It turned out that he didn't have to wait long. The next evening, after he got home from work, his doorbell rang. Roger rarely had visitors; he was more the type to stay alone at home, so he had a pretty good idea of who might be at the door, and he was right. Even though he'd seen her only last night, her beauty still took his breath away. She was still wearing a padded push-up bra, but her breasts were covered this time instead of being out on display like they had been last night, so all Roger saw was a huge swell protruding from her chest to remind him who was in charge. Underneath, she was wearing a loose skirt that went down to her mid-thighs, and black stockings were visible underneath that.
"Hiii!" she greeted him in such a bubbly, happy manner that she seemed like a different person. Their first few encounters had been awkward and halting, with her constantly saying something to put him on the spot or feel embarrassed, but now she seemed like a carefree young girl transformed by love's first blush. Was she in love with him? And was he in love with her? He felt strongly attracted to her, but was it just sexual, or was there something more to it?
After they embraced for a moment, Liz walked in like she owned the house. Roger had been about to invite her in, but there was no need for this, and after Liz walked inside, he had a feeling that if he
had
asked her to come in, she would have gotten upset with him for implying that she needed his permission. He was beginning to understand how she expected him to think and act. He was glad to see her happy, but he wondered just how long they could keep this up. Surely, when she saw what a shut-in he was, how he rarely got together with friends or did anything interesting at home, she would get tired of him and dismiss him as a loser. It seemed like such a sure thing that Roger was actively expecting it.
"Why are you just standing there staring at me, you lazy jerk? Take my shoes off!" she said, and Roger realized that she had extended one of her feet forward, but he had only been staring at her in response, lost in his thoughts. When she gave him this order, he quickly got down on his knees and began undoing the laces on her shoes. As he did this, she put a hand on top of his head and kept it there. He wasn't sure why she did this, so he tried to look up, but she pushed his head back down. "Nuh-uh, you don't get to look at me yet. You were bad and didn't start taking my shoes off when I indicated for you to do so, so now you can only look down until your task is finished." Roger obediently continued undoing her shoes while she kept her hand on his head.
She was wearing some kind of shoes with long laces and a lot of holes for the laces. He couldn't shake the feeling that she'd worn them deliberately to make extra work for him. He wanted to ask if she'd worn these shoes especially to make his task longer, but he didn't. Instead, he asked: "I suppose when you go back out, you're going to expect me to put your shoes on for you and lace them back up, right?"
"What a stupid question," she said with disgust. "No wonder you don't have a girlfriend if you ask stupid things like that."
This actually gave Roger pause for thought for a moment, because he'd never explicitly said that he didn't have a girlfriend. It was pretty apparent that he didn't, since he probably wouldn't have gone out to dinner with Liz if he'd had a girlfriend already, but he was curious enough to ask her: "How did you know I don't have a girlfriend?"
"Are you serious? It's so obvious, so absolutely obvious that your question is actually insulting." She gave the hair on his head a sharp tug to punish him. "If all you can say is such stupid things, then it would be better for you not to say anything at all. Keep your mouth shut and do what you're told."
Roger's scalp was now hurting a bit from the way she'd pulled his hair, and for a moment, anger flared up in him. He wanted to knock her hand away, to tell her that she was a guest in his house, not the other way around, and that he wouldn't tolerate her speaking to him that way. But the moment passed, because Roger was afraid of what she might do, and so he quietly finished taking off her shoes while her hand continued resting lightly on his head, not pushing it hard, just enough to remind him that it was there.
"It took you long enough," she said when he was finished. "I'm going to sit in the living room for a while. You will follow me." She turned and began walking toward a sofa that was visible in another room. Roger started to stand up, but she turned around swiftly and said "No. Stay on your hands and knees. You will follow me, but don't stand up."
This was getting ridiculous. They were in his own house, and she was treating him like someone whom she could just boss around and humiliate. Why did he obey, then? Why did he quietly do what she said instead of standing up for himself? He'd seen the way her eyes flashed in the past when she got angry with him, and it was true that he was afraid of her, but surely if he just stood up and asserted himself...
They reached the living room, and Liz sat down on the sofa. Roger had a nice house, much nicer than the one Liz rented, and she had already decided that she would be spending most of her free time here. She wasn't quite sure herself how things would end up; she didn't have a complete plan as of yet, but she knew that she'd found a good thing, and she wasn't going to let it go now. Liz was plased to note that when she sat down, Roger remained on his knees in front of her and looked at her expectantly, as if anticipating that she would give him further orders. She smiled at him, and Roger felt a moment of happiness; Liz was lovely when she smiled. It troubled him when he made her angry with his thoughtless and rude behavior, and he wanted to make her smile more often.
"What were you doing before I got here?" she asked.
"Um, I was just... Well..."
"When I ask you a question, you will answer me without hesitation," she said, kicking him in the face gently. It was more of a tap with her foot than a kick, but it was enough for Roger to register a look of shock. She giggled at his astonished expression, finding it so much to her liking that she kicked his face a second time, harder this time, and noted with satisfaction that he didn't try to dodge it or move away, but remained in place. He was beginning to learn.
"I will ask you once more. What were you doing before I arrived?" she asked, emphasizing the question slowly to make it clear that she was serious.
"I was just playing a computer game," Roger said.
She laughed, a beautiful, throaty, jeering laugh. "What a loser," she giggled. Roger had been afraid of precisely this reaction, which is why he'd been hesitant to answer. He hung his head in shame, perhaps not so much because she was laughing at him as because he wanted to show remorse for her so that she wouldn't feel like he wasn't properly chastised. "Since you're such a nerd," she said, "you must have a wireless Internet connection here, yes?"
"Yes," he confirmed.
"What's the password?" she asked, pulling a smartphone out of her purse.
He told her the password, and after checking with her phone for a moment to make sure that she had a connection, she nodded. "Good. I'm connected. Now, kiss my foot while I get some work done online."
Roger hesitated for just a moment. "You're wearing stockings..." he noted.
"So? I don't care," she replied. "Kiss the stockings. That's all you get for now. You haven't earned the right to kiss my bare feet yet."
And so they continued this way for a few minutes, him kissing her stockinged foot repeatedly and her doing something on her smartphone. Presently, she suddenly asked: "I'm hungry. What do you have to eat?"
"Um, I have some frozen pizza in the freezer."
"That will be fine. Have you already had dinner?"
"No, not yet."
"Then you can make dinner for both of us, if you want to eat as well. Prepare the food and bring it here when you are done."
Roger came back a few minutes later with two plates of pizza, one for him and one for her. She accepted her plate graciously, with a winning smile, and he was once again glad that he had pleased her.
"Um..." he began uncertainly. "Where do I eat?"
"On the floor, of course, stupid," she said, laughing at him again.
"On the floor? But there's room on the sofa..."
She laughed even harder. "Do you really think a loser like you has any place sitting next to me on the same surface? We're not equals, and we never will be. Your furniture is mine now, and the floor is where you will sit and eat from now on. You should thank me for showing you your place in the world."