I like to walk through the shopping district near where I work during my lunch breaks. Sometimes I stop in the upscale coffee shop where the attractive baristas flirt for tips. Other days I just walk from store to store for something to do.
It was a cool early-spring day, and on my usual lunch break routine and I found myself in the boutique book shop, perusing the eclectic book collection with little interest in actually buying anything. As I strolled from one aisle to the next in the small shop, a wave of surprise rolled through me as I spotted Gina looking in the store window from the outside.
Gina. How can I even begin to describe who this woman is, and how I came to be under her spell? I first encountered her several weeks prior to this day when a lost bet and a simple dare took me into the nearby homeless encampment on a mission to buy pot. Strolling into the tent city that day, I had walked right into her spider web as what started as a simple kidnapping and robbery of a clueless guy in the wrong place at the wrong time had turned into me, tied up on the floor or Gina's tent and used for her sexual gratification in the most profane ways. Thus began the unlikely tryst between Gina, the homeless dominatrix, and me, reluctant at first but enraptured nonetheless.
That encounter and those that had followed had taken place wholly in her world. So it was with no small measure of surprise that I noticed her through the bookstore window during my lunch walk, staring back at me with just the faintest hint of a smile on her face.
You might not guess Gina is homeless by looking at her. She stood there looking sporty as usual with her dirty blond hair in a tight ponytail, wearing black yoga pants and a pink tank top over a sports bra. She could easily have come from the gym, on her way to get a kale and acai smoothie before getting cleaned up for book club. But I knew better; that she probably slept in those clothes, and most of her worldly possessions fit in the corner of her dome tent and the back seat of her old beat up hatchback.
What's your story, Gina?
I often wondered, though I doubted I would ever know for sure.
I realized too late I had stared a moment too long, and looked down at the bookstore floor. Would she walk away, each of us going back to our respective worlds? After a moment of trying to resist the temptation, I looked up again to find her still staring at me, her smile replaced by a slight frown, as if she had sensed my contemplation about her history and disapproved. She slowly lifted her hand and beckoned to me with one finger, the way an angry parent might summon a misbehaving child.
Shit.
I broke eye contact and looked down again, making a quick decision on what to do. I slowly looked up and began to make my way out of the store. I crossed the threshold of the store entrance and turned toward where Gina was standing. She had turned to face me, the smile returning to her face. "Hey, shithead," she began, "funny meeting you here."
Quickly scanning around for anyone I might know within earshot and utterly failing to muster an appropriate response, I finally said, "Uh huh."
Gina laughed at my discomfort, then said cheerily, 'Well, come on." She grabbed my arm, not so gently, and pulled me away from the store window and down the sidewalk.
"Where are we..." I started, but she quickly shushed me. We fell into step, side by side, her arm still around mine, navigating us down the sidewalk and away from the bookstore. We walked past several stores, probably looking like two old friends, with Gina holding on to my arm just a little more tightly than strictly necessary. I saw her reach up and extract the hair tie that was holding her ponytail in place, twisting her head to let her hair fall free. She looked alluring as usual, her sporty outfit accentuating her slim, muscular body with the top of her sports bra and more than a little cleavage showing above the plunging neckline of her tank top.
We crossed a street in silence, walking briskly. Then Gina turned us sharply into a walkway between two shops. At that moment, I realized what our destination was: There was a public restroom at the end of the corridor we had just turned into. Now that we were mostly out of sight from the busy sidewalk, Gina moved behind me with both hands on my shoulders, pushing me toward the open restroom door. As we crossed into the bright, tile-lined restroom, I realized she had pushed me into the women's bathroom, and my unease and humiliation grew in proportion to my arousal. She let go of me briefly, turning to close the restroom door, and locking it with a solid "click."
Please tell me no one saw us come in here