"Sexual Agency is about being able to define your sexuality by the decisions you yourself make, and not by the perceptions, expectations, or opinions of others."
--Miya Yamanouchi
CHAPTER 07
The next morning, I awoke early to a phone call from my friend Brittany. She was concerned about my call the night before. After reassuring her that everything was fine, she accepted that, though I don't think she fully believed me. I'd have to tell her more another time, but so far, I just wanted to lay in bed and relax and go over the events of last night.
I still felt the same, so that was good. I wasn't as fully smitten by Aaron as I was before last night, especially with his revelation that he was engaged. I also didn't know what to think or how to feel about having to share him with his wife. On one hand, that sounded horrible. On the other, this was a new and unique experience. And let's face it, I thought, some unbridled, wild sex might do me some good. Especially since I've never had anything like that before. I laughed a little to myself at that.
I spent the rest of the day just relaxing, pondering over everything. By the afternoon, I was back to thinking about normal things again, trying to put everything out of my mind. I figured on giving it a few days and seeing if my thoughts or feelings changed at all.
Rather than just a few days, a week went by. Over that week, my thoughts turned often to Aaron and to the experiences I had at the Society meeting. Brooke actually called two days later and we made plans to meet this Saturday night to discuss the Society and for her to answer any questions I might have. I tried not to think about it too much, but I was really looking forward to talking to her. She could help me immensely in my attempts to understand what she was going through and why she did what she did, or what she got out of it.
I spent the next few days tending to my personal affairs. I was enjoying my time off, but realized I had to get back to work eventually, so that started creeping back into my thoughts. I also decided that I would stay in our home, purchasing Jonathan's interest from him, and he agreed. I had just put too much into my home to just give it up for an apartment. It also gave me a sense of being grounded, that something like my home was at least all mine, and it provided a strong sense of security for me.
Eventually, Saturday evening finally arrived and I prepared for Brooke. Rather than meet somewhere for dinner or drinks or even coffee, I volunteered my place. She said she would come by around 8:00 pm, and she ended up coming by a little early. I liked that. Most women her age were notorious for being late, so she was the exception. I wore a simple, relaxing outfit consisting of capris pants and a light blouse, not wanting to dress too formal or too casual.
When Brooke arrived, she was wearing tight, fitted dark blue jeans and long sleeve black sweater shirt, open in the front and hanging to her thighs, over a white tube top. What really dressed up the outfit was that she wasn't wearing casual shoes or even boots. She was wearing black, dressy two--and--a--half inch high-heels. Her attire was actually very nice and classy. I don't know what I was expecting, but it was actually very refreshing. She greeted me with a friendly hug, and I invited her in. I fixed us both some iced tea and we sat together on the couch, facing each together. She curled her legs up under her. We talked for a few minutes about traffic and the weather, typical small talk to break the ice. Not wanting to just dive right into the deep and sexual topics right away, I decided to keep it easy and let her open up to whatever she was comfortable with. "So tell me about yourself," I asked.
"Ok," she shrugged. "I grew up in Florida, in the panhandle, near Pensacola. My parents divorced just as I graduated high school, and I had grown sick of life on the beach, believe it or not. It made it easy for me to move here and go to college. I got a degree in marketing but actually work now in the human resources department of a local medical management company. It's not the most glamorous job, but I like it as I get to help a lot of people.
"As for relationships, I dated in college and was engaged to a guy for a few years after college before we married. He was one of those tough, bad boy types that really got me weak in the knees. That attitude is great when you are in school and running around with your college friends, but it didn't transition well after college. His drinking started to get out of control and his job suffered. He turned to harder and harder drugs and got arrested a few times. His family and I tried and tried to get him help but he spiraled out of control. The day he came home and beat me up, that was it. I packed up and left and never looked back. I've dated a few guys since but nothing serious."
She said everything with a kind of matter-of-fact approach, but when she spoke about her ex, I could tell it was tough for her. "That's horrible, but it could have been much worse." I reached out and touched her hand instinctively in sympathy. "I've had a few friends that stuck with their spouses much longer, and they ended up in the hospital."
"That *is* horrible," she stated, but she snapped out of her own thoughts and continued. "That's all my boring life on the surface, though. It's what's behind the scenes that keeps me going through all the day to day stuff. I had a group of friends in college that were pretty wild. You've seen all those 'Girls Gone Wild' videos and things like that? I'm sure they were in more than a few of them. Anyway, I wasn't that bad, but I did some wild things at a few parties, things like with multiple men and women. I got away from all of that when I started dating my ex-husband.
"After I left him and we divorced, one of those friends who I had kept in contact with called me and invited me out. To make a long story short, she was already into the local BDSM scene and got me into it as well. It was wild and thrilling, and I got sucked in totally. I went with her to a few local parties and met a few dominant guys. I had relationships with several of them, but not really anything long term. Some were good, but a one was a guy that was just into hurting women. That scared me away for a while.
"I stopped dating guys that I met in BDSM clubs, getting sick of the low-class men and women that I met in that scene. I started looking online and it wasn't long before V contacted me. I met him and he invited me to attend a Society function at the estate. That was about four years ago."
I sat there listening to her story with a little bit of envy. I had led a boring life compared to hers. I wish I had been more adventurous in college. Maybe that would have led me to better decisions later, like with Jonathan. At least Jonathan wasn't physically abusive. I don't know how I would have handled that. As I was thinking about all of that and going over in my mind what she had said, she asked me, "So what about you?"
"Me?"
"Yeah, you. Tell me about you."
"Well, nothing as wild and interesting as yours. I grew up around here and I'm from a fairly conservative and religious family. I led a pretty sheltered life, going to all-girls schools through high school. I had one boyfriend in late high school, but we broke up before college. I dated in college but didn't have any steady boyfriends. I didn't join a sorority or go to any wild parties, certainly nothing like you or your friends. I was a book worm and a nerd I guess. A lot of people called me stuck up, but I was really just quiet and introverted.
"I came out of my shell a bit when I went to law school. Law school has a way of making you do that whether you want to or not. Very cutthroat. Anyway, that's where I met my husband. He was a year ahead of me in school, but 10 years older than me. He was very much a gentleman and I fell for him very hard.
"We married a few months after I passed the bar exam. We both worked for law firms and poured ourselves into our careers. You can imagine how that worked out. Not much time for anything else, we both became married to our desks rather than each other. We talked about family and children, but it always seemed that we wanted to wait 'one more year.' Before I knew it, that opportunity had passed me by.