A rare break in the summer heat brought the temperature down to eighty degrees the next day. Gretchen came out and set up her lawn chair and her beach umbrella. She had her crossword puzzle book and seemed settled in for the day.
"Lucky!" she called, "Come and keep me company. There's enough shade for the both of us." Sure, there was, I just needed to lie down on the grass beside her to stay out of the sun.
That was the moment when the emotions of spending an entire summer sleeping in a doghouse finally came to a head. I covered my face with my bound hands and began bawling like a baby. Gretch didn't say a word; she merely waited until I had cried my eyes out. Her eyes never left her puzzle as she spoke.
"Well, Lucky, you've had quite a summer. Tell me, is this the kind of role-playing you had in mind?"
"Not at all," I sniffled.
"But you wanted to surrender, to submit completely to a dominant woman. Isn't that what you said?"
"I never dreamed you would take it to such extremes. I don't know how I've made it through the summer."
"But you have made it, and that was because you had no choice. You wanted to please me. You've always wanted to please me, long before we started this silly business. You should have known that I wouldn't be happy unless I took it all the way; that's just me."
"And now you don't love me anymore," I blubbered. She stroked my back softly.
"Lucky, of course I love you. I've never loved you any more or less than I do at this moment."
