Perhaps it was an urban legend that every kinky couple initially met online and leapt right into a elaborate scene after the first ten minutes of meeting in person. Millie thought so. Perhaps whoever caused that rumor to spread like wildfire was setting a goal. Mike thought so.
They had met at a leather social in a bar on a Thursday night. Millie had worked up the nerve to ask Mike for his number the next time they saw each other. That turned out to be the grocery store three days later. It was eleven o'clock in the morning and Millie was in her third most comfortable set of flannel pajamas. The most comfortable was getting old. The second most comfortable was starting to fit oddly. So, out she went in her tennis shoes and pajamas with cartoon flowers on them. It was her day off and she was going to make the most of it by doing absolutely nothing. She made a beeline for the chocolate but whirled around, startled, upon hearing her name.
"Millie!" Mike smiled broadly at her. He seemed amused by her pajamas.
"Uh, hi. Um, can--I please have your number?" Millie sighed at herself. She had planned to be more suave. "You've already seen me all dolled up. This is me, unpolished."
Mike spelled out his last name and rattled off his phone number. "Now text me so I can say how cute you look."
Millie shot him an annoyed look but obeyed.
"So I'll see you in a few days?" Mike asked hopefully.
It took Millie a second: a friend was throwing a party then. "Uh, yeah."
"So...text me. Day or night. Really. About random shit or theology or the national debt. I'll answer."
"Okay."
They parted ways. Millie had said maybe three words to Mike. Epic love story in the making.
She did text him about random things. She was surprised when he took her seriously and wanted to know more. Mike was out of her league, she thought, so she was a little surprised when he asked her to dinner a month later. Millie looked up directions to the restaurant, and was able to deduce the dress code. There was a dress code. She rarely went to restaurants like that, unless it was on a date's tab. Initiating sex with them afterward always felt like kind of an obligation. It was a choice she made.
"You look nice," Mike said warmly as they spotted each other outside the restaurant.
"Thanks, you too," Millie said automatically. The mauve dress with streaks of rhinestones was a thrift store find. Ten percent of its usual price and it fit her far better than she expected. Mike's suit was a dove gray, and he looked comfortable. Once seated at their table, Millie turned over her wineglass. Mike looked surprised and followed suit. "Both of us are responsible tonight," he said, smiling.
"I just don't like wine," Millie shrugged. Everything seemed to go okay. She made a few attempts at conversation, and was enormously relieved that Mike led the rest. He set his credit card down quickly when Millie asked if they could split the check.
"Do you want to go to your place or mine?" Millie asked curiously.
Mike's apartment was warmer and larger than Millie's studio. Both of them lived alone. They talked for awhile about what they wanted sexually and how they wanted the night to go. Mike had tried to send her sexy text messages before, and Millie redirected the conversation. "Let's talk about it in person." They were now.
"I have scissors to cut you out of bondage if you panic," Mike continued. "What's your safeword?"
"I have five of them. What's yours?"
"Safeword," Mike explained.
