Title: White Goods Heaven
‘Damn it!’ cursed Paula.
She had just stepped back into her kitchen, which she had spent hours cleaning, prior to her trip to the grocery store. The floor, which was once a scrubbed and dried oasis of clean linoleum tiles, was now an two-inch deep pool of grey soapy water, and the level was rising as it continued to leak out of Paula’s washing machine. This former ‘state-of-the-art’ washer/dryer, or so the advertising blurb claimed, had seen better days many moons ago. Paula let out a sigh as she placed the carrier bags she held in her hands onto the worktop, then sloshed through the rising tide of grey soapy water to the other side of the kitchen, where the squeegee mop and bucket were stored.
Twenty minutes and three full bucketloads of dirty water later, the linoleum floor sparkled anew. However, Paula’s washing was a different matter. ‘It’s well past time to buy a new washing machine’, she said to herself. She grabbed her purse and headed out the front door.
Thirty minutes later, Paula was in SuperStore, the big department store on Main Street. SuperStore had only been open six months, but had already put most of the other local electrical retailers out of business. Several of Paula’s friends recommended the store to her, having been extremely satisfied with their purchases.
Paula was curious about the store, as her best friend Nicki was almost delirious with joy over her new freezer. ‘Nicki, delirious over a freezer?’ thought Paula.
It was most unlike Nicki to rave about a household appliance. ‘There’s only one household appliance that Nicki raves over, and that’s hidden in her underwear drawer!’ she thought, a wicked smile forming on her lips. Nicki had shown Paula her new multi-speed vibrator, purchased on-line from a sex shop website, just a week or two ago. Nicki had been using it on a daily basis since then and urged Paula to buy one for herself; Paula felt a bit uncomfortable about using one, so she listened sympathetically to Nicki’s suggestions without any real plan to make a purchase.
Paula made her way to the display of washing machines, and in doing so, she passed a veritable cornucopia of fridges, freezers and tumble driers. ‘White Goods Heaven’, Paula thought to herself.
She noticed the interesting music that was playing in the store. Paula initially thought that it was like the standard muzak one finds in elevators, but it was not unpleasant. She noticed a soft hum in the background of the music, a repeating throbbing noise that blended with the rest of the music. It was soothing, almost calming. After the stress of the broken washing machine, a soothing influence was just what she needed.
Just then, a smartly-dressed woman walked up to Paula. The woman was in her early thirties, with shoulder length raven-black hair, dark brown eyes and a deep golden brown skin. The woman had the sort of body that most women would die for, almost a supermodel in apperance. Not an ounce of fat anywhere. The glittery name tag on her immaculately tailored jacket identified her as Maria Suarez, Sales Executive.
‘Can I help you?’ said Maria. Paula turned to look at where the voice came from and her eyes met Maria’s. Maria’s broad smile revealed an immaculate pair of white teeth. ‘This woman is stunningly beautiful’, thought Paula as she took in Maria’s stunning beauty. Then Paula snapped out of her temporary reverie and realised that she had been staring at Maria. Suddenly embarrassed, Paula’s cheeks flushed a deep pink, she was caught off guard. ‘Wuh, er, well, I, er...’
‘A new washing machine, perhaps?’ said Maria helpfully, her deep, mellifluous voice almost oozing into Paula’s ears.
‘Er, yes’, answered Paula. ‘The old model packed up this morning, leaving me with two inches of soapy water all over my kitchen floor’.
‘Oh, that’s horrible’, Maria empathised. ‘It sounds as though it was well overdue for replacement. Not to worry, I have a washing machine here that I am sure you are going to love. Come this way and I will show it to you’.
Paula followed Maria towards one of the demonstration rooms towards the back of the electricals department. These demonstration rooms were normally used for hi-fi or video equipment. They entered the room and Maria closed the door behind them. Paula noticed immediately the silence in the room—this room was soundproofed.
There were two very comfortable leather chairs to one side of the room. In front of the chairs was a low wooden table, on which were a selection of brochures for ‘Housewives’ Dream’. On the other side of the room sat a washing machine. It looked much like most any other washing machine, except that it bore the same ‘Housewives’ Dream’ logo as the brochures, and it had a model number, MC-1. The only other thing that Paula thought odd was that there was a plastic strip going around the room at just about ceiling light. This strip contained a variety of coloured lights which twinkled periodically.
‘Take a seat, Paula,and let me explain to you all about the MC-1, a revolution in washing machines’, said Maria. Paula sat in one of the leather chairs, Maria taking the chair next to her.
For the next twenty minutes, Maria explained the virtues of the MC-1 washing machine, never breaking eye contact with Paula. Paula listened attentively at first, but could not help but notice the band of lights twinkling just at the edge of her view. It was almost as if the lights were twinkling in a rhythmic pattern, whilst all the while Maria’s mellifluous voice flowed softly into Paula’s ears. That beautiful voice, so smooth, so calming, so relaxing. Paula could listen to that voice all day.
Once again, Paula snapped out of her reverie, and opened her eyes—she had fallen asleep! Her cheeks flushed a deep crimson as she looked at Maria.
‘I am so sorry about that, Maria’, she apologised. ‘I must have zoned out there or something’.
‘Not to worry, Paula!’, said Maria, smiling brightly, as she leant forward, her immaculate face drawing closer to Paula’s. ‘These things happen, you know—washing machines are not the most interesting things in the world!!’.
She patted Paula’s knee as she said this. Normally Paula would have recoiled at the touch of another female, as she considered herself not to be a touchy-feely kind of person. What made it worse was that it was a woman! But this time, it didn’t seem to bother her, it almost felt right.
‘Anyway, we can have it delivered and fitted this afternoon, if you like’, said Maria. ‘We’ll even take away the old model for you’.
‘How much will it cost?’ asked Paula.
‘Nothing at all at first—you can try it for thirty days on approval’, answered Maria. ‘Then if you like it, you can pay for it in instalments. The price is $500, but that is spread out over ten months, so it shouldn’t be too much of a burden. And we guarantee that you will love it.’
‘OK’, said Paula, ‘you’ve sold it to me! Here’s my credit card’. Paula handed the credit card to Maria, who left the room for a couple of minutes whilst she rang up the sale. Alone in the room, Paula’s eyes absent-mindedly drifted upwards to the strip of twinkling lights. The next thing she knew, Maria was standing next to her. Paula had zoned out again.
Maria handed the credit card back to Paula, smiling broadly as ever. ‘Thank you for buying a Housewives’ Dream product. We will be at your house this afternoon at 3:30pm to install your new MC-1.’
Paula thanked Maria and left the demonstration room. She made her way through the white goods department and back to the main electricals area, where the lift to the ground floor was located. As she did so, Paula glanced at her watch. It was 12:30pm. Paula was surprised—she’d been with Maria for nearly two hours! Paula could not remember that much time passing, but attributed it to her strange tiredness in the demonstration room. ‘Perhaps it was a bit too warm in the room, or those leather chairs were a bit too comfortable’, thought Paula, as she made her way down Main Street. Thirty minutes later she was back at home. It was 1:30pm.
Two hours later, there was a ring at the door. Paula opened the door, and there were two men standing on her path, one supporting a trolley which held a brand new washing machine. Paula ushered them in and they went straight to work, no chit-chat, just efficiently and quickly removing the old washing machine and plumbing in the new model. Paula was happy to see that the MC-1 was a perfect fit in the space vacated by the previous model. The two men then wheeled the old model out of the house and down Paula’s path, towards a van parked outside in the road. Paula was just about to close her front door when she noticed a familiar face coming up the path towards her. It was Maria.
‘Hi, Maria! What are you doing here? Checking up on your installation engineers?’ asked Paula.
‘No’, answered Maria. ‘This is an after sales call. We at Housewives’ Dream always ensure that the product is just what our client wanted. I am here to go through the functions of the washing cycle so that you can get the fullest benefit from your new MC-1’.
‘That’s fine’, said Paula. ‘I hate reading instruction manuals anyway.’
Maria followed Paula into the kitchen and asked Paula to put a full load into the drum. Once this was done, Paula added the soap powder in the soap drawer.
Maria explained several of the features of the new machine, the load capacity, the energy efficiency of the device, the wash settings for cottons, coloureds and whites, all the time that deep, mellifluous voice making the dullest of explanations sound like pure heaven to Paula’s ears. As Maria spoke, Paula found herself feeling warm and relaxed. She leant against the worktop next to the washing machine sink as she gradually started to slip into a daze again, her eyes locked on Maria’s. All the while, Maria’s deep, compelling voice continued, so sonorous, so comforting.
‘...and this setting, ‘MC’, is a special setting which can be used for all clothes. Here, let me show you.’ Maria turned the selector knob until it pointed to MC,
then switched on the washing machine. The water swished softly into the washing machine, through vented jets in the drum which softened the noise. Then the drum started to rotate.
‘Now look at the washing machine, Paula’, said Maria. Paula did as Maria asked, looking at the washing machine in her dazed, dreamy state. Just above the control panel was a thin strip of plastic, not very noticeable before, but now illuminated with twinkling lights, just like the lights in the demonstration room. And as the drum rotated, the washing machine motor emitted a soft hum, a monotonous throbbing sound that seemed oddly familiar to Paula.
Maria stood next to Paula at the sink, and leant close to Paula’s ear. ‘Listen to the soft hum of the MC-1’, she whispered. ‘Notice how the soft hum matches the rhythm of the lights, the twinkling lights, so pretty, so gentle, so relaxing. Remember how relaxed they make you feel. Relaxed. Deeply relaxed. How soft the lights are, how soothing. Nothing to worry about, no cares or distractions. Just the twinkling lights filling your vision,and my voice, with the soft throb of the MC-1, filling your ears. Nothing else matters. You can only see the lights, only hear my voice and the soft hum of the MC-1, filling your mind.’
After a couple of minutes of looking at the twinkling lights and hearing the soft, familiar noise of the MC-1, combined with Maria’s mellifluous tones, Paula’s eyes became wide and glassy. Her jaw hung open loosely, drool escaping down one side of her cheek and dripping onto her blouse. Not that it mattered.
Her world was the lights, the soft throbbing hum, Maria’s voice. Nothing else mattered. Maria smiled as she looked at Paula, knowing that Paula was now completely mesmerized. Maria knelt in front of Paula, undoing Paula’s skirt and sliding it down her legs, pulling down her tights, then finally removing her underwear. This last step revealed Paula’s sex, crowned by a trim and tidy triangle of pubic hair. Maria could see that Paula was already moist. She moved closer to Paula’s mound and took a deep breath. That smell always intoxicated Maria and turned her on. Then she spoke to Paula.
‘Paula, as you watch the lights, and hear the soft throbbing hum, you will now feel pleasure. Such pleasure as you have never known before. It will surpass anything you have experienced before with a man or a woman. You will always associate that pleasure with the MC-1. You will always associate the MC-1 with me. So what does the MC-1 give you?’
‘Pleasssure’, slurred Paula, as she tried to speak, causing her jaw full of drool to cascade onto her blouse like a small fountain.
‘And who do you associate with the MC-1?’ said Maria.
‘Maria’, answered Paula.
‘And if MC-1 gives you pleasure, and you associate me with the MC-1, then what can I give you?’ said Maria.
‘Pleasssure’, slurred Paula once again. At this, Maria moved closer to Paula.
‘Close your eyes and feel the pleasure, Paula, feel it rising inside of you like a tidal wave’, said Maria.
She began to tease Paula’s sex, her tongue going up and down Paula’s labia whilst her fingers adroitly manipulated Paula’s clitoris. Paula’s eyes, once locked on the twinkling lights, now gently closed as her eyeballs rolled upwards into her head, the overwhelming feeling of pleasure engulfing her senses. Paula was lost in ecstasy.
Maria carried on at Paula’s sex, licking and probing with her tongue, whilst her expert fingers toyed incessantly with Paula’s clitoris, bringing her closer and closer to orgasm. Paula’s world was now a rising sensation of absolute pleasure, combined with a soft throbbing hum. Finally, Paula’s body shook violently as she orgasmed, her juices spilling all over Maria’s face. ‘Now relax, Paula, and dream of me’, said Maria.
Maria cleaned herself up, and then cleaned up Paula, replacing her underwear, then her tights, and finally her skirt, which had lain in a crumpled heap at her feet. Finally she spoke to Paula.
‘Paula, your conscious mind will not remember me being here, or what has happened. Your subconscious will remember the sensation of pleasure you felt whenever you talk about or think of the MC-1. Whenever you use the MC-1, you will watch the pretty lights and listen to the rhythmic hum of the machine, and you will feel the need to pleasure yourself, just as I have pleasured you. Each time you pleasure yourself, you will dream of me and only me. I am now a permanent part of your sexual fantasies. Whenever you hear my voice, and only my voice, say to you, ‘Housewives’ Dream’, you will slip into this deep and comfortable trance, ready for my instructions.’
Maria looked at her watch. It was 4:45pm. Time to go. ‘Paula, I now want you to count from 100 down to 1. When you reach 1, you will be wide awake and your conscious mind will only remember that you turned your washing machine on and then dozed off for a little while.’ Maria stepped out of the front door as she heard Paula counting to herself, ‘...78....77....76....’
When Paula reached one,she woke up with a start. She felt her lip—it was covered in drool, and there, below her chin, on her blouse, was a large wet patch.
‘Damn, I’m going to have to wash this blouse now!’ she cursed. The washing machine had finished it’s cycle. Paula opened the door and took out her lovely clean clothes, replacing the clean load with her drool covered blouse. She added the powder to the powder door and turned the selector dial to MC. Then she switched the machine on, and gathered her newly washed clothes in her arms, ready to be ironed.
After a few moments, the familiar throb of the machine filled her ears and the winkling lights captivated her eyes. Suddenly a wave of erotic pleasure flowed over her like a summer breeze. She dropped her newly laundered clothes on the linoleum as her right hand snaked down under her skirt and into her underwear. She gently rubbed her sex, automatically closing her eyes. As she did so, an image came into her mind, blurry at first, then gradually gaining focus. It was an image of Maria.