©
2012 Brunne
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Okay, pretty overwhelmed by the comments I got on the first chapter. Thank you. Apparently it really is as fun to read something as to write it. Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did.
Brunne
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It wasn't until I'd undressed myself that night that it occurred to me that I was missing a rather vital item of my wardrobe. He still had my white lace panties. Oh well, I had his tie, right? So he wasn't the only one with an odd, disturbing trophy for what had turned out to be the strangest, most exciting car ride I'd ever been on.
In a weird way, not being able to see myself do something almost made it seem as if I hadn't actually...done it, somehow. That it might not have actually happened. There was an element of unreality that clung to my memories which I couldn't readily shake. But there was the tie. I couldn't unreality-away the tie. Or the bruise that spread steadily across my inner thigh.
I kept the mobile phone charged, and checked it daily. I developed eyes in the back of my head at work. Nothing. I tried to access his email calendar through the central address book to see if he'd taken holiday time, but after staring at the pop-up message telling me I'd need to ask permission for access, I just heaved a weary sigh and hit 'Cancel'.
He owed me nothing. No promises made. No promises broken. Okay, so he'd had his fix and moved on. He'd said I'd 'pleased him'. So maybe that was the end of it? Perhaps his jollies pinnacled at watching young girls masturbate on his custom leather car seats? I'd heard of stranger things.
But it was a bad sign. The fact that I didn't actually check the phone just daily. It was sort of becoming an obsession. A bad habit I just couldn't...kick. Just when I thought I'd started to forget, some sensation would flash back full-force. His gentle caress on my neck. The breathlessness from being trapped by his hands. His eyes. Nothing haunted me quite like his eyes. All silvery flint, with a steely harshness that covered for some other thing. I didn't know for sure, but there had been moments when he'd dropped his guard, just for a millisecond. Something else lived behind that impenetrable shield, and it tugged at me and wouldn't let me go. I thought I'd heard it in his voice too, pacing restlessly like some caged animal.
* * * * *
It could only have been about a week that passed. But time doesn't always play by the rules or go by in an orderly way like it's supposed to.
It was going to be another restless night. Too warm, too frustrated. When the phone hummed insistently against the smooth surface of my bedside table I just lay for several seconds, not breathing, convinced I'd dropped off for a second and dreamed it. But there it was again.
Somewhere between trying to turn the light on and fumbling for the phone it ended up on the floor. I scrabbled around under the bed until my hand found the shiny blackness. Squinting, I could see the little envelope icon flashing. I blinked a few times, certain it was some sort of mirage (can you have a mirage if you're not in the middle of a desert?).
I clicked the button to open it.
'There's something for you,'
was all it said.
I stared at it, frowning. That's it? I checked the details of the message just to be certain it was actually from him and not just some wrong number. It was then that I noticed the icon was still flashing. Another message.
'Inside your desk at work.'
Well, that did me a great lot of good, considering I was at home. In bed. Was he just trying to torture me? A thought struck me, and a mixture of sickness and embarrassment did a slow roll in my stomach. Maybe he was just returning my underwear. The idea of him wandering around with my intimate garments at work was far from appealing. That was bad enough. But it was the finality of it. The end of the game. I took a deep breath and resigned myself to watching it winding down, spinning away into the dark recesses of my memory as some crazy thing I did once.
No regrets, right? I went to push the power-down button on the phone, but it buzzed in my hand as if in protest. I did jump this time, and my hand shook as I opened the message.
'Are you okay?'
Something flooded through me. A sort of relief. I pushed it away as soon as I felt it. It didn't mean anything...
'Fine. You?'
I texted back. I knew it sounded curt, but he'd gone silent for a week, hadn't he?
The wait was excruciating. I lay my head back on the pillow, my hand covering the phone where it rested on my churning stomach. When it went off again, I felt the vibration through my whole body.
'Tired. Lagged as hell.'
My mind slowly digested this information, while the thought that this was the closest thing we'd ever had to a 'normal' conversation tugged at me. So he'd been away? Was that the cause of the silence?
I didn't care how it sounded, I replied with a rather demanding sounding,
'Where were you?
' Of course, I paid for it as soon as his answer came back.
'Why, did you miss me?'
Bastard. Yes. YES. Damn you.
But the vibration started again before I could come up with a suitable comeback.
'Is it still there?'
I was tempted to play dumb, but the best answer was always the most direct one.
The photo showed the curve of my inner thigh, the crescent of bruising on the pale skin, along with a goodly swath of my best black lace panties. The rest would have to be up to his own imagination. I couldn't resist a little smug smile as I pressed the send button.
The reply was a good minute in coming.
'Fuck.'
