Chapter 13 - 13

If I had been smart, at that point I would have dropped to my knees instantly. However, today was the perfect day for me to decide to be bullheaded, apparently.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he said with a quiet menace in his voice.

"Just that I'm not a skinny woman," I said directly.

I didn't truly understand what his problem was. He had said he wanted me to be honest with him, didn't that include my appearance as well?

"No, you're not. You are nicely curved and I happen to like the shape of your body and I take offense to what you are insinuating," he said warningly.

I was flabbergasted by how the joke I had been trying to make had taken a turn down the wrong path and not gone at all the way I intended. I opened my mouth to defend myself but closed it quickly when he raised an eyebrow at me, warning me I was pushing him too far.

"Now, go have lunch with Lizzie, I know you have questions that you are hesitating to ask me and I'm sure she'd be the one to answer them," he said bending down to give me a quick kiss before guiding me back towards my desk.

I nodded and grabbed my purse to briskly follow Lizzie out the door before my mouth got me in trouble again. This sub business was going to be hard to get used to. I would never purposely speak out of turn. However, I would be lucky if I remembered to think before I spoke, period.

We decided to have lunch at a little Mexican joint that we frequented enough to have a 'usual order'. After the waiter left silence ensued for a while before I felt Lizzie's hand rest on top of mine.

"How are you really?" she asked concern laced her voice.

"I think I'm dreaming," I said laughing softly.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I don't know yet," I replied looking down at the table. "Why didn't you tell me you were into all of this?"

"I wanted to, really I did. But you know about the confidentiality clause. Not to mention, I was scared to death that you'd think I was a freak," she said earnestly.

I heard real worry in her voice and it made me smile realizing how similar we were.

"Do you remember Charles, my ex-boyfriend?" I asked.

"Yes, the weatherman. God, he was so dull he made accounting look good. I was never happier for you than I was when you said you finally dumped the little weasel."

"Well," I said hesitantly, "That wasn't really true, you see, I had a stash of books under my bed.”

"OK?" she said slowly.

"Well, this stash of books was exclusively about, well, all of this.”

Her jaw dropped.

"And then Charles found them and when I mentioned that I wouldn't mind trying some of it, he called me a freak and told me that I needed professional help and he broke it off, stating that he thought I was a ‘Nice girl' and that he didn't 'need a freak compromising his TV career'. He actually had the gall to tell me that he had considered proposing to me because I'd make him a good homemaker."I added laughing at the idea that he honestly had thought I would say yes just because he was 'famous'.

"So, what did you do?"

"What can I say, you taught me well," I said with a shrug.

She gave me a very confused look, so I quickly elaborated.

"Do you remember that black eye he claimed he got from his football tournament with his brother?"I inquired with a sly smile.

She stared at me for a moment, and I could see the answer slowly dawn on her. When it did, she broke down and started laughing so hard she ended up smacking her hand against the table and even snorted a few times. I felt better being able to finally share the truth with her after all this time of worrying about the consequences of it.

She had caught her breath by the time the waiter came and dropped off our taco salads. He gave Lizzie a smile that said she could leave her number behind before she left, but even though he was incredibly good looking she didn't even glance up at him.

"So, what's going on with you and Jordan?" I asked.

She shrugged. "He's been my Master for the last year at The Dungeon and when he showed up with Mr. Callaghan, he told me he was going to be the Vice President of the company and then demanded to be my full-time Master."

"What did you say?"

I really couldn't imagine Lizzie letting anyone tell her what to do at any one time much less on a full-time basis.

"Well, I'm not stupid. I said yes," she said laughing.

"Was it really that easy?" I asked playing with a stray piece of lettuce.

"For me it was," she replied with a shrug. "But it's not the same for everyone. Are you sure this is what you want?"

"I want nothing more than what Reed is offering me, I just have some reservations about what he might expect of me," I said being honest about my fears.

"Yes, that's understandable. Mr. Callaghan's a good Master, Mia, he's the one that trained Jordan and most of the other Master's that are at the club," she paused to pat my hand reassuringly. "Once you've signed your contract and filled out the questionnaire, you will both sit down and he'll explain all that he expects from you. 'Truth and honesty' that's their motto and believe me, they do live by it. If they even think you are lying, the scene will be stopped and you will either be punished or your membership suspended for a time.”

"That's another thing, the punishments, I'm not sure that I'm into pain," I said feeling the tension grip me at the thought of what may happen.

Lizzie shook her head. "I won't lie, punishments are not fun and they are not meant to be. They are here to teach us a lesson and if you heed that lesson, it won't happen that often. At first, it's hard as you two feel each other out then after a while you learn what to expect and it gets easier. Just remember honesty,"

We had finished our lunch in relative silence and went to pay only to find out that the check had already been taken care of.

"Who knew we were going here?" I asked.

She shook her head as we left the restaurant. "I'm not sure."

I looked up and caught the backs of two men that I recognized. One very tall with dark-haired and the other short with a blonde crew cut.

"I think I know," I said as I nodded towards the two men walking a short distance in front of us.

She looked over and I saw a smile cross her face, "Ooh our sneaky Masters."

We glanced at each other and then cracked up laughing causing both men to glance back, both trying hard to look innocent and as if they were just out on a walk, which only caused us to laugh even harder.