<br/><div class="floatleft">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/2/2f/AviciaB_zpscg0eysap.jpg)</div><br/><br/><strong>Name:  Avicia (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=266077.msg13173582#msg13173582)</strong><br/><br/><strong>CLIENT</strong><br/><br/><strong>Situation:</strong>Surprising herself<br/><br/><br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Andrea<br/><br/><strong>Content Warning:</strong><em>None</em><br/><br/><br/><hr/><hr/><br/><br/>Eyes wide, all but holding her breath, Avicia listened to Andrea so intently that she no longer heard the sounds that hovered around her, never saw the comings and goings of the other patrons.  And she wondered: had Tiye spoken to Andrea or Celeste?  Had she told someone here what she had observed of Avicia at her most private?  Or was Mistress Andrea simply that brilliant, or Avicia simply that easy to discern?  But where this knowledge came from did not matter, for however it had come about, Andrea had effortlessly reached into Avicia’s very heart and soul, found what was there, and brought it to light before Avicia’s eyes.  Every word she spoke, every subtle inflection or tone of voice -- everything was hitting the target directly, and some of the words pierced her like darts and arrows.  The woman’s astonishing beauty was matched by her equally astonishing insight and perception; and when she spoke of filling life to the brim with pleasure, Avicia could no longer bear to look at the truth of her life, laid open and bare.  She realized, to her abject horror, that her eyes were brimming with tears, and she tore herself away from Andrea’s avid, penetrating gaze.<br/><br/>One hand reached out blindly and not entirely steadily for her glass, found it, brought it to her lips.  In just a few moments, Mistress Andrea’s words had unlocked all the pain and the self-doubt and the disappointments that Avicia had stored up for years, and the wave of regret and self-recrimination threatened to overcome her.  For so long, she had been less a wife and a woman, than a thing.  A possession.  Why had she let herself live such a half-life for so many years?  Why did she not recognize the damage that was being done?  Why did she wait for Lutholf to die before deciding that she deserved some happiness in this life?<br/><br/>She took another sip from her glass, struggling to get past this moment of raw, punishing emotion; and when she lifted her gaze to meet Andrea’s again, her eyes were wide and direct, her face open and hopeful.  This woman, this stranger, had given her more kindness and shown her more caring than husband or family had done for half a lifetime.  The simple, precious joy of being seen whole and not found wanting, of being important to another person for even a few brief moments, had been unfamiliar to her for so very long.<br/><br/>Engage the mind, and the pleasures of the body will surely follow.<br/><br/>Avicia set her drink down again.  Without being fully aware of it, she leaned towards Andrea, her eyes bright with unshed tears, her cheeks flushed with emotion.<br/><br/>“Truly, Andrea,” she said, “I don’t know what I expected to find here.  Pleasure of course, I suppose, of the kind that can be bought and sold.  But certainly not kindness, or any sort of emotional….  connection,” she finished, struggling to find the words to express the feelings, powerful and new, that she did not fully understand.  “Of course I want a life of happiness and pleasure, and I know that this place won’t provide that for me.  But this is a place to start.  This is a place where I can learn to enjoy my life again.”<br/><br/>Avicia paused, and took a moment to collect herself.  Her hand reached out and lay gently atop Andrea’s, her touch light, as though she thought she might offend.<br/><br/>“One night at a time,” she said, her eyes and her smile warm and unguarded.<br/><br/>