“But we want to ride Ginger and play with the Quack Pack.”
“Is that what he calls his ducks?” Amber snorts. “Brilliant.”
“And all my friends would love it!”
My scheming, doe-eyed offspring has me pinned. If I deny her request, she’ll be heartbroken, and there’s no way she’s going to be happy with the roller rink party when it wasn’t her first choice. I may be a stick in the mud sometimes, but not when it comes to her birthday. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, imagining how awkward it’s going to be when I ask him for this insane favor.
“I will ask him…” I say as slow and calm as I can before the girls start twirling, their faces brighter than every star in the galaxy. “But, but, but... he might be busy that day, we don’t know. I need you to understand he has the right to say no, and then it’s back to our original plan at the roller rink, okay?”
“Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” she screams, before the pair of them hug me with all their might. Their little arms, which aren’t so little anymore, are like a vise around my neck, and their unbridled joy infuses into me.
The girls bound for the living room, turn on the TV, and take out their coloring supplies to hatch party plans while Amber and I finish getting ready for tonight. It’s my monthly allowance afterall, going to one of these play parties. But as the date crept closer on the calendar, the unease in my stomach amplified. I’ve never been this unsure about going—not even the first time Amber took me.
My first time was based on curiosity and research more than anything. And the following parties? Education turned to realization which turned to pleasure. But as I stand in my bathroom, fixing my hair into a slick-back bun, there isn’t excitement drumming through my veins like there used to be.
I’m determined to push through it, however, because there’s no way in hell that man next door is having this effect on me.
I’m going to get to the party, find a pre-approved submissive, and have them eating out of my palm in no time. Judging by the texts I’ve received from a few of my favorites, I’ll have the pick of the litter tonight. Maybe more than one.
Then...thenthis weird feeling will disappear.
The wrap dress I throw on gives no indication I’m wearing a leather and lace bodysuit. The dress is elegant and professional, but I’d never wear it to class. I don’t need my students focusing on my cleavage instead of their lesson. Though covering up never really deterredJonah, did it?
Argh, stop thinking about him!
The bodysuit pushes my tits higher than they have any right to be, and my waist is snatched in thanks to a corset back. Well, as snatched as a petite, chubby woman like myself can be. This is my armor... yet I’m questioning if it’s strong enough to withstand my turmoil.
When Tracy arrives to babysit, I check my reflection one last time before I greet her at the door with a hug.
“Thanks for coming,” I say before releasing her.
“You know it’s no trouble.” She smiles, and the wrinkles around her mouth and eyes deepen. Tracy is a white woman in her late sixties with wavy brown-gray hair that she stopped dying when she retired a couple years ago. A professor of chemistry, she was my colleague at Keystone State. Our offices were right next to each other in the science building, and even though I saw her often, I never really knew her until right before she retired.
Whatever made her strike up a conversation with me that fateful day, I don’t know. But I’m grateful for the way she changed my life.
As always, Lo and Delta geek out over Tracy like she’s Santa. Probably because she always brings gummy worms and peel-off face masks.
Amber gives Tracy a warm welcome. “Thanks for letting me take my sister out of the house.” She winks.
“Lord knows she needs it,” Tracy replies, mirth pulling at the corner of her mouth.
My sister raises her eyebrows and rolls her eyes, communicating something only the three of us know. We give the girls a goodbye hug, and promise we’ll be back when they wake up. Amber leads us out, swinging the front door open and leaving it for me to follow.
I’m about to move out when Tracy stops me on the porch, her voice just above a whisper. “How are you?” she asks, her tone serious and knowing.
“You know.” I shrug with casual indifference that I know she knows is a lie.
“Are you sleeping?”
“It’s getting better. I still wake up in a panic sometimes, but it’s not as often.” A long pause stretches between us as she studies me and holds my hands in hers. I don’t squirm. I don’t look away.
“You made the right choice.”
Thirty minutes later when Amber and I arrive at the party, my nerves are no more at ease. The party is being hosted by a former mayor and her partner in their ostentatious estate situated on four acres of manicured lawns. As gaudy as their decor may be, I do like them. Our kinks don’t align, so I’ve never played with them, but they are stunning together.
A soft, male voice from behind takes my focus away from people watching. “Hello Mistress.” It’s Victor, a man of fifty with olive skin, perfectly coiffed hair, and the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. I’m not supposed to know that, but he’s a member at the country club Amber works at, and she told me.
He hands me the single glass of champagne he’s holding, full and untouched, like he was waiting for me. Victor has been one of my favorite submissives and he’s been a frequent partner of mine since I started coming to these things.
