RIPP. The thought of being in a D/s relationship excited me. Something about Vee caused me to contemplate what I had never considered in the past. Generally speaking, the thought of actually being in a relationship with a woman made me laugh. The thought of a relationship with Vee, however, made me smile. I wondered if two weeks in the future I would look back on all of my thoughts as being a really bad idea and nothing more than good life experiences. Time, I suppose, would tell.

I sat on her couch and waited for her to change clothes. A long night at work changed our plans for dinner and we decided to spend an hour or so together at her house. I suspect this was the life of an attorney, especially one in the position she was in. Work came before anything else. Of the three nights we had gone out on dates, two of them had been later than we originally planned, all as a result of her late nights at work.

As I relaxed on the couch, a fuckin’ cat walked up, stared at me for a minute and jumped on the cushion beside me. Cats are creepy as fuck. They rate right below a clown on my chart of shit that grosses me out. After looking around the room to make sure Vee wasn’t near, I pushed it on the floor and wiped my hands on the couch.

Immediately, it jumped right back onto the couch beside me. I looked around the room, stood up and walked to the chair situated in the corner of the room and sat down. I tried my best not to make eye contact with it; but eventually it jumped down, walked to the chair and looked up at me. As I was preparing to toss it down the hallway, Vee walked into the room.

“I see you’ve met Candy,” she said as she approached the two of us.

“The cat?” I asked as I looked down at the cretin.

“Yes, the cat. She’s a lover. She’ll get right up in your lap if you’re not careful,” she chuckled as she sat on the couch.

“It ain’t gonna get in my fuckin’ lap, at least not for very fuckin’ long. I ain’t real fond of cats. It just as well be a clown as far as I’m concerned. Fuckin’ thing’s creepin’ me out, it keeps lookin’ at me,” I complained as I waved my hands in the cat’s direction.

“Well, she sure won’t hurt you,” Vee chuckled as she patted her thigh.

As if the cat were trained, it looked at Vee, slowly walked to the couch, sprang up on the cushion and relaxed into her lap. As soon as she began touching it, it curled up into a ball and started scratching her legs with its front paws. I rubbed my bicep with my hand as I watched the scratching slow down to what appeared to be a few inadvertent reflexive motions.

That’s fucking gross.

“So how was your day?” she asked.

“It was good. I worked out for a few hours, washed the Chevelle, and Dekk and I went to the bar for lunch. We ended up hanging out there until five. I went home and showered thinkin’ we were going to meet at six. That’s just about it,” I continued to rub my bicep and stare at the cat.

“How long you let that thing sit on you like that?” I asked as it rolled over onto its back.

“Sometimes we’ll sit here all night. She’s all I have. She’s all I’ve had for, well five years now,” Vee responded.

I sat and watched her pet the cat, attempting to recall all of the people I had been with in the last five years. I couldn’t remember the women spanning the last six months very well; and in fact lost track at about four weeks. The thought of Vee coming home to a cat every night was difficult to comprehend and saddening in some respects.

“So, for the last five years, what’s your typical evening been like?” I asked as I tried to relax in the chair.

She looked around the room and stroked the stomach of the cat, “Well. Whenever I come home from work, I usually change clothes and relax, listen to some music, study, and go to bed. That’s pretty much it. And I am sorry I was late, I had to get a few motions filed.”

“No big deal on being late, Vee. Things happen. Not everyone gets to fuck off all day like Dekk and I,” I sat up in the chair and admired the tone of muscle and definition to her legs.

“True. I’m sorry none-the-less,” she said as she lifted her hand from the now sleeping cat.

“You, uhhm. You work those legs out quite a bit?” I leaned to the edge of the chair and rested my forearms on my knees.

She extended her foot outward and held her right leg parallel to the floor as she flexed her leg muscles. As she did, she looked up and down the length of her leg and smiled. Her skin tone wasn’t dark for the time of year in Texas, nor was it pale. Her muscles flared as she rotated her foot from left to right.

“I work out every morning here at home. I don’t get much time in the sun, so I fake bake in my tanning bed – It makes the muscles look a little more defined. Do you want something to drink?” she asked.

“I’m good. Your own a tanning bed, huh?”

“I don’t have enough time to tan at a salon. They’re generally closed when I get home. I’m going to get a bottle of water, you sure?” she smiled as she started to get up.

Normally speaking, I would have allowed any other woman to get up and get herself a bottle of water. With Vee, for reasons I couldn’t explain or come even close to understanding, I wanted to be better, different, caring and compassionate. It seemed I was doing and considering things I didn’t even know I had the ability to do or consider. As I stood from the chair I wondered what I may turn into as time passed if we stayed together.

“I’ll get it; I don’t want you to wake it up,” I grinned, “where do you keep it?”

What the fuck is happening to me?

“It’s in the fridge in the kitchen. It’s the way you came in, the hallway on the right. Thank you,” she said as she pointed toward the entry hall.

As I walked to the kitchen, the overall size of her house became apparent. To live in the home alone, cat or no cat, would be depressing on even a good day. The house was large, very spacious and extremely well decorated. I realized Vee had great taste in clothes, and after walking through the house it was obvious she had great taste in decorating a home as well. Walking into the living room with two bottles of water, the entire situation felt surreal.

Being fully clothed and walking around a woman’s house, sitting in a living room talking while she pet her cat and drinking bottled water wasn’t something I had ever done, nor would I have been willing to do in the past. The thought of Vee being my submissive girlfriend appealed to me, partially because of her submissive nature, and equal parts because of her looks, personality and fondness of me. The fact I felt the way I felt at this juncture; after only a week, was a little troubling.

I felt pussy-whipped, without the pussy.

“Here you go,” I said as I handed her the bottle of water.

“Thank you. Please, sit,” she patted the cushion beside her.

“How long’s it sleep like that?” I asked as I looked down at the sleeping ball of fluff.

“Difficult to guess. Five minutes. An hour. It’s a cat, they’re unpredictable,” she grinned.

“Yeah, that’s part of what I hate about ‘em. You never know what the fucker’s are gonna do,” I shook my head and reluctantly sat down beside her.

“It’s a cat, Ripp. It’s not a monster. Cats are soothing creatures. They’re somewhat unpredictable, but that’s part of what makes each one of them unique. This one only wants to be loved. She doesn’t scratch, bite, or tear the house to shreds. The cat answers to no one, and I answer to the cat, because I must. Without me, the cat would certainly die. It brings me joy to know it cares for my company enough to lie on my lap.”

I stared into her eyes as she spoke, feeling almost hypnotized by their color and clarity. As I admired the color of her eyes, I realized I had no idea what the eye color was of any other woman I had ever been with. Ever. I sat and tried to think for the life of me what anyone’s eye color was.

Nothing.

“Ripp?” her voice brought me back to reality.

“Oh, yeah,” I sighed as I shook my head.

“I was…your eyes. I thought they were brown. They’re blue. Like really, really blue. They’re uhhm. They’re really pretty,” I said as I brushed her hair away from her face and looked into her eyes again.

Her head tilted in the direction of my hand as I swept her hair away from her face. Slowly, her lips formed a soft smile, revealing dimples. I studied her face, realizing there was absolutely nothing wrong with her. Nothing. She was picture perfect and well beyond what I deserved regarding a woman.

“They’ve always been blue. And thank you,” she nudged the back of my hand with her face as she smiled.

“You gonna fuck me over, Vee?” I asked as I settled into the corner of the couch.

“Excuse me?” she asked.

“Look at you. You’re perfect. You’re fuckin gorgeous. You’re an intelligent woman. You have a beautiful house, a nice car, a great job and you’re…well, you’re in great physical shape. You could have anyone you want. You’re just,” I hesitated and raised my chin a little.

“Well, what’s the catch?” I asked over my left shoulder.

I felt as if I needed to get out before I made a complete fool of myself. I had no business in this situation, not with her. And to think she wanted to be in some form of a relationship with me - and she was going to be my submissive girlfriend - was ridiculous. Simply sitting and watching her was a form of reassurance I had no business actually being with her.

“Fuck you over? Seriously? Let me explain myself again, Ripp,” she snapped as she pitched the cat off of her lap and onto the floor.

She crossed her legs and twisted her body to the right as she pressed her water bottle in between the cushions of the couch. With my head cocked a little to the left and her now sitting sideways on the couch facing me, she started her rant.

“Just in case sir, I’ve done a poor job of making myself clear the first three or four times we’ve spoken, I’ll make yet another attempt to penetrate the overly thick skull of yours and leave an impression on your feeble brain. Yes, Ripp, I want to piss you off right now, because I’m pissed off. I’m pissed off because you’re questioning me. I have better shit to do than waste time. My time is valuable, and I value it. I’m sitting here for one reason and one reason only; because I want to be. More than I want to sleep, and more than I want to eat, I want to sit next to you and get to know you; because you interest me. You interest the absolute fuck out of me. I’m tired and I’m hungry and I’m frustrated about a legal case I’m defending,” she quickly exhaled a short breath, stood up and started pacing the floor as she spoke - attorney style.

“My drug trafficking client, who incidentally paid me in advance and skipped out of the country, is facing life in prison. I’m forced to postpone every meeting, hearing, phone call and any other scheduled potential public exposure where someone might realize he is missing. Meanwhile, I’m attempting to get his case dropped on a technicality; because it’s my job. It’s what he hired me to do. I do, however, have every reason to believe he orchestrated and implemented the attempted delivery of the largest cocaine seizure captured by the DEA in the history of the state of Texas. I’m angry, tired, hungry, and I want to cry - but I can’t cry. I can’t cry because I’m too hungry and way too tired. But guess what? Guess what? Guess fucking what, Ripp?” she paused in front of me and waited for me to respond.

Oh I like this girl.

Completely dumbfounded, I shrugged my shoulders and raised my eyebrows.

“I’d much rather be sitting here beside you while you eye fuck my cat like you want to toss her down the hallway than eating or sleeping. Not because I think you want me to. Not because I want to impress you, and certainly not because I want to eventually fuck you, or have you fuck me, but because I want to. And, Ripp, I want to because I think your bald headed, tattooed, muscled, I knock motherfuckers out for a living ass is the most perfect example of what I have waited a lifetime for,” she hesitated and pressed her hands into her hips as her eyes worked their way up and down my torso.

“That’s all I’ve got. That’s it. And write this date down. Today’s date. If we go the distance, if we end up in a real relationship, and I hope like hell we do, you can punish my little ass and reference today’s date when you administer it, sir. I’ll take whatever you have to offer and respond with a whole hearted and sincere thank you sir. Why? Because, Michael whatever your middle fucking name is Ripton, there’s something about that boxer fist bump handshake - something about that agreement we made - that tells me for the first time in your fucked up little life you’re not going to fuck me over,” she stood before me, her shaking hands fixed on her hips, and stared.

She was impressive. And now I felt better about the entire situation. She was either sincere, or she sure did a good job of presenting herself as such. I wanted to start clapping, but didn’t dare. I wanted to say something, but was half afraid to speak.

“Allen,” I muttered.

“What?” she snapped as she cocked her hip to the side.

“Allen. It’s my middle name.”

And she smiled her beautiful smile.

And I hoped.

I hoped she would do what I did back in 2012 with the guy I fought in Memphis.

Go the distance.