In the year between college and grad school, I'd taken up running, lost a lot of weight, got in terrific shape, and felt like an all-around badass at the game of life. So it's not surprising, these long, fatter, lazier years later I'd want that feeling again.
As I drove the long hill up to the client's house, it brought to mind one of the hills I'd run back in Colorado. Strange as it may seem, hill days were my favorite. The greater effort brought a greater feeling of accomplishment. I glanced at the odometer about a 1/4 mile into the climb, then again when I pulled into M's driveway. About a mile. A good loop, I thought, with a steady incline. Hard to find around LA. I could park on PCH and jog up here...down up down up. New Year's was coming and I wanted to beat the rush of people turning over new leaves.
M is a regular client. She usually has a list of small handyman stuff that I can tick off in a few hours. A divorcee with two kids, she got the house in the split. It is a sprawling number, with one wing for the master suite and the other for kids' bedrooms. They're grown now, her son off in college, her step-daughter a grad student at Pepperdine. So M mostly has the place to herself. It is always immaculate and smells like a spa.
I take off my shoes in the foyer.
After some friendly catching up, she explains what she needs. Sure enough, it's a short list of items I burn through in two hours. As I gather my tools, I mention my running plan and ask if it would be okay to use the hose on Sunday if my hydration skills are as rusty as my running skills. M is more than supportive.
--Text me when you're coming and if I'm home I'll come out and cheer!
I assent, thank her, and head off to my next job.
Sunday comes and goes without the first run. On Tuesday, M texts me:
"Did I miss you Sunday?"
"Nah. Mr Lazybones didn't make it :("
"There's always next Sunday! Come on, you can do it! :)"
"Thanks! I'll let you know. Could always use that cheering!"
"I might be able to remember some from high school. But they'll be in Ukrainian if I do lol!"
Oh right. M is Ukrainian. Well, she's from the Ukraine, but she's been in the US for like 30 years, so it's only the occasional long "a" sound turned to short "a" that hints at an accent. I don't know much else about her; she mostly keeps to herself. Very short, small build, medium sandy blond straight hair most always pulled taut. The wiry bundle of energy type. I'm not particularly strong nor am I bragging when I say I could likely lift her with one arm, she's that tiny.
When Sunday arrives I will myself into some running shorts and lace up my sneaks.
"Lazybones got his act together. :) Prolly reach yr place by 9 if yr around"
The surfer traffic is light as I wend up PCH. When I reach the parking lot, I check my phone one last time: M hasn't responded to my text. Oh well.
As I expected, the opening strides of the run are horrible. Only two hundred yards in and I'm thinking: head back, sofa, six pack. But then a little voice chimes in, perhaps that badass inside me, and I press on.
Needless to say, by the time I reach the top of the hill, I'm in pain. Sweaty, salty, old man pain. And desperate for that hose! Rounding the corner, M's car comes into view, and I'm happy I'll see her. Stumbling closer on my shaky legs, I see a note on the front door.
[Hey R____, come in!]
Great, I think, some cold water, some air conditioning, and maybe even some Ukrainian cheers!
The cool air hits me in the most pleasant way. I carefully push the door closed and lean my head against it, pausing to enjoy the temperature change. I breathe deeply. A zen fountain bubbles reasonably in the foyer. The air is sandalwood. Hot, sweaty, concerted effort has given way to calm, reassuring comfort.
I turn and am about to call hello when I see another note. It sits next to a glass of water on a small table that's been placed in the center of the foyer.
"R_____ Congratulations on your first trip up the hill! Please enjoy the water--"
I sloppily chug it all down. So good.
She continues: "I am offering you a Blue Pill/Red Pill choice :). If you "take" the Blue Pill, you will leave now, and you can use the hose any time you like. If you "take" the Red Pill, you will come up to my bedroom and do everything I tell you to do."
Allow me to share the understatement of the year: I did not see this coming. Nor did I have to contemplate a response, because my cock was halfway to the stairs in anticipation. The only thing I did need to contemplate was how to hold myself back from sprinting to the bedroom.
As I round the corner on the first landing, I see another note a few steps up.
"Take off all your clothes."
Absolutely zero hesitation...though I felt badly to be leaving sweaty running clothes on her immaculate hardwood.
The double doors to her massive bedroom are open.
--Hello?
M rounds the corner. I'm disappointed to see I'm the only one naked. Even worse, she's wearing a long, slightly baggy dress. I'd almost call it frumpy. It's like I came to fuck and she came to teach in a one-room schoolhouse.
She skips the greeting and small talk, barely takes me in with her eyes, and beckons me to follow her into the bathroom. It's one of those marble jobs, double-vanity, soaking tub, frameless glass shower...quiet classy except for the gold fixtures. I fucking hate gold fixtures.
--Your running routine will be this: after each loop, you enter the house and strip naked. You come up here and take a shower. When you get out there will be a clean towel on this bench, along with an item of my choosing. It will be obvious what to do with the item. When you're done, go into the bedroom and kneel at the foot of the bed. Understood?
--Yes.
Without another word she exits.
Even worse than gold fixtures are showers with 14 different spray heads and 5 control knobs. It's a fucking catastrophe of water everywhere until I can figure out which knobs to use and how to turn up the heat. Ridiculous.
By the time I push open the steamed-over shower door, the towel is on the bench next to a pair of heels.
Now, I've never worn heels in my life, but I'm game to try. (Note to self: remember to ask M why she has heels in my size).
Clean, naked, dry...I click awkwardly into the room. M watches me come into view from a reclined position against some pillows on the bed. I can see myself in the large mirrored closet doors and I look silly. I mean, the fantasy is to be thin and hairless and girlish in heels. I'm the opposite. I chuckle at the reflection.
As I kneel at the foot of the bed:
--I look ridiculous.
--You look obedient to me. That's all I care about.
It was a good point and gave me something to focus on.
--Now, she says, working her way down the Cal King, Each time you come in here and kneel, you're going to eat my pussy until I come. As soon as I do, you take off whatever I've given you, go downstairs, put on your running clothes, and do another loop. Got it?
--Yes
She slides her legs off the bed on either side of me, then lifts the hem of her dress over my head. So it's in total darkness I first experience her sex. Already wet, a gentle musk, a small tuft of hair above...in short, heavenly. I waste no time piercing her lips with my tongue.