Please read the earlier chapters before you read this one. Otherwise, it won't make much sense. Also you'll find it a lot more erotic if you first understand who these characters are and where they are, physically and emotionally.
Small and Sweet Things
My mobile rang the next morning just as I was about to leave for work.
"Soo May?"
I recognized the voice immediately. I tried to keep my cool, but I couldn't entirely suppress excited giggle in my voice.
"Mr. Daniels!" I practically chortled.
Damn, how this man makes me act stupid,
I thought.
Jennie, who was paging through a magazine at the far end of the kitchen table, looked up with interest at the sound of his name. Unconsciously, she smiled and flushed just a smidgeon. This irritated me a bit.
She has a boyfriend,
I thought.
I can blush when Mr. Daniels calls but she has no right to!
"Glad I caught you," Mr. Daniels was saying. "There's a new Cajun restaurant opening downtown tonight. How about we have dinner and catch a play afterwards? Sorry for the late notice, but I just heard about it this morning and for some reason the thought of delicious spicy food made me think of you."
"Well [giggle], my goodness—"
"You can bring Jennie along if that would make you feel more comfortable."
"Oh ... well ...," I hesitated. Jennie could hear my side of the conversation. I needed to respond without tipping her off that she'd been invited.
"... oh ... ah ... ya know ... um ... that— that won't be necessary at all, no, not at all, and I would love to come!"
I know "The Rules" say you should always turn down a man's first invitation to a date; but what the hell, getting a bare-assed spanking from the man on your first encounter is probably against "The Rules" too; so it was a bit late for me to obey "The Rules"!
We quickly made arrangements for where and when to meet and said our "goodbyes.
"So," said Jennie, "what's up with Mr. Daniels?" As she spoke she looked back at the magazine as if to show that she really didn't care what the answer was.
I decided to torture her a bit. After all, for years she had teased me about my lack of a boyfriend.
"Oh, it's nothing, really. Go back to your magazine. We can talk later," I said, while I pretended to brush lint off my top. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her jaw set with frustration.
"No, really," she said, looking up with a smile, "I'm interested. What is it you'd love to go to?"
"Oh, it's just dinner tonight at this place he knows. No big deal."
"Ah, that's great! So he's meeting a bunch of friends there, is he?"
"No, not a bunch," I called over my shoulder as I headed for the door.
Then, after a pause, I added, "Just me."
I felt like I'd taken a stiletto to her throat. And it felt
good.
Revenge,
I thought,
really is sweet.
That evening I took too long getting my make-up on, so I missed the first bus to the neighborhood with the new Cajun joint. As a result, I was 15 minutes late meeting Mr. Daniels in front of The Blue Crawfish. As always, he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he beamed again when he saw me and complimented me on my little black dress. To my surprise, he was wearing a black turtleneck with a dark leather sport jacket instead of a suit and tie.
Once, again, I can't remember what we ate, but it was good and he let me sample everything he ordered while he had a couple of bites of everything I had. I like a man who lets me eat off his plate.
But we were still on our salads when I asked him a question that had been nagging at the back of my mind ever sense I'd first met him.
"Mr. Daniels, do you have a wife?"
His eyes widened and his mouth opened in surprise.
"Good grief," he said, "I've never told you my first name, have I? It's Mickey."
"Oh, thanks ... well,
Mickey,
are you—"
"Married? No, not anymore. I was divorced a few years back. It was before I got into all this discipline activity."
"Oh, I'm sorry if I was prying—"
"You've nothing to be sorry about. It's a legitimate question and I'm glad you asked. Oh, and, we didn't have any kids."
After the food, I slid over in the booth to sit beside him. We drank wine and we talked ... and talked and talked. We talked about our careers, our plans, where we wanted to travel and where we'd been.
After nearly an hour and half, the waiter came to our table for the third or fourth time to ask if we wanted any dessert.
"We have some wonderful
beignets,
Sir, would you like to try some?"
"You have beignets? Great! Yes, we'll have some," Mickey said with enthusiasm.
Then, still speaking to the waiter, but turning to look at me, he smiled and added, "I like small sweet things."
Tardy Girl and Courteous Lover
When we finally stepped out the restaurant into the brisk night air, we were way too late to go to the play but we didn't care. So we decided to just take a walk. He put his leather jacket around my shoulders and we walked hand-in-hand in what I thought were random directions. We didn't say much. I just held his hand and felt somehow warmer— safer— happier than I ever had before. The whole city seemed to have a warm glow to it.
"Do you know where we're going?" I asked after a few minutes.
"Yes, toward my apartment," he replied. "It's just a few more blocks."
After a pause of a few seconds, he asked, "Is that alright?"
I just nodded my head in approval.
