your back? Are you in a lot of pain?"

"Not at all, my back is fine, ... well, as long as I wear this thing it's fine. No, the problem is with the brace itself. You see, ... part of it ... well it gets in the way ..."

He decided to take advantage of her lifting spirits. "I'm sure a bit of creativity would go a long way to solving a problem like that" he joked, "and there's always the Kama Sutra if we run out of ideas"

"No, it's worse than you think, it's an issue of ... access. Even the Kama Sutra wouldn't help"

He considered this for a moment. "What, d'you mean it's ... like a chastity belt?" he asked, smiling now, beginning to understand at last, but puzzled as to exactly how.

"Precisely! The way the brace is made makes it quite, ... well I'm sure it would make it just about impossible, and I've always dreaded the humiliation of having my partner find that out in the heat of the moment."

In spite of everything she had just said, he was encouraged by this admission. If she had always avoided intimacy but had now come as far as to share these secrets with him, it must be because she was ready for a change and felt comfortable enough with him to try to explain. He certainly hoped so. He decided to try his luck: "You could have been wrong all this time, you know."

"Wrong about the sex? How do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, You don't sound completely certain that it is impossible, and if you haven't actually tried it, you can't know for sure. How would you feel about a ... shall we say ... a second opinion? Let's go to my place for coffee, and you can show me exactly what you think the ... um ... access... problem is, and I'll tell you what I think. Nothing funny, just an objective, well, a fairly objective second opinion on the matter. Would you feel okay with that?"

She was caught rather off-guard by the directness of this suggestion. To her utter amazement she realized she could probably cope with being "inspected", that it might in fact be the best way of dealing with this. She took his hands in hers and looked at him.
"Dave, I've had nightmares about this moment for years and years. I've been physically sick with anxiety in anticipation of it more than once. And now here we are. And I haven't died of humiliation. I've told you about this and you haven't run a mile or tiptoed around as though this was all some "sensitive issue". You can't imagine what a relief this is." She tried to lean across the table to kiss him but the brace made things awkward so she settled for pulling him towards her instead. Their lips met in a searching kiss, and their hearts touched.

They were now the only people in the restaurant. He paid the bill and they prepared to leave. He moved behind her to pull out her chair as she stood up. Through her blouse he could clearly follow the line of the two straight rear supports of her brace as they ran up from her waist and emerged from her collar, connecting with the neck ring and ending at the metal piece that pressed upwards against the back of her lovely head. With her hair up it was completely exposed and he could see that it extended quite a long way upwards from her neck, curving round towards her ears and shaped to match the contours of the bone.

He could hardly contain his excitement at the thought of taking a good, close look at this beautiful woman modelling nothing but this brace for him. What a woman. And what a brace! If the parts he hadn't yet seen were anything like those that were showing above her collar he knew he was in for a real treat.

Description
THE OLD BRACE MAKER - PART TWO

And that was how it began. They rummaged together until they found a matching pair, then on her suggestion they went for coffee to celebrate her purchase and afterwards exchanged phone numbers. They spoke a few times on the phone and then he asked her out on this dinner date. Her brace was never mentioned again by either of them until now, his indirect reference to it at the junk table and her response had been sufficient for both of them. Until now. Now she wanted to discuss it, something about it was clearly troubling her, and his assurances hadn't seemed to pacify her much.

"Dave, I don't think you understand", she went on, "I wear it all the time, I have done for years, and so I've never ... it would be a problem to ... well, it would be a problem for you to..."

There was no easy way to say it, so she got straight to the point: "The thing is, ... you see, I've never... slept with anyone... " She was blushing so much that he thought her cheeks appeared almost puffy under her eyes. " ... um ... there, I've said it ..." she gave a nervous laugh and because she couldn't turn away or hide her face she just closed her eyes in a vain effort to escape from the discomfort of this moment.

He didn't know quite how to respond. Her admission had triggered a flurry of questions in his head and he was wildly guessing at possible answers. Was she saying that she hadn't, or couldn't? Or that she wanted to now, or didn't? Why not? Was she just nervous? Was it simply that she wanted to remain a virgin until she married but was a bit embarrassed about it? Not a bad idea these days, and becoming quite fashionable too. Or were there other issues here? Was it the brace? Was there a real medical problem, somehow related to the brace, or was it just an excuse, a smokescreen?

She opened her eyes to see him looking at her quizzically. He had been quiet for some time and with horror she realized that she might have misread the situation completely and that her intensely embarrassing admission may have been quite unnecessary.

"Oh, I hope I didn't come across as being presumptuous... I mean ... I didn't mean to imply that I expected... that you wanted ... um ... Oh dear ... I've really blown it now... I'm not very good at this, am I?"
She seemed on the verge of tears. He took her hands in his and squeezed them. Then, while she sat there stiffly with her head held erect and eyes squeezed tightly shut again, he leaned across the table and kissed her softly on the lips. "Hush," he said "a little presumption isn't a bad thing at all. I have to admit to being a bit presumptuous myself. Now what's all this anxiety about? Why are you so tense?"

She breathed in slowly before she replied "Because this is the moment I've been dreading all my life. For as long as I can remember. I haven't even had a serious relationship.... because I wanted to avoid this moment, this conversation". Her eyes were still closed, but now a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"Claire, help me to understand. What are you so scared of?" He wiped the tear away gently, then allowed his fingers to linger against her cheek.

She took his hand and moved it down until it rested on the steel neck ring. "This" she whispered.

"The brace is what makes you scared of intimacy? Are you very self-conscious about it?"

She half shrugged, half nodded, or she tried to anyway, but her head barely moved. "That was always a huge problem when I was younger, when I first got it I was a spotty teenager and with it on I just felt so ugly and awkward and shy that I was probably quite unapproachable. Then as I got older my self-confidence never really caught up, even when people said nice things about me I never really believed them or felt good inside, I've always felt like "the girl in the brace", I still get distrustful of men who are nice to me, I never let them get too close. Well, I haven't until now". She smiled at him and gave his hand a little squeeze.

"But surely you must have come to terms with the brace by now? Claire, you're a very beautiful woman, your brace doesn't alter that in the slightest, does it still bother you, are you still so self-conscious about it?"

She seemed to be relaxing somewhat. "Oh, no, that's not really the problem now. No, I made friends, sort of, with this brace ages ago. I had to, I realized that we are going to be companions for a long time. I'm resigned to that now". She paused, then she gave her deep giggle again, as though she had just seen the funny side of something. "The problem now is more ... um ... physical?" She was smiling.

He looked puzzled. "Physical? Do you mean your condition... is there something ... I mean are you not able to ... have sex? Is it your back? Are you in a lot of pain?"

"Not at all, my back is fine, ... well, as long as I wear this thing it's fine. No, the problem is with the brace itself. You see, ... part of it ... well it gets in the way ..."

He decided to take advantage of her lifting spirits. "I'm sure a bit of creativity would go a long way to solving a problem like that" he joked, "and there's always the Kama Sutra if we run out of ideas"

"No, it's worse than you think, it's an issue of ... access. Even the Kama Sutra wouldn't help"

He considered this for a moment. "What, d'you mean it's ... like a chastity belt?" he asked, smiling now, beginning to understand at last, but puzzled as to exactly how.

"Precisely! The way the brace is made makes it quite, ... well I'm sure it would make it just about impossible, and I've always dreaded the humiliation of having my partner find that out in the heat of the moment."

In spite of everything she had just said, he was encouraged by this admission. If she had always avoided intimacy but had now come as far as to share these secrets with him, it must be because she was ready for a change and felt comfortable enough with him to try to explain. He certainly hoped so. He decided to try his luck: "You could have been wrong all this time, you know."

"Wrong about the sex? How do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, You don't sound completely certain that it is impossible, and if you haven't actually tried it, you can't know for sure. How would you feel about a ... shall we say ... a second opinion? Let's go to my place for coffee, and you can show me exactly what you think the ... um ... access... problem is, and I'll tell you what I think. Nothing funny, just an objective, well, a fairly objective second opinion on the matter. Would you feel okay with that?"

She was caught rather off-guard by the directness of this suggestion. To her utter amazement she realized she could probably cope with being "inspected", that it might in fact be the best way of dealing with this. She took his hands in hers and looked at him.
"Dave, I've had nightmares about this moment for years and years. I've been physically sick with anxiety in anticipation of it more than once. And now here we are. And I haven't died of humiliation. I've told you about this and you haven't run a mile or tiptoed around as though this was all some "sensitive issue". You can't imagine what a relief this is." She tried to lean across the table to kiss him but the brace made things awkward so she settled for pulling him towards her instead. Their lips met in a searching kiss, and their hearts touched.

They were now the only people in the restaurant. He paid the bill and they prepared to leave. He moved behind her to pull out her chair as she stood up. Through her blouse he could clearly follow the line of the two straight rear supports of her brace as they ran up from her waist and emerged from her collar, connecting with the neck ring and ending at the metal piece that pressed upwards against the back of her lovely head. With her hair up it was completely exposed and he could see that it extended quite a long way upwards from her neck, curving round towards her ears and shaped to match the contours of the bone.

He could hardly contain his excitement at the thought of taking a good, close look at this beautiful woman modelling nothing but this brace for him. What a woman. And what a brace! If the parts he hadn't yet seen were anything like those that were showing above her collar he knew he was in for a real treat.