Black Boots and her lover, Michael Gallagher, got into the taxi. The smell of body odor and curry was strong. Black Boots gagged. Michael said "Take us to 1st and 10th.Please." in his slick voice. Black Boots leaned against the seat as they lurched downtown. She mused...'It has been over two years since we reconnected'. The two first caught up on Linked In, where she worked at her first job as a corporate paralegal at one of the world's largest law firm, Glott, Marks, Gilman & Moore, twenty four years ago.
When Boots put her info into the profile, all of the LinkedIn members who had worked in that company during that time period popped up. She thought 'I hardly know any of these people. I barely recognize any of the names except one: Michael Gallagher, now he's a partner. Business must be slow if he has time to play with LinkedIn. What fun! I had had a little crush of him. I never got to work with him but he always had a smile and a good sense of humor.' Boots mused further ' He just never got the message that I was interested. He was so awkward and 'old man looking' before his time...and yet it was his sense of humor that had attracted me then...His humor and the fact that I knew I had power to make him hard. I loved to see him squirm back then...he was so inexperienced. Now I have him. When I knew him back then, I wanted to own him and now I do.'
Boots looked over at Michael. He looked straight ahead. He was always so nervous around her. He was tapping his stubby little fingers on the back of the driver's seat. 'He is like a little abused dog' she thought and touched the top of his balding head. He didn't even look over at her. Boots leaned over and blew in his ear and still no reaction. She bit the lobe and he reacted with just a slight movement an almost undetectable flinch. He was like a wall she thought. A wall that she could do anything she wanted with...
The cab stopped in front of his apartment. He paid the driver. It was a walk up thought Boots disgustedly. Michael made so much money but he was the cheapest man that Boots had ever met. He didn't even own his apartment. He had had it as a sublet for years since he had first come to NYC out of law school. He paid $1,500 a month for the bug infested one bedroom apartment. He was phobic about going broke. Boots was not mercenary. It was Boots who had provided all of the presents for her lover. She loved to shop for him. It gave her power to make him beholden to her. She would never have wanted his money, if she took his money, he would have power over her. He never said thank you for the gifts she had sent. He didn't feel worthy. She had taken him to task, in her way, and now he thanked her.