Elaine could feel the morning light shining on her face. She opened her eyes and squinted against the sun pushing in through her blinds. At first, she was unsure of her surroundings. But soon, familiar objects put her at ease. She was in her living room, curled up on the couch. The ceiling fan was on and she was cold. Her throw blanket was nowhere to be found. She pushed herself up and soon regretted it. Her head was splitting, and her body felt limp with fatigue. She rubbed her right arm and noticed a picture frame pressed into the couch where she’d been sleeping. She didn’t bother to turn it over. The image was often too much to bear. She forced it from her mind.
What time is it? Her wrist was bare so she stood and walked into the kitchen. She smelled the coffee before she saw it. She thanked the universe for the time setting on it. As she reached for a mug, she saw that it was after eight, and she panicked a little until she remembered her first appointment wasn’t until eleven. Relaxing, she poured her coffee and sat down to go over her appointments for the day. She dug in her leather satchel and removed her notes. She had two new clients, both of them men. One was having trouble meeting quotas at work and the other was having problems writing. The two remaining clients had been seeing her for a while, and their progress was slowly coming along. Most needed self-confidence and reassurance. She found it easy to give, mainly because all of her clients were talented in one way or another. Some just needed redirection.
She sipped her coffee and made some notes on her well-known clients. Then she flipped ahead to check her schedule for the next few weeks. The name Riot caught her eye, and a wave of heat came over her. She sat back and stared, recalling everything from the previous day.
A noise came from her left, from down the hallway. A woman was walking toward her with her large round breasts showing as she tugged on a tight T-shirt.
“Oh, fuck.” Her heart raced. “Oh fuck, what did I do?” She must’ve been staring with her mouth wide open because the woman, whose name she could not remember, looked at her funny.
“What’s up? Did you not remember I was here?” She scratched her mussed hair.
Elaine blinked rapidly and began organizing the table. “No, yes. Of course I knew you were here.”
The woman pointed at the coffee. “Mug?”
“Just above the microwave.”
She helped herself to a mug, poured the coffee, and then sat next to her. Elaine couldn’t stop staring at her. How had she let this happen? What exactly had happened?
“Your bed’s really nice. I slept like a bear.” She blew on the coffee before she drank. “Why’d you leave? Was I bothering you?”
“What?” Elaine had no idea what she was talking about.
“You got up and left at some point.”
“Oh.”
The woman stared at her for a while. “Are you okay?”
Elaine forced a smile. “Fine. Everything is fine.”
“Well, at least you look a little better. You kind of scared me last night.”
“I did?”
“Don’t you remember?”
Elaine looked away and tried to sip her coffee casually. But the woman didn’t buy it.
“Do you remember anything?” They sat in silence. “You don’t do you?”
Elaine rubbed her neck with nerves. “Honestly, I don’t remember much at all.”
The woman laughed. “Well, you did have more than a bit of wine.”
“What?” She searched her mind, and memories began to surface. The wine, the candles, the woman on the bed, stroking herself at her direction. She flushed, not with shame, but with desire. The woman had done whatever she’d requested, including straddling the corner of the bed, phallus deep inside her, pinching her own nipples. She’d climaxed several times, and Elaine had watched it all, directed it all. Imagining all of it was Riot.
“It got pretty hot. You were definitely turned on. And let me just say…you have one hell of an imagination. Pouring the candle wax down my chest while I was coming…that was…Jesus.”
Elaine glanced down at her satin robe. She tightened her belt, feeling that she was nude beneath. The memory was hot, and she recalled the red wax streaming down the woman’s full breasts as her chest heaved in orgasm. As hot as it had been, she found herself feeling exposed and uneasy.
“Do you remember now?”
“Yes.”
The woman studied her closely. “Are you regretting it?”
Elaine looked at her. “No. I just don’t usually have people come here.”
“Oh.”
She sipped her coffee and Elaine did the same.
“Don’t worry. You didn’t do anything you didn’t want to do. Eventually, your eyes began to drift closed and I helped you to the bed. You were very tired, just limp in my arms. I would’ve left, but I was a bit concerned about you.”
“Did…anything else happen?”
“Nope. I fell asleep with you, woke up after midnight, and you were gone. I found you on the couch clutching a photo. I didn’t want to wake you. So I went back to bed.”
“Mm.” She turned her coffee mug around and around in her hands. “Thanks for that,” she said, unsure what else to say. She was lucky. Damn lucky. “You could’ve robbed me blind, but you didn’t.”
“Yeah, well, that’s not me. Are you sure you’re okay?”
Elaine tried to smile again. “Of course. I just drank too much is all.”
The woman took one last sip of her coffee and stood. “Okay then. I’m going to take off.” She fished her keys out of her pocket. “You think you might want to give this another shot sometime?”
Elaine looked into her coffee. “I honestly have no idea.”
“If you do, you know where to find me.”
Elaine nodded and gave her a polite smile.
She turned and left, and Elaine heard the front door close behind her.
Elaine sat for a long while, thinking, chastising herself for her letting a stranger into her home. It was careless and dangerous. And so unlike her.
She rose and headed toward her bedroom for a shower. She felt somewhat better physically, but some fatigue and weakness still lingered. She needed to take it easy, and she needed to quit putting off that doctor’s appointment.
She turned on the faucet and changed her mind about the shower. She turned it off and instead walked to her large tub where she let the hot water tumble in. It hypnotized her as it cascaded, and by the time she stepped in and melted into it, she was ready to let everything on her mind go. But as she lathered with the wonderful smelling sliced soap, there was one thing she couldn’t let go.
Riot.