Thank to everyone who commented !

Good morning,
The points in common are many and I must say simple to list.
I am a 41 year old woman I live abroad for work I am single.
She is now back with the fixed braces for the same problems as the protagonist of this story.
As I said in the previous post, I don't write much but I always read.
I can confidently tell you that this is a story that women like too!
Good day
Francesca

Glad to know you like it, despite te common problems with the main character.

Here is the next chapter, still with Braceface2015's help.


Chapter 11 The weekend after with Claire (part 2)

On Sunday morning, the sun crossing the shutter was illuminating the wall when I opened my eyes. Claire was staring at me, fully awake, with her beautiful green eyes, her head on the pillow, caressing my shoulder and arm with back and forth movements with her fingers. “Hi beauty,” she said.

-   “Hello shweed’heard’h,” I said with my matinal lispy voice, noticing a little bit of drool on my pillow.

-   “Did you sleep well?” Claire asked.

-   “Yesh, and you?” I said.

-   “Very well but my head is hurting. Probably too much alcohol last night,” Claire said.

-   “Szhe sshame for me, slhslhslh. And my d’heeszh, my d‘hongue and my schheek hurd’h sho bad d’hoday. Have you been awake for a long d‘hime? slhslhslh,” I said.

-   “About 15 minutes. I was admiring you. You are very beautiful. And I could not get off your bed alone anyway (laugh),” Claire said.

-   “Szhanksh, even if I drooled on szhe pillow. Waid’h, I’m gonna help you. Led’h me jushd’h go d‘ho szhe baszhroom firshd’h, slhslhslh,” I said.

-   “Be my guest, and I do not have the choice anyway (laugh). By the way, I’ll need you to do the same after you,” Claire said.

It was 9 A.M. I went to the bathroom and came back to help her to transfer to her wheelchair. We went to the bathroom together and I helped her to remove her catheter and clean everything. 

We both wanted to take our breakfast before going to shower, so I prepared coffee and croissants. I had to take a painkiller to eat something. Even eating something soft like a croissant was painful.

During the breakfast, I asked her, "Claire, whad'h do you szhink aboud'h whad'h did happen lashd'h nighd'h ? Are we girlfriendszh or shomeszhing, slhslhslh?" She started laughing and said "Hell no. Do you really want us to be girlfriends? Alecja, you're gorgeous and I really appreciated the moment we had. It was fantastic. But I love guys too much to become a "girlfriend" of another girl. However, as long as we're both single, I'm ready to sleep with you again at any time you want. I loved our sensuality and I really appreciated your kisses with your full-of-metal mouth."

-   “I feel relieved becauszhe I love guyszh too, I guessh. Bud’h I cand’h waid’h d‘ho kissh you and make love wizh you again, slhslhslh,” I said.

-   "So, we're on the same page. Let's say we're free to do it at any time. I'm very open-minded and you really have to feel free with me. Give me a sensual French kiss now!" she said.

-   "Shorry, I cand'h for now because I have plend'hy of, slhslhslh, foods sd'huck in my braschesh, but I'm okay d'ho do id'h again, whenever you wand'h," I said.

I gave her a small kiss on the mouth and after breakfast, we went to the bathroom to get prepared. Just after brushing my teeth and helping Claire to brush her teeth, we decided to go to my large Italian shower together where I helped her to get undressed and transfer on a waterproof stool. She was leaning her back against the wall to stay straight because she had no more abs and bad balance. I turned on the shower faucet, took off my clothes and came under the shower with her after pushing her wheelchair back. I moved my stomach near her head and she started kissing and licking me at that level, then under. I felt very aroused. I stooped down to her to kiss her tenderly on the mouth while I was touching her breast with one hand and moving the fingers of my other hand toward her crotch, caressing her in this area. She did the same. We spent an intense moment together under the shower, lasting at least 15 minutes.

After I turned off the shower faucet, I wiped myself and Claire asked me to wipe her, which I did, passing slowly and sensually on every part of her body, taking a little more time around her thighs, her breasts and her crotch. During this time, we kissed each other languorously several times. Then I helped her to transfer into her wheelchair, naked under her towel, her arms around my neck. Just after she was sitting in her wheelchair and while I was adjusting her feet on the footplate, she grabbed my head with her arms to give me another sensual kiss lasting about 5 precious minutes.

Then I dried my hair and held the hairdryer for Claire to dry her own hair. She did her hair loose herself, holding the brush with her two paralyzed hands.

Then we went to my bedroom to get dressed. I took Claire’s outfit from her bag. She asked me to dress her entirely, as she wanted to play an intimate game. I put her panties on first. I enjoyed lifting her legs then her body, taking advantage to caress her everywhere. I put her bra on then, taking, of course, the advantage to touch her firm breasts. She asked me to put her sheer shiny flesh-colored tights on. I took her left leg, lifted it up gently and started pulling up the tights very slowly along her leg to the middle of the leg. Then I did the same for the left leg. It was not easy at all because her legs were completely inert, except the moment when her left leg suddenly started shaking during 5 minutes. A little embarrassed, she apologized. She said these spasms regularly happen in the paralyzed parts of her body and she could not control them at all. I felt so sorry for her that she had to endure that kind of thing in addition to the rest. Claire wrapped my neck with her arms again and I lifted her butt up to pull up the tights to the waist. I let her sit on her chair then. I put her short black shorts on, caressing her soft thin legs covered by tights, and her sleeveless yellow t-shirt. I laced her black corset above her t-shirt as she wanted and I finally put her black 9 cm high-heeled strappy sandals on her paralyzed feet. She was so stunning with such a look.

I got dressed myself then, choosing to wear a white long low-cut dress on the legs, with a lot of small yellow and blue flowers, with sheer flesh-colored tights under and brown solid buckled T-strap thin 11.5 cm high-heeled sandals with no platform. I did my slightly curly hair loose and put in my contact lenses.

Of course, we congratulated each other for our looks.

We were both ready at 11 A.M.

Claire gave me a hand to prepare the meal for lunch: homemade lasagna. I took another painkiller to relieve the pain. Of course, food got stuck in my braces, but I brushed my teeth just after the meal.

We took our coffee in the living room, sitting very close, caressing and kissing sometimes. Claire suggested going for a walk outside and having a drink. It was a sunny and very hot day (+ 28 °C).

I felt so confident with her that I said yes, without hesitation, despite my silversmile.

We prepared ourselves and went out for a walk in the big park of the city with our sunglasses on. We took Claire’s stuff with us to put in the car so she could go after the walk. Due to the distance from my home to the park, we had to go there by car. Claire preferred to take her car because she is used to transferring in and out. I helped her to do it and she drove to the park.

Arriving at the parking lot, Claire took a disabled spot near the park’s entry. While I was helping her to get out of the car, I felt suddenly aroused the moment I took her legs to adjust them in her wheelchair. They were so soft with the nylon covering them that despite the fact we were outside, I could not resist the temptation to caress them. This seemed to please her and she grabbed my head to approach with her own and gave me a tender kiss on my mouth, whereas we were in public and everybody could see us. I replied to her kiss by giving her a short but intense kiss.

The park was crowded with Sunday walkers. We walked (and rolled) for an hour, as friends but with a few discreet gestures between us testifying of our new ‘complicity’. Even if no one cared, I was a little embarrassed to smile with my teeth even though I was spending an amazing afternoon with my best (and almost girl-) friend. We then moved to the terrace of a bar to have a drink. The waiter, a tall and sporty brown-haired handsome man, who was about our age, came to us and asked, “Hello there. How could I help you two beautiful ladies to get refreshed on this beautiful and hot day?”

-   “Please bring me a glass of Coca-cola zero with a slice of lemon, with no ice because I’m not that hot for the moment,” Claire replied, looking at him with charming eyes and a wide smile.

-   “A glass of Coca zero with a slice of lemon for the charming chilly lady, and for you, beautiful eyes?” he said slightly provocatively.

I was looking for a drink with no “t” or “s” to avoid feeling stupid with my lisp or something but I did not want ‘vodka’, the first word coming.

-   “Hmmm… a cold lemonade,” I replied shortly, without articulating too much to avoid letting him see my teeth.

-   “Do you want a slice of lemon too with it?” he asked.

-   “Yesh, pleazh, slhslhslh,” I replied, unable to avoid lisping and slurping and started blushing because of the embarrassment suddenly created.

He stared at me for a few seconds, probably questioning, and said loudly, “And a lemonade with a slice of lemon too for the shy hottie! I’m bringing you this straight away ladies!” and he left.

-   “Handshome bud’h quid’he heavy, slhslhslh,” I said to Claire.

-   “I could say yes for one night,” Claire said, laughing.

The waiter brought us our drinks 5 minutes later and we spent two hours chatting. During this time, Claire told me the waiter could not stop looking in our direction and thought he could have a crush for me.

At that moment, Claire went to the toilets. The waiter took the opportunity to come and talk to me. I immediately started feeling embarrassed.

-   “Hey you, what’s up?” he said.

-   “Hmm… No… I’m fine, I’m fine,” I replied, starting blushing.

-   “Well, I’ll be honest because I’m not fine. I’m a little confused because I find you very attractive and I really like you,” he said.

-   “Oh…” I could not reply more, being probably red like a tomato.

-   “That’s all? Are you okay?” he said.

-   “Yeah yeah … bud’h… I’m…” I said stammering, with really nothing to say in response.

-   “Well, I’m sorry. I have to go back to work before my boss sees me. Here is my number. Please call me if you want to have a drink with me. My name is Andrew by the way,” he said.

He gave me a paper with his hand-written number on it and went back to work, without any more glance.

I told Claire what happened after she came back and she started laughing, saying she was right about her feeling.

-   “And what are you going to do?” she asked.

-   “I dond’h know becauzh of my lishping and shlurping, whischh are very embarrasshing, nod’h led’hing me d‘ho d‘halk properly,” I replied, looking down, whereas Claire was gently caressing my knee and thigh over my tights.

-   “Okay, I understand, but you won’t stop living because of this tiny problem. You won’t stop meeting guys during the time you have these braces on. And I understood you every time you spoke on that weekend, there’s no problem in fact,” Claire said.

-   “Yesh, you’re righd’h. I’ll consider calling him,” I said.

After 30 minutes, we decided to go back to our home at 6 P.M., without seeing Andrew again.

Claire drove me to my flat. She pulled her car over in the disabled spot in front of my building. First we did a hug and then we kissed languorously for long minutes for the last time of the weekend, our tongues still touching through the tongue crib and Claire still exploring with hers the appliances in my mouth.

-   “I will miss this, my beauty,” she said.

-   “Sho I do. Szhank you for szhish fabuloush d‘hime my dear, slhslhslh. I cand’h waid’h d’ho shpend anoszher momend’h wiszh you,” I added.

-   “Thank you Alecja. This was also fabulous for me. We’ll do it again soon. Good luck for work tomorrow,” she said.

I got out of the car and gave her a last kiss through the window. She then left, leaving me feeling so fine on the pavement.

When I was walking back to my building, I saw Mrs. Jenkins, my 70-year-old neighbor, who watches all the time for everything that happens. She probably saw me kissing Claire, and asked me if she was my girlfriend, when I was entering the building. I denied it, saying she was just a friend, and went on my way.

At my apartment, I began feeling anxious about my day of work the next day and was especially thinking about the reactions of my colleagues when they all see my new metal smile. We talked a lot about this with Claire during the weekend and despite her comforting words and the fact it was not a big deal, I started freaking out.

This made me lose my appetite and I took a slight meal. Anyway, my teeth were still hurting. My tongue and my cheeks were hurting a lot too, injured by the contact with the appliances despite the use of wax. Maybe I talked with Claire and kissed her a little bit too much on the weekend.

I brushed my teeth, took another painkiller and a pill for anxiety and went to bed to watch a movie. But I could not stop thinking of the really good times with Claire on that weekend and still excited, I enjoyed a moment of lonely pleasure. I fell quickly asleep after that, near the middle of the movie.

I enjoy this dynamic. Thanks for sharing!

Really enjoying this story Radian! You build the tension well for the next challenges faced by the characters.

It's been a while but here is the next chapter.

Chapter 12 - Back to work

The next day, I woke up when my phone rang at 6:15 AM. I immediately thought of that first day at work with my braces because some of my colleagues are not as kind and compassionate as Claire was. I was scared to look and sound ridiculous for a young, ambitious and pretty woman like me. I thought my confidence had totally disappeared in one weekend.

My mouth was still hurting a lot. The pressure on my teeth was still present and when I looked inside, I noticed small sores in different parts where my cheeks were rubbing the brackets. My tongue was also irritated because of the quad helix, the tongue crib and the lower expander. I talked too much the days before and this was my reward. I needed to take care not to talk too much today, which is good because I did not want people to hear my lisping and slurping noises. I was afraid that they would anyway.

After breakfast, I jumped under the shower to get prepared. Out of the shower, with a towel wrapped on my body from my armpit, I took a look at myself in the mirror, trying to smile and talk in different ways. Anyone who was a little observant would notice the color of silver as soon as I pronounce a single word. And for those who were not, the lisping and slurping would advise them to stare at my mouth to understand what’s wrong.

The strange thing was, apart from the fact that it necessarily made me look younger, I kind of appreciated the look it gives me. I did not find that disgusting or something. It was not for Claire at least. I even began thinking that it looks clean and the shiny metal part could be compared to a kind of jewelry. Despite the pain, the discomfort and the lisp, it was not that bad. Okay, I was saying that to myself in front of my mirror, but I am sure I will feel very embarrassed in front of colleagues and clients.

Then, I cautiously brushed my teeth to not leave any part of food in the braces and I got dressed. I decided to wear some discreet clothes, to not attract attention: a white, tight, elbow-length t-shirt under a navy blue classic jacket, a beige knee-length pencil skirt, thin nude tights and black peep-toe 10 cm heeled boots with no platform. I left my straightened hair loose.

I drove to my company, parked my car in the parking and stood in front of the entrance door. I took a deep breath, entered the building and went to my office. Janet greeted me kindly, telling me I was stunning and asking me how my weekend and my orthodontist appointment were. She was alone, so I immediately smiled at her with all my teeth. I saw an air of compassion in her reaction, meaning like "poor girl, I feel so sorry for you," but she really said, hesitantly, "It's better than the braces I had."

“You can be honeshd’h Jane’h, id’sh awful, slhslhslh,” I said.

“No, no, it’s not that bad really but your speech sounds…different, doesn’t it?” she asked.

“Yeah, I nod’h only have bracked’hsh on all my ‘heeszh but I alsho have applianschesh behind szhem, on d‘hop and bod’hom, slhslhslh,” I replied.

“But reassure me, you can take them off?” she asked, astonished.

“No, szhey are fixshshed (ouch, impossible to say I thought) inshide, slhslhslh,… bud’h id’hsh okay, slhslhslh,” I replied.

“Oh my poor dear, and how long do you have to wear them?” she asked.

"I don'dh know exshacd'hly, aboud'h d'hwo yearzh, slhslhslh, for szhe bracked'hsh and probably
 lesh for szhe oszher applianschesh, slhslhslh," I replied.

"You should tell the bosses because you may have some difficulties doing several tasks like speaking on the phone or receiving clients," she said.

“Yesh, you’re righd’h but I dond’h feel szhat my schpeechh is improving, slhslhslh, id’h shhould normally,” I said.

We then went back to work. Janet would not stop assisting me like I was sick or disabled. It was cute from her. She was really compassionate, still more than usual.

I asked for a meeting with my two bosses to explain what was happening to me and that I needed to start a probable two years orthodontic treatment. Despite a kind of surprise, they said it did not change anything as long as I could do everything I had to do, like talking on the phone or receiving clients, which I confirmed (thinking it would be tough at first). They were very supportive and said not to hesitate to come to talk about any difficulties which could be caused by my treatment. They also said that even if clients could be surprised on the phone or in a meeting, they should understand and if they did not, it was not a big deal. They gave me their trust again, which reassured me.

The day passed in a better way than I had imagined. Most of the colleagues I saw noticed my braces and were very nice and understanding with me, repeatedly telling me that I was doing that for my health. The others were totally indifferent, like they did not notice anything or they pretended not to notice anything. I had a few reactions, especially for men who had been flirting a little with me, who were more distant than before, like they were afraid or disgusted by the braces, which disappointed me a little.

It was 5:00 PM, half an hour remaining to go home, and Boris came to my desk. ‘Please not him,’ I said to myself.

“Alecja, can you fill this bill for me and send it to the client ?” he said.

“Okay,” I said, without saying anything more and praying in my head for him to leave just after his sentence.

“But you need to check cautiously the two first lines first and to charge VAT after, on the total amount. You got it?” he said, talking to me like a newbie.

"Yesh Okay okay, slhslhslh," I said, without any possibility to avoid slurping at the end of the sentence.

He stared at me suddenly, trying to find what was wrong with my few words.

“Please say ‘cheese’. I want to check something,” he said.

I did not know what to do and started flushing, embarrassed about what was going to happen.

“Bud’h…okay…. I… I’ll bring you the documend’h you ashked in your offische, slhslhslh,” I said.

Oh my god, You did an Ugly Betty! You got your train tracks! And when is the next departure?” he said loudly, thinking he was funny.

I was all red and I could not say anything, starting to have tears in my eyes. I stood up and left for the restrooms, where I started crying. He looked at me leaving with a sadistic smile and went back to his office upstairs. Janet told him he went too far but he did not seem to think the same, pretty satisfied about what has happened, like always. It was the first time he hurt me like this. I could not say anything without making the situation worse because of my ****ing braces. I felt so vulnerable that day.

Then, I started thinking about what Dr. Gipsen, the strong and classy braced orthodontist woman, could have said to him. I was sure she would never have let it happen to herself. Maybe she would have taken one of her very high stiletto-heeled shoes to plant it in his mouth, or tied him on her dental chair to put massive and bulky appliances on his teeth. That's what I wanted to do at this time. Then I suddenly realized it was bullshit, that I should not let myself be hurt by him. I am still the same: a strong and beautiful woman. A lot of women of my age and more wear braces too, and I chose to start this journey for my health. I came back to my desk with confidence, nearly ready to resume the fight, but he had left. I did not see him again that day and I put the document he asked for on his desk.

After work, I went back home, thinking this day was not that bad. Most of my colleagues, even my bosses, were pretty compassionate and caring and I did not have to worry so much about their reactions. But the incident with Boris made me upset.

Back at home, I decided to take a bath after my traditional soup dinner and listen to classical music to relax myself. It was a delightful moment, thinking once again of what happened with Claire the last weekend. I took a lot of pleasure trying to recreate this moment again, licking my lips and covered-by-metal teeth and touching myself.

Out of the bath, I took a look at myself in the mirror and tried to smile with my teeth. I said to myself, I was starting to appreciate my look with my metallic smile, like the rude but gorgeous Dr. Gipsen.

I went to bed, thinking of the next day at work, what I was going to wear and what kind of reactions would I receive to my braces. I also took another moment of lonely pleasure before sleeping, by thinking of the same thing from in the bath.

awesome

Great job @radian, glad you started back up!

Whilst it is a tiny bit annoying to have lots of other threads and stories pushing my own stories down the list :-( it is GREAT to see others writing stories.

You've written so many, there is probably enough content to warrant a little sub-section of your own!

But quite agree - @radian, keep up the good work!

Thanks for the comments !
 
Here is the next part :

Chapter 13 - To the second appointment

I finally got used to the braces after three weeks. The discomfort and the pain decreased gradually. On the contrary, my ability to eat solid food was back to how it was before.

During that time, my speech also clearly improved, but I could not get rid of the lisping & slurping totally. Some of my relatives have remarked to me.

I did not go out too often, too embarrassed to show my silver smile. I went once to the theatre with a friend and another time, got a drink with Claire and other friends at a pub. I stayed very close to Claire that night and tried to hide our new 'relationship' from the rest of the table, even if we both took turns taking the risk to get intimate gazes, gestures or caresses from each other on that night.

We also met in private several times together at her home or mine and as two single open-minded women, we of course made love, with the same sensuality and pleasure as the first time. Her relationship with Walter has been growing a little bit since then. They met for the first time at the end of June and it seemed to work between us. Another date is scheduled after Walter's vacation at the start of August. They were not a couple yet, but it was taking its course.

As far as I am concerned, I was too shy to look and smile around me outside, I did not see any approaching man. The ones who came for an approach quickly turned around when they saw my shining metal mouth. My sex appeal and my pride had taken a hit.

At work, I did my best to overcome the braces problems. My bosses and colleagues were amazing, pretending to not see or notice anything wrong with my braces or the lisping, except Boris of course. Each time I saw him, he laughed at me with hurting words or crude imitations, going so far that he made me feel really bad for the rest of the day. I did not know what was going wrong with him, but this guy seems to have no mercy or empathy.

We came to the 9th of July and I started thinking about my orthodontist's appointment at the end of the week. I began to feel nervous about the idea of new appliances, as Dr. Gipsen seemed to indi-cate at the last appointment. I tried to relax a little, saying to myself it was impossible to add anything more to my full-of-metal mouth.

On the morning of the 13th of July, my ortho’s appointment was scheduled for 1 PM. I prepared myself, keeping in mind I could not go home before this appointment and I had to go back to work after it, before starting my three weeks vacation time.

By the way, we decided with Claire to go on vacation together in Barcelona from the 21st of July to the 4th of August. We booked a 4 stars hotel room near the beach to enjoy our time together. I could not wait to be there. I hoped I might be more liberated from not being in my usual environment, where I could meet people I know, even if the idea to go on vacation with my metal stuff caused some concern.

It was a sunny and hot day (26 °C announced), so I chose to wear a pale yellow mid-thigh summer dress with sheer-colored extra thin tights, and 10 cm square-heeled multi-strap sandals, with no plat-form. I did my hair back with a ponytail and decided to wear my black rectangular glasses instead of my contact lenses.

The morning at work went by fast. I quickly ate my pasta meal without being very hungry and jumped into my car at 12:40 AM and drove to the orthodontist's office. The car parked, I started feeling very nervous once again.

I entered the office where there was no one at the reception desk. Suzan was probably taking her lunch break. So I went to sit on my own in the waiting room and said 'hi'.

Only two persons were waiting :
-   A boy aged about 16, with red hair, who replied to me, letting me see his metallic smile,
-   and a woman aged about 25, with loose blonde wavy hair, dressed in a white short summer dress with bare legs and white flat strappy sandals. She was very cute and replied to me with a big smile with very crooked teeth but no braces. I thought maybe she was at her first ap-pointment.

Like the first times with other patients, they probably noticed my silver smile. If the boy was indifferent to it, I saw the girl seeming a little concerned about it, like I was the first time. I could perfectly imagine what she thought.

The TV screen indicated a 15 minutes wait for Dr. Gipsen. I thought at that time, if the appointment was going to last too long, I'll be late for work and my vacation could start later.

After 15 minutes, Stacey come into the waiting room and said my name, with her usual lisp. She wore her light blue coat, over white trousers and navy blue 2 cm heeled sandals with her nude beau-tiful feet. She greeted me and asked me how I’d been since the last appointment. I replied, with my own lisp, that it was very difficult at first but finally dealt with it.

In the examination room, Dr. Gipsen, sitting on her rolling stool, was finishing preparing her stuff. I saw a lot of stuff on the table and hoped it was not for me this time. As usual, she had her blond hair pulled back in a bun and glasses. She wore her white blouse over a white mid-thigh skirt this time, sheer-colored tights and orange and glossy 14 cm high-heeled peep-toe pumps. She still was so classy and beautiful.

She greeted me and asked me to sit in the chair. She asked me how I have been since the last time. I replied the same as I said to Stacy. She did not seem to care about my answer and told me she had to check if everything was okay, replace the ligatures around the brackets and install my other appli-ances. I looked at her with astonished eyes, asking what kind of appliances she was going to fit. She replied, "a headgear to get my back teeth back and a bottom lip bumper to make some space and keep the lower lip away from the lower arch."

If I did not exactly know what was a lip bumper, I immediately felt panic when I heard the word 'headgear'. I knew exactly what it was since I saw some teenage patients wearing that kind of appli-ance in the waiting room, but I believed it was only for children or teenagers. I asked if another less invasive appliance could replace the headgear.

She said briefly, "no, that won't be possible," and asked me to lie down and open my mouth. She checked everything, asking me to bite up and down several times. Then she replaced every ligature around my braces without changing the wire. She asked me to choose the color this time and a little disconcerted by this question, I chose the same grey I had. She placed the cheek retractor and took one appliance from the table, probably the large wire of the headgear, and tried several times to fit it into the tubes of my upper last molars. After a few adjustments, she said it was okay. She left it in place and connected a large navy blue head strap to the wire with small plastic parts with several holes. After that, she tried to fit the other appliance to the tubes of my lower last molars, probably the lip bumper she showed me before. It was an arched wire which was covered by a large plastic part on the front. After some adjustments, she asked Stacey's help to cement it with the blue light. It meant I would not be able to remove it. I immediately felt pressure on my last molars.

When she removed the cheek retractor, in addition to all the metal inside my mouth, I could feel a quite large wire on the corners of my lips, and a large piece of plastic behind my lower lip. I could no longer close my mouth properly because my lips did not naturally cover my lower teeth completely. I could not stop trying to.

Dr. Gipsen asked Stacey to tell me how to care for and remove the headgear. Before leaving, she said I needed to wear it 12 hours a day at first and encouraged me to wear it more often, as much as I could. She advised me to wear it as soon as I go back home from work till I went back to work and to remove it only to eat. I immediately thought in my head it would be good if I could keep that thing in for more than a couple of hours. Then I said to myself, 'When am I supposed to have a social life? Only at work?' She also told me to arrange with Suzan another appointment in a month or so.

I tried to take off the headgear to leave the office, but Stacey told me that I should keep it in place to get used to it. I said to myself, 'No way I keep it in a place where I can meet people'. I asked Stacey if I could try it at home instead but she insisted, reminding me I have to be as compliant as possible with my treatment. She added, that if we see Dr. Gipsen in the corridors without it just after this appointment, she could reproach me for not being compliant enough.

I was freaked out about the idea of going out with the headgear on, but I resigned myself to doing it. So I took my purse, left the examination room and started walking in the long corridor going to the entrance, keeping my head and eyes down, with my free hand next to my face, trying to hide as much as I could. I knew it was useless, but I did not know how to deal with this new such visible appliance on my head.

It was 2 P.M and I was pretty sure there were people in the waiting room, but I did not dare to look. I had to stop at Suzan's desk to arrange the next appointment, so I asked her with my headgear and my impairment to talk, in maybe the most embarrassing moment of my life, what places were available in about a month. I had both of my hands around my face trying awkwardly to hide what I could not hide. She seemed compassionate and gave me the available spots. I took the 25th of August at 11 A.M, to avoid this time coming in a working day, which was always complicated.

Fortunately, no one arrived during that time and I quickly walked to the entrance door. I was about to finally go out, but I ran into the handsome man with the perfect smile that I met the last time. He was entering the office and held the entrance door for me. I quickly said "szhanksh" without any more look, still trying to hide the headgear with my hand. He did not seem so astonished by it.

Outside, I quickly ran and entered my car. I checked if anyone could see me and burst into tears. After 5 minutes, I tried to remove the headgear but I could not concentrate enough because of the panic. I thought it was stuck and I had to keep it permanently, and I had to hurry because I was already a little late for my last afternoon at work, so I decided to drive to work and to try again to remove it in my company's parking. I released my hair to hide more effectively the back part of the appliance, but it was impossible to hide the two large straps of the appliance.

On the road, I could not stop saying to myself that everyone around me was staring at me since my car's windows were not tinted. I saw a few people who seemed to notice the headgear and have a persistent look.

In the company's parking, I tried to relax with a short breathing meditation session, and I tried to remove again the headgear. I managed to do it once I found the method, with a sense of relief. There still was the problem of my big lower lip due to the lip bumper, but I could easily deal with it after fearing being forced to keep the headgear on for my last day of work. I put the headgear in the orange box that Stacey gave me and put this box in the glove compartment of the car. I quickly got my hair done and I entered the building.

Janet and some of my other colleagues noticed there was something wrong with my lower lip, but no one said anything. I had to take a painkiller that afternoon because painful tensions quickly ap-peared in my mouth. I noticed the lip bumper made me slurp with a little bit more noise, probably because more saliva was accumulating in my lower jaw. Boris came once to my office. I had become his punching bag since he noticed I had braces. He laughed at me another time because of my big lower lip and tried to imitate me by enlarging his lower lip. I thought he was just a hick, but I did not say anything to him, preferring to let it go and stay strong.

After having made up for the work time I had not done in the early afternoon and said goodbye to everyone, I left my office, relieved to be finally on vacation, even if my mouth was hurting, and drove back home.