MAY 24th
I returned from my run at 9:30. It was a cool day, and I was chockfull of endorphins ... a real runner's buzz. "And how are YOU this wonderful morning, Dawn?" I chirped, bursting into the kitchen through the screen door. I came up behind her, sitting on a stool at the breakfast bar, and gave her a little peck of a kiss on her left cheek.
"Mr. Torrance!" she exclaimed. Her hand went to her cheek, and she looked down and blushed beet red.
"Sorry," I answered, pouring myself a cup of coffee. "I feel great! And I do believe that I'm in love with the whole world!" I stuffed the two halves of a bagel into the toaster.
She was quiet for an entire minute. "Sir, I had a wonderful time last night. I want to thank you again for it."
"Which part of it?" I asked, innocently.
She blushed even more. "For the part of it that I remember," she said, so softly that I just barely heard it.
"I had a great time, too," I responded gaily. "Let's do it again. Soon." I dug through the refrigerator until I located the cream cheese.
She fidgeted and sipped her coffee. When it became evident that I was not going to say anything else, she coughed gently, seemed to screw up her courage, and asked: "Sir ... did you ... did you ... um ... make me do anything last night?"
"Like what?" I asked innocently.
She took a deep breath. "Sir, please! I can't remember! You put me to sleep, and I can't remember! Did we ... uh ... did we ...?"
"You told me that you didn't WANT to remember. You didn't want to KNOW. Do you remember saying that?"
She stared into her cup. "Yes, sir. I remember that. That's the LAST thing I remember, though."
I used the tip of my finger under her chin to lift her eyes to mine. "And I, ever the chivalrous hero, would never deny milady's wish." The toaster popped up, and I let go of her and turned away to tend to breakfast. When I finished preparing the bagel, I walked around the bar, facing her, and was suddenly shocked to find her crying. I hastily put down my plate and leaned forward toward her. Her hands were around her cup, and I put mine over hers. "Dawn ..."
"Am I still a virgin, sir?" she whispered.
"Oh, crap!" I muttered before I could stop myself. I took a deep breath and gently squeezed her hands in mine. "Look at me, Dawn." I waited until she complied. "I would never, ever take advantage of a woman like that. I didn't do anything to you after you went to sleep. You have my word."
She looked into my eyes through her tears. "You didn't?" Then, she floored me by asking: "Why not?"
I let go of her and took a step back. "Uh ... because I would never, ever take advantage of a woman like that?" I faltered. When she smiled sadly and looked back down at the cup, I became impatient. "Did you WANT me to take advantage of you?" I asked loudly. "Did you WANT me to take your virginity?"
Her unhappy smile broadened. "I wanted to please you, sir. I wanted to give you what you needed." She raised her eyes a little and peeked at me before lowering them again. "I know you wanted me. The way you looked at my ... at my breasts. The way you stared at me. I thought that when I woke up, I would find that you ... that you'd taken me the way you wanted to. But ... but I wasn't sore or anything, and I ... I ... um ... examined myself. And I couldn't see any ... um ... evidence. And so ... I figured that you didn't want me after all."
"Didn't want you?"
"I can understand why, sir. I'm fat, and I'm ugly, and ..."
"You are NOT fat! And you are NOT ugly! And I DO find you ... uh ... desirable!" I took a breath, but kept the volume up. "And I DO find this conversation to be decidedly weird!"
I picked up my plate and cup and I strode out of the room. I sat down at the dining room table and absently turned on the laptop computer there, scanning the news headlines without really seeing them.
After a few minutes, she was standing beside me. "I'm going to walk into town now, sir. Would you like me to get anything for you?"
She'd caught me off guard. "Uh ... not that I can think of, thanks. Why are you going?"
She gave me a shy smile. "You know."
I blinked. "I do?"
The smile broadened. She regarded me calmly for awhile. "Yes, sir. I KNOW when a suggestion had been implanted in my subconscious. I do it to myself all the time. I go to sleep at night thinking of my crystal, and while I begin to fade away, I give myself suggestions ... things that I need to do the next day. And then later, as I start to do those things, I know that I'm acting on the urge created by a posthypnotic suggestion. I can feel it. And so ... I KNOW you told me last night that I'd feel this way ... and that I'd do what I'm about to do. I KNOW that it's because you put it into my head. And I won't resist. I really, really don't WANT to resist." Her eyes shifted, as if she had just thought of something important. "Or is the urge not to resist just another implanted suggestion?" She shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Goodbye, sir. See you in awhile."
And she turned and walked out of the house.
I wandered into the village myself an hour later, but I never saw her. There were a lot of tourists milling about, and the place was bustling. The fishing boats were coming in, and I bought a nice rockfish, which I had them filet. There's only one grocery store in town, but I found a couple bottles of Pinot Grigio, some small baking potatoes and a quart of early blueberries that I figured would be good with shortcakes. She wasn't at home when I returned, and I had no excuse not to mow the lawn.
It was much later when, sitting on the front porch swing and reading a volume of Fredric Brown's science fiction short stories, I saw her striding jauntily down the sidewalk with a large shopping bag hanging from each hand. The transformation was astounding. She wore a pair of three-inch heels below a pair of black pleated slacks. The blue silk blouse was low cut, and it showed an abundant amount of cleavage caused by an underwire bra under extreme tension. Someone professional had applied scant touches of makeup to her face that muted rather than highlighted. But it was her hair that made my mouth fall open in surprise. Full, thick, long and straight, it reached to the small of her back; and it was so deeply, glossy black that it seemed to have an almost purplish brilliance.
I found myself standing as she climbed the steps up to the porch. "May I sit down, sir?" she chirped, smiling.
"My God, Dawn!" I took the bags from her and set them down along the wall of the house, then I took both of her hands in mine and held them out apart so I could rake her body with my eyes. She laughed and blushed, but didn't protest as I let go with one hand and spun her around so I could examine her from all angles. I motioned for her to sit on the porch swing, then joined her, sitting close.
"I was SO lucky that they had a cancellation at the beauty parlor on a Saturday," she said. She stiffened for a moment as I put my arm along the back of the swing, but then she settled into me and sighed. We didn't say anything for a long time. "Would you believe that I've only been to a beauty parlor once before in my whole life?" she asked me. "My senior prom." She sighed. "Well, not MY senior prom, actually."
"Not yours?"
"I graduated after the tenth grade. But all of us 'non-in-crowd' girls got together and went En Masse that year, sort of as a show of defiance. The 'ins' were absolutely horrified."
I closed my eyes. "Be quiet for a moment ... let me see if I can imagine you being defiant."
She laughed. "Are you going to take me out again tonight, sir?"
"No. I'm making you dinner here. I'm not going to share you with anyone."
We were silent awhile. "Are you going to hypnotize me again tonight, sir?"