"Hey, Honey."
"Hey Sweetie!" Mandy waved from the kitchen to her husband Virgil as he kicked the door shut behind him. He had his weekend bag as well as some plastic bags in his hands, his cover already thrown on the couch.
He dropped his gear and moved to take her in his arms; each ran hands up and down the other's backs and shoulders as they kissed. "Miss me?"
"You know I did babe." She pulled back for a moment to look clearly at her husband; his guileless face and broad smile. He was not super handsome, but very masculine, every bit the Marine Officer. She loved him dearly, and had missed him at drill weekend.
"How was New Orleans?"
"Still standing when I left." He grinned at her, a sudden expanse of teeth that lit up the room. Not the whitest or straightest smile, but his whole face took part in it. "I got you something," and dangled one of the plastic bags by his face.
"Ooohhhhh.... goody! I knew I married you for a reason. Let me see." Virgil pulled the bag and himself away with a grin and said,
"After dinner honey. Let me put my gear away and shower up."
Mandy smiled after him as he went upstairs to change, and turned back to dinner. Drill weekend was a pain, and added a ton of stress to their lives. But having him back was always nice, and she knew he loved it. The time to be a full time Marine was gone, but he still wanted to be part of his "beloved Corps."
Dinner went by quickly, decent steaks helped down by a decent cabernet. She chatted away merrily, and he listened; she listened intently while he spoke of some of the happenings at his corner of Headquarters MARFORRES. He was brand new to the "Puzzle Palace," having left a billet as an XO of a line unit. He bitched a good bit about making calls and writing papers instead of leading Marines; this was to be expected.
"So do anything fun on libo in New Orleans?"
"Nah, mostly stupid stuff. I like the Staff, but the bar thing is getting old. They actually went to Hooters to start on Saturday night. It was painful...if you want to see tits go to a titty bar." Mandy slapped him on the arm playfully, and said mock severity
"Well I don't want you going to any girlie places."
"I blew them off after a little while, explored the French Quarter a bit. There are some super restaurants down there; we should go together sometime. Anyway, in the course of my wanderings I came across a really cool store. They had all kinds of neat little curios, some estate jewelry I think, but also some freaky occult kind of stuff. There was young girl who ran the place, and she had a story for every piece there. " He paused for a moment, and looked at her pensively. "So, then it gets kind of kooky. She put her hand on my arm, and tells me to come with her, because she has just the thing for what I need. I was getting a little uncomfortable because she was pretty hot...not as hot as you though! But it was a little touchier then you get with a customer at 10pm. So she showed me this necklace," here he pulled an ornate necklace from the bag and passed it to Mandy.
She looked at it critically. It had a fairly heavy silver chain, somewhat tarnished, with a dark, deeply green stone (tourmaline?) as big as a robin's egg in the center. Sharp rays of silver came off the central setting. It was ornate, almost garish, but very old, and certainly eye-catching. She would never have picked it for herself, but she was pleased with the gift, really with any gift from Virgil. She undid the clasp, and moved to put the necklace on. "Wait. Listen to the rest. So she pulls me over, and starts to tell me how this is perfect for me and my wife."
"Really? She knows me that well?" she said smiling.
"She said you would like it, and I would like it, because..." He trailed off, and then started again. "She said you would like it because it would 'set right what is wrong' in our marriage. You were made to submit, but are hobbled by pride, I am made to take, but am too gentle." He stared directly at her, and she felt embarrassed and put off. They had many times played with dominance and submission in bed, much more so when they were first married. The shaft hit home.
"I'm not sure I like the idea of you talking to a stranger about our bedroom honey." She realized she had crossed her arms, and undid them deliberately.
"Honey, I didn't say jack about us. She just spilled this whole line on me apropos of nothing. She said some other things to, and it was like she had a window into what drives my train. I gotta tell you honey, it was freaky. Either I'm walking around giving off more vibes than I thought, or she was psychic. She also told me just to put it on you, not too say anything. She said you would thank me later." He stood up and poured himself another glass of wine.
This was a little extra creepy for Mandy. Creepy and sexy, but she didn't want to feel sexy. Besides, it was stupid too.
"Honey, I have heard of people who can do 'cold reads,' like carnival fortune tellers. I think you just got sold a line of bull." Ouch. Why did she say that? It made it sound as if the necklace he bought was worthless. She saw it instantly in his eyes, and stood up and murmured "I'm sorry honey. I didn't mean it that way. The necklace is very nice, I just don't believe in magic. Let me try it on." She moved to put it around her neck, when he said,
"One more thing. The store wasn't that far from billeting, I walked instead of taking a taxi. At chow I ran over, uniform of the day was Charlies so I could go outside, I was thinking about returning the necklace. Honey, the damn store was gone. I am sure I knew where it was, I recognized the restaurant two doors down, but there was an alleyway there now. It reminds me so much of this story I read once..." This was getting ridiculous.
"Virgil!" she snapped. "This is stupid," and snapped the clap of the necklace around her neck.
Oh.
