The Day Trip

1

In a quiet recess of the hotel lobby, the three school boys watched Ms Lorien applying fresh make-up. Feeling privy to some secret ritual, they gazed, mesmerized as she glossed her full, pink-stained lips, then unfurled her eye-lashes with mascara. With the stick still in her hand she placed the hand-held mirror on the coffee table and reclined into the leather armchair, her gaze lazily wandering between the boys. She pouted her lips slightly, almost imperceptibly, and in the triple beat of hearts opposite her she drew the tip of her tongue along the underside of her top lip. The third of the boys facing her shifted in his seat, tugging the material of his trousers to one side. Turning her attention to him she pulled free the mascara stick and presented it in the air, upright, as though in demonstration. In her other hand she highlighted the pink bottle, tilting it at an angle, its open end facing the ceiling. With an unwavering gaze she turned the stick downwards and brought it slowly through the air until its tip met the entrance of the bottle. After a seconds pause the boys looked up, in unison, expectancy in the whites of their eyes. Holding the bottle motionless in the air, she began to ease the stick in while she watched the other two boys rearrange themselves on the leather couch. When the stick had reached the limits of its sheath she drew it back out with a slick popping sound. A second later it was sliding back in, then out again, the sounds of sticky resistance following the motion of the stick. In and out it moved, its rhythm relentless, while the three boys leaned forwards on the couch, hypnotised. In...out...in...out...2

“Ah, there you are Ms Lorien” a voice called from nearby, echoing in the cool marble surroundings.3

The stick rammed home suddenly. Ms Lorien looked up as the headmaster approached from the far end of the lobby. The three boys watched her twist the stick into the bottle, before dropping it, along with her mirror into her handbag. In one fluid motion she stood up, tilting her head and offering a beaming smile to the three pupils squirming opposite.4

“Shall we” she offered.5