“Good.”
“Same time tomorrow, Mr. Reddick?”
“Same time tomorrow, Ms. Woods.”
She picks up her purse and tosses the strap casually over her arm before walking out the door. She doesn’t give me a second glance, and I don’t care. She’ll be back here tomorrow, and I’m already thinking about fucking her on the coffee table from behind.
I don’t know if this is the sort of thing my mother would consider a relationship or not, but for the first time in a long time, I feel relaxed and at ease. I sit down on my oversized, high-backed, leather chair and unlock my laptop. As I lean back and watch various emails and alerts fly past the screen, my eyes glance down to the trashcan underneath the desk and the discarded, used condom inside of it. I feel a slow smile creep across my face as I pull up the PowerPoint presentation I have to give in a half hour. Whatever anxiety I felt regarding the board meeting prior to my lunch hour has now completely dissipated.
I activate my calendar for tomorrow and quickly mark my time as unavailable from noon to one o’clock. Snickering a little to myself, I go ahead and block off all my lunch hours for the following two weeks as well.
“Same time tomorrow indeed, Ms. Woods,” I whisper to myself.
~The End~
Cleansing Bonds: Chapter 1
“I think she’s just what you are looking for, Paul.”
I take a slow, cleansing breath. My eyes wander to the window and I stare out at the Manhattan skyline. The sun is beginning to set over the buildings, and they sparkle with magnificent red and gold light.
Even in a city this size, I’m not sure what I’m looking for is out there.
I sigh into the phone. I’ve heard this before, and I understand what she is saying, but Holly always thinks she has the best thing for me, and it hasn’t worked out yet. Granted, the relationships ended better than they had with…with her, but they all still ended for the same reason. They left because I couldn’t fulfill certain needs.
How’s that for ironic? A Dom who can’t fulfill the basic needs of the average submissive.
“You said that about Melissa,” I remind her. I drum my fingers on the top of my desk. “She didn’t even last the weekend.”
“Yes, I realize that,” Holly says as she huffs into the phone, “but you either have to give it a try or give up the scene entirely. Your choice, but you can hardly let one bad relationship-”
“One bad relationship?” I ask with a snort. “That’s what you want to call that? Seriously? I have no idea which one of us was left with the deeper scars.”
“Sorry,” she says, and I know she means it. “I’m not trying to upset you, Paul. I just want you to give this one a shot. You could be perfect for each other.”
I take a deep breath and decide I might as well give it one more chance.
“When can I meet her?”
“In your office or in public somewhere?”
“My office,” I say. First meetings are always best in an environment suited to me. My apartment is out of the question, but here in my top-floor office where I have the utmost control over everything works perfectly. Here I can manage life, business, money, and people.
“I can bring her by early Thursday afternoon.”
“Afternoon is no good, unless it’s late afternoon. Four thirty?”
“Let me check.” I listen to the sounds of long fingernails against a keyboard. “I can make it at four thirty, but I can’t stay past five. Obviously, I need to confirm with her if she is also free then.”
“See if she can make it,” I say. “Also see if she minds being left here without you because I will undoubtedly need more than thirty minutes to talk to her. I can either call her a cab or give her a lift myself.”
“I’ll check it out.”
“Thanks, Holly.”
I hang up and look at the clock as if it would make Thursday come any sooner. The idea of trying out another sub fills me with both hope and dread. The past three had been utter failures, and the idea of failing again is terrifying.
I need some focus.