The Fear of Flying Ch. 02

Tuesday

"I liked Dr Hughes. I liked him a lot," Olivia said.

It took Harry a few seconds to recognise what Olivia was on about but then he remembered that she had gone to see the hypnotherapist that morning.

"He seems very professional, very empathetic about my kind of issue. I immediately started to trust him. He seems to have a lot of experience of the type of problem that I have and he talked at some length about his successes. He has a very nice office too, as you will find out when you go next Monday. I've provisionally booked in for three sessions with him over about 3 or 4 weeks."

Monday

Harry turned up at the correct address and found himself on the first floor of a rather smart building. Maybe too smart. How much did this guy charge?

After a short wait he was ushered in to Doctor Hughes' office.

"Hello Harry," the doctor said. "Please call me Robin. It is great to meet you. Olivia tells me that you are rather unsure about whether the treatment I am doing to give your wife will actually work."

Harry was a bit taken aback and somewhat embarrassed that Olivia had told him that. But they talked about the success rate that Robin had had with flying phobia over the years, after which Harry had to admit that Olivia had every right to have been impressed.

"There is something else that I wanted to discuss," Doctor Hughes said. "I talked to Olivia about her upbringing, trying to understand what makes her tick which is important for the way that I approach her treatment. I got the impression that Olivia is a quite conservative person, the kind of person that always holds back, rather nervous about letting go. Is that right in your view?"

"Yes, that's fair. Pretty accurate in fact. She is the daughter of a preacher after all. Nowadays she isn't that religious, but she remains rather shy and nervous."

"So," Robin went on. "Would I be right in assuming then that the 'holding back' carries through to the bedroom? To your sex life? Maybe Olivia isn't as able to 'let go' in the way you might want her to?"

Harry was rather taken aback by the sudden change in direction in the conversation but answered truthfully.

"Yes, that's pretty much right. When Olivia and I are making love she doesn't seem.... she doesn't seem to enjoy it that much. We do make love but it is.... it is rather boring and limited. But what's that got to do with her fear of flying? Why are we even talking about this?"

Harry suddenly felt embarrassed that he had allowed the conversation to get into such a personal area of their married life.

"I brought the subject up because I believe - I'm pretty sure -- that while I have Olivia under hypnosis for her flying phobia I can also help you both to have a better sex life," the doctor said. "To have a better and stronger marriage."

"Woah. Is that even legal?" Harry asked. "Surely that isn't professional?"

"Let me explain Harry. I am a deeply committed Christian who believes in the sanctity of marriage. I have skills that can help keep marriages together and make them more fulfilling for both parties. I only use my skills with married couples and never with couples that are just living together. But I will do that only if you are interested and want me to do that for you."

"Well," Harry said, still not sure if he should be having this debate. "If you are suggesting that Olivia would never realise, would never know, that we have had this conversation but that our sex life would be better, then what have I got to lose?"

"I think that's exactly the way to think about it," Doctor Hughes said as he unlocked a drawer by the side of his desk and pulled out a piece of paper. "I'm going to give you a list of things that you would like to be true about your wife's attitude to lovemaking. I need you to tick maybe five or six things on the list. No more than that. I will give you ten minutes and then return."

Harry took the bit of paper offered by the doctor and picked up a pen from the desk in front of him. The list in front of him was surprisingly long and detailed and his initial thought was that ten minutes wasn't going to be enough time to get through it. But then he realised that some of the items listed were simply inappropriate, referring as they did to bedroom activities that Harry had always thought either baffling, bizarre or just plain obscene.

So in the end Harry ticked six items....

My husband and I enjoy making love two or three times every week

To Harry frequency was the key factor. Since they had been back from holiday he and Olivia had settled into their usual 'once a week' routine, despite his best efforts at making Olivia more interested more of the time. At some point in the past Olivia seem to have decided once a week was enough - about right for any marriage. All rather too predictable.

I love my body and I love showing it to my husband, sharing it with him to make him feel special

Olivia had a great petite body. That much was never in doubt. And she seemed to know it as well. But she was shy and normally reluctant to let even her husband see her naked. She was always just a little bit withdrawn, too held back with it. That explained why they always made love in near darkness. Harry loved the idea that Olivia could use her body to make him feel special, so he had no doubt that this was one of the boxes he should tick

Having an orgasm when I make love to my husband is important to me

It stood to reason that if Olivia was actually enjoying sex then she would want more of it. And what better sign was there that Olivia was enjoying sex than her having regular orgasms? Since Harry had known Olivia he reckoned that she had orgasmed just twice. Twice in 2 years. His wife seemed to be frightened of them - as if her demonstrating enjoyment of sex was going to be her showing some kind of weakness, some kind of sin. A couple of times Harry had suggested that a sex toy might help his wife achieve a climax but Olivia had made it clear that she thought the idea of using something like that was disgusting.

I love both giving my husband oral sex and receiving it from him

I love the taste of my husband's semen

For Harry this was the pinnacle. At present oral sex was something that he did occasionally to Olivia when she allowed him to. He enjoyed the intimacy of it and tried as hard as he could to make it good for his wife - but with very limited success. And as for Olivia giving him fellatio -- effectively never. She certainly never initiated it and, if he asked, she would normally make excuses and say that she didn't like the idea. So if their sex life was going to improve this was going to need to be a big part of the improvement.

My husband and I like trying new things to improve our lovemaking

Harry decided that his list was satisfyingly in some kind of priority order. He wasn't sure if he should add this one. If items 1-5 were happening then he would be way more than happy, but after that the idea of mixing things up and trying out new things then... why not? So he ticked it.

With the list completed, Harry's mind started to wander. Is this guy wasting my time or will it actually work?

Doctor Hughes returned and took the checklist from Harry. "You must be wondering if this is a good investment of your and my time? I would in your position."

"Well yes, of course," Harry replied. "And I am a bit concerned. Even if does work I don't want my wife to change her personality as a result of this. I don't want her to become, you know, some kind of... slut."

"Don't worry. That won't happen. Olivia will be the same wife you've always had. The same attractive woman that you love so much. It's just that in the bedroom or wherever you choose to make love she will be a more enthusiastic participant."

"I've been doing this a few years now and occasionally I see couples I've helped around the city. When I see them holding hands and touching each other, smiling, exchanging knowing glances, I see living proof that my methods work."

"You must not force the pace over the next few weeks while I am treating her. You must always let Olivia take the lead with new things, as though every new lovemaking idea is hers. I don't know when in the treatment sequence I will introduce each concept on your list. All you need to do is to keep telling her how lovely she is, which I'm sure you do anyway because your wife is so pretty. You are such a lucky man."

Harry spent the next couple of days in a bit of a daze. His mind wandered from thinking how wonderful it would be if the hypnosis worked to just feeling guilty about the conversation he had had with Robin Hughes. He wondered if he should simply own up to Olivia and apologise for his misdemeanour. But for the moment he decided to keep quiet.

Monday

Olivia's first hypnosis appointment was a week later, Monday afternoon. When Harry got home later that day he was obviously keen to find out from his wife how it had gone. She reported that the whole thing had been a bit weird but otherwise unremarkable. She remembered absolutely nothing about what had happened when she was under hypnosis, something that came as a relief to Harry. She was certainly very tired that evening and went to bed early.

For the next few days Harry did as he had been instructed by the doctor and didn't push anything on the lovemaking front. A few days passed and absolutely nothing was different in Olivia's behaviour, leading Harry to the obvious conclusion that, even if Olivia's fear of flying was being treated, the improvement in their love life vaguely promised by Doctor Hughes had just been a pipe dream.

Until Thursday morning, that is....