Learning_About_Myself.12

THE MEGUMI STORIES
BY MEGUMI KATO AND FRIENDS

VOLUME 06: LEARNING ABOUT MYSELF
BY SAYAKA ONODERA AND BOB WILLIAMS

PART 12

CHAPTER XII

A Family Conference

"What a wonderful woman!" I said to Reina as we 
travelled home on the subway. I had begged to be 
allowed to keep my ropes and clamps on under my dress, 
and she had reluctantly agreed, extracting my promise 
to take them off and get back into my school uniform 
ready for my mother's return the moment we got home.

"Yes. She's had a great influence on our business. She 
started as just another sex starlet, just like you 
will, but now she's running a big group of studios and 
promoting its products here and all over the United 
States. We're all a bit jealous of her, but proud of 
her too."

"Why are you jealous? Just because she is so 
successful?"

"Well, she married the man who then took over the 
company. We don't all have that luck! And he's an 
incredibly sexy man who makes her very happy. That's 
lucky too."

"Will she really employ me, do you think?"

"Oh yes. She said she would, so she will. So long as 
you are sensible and don't upset her. Once you're 
sixteen, in some of her associate companies, as she 
said. Work hard, and at eighteen you'll be making 
videos for Marucho. Lucky you."

"Do you work for Marucho, Reina?"

"Sometimes. I prefer to be freelance. You get more 
variety that way."

I wondered if she meant more variety of work or of 
fucking, but thought it best not to ask.

I was delighted to see my mother again when she 
arrived from the station an hour after our return 
home. It had been an exciting two weeks for me, but 
when the sliding door from the street opened and there 
she was stepping out of her shoes in the entrance hall 
and into the slippers I had ready for her I realised 
how much I had missed her. After her long journey she 
was more than ready for some tea, and then Reina and I 
prepared dinner while she took her bath. Of course she 
wanted to know that I had behaved well and given Reina 
no trouble, and Reina confirmed briefly that I had 
been good.

"But I would like to talk to you about Saa-chan's 
future before I leave tonight," she added.

"Yes, I suppose that would be a good idea," said my 
mother wearily. "Go to your room and get started on 
your homework, Sayaka. But Reina, keep it short, if 
you can: I'm very tired and I must make an early start 
at the office tomorrow."

So I never had the tender farewell with my beautiful 
cousin Reina that I had been half hoping for. Of 
course she wouldn't be staying the night: there was 
hardly room for three in our little house, and - I 
thought sadly - she was probably looking forward to 
getting back to the modern comforts of her apartment. 
She just looked in as I worked to wave farewell; then 
my mother came in to say good-night. She was too tired 
to tell me what Reina had suggested, she said: it 
would have to wait till the following evening.

So I passed the next day in a very anxious state. How 
much had Reina told my mother about my hopes and 
dreams? What a pity we had not been able to have a 
private word together so that I would know how to 
support whatever she had said! Was my mother at all 
sympathetic or was she about to put a stop to my 
plans? Worrying about all this I was unusually 
inattentive at school and was criticised by the 
teachers.

When I returned home there had been a change in my 
small room. A new chest with three drawers had been 
squeezed in against the wall: there was just room for 
it between my desk and the sliding doors of the 
built-in cupboard where I kept my clothes and stowed 
my _futon_. Someone - my mother, no doubt - had 
decorated it with a woven cloth and a small vase of 
flowers on the top.

"Thank you for my new chest!" I said at once.

"I thought you needed something like that," said my 
mother with a tired smile. "You're old enough now to 
have new clothes for, you know, when you go out. And 
you need somewhere for your personal things ... that's 
your private storage space. Keep it tidy! No one else 
will look in there."

I thanked her again, more formally this time. It was 
as if I had graduated to a new stage of my life, 
allowed to have privacy for the exciting new things 
that were happening to me. Would it be safe to keep 
sexual equipment like whips and clamps and ropes 
there? I supposed so: my mother had said no one would 
pry. I owed it to Reina, I was sure: she must have 
told her I needed something like that and was old 
enough to deserve it. What else had she persuaded my 
mother to accept about the changes which had come to 
me so recently? I was about to find out.

"Now, Sayaka," said my mother as we sat over dinner 
that night, "I'm glad Reina is so pleased with you. 
She said you behaved well, were no trouble, did your 
homework and so on."

I said nothing. There was more to come, I knew.

"She has some ideas about what you should do when you 
leave school. I don't know if they'll work out. Of 
course, she's in the entertainment business. Quite 
successful in making movies and so on, I understand. 
And she seems to think you have a talent for that sort 
of work yourself."

"Yes, mummy. She was very good to me. And it does 
sound exciting!"

"Well, I don't want to stop you doing what you want to 
do. If it's something you really do want. But you must 
understand that it's a very risky business. Lots of 
girls want to get into it, but only a few are 
successful."

"Reina's been successful," I objected.

"And even those who are successful - it doesn't last 
long, you know."

"But I think I'd like to try, mummy. I mean, if I 
could do it, but never even tried, that would be a 
shame, wouldn't it?"

"Yes. I was like you when I left school. I started 
doing what Reina has done. It was fun, and exciting. I 
might have done quite well, I suppose, but, like I 
said, it didn't last long. I met your father, and you 
came along, and, well - in the end I got a steady job 
instead."

For a moment I was shocked. Was my mother telling me 
that she too had worked in the sex business? I knew of 
course that I had been born only a few months after my 
parents had married. So my mother had worked as - 
whatever girls worked as all those years ago, had met 
my father, become pregnant, decided to keep me and 
married him. Then I thought: it's ridiculous to be 
shocked at this revelation about my mother. I am 
planning - longing - to do just what she did, and 
more. And thousands and thousands of Japanese girls 
start their adult lives working in the sex industry, 
even if only briefly and only on the fringes. So that 
was what my mother had done in her day. But I still 
did not know whether she had decided to allow me to 
work towards my dream. I tried a little diversion.

"Why did daddy leave? Were you very sad when he did?"

"Oh, I was upset at the time. But it was for the best. 
He was a very handsome man. All the girls were after 
him. And he wasn't a family man. He tried for a while 
to be a good father to you but it didn't work out. So 
he went off, and I got a steady job, as you know."

Of course, I thought privately to myself, I'll be 
careful. I won't get pregnant. That's easy nowadays. 
But I didn't say that to my mother.

"What we - you and I - planned for you," she was 
saying, "was that you stay at school at least till the 
summer break next year, when you'll be getting on for 
seventeen. Then when you've left, you do a secretarial 
course. And after that, we try to find you a safe 
office job."

"Yes, mummy. That was what we planned. Before Reina 
..."

She gave me a tired smile.

"One thing that has changed - one other thing, apart 
from Reina putting ideas in your head - is that there 
will be a little money from Grandfather Isobe. Not 
much, and it will be a while before everything is 
settled and the taxes are paid. Of course most of what 
he had went on getting him into the old people's home. 
He was happy there, I think ..."

"I'm glad."

"But it does change things, a little," she resumed. 
"It means that if you really want to try for success 
in the entertainment business there'll be money to 
keep you going until you start to earn."

"Oh, thank you! That's wonderful!"

"However," said my mother looking at me severely, "I 
still want you to do a secretarial course. Maybe only 
part-time. Then if your dream doesn't work out - and 
for most girls it doesn't, you know - you'll still 
have a qualification. Do you agree?"

"Yes," I said. What else could I say?

"And you will work hard, won't you? With sincerity and 
commitment to those who employ you?"

"Yes, of course!"

"There's one other thing I have to tell you. I'm 
sorry, but we won't be going on holiday to Hokkaido 
this summer."

"Oh ..."

"They didn't exactly say in the office today that I 
had to regard my absence the last two weeks as my 
annual leave, but it's obvious that that's the way it 
will be. Are you very disappointed?"

I thought for a moment. I was, of course. I had been 
looking forward to it. But that was in one of my lives 
and I had not considered how it would conflict with my 
other life. I would be busy - I hoped I would be busy 
- all through the summer with my assisted dating. I 
had promised Kato-san, and Reina, and even the man at 
the agency, to pursue that opportunity fully.

"Well, yes ... but no, it doesn't matter. Of course 
you must show your commitment to the company, mummy."

"Thank you, dear. I'm glad you see it that way."

Mentioning my mother's commitment to her employers had 
made me see that I too was committed to mine. I must 
not fail to work hard and show sincerity. It suddenly 
occurred to me: in doing that, I shall be living up to 
my mother's expectations. My work and hers were very 
different, but that wasn't the point: the sincerity 
and commitment were what mattered.

Thinking about it all in bed later - I could hardly 
sleep for excitement - I understood that my mother 
probably knew more than I imagined about the career I 
was dreaming of. After all, she had been there 
herself, all those years ago, even if only briefly. 
But so long as she could refer to it as the 
"entertainment business" and had no need to know 
exactly what work I would be required to do and what 
kind of movies I hoped to act in, there was no need 
for her to be shocked or upset. It suddenly occurred 
to me that my new friend Bob Williams would describe 
this sensible arrangement as "very Japanese".

Thinking of him reminded me of the beautiful 
experience I had enjoyed in his secret room the day 
before. I began to masturbate as I remembered it in 
all its delightful detail, the multiple lashes 
swirling round me with their loving kisses; and then 
at last drifted off to sleep, and to happy dreams.


[Next in Part 13: Chapter XIII: My First Client]

For complete series so far see 
http://www.asstr.org/files/Authors/Bob_Williams
