“You’ll be ready to do the demonstration at the Grand Opening of the club.”
It’s a statement, not a question, but I respond anyway. “I’m good. No problem.”
“Glad to hear it.” He stands up and turns off the light. “If you find someone else to do the demo with, let me or Cassie know.”
I’m in the dark until he flips the switch at the bottom of the stairway. He’s halfway up before I get my bag and follow. I have no idea what he’s talking about finding another sub to do the demo with. I might find a partner one day, but not any time soon.
“See you in the morning.” He says over his shoulder before disappearing around the bend.
I’m quiet as I head to the opposite end of the hall. There’s a pang of loss that lingers as I pass SJ’s room, but that will fade with time, like those posters on my childhood bedroom walls that I took down and threw away before I left Texas. It’s okay to let things go even if they once meant something to you. But people aren’t posters and it might take me a lot longer to get over the red head who lassoed my heart before leaving it shredded under her heel.
Twenty-One
SJ
I’m working on a graphics gig for a fantasy author when the email comes in.Grand opening of the Yacht Club. They must not have scrubbed the list before the notice went out because I’m sure they didn’t intend to invite me. But now that I’ve seen the invite, I want nothing more than to be there. Receiving the invite, doesn’t mean they would let me in the door. Besides, what would I do when I got there?
I close the message and get back to work. Freelancing has been a greater success than I expected. I’m getting more word of mouth recommendations. Enough to pay my bills and put a little bit back into savings. Enough that I haven’t looked for another corporate job. Enough to keep my mind off Alex during the day.
The nights are a different story. I dream of walking down the hallway in the Sunflower and finding him with his hand around his cock, stroking its length, and calling my name. I dream of him tying me up and fucking me senseless. Some nights are ugly and I dream of falling and him not being there to catch me. Or worse, watching as I drop. I still practice with my one length of rope. Watch all the videos on self-tying I can find. I’ve even priced out one of the tripod suspension devices that can be setup in a living room. They aren’t cheap, but it is tempting.
Maybe I’ll spring for it if I ever finish my book. I fiddle with the sentences, tweak the tension, up the sensual scenes, but I can’t write the ending. I joined a writers group online and asked for advice. One of them responded requesting details about the grand gesture. I don’t think my book has one. Unless a silent standoff could be considered a gesture. It’s more like flipping the bird at each other. If I were writing a Western, this would be when the whistling music would play and the bullets would fly. Pretty sure that ending would kill any chance of marketing my book as a romance.
I finish the graphic job and submit it a couple hours later. Unable to resist, I open the invite again. It’s good. I could have designed something a little better, but it’s not bad. Has all the pertinent info which is a win and low bar that is missed more often than not. I continue to study it as an idea takes shape. A terrible idea. A totally bad plan. I’ll need help to pull it off. Amy would tell Tyler, so it can’t be her. Stone scares me too much to approach with my horrible plan.
I scroll through my contacts. Katherine.
I stare at the number, not ready to dial it. I put my phone down and check for more gigs.
It takes me two more days to find the courage to call.
“Hello?” Katherine sounds wary when she answers.
“Hey, Katherine. It’s SJ, Sarah Jane.” Hopefully she doesn’t hang up.
“It’s been a while. How are you?” There’s a hint of frost in her tone. I deserve it.
“Getting by. I’m calling because I got an invitation the grand opening.” My stomach knots, waiting for her to tell me it was a mistake.
“Are you planning to attend?”
“Maybe.” I shrug even though she can’t see me. “I assume you are. Gabe has worked so hard on the construction. And I checked out the website. It’s stunning.”
“You gave me some great copy to work with. And of course we won’t miss it. At least the first part.”
“I saw there’s supposed to be a rope demonstration.”
“Alex. Not sure how he’ll have the energy. He and Gabe have put so many hours into making sure everything is perfect, organizing the subs and inspections. But it’s all coming together. Thought I’d lose my mind when Alex went home for a week.”
Alex was in Texas?
“I barely saw Gabe and we had preteen twin boys staying with us.”
I don’t know how they manage being foster parents. I can’t take care of a houseplant at this point. But Katherine is older than me. And Gabe was in the military so he probably learned to run a tight ship.
“Do you still have the boys?” Maybe that’s why they aren’t staying.
“No, moved on to family members. That’s usually better for the kids. So if you’re coming out, we have plenty of room if you need a place to stay.”
