e.Vampire.com (2 page)

Now, she lived in a small one bedroom apartment in a relatively decent part of town. The building was painted a lime-green color, had a pool that never seemed to be cleaned and the tenants and traffic outside fought with
one another to see which could be the loudest. She kept her door locked, dead-bolted and chained at all times.

How she wished she could’ve brought her dog, Spaz with her. She’d feel much safer with
the Rottweiler in the house. No pets were allowed in any of the places she’d looked. She’d left him with a friend of her cousin Tina’s knowing full well he’d be well cared for there.

Tina had tried to talk her out of the move, arguing that she was acting out of grief and that did not make for good decisions. As if there was one. People do what they do, period.

Jennifer was from a small town in rural Maine where no-one even locked their doors. If and when
a crime was committed, it was big news because it happened so infrequently, unlike Miami where crime, like the afternoon thunderstorms, was an everyday occurrence.

She’d left Cliff’s End after her father died. He’d had a massive heart attack while riding his trusty old John Deere tractor. Not only did he fall off, but the damn thing kept running
right over him as he lay prone on the ground.

Although, the cause of death
was ruled a heart attack, Jen couldn’t help wonder if he’d still been alive when the huge wheels of the vehicle had come in contact with his body.

Jennifer thought about it often, couldn’t help it really
.

After his death, she was
excruciatingly lonely on the small farm. Her mother had died a few years back of pancreatic cancer after suffering for months on end. When they’d buried her she’d weighed no more than eighty pounds. Jennifer was petrified of ever becoming that ill. The heartache of losing them; and feeling as if she spent more time visiting graves than living people, coupled with the sympathetic looks in her neighbors’ eyes was too much.  Being an only child, she was totally alone. She’d packed up and left, hoping to start a new life in Miami.

Again, Mr. Marshall’s office door opened. He whisked by them, talking on his cell phone a
nd without so much as a goodbye left the office. You could almost hear the tension in the room dissipate like the air in a balloon deflating.

“So?
We’re waiting to hear about your date, Jen,” Mary Lou said.

Jennifer
really didn’t want to talk about it, but there they were waiting in front of her desk with bated breath. These three women, Mary Lou, Suzanne and Julie had befriended her right away and she thanked God for them. They were they only people in Miami she really knew and liked.

Jennifer sighed
and began her story. “Well, I was waiting for him at one of the outside café’s down on South Beach, thinking how sweet it was that he’d meet me there because it’s the one with the Cuban sandwiches I love. There I was with my hair done up neatly, my make-up perfect. At least it was until those damn gigantic fans kept blasting out that mist and my hair turned to shit, my mascara ran and that’s when he shows up.”

“I hate those fans,” Mary Lou said. “They do nothing to cool people off unless you’re drunk enough to need a blast of water in the face.”

“Who cares about the stupid
fans
? What was he like? Was he hot, like his picture on-line?” Suzanne’s eyes grew large. She was a heavy set young woman of 22, the same age as her, but she was already married with two children at home.

Jen
knew Suzanne couldn’t wait to be amused by her atrocious experiences with on-line dating. Julie and Mary-Lou waited quietly for her to continue the tale.

Jennifer would surely never forget it as long as she lived. The hope she’d felt when
the tall handsome young man, who was approximately six feet tall, with short blonde hair, blue eyes and a strong jaw line sat across the table from her. He was neatly dressed and appeared somewhat shy. He’d even brought her a bouquet of flowers.

“Jack Rawlings was without a doubt the best looking man I’ve ever met from any dating site. And the fact that he brought me flowers was so thoughtful.”

“Wow, sounds good to me,” Julie said.

Jen thought Julie was
truly beautiful. She had hair the color of corn-husks, baby-blue eyes and a killer body. Although, not everything on Julie was God given, she’d had her breasts enlarged and her lips as well and God only knew what else. Still, Jennifer had to admit, she wished she had those lips; lips like a blow-fish, large and sensuous.

Jen gave her a sideways glance and grimaced.
She wondered why her boss didn’t hit on Julie instead of her.
Maybe,
she thought
, because I’m from no-where Maine and he thinks I’m naïve, which I kind of am, or maybe he needed to feel dominant over a woman
to get
it up.
  

After
this last date, Jen knew a little more than she cared to about men who liked to play games, the kind that involved sex toys and devices she’d only seen in the movies. Sometimes ignorance truly
was
bliss.

She told the
story anyway. Why not? She knew afterwards, she’d have to call that dreadful lady with the non-existent blood in her coffee.

She glanced at the door just to be sure
their boss wasn’t lurking somewhere.

“It’s cool, Jen. I just checked his lotus calendar. He should be gone for a couple of hours
,” Julie said.

The
y sat in a semi-circle around Jen’s desk, all ears.

“Anyway, we made small talk over
Margaritas. He asked if I’d like the Maine lobster and I thought how sweet it was that he remembered where I was from. But, then again, I don’t know how much of my profile he read. Under allergies, it said I was allergic to it.”

And she
was
allergic to it. Of all things, mind you, to be from Maine and unable to eat lobster.

“We had Cubans
. Then he shyly asked me if I’d like to go back to his place for a drink.  He seemed nice enough and safe. He was a Miami cop after all.”

“So, what happened? He sounds dreamy,” Suzanne said breathlessly.

“Yeah, doesn’t he though?” Jennifer remarked sarcastically. “We went to his condo. It was right on the ocean. We stood at the railing watching the waves and checking out the stars. He put his arm loosely around my waist. He leaned in and kissed me, a sweet kiss. I’ll admit that light kiss mixed with too many margaritas made me a little . . .”

“Horny?”
Julie interrupted.

“Christ, Julie.” Jennifer blushed.

“So? Did you fuck him?” Julie asked bluntly.

Jen and the others stared at
her.
Maybe she should be the one telling stories about her love life,
thought Jen
.

Julie looked defensive.
“What are you looking at? I’ve had sex with guys on a first date. There’s nothing wrong with it if it’s what you both want.”

“
Are you going to let me tell this story?” Jen asked.

“You may proceed,” Julie said with a smile.

Jennifer continued. “The condo was spotless and tastefully decorated for a single guy. I sat down on the softest leather couch I’ve ever been on. He brought me a glass of white wine, but didn’t sit beside me. He took off his shirt. I was so freaking nervous and was relieved when he asked if I minded if he took a shower. I said I didn’t.

When I heard the water running
, I got up to look around. I felt awkward now. I was fearful of what might come next. I wasn’t sure I wanted to . . . you know . . . do that. I walked past the closed bathroom door and peeked into his bedroom. It was neat and clean. A king sized platform type bed was in the middle, a crucifix was on the wall directly above it. But then, I turned and there it was; another door. And that one was slightly open.” She paused, feeling a chill run up her spine, remembering her first view of that room and her initial reaction which had been,
“What the hell?”

“So, what was in there?” Suzanne
asked.

“Handcuffs
hung on a peg in the wall, but then again he’s a cop, so I didn’t think much of those. Then . . . I saw this metal bar running across the ceiling. There were two chains hanging from it. My eyes followed those chains down. I gasped and put a hand to my mouth to stifle a scream. At the end of each of them were leather wrist cuffs. 

And there was this
weird swing bolted to the ceiling too, it had these fuzzy pink ropes for your hands to hold onto. Two strips of leather hung down from it with stirrups at the bottom. I remembered this lady back home had a swing in her living room, but it wasn’t anything like that. This one was kind of creepy and . . . oh my God! What if he’s a pedophile? I should report him.”

Jen picked up the phone to dial.

“Put the phone down Jen.” Laughing, Julie shook her head.

Jennifer was puzzled
. Why did Julie think this was even remotely funny?

“Shouldn’t I tell someone about that
swing?”

“Good God, you really
are
that naïve!” Julie exclaimed.

Suzanne and Mary-Lou were also grinning as if the three of them shared knowledge that
escaped Je
n
altogether. She blushed even more (if such a thing were possible) partly because of the story but more because she really was naïve.

It began to sink into her brain then. If her father were here, he’d say ‘Dawn breaks over Marblehead’ as he always did when he thought someone was as thick as a brick and finally realized something. The seat of that swing could easily support an adult
.

“It was a sex swing
Jen. The girl sits in it and the stirrups hold her legs apart, that way the guys cock can go in nice and deep. He moves the swing by holding onto the reins.” 

Jennifer cringed at Julie’s use of the word cock. She didn’t say words like that.

“I wish my husband was that adventurous.” Suzanne sounded wistful.

“And what about that other stuff? He had whips, masks and more in there.”

“Did he hurt you or make you do anything you didn’t want to?” Mary-Lou asked, concerned.

“Um
. . . no. When I turned away from the door, he was standing right behind me. I swear I must’ve jumped a mile! He was still wet from the shower, his upper body, face and hair glistened. He touched my shoulder and kissed me again, but I didn’t kiss him back. I asked him to take me home right then.”

“This is not what you think,” he nodded toward the room. “It’s
just for fun. I’d never hurt you or anything. That is, unless you want me too.”

I thought,
“Hurt me? Oh I don’t think so!
His eyes looked hopeful, like he wanted me to give him permission to hurt me. And even if he didn’t, there was no way I was going to take part in
that
sort of thing!” Jen heard her voice rise in a smug, self-righteous way. She didn’t like it.

“Jesus
, Jen. Have you ever even
had
sex? You must be aware of alternate lifestyles and stuff.”

“Of course I have!” Jennifer
felt her cheeks burn. Unfortunately, she blushed often and when she did, her neck turned a blotchy red color as well. She heard the defensive tone in her voice. She sounded holier-than-thou. 

She didn’t tell them her only sexual partner had been a boyfriend in high school. Or that it was a miserable experience in the back seat of his car as he clumsily pushed inside her with little foreplay and had been there only long enough to claim her virginity before he came.

Every time she’d had sex with him after was just as awkward until it became downright dreadful. She broke up with him, relieved that she wouldn’t have to endure it any longer. She just didn’t see what all the fuss was when it came to sex.

“The fact that you’re here and
not locked up in some basement proves he wasn’t a bad guy, not really. I know a lot of people that engage in that sort of thing. As long as it’s mutual, I really don’t see anything wrong with it,” Julie said casually, as if she were discussing a motion to be filed or some other mundane subject.

All eyes were now on Julie. Jennifer was forgotten for the moment
. She was relieved.

Julie shrugged, “I’m just sayin
g. It’s no big deal.”

“Have you ever
. . . been on one of those swings or tied up and stuff?” Suzanne asked, her eyes wide, she obviously anticipated another juicy story.

“Well, no
.” Julie shook her head, “But I think I might try it. Not all of it maybe, but the sex swing. Yeah, I’d do that.”

“
Hmm. Me too,” Suzanne said longingly. Apparently the woman’s husband was as dull as dirt in the bedroom judging from the way she hung on every word of the conversation. Jennifer was waiting for her to start drooling at any minute.