This story is so good so far! Please keep going

I did kind of wonder about that, duncombec. Thank you for pointing it out to me. I will correct that in the future and make the change in my current copy.

Radian is writing a very good story and I am looking forward to more of it.

Thank you guys, and sorry for the Pound Sterling. 

Here is the new chapter, still proofread by Braceface2015.

I made some minor changes after his proofreading. I hope I did not make any mistakes on these.

Chapter 6 - The panic and the need of consolation

I came back from the orthodontist's office, walking down the street to my apartment, beginning to feel the pain caused by the spacers placed between several of my teeth. I started thinking about the idea of being a metal-braced woman: 'What is the sensation to have all these metal things in the mouth and how will others react when they see my smile when the braces will be on?'

It was almost 9 pm when I arrived at my place. I prepared the dinner: only a vegetable soap and apple compote as the desert, because of the increasing pain in my teeth caused by the spacers, which are definitely very painful. I also took one advised painkiller to feel relieved of the pain for the night.

I searched on the Internet for the different kinds of treatment with metal braces and saw some pictures of each treatment. I began to regret that I made my choice so quickly, without seeing another orthodontist to get another medical opinion. I was not sure I wanted metal brackets on my teeth for the next 18 to 24 months. I liked to be classy and dressed in my best nearly every day but what would I look like with a teenager's silver smile? And I was a 33-year-old woman who was single. I would probably stay single until the braces were removed at the age of 35. Moreover, I started thinking I would probably lose all my credibility in my job, especially in front of guys like Boris.

I started panicking again. ‘Why did I do that? Could I cancel it?’ I was sure at this time that I wanted to at least delay the treatment. I needed to call the orthodontist's office now but it was probably closed at 10 PM. I still tried, but no one answered of course.

So, I called my best friend Claire, who lived in the same town as me, to talk to her about my big problem. She already knew the whole thing about my dental problem before this afternoons appointment. Claire is a red long-haired woman, aged 32, with beautiful green eyes and a beautiful white smile. Indeed, she was a braces wearer when she was a teenager. She always has a great look. Unfortunately, she had been single for a while at the time. The last thing you needed to know is Claire was in a wheelchair due to an accident when she was 17, which left her a C5/C6 incomplete quadriplegic, paralysed from the chest down. I did not know her at that time, but I guess it has been a major event and a struggle to cope with. She still is a really nice and supportive person. I hoped she was not in her bed at this late hour. Indeed, she needs assistance to go to bed, so maybe she was already sleeping. The phone rang.

-   “Hey, my friend,” said Claire.

-   "Hey Claire, I'm so relieved that you are not in bed at this late hour. Am I bothering you? How are you? Do you have the time to talk a little bit?" I asked.

-   "In fact, technically, I am in bed. Paula (one of her caregivers) has just left after helping me to get into it, but I'm still not sleeping. I am watching an uninteresting TV show comfortably laying in my bed. I'm glad to hear from you, like always. I'm fine. I had a very good and intense day and did plenty of things. I'm a little tired and glad it is the weekend, but there is absolutely no problem talking together, all night if necessary. My catheter is installed, so I no longer need to get up to go to the bathroom," she said jokingly in the end (Claire talks about every aspect of her disability with ease and humor).

-   "Wow, you seem super fine! So happy to hear that. You will be able to take some rest just after your Czech native friend bothers you a little bit. What did you do so satisfying?" I said.

-   “You are not bothering me at all, of course. Many projects in my company are coming to their end. Things are finally moving forward. We’re beginning to raise money,” she said (Claire owns a company whose goal is to find solutions for aids for disabled people).

-   "Oh, that's very good news. You wanted to achieve your projects for a long time," I said.

-   "And what's up for you Alecja. Today was the day of your first orthodontist appointment, wasn't it? How was it? I'm a little worried that you're calling me so late," she said.

-   “Hmmm… not very good. That’s why I’m calling you. I am very anxious about what happened with the orthodontist,” I replied.

I told Claire how the appointment was and that I signed up to start orthodontic treatment with metal braces.

-   "Ohhh, poor dear. But you don't have to worry so much about that. It's only braces. It's temporary and it's for your health. You know, I had metal braces when I was a teenager. Okay, it's more common to have them at that age but it was still not that easy, because when you're a teenager, you build yourself up and you need to make your self-confidence grow up and braces don't help at all. Moreover, I had mine between the ages of 15 and 19, when I was in high school and the first year of college, and I had my accident in the middle of the treatment. Because of it and even if the braces stayed on, my treatment was interrupted for more than a year and I lost plenty of time. So, I wore braces for 4 years, as a crippled teenager, then a young adult. It was a challenge but I don't regret any part of this. I was so used to seeing myself with the braces that I pretty loved them in the end. I was even a little disappointed when they were removed. And now, I love my smile now, even if my teeth have shifted a little bit since. If I had the choice, I think I would rather wear them now, as an independent woman than before as an unachieved teenager in a wheelchair. You will stay a smart and beautiful woman anyway," she said kindly.

-   Really sorry, Claire. I'm so sorry. I don't have the right to complain to you and you're totally right, 18 to 24 months of braces is nothing compare to what you've been through. You're a wonderful person: so strong and always listening. By the way, I find your teeth and your smile really beautiful. I did not notice anything wrong with them," I said.

-   "Don't be sorry. You're my best friend and you are worrying about something that concerns you. It's normal for me to listen to you and to help you go through this. And I really understand it's not easy at all for you. This is a major change you'll have to cope with during a couple of years. You know, I'm not always strong but I have to do my best to push myself every day. If I don't, my wheelchair won't move to the supermarket and I will be hungry, which makes me angry (laughing). And for my smile, I can assure you my teeth are not perfect. Besides, it makes me think that I could consider fixing that too," Claire said, jokingly.

-   "No, you don't need it, sweetie."

We talked together during the next 2 hours that night, until midnight, about braces, life and lots of things, especially shopping. Claire was a fashion lover too. About the braces, she made me hesitate about cancelling the treatment but even if her treatment was probably a lot harder, I'm not ready to start treatment for myself. I went to bed thinking to give a call to Dr. Gipsen's office the next morning to ask if it was still possible to cancel everything.

Its interesting when reading a story by someone for whom English is a second language, i can see a certain amount of your own native language structures in there... but what us much more interesting is seeing the various aspects of small things (and also people's attitudes to things) that are different in your country to mine (England)... these are actually great things to see in someone's writing.... (in fact I often do this on purpose, just to annoy any Americans, who like to think they are English!).

So don't worry that your writing is not in perfect English, it is absolutely understandable, and enjoyable!

Great story !! Please continue

Thank you all for your support. I think reviews are important to go on writing.

Its interesting when reading a story by someone for whom English is a second language, i can see a certain amount of your own native language structures in there... but what us much more interesting is seeing the various aspects of small things (and also people's attitudes to things) that are different in your country to mine (England)... these are actually great things to see in someone's writing.... (in fact I often do this on purpose, just to annoy any Americans, who like to think they are English!).

I'd like to discuss more about that, especially the difference between our countries about people's attitude. Maybe a new topic should be created about that !

By the way, here is the new chapter, still with Braceface2015's help. Alecja could have her braces on soon 

Chap 7 The regrets and the resignation

I woke up at 10 AM this morning because I did not sleep well last night. I could not stop questioning myself about my treatment and being disturbed by the pain caused by the spacers. It was very painful when I woke up and I immediately had to take a painkiller.

After a breakfast with only drinks - I could not eat something at all because of the pain -, I called the orthodontist's office to ask my question about cancelling my treatment.

-   "Hi, Dr. Jshipshen's office. What can I do for you? Shlshlshl," a woman said.

-   “Hello, Alecja Pacejka on the phone, is that you Suzan?”

-   “Yeshh, it ishh, Are the shpaschersh okay, shlshlshl?”

-   "Quite painful but this is not why I'm calling you. Well, Suzan, I thought a lot about starting orthodontic treatment last night and I'm not sure I want to do it for now. I'd like to cancel everything, waiting for a little bit more to be sure to do it or not," I said.

-   “Ohh, Shhorry to hear szhat, slhslhslh. I know it’sh not eazhy for you to do shuschh a treatment, slhslhslh. But I szhink it’sh too late to do it now. The contract you have signed containszh a clauszhe according to whischh if you shtop the treatment or you’re not compliant at any time, you will have to pay an indemnity of  £8,000, slhslhslh.” she said.

-   “…but… but… hmm… are you sure, because I did not really start the treatment yet and I only signed the contract yesterday night?” I asked.

-   “Yesh, I am shure. Szhish ish to compel pashientsh not to shtop szheir treatment before szhe end, whischh could damage szheir dentition, slhslhslh. And actually, szhe treatment haszh already started with the moldszh and the shpascherszh, slhslhslh,” she replied.

-   "Oh no… What if you ask Dr. Gipsen if, as an exception, she accepts to break the contract without any indemnity? I am ready to pay whatever you ask for the molds and the spacers." I asked, a little bit confused.

-   "Oh, I shhouldn't do szhat. Dr. Jshipshen ish intranszhijshent with szhat kind of requesht, slhslhslh. You know, schhe ish very shtrict wiszh Shtaschey and myshelf too and wouldn't accshept susch a requesht if one of ush ashk it, slhslhslh. Lishten to me, it could be worshe for you wiszh your treatment after, slhslhslh," she said.

-   “You’re scaring me. Is she that horrible?” I said.

-   "Schhe ish not horrible. Schhe ish jusht very shtrict and likesh to have the e|ntire control in what she doeszh. I shhould not tell you szhat but about on|e year ago, slhslhslh, I ashked for a delay to get my forshush ap|pliansche becauszhe my vacashionsh shtart the day after and I did not want to have it during szhat time, slhslhslh. Schhe refuszhed and put szhe forshush appliansche on and added a lip bumper on szhe lower jaw, whisch waszh not shupposzhed to be plasched at all, I shtill have boszh on, slhslhslh. I alwaysh szhought schhe added zhe lip bumper becaushe of my demand of delay," she said.

-   “Oh my god, I don’t know what these appliances look like but it sounds not good. I hope she did not do that because of your request. Okay, I won’t insist anymore. Thanks for the information Suzan and have a good day!”

-   “Szhanksh Alecjsha, you too! Bye.”

I was totally upset by what Suzan told me. £8,000 to pay if I wanted to stop now and it was not an option. But the worst is Dr. Gipsen looked like she was very rude with her patients, punishing them if they were not compliant enough.

I thought at this time it was better to stop questioning too much about starting orthodontic treatment, which was definitely going to start in two weeks. I was so afraid of it.

Staying upset for the rest of the day, I did not go out today, preferring trying to relax with gym, meditation and several cups of tea. I only ate soap and apple compote today because of the spacers.

The two weeks passed quickly, the pain caused by the spacers decreasing. During that time, I wondered a lot how it would be to have braces and what kind of appliance I may have, hoping I would only have brackets and nothing affecting my speech like Suzan or Stacey. I was surprised to think sometimes positively about the braces, about how intriguing they are, how was it to kiss someone or do other things with your partner, taking care not to hurt him. On second thought, I told myself I did not find braces that disgusting or awful. Okay, it is metal stuck in the mouth but I was not shocked or found it repulsive when I saw all these persons with braces at the orthodontist's office. On the contrary, I thought, 'At least, they take care of themselves'. I was sure I would not be pleased to have them on but it was not such a disaster. I had other assets to highlight and I should deal being two years in braces. I finally thought that maybe I could find a boyfriend who would not be bothered by it.

During that time, I also was more focused on the teeth of people that I met at work, in the street, at the supermarket, searching for a sign of present or past braces. I only saw teenagers with braces. For the adults, there is a simple rule: whether their teeth are straight, so there is a very high probability they had braces before, or their teeth are slightly or strongly crooked, which look not less repulsive than having braces and which means they did not have braces (or they did not care about the retention part).

The stress began to grow up at the start of the second week. My treatment was officially going to start on Friday, the 15th of June. I had to remember that date. I could not stop telling myself I should probably be free on the 15th of June in two years.

Thanks a lot !

Here is the following, still with the precious help of Braceface2015.

Chapter 8 D-day

The big day has come. Friday, the 15th of June finally arrived. When the alarm sounded, at 6:30 AM., I immediately thought about the big change going to happen on this day. I saw outside it was raining and the weather app on my phone told me it was for the whole day. The announced temperature was fine (21° C), so I decided to wear a grey mid-length close-fitting sleeveless dress, very classy, under a white suit jacket, with sheer shiny flesh-colored tights and a pair of black 11 cm stiletto thin high-heeled peep-toe ankle strap pumps, with a 2 cm platform. I chose to leave my hair wavy with a stripe on the side, slightly pulled back. Like every working day, I wore my glasses.

I was stressed a lot all day, trying to stay focused on my work tasks, but I did make a lot of tiny mistakes. During the day, I often thought about cancelling the appointment on the pretext of having an impediment but I hate lying and doing that kind of thing, especially for medical appointments, because I took the place of another patient and it was too late to replace me (and I also thought to the £8000 indemnity for non-compliant patients). So, I did not.

I told Janet the truth about my treatment, which was supposed to start today. She was compassionate and supportive, saying it was worth it.

I did not want this workday to come to an end, but at 4:30 PM., I had to convince myself to leave if I did not want to be late for my appointment. Indeed, I wanted to go through my apartment to refresh and shower myself and change my clothes to go more relaxed to the appointment.

I got into my car and started driving the 10 km road between my job’s place and my apartment in the city center. Unfortunately, I did not know why this happened today, but I fell into unusual traffic, probably caused by an accident, which delayed me a lot.

I arrived at my apartment at 5:20 PM, leaving me not enough time to take a shower, change clothes and go to the orthodontist’s office, because I had to leave at 5:40 to be sure not to be late. I had to resign myself not to go with comfy clothes this time and keep the same outfit on even if it was not very comfortable.

I had to hurry a little bit. I went to the bathroom, refreshed my face, adjusted my slight makeup, put on deodorant and took a look at myself. I thought it would be a good idea to take some photos of my face without braces, so I took a dozen of photos of my face, smiling with teeth or without to keep several points of comparison. I did not have the time to stress too much during this time, only thinking to hurry up.

Ready on time, the moment came to leave my home, with an umbrella because it was still raining a little bit. I had to walk only 1.5 km or so and my high-heeled pumps did not bother me too much to walk that kind of distance.

On the journey to the orthodontist's office, I tried de-dramatizing the situation, thinking about what Claire told me, that it was not such a big deal to have braces and it was temporary. Besides, we had settled on another phone call after the appointment for me to tell her how it went. I said to myself I could invite her to my home for lunch or dinner on the weekend, because I supposed I would not want to go out the first weekend with braces.

Arrived at Dr. Gipsen's office at 5:55 PM, I began feeling extremely nervous. I entered the office, put my umbrella in the umbrella stand placed in the entry and went to Suzan's desk. She was wearing her light yellow sweater over a light blue mid-thigh length skirt, sheer flesh-colored tights and black 10 cm high heeled strappy sandals with a 1 cm platform.

After salutations, Suzan invited me to sit in the waiting room, with her usual lisp, without saying anything about our last conversation. She only asked me gently if I was ready for the big day. I said ‘as much as I can’ and I went to the waiting room.

There were four persons waiting in the waiting room.
-   A boy aged approximately 12 or 13 years old, with a strange voice when he replied to my “hi”.
-   A fair-haired girl aged approximately 15-16 years old. She did not reply and stay focused on her phone.
-   A red-haired girl aged approximately 14 years old. She had the same appliance as the boy the first time I came, with straps around the head and a metal frame going into the mouth in front of the lips; I had learnt on the web since the last time it was called 'headgear'.
-   A woman aged around 50 years old. She was beautiful and very well dressed, wearing a dark green suit and yellow 8 cm heeled sandals with no platform and a few straps on her feet covered with a thin layer of nylon. I could not say if it was tights, stockings or socks. Her blonde hair was dressed in a bun. She replied too, too quickly to see if she had something in her mouth or if she was a mommy waiting for her children.

The TV screen indicated 10 minutes remaining to my appointment with Dr. Gipsen.

Suzan came five minutes later to call "Peter", the boy with the strange voice, and "Katy", the red-haired girl with the strapped appliance two minutes after.

The next one would probably be me.

Suzan came back 5 minutes after, saying “Mishish Pascheshka”.

That was it. The dreaded moment arrived. My heart was pounding like never before, feeling so stressed in my dress which became suddenly too tight and too short. After a deep breath, I stood up and followed her to the examination room where Dr. Gipsen and Stacey were preparing a lot of stuff next to the dental chair where I was invited to sit by Dr. Gipsen, after she said, "Good evening Mrs. Pacejka." I replied the same to her and Stacey and took a seat.

Dr. Gipsen had her hair done like last time and wore the same outfit as the last time, except the flesh-colored tights, and her shoes were beige 14 cm high heeled peep-toe pumps, with a 3 cm platform, and uncovered heels. I thought this woman loved heels as much as I did and dared to wear provocative shoes. She seemed so powerful and sure of herself despite her braces. It was impressive.

Stacey wore her light blue lab coat over white trousers and white 5 cm heeled sandals with a few straps on nude feet. I found her feet were quite beautiful.

Going right to the point without any preliminaries, Dr. Gipsen explained to me what they were going to do on this day: put a quad-helix with a special tongue crib on top and an expander on the bottom, this to create some space and expand the arches as much as possible. This required her to put full-banded brackets on several teeth: four molars on top and 4 molars and 2 pre-molars on the bottom. Then she was going to glue the brackets on all the other teeth and that would be all for this day.

She did not give me the chance to ask any questions. I quickly remembered what an expander would look like on the internet, which did not reassure me at all, but the other things, tongue crib, full-banded braces and quad helix I did not recognise. During the talk, I noticed some kind of metal appliances prepared on the table next to us and it seemed very bulky for one mouth. I said to myself, 'everything was not for me.'

Stacey put thick orange glasses on me and placed the cheek retractor then. Dr. Gipsen, with Stacey's help, removed the spacers and cleaned cautiously each tooth of my mouth. After that, she began to make different attempts to place the appliances surrounding some of my teeth. I feel her use some strength sometimes to make the appliance fit. She did that for the upper, then for the lower jaw. At this time, I felt a lot of stuff in my mouth, without understanding which of it was supposed to stay. She removed everything and asked Stacey to prepare the glue. Then Dr. Gipsen put the glue on my teeth and placed the appliances back. Stacey turned on the blue light gun at several places. My mouth was becoming very dry.

On the next step, Dr. Gipsen placed cautiously the brackets on the other teeth and glued them, with Stacey's help by turning on the blue light. She also added something on the top of two of my lower molars, called ‘bite blocks’, that she dried with the blue light too.

On the final step, Dr. Gipsen placed a thin wire on each jaw and fixed it with tiny grey elastics on each bracket, without asking me the color I wanted (I have read sometimes you can choose the color, but anyway, I would probably have chosen grey ones).

The total operation lasted a little less than two hours, leaving me most of the time with my completely dried mouth widely opened with the cheek retractor in it.

In the end, Dr. Gipsen said, "Okay, it's finished for today." Stacey removed the cheek retractor, letting me feel what there was on and behind my teeth. I will always remember what I felt at this time. I felt lots of high tension on each of my teeth. I had the impression that there was no more free space in my mouth. I did not know where to place my tongue which was hitting on something on the top, on the bottom and forward. The brackets seemed to me so bulky. Passing my lips over my teeth several times, I believed I had several rows of teeth instead of one. I noticed when I bit down, my lower and my upper jaws could not touch each other because of the bite blocks. I understood why this name was given to them. I was then invited by Doctor Gipsen to rinse my mouth, which I immediately did to get some saliva back, after long minutes of rinsing.

Dr. Gipsen asked, "Everything is okay?"

-   “Yesh, maybe, bud’h I szhink you forgod’h d‘ho remove shomeszhing in my mouszh,”  I tried to say. I could not talk properly with all that stuff inside, especially the thing in front of my tongue. I especially had to find a way to pronounce the “t” differently. My voice sounded weird too.

-   “No, I did not. Everything is in place now for the beginning of your treatment. I’m going to place other appliances the next time but you need to get used to these first. Your speech is affected for now but should improve with practice, don’t worry. Don’t be surprised because of the excess of saliva the appliances will create for the first days,” she said.

-   “Sho, you mean everyszhing shd’hayszh in plasche for now? Pleazh, could you ad’h leashd’h remove jusdh’h one szhing for now? I wond’h be able d’ho shd’hand all szhad’h sd’huff in my mouszh. I shd’hill can’d’h bid’he properly,” I asked.

-   "This won't be possible. You're gonna have to deal with it but you're gonna get used to it. Stacey will give you some advice on how to brush your teeth and get your mouth clean with everything needed at first in this kit. You must have impeccable dental hygiene. You also have to arrange another appointment in about a month," she said. Then she gave me a small packet with some stuff like a toothbrush and other things inside.

-   “Okay, szhank you,” I said, starting to feel saliva forming in my mouth.

-   "By the way, nice outfit!" Dr. Gipsen said.

I was so surprised by these first kind words from her that I could not say anything and just smiled.

Then, Dr. Gipsen stood up and walked out of the room with her natural class, with the typical noise of her shoes at each step. I began admiring her for her strength and her class, even if she was very rude.

After telling me it will get better, understanding me perfectly for going through the same things, Stacey asked me if I wanted to look at myself in a mirror. I nodded and she gave me a mirror. I took a quick look at my face and profile, with an instant smile where I could only see tons of metal on my teeth. I noticed that even with my mouth shut, I could see some slight growths everywhere under my lips.

She then explained to me how to take care of my dental hygiene, braces and other appliances, specifically how to brush my teeth cautiously. She also told me how to use the key for the expander and how to use the products contained in the kit: the tiny toothbrush to pass behind the braces, the wax to relieve irritations of the cheeks or the tongue and the gel to treat the possible ulcers. She advised me to take painkillers to prevent the pain for the first few days.

It was so hard to talk that I chose not asking questions of Stacey. I just wanted to hide myself and cry but I tried to stay strong in front of the dental assistant, even if I was starting to have tears in my eyes.

We arranged together the next appointment on Friday, the 13th of July at 1 P.M. I wanted an after-work appointment, because I was off from this Friday night for 3 weeks but Dr Gipsen’s calendar was full at this time.

She finally came with me to the exit door of the office and we said goodbye. I did not dare to look at anything when I was walking from the office, preferring to look at the ground. It was already around 8 P.M.