A Natural Born Submissive (8 page)

She heard Ray laugh loudly downstairs.  Alice sighed, and for about the ten thousandth time she wished her father were still alive.  She couldn't shake the feeling that things would be very different if he hadn't dropped dead of a heart attack ten years ago.  Maybe not all that different, but perhaps Ray wouldn't have strayed.  He and her Dad had been very close.  What would her Dad have thought of her divorce?

She thought about Victor's life at the club.  The man worked nights.  That was not a problem; she frequently did, too.  He would be there every Friday and Saturday night, overseeing the BDSM activities.  Would that drive her crazy?  He was such a handsome man, and she was sure there was an endless stream of subs who would love to get him in their clutches.  Would she feel compelled to be there at the club with him?  Perhaps she should walk away now, before she got too deeply involved.

She got up and answered the knock at her bedroom door.  It was her mom.  "Come on down, dear and talk to Ray."

"Mom, I spent twenty-five years talking to the man.  I have nothing left to say."

"Now, don't be like that.  It wouldn't hurt you two to spend some time together.  I'm sure there's more to tell about his visit with the girls than that one of them is failing biology and what their majors will be."

"All right, you win, but I have to shower and get dressed and make a couple of calls, then I'll be down.  Do you need help with dinner?"

"No, it's already slow-roasting in the oven.  Hurry up, dear."  As Alice shut the door she heard her mother tell Ray that she was running to the store to pick up ingredients for dessert.  She showered quickly and exited the bathroom, only to find Ray in the hallway.

Alice quickly pulled the towel tighter around her body.  "What do you want, Ray?" she asked, annoyed.

"To spend a little quality time with you," he said, walking towards her.

But Alice pushed past him.  "I don't think so, Ray."

Ray looked hurt.  "What are you suddenly so shy about, huh?  I saw you naked for twenty-five years.  I watched you give birth to twins.  I've seen it all!"

"Not lately you haven't.  And in case you've forgotten, you cheated on me, and now we are divorced.  So.  Get.  Out."

"Geez, OK, OK," Ray said, withdrawing awkwardly as she headed towards her bedroom.  "But no matter what we went through, the sex was always good between us, Alice, remember?"

She slammed the door in his face.  She remembered, all right.  But her memories were different.  The sex may have been good for him, but never for her.

"You look great, you really do!" he yelled through the door.

Alice listened to him stomp back downstairs as she leaned against the door.  She was grateful that she'd not come out of the bathroom naked.  The last thing she needed for was him to see her red bottom.  Alice hid in her room, listening to music and reading until it was time for dinner.

Dinner was scrumptious, as always.  When Ray complimented her on the food, Doris gave the credit to her favorite celebrity chef, Paula Deen.  After dinner, Alice and Ray cleaned up while Doris headed out to play bingo.  Working side by side on the dishes helped relieve some of the tension between them, and they were back to bantering like the good old days.  They sat down afterwards over cups of coffee.

"Got any Baileys to slip into this coffee?" Ray asked.

"Oh I think I might be able to find a bottle around here," Alice replied, getting up to look.  Her Mom kept the strangest alcohol—Rum Chata, Kahlua, Caramel-flavored vodka and—yes—a bottle of Bailey's.  It was more like a soda fountain than a proper bar.  She poured them both a dollop.

"Mmmmmm, that hits the spot!" Ray said, slurping loudly.  He grinned, knowing that she hated it when he drank noisily.

She looked disapprovingly at him but then couldn't hide the grin that broke out on her face.  It was soothing to be back sitting with the person she'd shared life with for twenty-five years, no matter how badly it had ended.  At a pause in the conversation, she finally asked the question she'd never had the courage to ask.

"Why did you do it, Ray?"

"Look Alice," he began.  "I know I was a jerk.  I just felt like you and the girls had this little club and I wasn't a part of it.  I felt left out in my own home.  You were busy at the station in the evenings, and I got restless.  I started to feel lonely, and there was this woman and she … well, you know the rest."

Alice didn't even know how to respond to that.  His explanation was ridiculous; he and the girls had been extremely close, and his teaching schedule was the same as their school schedule.  But was this how he really felt?  Could she be just as responsible for the breakup of the marriage as he was?  On reflection, she didn't even know when Ray would have had the time to be squiring another woman around town.

"Was it worth the end of your marriage and the breakup of your family?" she finally asked.

"Oh God, no.  It didn't mean anything.  It really didn't."  Ray shook his head sadly.  "She was just being nice to me—paying attention to me—and one thing led to another.  Honest to God, it was just skin rubbing against skin for all it meant to me."

"I'm not sure I entirely believe that, Ray.  I think there was a much bigger emotional involvement than you're letting on."

"Well, we're not together now, are we?  Doesn't that prove anything?"

"I don't know what you do in your free time, Ray.  For all I know, you two are living together."

"Jesus, Alice!  How can you even think that?  Come by anytime; you'll see I live alone!" he protested.

Alice looked down and started to cry.  The pain of his betrayal still hurt as if she'd just found out about it.

"Why don't you ever come by, Alice?" he asked, his voice soft now.  He placed his big, meaty paw over hers.  "I'd like it if you would."

"Ray," Alice pulled her hand away and set it in her lap, using her other hand to wipe away the tears.  "I need time and space.  I was very hurt by your affairs."

"Well, I'm not giving up.  As long as we are both alive and still single, there's hope."

"Ray, give it up.  Move on with your life.  I'm sure there are some single teachers at your school who would love to go out with you."

"Speaking of going out, how about it, Alice?  Remember how we used to go to Ricardo's after work on Friday nights for happy hour and fill up on the dollar tacos?  Meet me there one more time for old times' sake?"

"If I agree, will you leave?" Alice sighed.  It would be worth it to get rid of him right now; if not, he'd hang around until 11 p.m., like he'd done so many times in the past.

Ray broke into a big grin.  "You betcha, pretty lady.  It's a date!  Friday night at 5:30.  See you then!"

Alice walked him to the door but before he could leave he turned.

"Forgot my phone," he said, picking it up from the couch where it had been sitting.  "Can't leave that behind."

She glared at him.  Was he afraid to leave it there because she might check the recent calls and see that his story of being single and waiting for her was just a lie?

Chapter Six

The next work week was a slow one for Katt and Alice.  With Halloween the following weekend, they had decided to rerun a piece they'd done on haunted houses and spent the time brainstorming about future episodes of
Talk of the Town.

Their piece on The Beaten Path had generated substantial viewer discussion and now the pair brainstormed on how to capitalize on the interest.  Katt liked the idea of featuring more people from the fetish community and having them appear live to take audience questions.

Katt had an idea.  "I really liked having Victor on the show and then having him show us around his world.  Let's do more of that.  Instead of just featuring places and happenings, let's also feature individual people.  And having people email their questions was inspired."

"Victor could probably hook us up with some people," Alice said.  "I'll ask him."

"So are you seeing him?" Katt asked.  When Alice gave her a knowing smile, she pressed harder.

"Come on.  Tell me …"

"After we taped the show, he and I went back to his place," Alice admitted.

"Ooooh, you wanton hussy!"

"He lives there in that house that the club is in."

"Did you do it?"

"Katt!" Alice scolded.  "Don't be crude."

"Oh come on, it's just between us girls."

Alice held back until a big grin broke out over her face.  "Yes, and it was wonderful!" 

"I'm glad; tell me, did he do anything kinky?" Alice flushed, and Katt had her answer.

She then coaxed a reluctant Alice into telling her all about it.  "He—he tied my hands, and after we made love he … oh I can't talk about this!"  She flushed, burying her face in her hands.

"What, he spanked you?  He made you kneel and suck his cock?  What?  Tell me!"

"Let's just say he definitely had me on my knees."

"Did it do anything for you?"

"Yes." Alice admitted.  "I'm definitely submissive, Katt.  Intellectually I'm not sure how I feel about that, but the bottom line is that it totally turns me on.  Oh, and get this—I found out that the BDSM crowd is only there on Friday and Saturday nights.  My Mom says that they rent the club out weeknights to various dance groups, plus they have Drag Queen Bingo there on Monday nights.  It's not open at all on Sundays."

"Oops, we didn't make that clear during the show.  I thought it was BDSM all the time."

"Me, too.  My bad.  I should have done more research."

"Well, I met up with Bellissima Sunday morning for breakfast.  I think we're going to be great friends.  I asked him more about Victor."

"Really?" Alice asked.

"Yes.  He said Victor is a widower; he's got grown kids who live in Europe and—get this—he doesn't usually 'play' with a new sub more than a couple of times.  He hasn't been in a relationship in the three years since Bella has known him."

Alice's heart clenched.  "That's not what he told me.  He told me that he doesn't bother to train a new sub unless he thinks there's the possibility of a real, long-lasting relationship.  He said he does play with experienced subs at the club once in awhile."

"Well, maybe Bella was referring to subs who were new to the club, rather than new to the life.  Just be careful, Alice.  Men will lead you to believe they're interested in a relationship when they just want to get you into bed.  Back when I used to date men, you had to watch out for the ones that talked about marriage on the first date.  It's a ploy to create instant intimacy because they're too lazy to do the work to create the real kind.  They just want to get women to open up and trust them so they can bed them right away.  What you need is to make sure that he's not a player."

"What do you think?" Alice asked.

Katt thought for a moment before answering.  "To be honest, I don't know how he couldn't be, given his lifestyle.  He's got an endless supply of subs coming through that club of his."  Alice looked so crushed that Katt was quick to add, "I could be wrong, though.  It wasn't like he was flirting all over the place."

"True," Alice nodded.

"Just promise me you'll move slowly, OK?  You are completely unequipped to deal with anything like this.  You just came off of a twenty-five-year marriage, for God's sake!  And how many guys did you date before you married?"

"Well, I was nineteen when we married, and before that I had a boyfriend in high school."

"Oh my God, you are
such
an innocent!  You're practically a virgin!"

Alice laughed.  "That's a good one.  Oh, get this, I made a date with Ray."

"Your ex-husband?!  Why would you do that?"

"I don't know.  He tricked me into agreeing to meet him for happy hour on Friday."

"My, you have a complicated love life—for someone who's practically a virgin, that is.  Did you make plans to see Victor again?"

"No, but I know where to find him."

"Well, Bella said there's a big Halloween party there on Saturday night.  The costumes will be wild, and the food will be fabulous.  He thinks you and I should go."

"Sounds like fun.  I'll think about it.  It's one thing to date Victor, another to hang out at his club all the time."

As if on cue, the receptionist brought a delivery in that had just arrived at the station, marked URGENT.  It was addressed to Alice and looked like a large dress box.  As she lifted the lid, there was a card lying on top of some tissue.  She read it aloud; it was from Victor.  "Please come to the Halloween party at The Beaten Path on Saturday, and wear this.  I'm going as a pirate captain; you can be my first mate.  I'll look forward to seeing you in it."

Alice lifted the clothing out of the box.  It was a sexy pirate-girl costume with a corset and short skirt with a ragged hem.  There was a low-cut peasant blouse to wear underneath the corset.

Katt whistled.  "I guess we're going to the Halloween party after all," she said, judging by Alice's big smile.

"Let's!  I'll need a few more items to round out this outfit though—high-heeled boots and fishnet stockings."

"A bandana to tie around your head and hoop earrings." Katt added.

"And lots of makeup.  I'm going all out.  What will you wear?"

"I don't know.  Let's go to the costume shop on Valley View at lunch."

"Sounds like a plan!"

By the end of their lunch break, they'd found everything they needed, except for the fishnet stockings.  For those, they swung by the store on Sahara where the strippers shop.  Alice decided to pass on the pantyhose and go with thigh-high stockings and a garter belt, suspecting that Victor would like that better.

***

On Saturday night, the Pirate Wench picked up Cleopatra, and they headed for The Beaten Path.

"We look hot!" Alice giggled, looking over at Katt admiringly.  With her intense eye makeup, Katt truly looked like an Egyptian queen.  Her diaphanous gold costume clung to her curves.

"How did happy hour with your hubby go?" Katt asked.

"EX-hubby, thank you very much.  I postponed it, which didn't stop him from coming over again last night, though.  I'm so tired of his always hanging around.  And my mother's no help—she encourages him!"