Page 12 of Love Triangle
“Oh, dear, no.” She bites her lip and wrings her hands. “I’m sorry but I can’t go out to dinner with you.”
My eyelids flutter in disbelief. This is not how I expected this to go, I must admit.
“Alright then. My apologies for bothering you.”
“No, no! That’s not it! I just can’t go out at night. I have a thing and I can’t really talk about it, but it just means dinner is out. My days are free though,” she blushes.
I can feel the corners of my lips twitch in the barest hint of a rare smile.
“Days are just fine. Of course, I do work on weekdays.”
“Tomorrow morning, I’m busy. What about Sunday, a late breakfast or early lunch?” She bites her lip and all I can think about is biting it for her. “Cliff? Did you hear me?”
“Yes, sorry, I was double checking my schedule. Sunday is fine. Please, let us exchange contact information so that we may make more detailed plans.” I take out my phone and she takes a notepad out of the pocket of her apron.
“Sounds good. There’s one more thing I should tell you. I think it’s kind of important.” Her smile has disappeared now and I’m sure I know why.
I nod for her to continue as I write my number on her notepad.
“Oh boy. Well, I’m going on a date tomorrow with another guy. It’s a first date too.” She shuffles her feet and watches my expression carefully.
“That’s fine. I don’t expect exclusivity before we’ve even had one date.”
She still doesn’t relax, and I know it’s because the hardest part is coming.
“Yeah, but the guy is someone you know. It’s, well, it’s Trig. I know he’s your…friend. Is that going to be weird for you?”
“No.”A lie. “Though you may need to ask if it will be for him. He may not be as evolved as I am.”
I sniff and adjust my collar as she programs her number into my phone. Now if he says anything negative about her dating me, he’ll seem like an asshole.
“Oh, that’s such a relief. I just can’t wait!”
“Neither can I, Crystal.”
I follow her back into the shop to pay for my food, then leave. There is somewhere I like to go Friday nights when everyone else is in town at the bar.
This town has nothing for me but the museum, so when given a choice, I do not spend my time here. Fridays, I drive to the city to let off the steam I build up during the week that even running can’t help. It’s when I find people who like to let someone take control. I go to a place where I happen to be very popular, where there is always an abundance of submissive men and women to choose from who’ll beg to spend the evening with me. To please me. To let me takecontrol.This Friday, I need that release.
After going home and grabbing the other bag I keep in my closet, I change into the clothes I keep inside it, then bring the rest of the items I keep in there to my car. These things aren’t items I’d like to have around the house should anyone pop by and take a look around. I’d rather not explain my…hobby, and it’s hard to explain away a satchel of handcuffs, whips, and the like as anything other than what I do.
Tonight, as I walk into the Velvet Cuff underground club, I may not be dressed the same as I usually am but that’s good. Few from town would recognize me like this, even with such a simple change. I don’t normally prefer to draw attention to myself but on these nights, I like to look my best. Running and daily exercise keep me fit so the tight, black clothes I wear are perfectly tailored to highlight all my best features.
The neckline of my shirt dips just low enough to reveal the tattoos on my chest. Much of my body is covered in tattoos. The folks in the town have no idea, and I prefer it that way. Keeping them a secret is part of why I enjoy having them.
The low lighting of the club reveals a fresh crop of faces along with the familiar ones. A woman in a pink latex mini dress is perched on the edge of a black, velvet chair in the back corner of the bar. Lisa, that’s her name. I’ve spent a few nights with her. She’s a good girl. I saunter over to the chair and when Lisa spots me she jumps off the seat.
“Oh, hi there. Didn’t see you come in. Saved your seat,” she says as she adjusts her dress to cover the pink latex panties she’s wearing. It’s a really fucking short dress.
Lisa chews her gum nervously and rubs her hands together in front of her. Sighing, I stroke her bottle-blonde hair behind her ear.
“The gum, Lisa. I thought you broke the habit.Tsk.”
Her jaw has been bothering her and her doctor told her to stop chewing gum. When she couldn’t stop, she asked me to help give her an incentive, and since then I haven’t seen her chew it for months. I enjoy helping people like Lisa, people who need a littlepushto achieve their goals. The kind of help only someone like me can give them.
“It’s been a rough week.”
When she looks down at her hands in shame and all I see is her blonde hair, pink clothes, and wide hips, I could almost pretend she was someone else I’d like to be with tonight.
