Shades of Pleasure: Five Stories of Domination and Submission (26 page)

The room filled with lukewarm applause.

Suddenly feeling woozy, she glanced at the man on her right,
meeting his gaze. Something flashed in his eyes, capturing her attention, and
for a heartbeat she swore she knew him from somewhere.

He reached for her, and she awkwardly accepted his hand. An
odd sensation rushed through her system. It was like an electric charge.
“Blair, can you give me a personal item? Like a picture or piece of jewelry?”

Personal item? Her purse was sitting down there, next to her
seat. As he released her hand, her bracelet skimmed down her wrist, one of her
diamond charms catching the light and flaring brightly.

Aha!

“Sure. Is this okay?” She unclasped the bracelet and held it
in her flattened palm.

“It’s perfect.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a
red scarf. He flattened the scarf in his upturned hand. “Place it in the center
of the scarf.”

She dropped the silver bracelet in his hand and watched him
fold the scarf’s corners over. Meanwhile, his partner stepped up with a small
wooden box decorated with glittering red stones.

He gently placed the little bundle inside, covered the box
with a scarlet piece of cloth and then turned to the audience, the covered box
in his hands. “There are many legends about the ruby. The ruby has long been
associated with love and passion. But it’s also been said a ruby’s wearer will
be blessed with health, wisdom and success in affairs of the heart. And ancient
peoples of the orient believed the ruby was a drop of Mother Earth’s blood.”

He pulled the scarlet cover off the box and lifted the lid,
tipping it so the audience could see first. Then he turned it toward Blair.

It was empty.

Blair wasn’t particularly surprised. She knew those boxes
had special compartments. Her friend had one, although it wasn’t even close to
as gorgeous as this one.

The magician closed the box again and replaced the red
cover. “Hindus believe the red color of the ruby comes from an inextinguishable
flame.” Once again, he pulled the cover off the box and opened it.

The audience applauded.

His partner lifted a red scarf from the box and held it in
front of Blair. “Please, open the scarf.”

She hesitated, wondering if some animal was going to jump
out at her or something. If not, this trick was nothing short of predictable.
But at the magician’s encouraging nod, she peeled away the corners of the
scarf.

What the hell?

Confused, she lifted her bracelet, realizing it had been
threaded through a small, delicate ring. A tiny ruby stone cut in the shape of
a heart caught the light, flashing like a flame. 

“Oh. My. God.” Her gaze lurched from the ring that had once
been her most prized possession to the men standing before her, and she knew in
that instant why she’d felt as if she knew them.

She had, many years ago.

“Damon? Trey? I should’ve recognized you,” she whispered as
she studied their features. Their eyes were the same. And she could still see a
hint of the gangly teenage boys she’d known so long ago. But with age their
faces had become harder, more mature. And the bodies that had once been so thin
and lanky were now filled out with heavy, rippling muscle.

“Let’s give Blair a round of applause,” Trey said before
ushering her off the stage.

“But…” She had a million questions she wanted to ask, like
if they’d known she’d be here ahead of time. And where they’d been for the past
fifteen years. There hadn’t been a day she hadn’t thought of the two guys she’d
once called her best friends. Her first crushes. Her first loves.

The day her family had moved from the sad and dirty
neighborhood on the outskirts of Detroit to the pretty house in the ’burbs had
been one of the saddest in her life.

An usher stepped out of the shadows and immediately rushed
her toward the exit. She stopped outside, in the corridor, her back pressed
against the wall, a million wonderful and sad memories playing through her
mind. One day in particular got stuck in her head, repeating over and over
until tears streamed from her eyes.

Her first time having sex, which of course had been with
Damon and Trey. A week before she’d moved across town.

It had been Damon who’d actually performed the deed that
first time, but Trey was right there too, holding her hand, stroking her face,
making her feel cherished and special.

That day, she’d given those two teen boys her ring—and her
heart. A week later, she’d had her insides ripped from her chest and shredded.
Even today a scar remained, the product of that awful pain. Who would’ve
guessed it would still be there, after so much time had passed?

Inside, she heard thundering applause but she couldn’t care
less about the show. She just wanted to talk to them, to spend time with them,
to see if those little zaps on the stage were all that remained of the magical
connection they’d once shared. Or whether the love and passion was still there,
just waiting for a spark to reignite it.

She had to know, had to at least have an hour with them.

The doors to the theater flew open, and a river of people
flowed out into the hallway, filling it with wall-to-wall jabbering audience
members. She made her way down to the door where she expected her friend would
exit and waited, intending to ask her if she’d wait for a while so she could
hunt down Damon and Trey.

As the seconds ticked by, while Blair watched hordes of
people file past her, she became jittery and nervous. Would the guys leave
without trying to find her? They had to tear down and pack up, right? They had
to stick around for a while.

God, she hoped so.

Finally, she saw Sandy, who was scanning the crowd, no doubt
looking for her. Sandy’s features brightened as their gazes met, and her friend
rushed toward her. “What was that trick all about? Ohmygod! Where were you? Did
you see the last illusion? It was amazing! The best I’ve ever seen!”

“Listen,” Blair said, grabbing her ecstatic friend’s hands.
“Those magicians are old friends of mine. I wanted to find you first. Let’s go
see if we can talk to them.”

“Friends of yours? You’re joking, right? Because if you’re
not, I swear I’m going to scream or something.”

“Not joking, but please don’t scream.”

Her friend let out a little “Eep!” as Blair caught her hand
and tugged her back to the backstage exit. 

“I’m hoping they’ll come out this way, or we can get
someone’s attention and they’ll let us go backstage.”

“This reminds me of the time we went to the Duran Duran
concert. You remember?”

“How could I forget? So tell me the truth. Did you or did
you not fake the contest win so that I’d come here with you?” The door swung
open and a huge man hurried past them. “Excuse me!” Blair said, trailing him
for several steps before giving up. “Damn.” She headed back to the door and
tried it. “Locked.”

“We can catch it when someone else comes out,” her friend
suggested.

“You’re brilliant. Now the answer.”

“No way. I won the tickets.”

“Then how did they know I’d be here tonight?”

Sandy shrugged, looking as bewildered as Blair felt. “You
got me. I’d say it was real magic but I know you don’t believe in that.”

“No, I don’t.”

They waited.

Waited some more.

Waited even longer, until the entire building was silent and
Blair knew in her gut she’d somehow missed them.

She felt sick.

“I think they left,” Sandy said.

“Yeah.”

“Sorry. Maybe if you hadn’t come to find me—”

“It’s not your fault. I guess it was just rotten luck.”

They both sighed.

Blair knew it had been too long, that the guys were probably
already in their hotel room, relaxing. But she couldn’t bring herself to give
up, to leave. Why hadn’t they come to find her?

“How about a beer?” Sandy asked a long time later.

“That sounds good. Really good.” Blair blinked away a tear
of disappointment.

* * * * *

Five beers and several hours later, Blair was still
completely and utterly bummed about missing Trey and Damon. No doubt her
earlier disappointment at work only made things ten times worse.

Sandy, bless her heart, tried everything to drag her out of
the dumps, but nothing was working. Not even a really bad rendition of
Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” at their favorite karaoke bar. Not even a hot fudge
brownie sundae from her favorite restaurant. Finally, she decided to quit
torturing her friend on her birthday and called it a night. No doubt she’d feel
better tomorrow after she’d had some sleep. Maybe she’d even brainstorm how to
track the guys down. Her brain definitely worked better when it wasn’t floating
in a bucket of beer.

Sandy drove her home and crashed on her couch. She slept
like a baby.

Blair did not.

By the next morning, Blair was more frustrated and irritated
with herself than sad. But she had a game plan. While Sandy took a shower and
emptied half of Blair’s box of cereal, Blair called every hotel in the area to
see if a Damon Butler or Trey Foster were registered.

After an hour, she gave up and joined her friend in the
kitchen, drowning her disappointment in soy milk and corn flakes. She fingered
the little ruby ring as she ate, tracing the shape of the stone with her index finger.
“Please, please tell me you were lying last night. That somehow Damon and Trey
tracked me down and asked you to get me to the show?”

“Sorry, I wish I could say I was lying but I wasn’t. I had
no idea you knew those guys. I’m sorry, sweetie.”

“We were best friends for years. Even more than that. Damon
was my first…you know. We had sex, Damon, Trey and I. We loved each other. But
my family moved and I was too young to drive. My stepfather restricted the
long-distance service on our phone so I couldn’t call them. I always wondered
what happened to them, where they were, what they were doing. I gave them this
ring on the day I moved, and we swore that no matter what, we’d be together
someday. The three of us.”

Sandy’s smile was dreamy, wistful. “I wish my first time had
been that wonderful. That’s such a sweet story.”

“Yeah.” Blair plunked her elbows on the table and dropped
her chin on her fists. “It’s too bad it didn’t have the ending we all hoped
for.”

“Well, I said I was going to be a doctor when I was
younger,” Sandy said, chuckling. “I quit pre-med after my first semester of
college. I think most people kiss their teen dreams goodbye when they grow up.”

“But they gave me this back. Why?” She slipped the ring off
her pinky and looked inside. Yep, it was the ring she’d given them, not a copy.
Her initials were there, where they’d always been, engraved on the inside of
the band. And the nick in the stone was still there. “They remembered me. But
why didn’t they try to talk to me later? After the show?”

“Maybe they couldn’t find you, or they got tied up with
packing up their stuff. Or they had wives to go home to. Who knows?”

“It’s just so frustrating, to have them so close, only to
have them slip away without getting at least a few minutes to catch up.”

Sandy thought for a few minutes and then said gently, “Maybe
it’s for the best. If you’re this upset after just seeing them, maybe you
shouldn’t spend more time with them than that. Think about it. What are you
expecting here? The Masters of Illusion are performers. They travel around the
world. It’s not like they can settle down and spend any real time with you, no
matter what your history is.”

Those words stung big time. But Sandy did have a point.
She’d reacted so strongly after just a few minutes onstage. If Trey and Damon
were around for a few days, if she got the chance to spend some real quality
time with them and all those old feelings were stirred up, how would she deal
with them leaving? She was just a little over-emotional right now, thanks to
her frustration at work. “You’re probably right. But darn it, I’m having a hell
of a time with this.”

“I’m sorry, sweetie.” Sandy gave her a hug, patting her
upper back. Releasing her, Sandy stepped back to study her face for several
seconds. “Are you going to be okay? Do you want to tell me what else was
bothering you last night?”

“No, it’s not that big a deal anymore. I’m fine. A little
bummed, that’s all. I’m tired, and that’s probably making things ten times
worse. But there’s a reason why I reacted so strongly to them. I don’t think
anyone could possibly understand.”

Sandy nodded and stooped over to grab her purse. Standing,
she dug inside, her car keys rattled.

“Those two men, they were more than friends,” continued
Blair. “More than first boyfriends or lovers. They were my lifeline. And I was
theirs. We knew each others’ secrets, had met each others’ demons. Like Trey.
His mom was an alcoholic, and his dad sold their food stamps to fund his
gambling habit. And Damon’s dad blew his head off in front of Damon when he was
just eight years old. After that, Damon slept in my doghouse for three nights,
and his mother didn’t even notice, she was so out of it. She tried to hold it
together for him, but she just wasn’t strong enough. And then there were my
parents…” she laughed bitterly. “So you see? We weren’t just friends from the
time we were able to talk. We were each others’ stability. We held each other
up. I don’t think any of us could have survived those early years if we hadn’t
had each other. Those two boys were the only ones I knew I could count on.”

Sandy didn’t say anything for a long time, and once again,
Blair regretted opening her mouth. They headed toward the front door, Blair
following Sandy.

“I had no idea,” Sandy said, stopping in the middle of the
living room, nervously fiddling with her purse strap.

“That’s why this is so hard. We’d always said we’d be
together when we grew up. I guess a part of me was still hoping that might
happen, despite the years that have passed.”