Stairs, Part 8

Stairs

Part 8 - Second Saturday

Pamela inhaled off her first Player's of the day a few moments after her
alarm went off at 8.30. It was on the early side for a Saturday morning, but
she was on a mission. Coming awake as she sucked down long `good morning'
drags, she thought about her lovely daughter, Suzy, whom she would presently
treat to a wonderful new smoking experience, so wonderful that many smokers
reckoned it was the best there is. She would have to get ready for her hair
appointment at 11.30, and Gaynor was due round then too. She wanted Gaynor's
second opinion on Suzy's abilities and potential with cigarettes one week
after starting, and might she make the grade as a professional model for
cigarette commercials? Gaynor had a sharp eye for these things, which is why
Pamela wanted to have her objective report before telling Suzy about her
modelling idea. They could talk this evening.

She got to the end of her second morning cigarette, and could readily have
stayed in bed for a third. Instead, she lit a new one and made her way
downstairs, inhaling steadily. The tea was on and a fresh ciggy lit. She
busied herself opening curtains and tidying dishes while smoking, then just
enjoyed the rest of her cigarette. While the tea brewed, she put two mugs on
the little tray, along with her cigarettes and lighter, and put milk and
sugar in them. She poured and stirred the tea, then lit a cigarette for the
stairs ... and more.

Because it would have to last her, Pamela took an extra long drag at the top
of the stairs and inhaled deeply. She wanted to keep in as much smoky flavour
in her mouth and nose as possible - entering Suzy's bedroom and placing the
tray on the bedside table, she breathed the slightest wisps of smoke from her
nose. She walked to the curtains and cracked them open, letting a pale shaft
of sunlight point towards the bed, on which she now sat. Mum leaned over her
daughter's face, "Good morning, darling. How did you sleep? It's quite a nice
morning, isn't it?" her chatter designed to drench Suzy's face and nose with
the scent of four-and-a-half Player's worth of strong Virginia tobacco. She
took the bait. 

"Mmm. Morning Mum. Your morning cigarettes smell good. Have you just put one
out?" In answer, mum took a long luxurious pull on her cigarette, inhaled
deeply, then leant back over Suzy's face, exhaling casually.

"No, silly, I've got one on at the moment. I love to smoke a lot in the
morning as they're specially satisfying." Suzy breathed in mum's second hand
smoke and her eyes twinkled. This time mum took a double drag and made sure
plenty came Suzy's way.

Finally Suzy blurted out, "Mum, do  you think I could have a ciggy too
please?" Mum wanted to make the most of this moment.

"Smoking in bed first thing in the morning? Oh I don't know about that.
You're still quite young, you know."

"Mum!" Suzy looked crestfallen. "If I was allowed bedtime cigarettes last
night, surely I can have bedtime cigarettes in the morning."

"I'll think about it while I finish this ciggy," mum replied in no hurry,
tantalising Suzy with two long last draws. On stubbing out, Pamela
automatically reached  for her Player's packet again, then paused. "Well
darling, seeing as it's the weekend, I suppose I could let you `try' the odd
one in bed," was her grudging verdict with a smile.

Before lighting her daughter's first morning cigarette in bed, she explained
that these were special cigarettes to be smoked exactly like her bedtime
cigarettes. "So, breathe fully out and let your lungs tell you it's
lighting-up time." With the practice Suzy had had last night, she lay back in
bliss from her first extra-deep double pump. Her appetite was whetted and,
after exhaling through her nose, she sucked back again off her freshly lit
Player's, and inhaled with eyes closed, such was her joy. Mum looked proudly
on, glad to see her daughter getting a special thrill from `the best
cigarettes of the day'. No surprise then that her own drags were extended;
she finished her cigarette moments before Suzy and slid her packet open again
for the follow-on. Suzy was only too glad to continue her enjoyment with
another cigarette: like the little star she was, she remembered to hollow her
cheeks to get more smoke into her lungs now the first cigarette had woken
them up more. By the time Suzy had pulled a lot of huge drags down into her
chest, she said, "I feel so much better now, thanks Mum. I'm wide awake and
raring to go." Mum lit one for the stairs and got up from the bed.

"You should be up soon, young lady. You know Gaynor's over to see you later
while I'm at the hairdresser's. And don't overdo it on cigarettes for now -
you're sure to smoke lots with her," she winked and left the room. 

Suzy held herself to just her beloved `dressing cigarette' before breakfast
and her by now habitual two following, by which time mum was preparing to go
off to the hairdresser's. "Have a good time with Gaynor," she called as she
opened the front door. "It'll be the first time you've smoked with anyone
apart from me. She's bound to be impressed by how many ciggies you can smoke
and how well you smoke them," mum thought aloud, knowing full well it would
raise in Suzy's mind expectations of her smoking performance in both quality
and quantity. 

"Bye Mum," Suzy replied, then took her cigarettes and lighter and the morning
paper to the armchair and settled in to wait for Gaynor. She felt rather
important and grown-up being left in charge of the house, shortly to receive
and entertain her guest. Inevitably she reached for her packet and
complemented the moment with a freshly lit Player's, on which she drew
strongly and repeatedly as she glanced at the paper, just like her mum. She
thought she had better prepare her lungs for what was sure to be a heavy
smoking session with her cousin! Every draw felt good right to the end.

A few minutes later she checked her watch: Gaynor would be here any time now.
Just after lighting a fresh Player's she heard a car draw into their drive.
That must be her, she thought, and stood up on completing her double pump.
She headed to the front door while taking a long inhale from her cigarette.
Meanwhile, Gaynor had pulled up in the drive, lit a new Player's, got out of
the car, and walked a long inhale to the front door. The door opened and the
girls hugged and kissed like long-lost friends, trailing wisps of residual
smoke. "Come in, come in!" gushed Suzy, who let Gaynor pass in front of her:
both girls double pumped their cigs as they went through to the lounge, and
sat next to each other on the sofa with long booster draws.

"It's terrific to see you smoking, Suzy. How are you getting on?" Gaynor
began.

"I love it to pieces.," Suzy gushed. "I enjoy every single cigarette I smoke
and I'm learning to smoke more cigarettes each day, at least when I'm not at
mouldy old school. Mum says I can't smoke there yet so I'm dying by the end
of the afternoon."

"Yes, that's tough, I know," said Gaynor. "Let's have another cigarette
anyway, and I can show you some tips to help ease the pain."

"Please, Gaynor, yes please."

"I'll just fetch us a glass of water from the kitchen. When you smoke a lot,
it can dry you out - a few sips of water now and again mean you can just
carry on smoking as many cigarettes as you want!" Gaynor inhaled as she got
up for the water; Suzy noted her dangles when she used both hands to fill the
glasses, pulling down deep drag after deep drag. Gaynor watched Suzy's
smoking technique from a discreet distance, and knew what needed to be done
to accelerate her through the programme.

"Suzy, I think you smoke phenomenally well only a week after your first
cigarette ever. I can see you enjoy it too. Let's have another one for you to
practise with. Mmm, that's good! Now, let's go back to basics a moment. You
already know smoking's really about inhaling the most smoke you can as deeply
as you can, isn't it? Right. So concentrate on enjoying not just every ciggy
but every single drag you take from your ciggy. Before you drag, breathe out
fully - try holding your breath for a moment or two to get a stronger fuller
draw, which will go down deeper. OK? And at the end of your draw, bring your
arm right across from your mouth and sit up, chest out. It's good for your
posture and boosts your bust (yours is coming along nicely!) as well as
taking your inhales way down deep. Feels yummy too." 

"Oh Gaynor, you're right. That feels so satisfying." 

"Well make sure you focus during every puff to get it right. You can get a
deeper inhale in a couple of other ways too," she carried on. "This time, try
inhaling through almost closed lips, like this," she demonstrated. Suzy
copied. "You're getting really good, Suze. That's perfect. When you nearly
close your lips, it forces the smoke into your lungs at higher pressure so
you feel it press into you and get a very satisfying draw. Another tip: you
should still be counting three full inhales each time you drag from your cig,
then you'd hold for a while before exhaling. Now, when you've finished
holding, just sigh in another little inhale before you release your smoke.
That helps to keep it in your chest that little bit more. And if you tightly
purse your lips when you exhale, back pressure forces the rest of the smoke
deep down into your lungs again. I love the way that feels inside," Gaynor
said with a satisfied smile on her face.

"It feels amazing," Suzy agreed as she practised the new techniques herself.
"That's going to help so much when I smoke before school, and of course when
I'm eventually let out." 

"It'll certainly hold you better. But we've not finished your smoking
exercises yet! Time for a fresh cigarette?" Suzy nodded vigorously.  "Suzy,
do you ever inhale off your cigarette when you go upstairs or come down
again?" 

"Oh yes, because I can feel my smoke going down deep, and I saw mum always
doing it too. Is that OK?" 

"Very definitely. It's not just OK, though, it's important to master
thoroughly if you want to smoke cigarettes really well. We'd better just go
over the routine." Gaynor showed Suzy how you took your time lighting a fresh
cig, but gathered up your packet and lighter while double pumping and stood
up. You might take a further drag before making for the stairs. Then Gaynor
and Suzy, a few seconds behind her, performed classic double pumps before
setting foot on the stairs. A gentle exhale and shortness of breath near the
top produced a really long really deep inhale; the girls grinned at each
other with the intense sensation. "It's nearly as nice going down again,"
said Gaynor and the cousins virtually drained the rest of their ciggies going
down to the lounge. 

So nice was the feeling inside them that they both reached for another
Player's on sitting down. They lit up carefully and inhaled strong draws. 

"Just time for one more practice session before your mum gets back," Gaynor
said. "But it's less of an exercise than a couple of smoking games we can
play. Now, let's see who can take the longest drag off her ciggy. One, two,
three, go!" Both girls' cheeks hollowed out as they drew on and on and on,
till Suzy just had to pull her cig away. Gaynor carried on for another
moment, inhaled further, and declared, "I'm the winner! But I've had lots of
practice. Let's make it best of three." They dragged hard and long again,
feeling the moment when the cigarette suddenly draws much more quickly, and
carrying on long after. Once more it was Gaynor who took the honours. "Come
on Suzy, you're not trying hard enough," she laughed. "One last go. Remember
what I told you about holding your breath beforehand for a longer deeper
drag. Go girl!" This time, Suzy was determined to go the distance and after a
good twenty seconds, Gaynor gave way. 

"I win," called Suzy, barely able to get a word out with so much cigarette
smoke still inside her chest. The feeling was indescribably satisfying. 

"To finish off," said Gaynor, "we'll take a last really good double drag and
suck it right down. But we're not actually going to exhale any smoke at all
if we can help it. All you do when you want to breathe out is just breathe in
a bit more instead! Breathe out a little, and very gently, through your nose
- and re-inhale before letting any smoke out. First one to show smoke
escaping loses. Ready? Here we go." Suzy felt wonderfully light headed as she
held in her cigarette smoke. She found it quite easy to just carry on
holding; all that practice on walking inhales and holds must have helped
enough to outlast Gaynor, from whose nose tiny wisps of smoke could now be
seen. Suzy had won hands down.

Mum returned shortly afterwards, looking newly glam after her hair
appointment. They all had a cigarette together and talked about the girls
going to the beach tomorrow if the weather stayed fine. Gaynor went off and
then mum and Suzy had another Player's before a spot of lunch. Over their two
cigarettes afterward, Suzy said she had no exercises to do for homework but
she had to read three chapters of her new set book. Mum suggested she settle
into the sofa in the bay window with her book and cigarettes and practise the
tips Gaynor taught her. Mum also said helpfully that if she was smoking one
cigarette after another (easy to do while reading), she should take fewer
puffs but make sure each one was strong long and deep. Suzy remembered a
glass of water too so she would be able to smoke all the more. 

As Suzy chained into her third cigarette, she had developed a steady rhythm
of long pulls every minute or two, the occasional double pump, a pause in her
reading while she put out one cigarette and reached over to start another. By
the time she had read her allotted three chapters, Suzy had chain-smoked five
of her delicious Player's and felt great so she lit a fresh cigarette, got up
from the settee and took a long double as she went upstairs to put her book
away. By now it was early evening. She spent time on the phone to friends,
surfed a little on her computer, watched some TV, all while smoking her
cigarettes regularly and with increasing proficiency and enjoyment.

In the meantime Pamela had been on the phone to Gaynor, who knew Suzy would
be brilliant in cigarette ads. Mum said to Suzy that she needed to talk about
something important, which she raised over dinner with a glass of wine. She
recalled her own time modelling, what good fun it was in between the boring
hanging around, and of course how lucrative it could be. She pointed out that
there was a golden opportunity for Suzy with the new younger smoking laws
coming in very soon: smoking as well as she did, Suzy would be a natural for
cigarette commercials aimed at fourteen-year-old girls, a group she would
join in two weeks' time. And it just so happened that her old modelling
agency had the brief to cast for Player's ads! Should she try and get her in
on a casting session as soon as she was fourteen? Of course she would have to
keep up her progress, practise regularly and do special exercises if she was
to win the shoot. 

"Wow, of course I'd love to do that," was Suzy's unhesitating reply, beaming
as broadly as can be. "But am I good enough?" she asked. 

"Very nearly. With plenty of training sessions, you should just about get
there in time. Spend some more time with Gaynor tomorrow if you can and
follow closely everything she tells you." 

"Oh I will," said Suzy.

Though she watched TV for the rest of the evening, Suzy could barely contain
her excitement, thinking about cameras and studios and models and sucking
hard on a succession of Player's to help her relax. Soon enough, she was in
bed and with all the day's thrilling events, awarded herself a third bedtime
ciggy before slipping into the sweetest dreams.  

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