Good Pet

“Well, uh, no,” says the store clerk. “That’s not what I was going to say at all, sir.”

“You were, just not in those terms,” says Tommy, like he’s decided to put the clerk on trial. “I just made it easier for you.”

“Tommy,” I say gently, “please hold on a minute.”

“I’m going to go wait outside,” he says, and storms away. “I’m not interested in any of this stuff.”

Before I can do or say anything to stop him, to keep him with me, he’s already started out past the racks of clothing, and out the store.

Now it’s just the clerk and me standing awkwardly in front of each other. “I was going to say,” says the clerk, “before your boyfriend there stormed out, that I can get a catalog with more options for bigger-sized people. These are just what I have in stock at the moment, but not all the plus-sized options available.”

I nod. “I see,” is all I can say. Part of my attention is wandering toward Tommy. Wondering just how far he’s gotten away from me. I look outside the windows and see that Tommy is not far. Only out to one of the benches by one of the many fountains, but he doesn’t look happy.

I turn back to the clerk and say, “This is obviously not the selection we were hoping for, but I do like those and those.” I point to the two suits I think will suit Tommy. One has paisley designs inlaid into the fabric lightly, but they add an interesting shine to the suit. I also see one that’s navy, with white along the trim. That’s the second one I point out. “I will be paying for those, but first, I need to go and wrangle my baby inside from his sulking place by the fountain.”

The store clerk gives an awkward, uncomfortable laugh at this, but I go to collect Tommy anyway. He sees me coming, goes to move away, and make my job harder, but I don’t let him. I grab onto him before he gets too far.

“Come back inside,” I tell him.

“Why? So, I can see just how fat I really am and how good I will never look in anything?” His voice whines and stretches, like it’s been scraped against the razor edge of a knife. “How much I can’t afford shit?”

Now it’s my turn to fight with tears — with a scratch and burn in my throat that grows by the second. “No,” I say, almost screaming it. “No, that’s not why I want you to come inside. I want to get your measurements, and I want to get you something nice, even if they don’t have everything that’s in their catalog.” Tommy’s comment about not being able to afford things has just hit me and buried itself into my brain. “Wait. What do you mean ‘can’t afford’ things?”

Tommy clams up. “Nothing.”

I’m definitely sure it’s not nothing, but I’m not going to get into it with him right now. If I did, he’d just close up even more. He’d give me even more of a chilly reception that he already has, and I don’t want that.

“And you’re not buying me those suits,” he says, “I let you buy the pants, but the suits are not happening. I’d rather go naked.”

I grab him by his shirt and whisper, “I’ll strip you down right here and give you a good fucking if you keep that up that attitude, Tommy.”

I’m surprised by my boldness, but Tommy isn’t. He just stares down at me, looking like an incubus — a devil of sex and mischief, more than ready to test my threat.

“You really think you have it in you to boss me around like that, pet?” The way he asks this, it makes me shiver. It makes my knees a little weak, and my pussy hot and tingly. I don’t answer immediately. “Well? Do you?”

I step away from him, getting control of myself — just before I melt into his arms.

“No, sir,” I answer, “but I do need your measurements. You can either give them to me, or I can get them some other way.”

Tommy blushes here, but quickly covers it up with what I assume is an attempt at toughness. He tries to look like he’s the boss of me. “I see,” he says, still sounding angry, but not unreachable. Something I’m grateful for since I know this must be hard for him, this whole situation, even though I never intended for it to make him even more self-conscious. “Well, then, I suppose, since you are determined to give me this makeover, I have no choice. I have to provide you with my measurements.”

Here, I’m expecting him to just rattle off some numbers, and expect me to take them back into the shop with me, but that’s not what I get. I get his hand in mine and a willingness to go back inside.