'Bella Fiore' Teaser #2

Here's a second little look-see at 'Bella Fiore' - coming soon from Chippewa Publishing (Lady Aibell Press)

In the centre of a gigantic, airy, and light-filled room was a huge marble bathing pool with a dozen gloriously nude female statues in various poses guarding the perimeter. Four beautifully sculpted travertine fountains fed steaming water into the pool from each corner. Lush green vines dripped from Corinthian pillars that stretched to the skylights above. It was like stepping into an ancient Greco-Roman bath.

There were three other ‘patients’ in the pool, including the two women I had spotted in the lobby earlier. Like me, all were completely naked. Two women, about my age, stood with their backs to me at opposite ends of the pool in knee-deep water. An older woman, mid-sixties I guessed, reclined on the wide marble steps, almost invisible in the misty steam. All were having their bodies washed by topless female attendants, identified only by thin white sashes draped loosely around their hips, barely concealing their privates. The attendants were eerily clone-like. All had slender athletic bodies, no makeup, hair pulled back into topknots. The reclining woman smiled broadly as the attendants washed her feet. I was shocked and curious at this spectacle, but all were oblivious to my presence.

Two attendants appeared—I didn’t see or hear their approach—and led me to the pool. I wanted to ask them what was happening, but was afraid the sound of a human voice would somehow shatter this surreal scene and I’d find myself back home surrounded by dirty laundry.