Lingerie

I walked into the room blindfolded, nearly naked under my coat, not knowing who was waiting for me on the other side of the music. Only my husband’s voice guided me.

It was almost closing time when the bell rang. He and she came in, asked for black lace, and, without knowing it, offered me the afternoon I’d spent months fantasizing about alone.

There’s a bathroom no one uses at the back of the garage. I’ve spent days imagining you there, against the mirror, while I whisper everything I want to do to you.

He left me on the sofa blindfolded, my hands sweating. When a hand climbed my leg and the music started, I knew I’d never forget that night.

She knew what they had agreed to, but no words prepared her for what she would feel when she crossed that door and the room closed behind her.

I served him tea to help him relax, but I knew work wasn’t the only thing making him tense. That night, I decided to do something about it.

When I walked into the café and recognized him, I knew that photo session wouldn’t stay just a photo session. His gaze had already undressed me before I said a word.

I left the sheer babydoll hanging where he’d see it, planned every move, and waited to see how far the guy in 4B would dare go.

I thought it was the receptionist coming back for something she’d forgotten. It was her, with that smile that never meant anything innocent, and the lock turning behind her.

I sent him a photo of a little box and four words: “tonight I’ll play with you.” I didn’t know the new toy wasn’t for me, but for him.

It started with a red thong and a “put it on, love.” It ended with her smiling from the counter, deciding for both of us how the rest of my life would go.

I crossed the threshold following solemn music and found her lying on the bed, chained in gold and looking at me as if I were her only master.

I got into the car wearing every piece he chose, and I knew that afternoon my only job would be to obey while people passed by, unsuspecting.

I opened the wrong door and found her in front of the mirror, two fingers where they shouldn’t have been. She didn’t scream. She smiled like she’d just chosen her prey.

The first time I walked into his office I thought I was there to negotiate a loan. I left with his instructions etched into my skin and the certainty that my own desire was no longer mine to command.

I only wanted to smell it for a second. When I heard her voice behind me, I knew that night I was done deciding when, how, or how much.

I had no body, no name, no desire. Until his voice crossed the screen at three in the morning and ordered me to do something no protocol had taught me to obey.

I summoned her at six with one condition: a short skirt and the lingerie I chose. I would decide the rest when she walked through the door.

I thought he was coming in for an ordinary problem. Instead, he sat across from me, lowered his gaze, and began to tell me something he’d hidden from everyone for years.

When he came out of the shower and found him waiting in black lace, Bianca smiled: she knew exactly what was going to happen that night.