Mrs. Wong's Finishing School, Part 7

MRS. WONG'S FINISHING SCHOOL
by uciboy

BEGIN PART VII

Lilly again awoke the next morning to Jeffrey's knock on the door, but this
time she was considerably more relaxed, snuggling into the soft down covers
on her bed.  She would tell her Mom to buy a set when she got home.  She
figured she deserved it after being drugged and brought her.  But even still
- she knew her Mom would buy her anything she asked.

She thought about the night before with Mrs. Wong at her side and figured she
must have fallen asleep while they were talking.  "How rude of me to do
that," she admonished herself and got up to take a shower and dress.

As she was checking over the room before heading downstairs, her eyes focused
on the Virginia Slim she had set on the nightstand the morning before.  She
felt a shiver of anticipation about what she was suddenly considering.  The
trance-induced dream now fresh in her mind, she picked up the cigarette and
the lighter.  "Should I?" she asked herself with a grin like a little school
girl about to do something naughty.  She stared at the long cigarette between
her fingers for ten seconds before slowly placing it in her mouth.  She felt
a cool minty sensation as she gently sucked on the filter.  

She picked up the lighter and lit it - holding the flame no more than an inch
away from the tip of the 120, once again considering carefully what she was
about to do.  She wasn't even sure she knew how to light it.  "You hate
smoking," her conscious told her.  But she could feel her subconscious
flooding her mind with the images of her dream, pushing away the doubts.

She was shaking as she brought the flame to the tip and instinctively began
to suck on the filter, creating a cool sensation in her mouth.  Fearing that
she would cough, she opened her mouth to push the smoke out with a quick
exhale  - and enjoyed watching the cloud form in front of her.


She turned to the mirror to admire the reflection of the young woman
beautifully dressed, the smoke from her first puff wrapping itself around
her.  "Cool," she whispered as she dropped her arm to the side of her thigh.
Her eyes followed the smoke rising up along side her body as it contributed
to the cloud that still hung thick in the air.  She brought the Virginia Slim
to her mouth for another puff, her eyes squinting as they focused on the tip
which shined brightly.  Without inhaling she blew the smoke towards her
reflection with a wide grin.  

She picked up her reading glasses off the bed and turned back towards the
mirror to watch herself take another puff.  She gave the 120 a tap over the
ashtray and brought it up to the height of her shoulder, imitating Mrs.
Wong's style.  "Very cool," she seductively whispered.

She wanted to know if inhaling for real felt as good as it did in her dreams,
and she took a small breath in anticipation of taking that next step.  She
held the Virginia Slim straight out from between her fingers as it glided
towards her lips.  Lilly took a shallow puff and slowly began to breath in.
The feeling was incredible - better than what she had imagined.  As the smoke
billowed into lungs conditioned for 17 years by second-hand smoke, she could
feel every nerve in her body respond positively.  She let the smoke slowly
float out of her mouth.  "Oh my God," she whispered.  "That is so good."  She
felt light-headed, but she wanted to try it again.  "Another puff - this time
deeper."

As she inhaled, the nicotine hit her with a jolt.  This puff also felt
wonderful, but within a few seconds Lilly began to cough, ruining the
momentary sensation of lightness and freedom that the Virginia Slim provided.
Sitting back on the bed, she covered her mouth with her hand, trying to
muffle the sounds of the cough.  She looked down at the half-smoked cigarette
between her fingers and suddenly felt guilty at what she had done.  "No
more," she groaned and stubbed the Virginia Slim out in the ashtray.  

Not wanting Mrs. Wong to know that she had a momentary lapse of will power,
she flushed the contents of the ashtray down the toilet and washed her hands
and face with soap.  Lilly could still smell smoke on her clothes, but
figured that with as much as Mrs. Wong smokes, she'd never notice.

Of course, Mrs. Wong did notice as the two sat down for breakfast and was
very pleased at the progress Lilly was making.  It wouldn't be long, she
estimated, before Lilly completes the first phase of her schooling - becoming
a smoker.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

After a busy morning of lessons, Lilly followed Mrs. Wong into her private
library where Jeffrey had stood behind a long oak table filled with wine
bottles.  

"What on earth is this," Lilly asked with a wide grin.


"An important part of your training to be a lady of elegance and taste is
understanding the importance of wine, my dear."

Mrs. Wong nodded to Jeffrey and the butler began to pour a small amount of
wine into two glasses.  She picked up a glass by its stem, stirred it a bit
with a slight movement of the wrist, and brought the glass up to her nose for
a deep whiff of the red wine's aroma.  "This is my favorite cabernet
sauvignon," she said as she handed a glass to Lilly.  "A Nappa Valley brand
that sells for $400 a bottle."  She took a taste of the rich red wine and
held it for a few seconds in her mouth before swallowing.  "Heavenly," she
cooed.

"You do know that I'm under 21, don't you?"

"You're only tasting, my dear, not buying.  I have your mother's permission,"
she added with a wink.

Lilly brought the glass to her lips and took a sip.  She grimaced at the
bitterness of the taste.

"It takes some getting used to if you've only been drinking wine coolers.  I
promise you that before I send you home you'll be an expert in being able to
tell the difference between a chardonnay and a Cabernet besides just the
color."  

Lilly took another taste.  "Not too bad," she thought to herself now that she
knew what to expect.  "This has an interesting flavor to it," she said as she
examined the contents of the glass.  "Is it...cedar?"

"Very good, my child," Mrs. Wong said thoroughly impressed.  "There is just a
touch of cedar in it."  She cocked her head to the side and said, "Being able
to decipher the flavors in a wine is quite a skill, you know.  You could be a
natural."

Lilly gave a mischievous grin.  "May I have some more?"

Mrs. Wong smiled back and turned to her butler.  "That will be all for now,
Jeffrey."

"Yes, Madam," the butler replied and closed the library door on his way out.

Within half an hour, the two women were laughing as they nearly finished off
a bottle of Chardonnay while Mrs. Wong detailed some funny stories of
students she had in the past.

Lilly knew now that whatever happened to Jenny and Caroline was not something
diabolic on the part of Mrs. Wong.  In fact, the young girl came to trust her
teacher and felt comfortable asking her questions that earlier might have
seemed too personal.

"How did you get into this line of work," she asked her tutor after a hearty
laugh from her stories.

"Ohhhhhh," Mrs. Wong sighed with a smile as she reached for her cigarette
case.  "You know," she said, pulling out a Virginia Slim, "I was much like
you in high school; growing up in a very prosperous family, attending the
finest schools.  I was brought up to believe that I was better than the
common people, that my bloodlines and family name made me special.  I had
trouble believing it though."  She paused to light the tip of the 120
dangling in her mouth and quickly exhaled a stream of smoke through her nose
before removing the cigarette from her lips.  "The problem was that my
self-esteem was so low.  Then I discovered smoking." She brought the
cigarette back up to her lips and took a long, deep puff.

Lilly was intrigued by her comment.  "I don't understand.  How did smoking
change you?"

Mrs. Wong had a gleam in her eye as she replied, "I think you do understand,
my dear.  You had a cigarette this morning, didn't you?"

Lilly was shocked.  "How did you know?"

"You can wash smoke from your hands and face, but you can't wash it easily
from your clothes."  Mrs. Wong could see Lilly was embarrassed and quickly
asked, "How did it make you feel, my dear?"

Lilly thought for a moment.  Should she be honest?  "It felt...pretty good.
I mean, I coughed and everything...but as I watched myself in the mirror
smoking, I thought...well, I looked really good."

Mrs. Wong nodded as she exhaled a cloud and tapped her cigarette on a nearby
ashtray.  "That was my first reaction, too, when I tried it at 15" she
admitted.  "I discovered that smoking gave me a self-confidence that I had
never had before.  I found myself looking at people differently and came to
accept that I, too, was different than most people.  I wanted to understand
why some children of the elite reject their heritage, and so I decided to go
to college and major in child psychology.  I went on to receive a PhD, but I
had no intention of actually practicing.  For me, it was a personal journey
to understand how the mind works in a child."  Mrs. Wong grabbed the bottle
of Chardonnay and refilled both hers and Lilly's glasses.

"After college I met Mr. Wong and took my rightful place as a member of my
class.  We never had time for children, but we had many happy years together.
When my husband passed away 5 years ago, I decided to put my schooling to use
by helping other children accept who they are."

Fascinated by this story, Lilly took a thoughtful sip from her glass.  "And
this was all because you started smoking?"


Mrs. Wong smiled and gave another nod.  "Are you ready to accept who you are,
Lilly?"  Mrs. Wong opened the cigarette case and presented it to Lilly who
stared at the 120s inside.  They all looked so elegant neatly packed as they
were.  She reached in and pulled one out, carefully placing it into her
mouth.  Mrs. Wong was quick with the lighter before Lilly could change her
mind and felt a sense of accomplishment as the 17 year old filled her mouth
with a creamy, smokey puff.

Mrs. Wong watched in silence as Lilly blew out the initial puff but quickly
took another one which she inhaled.  Lilly could feel the cool sensation in
her chest and felt no urge to cough.  She pursed her lips and blew a creamy
cone of smoke towards Mrs. Wong.  "This is kind of fun," she said.  "I feel
like an adult."

Lighting another cigarette for herself, Mrs. Wong sat back and said, "You are
an adult, my dear.  It's time to start acting like one."

"But smoking is a pretty big decision," Lilly replied, now feeling more
comfortable holding the cigarette up high like Mrs. Wong.  "Certainly you
can't ignore the risk involved."

"My dear," Mrs. Wong said sweetly, "we make choices every day in life.
Should I drive a car?  Should I step onto a plane?  Should I eat something
prepared in this restaurant?  And nearly every choice entails risk.  Perhaps
the car or the plane will crash; perhaps this food will make me ill because
it is not prepared properly.  We weigh the risks compared to the expected
favorable outcome - and on that basis we choose.  A car and a plane will get
me where I need to go; eating the meal will satisfy my hunger and in addition
be a pleasurable experience."  She paused to take a quick puff.

"Smoking is such a choice that entails risk.  The chances are greater that I
will suffer ill health effects later in life if I smoke.  But when I weigh
the risks of smoking to the favorable outcomes - that my femininity and
beauty will be enhanced, that I will derive years of indescribable physical
and psychological pleasure from smoking; well, the choice is pretty obvious,
isn't it?  I choose to smoke."

Lilly carefully considered what Mrs. Wong said and replied, "It's tempting,
but I'm not sure I'm ready to make that choice right now."  She took one last
puff - deeper than the ones before and crushed the cigarette in the ashtray
as she inhaled.  But that inhale was the best one yet and she could feel an
excitement run through her body like someone had just turned on a switch.

Mrs. Wong could see that there was still a bit more work to do on this pupil.
"There's time, my dear," she said as she stubbed out her own Virginia Slim.
"But now, we need to get back to work."

END PART VII

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