when I left, feeling as though someone else inhabited my
body.
“ What took you so long?” he demanded, clearly
irritated.
I sat down in front of the hot soup waiting for
me.
“ Following orders, sir,” I said like a private
to his commander. I spread my thighs to illustrate the
point.
“ I can see an attitude adjustment is in order,
but we’ll deal with that later.”
I burst into laughter at that. I hadn’t expected his
reaction. I thought he would be angered by my insolence, but
instead he laughed with me.
“ Information,” I said, furrowing my
brow.
“ Taste the soup first,” he ordered.
I blew across the spoon to cool the miso soup. “Wow
... this is delicious,” I said. “Really good. Now tell me—”
“ Luke, forty-five, artist-slash-photographer. I
sell most of my work abroad. I travel a lot. If this progresses I
need to get a place with more privacy.”
“ That’s it?”
“ What else is there to know?”
“ Family, friends, where you grew up ... hopes,
dreams ... like that.”
“ I thought you had no plans to see me after
tonight.”
“ Yeah, well,” I said, stalling for a reasonable
response, “just call it curiosity.”
“ Well, as the saying goes, ‘curiosity killed
the cat.’ ”
“ What’s that supposed to mean?” I said. The
fear from the dream resurfaced.
“ Always wear your hair down, but no
makeup.”
My anger flared at another order but the waiter
circumvented my indignation by retrieving our soup bowls.
Luke distracted me with his hand between my knees,
working his way to my wetness. Leaning closer, he whispered in my
ear, “I will bring you to heights of ecstasy like you’ve never
known, but you’ll have to trust me.” He slowly circled his finger
around my clit.
“ Ooohhh ….” I groaned, forgetting for the
moment where I was.
“ I know you want me and that I frighten you.
You needn’t be scared of me,” he said, continuing his exploration
of my labia. “My only concern is pushing you to greater heights and
depths of pleasure.” He increased the pressure. “We’ll go to your
place after this. I’ll show you.”
“ Oh ... no!” I yelped, pushing his hand away as
the waiter returned.
The waiter placed before us a small square plate with
a variety of sashimi.
“ I don’t eat raw fish,” I stated, crossing my
arms in front of my chest and closing my legs.
“ Try it,” he said. “If you eat cooked fish,
you’ll love this. Open your mouth.”
“ I don’t eat wasa—” I tried to say but he
shoved an orange piece of fish with wasabi and ginger into my
mouth.
“ Hey,” I sputtered, lifting the water glass in
both hands and drinking the lot of it, “that burned my mouth. I
don’t eat wasabi and I don’t eat sashimi and if you won’t listen to
me, I’m out of here.” Putting my purse strap over my arm I scooted
to get out of the booth.
He grasped my arm and said, “You’re right. Don’t go.
I just wanted you to try it because I know you’ll love it.”
“ You don’t know anything about me,” I said,
sitting on the edge of the cushion, poised to stand.
“ When did your father leave you?”
“ What?”
“ When did he leave you?”
“ He didn’t leave me ... he left my
mother.”
“ Oh, so he’s kept in touch with
you?”
“ Well ... he did at first but then ... it got
too hard for him to ....” I looked away as my words trailed
off. “Why am I talking to you about this stuff? How did you know my
parents are divorced?”
“ I know you. Don’t you see? You were lost and
now I’ve found you. You have trust issues because of your father
leaving you. Just try it,” he said, holding out another piece of
fish. “No wasabi this time.”
I opened my mouth, accepted a piece of white fish
lightly dipped in soy sauce, and said, “Hmm ... that’s really
good. What kind of fish is it?”
He gave me an I-told-you-so look and answered, “White
Tuna.” He shifted in his seat to face me. “I know your