For the first couple of weeks of my new life, I didn't sleep more than a couple of hours any night. I knew, you know, down at that visceral level far below any thinking, that I would start getting calls any minute from people who I had known or worked with for years. Some of those names on my email list represented relationships that went back decades.
But no calls came. No pictures with my asshole on display showed up. Nothing happened.
My first thought was to tell David everything and be done with it but then I thought it wasn't about him and me. If Daniel was vindictive enough to send those pictures out, and I couldn't swear in court that I had been date raped or something which I manifestly could not, then my professional life would be over and my social life would be worse than over. I'd be a laughing stock and David would be brought down with me, not to mention the kids.
So I did nothing, and as time passed I thought nothing would happen. The whole thing started to feel like a bad dream.
And my life returned to normal. David made plenty of money, our son was off in the Navy somewhere, and I had time to be a good housewife. I also had the time to indulge in my interests. I was active in the Tea Party, intent on denying Barack Obama a second term. I was secretary for the local Historic Society, at 52 the youngest member of the board offering support for the old joke definition of such organizations - old men and old women saving old buildings for no apparent reason.
It was at a meeting of the Historic Society that my world fell apart.
I had bought into the whole mobile device thing pretty hard. My cell phone was lying on the table in front of me as I worked my way through the PowerPoint presentation about the changes the new owners wanted to do to one of the oldest houses in town. I was deep into the presentation. I really am interested in these things. As I was extolling the virtues of triple pane windows and showing illustrations of how the muntins and millions and stiles and sashes would match, visually, the originals, my cellphone buzzed, it was always on "silent."
I glanced down, distractedly, expecting to quickly hit the red "reject" button to let whichever salesman or pollster know I wasn't interested.
The adrenaline rush when I saw the message almost made me faint. My knees got rubbery and my bowels got hot.
Hello Judy. Room 617 at the Downtown Marriott. You have 15 minutes or I hit SEND. Have a Nice Day. Danny
I gasped a breath, grabbed the cell phone, and started toward the door.
"Family Emergency," I said over my shoulder.
I was crying as I got into my car and headed west toward downtown. The meeting was on the east side of town and Denver had long since outgrown its road system. In the best of circumstances, it would have been close but this was far from the best. Traffic was heavy and before five minutes had passed I knew I would never make it.
I was stuck in traffic as I keyed in his number.
"You're pushing it, Judy," he said and oddly it was the diminutive form of my name that bothered me most right then.
"Daniel, I'm trying. I'm in the car. I'm stuck in traffic. Please. I'm not trying to say 'no,' Daniel, I promise I'm not," I said, realizing I was babbling.
"Hmmmmm," he said, and I could picture him smiling, "How about this, Judy? For every 10 seconds you're late I lay my belt across that pretty ass of yours."
"Yes," I said, "Yes, please, yes."
"Well okay then, Judy," he said, "take your time."
When I didn't say anything for a few seconds he said, "I think the phrase you're looking for is 'Thank you, Daniel, for being so understanding."
I took a deep breath and said, "Thank you, Daniel, for being so understanding."
"See you soon, Judy," he said and then added, "or not so soon, it's all the same to me."
And the connection was broken.
I wiped my nose with a jerk of the back of my hand, only now aware of how I was crying, my nose running like a damn faucet, my vision swimming, and my mouth full of thick drool.
"FUCK!" I yelled into the car, my fists pounding on the steering wheel.
"FUCK!" I yelled again, the sound full of hate and fear.
The traffic was a nightmare. When I tried to switch lanes a horn honked and I yelled again.
I was aware of each passing minute and was still at least eight blocks from the hotel when my allotted 15 minutes were up.
I looked at my watch as I knocked on the door of 617. 23 minutes had elapsed since I was summoned.
The door opened and he stood there, naked, smiling.
"Come in," he said, almost courtly in his gesture.
I went in and turned to face him.
The slap across my cheek was so hard I had to take a step back to keep from being knocked down.
As I grabbed where he had hurt me I could feel it already swelling.
"Get out of your fucking clothes, Judy," he said and again my weird mind rebelled at the short form of my name.
But aggravated and hurting as I was, I knew better than to delay.
I started undressing, not making it a strip tease, just getting my clothes off quickly enough to avoid another slap.
I was aware, every instant, of his eyes on me.
On some level, I liked it.
I knew it was crazy. Hell, this whole episode was batshit fucking crazy. But there it was, that pressure in my belly, that tingle where my legs forked, that tightness in my nipples of pure sexual arousal.
The tears and runny nose only added, somehow, to the excitement I was feeling.
Naked, I stood before him.
"Down on your knees, Judy," he said, "where you belong."
I got to my knees.
"Look at me," he said.
I looked up and met his eyes. He was smiling.
"I smell you," he said, his thumb and fingers grasping my jaw and squeezing, making me moan.
"You're liking this, aren't you?" he asked.
When I didn't answer he slapped me again. It felt like he hit exactly the same spot as before, but this time it hurt even more since I was already swollen and sore.
"Answer me, Judy," he said, his hand on my jaw tightening and hurting me.
"YES!," I cried, "Yes, God help me, yes."
"Yes what?" he asked, his voice oddly calm and conversational.
"Yes," I said, holding his eyes with mine, "I like this."
"Tell my balls how much you love them," he said.
I was scared and hurting but also, there it was, that pressure my treacherous body was putting on me between my legs.
I leaned forward and kissed his balls and whispered, "I love you."
"LOOK AT ME!" he snapped and I looked up at him.
He raised his hand and I started crying again.
"Please, don't," I said, "please."
"Then convince my balls you mean it," he said.
I leaned forward and kissed his scrotum, and whispered, "I love you."
I caressed his balls and cock with my cheeks and forehead and eyelids, whispering "I love you" over and over. I feared another slap, of course, but on some deeper level, way down where my monkey ancestors went into heat and had to breed, I meant it.
I used my tongue and licked his scrotum, tasting ballsweat, and when I said, "I love you," this time there was no doubt. I meant it.
I kissed and licked my way up his shaft and drew back just enough to focus on it. "You're beautiful," I said to his cock, and I meant it.
"I love you," I said, kissing the head of his cock, and I meant it.
I felt his fingers tangle in my hair and then twist, hurting and forcing me to bend my neck at a painful angle to look up at him.
"That's better," he said, and there was that smile that had gotten me into this mess in the first place.