Ally…

He glanced at Millie behind the till, and satisfied she was distracted, slipped me a small rectangular white envelope. I quickly put it in my apron pocket and tried to interpret the resigned look in his eyes as he took his coffee in silence and went to the register with it. My heart beat in a rapid tattoo against the inside of my ribs, and I felt light and almost faint with excitement.

I had to wait, slogging through orders and trying to get through the day as much as I could on no sleep. I had gone to bed, burning with a deep desiring ache and unable to sleep, staring at the ceiling until my alarm had gone off. I had already canceled my plans with my grandmother. I’d called her room first thing, knowing she would be up, and telling her I would see her tomorrow instead, begging off due to not feeling well, and feeling incredibly guilty as I’d done it.

As soon as my shift ended at the café, I boarded the bus to go home, Mr. Parnell’s note tucked between my hands. I sat and stared at the round gold sticker holding the envelope closed for a long time, and finally unstuck it so I could slip out the card, a white stock with an embossed family crest on the front. The same as was tattooed on his chest.

I opened it and focused on the flowing script from what looked like a fountain pen, the writing too smooth to be ballpoint.

Ally,

I do indeed like you, perhaps a little too much. When I am with you I feel blessed to be in your presence. You improve my quality of life in many ways. I am grateful for your friendship. On Friday, please arrive no later than five pm. I would like to take you somewhere. A new adventure.

Yours,

D.

There were points in his missive where he had paused a little too long, at the end of “feel” and again at the end of “blessed”, the ink bleeding into the page a little more and I sighed, my eyes sweeping the letters and soaking up the sentiment until my stop came. I was still aroused and was beginning to wonder if I would be in a permanent state of it until whatever he had planned on Friday. I guessed I would have to wait and see.

I walked the rest of the way into the Point Side, and up the flights of stairs to the hall my little apartment resided on. Keying my way in, I shut out the outside world and threw all of the locks and chains to keep it out. Except, Mr. Parnell, Damien… Him, I brought in here with me. Him, I thought of while I undressed and got between the sheets. I picked up the beautiful notecard from beside my pillow and sighed. I was looking it over when my phone chimed. I traded them and smiled softly at the text message waiting.

You didn’t look like you’d slept at all this morning.

I tapped out a return message.

I didn’t. I couldn’t. I’m home now, and in bed.

I waited for a return and was very nearly asleep when it came.

Sleep. Will I see you on Friday?

Of course, he would…

Yes.

Again I had nearly drifted off when the phone chimed. I sighed, a little exasperated, and checked.

Good. Keep your hands to yourself. That hasn’t changed.

I smirked.

Yes, Sir.

I didn’t get a response. I went out like a light and woke up later that night. Super late… like I had less than two hours before my alarm went off and I needed to head to work. I sat up and waited to see if whatever had woken me would do it again but nothing. I picked up my phone to the low battery warning and plugged it in, smiling at the last text message that was displayed, waiting for me.

Minx… To be clear, Friday is not to be talked about.

Excitement fluttered through me and resolute that I would not be falling back asleep, I got up and showered. Taking off the Band-Aids on my knees, I decided to let them breathe but put a little ointment on them. A check in the mirror and I put a little ointment on my chin, too, likewise letting it have some air. I twisted my lips and sighed heavily. It was already Wednesday and Friday would be here before I knew it. I wondered if they would be healed up in time for wherever he wanted us to go.

I dressed in mind for the weather. It was supposed to be another scorcher out there, and so I went with a light, breezy silk wrap skirt that fell just above the knee and a white cotton tank top. As I was slipping on my sandals, a knock fell at my front door. I went and checked and saw Dawnie on the other side.

I’d forgotten, she was supposed to come to work with me and listen to one of her books. We were supposed to hang out today after I got off work and I was excited because for once, I had something I could tell her.

“Woah, you’re all fresh and ready to go,” she said when I opened the door. She came inside and I locked everything.

“I didn’t go see Gran yesterday,” I said guiltily. “I came straight home and went to bed.”

“Why?” she asked suspiciously, still tapping her cane around my new apartment, trying to get the lay of the land. She reached out and touched the frame on my daybed and smiled, feeling her way along so she could sit.

“Have I got a story for you…” I said and she perked up.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

I flopped down next to her and told her the ballad of the Mondayest Monday ever and she sat still, soaking it all up with rapt attention.

“You should have seen him; he kicked those two guys’ asses before the police even had a chance to get there.”

“Then what happened?”

“They called the paramedics and they cleaned me up in his kitchen and Mr. Parnell felt so bad, he took me to dinner… on his motorcycle.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Dawnie cried and clapped a hand over her mouth, giggling.

“Oh, shoot, we have to go!” I declared catching sight of the time.

“Well hurry up then! You have to tell me everything.”

I got my things together and we left, locking up the apartment and her hand on my shoulder, traipsed down the hall.

“Stairs,” I warned and she let her cane unfold and we took them down; she had the handrail and after the first couple of steps fell into an easy rhythm.

“So what was that like? The motorcycle ride?” she asked and I smiled.

“Way fun. It’s so different! Like instead of watching the scenery, you feel like a part of it. You know?”

She let out a dreamy sigh and said, “I love living vicariously through you. What else?”

Laughing, we caught the bus to work and it was the best time I had spent with my best friend in a long time.

* * *

I keyed my way into his apartment and was met with soft music rather than the alarm on Friday. I had worked an extra hour or two at the café which had suited his timeline and ensured I would makeup, at least just a little, how much I would be missing out on for having not cleaned this week. I had been carefully saving any extra, though, and would be okay.

A white box was resting on the dining table and there was another note card leaned against it, my name on the front of the envelope. I set my things down by the door and went and picked up the card, unsticking the seal and sliding it free from the envelope.

Ally –

Get yourself ready. Use what I have provided and my bathroom. You have one hour.

-D.

I looked up and around and saw him sitting behind his desk. He wore a black dress shirt and crimson tie, his elbows resting on the arms of his chair, fingers steepled in front of him. His dark eyes swept over me and all of the arousal and desire from earlier this week came flooding back anew.

I nodded once and took the large garment box up; it was heavier than it looked, and went down the hall to his room, closing the door and setting it on the bed. I opened it and shivered at what was inside.

Unrelieved black. A fine material met my eyes and I didn’t know what to make of it. I pulled it free and laid it out and sighed, a bit intimidated. It was a little black dress, a fitted sheath with a tank-top-like neckline to it, simple and more elegant than anything else I had ever owned. With it was a garter, crotchless panties with a matching bra and a pair of very high heels… the kind with the red bottoms.

What’s more, there was makeup. Like, everything I would need for a full face, the lipstick likewise a red, only deep and rich, an almost-burgundy which would do magically with my fair skin tone. I quickly went and showered, dried and styled my hair and did my makeup in front of the bathroom mirror before I stepped into the dress and slid my arms into the straps.

A light tap fell at the door and I went to get it. He’d added a jacket over the shirt and wore the suit well. He pursed his lips, expression grave and said, “Turn.”

I turned around, and he drew the zipper up my back so slowly it made me shiver. I’d never had anyone affect me in such a way dressing me before.

I went over and stepped into the heels and we were nearly even for height now. He nodded, and despite a lack of change in his rigid expression, I could tell that he was pleased. He went to the final article in the bottom of the garment box and held it out for me. I turned and he slipped the red satin interior of the black velvet cloak onto my shoulders. I turned again and he fastened the brooch at my throat and drew the hood up over my hair.

“Perfect,” he breathed. “Come on; we’re going to be late.”

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Someplace special, to test your limits.”

That sounded ominous, but I trusted him and the slow burn of excitement was worth finding out what he had in store for me. We went down to the garage and he opened the door to his Mercedes for me and held it. I slipped onto the expensive leather seat and he closed it, coming around to his side and getting in.

“When we get out of the car, keep your hood up and your head bowed until you are taken inside. Am I understood?”

“Yes.”

“Good girl,” he murmured, and that golden glow of pride that I’d done something well suffused me… even though I hadn’t really done anything at all. At least not yet. He pulled down an alley, brick buildings rising to either side and stopped in front of an unmarked door. A man in a dark suit stepped out of the shadows and opened the door for me. I looked to Mr. Parnell who nodded and went to his own door, leaving his car running. He came around the Mercedes and put a hand on my waist, guiding me down the few steps and through a door which another man, also in a dark suit, held open for us.

Once the door was firmly shut behind us, we were in a sort of antechamber, curtained with a podium, a man behind it standing straight and tall, hands behind his back ‒ and faceless. A white mask, blank and featureless, covered his face.

Track lighting fell on a wall where more masks, the pretty kind, were pinned and waiting. Mr. Parnell went to the wall and perused them. Finally, he turned to me and lowered my hood.

“Turn around. No one will be let in until we are masked and inside. Let’s not keep them waiting.”

I gave him my back and he lowered a tatted lace mask over my head, pulling it over my eyes and securing it in the back.

“Turn,” he murmured and he adjusted it and guided me over to a mirror to look. I blinked, the black lace complimenting my dress, tiny white rhinestones scattered across it at the apex where bits branched out and connected. It was something beautiful and elegant and framed my eyes making them seem larger than life, yet did surprisingly well at concealing my identity.

I turned back to Mr. Parnell and he had donned a black leather mask, one that went straight across his forehead and over his nose, twin peaks of leather stabbing down over his cheeks, bracketing his mouth. The forehead was molded into a permanent scowl. I smiled and said lightly, “It suits you.”

He smiled and unclasped my cloak, handing it to the man behind the pedestal. He took it and gave Mr. Parnell a ticket back. Tucking it into his pocket, he took my hand and tucked it into the crook of his arm, an old-fashioned and gentlemanly gesture. He led me down a curtained hall and spoke as we walked.

“There are no real names, here. You will call me ‘sir, ’ and you will do as I say. If you must call me anything other than sir, call me Mr. Silver. Your safeword works, it always works. The masks stay on and never come off.” He stopped us at the end of the hall and made me look at him, “Don’t take it off, Bright Eyes, not for anything. You don’t want these other people recognizing you on the street.”

“Okay,” I murmured and swallowed hard. He was beginning to frighten me.

“You’re safe with me; you’re here with me. No one else will touch you.”

“Where is here?” I murmured softly.

“Indigo Nights… it’s a sex club.”

I gasped and squeaked out, “What?”

He chuckled darkly and muttered, “Limits, beautiful. I said we would be testing your limits… I want to know, how far are you willing to go to please me? How much do you trust me?”

It was a good question… I guess we were about to find out.