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Romance Funny Drama

WARNING: I know there are some younger people on this site, so for their sake I'd say this one is 15+

Wake up at 6.30, walk the dog, shower, prepare the kids’ breakfast, start packing lunches, have a coffee and a quick breakfast if you’re lucky, get the kids to school, get yourself to work, power through a day filled with office work, meetings, calls, e-mails, dissatisfied bosses, and clueless customers, punch out, pick up the kids from school, dog again, help with homework (the kids, not the dog), prepare dinner while the little ones play on their tablets, have some family time at dinner (or at least try to), get the offspring to clean up and go to bed, lie dead on the sofa for an hour of Netflix or just go straight to bed before 23.00. Ruby and Ray Fox were going through the same F-ing routine over and over, and over again. Of course, they alternated in taking care of the children, so that each of them could have some quality alone time, but between spending the weekends flying from football practice and music lessons to play dates and visits to grandparents, and having the obligatory family vacation once a year, they didn’t even have the time to stop and think what has become of their marriage. Each passing day they were growing more and more distant, nervous, and bitter. Lately their only topics of conversation were the mounting amount of bills, the things that needed to be done tomorrow, and the general conviction that each of them had it worse than the other.

Until Ruby decided she’d had enough. She loved her husband and kids very much, but this couldn’t go on like this. Once they were young, in love, with great aspirations and ideals. The entry into the rat wheel had deprived them of all that. When was the last time she and Ray were alone, just the two of them? She couldn’t even remember. Was it four or six months ago? Maybe ten months? Oh, God, could it be a year? Something needed to be done, urgently. The idea came to her trough an article she had read casually in Metro while waiting for a dentist’s appointment. It was new, daring, and exciting, so she thought why not?

***

It was a Saturday night, the kids were staying with her parents, and Ruby and Ray were all dressed up, standing in front of the big gate of an Edwardian building in the heart of the city. The outside didn’t reveal in any way what the house was hiding below its solemn shell. The only giveaway was a tiny piece of paper stuck to a doorbell, where in golden cursive letters was written: Sensual Food Club.

Are you sure about this? They looked at each other. Silent nods were exchanged; they rang the doorbell. The Foxes were welcomed in a round lobby with marble floors and a gigantic chandelier hanging high above their heads. The woman who greeted them was dressed in a smart black tuxedo suit, her dark curly hair loosely held back in a ponytail. She wasn’t wearing anything below the jacket; the contours of her round naked breasts were there to be admired by anyone who happens to forget to look her in the eyes, making it easy to see from the very start that this was no ordinary place.

“Welcome to Sensual Food Club,” the sexy hostess greeted them with a soft velvety voice. “May I have your names, please?”

Once they were allowed to proceed, she led them to the first door on the right. The instructions were crystal clear – follow the natural order of the rooms, getting out of one would lead you straight into the next one; stay for as long as you like; do not touch people from the personnel, actors, or other guests, unless given explicit permission to do so; as far as the food is concerned – there are no limits there!

“Have a sensual night!” The hostess opened the door and let them step inside.

The room they found themselves in looked like another small lobby. The windows and walls were all covered by heavy maroon curtains, making the space feel cosy and intimate. The only light was coming from a tall silver three-candle candelabrum placed on a cocktail table in the middle of the room. Next to it were two full champagne glasses and a bowl of strawberries. There was a note resting on the bowl. The familiar golden font from the doorbell instructed them: Feed me!

The couple raised their glasses, “Well, here’s to a fun night out!”

“Let’s see what’s expected of us,” Ray took the note and flipped it over. There was nothing else written on it. “Do you think maybe they’ve made a mistake and wanted to say ‘Eat me’,” he asked.

“No, I believe I know exactly what they meant.” Ruby took a strawberry and held it out in front of her husband’s mouth. “Open wide–“

Ray obliged and ate the fruit offered to him. He laughed, “Mmm, these taste really good. They must be imported. That’s great, but I don’t see how this is supposed to excite me.”

“We’re just starting. Give it a chance,” Ruby encouraged him. “Why don’t you try it?”

Mr. Fox was not convinced yet, but he’d gotten into the game, and now he’d had to play it. Feeding each other fruit in a darkened room didn’t look much different to him than forcing the daily meal down his kid’s throat during a blackout. Still, he took another strawberry and offered it to his wife, “Very well, then. There you go, honey!”

Mrs. Fox opened her succulent lips, painted in a bright shade of red especially for the occasion, and took in the strawberry, slowly sucking and licking his fingers in the process.

Ray’s pupils dilated to three times their original size, “Ooh, I stand corrected. I can totally see this one working now.”

They both laughed and spent the next few minutes finishing their drinks and the incredibly tasty strawberries.

A red neon sign indicated the place between the curtains where they had to exit the room and go into the next one. The second room was a bit more spacious, although the level of darkness was similar. That was where the first staff people appeared. They were a boy and a girl, dressed in what seemed to be the club’s uniform. The girl had a black lace corset on top of long black leather leggings; and the boy’s muscular body was barely covered by the combination of a black vest and black leather shorts.

“Welcome to the sensorial test,” the boy said, quiet chill-out music playing softly in the background. “Here you will be blindfolded in order to heighten your other senses. You will be offered to taste three different types of food, and would have to try and guess what they are. Would you like to participate?”

Ruby looked at her man, “Do we?”

Ray looked back at her and nodded, his eyes saying We’ve paid quite a hefty price to come here, we’d better take advantage of whatever they have to offer.

“OK, brilliant. Just come with me,” the girl led Ray to a dark grey armchair in the back of the room. The boy did the same with Ruby and sat her in an identical armchair opposite his. They were blindfolded and left to wait for a couple of minutes, “Please, make yourself comfortable. We’ll be back in a moment.”

While they waited, Ruby started noticing how her other senses slowly began to take over. The music seemed louder now, and she could smell aromas in the air she hadn’t noticed before – herbs, toasted almonds, scented candles, vanilla maybe?

Ray didn’t notice any of it. He had almost dozed off when the sweet ring of the girl’s voice shook him out of his daze, “So, who would like to start? Sir, would you like to give it a try? I’m handing you the first item. You may touch it, smell it, and finally lick it.”

Ray felt the portion of the tray where the girl had guided his hand. This was something small, soft, and hollow, covered in smooth warm creamy substance. It could’ve easily been something one of his kids had spat out. He proceeded by lowering himself to smell it. Right! Hot chocolate! This was unmistakable. Now, nibble... Hmm, that’s one of those fruits I don’t like. Is it peach? Considering its symbolism, it made total sense. No, it wasn’t peach – it was apricot.

Then it was Ruby’s turn. Smell–lick–devour. “That was easy,” she gloated while still enjoying the extremely predictable fried banana with whipped cream.

The other mystery items included peppers stuffed with parmesan cheese, avocado with honey, maraschino cherries soaked in rum, and dates stuffed with cream cheese. Ray guessed right his next two items, and Ruby remained with just one correct answer. He was so competitive; she wouldn’t hear the end of it. Maybe the sensory test wasn’t such a good idea.

Not having achieved much, Mr. and Mrs. Fox decided to check out the next room on the route. They were in for a surprise because the room was no room at all. Suddenly they’d found themselves in a forest. The floor was covered with a soft grass carpet; instead of columns, the hall featured tree trunks, whose bushy crowns were crawling across the ceiling. Birds were signing and old-fashioned lanterns hidden in the leaves above them helped bathe the space in dim yellow light. The couple noticed a few spots with cushions on the grass.  As they picked one, they saw a few more couples entering through other rock-like doors hidden in the walls. Whatever it was, they were not going to be alone for this one.

A couple of waiters entered and brought each couple a bottle of wine, a bowl of frozen grapes and their appetizer for the night – oysters with mignonette sauce. “Enjoy the show!”

The lights went out and suddenly great thunder and lightning shook the room. Two projectors beamed at the other end of the hall to reveal a small rocky lake at the bottom of a waterfall, surrounded by all types of green plants and exotic flowers. The forest stage was soon occupied by a young man, wearing nothing but an animal skin loin cloth, a crown made of ivy, a golden goblet in his hand. Dionysus! He was joined by two women, wearing ivy crowns of their own, who were also very scantily clad, their transparent tunics not leaving anything to the imagination. The three of them began an elaborately choreographed dance under the rhythm of Greek music. They played on the grass, with each other, and under the waterfall (as if those already extremely see-through clothes needed extra help to stick to their sweating bodies). They drank and spilled wine, and passed grapes to each other with their mouths. They encouraged the audience to do the same.

The atmosphere was getting heated. Ruby could hear one of the other couples was already making out in the dark. She pressed closer to her husband and whispered in his ear, “Baby, I can see this is working for you, but those other people are making me nervous.”

It took him a few seconds to get out of his trance, but eventually Ray responded, “Mmhmm, yes, OK. We could check out the next room, if you like.” He sighed and quickly added, “At least eat your oyster. Those are crazy expensive!”

The Foxes were expecting anything at that point, but the Sensual Food Club managed to surprise them once again. Now, they were standing in a wide, well lit, and frankly quite ordinary restaurant, with soft jazz music playing in the background. Another waitress in a corset showed them to their table where they were served the main course for the night – maple cured smoked salmon, with cucumber ketchup, apple, seaweed and maple dressing. Once again an exquisite dish, but where was the catch? Was this a break from the sexy stuff in order to have proper dinner? Their questions were soon answered, as two carts that were just pushed to the centre of the room caused quite a commotion. On top of one was a naked woman, lying on her back, covered in sushi. And on the other one was a naked man, lying on his stomach, his chin resting on top of his crossed arms, and yes – also completely covered in sushi. A woman must have designed this, fully aware that no one would be eager to eat food that had been sitting on top of male genitalia.

Ray laughed, “And there it is! Honey, I dare you!”

“I can’t believe I’ve just ate a piece of sushi that had been in contact with a woman’s nipple! I think I might’ve touched her nipple too!” Ruby exclaimed in a low voice, while tugging at the sleeve of her husband on their way to the fifth room.

“Well, you had to, as the whole ‘let’s experience something new’ was your idea.” Ray winked at her, “Well done, champ! I’d have to admit this was quite sexy!”

The following room kept the restaurant theme, but this time its design was a lot more different. Instead of tables, it featured several canopy queen size beds with two sets of drapes – a transparent one, and a dark opaque one. They were all facing another stage. As the guests were being served their desserts, two actors appeared on stage and the lights became dimmer. The couple that came out were dressed in skimpy latex bathing suits (that’s right, even the man), and seemed to be well-prepared. Under the smooth sounds of D’Angelo they started covering parts of their bodies with whipped cream, honey, and chocolate, which they later proceeded to lick, suck and eat off each other.

With one eye, Ruby was focusing on her petit gateau with vanilla ice-cream, and with the other she was looking at the live show, “Did she just take off her bikini?”

“She sure did,” Ray replied, his eyes fixated on the action, his mouth open, in the middle of taking a bite from his own dessert.

“Is this what I think it is?” Mrs. Fox asked, pausing to swallow the building emotion in her throat.

“Yep, he’s busy eating her chocolate va–“ Mr. Fox’s reply was cut short, his pulse starting to race.

“Ooh, and she–”

“Mmhm, now she seems to be returning the favour.” He looked at his wife, “You know, they’ve left us some chocolate and other stuff as well–“

“No, we couldn’t!” She objected, before adding quickly, “Could we?”

“Those drapes are quite heavy, no one can see us–“ he reassured her. Seeing her uncertainty, however, he said, “Maybe I can ask if there’s a MORE private option?”

While the couple on stage was starting to do a lot naughtier things than just devouring stuff off each other, a waiter escorted the Foxes to their private room, as it did turn out there was one. Although it wasn’t really a room… it was more like a bathroom. There was a futon in the corner, covered in soft white cushions. On top of it were two stylishly wrapped boxes, hiding a red bikini for her and a black and red Speedo for him. Which was only fitting as the centre of the room was occupied by a big round tub filled with… milk.

Ruby couldn’t hide her excitement. She quickly changed into the bikini and approached the tub. Then she turned to Ray, her face beaming, “I’ve always wanted to try this!”

He watched his wife carefully descend the steps of the tub, her bottom slowly swaying from side to side, as the smooth white liquid engulfed her skin.

“Do you think they’ve left some Oreos for us?” She turned around laughing just in time to see Ray’s naked body submerging into the tub behind her.

He got closer and kissed her passionately, his hands swiftly finding the curves of her hips and pulling the strings of her bikini bottom. He looked her in the eyes and really saw her – the woman he fell for twelve years ago, “I think I love you.” Something in his look told her that the time for jokes was up. It told her that tonight the Foxes were going to do it like rabbits.

September 17, 2020 23:26

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20 comments

Rayhan Hidayat
16:31 Sep 20, 2020

I was smiling throughout this story, awesome job! I was really afraid there was gonna be some dark twist because of the disclaimer, but then I realized you put it there for a different reason haha. The food you featured, omg. I think I might just go make a midnight snack now. My favorite, favorite thing you do in this story is how sometimes events aren’t described directly but implied via dialogue, like during the steamy show towards the end, which creates this super fun and playful vibe. I’m glad things ended on a happy note. The w...

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Bianka Nova
16:57 Sep 20, 2020

Thank you so much for reading and commenting! 😊 I like it better this way - everyone knows the dirty words, but it's much more fun when the action is only implied; I think it's also a bit more original. And if anyone who's 15- years old happens to read it despite the warning, it won't be my fault corrupting them (at least not entirely) 🙃 In general my idea is to entertain (and if possible inspire) people a bit more during these (slightly gray) times, so don't expect a dark story from me soon. I also think I probably need to write anot...

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A.Dot Ram
21:14 Jan 03, 2021

I'm almost embarrassed that I came straight to the "raunchy" one, but it was really delightful. The Foxes have a very relatable problem and what an adventure follows! I like how you told it with such humor and modesty. It sounds strange to describe that as modest, maybe, but the couples reaction juxtaposition with the surrounding hedonism was endearing. I love it even more as a response to this prompt, which i also wrote on.

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Bianka Nova
21:55 Jan 03, 2021

Haha, thanks for reading. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I think maybe more people read this one, but not everyone wanted to admit they did. :)))) And actually, yes, the raunchy part was quite modest and subtle. There are a lot of tweens on Reedsy, so there's that. And in any case, not having to think of different words for body anatomy is way better ;) Now I'm curious to read the one you did on this prompt.

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A.Dot Ram
22:05 Jan 03, 2021

Psychology 254: Landscape of the Soul. It's where I first introduced the Alex Caldwell character as a fairly young woman.

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Bianka Nova
23:30 Sep 17, 2020

To anyone who might read this on Friday: Please be so kind to hit me with your worst critiques and help me improve it before the deadline is up, as I've wrote this one today in a hurry, and have no idea how it turned out. Hopefully, not a complete disaster. Thanks! 🤗

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. .
21:45 Oct 19, 2020

This was instantly engaging from the start! I really appreciate how you added a warning at the start

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Bianka Nova
10:52 Oct 20, 2020

Glad you liked it! 😚

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Lily Kingston
20:41 Sep 21, 2020

I love that you took a problem that (I’ve heard) a lot of couples have (too much time spent focused on kids, not enough romance time) and wrote a really creative and fun solution for it. Great story! Keep up the good work and keep writing!!

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Bianka Nova
09:58 Sep 22, 2020

Glad you liked it :)

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Maya W.
15:51 Sep 21, 2020

Haha, I loved this! As the above poster said, I also thought this was gonna be super dark, lol. Nice job! I really enjoyed our take on this prompt!

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Bianka Nova
16:19 Sep 21, 2020

Thanks a lot, Maya! 😊

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Lynn Penny
20:02 Sep 20, 2020

This was incredibly funny! I loved the adventure you bring the readers on. I also love how you handled the intimate topic at the end, I always believe that implining fits better that being explicit. Makes it feel more refined. I guess my only critique is the start is a giant blob of text, splitting that up will do wonderous for pacing.

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Bianka Nova
20:33 Sep 20, 2020

I'm glad you enjoyed it 😊 I know the beginning is a bit dreadful, but that was kind of on purpose. I needed a way to present the stalemate they find themselves in. I was thinking somewhere along the lines of the tirade at the beginning of Trainspotting (I'm far from even thinkin about comparing myself to that, but I mention it for illustrative purposes), so basically that's the direction I was aiming for. And it came out the way it came out. 🙃

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Lynn Penny
21:31 Sep 20, 2020

That's lovely to hear!

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Kristin Neubauer
18:10 Sep 18, 2020

Steamy! I thought this was wonderful, Bianka....I love how you opened the story. It created the feel of a packed schedule and no room to take a breath....but then in slowed down at the sensual food event. Your writing reflected the mood. And I love how you contrasted the couple's somewhat perplexed and slightly awkward reactions with the sexuality of the evening. It felt very real and down to earth....and a happy ending. Great job!

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Bianka Nova
18:37 Sep 18, 2020

Haha, yeah, happy ending indeed. 😜 As for the "in a hurry" part, I had to work almost the entire past week (weekend included), so it was basically yesterday or never, since today I had planned some relax time. So I ended up doing almost 3000 words in a day. This was a personal record for sure; I'd never gotten past 1000-1500/day. So, I am glad someone liked it. Thank you very much for the kind review 🤗

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Kristin Neubauer
18:44 Sep 18, 2020

I sent it to a friend of mine who isn't on Reedsy but who I knew would love this. And she did. She told me to tell you "This is hilarious and so well-written! I think Bianka should take them on a series of sensual adventures as they work on their marriage!"

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Bianka Nova
18:53 Sep 18, 2020

Thank you both, lovely ladies! 😚 Even if it's just your two comments, you totally made my day, and yesterday's effort is so worth it! 🙌

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Ernest W.
22:24 Dec 20, 2022

Love you imagination I will die for an autograph you know✨

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