The front would nearly cover my entire face, leaving my mouth and chin underneath clear.The front would nearly cover my entire face, leaving my mouth and chin underneath clear. There were two eye holes, rimmed in red satin, and two long wings, sprinkled with dark glitter, that covered my cheeks. It fit over my head with surprisingly comfortable straps in back. I was unrecognizable. "Say nothing to anyone who comes in". That stopped me. Who did he have in mind? Clearly someone who he wanted to hide me from. Ah, someone might know about the ring. Certainly no one else of our friends had something quite so, well so different. It made me smile to think about the uptight little professionals. I tottered back into the living room on the heels, confidently hidden behind the mask and costume. "Sit down, on the floor, at my feet, finish your coffee." Jon ordered. He then gave me a small bowl filled with wine. He stroked my head, and then stood up. "I forgot one thing". He went out and came back carrying the pink leather collar. Tossing it at me he said, "put it on". I did, and sat still. He said nothing, but drank his beer, and I sat, and lapped at the wine. We passed ten minutes that way. I don't know if he was nervous, he never showed that kind of outward sign. As I waited, my confidence started to slip away. I alternated between anxiousness and desire. I heard a tapping at his wide glass door and started. I had little peripheral vision, and needed to swivel around to see. My lover came into the room with Sam, another friend of his and Jon's. Sam was in the middle of a messy divorce and best known for dating women 20 years younger than he was. He was a sweet guy, trying to get laid, and not quite sure how. He was always kind to me, and although other women thought of him as a foxhole feminist. I thought that if he would just calm down, could probably find some wonderful woman for the rest of his life. "So", Sam smiled at Jon, but couldn't look directly at me, "this is the, uh, uh, girl, uh, lady, he mentioned." When Jon didn't say anything Sam continued struggling to find something more to say. |