Four o'clock sharp found Red Reddington and Kate Kaplan being ushered into Doctor Benoit's office. The doctor stepped back to reveal three attractive women who all appeared to be in their late twenties to early thirties seated on the couch. "Mr. Reddington, these are the women I told you about; from left to right, Marlene Thomas, June Bennington and Marie Jones."
Red motioned for them to stay seated. "Pleased to meet you. This is my associate, Mr. Kaplan." He and Kate shook each woman's hand before sitting in the two chairs in front of the doctor's desk.
"'Mr.' Kaplan? How interesting," June opined.
Red's eyes closed ever so slightly, giving his face a dangerous cast. "Oh? How so?"
"Excuse me, Mr. Reddington, I mean no offense to you or your companion, but the fact that you seem perfectly comfortable with a woman you introduce as Mr. Kaplan tells me that explaining what we do will be an easier job than I thought. Usually, we spend a great amount of time convincing people that we're not some kind of fancy prostitutes. Your mind is obviously open to many possibilities."
Kate leaned forward and placed her hands on her knees. "Why don't you explain what you are then and how you can help our charge, Dembe?"
The woman introduced as Marlene said, "Fair enough. Dr. Benoit explained Mr. Zuma's situation to us. What we would do, with your approval, is acclimate him to intimacy. I've been doing this work for nearly ten years and I have never come across a potential client who is more in need of our services. Dembe Zuma has been deprived from the age of six of any semblance of normalcy; a child should feel safe and loved. For eight years, he lived every day in fear.'
Marie picked up the narrative. "Our first task is to befriend Dembe. He'll know who we are and why he's being introduced to us, but he needs to learn to trust us. Once we begin to feel that he does, we will begin to acclimate him to being touched."
"This sounds like it's going to take a long time," Kate said.
"It will," Marie agreed, "We've all talked about Dembe's case and we feel that six months is the amount of time we need to gain his trust and begin treatment. We three would each meet with him once a week for an hour to an hour and a half. In the beginning, it will be just to talk about his life and his wants and wishes. Eventually, hopefully, we will progress to touches, handholding, hugs, kisses and ultimately, sex."
Dr. Benoit looked from Red to Kate. "I have to tell you, Mr. Reddington, that what the women are proposing is not cheap. I would still be meeting with Dembe to help him process what is transpiring in his sex surrogates' sessions and of course, their fees would be added onto mine. I'm estimating his treatment will cost in excess of one hundred thousand dollars and there is no guarantee that it will be successful. It is also possible that he would need twelve months of therapy, which would, of course, double the price."
Red pulled on the crease of his pant leg. "Money is not an issue; Dembe's emotional and sexual health is. However, my colleague and I do have more questions." He looked at the woman next to him. "Kate?"
"Would you please explain why you think it's necessary for all three of you to work with Dembe?" she asked. "I think I know why, but I'd rather hear the reasons directly from you."
Marlene nodded and replied, "As I said earlier, Dembe received nothing resembling love and affection after he was sold into sex slavery. If he were to receive it from just one of us, there would be a real possibility that he might develop romantic feelings for that woman. That would cause more harm than good."
Red nodded. "I believe it's called 'transference.' You've answered the question I had; my biggest concern is about that happening. He's been through enough."
"Which is why," Dr. Benoit replied, "I am hoping that the process of acclimating Dembe to intimacy won't take longer than eight months, max. Regardless of his response to sex therapy, his time with the surrogates cannot exceed twelve months."
"Because it would be counterproductive to drag it out too long," Kate said.
"Exactly. While he works with the surrogates, we would need you, both of you, to reinforce what they are doing by touching him, allowing him to touch you, thereby letting him know there is nothing wrong with touch."
"Dembe holds my hand on occasion when he is feeling anxious, especially when he sees a physician," Red volunteered, "I found it odd at first, but I've gotten used to it."
"Excellent," Dr. Benoit said. "I believe that Dembe, with your help, has a very good chance of becoming a sexually healthy human being."
"Just out of curiosity," Kate asked, "do sex surrogates always have sex with their clients?"
"Actually," June responded, "we rarely have sex with our clients. Dembe's case is so extreme that to not make sex part of his treatment would be doing him a grave disservice. Try not to worry, Mr. Reddington, we really think this is what's best for Dembe."
Red stood, turned and helped Kate to her feet. "I hope you're right. I sincerely hope you're right."