Ch. 06 Stepping Off The Edge
- Sam Darquesied
- Painstakingly edited by FQKF
"Hi ya, Ally...Happy Birthday," I said as she sashayed in the front door.
"Thanks, Sylvia. Oh, I forgot to mention, I got your card on Friday. It was very thoughtful!" she answered.
She was wearing thin-strapped sandals, snug, white slacks, and a short, white Tee shirt, showing off her slim waist and ...she was beaming...radiant really, even more than normal. Her birthday was two days ago, on Saturday, and I had seen her and Sam briefly, on Friday evening but not since then so I asked, "Did you have a nice one?"
"Oh, Sylvia," she said so softly, "it was...wonderful! The things he did to me..."
I had come on Friday night to spend the weekend with Kendall and thought we might see more of Alyssa on her birthday but Kendall had said we should leave them be. I had at least hoped to see her today because she had promised me the story of Kendall's first adventure with the whip.
"Where's Kenny?" she asked.
"She said she had to go and get a new load of feed for the horses. Apparently they sent the wrong stuff last week. She'll be a couple of hours."
Alyssa said, "Oh yeah...she complained about that the other day. So, did you want to hear her story?"
I did, of course, but, as I poured us both a coffee, I said, "I would but...oh, I'm probably prying too much. But, you know on Christmas...the thing with Kristel?"
"What about it?" she asked.
I continued, "Well, Sam mentioned after that he had tried the bullwhip out on you and, well, with all the stuff that happened to you before you met him...I wonder how you got past that..."
Alyssa interrupted, "I think you're really wondering just how much I trust him; what I would be willing to do for him."
"Not so much that." I said, "I think it's pretty obvious that you would do anything he asked, and it wouldn't even occur to you to question it. I just wonder how you got to that stage."
"Oh, that took a few months," she said, "but the turning point actually happened on my first birthday with Sammy (Tommy)...He always knew that I wanted to belong to him--really belong to him. He also knew I had trust issues because of those two assholes who beat me up but, he kept his promise and went slow and waited 'til I was ready."
I asked, "And you were ready on that first birthday with him?"
She laughed and said, "Well, do you remember that story he wrote...'Belle and Troop A?'"
I answered, "Oh yeah, I read it at Christmas. He really should post it to that website."
She said, "He has now, and a few others too. But, he actually wrote them even before we met so I got to read them way back then and that one was my favourite. Anyway..."
* * *
About two weeks before my first birthday with him Tommy got an in-ground pool installed and I thought it was my birthday present, since I had told him I'd like one. I asked him if it was but he said no, it was a present, but not a birthday present. The entire week before my birthday he had been working secretly on something and the suspense was killing me! I pumped Kendall constantly for information but she wouldn't say anything so, when I got up on the morning of my birthday, I was really anxious to see what he had done.
He was busy at the stove when I entered the kitchen and I said, "G'morning."
"Oh, hey! Good morning, birthday girl...sit, sit...breakfast is almost ready," he said as he gave me a kiss.
In the middle of the table was a crystal vase with two dozen gorgeous, red, long-stemmed roses. Tommy stopped me as I reached for the card and asked that I read it after breakfast so, reluctantly; I just gave him a hug and sat down. I wolfed down the eggs and toast before he had a chance to even start his and he laughed and said, "Oh, fine! Read the stupid card!"
I ripped it out of the envelope and read it out loud, "Happy Birthday, Alyssa. You are the very air that I breathe, Tommy. PS Go look out front."
I jumped up and ran to the front door and there, in the very spot where the Yukon was at Christmas, stood a fire engine red MX-5 roadster convertible. It was beautiful and I hugged him and kissed him and thanked him but...I was expecting...something different. I tried to look and sound as excited as I could when we went for a little ride but I couldn't shake the feeling of disappointment. When we got back I told him that I had to go to the washroom then I ran upstairs and glared at the image in the mirror.
"Well...you are one selfish little bitch, aren't you? He makes breakfast; gives you beautiful roses; gives you your dream car...and you aren't satisfied???" I said, then I pointed an admonishing finger at the glass, "You had better get it together, girl! DO NOT hurt my man's feelings!"
I composed myself and went back downstairs. We sat and had coffee and I told him how I loved the car, still forcing myself to be enthusiastic. Tommy said he would like to take me to town later for an early "birthday" dinner and I said that would be really nice. Just then there was a loud clunking noise from the basement and Tommy, cursing at the furnace, excused himself and went to investigate. We didn't use the basement much. It was essentially a large, empty recreation room and a utility room. It was near the end of June so I didn't really see why he'd worry about the furnace. I guessed it was a guy thing.
Tommy spent the rest of the day cleaning up in the studio and I just lazed around until about four o'clock, when we got dressed and went to town for dinner. It was a very nice meal at Isadora's Garden and they even brought out a little cake but, again I was forcing myself to appear exuberant. Tommy did notice that I was quiet on the ride back but, when he asked, I just said I was really tired. When we got home we went to the kitchen and Tommy said he had a few more "birthday" things for me which did cheer me up a bit but then, again, we heard a clunk in the basement. Exasperated, Tommy excused himself and went downstairs then, a few minutes later, he yelled for me to come and give him a hand. As I arose it occurred to me that he had not actually wished me happy birthday.