"Have you seen my car keys, Alice?" My partner called out. I heard cabinet drawers open and close quickly. She was currently rummaging for them in the kitchen. That was not the correct location to be searching, unbeknownst to her. "I need to leave soon!"
"Yes!" I yelled back. It was Friday night, and we had both returned home from work recently. I had been looking forward to spending the night with my partner, but I had forgotten that she had plans with her friends. Feeling a bit miffed, I concocted a plot for revenge.
"Where?" Claire projected back. After a few seconds with no reply, she tried again. "Alice? Where are they?" Her voice was muffled by a door and several walls that lay between me and her, but her voice was just loud enough for me to tell she was in a hurry.
Despite her impatience, I remained silent. I was currently lying in our bedroom. I had slid a pair of sheer stockings up my legs, and I had on a matching set of bra and underwear. They were all in Claire's favorite color: red.
I giggled excitedly as I heard my partner's footsteps grow closer. She was clearly in a rush, though she did not realize she was not going anywhere, anytime soon. I felt guilty, nervous, and wicked all at the same time as I reconsidered my evil scheme one last time. Although Claire was getting ready to leave, in reality she had quite a bit of time left before she had to go. She was the kind of person who was early to everything. There was nothing she hated more than being late--a fact I planned to exploit mercilessly.
Claire pushed the door open and walked into the room. Her eyes widened when she saw what I was wearing. An eyebrow shot up when she glanced at the safe sitting on the bed next to me. It was a steel cube, about a foot in width and height, with a keypad and lock protecting its secure contents.
"What's going on?" Claire asked, still standing in the doorway. "Why are you dressed like that? I am leaving for the party in the next five minutes!"
Claire was dressed sharply in preparation for a dinner party with her friends. She had chosen an outfit accordingly: a dark purple turtleneck tucked into a pencil skirt. It showed off her curves nicely, I thought. A pair of black high heels were strapped on over dark knee-high socks.
"You are a bit early, as usual!" I teased. "You do not need to leave the house for another..." I put on a show of calculating the time by adding up my fingers, drawing it out slowly. "...thirty minutes! Plenty of time to find the car keys, right?" I had a few qualms about taking advantage of Claire's anxiety about timeliness, but I felt it would work out in the end.
Claire rolled her eyes. As she walked over to our bed, she voiced her concerns. "You are ridiculous! I am not going to be late because of some silly scheme you have planned!"
"Like I said: you are not going to be late. We can easily find your car keys!"
Claire put on a thoughtful expression. A finger brushed against her chin as she considered the situation and her next words carefully. She put on a more playful inflection. "I see... so you know where the keys are?"
"Maybe..." I bit my lip nervously. I had to play this situation precisely, so that I retained the upper hand. My partner was no doubt starting to realize the power I held and she would be calculating furiously the right way to undermine that power. "It's not a question if I know... but of how willing you are to earn that knowledge!"
Claire was standing next to the bed now, looking over both me and the safe. She reached out to slide the metal cube over, with both hands. She felt up the exterior, then exerted herself to flip it on to each of its sides. Her fingers entered a random guess into the keypad--which flashed red and beeped angrily in response. It was fun to watch her struggle with the secure device, and for her face to get more and more annoyed as she realized how impenetrable it was.
"Only one way in, I'm afraid!" I teased.
I couldn't help but laugh, to which Claire flashed me an angry glare. "I'm going to ask you one more time: and you better think carefully about how you respond. Where. Are. The. Car. Keys." Her voice got more stern with each word. It made me flinch reflexively, as I knew that tone meant I was in serious trouble--except, right now, I held all the power.
"I'm pretty sure that safe was the last spot I saw the car keys..." I said innocently. "I'm not sure how they got in there, though..."
"Just tell me the code so I can be on time?" she pleaded.
I pushed myself upright on the bed, kneeling in front of Claire. I buried my hands beneath my shins, in part to hide how badly they were starting to shake. I needed to project confidence; but I was getting excited, nervous, and embarrassed all at the same time.
I was embarrassed at having to resort to such a childish scheme. I was excited at the prospect of having sex with my girlfriend--it had been a few weeks and I was more than pent up. Finally, I was nervous at how likely it was for such a scheme to backfire on me.
I continued pressing my advantage, saying: "I could tell you the code... but what do I get in exchange?"
"Well, what do you want?" Claire said with a resigned sigh.
"You'll do anything I say?" I said. I was bursting with excitement. It was a rare opportunity that I got the upper hand in our dynamic. Admittedly, it was usually me who was following orders in the bedroom. It seemed my cunning plan was working.
"Within reason..." Claire said cautiously. I was glad she was playing along. If she had simply ignored me, I probably would have just given up the car keys. Now that I had found this bit of leverage, I was eager to exploit it as much as I could. I carefully considered my next request. I had not really thought this far ahead, to be honest. "Hmm... I want you to kneel down on the floor!"
I giggled mercilessly as Claire rolled her eyes, but slowly obliged. She grabbed a bedpost and lowered herself down, careful to maintain her balance while in heels.
I scooted across the bed, dangling my feet off the side. Claire was glaring angrily up at me. It was a rare and pleasant view. Claire was a few inches taller than me, normally, and it was usually myself that was kneeling...
Claire's eyebrows were low as she glowered at me resentfully. I had defeated her, and it was time to take advantage!
I turned the safe so that the keypad faced Claire. "You see this safe? I've got the car keys safely here. If you behave yourself, and obey my orders for the next forty minutes, I'll be more than happy to tell you the code! If not--you'll just have to be super late to your little gathering! How embarrassing would that be!"
"I can't believe you would resort to this..." Claire groaned in disbelief. "This is so childish."