Unbreakable (Unrestrained 4)

“I’ve been busy adjusting,” she said. “Resident life is a lot different from being an intern. You’re responsible for a lot more and there’s a great deal to learn.”

“You’ll do fine,” I said, distracted, trying to find a spot to sit. A number of our colleagues were already inside so I took a seat between two others and tried to focus on the white board where a case file was projected for our conference discussion. I sensed that Lisa sat across from me, but I didn’t meet her eyes.

Throughout the session, I felt her glance on me, but I never met it. Instead, I kept my focus on the front of the conference room, on the monitor on which the patient charts were projected. Dr. Brodinski, the other fellow in the program with me, was leading the session and asked Lisa a question about a particular case. She was bright and knew her stuff.

After the session, Lisa left with Brodinski, and that would be it until later that day when I was enroute from the clinic where I was seeing my patients in my office.

Lisa caught up with me. “Care to go for a coffee?”

I turned to her. “Sorry,” I said as politely as I could. “I have to get through a lot of material before the end of the day.” I shrugged and walked on a little faster. She kept up beside me, despite how brusque I was trying to be. We arrived at the elevator, and I pressed the elevator button.

She turned to me. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you alone.”

“Oh?” I said, feigning an ease I didn’t feel.

“Yes,” she said and stood a bit closer, her voice lower. “You don’t remember me?”

I shook my head and forced a smile. “Sorry. I know you were at NYP for your internship, if that’s what you mean.”

“Well, I was wearing a mask the first time we met.”

I frowned and turned to her, glancing over her, trying to recall…

People wore masks all the time at dungeon parties, if they didn’t want to be recognized.

Had we been at a dungeon party together?

“A mask? Did we meet at a Halloween party?” I said, trying to play dumb in case I was wrong.

“Well, it was a party, but not for Halloween…We have mutual friends and I’ve heard a lot about you.” She smiled.

“Oh, really?” I said as the doors to the elevator opened. “Who’s that?”

She smiled coyly. “Derek Richardson.”

That stopped me in my tracks, but I tried to recover, entering the elevator and turning to face the bank of buttons. I didn’t reply.

“You must remember him,” Lisa said, following me on to the empty elevator. Her voice dropping a register. “He has a huge mansion in Yonkers?”

“Richardson?” I said softly, wondering how well she knew Richardson. He was one of the wealthier men I knew in the lifestyle and hosted a monthly dungeon party at his home. I’d attended many times and had taken Kate there after we started our relationship.

I felt a thrill of adrenaline and a pall of dread that she knew me from that life. Worse, that I might have topped her at some point but couldn’t remember when. We left the elevator and went down the hallway to my office.

I thought back to my interactions with Richardson. I’d topped a few of his submissives.

“Yes,” she said. “He’s a…” she said and paused, smiling, “very special friend of mine. You and I have a lot of interests in common.”

I nodded, and tried to keep my voice calm. “I haven’t seen Richardson for a while,” I said lightly, fighting a sense of dread. “He’s still in Yonkers?”

“Yes,” Lisa said. “We’re not together any longer, but I did my apprenticeship with him.”

I shook my head. “I’ve been out of the country for the past six months.” I felt a knot in my gut. How was this going to affect my fellowship? Could we work together and more importantly, had I topped her in the past? She had to be a submissive…

“Well, it’s nice to finally meet Doctor D.” She smiled again and went off down the hallway.

The way she said Doctor, emphasizing it, could only mean she was referring to my other alias, Master D.

If she knew Richardson and had been his submissive, and if I had topped her, she knew who I was and what I was. It sent a shiver down my spine at the prospect that one of my students might know of my background in BDSM, and worse, that I might have topped her at a play party.